UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

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

For the quarterly period ended December 31, 2022

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

For the transition period from ___________ to ___________

Commission File No. 001-40388

ANEBULO PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware		85-1170950
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

1415 Ranch Road 620 South, Suite 201 Lakeway, Texas		78734
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

(512) 598-0931

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

Title of each class		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock		ANEB		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

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, a 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.

Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☒
		Emerging growth company	☒

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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of February 8, 2023, the registrant had 25,633,217 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding.

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Table of Contents

	Page Number

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Risk Factors Summary
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements (Unaudited)	1
Condensed Balance Sheets	1
Condensed Statements of Operations	2
Condensed Statements of Stockholders’ Equity	3
Condensed Statements of Cash Flows	4
Notes to Unaudited Condensed Financial Statements	5
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	10
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	17
Item 4. Controls and Procedures	17
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings	18
Item 1A. Risk Factors	18
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds	49
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities	49
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures	49
Item 5. Other Information	49
Item 6. Exhibits	49
Signatures	50

In this report, unless otherwise stated or as the context otherwise requires, references to “Anebulo Pharmaceuticals,” “Anebulo,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and similar references refer to Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The Anebulo logo, and other trademarks or service marks of Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. appearing in this report are the property of Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. This report also contains registered marks, trademarks and trade names of other companies. All other trademarks, registered marks and trade names appearing in this report are the property of their respective holders. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names, trademarks or service marks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other companies.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which are subject the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements about us and our industry involve substantial risks and uncertainties and our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those set forth below under Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report, including statements regarding our future financial condition, business strategy and plans, and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “could,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “seek,” “plan,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “potentially” or the negative of these terms or similar expressions in this Quarterly Report.

We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections, and various assumptions, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

●	our expectations regarding our capital requirements, revenue, expenses and other operating results, and needs for additional financing;
●	the timing or outcome of any of our regulatory submissions or discussions with regulatory authorities;
●	the timing and conduct of our clinical trials, including statements regarding the timing, progress and results of current and future nonclinical studies and clinical trials, and our research and development programs;
●	the clinical utility of, potential advantages of and timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals for ANEB-001;
●	the market opportunity for ANEB-001, if approved;
●	our expectations regarding future growth;
●	our ability to obtain and maintain adequate intellectual property rights and adequately protect and enforce such rights;
●	our ability to maintain our existing licensing arrangements and enter into and maintain other collaborations or licensing arrangements;
●	our estimates regarding the commercial potential and market opportunity for our product candidates;
●	the performance of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers;
●	our ability to compete effectively with existing competitors and new market entrants;
●	the impact on our business of economic or political events or trends; and
●	the impact of governmental laws and regulations.

You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Unless required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events or developments. Thus, you should not assume that our silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. You should carefully read this Quarterly Report, including the section titled “Risk Factors” and the documents that we reference in this Quarterly Report and have filed as exhibits to this Quarterly Report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. We qualify all of the forward-looking statements in this report by these cautionary statements.

RISK FACTORS SUMMARY

Below is a summary of material factors that make an investment in our common stock speculative or risky. Importantly, this summary does not address all of the risks and uncertainties that we face. Additional discussion of the risks and uncertainties summarized in this risk factor summary, as well as other risks and uncertainties that we face, can be found under “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report. The below summary is qualified in its entirety by that more complete discussion of such risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described under “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report as part of your evaluation of an investment in our common stock.

	●	We have not generated any revenue since our inception and expect to incur future losses and may never become profitable.

	●	Our business is highly dependent on our lead product candidate, ANEB-001, and we must complete clinical testing before we can seek regulatory approval and begin commercialization of any of our product candidates.

	●	We depend substantially on intellectual property licensed from third parties, including Vernalis Development Limited, and termination of any of these licenses could result in the loss of significant rights, which would harm our business.

	●	We will need substantial additional funding, and if we are unable to raise capital when needed, we could be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our product discovery and development programs or commercialization efforts.

	●	We are highly dependent on our key personnel and anticipate hiring new key personnel. If we are not successful in attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy.

	●	If we are unable to obtain and maintain sufficient intellectual property protection for our product candidates or if the scope of the intellectual property protection is not sufficiently broad, our ability to commercialize our product candidates successfully and to compete effectively may be adversely affected.

	●	We have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.

	●	We are early in our development efforts and have only one product candidate in clinical development. If we are unable to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidate or experience significant delays in doing so, our business may be materially harmed.

	●	Clinical drug development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and the inability to successfully and timely conduct clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates would substantially harm our business.

	●	The results of clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future results. Our existing product candidate in clinical trials, and any other product candidate we advance into clinical trials, may not have favorable results in later clinical trials or receive regulatory approval.

	●	Any products we develop may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party coverage and reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives, thereby harming our business.

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

	●	Our product candidates, the methods used to deliver them or their dosage levels may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial profile of an approved label or result in significant negative consequences following any regulatory approval.

	●	We currently have no marketing and sales organization and we have no direct experience marketing pharmaceutical products. If we are unable to establish our own marketing and sales capabilities, or enter into agreements with third parties to market and sell our products after approval, we may not be able to generate product revenues.

	●	New drugs, which may be developed by others, could impair our ability to maintain and grow our business and remain competitive.

	●	We depend on third parties in connection with our preclinical testing and clinical trials, which may result in costs and delays that prevent us from obtaining regulatory approval or successfully commercializing ANEB-001 or future product candidates.

	●	We will be completely dependent on third parties to manufacture ANEB-001, and our commercialization of ANEB-001 could be halted, delayed or made less profitable if those third parties fail to obtain manufacturing approval from the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities, fail to provide us with sufficient quantities of ANEB-001 or fail to do so at acceptable quality levels or prices.

	●	The trading price and volume of our common stock in the public markets has experienced, and may in the future experience, volatility due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control.

PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Condensed Balance Sheets

(unaudited)

	December 31, 2022			June 30, 2022
Assets
Current assets:
Cash	$	16,355,350		$	14,548,471
Prepaid expenses		532,906			1,030,960
Total assets	$	16,888,256		$	15,579,431

Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	346,554		$	380,828
Accrued expenses		1,025,847			131,703
Total liabilities		1,372,401			512,531

Commitments and contingencies		-			-
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 2,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding at December 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022		-			-
Common stock, $0.001 par value; 40,000,000 shares authorized; 25,633,217 and 23,344,567 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, respectively		25,634			23,345
Additional paid-in capital		67,398,711			60,513,258
Accumulated deficit		(51,908,490	)		(45,469,703	)
Total stockholders’ equity		15,515,855			15,066,900
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	16,888,256		$	15,579,431

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Operations

(unaudited)

	2022			2021			2022			2021
	Three Months Ended December 31,						Six Months Ended December 31,
	2022			2021			2022			2021
Research and development	$	1,869,920		$	212,936		$	3,093,696		$	928,034
General and administrative		1,943,202			858,186			3,331,473			1,698,012
Total operating expenses		3,813,122			1,071,122			6,425,169			2,626,046
Loss from operations		(3,813,122	)		(1,071,122	)		(6,425,169	)		(2,626,046	)

Other expenses, net		(13,830	)		(1,869	)		(13,618	)		(340	)
Net loss	$	(3,826,952	)	$	(1,072,991	)	$	(6,438,787	)	$	(2,626,386	)
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted		25,633,217			23,344,567			24,524,856			23,344,567
Net loss per share, basic and diluted	$	(0.15	)	$	(0.05	)	$	(0.26	)	$	(0.11	)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Stockholders’ Equity

(unaudited)

	Shares		Amount		Capital		Deficit			Equity
	Common Stock				Additional Paid-in		Accumulated			Total Stockholders’
	Shares		Amount		Capital		Deficit			Equity
Balance at June 30, 2021		23,344,567	$	23,345	$	60,032,597	$	(38,644,084	)	$	21,411,858
Stock-based compensation expense		-		-		34,173		-			34,173
Net loss		-		-		-		(1,553,395	)		(1,553,395	)
Balance at September 30, 2021		23,344,567		23,345		60,066,770		(40,197,479	)		19,892,636
Stock-based compensation expense		-		-		94,282		-			94,282
Net loss		-		-		-		(1,072,991	)		(1,072,991
Balance at December 31, 2021		23,344,567	$	23,345	$	60,161,052	$	(41,270,470	)	$	18,913,927

Balance at June 30, 2022		23,344,567	$	23,345	$	60,513,258	$	(45,469,703	)	$	15,066,900
Issuance of common stock, net of offering costs of $248,927		2,264,650		2,265		6,395,556		-			6,397,821
Common stock issued upon exercise of options		24,000		24		52,376		-			52,400
Stock-based compensation expense		-		-		211,900		-			211,900
Net loss		-		-		-		(2,611,835	)		(2,611,835	)
Balance at September 30, 2022		25,633,217	$	25,634	$	67,173,090	$	(48,081,538	)	$	19,117,186
Stock-based compensation expense		-		-		225,621		-			225,621
Net loss		-		-		-		(3,826,952	)		(3,826,952	)
Balance at December 31, 2022		25,633,217	$	25,634	$	67,398,711	$	(51,908,490	)	$	15,515,855

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Condensed Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

	2022			2021
	Six Months Ended December 31,
	2022			2021
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss	$	(6,438,787	)		(2,626,386	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities

Stock-based compensation		437,521			128,455
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses		498,054			712,965
Accounts payable		(34,274	)		(67,104	)
Accrued expenses		894,144			(124,585	)
Net cash used in operating activities		(4,643,342	)		(1,976,655	)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock		6,646,748			-
Payment of offering costs		(248,927	)		-
Proceeds from issuance of common stock upon exercise of options		52,400			-
Net cash provided by financing activities		6,450,221			-
Net increase (decrease) in cash		1,806,879			(1,976,655	)
Cash, beginning of period		14,548,471			19,985,645
Cash, end of the period	$	16,355,350			18,008,990

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed financial statements.

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Notes to Condensed Financial Statements

(unaudited)

Note 1. Nature of business and basis of presentation

Organization

Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) was founded on April 23, 2020, as a Delaware corporation. The Company is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing new treatments for patients suffering from Acute Cannabis Intoxication (“ACI”) and addiction. The Company’s principal operations are located in Lakeway, Texas.

Liquidity and capital resources

Since inception, the Company’s activities have consisted primarily of performing research and development to advance its product candidates. The Company is still in the development phase and has not been marketing any developed products to date. Since inception, the Company has incurred losses, including a net loss of approximately $6.4 million for the six months ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had an accumulated deficit of approximately $51.9 million. The Company expects to continue to generate operating losses. The Company expects that its cash will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through at least 12 months from the issuance date of the financial statements. Until such time, if ever, as the Company can generate substantial product revenue from sales of any current or future product candidates, the Company expects to seek additional funding in order to reach its development and commercialization objectives through various potential sources, such as equity and debt financings or through collaboration, license and development agreements. The Company may not be able to obtain funding or enter into collaboration, license or development agreements on acceptable terms, or at all. The terms of any funding may be dilutive to or adversely affect the rights of the Company’s stockholders. If the Company is unable to obtain funding on satisfactory terms, or at all, the Company could be forced to delay, scale back or eliminate the development of its current or future product candidates or other business.

Risks and uncertainties

The Company’s future results of operations involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could affect the Company’s future operating results and cause actual results to vary materially from expectations include uncertainty regarding results of clinical trials and reaching milestones, uncertainty of regulatory approval of the Company’s current or future product candidates, uncertainty of market acceptance of the Company’s product candidates, if approved, competition from substitute products and larger companies, securing and protecting proprietary technology, ability to establish strategic relationships and dependence on key individuals and sole source suppliers. Product candidates currently under development will require significant additional research and development efforts, including extensive preclinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval prior to commercialization. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel and infrastructure and extensive compliance-reporting capabilities and may not ultimately lead to a marketing approval and commercialization of a product.

The Company’s product candidates require approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and comparable foreign regulatory agencies prior to commercial sales in their respective jurisdictions. There can be no assurance that any product candidates will receive the necessary approvals. If the Company was denied approval, approval was delayed or the Company was unable to maintain approval for any product candidate, it could have a materially adverse impact on the Company. Even if the Company’s product development efforts are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, the Company will realize significant revenue from product sales. The Company will need to generate significant revenue to achieve profitability, and it may never do so.

Basis of presentation

The accompanying condensed financial statements and accompanying notes have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).

The unaudited interim condensed financial statements of the Company included herein have been prepared, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been omitted from this report, as is permitted by such rules and regulations. Accordingly, these condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022 and the notes thereto, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K (File No. 001-40388).

In the opinion of management, the information furnished reflects all adjustments, all of which are of a normal and recurring nature, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the reported interim periods. The Company considers events or transactions that occur after the balance sheet date but before the condensed financial statements are issued to provide additional evidence relative to certain estimates or to identify matters that require additional disclosure. The results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year or any other interim period.

Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The Company’s significant accounting policies are disclosed in the audited financial statements as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022, and notes thereto, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the SEC on September 9, 2022. Since the date of those financial statements, there have been no material changes to significant accounting policies.

Note 3. Prepaid Expenses

Prepaid expenses consisted of the following:

Schedule of Prepaid Expenses

	December 31, 2022		June 30, 2022
Prepaid insurance	$	313,332	$	790,343
Prepaid research and development		219,574		210,865
Prepaid other		-		29,752
Total prepaid expenses	$	532,906	$	1,030,960

Note 4. Accrued Expenses

Accrued expenses consisted of the following:

Schedule of Accrued Expenses

	December 31, 2022		June 30, 2022
Accrued research and development	$	699,990	$	105,980
Accrued payroll related expenses		295,107		25,723
Accrued other		30,750		-
Total accrued expenses	$	1,025,847	$	131,703

Note 5. License Agreement

In May 2020, the Company licensed certain intellectual property, know-how and clinical trial data from Vernalis Development Limited (“Vernalis”). The initial consideration in exchange for the license was $150,000 and was recorded as research and development expense in a prior period. The license term shall continue unless and until terminated for cause or insolvency, with 60 days’ prior notice by the Company, or until such time as all royalties and other sums cease to be payable in accordance with the terms of the agreement. The Company is required to pay development milestone payments related to clinical trials and granting of marketing authorization ranging from $350,000 to $3,000,000, up to a total development milestone payment of $29,900,000, and sales milestone payments of $10,000,000 and $25,000,000, in the first year when cumulative annual net sales of licensed product exceeds $500,000,000 and $1,000,000,000, respectively. The Company is also required to pay single-digit royalties on product sales over the term of the contract.

As part of the initial public offering (“IPO”) in May 2021, the Company issued 192,857 shares of common stock to Vernalis in lieu of future milestone payments by the Company of $1,350,000, whether or not the Company achieves those milestones. The Company recorded the $1,350,000 payment as research and development expense in a prior period. The Company has determined that no further milestone payments are considered probable as of December 31, 2022 and therefore no liability has been recorded.

Note 6. Stockholders’ Equity

On May 4, 2021, the Company filed an amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Restated Certificate”) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware in connection with the closing of its IPO. As set forth in the Restated Certificate, the Company’s authorized capital stock consists of 40,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 2,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share.

On September 28, 2022, the Company completed a private placement financing of 2,264,650 units (collectively, the “Units”), with each Unit consisting of (i) one share of its common stock and (ii) a warrant to purchase one share of its common stock, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $6,647,000 (or $2.935 per Unit). The Company received approximately $6,398,000 in net proceeds after deducting offering costs of approximately $249,000. Each warrant has an exercise price of $4.215 per share, which is subject to customary adjustments in the event of any combination or split of the Company’s common stock. The warrants expire on September 28, 2027.

Note 7. Stock-Based Compensation

In June 2020, the Board of Directors adopted the 2020 Stock Incentive Plan, which provided for the grant of qualified incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options or other awards to the Company’s employees, officers, directors, advisors, and outside consultants for the purchase of up to 1,650,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. On October 22, 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved an increase of the total authorized shares to 3,650,000 shares. Other awards include restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights and other stock-based awards. Other stock-based awards are awards valued in whole or in part by reference to, or are otherwise based on, shares of common stock. Stock options generally vest over a four-year period, at achievement of a performance requirement, or upon change of control (as defined in the applicable plan). The awards expire in five to ten years from the date of grant. In September 2020, the Company awarded 982,500 shares of restricted common stock to its former Chief Executive Officer. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had 583,387 shares available for future issuance under the 2020 Stock Incentive Plan.

The Company estimates the fair value of stock-based compensation utilizing the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which is dependent upon several variables, such as assumptions the Company makes for the volatility of its common stock, the expected term of the stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term, and expected dividend yield. Each of these inputs is subjective and generally requires significant judgement to determine. Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award.

The following table summarizes the range of key assumptions used to determine the fair value of stock options granted during the three and six months ended December 30, 2022 and 2021.

Three Months Ended

December 31,

Six Months Ended

December 31,

2022

2021

2022

2021

Risk-free interest rate

3.72% – 4.32

–

2.87% – 4.32

0.79% – 1.1

Expected term (in years)

4.5 – 6.25

–

4.5 – 6.25

3.0 – 4.5

Expected volatility

60.0

–

50.0 – 60.0

Expected dividend yield

–

The following table summarizes stock option activity for the six months ended December 31, 2022:

Schedule of Stock Option Activity

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price		Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (Years)		Aggregate Intrinsic Value

Outstanding at June 30, 2022		1,911,459		$	4.63		4.4		-
Granted		172,654		$	3.31
Exercised		(24,000	)	$	2.18
Forfeited		-		$	-
Outstanding at December 31, 2022		2,060,113		$	4.55		4.2	$	137,362
Options exercisable at December 31, 2022		373,476		$	2.86		3.2		75,625

The weighted-average grant date fair value of options awarded during the six months ended December 31, 2022 was approximately $1.86 per share. As of December 31, 2022, unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested stock options totaled approximately $2.9 million which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 3.1 years.

The Company recorded stock-based compensation expenses for the following periods:

	2022		2021		2022		2021
	Three Months Ended				Six Months Ended
	December 31,				December 31,
	2022		2021		2022		2021
Research and development	$	-	$	2,108	$	-	$	11,988
General and administrative		225,621		92,174		437,521		116,467
Total stock-based compensation expense	$	225,621	$	94,282	$	437,521	$	128,455

Note 8. Net Loss Per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders

Based on the amounts outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company excluded the following potential shares of common stock from the computation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the three and six months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, because including them would have had an anti-dilutive effect. Therefore, the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding used to calculate both basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is the same.

	December 31,
	2022		2021
Stock options outstanding		2,060,113		661,063
Warrants outstanding		2,264,650		-
Total		4,324,763		661,063

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed financial statements and related notes included in this Quarterly Report and the audited financial statements and notes thereto as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022 and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, both of which are contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2022 (“Annual Report”), which was filed with the SEC on September 9, 2022. The information in this discussion contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, which are subject to the “safe harbor” created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects and plans and objectives of management. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the risks set forth in Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report. Please also see the section entitled “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel solutions for people suffering from acute cannabinoid intoxication (“ACI”) and substance addiction. Our lead product candidate, ANEB-001, is intended to rapidly reverse the negative effects of ACI within 1 hour of administration. The signs and symptoms of ACI range from profound sedation to anxiety and panic to psychosis with hallucinations. There is no approved medical treatment currently available to specifically alleviate the symptoms of ACI. If approved by the FDA, we believe ANEB-001 has the potential to be the first FDA approved treatment of its kind on the market for reversing the effects of THC, the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis. Clinical trials completed to date have shown that ANEB-001 is rapidly absorbed, well tolerated and when administered to obese subjects leads to weight loss, an effect that is consistent with central CB1 antagonism. We initiated a Phase 2 proof-of-concept clinical trial in the Netherlands in December 2021. We received initial topline data from Part A of the study on June 29, 2022 and announced the results in a press release on July 5, 2022. We announced preliminary pharmacodynamic data from Part B of the study in a press release on January 9, 2023 and expect the final data from the study by the end of the first quarter of 2023. We anticipate discussing the final data from this Phase 2 clinical trial with the FDA at an End of Phase 2A meeting in the first half of 2023.

ACI episodes have become a widespread health issue in the United States, particularly in the increasing number of states that have legalized cannabis for medical and recreational use. The ingestion of large quantities of THC is a major cause of ACI. Excessive ingestion of THC via edible products such as candies and brownies, and intoxication from synthetic cannabinoids (also known as “synthetics,” “K2” or “spice”), are two leading causes of THC-related emergency room visits. Synthetic cannabinoids are analogous to fentanyl for opioids insofar as they are more potent at the cannabinoid receptor than their natural product congener THC. In recent years, hospital emergency rooms across the United States have seen a dramatic increase in patient visits with cannabis-related conditions. Before the legalization of cannabis, an estimated 450,000 patients visited hospital emergency rooms annually for cannabis-related conditions. In 2014, this number more than doubled to an estimated 1.1 million patients, according to data published in “Trends and Related Factors of Cannabis-Associated Emergency Department Visits in the United States: 2006-2014,” Journal of Addiction Medicine (May/June 2019), which provided a national estimate analyzing data from The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (“NEDS”), the largest database of U.S. hospital-owned emergency department visits. Based on our own analysis of the most recent NEDS data, we believe that the number of hospitalizations grew to over 1.7 million patients in 2019 and was growing at an approximately 15% compounded annual growth rate between 2012 and 2019. We believe the number of cannabis-related hospitalizations and other health problems associated with ACIs such as depression, anxiety and mental disorders will continue to increase substantially as more states pass laws legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational use. Given the consequences, there is an urgent need for a treatment to rapidly reverse the symptoms of ACI.

In May 2020, we entered into a royalty-bearing license agreement with Vernalis Development Limited (“License Agreement”) to exploit its license compounds and licensed products to combat symptoms of ACI and substance addiction. We are currently developing our lead product candidate, ANEB-001 to quickly, and effectively, combat symptoms of ACI.

Our objective is to develop and commercialize new treatment options for patients suffering from ACI and substance addiction. Our lead product candidate is ANEB-001, a potent, small molecule cannabinoid receptor antagonist, to address the unmet medical need for a specific antidote for ACI. ANEB-001 is an orally bioavailable, rapidly absorbed treatment that we anticipate will reverse the symptoms of ACI, in most cases within 1 hour of administration. Our proprietary position in the treatment of ACI is protected by rights to patent applications covering various compositions and methods of use of the compound and delivery systems.

We were incorporated in Delaware on April 23, 2020, and commenced operations in May 2020. Our operations to date have consisted of organizing and acquiring the license rights to Vernalis’ licensed products, assembling an executive team, starting preparations for a Phase 2 proof-of-concept trial, including the synthesis of a new active pharmaceutical ingredient, the development and filing of a clinical trial protocol with regulatory agencies in Europe and raising capital. Prior to our initial public offering (“IPO”), we funded our operations through a private placement of our series A convertible preferred stock and issuance of two promissory notes to a related party.

On October 12, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued to the Company U.S. Patent No. 11,141,404, titled “Formulations and Methods For Treating Acute Cannabinoid Overdose.” The issued patent describes the use of the Company’s investigational drug ANEB-001 to treat acute cannabinoid overdose and is expected to provide patent protection through 2040.

On September 25, 2022, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with certain institutional accredited investors (the “Purchasers”), pursuant to which we sold and issued to the Purchasers in a private placement financing an aggregate of 2,264,650 units (collectively, the “Units”), with each Unit consisting of (i) one share of our common stock and (ii) a warrant to purchase one share of our common stock, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $6,647,000 (or $2.935 per Unit) (the “Private Placement”). The closing of the Private Placement occurred on September 28, 2022. The Company received approximately $6,398,000 in net proceeds from the Private Placement after deducting offering costs of approximately $249,000. Each warrant has an exercise price of $4.215 per share, which is subject to customary adjustments in the event of any combination or split of our common stock, and has a five-year term.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We have not generated any revenue since inception. If our development efforts for our current lead product candidate, ANEB-001, or other additional product candidates that we may develop in the future, are successful and result in marketing approval, or if we enter into collaboration or license agreements with third parties, we may generate revenue in the future from a combination of product sales or payments from such collaboration or license agreements. We cannot predict if, when, or to what extent we will generate revenue from the commercialization and sale of our product candidates. We have incurred operating losses since inception and expect to continue to incur significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations in the future.

Research and Development Expenses

We expect to continue incurring significant research and development costs related to ANEB-001. Our research and development expenses for the three and six months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 included research and development consulting expenses, clinical trials, and costs associated with development of our lead product candidate, ANEB-001.

We anticipate that our research and development activities will account for a significant portion of our operating expenses and these costs are expensed as incurred. We expect to significantly increase our research and development efforts as we continue to develop ANEB-001 and conduct clinical trials with patients suffering from symptoms of ACI, as well as continue to expand our product-candidate pipeline. Research and development expenses include:

	●	employee-related expenses, such as salaries, share-based compensation, benefits and travel expense for research and development personnel that we plan to hire;

	●	direct third-party costs such as expenses incurred under agreements with contract research organizations (“CROs”) and contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”);

	●	costs associated with research and development activities of consultants;

	●	manufacturing costs in connection with producing materials for use in conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials;

	●	other third-party expenses directly attributable to the development of our product candidates; and

	●	amortization expense for future asset purchases used in research and development activities.

We currently have one lead product candidate; therefore, we do not track our internal research and development expenses on an indication-by-indication basis.

Research and development activities will continue to be central to our business model. We expect our research and development expenses to be significant over the next several years as we advance our current clinical development program and prepare to seek regulatory approval.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses for the three and six months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 consisted primarily of professional fees, stock-based compensation, insurance, personnel costs and rent.

Results of Operations

Comparison of the Three and Six Months Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

The following table summarizes our results of operations:

	Three Months Ended December 31,						Period to Period			Six Months Ended December 31,						Period to Period
	2022			2021			Change			2022			2021			Change
Research and development	$	1,869,920		$	212,936		$	1,656,984		$	3,093,696		$	928,034		$	2,165,662
General and administrative		1,943,202			858,186			1,085,016			3,331,473			1,698,012			1,633,461
Total operating expenses		3,813,122			1,071,122			2,742,000			6,425,169			2,626,046			3,799,123
Loss from operations		(3,813,122	)		(1,071,122	)		(2,742,000	)		(6,425,169	)		(2,626,046	)		(3,799,123	)

Other expenses, net		(13,830	)		(1,869	)		(11,961	)		(13,618	)		(340	)		(13,278	)
Net loss	$	(3,826,952	)	$	(1,072,991	)	$	(2,753,961	)	$	(6,438,787	)	$	(2,626,386	)	$	(3,812,401	)

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses consisted of the following:

	Three Months Ended December 31,				Period to Period			Six Months Ended December 31,				Period to Period
	2022		2021		Change			2022		2021		Change
Pre-clinical and clinical studies	$	759,979	$	99,971	$	660,008		$	1,491,264	$	391,084	$	1,100,180
Contract manufacturing		653,066		66,500		586,566			839,233		317,450		521,783
Compensation and related benefits		-		21,530		(21,530	)		44,681		43,060		1,621
Stock-based compensation expense		-		2,108		(2,108	)		-		11,988		(11,988	)
Other research and development		456,875		22,827		434,048			718,518		164,452		554,066
Total research and development expenses	$	1,869,920	$	212,936	$	1,656,984		$	3,093,696	$	928,034	$	2,165,662

The overall increase in research and development expenses was primarily attributable to an increase in activities related to pre-clinical and clinical studies, and direct third-party costs incurred under agreements with CROs for ANEB-001. The increase in pre-clinical and clinical studies was related to Phase 2 clinical studies for ANEB-001. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, we began fully engaging with our CMOs to produce drug substance and drug product for our clinical trials, thus increasing our contract manufacturing expense.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consisted of the following:

	Three Months Ended December 31,				Period to Period			Six Months Ended December 31,				Period to Period
	2022		2021		Change			2022		2021		Change
Compensation and related benefits	$	602,341	$	88,791	$	513,550		$	957,972	$	179,312	$	778,660
Professional and consultant fees		739,837		278,628		461,209			1,205,195		607,159		598,036
Stock-based compensation expense		225,621		92,174		133,447			437,521		116,467		321,054
Officers’ insurance		235,000		334,695		(99,695	)		476,877		662,513		(185,636	)
Facilities, fees and other costs		140,403		63,898		76,505			253,908		132,561		121,347
Total general and administrative expenses	$	1,943,202	$	858,186	$	1,085,016		$	3,331,473	$	1,698,012	$	1,633,461

The overall increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily attributable to compensation and related benefits and stock-based compensation for additional executives and employees, professional and consultant fees, including legal and accounting fees, and facilities and other costs to support our continuous growth in operations. This was partially offset by a decrease in directors’ and officers’ insurance resulting from a decrease in the yearly premium amount.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

Since our inception in April 2020, we have incurred significant operating losses. We expect to incur significant expenses and operating losses in the future as we advance the clinical development of our programs. In May 2021, we completed our IPO in which we sold 3,078,224 shares of our common stock, including the exercise by the underwriter of its option to purchase 78,224 additional shares of common stock, at a public offering price of $7.00 per share. We received net proceeds from our IPO of approximately $19.8 million, after deducting underwriter discounts and offering expenses paid by us. On September 28, 2022, we closed the Private Placement, pursuant to which we sold an aggregate of 2,264,650 Units, with each Unit consisting of (i) one share of our common stock and (ii) a warrant to purchase one share of our common stock, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $6.6 million (or $2.935 per Unit). The Company received approximately $6.4 million in net proceeds from the Private Placement after deducting offering costs of approximately $249,000. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash of approximately $16.4 million. As and if necessary, we will seek to raise additional funds through various potential sources, such as equity and debt financings or through collaboration, license and development agreements. We can give no assurances that we will be able to secure such additional sources of funds to support our operations on acceptable terms or at all, or, if such funds are available to us, that such additional financing will be sufficient to meet our needs.

Cash Flows

The following table sets forth a summary of our cash flows:

	Six Months Ended December 31,
	2022			2021
Net cash used in operating activities	$	(4,643,342	)	$	(1,976,655	)
Net cash provided by financing activities		6,450,221			-
Net increase (decrease) in cash	$	1,806,879		$	(1,976,655	)

During the six months ended December 31, 2022, we used cash in operating activities of approximately $4.6 million primarily resulting from our net loss of approximately $6.4 million partially offset by the non-cash related stock-based compensation of approximately $438,000, and a change in operating assets and liabilities of approximately $1.3 million. We received cash from financing activities of approximately $6.5 million primarily resulting from the issuance of common stock and warrants of approximately $6.6 million, net of offering costs of approximately $249,000. During the six months ended December 31, 2021, we used cash in operating activities of approximately $2.0 million, primarily resulting from our net loss of approximately $2.6 million, partially offset by the non-cash related stock-based compensation of approximately $128,000, and a change in operating assets and liabilities of approximately $521,000.

Funding and Material Cash Requirements

We expect that our cash at December 31, 2022 will enable us to fund our current and planned operating expenses and capital expenditures for at least the next 12 months from the filing of this report. We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be imprecise, and we may exhaust our available capital resources sooner that we currently expect. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development of our programs, we are unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenses associated with completing the research and development of our product candidates.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue from sales of any of our current or future product candidates, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings and potential collaboration, license or development agreements. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, or declaring dividends. We have no current agreements or understandings with investors to provide such capital.

Our present and future funding and cash requirements will depend on many factors, including, among other things:

	●	the progress, timing and completion of our ongoing and planned clinical trials and nonclinical studies;
	●	our ability to receive, and the timing of receipt of, future regulatory approvals for our product candidates and the costs related thereto;
	●	the scope, progress, results and costs of our ongoing and planned operations;
	●	the costs associated with expanding our operations and building our sales and marketing capabilities;
	●	our ability to establish strategic collaborations;
	●	the cost and timing of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending any intellectual property-related claims;
	●	the revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our products, if approved; and
	●	potential new product candidates we identify and attempt to develop.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue from sales of any of our current or future product candidates, we will need to seek additional equity or debt financing or potential collaboration, license or development agreements to provide the capital required to maintain or expand our operations, continue the development of our product candidate, build our sales and marketing capabilities, promote brand identity, develop or acquire complementary technologies, products or businesses, or provide for our working capital requirements and other operating and general corporate purposes. If we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities and/or equity-linked securities, the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be reduced, and accordingly these stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may also issue equity securities and/or equity-linked securities that provide rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our common stock. Debt financing, if obtained, may involve agreements that include liens on our assets and covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions such as incurring additional debt. Debt financing could also be required to be repaid regardless of our operating results. If we raise funds through collaborations, license or development agreements, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our current or future products or revenue streams or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. If such financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or is not available at all, we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate the development of our current or future product candidates and other business.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

License Agreement with Vernalis Development Limited

On May 26, 2020, we entered into the License Agreement with Vernalis. Pursuant to the License Agreement, Vernalis granted us an exclusive worldwide royalty-bearing license to develop and commercialize a compound that we refer to as ANEB-001, as well as access to and a right of reference with respect to any regulatory materials under its control. The License Agreement allows us to sublicense the rights thereunder to any person with similar or greater financial resources and expertise without Vernalis’ prior consent, provided the proposed sublicensee is not developing or commercializing a product that contains a CB1 antagonist or is for the same indication covered by the trials or market authorization for ANEB-001. In exchange for the exclusive license, we agreed to pay Vernalis a non-refundable signature fee of $150,000, total potential developmental milestone payments of up to $29,900,000, total potential sales milestone payments of up to $35,000,000, and low to mid-single digit royalties on net sales. Subsequently, in May 2021 as part of the IPO, we issued 192,857 shares of common stock to Vernalis in lieu of future milestone payments of $1,350,000.

Under the License Agreement, we purchased the API for ANEB-001 from Vernalis on an “as is” basis for $20,000. We have the sole discretion to carry out the development and commercialization of ANEB-001, including obtaining regulatory approvals, and we are responsible for all costs and expenses in connection therewith. We have access to certain regulatory materials, including study reports from clinical and non-clinical trials, under Vernalis’ control. We agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to (i) develop and commercialize ANEB-001 in the United States and certain European countries and (ii) conduct a Phase 2 and human clinical trial within specified periods, which periods could be extended for a nominal fee. We also agreed to provide Vernalis with periodic reports of our activities and notice of market authorization within specified timeframes.

Office Lease, Manufacturing Contract and CRO Contract

We manage our business operations from our principal executive office in Lakeway, Texas, in 700 square feet of leased space under a sublease with a related party. Our office lease is month-to-month, and currently we pay rent of approximately $1,300 per month.

In March 2022, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with a third-party CMO. The total cost for the manufacturing contract is approximately $1,923,000, which is expected to be fully incurred by the end of the first calendar quarter of 2023.

In February 2021, we entered into an agreement with a third-party CRO to manage and conduct our Phase 2 clinical trial for ANEB-001 in the Netherlands, which was initiated in December 2021. We received initial topline data from Part A of the study on June 29, 2022 and announced the results in a press release on July 5, 2022. The total cost for the CRO agreement is approximately €2,235,148, which is expected to be fully incurred by the end of the first calendar quarter of 2023.

We enter into contracts in the normal course of business with clinical trial sites and clinical supply manufacturers and other services and products for operating purposes. These contracts generally provide for termination after a notice period, and therefore, are cancellable contracts.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates

Our condensed financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of our condensed financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, costs and expenses, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our condensed financial statements. We base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

While our significant accounting policies are disclosed in the audited financial statements as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022, and notes thereto, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the SEC on September 9, 2022, we believe that the following accounting policies are those most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our condensed financial statements.

Accrued Research and Development Expenses

As part of the process of preparing our condensed financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued research and development expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual costs. The majority of our service providers invoice us in arrears for services performed and some require advanced payments. We make estimates of our accrued expenses of each balance sheet date in our condensed financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. Examples of estimated accrued research and development expenses include fees paid to:

	●	CROs in connection with performing research services on our behalf and any clinical trials;

	●	Investigative sites or other providers in connection with studies and any clinical trials;

	●	Vendors in connection with the preparation of our NDA filing, market and patient awareness programs, market research and analysis and medical education; and

	●	Vendors related to product manufacturing, development and distribution of clinical supplies.

We base our expenses for services rendered on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to quotes, contracts and communicating with our vendors. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payments. There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result in a prepayment of the expense. In accruing service fees, we estimate the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from our estimate, we adjust the accrual or amount of prepaid or accrued expenses accordingly. Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, our understanding of the status and timing of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may result in us reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period.

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

The 2020 Stock Incentive Plan provides for the grant of qualified incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options or other awards to our employees, officers, directors, advisors, and outside consultants for the purchase of up to 3,650,000 shares of our common stock. Other awards include restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights and other stock-based awards. Other stock-based awards are awards valued in whole or in part by reference to, or are otherwise based on, shares of common stock. Stock options generally vest over a four-year period or at achievement of a performance requirement. The awards expire five to ten years from the date of grant.

We estimate the fair value of each stock option grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which uses inputs such as the fair value of our common stock, assumptions we make for the volatility of our common stock the expected term of the stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term, and our expected dividend yield. The fair value of our common stock is used to determine the fair value of restricted stock.

Prior to our IPO, the fair value of our common stock was estimated on each grant date by our Board of Directors. In order to determine the fair value of our common stock, our Board of Directors considered, among other things, timely valuations of our common stock prepared by an unrelated third-party valuation firm in accordance with the guidance provided by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Practice Guide, Valuation of Privately Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation. Given the absence of a public trading market for our common stock prior to our IPO, our Board of Directors exercised reasonable judgment and considered a number of objective and subjective factors to determine the best estimate of the fair value of our common stock, including (i) our business, financial condition and results of operations, including related industry trends affecting our operations; (ii) our forecasted operating performance and projected future cash flows; (iii) the illiquid nature of our common stock; (iv) the rights and privileges of our common stock; (v) market multiples of our most comparable public peers; and (vi) market conditions affecting our industry.

There are significant judgments and estimates inherent in these valuations. The assumptions underlying these valuations represent management’s best estimates, which involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors or expected outcomes change and we use significantly different assumptions or estimates, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different.

After the closing of the IPO, our Board of Directors now determines the fair value of our shares of common stock underlying stock-based awards based on the closing price of our common stock as reported by Nasdaq on the date of grant.

JOBS Act Accounting Election

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act, enacted in April 2012, permits an “emerging growth company” such as us to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have and intend to continue to take advantage of all of the reduced reporting requirements and exemptions, including the longer phase-in periods for the adoption of new or revised financial accounting standards, for an emerging growth company under Section 107 of the JOBS Act. Our election to use the phase-in periods may make it difficult to compare our financial statements to those of non-emerging growth companies and other emerging growth companies that have opted out of the phase-in periods under Section 107 of the JOBS Act. See “Risk Factors—General Risk Factors—We are an “emerging growth company” and our election to delay adoption of new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies may result in our financial statements not being comparable to those of some other public companies. As a result of this and other reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, our securities may be less attractive to investors.”

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to disclose this item.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of December 31, 2022, management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, performed an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures.

Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objective and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of December 31, 2022, the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended December 31, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II—OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we may be a party to litigation or subject to claims incident to the ordinary course of business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we currently believe that the final outcome of these ordinary course matters will not have a material adverse effect on our business. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings, and our management believes that there are currently no claims or actions pending against us, the ultimate disposition of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

You should carefully consider the following risk factors, as well as the other information in this Quarterly Report, before deciding whether to purchase, hold or sell shares of our common stock. The occurrence of any of the following risks could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or growth prospects or cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements we have made in this Quarterly Report and those we may make from time to time. When evaluating our business, you should consider all of the factors described as well as the other information in our Annual Report, including our financial statements and the related notes, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation” and Item 1A, “Risk Factors.” We have marked with an asterisk (*) those risk factors that did not appear as risk factors in, or contain changes to the similarly titled risk factors included in, Item 1A of our Annual Report. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects would likely be materially and adversely affected. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock would likely decline and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations.

Risks Related to our Business, Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

We have not generated any revenue since our inception and expect to incur future losses and may never become profitable.*

We have not generated any revenue. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $51.9 million, which includes a fair value adjustment for Milestone Warrants of approximately $26.6 million. The likelihood of our future success must be considered in light of the expenses, difficulties, complications and delays often encountered in connection with the clinical trials that will be conducted and on the development of new solutions to common addictions. These potential challenges include unanticipated clinical trial delays, poor data, changes in the regulatory and competitive landscape and additional costs and expenses that may exceed current budget estimates. In order to complete certain clinical trials and otherwise operate pursuant to our current business strategy, we anticipate that we will incur increased operating expenses. In addition, we expect to incur significant losses and experience negative cash flow in the future as we fund the operating losses and capital expenditures. We recognize that if we are unable to generate sufficient revenues or source funding, we will not be able to continue operations as currently contemplated, complete planned clinical trials and/or achieve profitability. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability will also negatively impact the value of our shares. If we are unsuccessful in addressing these risks, then we may need to curtail our business activities.

The future success of our business cannot be determined at this time, and we do not anticipate generating revenue from product sales in the near term. In addition, we have no experience in obtaining regulatory approval for and commercializing drug products on our own and face a number of challenges with respect to development and commercialization efforts, including, among other challenges:

	●	having inadequate financial or other resources to complete the development of our product candidate;

	●	the inability to manufacture our product in commercial quantities, at an adequate quality, at an acceptable cost or in collaboration with third parties;

	●	experiencing delays or unplanned expenditures in product development, clinical testing or manufacturing;

	●	the inability to establish adequate sales, marketing and distribution channels;

	●	healthcare professionals may not adopt and patients may not accept our drug, if approved for marketing;

	●	we may not be aware of possible complications or other side effects from the use of our product since we have limited clinical experience with respect to the actual effects from use of our product;

	●	technological breakthroughs in reversing ACIs and treating patients experiencing intoxication symptoms may reduce the demand for our product, if it develops;

	●	changes in the market for reversing ACIs and treating patients experiencing intoxication symptoms, new alliances between existing market participants and the entrance of new market participants may interfere with our market penetration efforts;

	●	third-party payors may not agree to reimburse patients for any or all of the purchase price of our product, which may adversely affect patients’ willingness to use our product;

	●	uncertainty as to market demand may result in inefficient pricing of our product;

	●	we may face third-party claims of intellectual property infringement;

	●	we may fail to obtain or maintain regulatory approvals for our product in our markets or may face adverse regulatory or legal actions relating to our product even if regulatory approval is obtained; and

	●	we are dependent upon the results of clinical studies relating to our product and the products of our competitors. If data from a clinical trial is unfavorable, we would be reluctant to advance the product for the indication for which it was being developed.

If we are unable to meet any one or more of these challenges successfully, our ability to effectively obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize our products could be limited, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We currently rely on a license from a third party, and in the future may rely on additional licenses from other third parties, in relation to our development of ANEB-001, and if we fail to comply with our obligations under our current or future intellectual property license agreements or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our current or any future licensors, we could lose intellectual property rights that are important to our business.

We are, and expect to continue to be, reliant upon third-party licensors for certain patent and other intellectual property rights that are important or necessary to the development of our product candidates, including ANEB-001. On May 26, 2020, we entered into an exclusive license agreement (the “License Agreement”) with Vernalis, pursuant to which Vernalis granted to us an exclusive license to develop and commercialize our ANEB-001 product candidate. Under the License Agreement, we have the sole discretion to carry out the development and commercialization of ANEB-001, including obtaining regulatory approvals. We retain the sole right over certain patent rights (including patent applications) and know-how controlled by us that are necessary or reasonably useful to developing and commercializing the licensed product during the term of the License Agreement. The License Agreement imposes, and we expect that any future license agreement will impose, specified diligence, milestone payment, royalty, commercialization, development and other obligations on us and require us to meet development timelines, or to exercise diligent or commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize licensed products, in order to maintain the license.

Furthermore, our licensors have, or may have in the future, the right to terminate a license if we materially breach the agreement and fail to cure such breach within a specified period or in the event we undergo certain bankruptcy events. In spite of our best efforts, our current or any future licensors might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the license agreements. If our license agreements are terminated, we may lose our rights to develop and commercialize product candidates and technology, lose patent protection, experience significant delays in the development and commercialization of our product candidates and technology, and incur liability for damages. If these in-licenses are terminated, or if the underlying intellectual property fails to provide the intended exclusivity, our competitors or other third parties could have the freedom to seek regulatory approval of, and to market, products and technologies identical or competitive to ours and we may be required to cease our development and commercialization of certain of our product candidates and technology. In addition, we may seek to obtain additional licenses from our licensors and, in connection with obtaining such licenses, we may agree to amend our existing licenses in a manner that may be more favorable to the licensors, including by agreeing to terms that could enable third parties, including our competitors, to receive licenses to a portion of the intellectual property that is subject to our existing licenses and to compete with any product candidates we may develop and our technology. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our License Agreement with Vernalis continues for an indefinite term and terminates, among other ways, under the following circumstances: (i) on its terms when royalties and other sums cease to be payable thereunder; (ii) by us at any time by providing 60 days’ prior notice; or (iii) upon an event of default, such as a material breach or insolvency of the other party. Upon termination, all rights and licenses granted by Vernalis will revert immediately to Vernalis; all outstanding sums as of the termination date will be immediately due and payable to Vernalis; and we will return or destroy, at Vernalis’s request, any regulatory or other materials provided by Vernalis pursuant to the License Agreement.

Disputes may also arise between us and Vernalis or future licensors regarding intellectual property subject to a license agreement, including:

	●	the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation-related issues;

	●	our financial or other obligations under the license agreement;

	●	whether, and the extent to which, our products, technology and processes infringe on intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;

	●	our diligence obligations under the license agreement and what activities satisfy those diligence obligations;

	●	the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensor(s); and

	●	the priority of invention of patented technology.

If we do not prevail in such disputes, we may lose any or all of our rights under such license agreements, experience significant delays in the development and commercialization of our products and technologies, or incur liability for damages, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. In addition, we may seek to obtain additional licenses from our licensor(s) and, in connection with obtaining such licenses, we may agree to amend our existing licenses in a manner that may be more favorable to the licensor(s), including by agreeing to terms that could enable third parties, including our competitors, to receive licenses to a portion of the intellectual property that is subject to our existing licenses and to compete with our products.

In addition, the agreements under which we currently and in the future license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize any affected products or services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Absent the license agreements, we may infringe patents subject to those agreements, and if the license agreements are terminated, we may be subject to litigation by the licensor. Litigation could result in substantial costs to us and distract our management. If we do not prevail, we may be required to pay damages, including treble damages, attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses and royalties or be enjoined from selling ANEB-001, which could adversely affect our ability to offer products or services, our ability to continue operations and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We currently have no product revenue and will need to raise additional capital in the future, which may be unavailable to us or may cause dilution or place significant restrictions on our ability to operate.*

We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue or cash flow to fund our operations. We expect that our cash at December 31, 2022, will enable us to fund our current and planned operating expenses and capital expenditures into the second quarter of calendar year 2024. We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be incorrect, and we may exhaust our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development of our programs, we are unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenses associated with completing the research and development of our product candidate. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue from sales of any of our current or future product candidates, we will need to seek additional equity or debt financing or potential collaboration, license or development agreements to provide the capital required to maintain or expand our operations, continue the development of our product candidate, build our sales and marketing capabilities, promote brand identity, develop or acquire complementary technologies, products or businesses, or provide for our working capital requirements and other operating and general corporate purposes.

We currently do not have any arrangements or credit facilities as a source of funds, and we make no assurance that we will be able to raise sufficient additional capital in the future if needed on acceptable terms, or at all. If such financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or is not available at all, we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate the development of our current or future product candidates and other business. This may materially adversely affect our operations and financial condition as well as our ability to achieve business objectives and maintain competitiveness.

If we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities and/or equity-linked securities, the percentage ownership of our existing stockholders may be reduced, and accordingly these stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may also issue equity securities and/or equity-linked securities that provide for rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of our common stock. Given our need for cash and that equity and equity-linked issuances are very common types of fundraising for companies like us, the risk of dilution is particularly significant for our stockholders.

Debt financing, if obtained, may involve agreements that include liens on our assets and covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions such as incurring additional debt. Debt financing could also be required to be repaid regardless of our operating results.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our current or future products or revenue streams or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.

Any additional capital raising efforts may divert the attention of our management from day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

We have limited operating history as a publicly-traded company, and our inexperience could materially and adversely affect us and our stockholders.

We became a public company in May 2021 and, therefore, we have limited operating history as a publicly traded company. Our board of directors and management team have overall responsibility for our management. As a publicly-traded company, we are required to develop and implement substantial control systems, policies and procedures in order to satisfy our periodic SEC reporting and Nasdaq obligations. We cannot assure you that management’s past experience will be sufficient to successfully develop and implement these systems, policies and procedures and to operate our company. Failure to do so could jeopardize our status as a public company, and the loss of such status may materially and adversely affect us and our stockholders.

Our current and future operations substantially depend on our Founder and Chief Executive Officer and our ability to hire other key personnel, the loss of any of whom could disrupt our business operations.

Our business depends and will continue to depend in substantial part on the continued service of Joseph F. Lawler, M.D., Ph.D., our founder and a director, and Simon Allen, our Chief Executive Officer and a director. The loss of the services of Dr. Lawler or Mr. Allen would significantly impede implementation and execution of our business strategy and may result in the failure to reach our goals. Further, the loss of either Dr. Lawler or Mr. Allen would be negatively perceived in the capital markets. We do not have “key-man” life insurance for our benefit on the lives of either Dr. Lawler or Mr. Allen.

Our future viability and ability to achieve sales and profits will also depend on our ability to attract, train, retain and motivate highly qualified personnel in the diverse areas required for continuing operations. There is a risk that we will be unable to attract, train, retain or motivate qualified personnel, both near term or in the future, and the failure to do so may severely damage our prospects.

Risks Related to our Intellectual Property

If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for important aspects of ANEB-001, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize products that are similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our current or future product candidates may be adversely affected.

Our commercial success will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to ANEB-001, our product candidate. On October 12, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued to us U.S. Patent No. 11,141,404, titled “Formulations and Methods for Treating Acute Cannabinoid Overdose.” The issued patent describes the use of our investigational drug ANEB-001 to treat ACI, and is expected to provide patent protection through at least 2040. We seek to protect our proprietary position by filing additional patent applications in the United States and abroad related to aspects of our product candidate that are important to our business and maintaining and protecting our existing patent filings. Given that the development of our product candidates is at an early stage, our intellectual property portfolio with respect to certain aspects of our product candidates is also at an early stage. For example, we have filed or intend to file additional patent applications related to aspects of ANEB-001, our product candidate; however, there can be no assurance that any such patent applications will issue as granted patents around the world. The requirements for patentability differ in certain countries, and certain countries have heightened requirements for patentability. Further, in some cases, we have only filed provisional patent applications on certain aspects of our technology and product candidate, and provisional patent applications are not eligible to become an issued patent until, among other things, we file a non-provisional patent application within 12 months of the filing date of the applicable provisional patent application. Any failure to file a non-provisional patent application within this timeline could cause us to lose the ability to obtain patent protection for the inventions disclosed in the associated provisional patent applications.

Further, any changes we make to our product candidates to cause them to have what we view as more advantageous properties may not be covered by our existing patent applications, and we may be required to file new applications and/or seek other forms of protection for any such altered product candidates. There can be no assurance that we would be able to secure patent protection that would adequately cover any such altered product candidates. There can also be no assurance that any such patent applications will be issued as granted patents, and even if they do issue, such patent claims may be insufficient to prevent third parties, such as our competitors, from utilizing our technology. Any failure to obtain or maintain patent protection related to aspects of our product candidates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Even if we obtain additional issued or granted patents with respect to our product candidates, we cannot be certain that such patents or any of our existing patents will not later be found to be invalid and/or unenforceable.

The patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Although we may enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, distribution partners, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection.

The patent position of pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our current and future patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued, and even if issued, the patents may not meaningfully protect our current or future product candidates, effectively prevent competitors and third parties from commercializing competitive products or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors or other third parties may be able to circumvent our patents by developing similar or alternative products in a non-infringing manner.

Moreover, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted after issuance. Patent applications we own currently or that in the future issue as patents may not be issued in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors or other third parties from competing with us, or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Any patents to which we have rights may be challenged, narrowed, circumvented, or invalidated by third parties. Consequently, we do not know whether our product candidates will be protectable or remain protected by valid and enforceable patents.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity, or enforceability, and our patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. We may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) or post-issuance worldwide become involved in opposition, derivation, revocation, reexamination, post-grant and inter partes review, or interference proceedings or other similar proceedings challenging our patent rights. An adverse determination 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 product candidates 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. Moreover, our patents may be subject to post-grant challenge proceedings in the United States, such as post-grant or inter partes review at the USPTO or oppositions proceedings in a foreign patent office, that challenge our priority of invention or other features of patentability with respect to our patents and patent applications. Such challenges may result in loss of patent rights, loss of exclusivity, or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated, or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our product candidates and other technologies. Such proceedings also may result in substantial cost and require significant time from our scientists and management, even if the eventual outcome is favorable to us.

If we are unsuccessful in any such proceeding or other priority or inventorship dispute, we may be required to obtain licenses from third parties, including parties involved in any such post-grant or opposition proceedings or other priority or inventorship disputes. Such licenses may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or may be non-exclusive. If we are unable to obtain and maintain such licenses, we may need to cease the development, manufacture, and commercialization of one or more of the product candidates we may develop. Termination of these licenses or reduction or elimination of our rights under these licenses may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated agreements with less favorable terms, or cause us to lose our rights under these licenses, including our rights to important intellectual property or technology. The loss of exclusivity or the narrowing of our owned and licensed patent claims could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products.

In addition, given the amount of time required for the development, testing, and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such product candidates might expire before or shortly after such product candidates are commercialized. As a result, our intellectual property may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

Some of our patents and patent applications may in the future be co-owned with third parties. In addition, future collaborators or licensors may co-own their patents and patent applications with other third parties with whom we do not have a direct relationship. Our rights to certain of these patents and patent applications may be dependent, in part, on inter-institutional or other operating agreements between the joint owners of such patents and patent applications, who are not parties to our license agreements. If our future collaborators or licensors do not have exclusive control of the grant of licenses under any such third-party co-owners’ interest in such patents or patent applications or we are otherwise unable to secure such exclusive rights, such co-owners may be able to license their rights to other third parties, including our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology to the extent such products and technology are not also covered by our intellectual property. In addition, we may need the cooperation of any such co-owners of our patents in order to enforce such patents against third parties, and such cooperation may not be provided to us.

We cannot be certain that our current and future patent rights will be effective in protecting ANEB-001 and related technologies. Failure to protect such assets may have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, financial condition and prospects.

If we do not obtain patent term extension and data and marketing exclusivity for any product candidates we may develop, our business may be materially harmed.

Depending upon the timing, duration, and specifics of any FDA marketing approval of ANEB-001 and related technologies we may develop, one or more of our U.S. patents may be eligible for limited patent term extension under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (the “Hatch-Waxman Act”). The Hatch-Waxman Act permits a patent term extension of up to five years as compensation for patent term lost during the FDA regulatory review process. A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond a total of 14 years from the date of product approval, only one patent may be extended and only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it, or a method for manufacturing it may be extended. Similar extensions as compensation for patent term lost during regulatory review processes are also available in certain foreign countries and territories, such as in Europe under a Supplementary Patent Certificate. However, we may not be granted an extension in the United States and/or foreign countries and territories because of, for example, failing to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, failing to apply within applicable deadlines, failing to apply prior to expiration of relevant patents, or otherwise failing to satisfy applicable requirements. Moreover, the applicable time period or the scope of patent protection afforded could be less than we request. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension or the term of any such extension is shorter than what we request, our competitors may obtain approval of competing products following our patent expiration, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects could be materially harmed.

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

Filing, prosecuting and defending patent rights on important aspects of ANEB-001 in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries outside the United States can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States. Further, licensing partners may not prosecute patents in certain jurisdictions in which we may obtain commercial rights, thereby precluding the possibility of later obtaining patent protection in these countries. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may develop their own products and may also export infringing products to territories where we may have patent protection, but enforcement may not be as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with ANEB-001, and our patent or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patent rights or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Furthermore, while we intend to protect our intellectual property rights in our expected significant markets, we cannot ensure that we will be able to initiate or maintain similar efforts in all jurisdictions in which we may wish to market our current or future product candidates. Accordingly, our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights in such countries may be inadequate, which may have an adverse effect on our ability to successfully commercialize our current or future product candidates in all of our expected significant foreign markets.

Many countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of such patent. If we or any of our future collaborators or licensors is forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position may be impaired, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects may be adversely affected. Changes in patent law in the United States and other jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our products.

Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States or foreign patent offices could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. Assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, prior to March 16, 2013, in the United States, the first to invent the claimed invention was entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, 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 (the America Invents Act) enacted on September 16, 2011, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming that other requirements for patentability are met, 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. A third-party that files a patent application in the USPTO on or after March 16, 2013, but before us could therefore 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 going forward of the time from invention to filing of a patent application. Since patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing or until issuance, we cannot be certain that we were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to ANEB-001 or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our 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 United States 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 patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Changes in European patent practice could also increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. No earlier than June 1, 2023, European applications will soon have the option, upon grant of a patent, of becoming a Unitary Patent which will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court, or UPC. This will be a significant change in European patent practice. As the UPC is a new court system, there is no precedent for the court, increasing the uncertainty of any patent litigation or revocation proceeding in Europe.

In addition, the patent positions of companies in the development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals are particularly uncertain. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have narrowed the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weakened the rights of patent owners in certain situations. This combination of events has created uncertainty with respect to the validity and enforceability of patents, once obtained. Depending on future actions by the U.S. Congress, the federal courts, and the USPTO, the laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could have a material adverse effect on our existing patent portfolio and our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property in the future.

The expiration or loss of patent protection may adversely affect our future revenues and operating earnings.

Patent protection is important in the development and eventual commercialization of our product candidate. Patents covering our product candidate normally provide market exclusivity, which is important in order for our product candidate to become profitable. We obtained one patent in October 2021, which is expected to provide patent protection through 2040. Even if we are successful in obtaining further patents, patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the natural expiration of a utility patent is generally 20 years after it is filed. Various extensions may be available; however, the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Without patent protection, we may be open to competition from generic versions of such compositions, methods and devices. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar to ours.

Risks Related to Product Development, Regulatory Approval, Manufacturing and Commercialization

Delays in the completion of, or the termination of, a clinical trial for ANEB-001, our lead drug candidate, could adversely affect our business.

Clinical trials are very expensive, time-consuming, unpredictable and difficult to design and implement. The results of clinical trials may be unfavorable, they may continue for several years, and they may take significantly longer to complete and involve significantly more costs than expected. Delays in the commencement or completion of clinical testing could significantly affect product development costs and plans with respect to our drug candidate. The commencement and completion of clinical trials can be delayed and experience difficulties for a number of reasons, including delays and difficulties caused by circumstances over which we may have no control. For instance, approvals of the scope, design or trial site may not be obtained from the FDA and other required bodies in a timely manner or at all, agreements with acceptable terms may not be reached in a timely manner or at all with CROs to conduct the trials, a sufficient number of subjects may not be recruited and enrolled in the trials, and third-party manufacturers of the materials for use in the trials may encounter delays and problems in the manufacturing process, including failure to produce materials in sufficient quantities or of an acceptable quality to complete the trials. Clinical trial delays could shorten any periods during which our products have patent protection and may allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do, which could impair our ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.

We are relying on clinical trials performed by our licensor Vernalis, a third party, for a different indication, and the FDA or a foreign equivalent regulator may disagree with our ability to reference clinical data from third-party trials.*

As part of the preclinical characterization of ANEB-001, Vernalis demonstrated that oral administration of ANEB-001 reduced hypolocomotion in mice after 30 minutes, effectively reversing the actions of THC. In 2006 and 2007, two Phase 1 studies for the treatment of obesity were conducted by Vernalis for ANEB-001. The Vernalis clinical trials were not conducted or overseen by us. Nonetheless, we are relying on these studies performed by a third party for a different indication. The FDA or a foreign equivalent regulator may disagree with our ability to reference the clinical data generated by the third-party trials. Should this occur, we are likely to experience delays in our ability to receive regulatory approval and commercialize our product candidate.

If we are not able to obtain any required regulatory approvals for ANEB-001, we will not be able to commercialize our lead drug candidate and our ability to generate revenue will be limited.

Our drug candidate is a treatment in development for ACI. We must successfully complete clinical trials for our drug candidate before we can apply for marketing approval. Even if we complete our clinical trials, it does not assure marketing approval. Our clinical trials may be unsuccessful, which would materially harm our business. Even if our initial clinical trials are successful, we are required to conduct additional clinical trials to establish our drug candidate’s safety and efficacy, before an NDA, or its foreign equivalents can be filed with the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities for marketing approval of our drug candidate.

Success in early phases of preclinical and clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. We may experience unforeseen events during, or as a result of, the clinical trial process that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our drug candidate. The research, testing, manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, approval, sale, marketing, advertising and promotion, pricing, export, import and distribution of drug products are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory authorities in the United States and other countries, which regulations differ from country to country. We are not permitted to market our drug in the United States until we receive approval of an NDA from the FDA, or in any foreign countries until we receive the requisite approval from such countries. In the United States, the FDA generally requires the completion of clinical trials of each drug to establish its safety and efficacy and extensive pharmaceutical development to ensure its quality before an NDA is approved. Regulatory authorities in other jurisdictions impose similar requirements. Of the large number of drugs in development, only a small percentage result in the submission of an NDA to the FDA and even fewer are eventually approved for commercialization. If our development efforts for our drug candidate, including regulatory approval, are not successful for its planned indications, or if adequate demand for our drug candidate is not generated, our business will be materially adversely affected.

Our success depends on the receipt of regulatory approval and the issuance of such regulatory approvals is uncertain and subject to a number of risks, including the following:

	●	the results of toxicology studies may not support the filing of an IND for our drug candidate or the FDA may require additional toxicology studies;

	●	the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities or IRB may disagree with the design or implementation of our clinical trials;

	●	it may be difficult to run clinical trials involving the administration of THC to subjects because THC is a controlled substance and is illegal in certain jurisdictions;

	●	we may not be able to provide acceptable evidence of our drug candidate’s safety and efficacy;

	●	the results of our clinical trials may not be satisfactory or may not meet the level of statistical or clinical significance required by the FDA or other regulatory agencies for marketing approval;

	●	the dosing of our drug candidate in a particular clinical trial may not be at an optimal level;

	●	patients in our clinical trials may suffer adverse effects for reasons that may or may not be related to our drug candidate;

	●	the data collected from clinical trials may not be sufficient to support the submission of an NDA or other submission or to obtain regulatory approval in the United States or elsewhere;

	●	the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may fail to approve the manufacturing processes or facilities of third-party manufacturers with which we contract for clinical and commercial supplies; and

	●	the approval policies or regulations of the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may significantly change in a manner rendering our clinical data insufficient for approval.

Failure to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidate for the foregoing, or any other reasons, will prevent us from commercializing our drug candidate, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired. We cannot guarantee that regulators will agree with our assessment of the results of our ongoing and future clinical trials or that such trials will be successful. The FDA and other regulators have substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional clinical trials, or preclinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval of our drug candidate.

We have not submitted an NDA or received regulatory approval to market our drug candidate in any jurisdiction. We have no experience in filing the applications necessary to gain regulatory approvals and expect to rely on consultants and third party CROs, with expertise in this area to assist us in this process. Securing regulatory approvals to market a product requires the submission of preclinical, clinical, and/or pharmacokinetic data, information about product manufacturing processes and inspection of facilities and supporting information to the appropriate regulatory authorities for each therapeutic indication to establish a drug candidate’s safety and efficacy for each indication. Our drug candidate may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude us from obtaining regulatory approval or prevent or limit commercial use with respect to one or all intended indications.

The process of obtaining regulatory approvals is expensive, often takes many years, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon, among other things, the type, complexity and novelty of the drug candidate involved, the jurisdiction in which regulatory approval is sought and the substantial discretion of the regulatory authorities. Changes in regulatory approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for a submitted product application may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application.

Even if we receive regulatory approval for ANEB-001, our lead drug candidate, we may not be able to successfully commercialize the product and the revenue that we generate from its sales, if any, may be limited.

If approved for marketing, the commercial success of ANEB-001 will depend upon the product’s acceptance by the medical community, including physicians, patients and healthcare payors. The degree of market

acceptance for our drug candidate will depend on a number of factors, including:

	●	demonstration of clinical safety and efficacy;

	●	relative convenience, dosing burden and ease of administration;

	●	the prevalence and severity of any adverse effects;

	●	the willingness of physicians to prescribe our drug candidate, and the target patient population to try new therapies;

	●	efficacy of our drug candidate compared to competing products;

	●	the introduction of any new products that may in the future become available targeting indications for which our drug candidate may be approved;

	●	new procedures or therapies that may reduce the incidences of any of the indications in which our drug candidate may show utility;

	●	pricing and cost-effectiveness;

	●	the inclusion or omission of our drug candidate in applicable therapeutic and vaccine guidelines;

	●	the effectiveness of our own or any future collaborators’ sales and marketing strategies;

	●	limitations or warnings contained in approved labeling from regulatory authorities;

	●	our ability to obtain and maintain sufficient third-party coverage or reimbursement from government healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers and other third-party payors or to receive the necessary pricing approvals from government bodies regulating the pricing and usage of therapeutics; and

	●	the willingness of patients to pay out-of-pocket in the absence of third-party coverage or reimbursement or government pricing approvals.

If our drug candidate is approved, but does not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by physicians, healthcare payors and patients, we may not generate sufficient revenue and we may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability. Our efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors on the benefits of our drug candidates may require significant resources and may never be successful.

In addition, even if we obtain regulatory approvals, the timing or scope of any approvals may prohibit or reduce our ability to commercialize our drug candidate successfully. For example, if the approval process takes too long, we may miss market opportunities and give other companies the ability to develop competing products or establish market dominance. Any regulatory approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render our drug candidate not commercially viable. For example, regulatory authorities may approve our drug candidate for fewer or more limited indications than we request, may not approve the price we intend to charge for our drug candidate, may grant approval contingent on the performance of costly post-marketing clinical trials, or may approve our drug candidate with a label that does not include the labeling claims necessary or desirable for the successful commercialization of that indication. Further, the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities may place conditions on approvals or require risk management plans or a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”) to assure the safe use of the drug. If the FDA concludes a REMS is needed, the sponsor of the NDA must submit a proposed REMS; the FDA will not approve the NDA without an approved REMS, if required. A REMS could include medication guides, physician communication plans, or elements to assure safe use, such as restricted distribution methods, patient registries and other risk minimization tools. The FDA may also require a REMS for an approved product when new safety information emerges. Any of these limitations on approval or marketing could restrict the commercial promotion, distribution, prescription or dispensing of our drug candidate. Moreover, product approvals may be withdrawn for non-compliance with regulatory standards or if problems occur following the initial marketing of the product. Any of the foregoing scenarios could materially harm the commercial success of our drug candidate.

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

From time to time, we may publicly disclose preliminary, interim or topline data from our preclinical studies or clinical trials, which may be subject to change following a more comprehensive review of the data related to the particular study or trial. We also make assumptions, estimations, calculations and conclusions as part of our analyses of data, and we may not have received or had the opportunity to fully and carefully evaluate all data. As a result, the interim, topline or preliminary results that we report may differ from future results of the same studies, or different conclusions or considerations may qualify such results, once additional data have been received and fully evaluated. Topline data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim, topline and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Adverse differences between preliminary, interim or topline data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.

Further, others, including regulatory agencies, may not accept or agree with our assumptions, estimates, calculations, conclusions or analyses or may interpret or weigh the importance of data differently, which could impact the approvability or commercialization of the particular drug candidate and our company in general. In addition, the information we choose to publicly disclose regarding a particular study or clinical trial is based on what is typically extensive information, and you or others may not agree with what we determine to be material or otherwise appropriate information to include in our disclosure, and any information we determine not to disclose may ultimately be deemed significant with respect to future decisions, conclusions, views, activities or otherwise regarding a particular drug candidate or our business. If the interim, topline, or preliminary data that we report differ from actual results, or if others, including regulatory authorities, disagree with the conclusions reached, our ability to obtain approval for and commercialize our drug candidates, our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition may be harmed.

Even if we obtain marketing approval for ANEB-001, we will be subject to ongoing obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. Additionally, ANEB-001 could be subject to labeling and other restrictions and withdrawal from the market and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with ANEB-001.

Even if we obtain regulatory approval for ANEB-001 for an indication, the FDA or foreign equivalent may still impose significant restrictions on their indicated uses or marketing or the conditions of approval, or impose ongoing requirements for potentially costly and time-consuming post-approval studies and post-market surveillance to monitor safety and efficacy. Our drug candidate will also be subject to ongoing regulatory requirements governing the manufacturing, labeling, packaging, storage, distribution, safety surveillance, advertising, promotion, recordkeeping and reporting of adverse events and other post-market information. These requirements include registration with the FDA, as well as continued compliance with current GCP regulations, for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. In addition, manufacturers of drug products and their facilities are subject to continual review and periodic inspections by the FDA and other regulatory authorities for compliance with CGMP requirements relating to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents.

The FDA has the authority to require a REMS as part of an NDA or after approval, which may impose further requirements or restrictions on the distribution or use of an approved drug, such as limiting prescribing to certain physicians or medical centers that have undergone specialized training, limiting treatment to patients who meet certain safe-use criteria or requiring patient testing, monitoring and/or enrollment in a registry.

With respect to sales and marketing activities by us or any future partner, advertising and promotional materials must comply with FDA rules in addition to other applicable federal, state and local laws in the United States and similar legal requirements in other countries. Application holders must obtain FDA approval for product and manufacturing changes, depending on the nature of the change.

If we or a regulatory agency discovers previously unknown problems with our product, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, problems with the facility where the product is manufactured, or we or our manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, we may be subject to the following administrative or judicial sanctions:

	●	restrictions on the manufacturing or marketing of the product (including complete withdrawal or recall of the product);

	●	warning letters or holds on post-approval clinical trials;

	●	FDA’s refusal to approve pending NDA’s or supplements to approved NDA’s;

	●	suspension or revocation of product license approvals;

	●	product seizures or detentions;

	●	FDA’s refusal to allow imports or exports of products; or

	●	civil penalties, criminal penalties or injunctions.

The occurrence of any event or penalty described above may inhibit our ability to commercialize our drug candidate and generate revenue. Adverse regulatory action, whether pre- or post-approval, can also potentially lead to product liability claims and increase our product liability exposure.

Any products we develop may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party coverage and reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives, thereby harming our business.

In the United States, commercial sales of any products subject to regulatory approval could be conditioned on whether third-party payors (such as government authorities, managed care providers, private health insurers and other organizations) are able to provide coverage and reimbursement in connection with the products.

Coverage and reimbursement of costs are areas of significant uncertainty for any products subject to regulatory approval. The process for determining coverage versus reimbursement may vary widely among third-party payors. Third-party payors may also impose additional requirements on and restrictions to coverage and reimbursement, which could influence the purchase of certain healthcare services and products.

Third-party payors may limit coverage to specific drugs on an approved list, or formulary, which could omit some FDA-approved drugs for a particular indication. Third-party payors may also place drugs at certain formulary levels that result in a lower reimbursement and higher cost-sharing obligation for patients. A third-party payor’s decision to provide coverage for a product may not necessarily imply approval of an adequate reimbursement rate. In addition, the unavailability of third-party reimbursement may affect our ability to maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development. Coverage by one third-party payor may not necessarily indicate or imply coverage or reimbursement by other third-party payors. Also, the level or scope of coverage and reimbursement may vary significantly among third-party payors. Further, commercial third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policies and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. In addition to scrutinizing the safety and efficacy of medical products and services, third-party payors have increasingly begun to examine and challenge the price, cost-effectiveness and necessity of certain products and services. Thus, to obtain and maintain coverage and reimbursement for any products approved for sale, the conducting of expensive pharmacoeconomic studies may be required to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of such products. There is a chance that third-party payors may not consider our product medically necessary or cost-effective. If third-party payors make such a determination, they may not cover the product after approval as a benefit under their plans. If third-party payors do cover the product, the returns from sales of our product may not sufficiently yield a profit. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage, and adequate reimbursement for new therapeutics we develop and for which we obtain regulatory approval could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our financial condition.

Furthermore, federal and state governmental authorities have increasingly shown an interest in implementing cost containment programs to limit government-paid healthcare costs. Such cost containment programs include restrictions on coverage and reimbursement, price controls and requirements to substitute branded prescription drugs with generic products. The adoption and expansion of such restrictive policies and controls could impose limitations or exclusions from coverage for our product.

In the United States, we expect third-party payors and government authorities to increase emphasis on managed care and cost containment measures, which will impact the pricing and coverage for pharmaceutical products. Coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if we achieve favorable coverage and reimbursement status for an approved product, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates could still be implemented in the future.

Current legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to commercialize ANEB-001 and affect the prices we may obtain and our current and future relationships with healthcare professionals, clinical investigators, consultants, patient organizations, customers, CROs and third-party payors.

Healthcare providers and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which the Company obtains marketing approval. The Company’s current and future arrangements with healthcare professionals, including HCPs, clinical investigators, CROs, third-party payors and customers may expose it to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which the Company markets, sells and distributes its products for which it obtains marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations include the following:

	●	the federal Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, persons and entities from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward, or in return for, either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made under a federal healthcare program such as Medicare and Medicaid. Moreover, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “ACA”) provides that the government may assert that a claim including items or services resulting from a violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the civil False Claims Act;

	●	the federal civil and criminal false claims, including the civil False Claims Act, which can be enforced by private citizens through civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, and civil monetary penalties laws prohibit individuals or entities from, among other things, knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government;

	●	the FDCA, which prohibits, among other things, the adulteration or misbranding of drugs, biologics and medical devices;

	●	analogous state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws which may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers, state laws that require biotechnology companies to comply with the biotechnology industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government and may require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures, state laws that require biotechnology companies to report information on the pricing of certain drug products, state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives;

	●	the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) prohibits, among other things, executing or attempting to execute a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program or making false statements relating to healthcare matters;

	●	federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws, which broadly regulate marketplace activities and activities that potentially harm consumers;

	●	the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires applicable manufacturers of covered drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program, with specific exceptions, to annually report to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) information regarding payments and other transfers of value to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), other health care professionals (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners) and teaching hospitals, as well as information regarding ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members; and

	●	HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and their implementing regulations, also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, on “covered entities,” including certain healthcare providers, health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and their respective “business associates” that create, receive, maintain or transmit individually identifiable health information for or on behalf of a covered entity as well as their covered subcontractors, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information, as well as analogous state and foreign laws that govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts;

	●	analogous state laws and regulations, such as, state anti-kickback and false claims laws potentially applicable to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third-party payors, including private insurers; and some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government in addition to requiring drug manufacturers to report information related to payments to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures, state and local laws that require the registration of pharmaceutical sales representatives, and state laws governing the privacy and security of personal data (including personal health information) in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts; and state transparency laws that require the reporting of certain pricing information; among other state laws.

Efforts to ensure that the Company’s current and future business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve on-going substantial costs. If the Company’s operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to it, it may be subject to significant penalties, including civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid or similar programs in other countries or jurisdictions, integrity oversight and reporting obligations, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings and the curtailment or restructuring of the Company’s operations. Defending against any such actions can be costly, time-consuming and may require significant financial and personnel resources. Therefore, even if the Company is successful in defending against any such actions that may be brought against it, its business may be impaired.

ANEB-001, our lead drug candidate, may face competition sooner than expected.

Our success will depend in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection for important aspects of ANEB-001 and technologies and to prevent third parties from infringing upon our proprietary rights. We must also operate without infringing upon patents and proprietary rights of others, including by obtaining appropriate licenses to patents or other proprietary rights held by third parties, if necessary. However, the applications we have filed or may file in the future may never yield patents that protect our inventions and intellectual property assets. Failure to obtain patents that sufficiently cover our formulations and technologies would limit our protection against compounding pharmacies, outsourcing facilities, generic drug manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and other parties who may seek to copy our products, produce products substantially similar to ours or use technologies substantially similar to those we own.

Any termination or suspension of, or delays in the commencement or completion of, any necessary studies of ANEB-001, our lead drug candidate, for any indications could result in increased costs to us, delay or limit our ability to generate revenue and adversely affect our commercial prospects.

The commencement and completion of clinical studies can be delayed for a number of reasons, including delays related to:

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the FDA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority failing to grant permission to proceed and placing the clinical study on hold;

	●	subjects for clinical testing failing to enroll or remain in our trials at the rate we expect;

	●	a facility manufacturing our drug candidate being ordered by the FDA or other government or regulatory authorities to temporarily or permanently shut down due to violations of CGMP requirements or other applicable requirements, or contamination of our drug candidate in the manufacturing process;

	●	any changes to our manufacturing process that may be necessary or desired;

	●	subjects choosing an alternative treatment for the indications for which we are developing our drug candidate, or participating in competing clinical studies;

	●	subjects experiencing severe or unexpected drug-related adverse effects;

	●	reports from clinical testing on similar technologies and products raising safety and/or efficacy concerns;

	●