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We may fail to gain market acceptance for new products or services; and/or
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We may lose to competitors, some of whom may have greater resources than we do. This competition may intensify due to the ongoing consolidation in the biospecimen industry, which may increase our costs to pursue opportunities.
If we fail to properly evaluate and execute existing and new business opportunities properly, we may not achieve anticipated benefits and may incur increased costs. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully capitalize on growth opportunities, which may adversely impact our business model, revenues, results of operations, and financial condition.
International operation expansion could expose us to additional risks which could harm our business, prospects, results of operation, and financial condition.
We operate internationally and expect to expand internationally. For example, we procure specimens from sites outside of the United States and we also distribute samples to organizations located around the world. As of June 30, 2024, we had customers in 26 countries and supply sites in nine (9) countries. International expansion exposes us to additional risks, including:
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changes in local political, economic, social, and labor conditions, which may adversely affect our business;
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risks associated with trade restrictions and foreign import requirements, including the importation and exportation of our solutions, as well as changes in trade, tariffs, restrictions or requirements;
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heightened risks of unethical, unfair or corrupt business practices, actual or claimed, in certain geographies;
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fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which may make doing business with us less appealing as our contracts are generally denominated in U.S. dollars;
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greater difficulty in enforcing contracts;
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lack of brand awareness that can make commercializing our products more difficult and expensive;
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management communication and integration problems resulting from cultural differences and geographic dispersion;
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the uncertainty and limitation of protection for intellectual property rights in some countries;
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increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities as a result of being a public company;
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lack of familiarity with local laws, customs and practices, and laws and business practices favoring local competitors or partners;
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potentially different pricing environments, longer payment cycles in some countries, increased credit risk, and higher levels of payment fraud;
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uncertainty regarding liability for products and services, including uncertainty as a result of local laws and lack of legal precedent;
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different employee/employer relationships, existence of workers’ councils and labor unions, and other challenges caused by distance, language, and cultural differences, making it harder to do business in certain jurisdictions;
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compliance with complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations applicable to international operations may increase the cost of doing business in international jurisdictions. These numerous and sometimes conflicting laws and regulations include internal control and disclosure rules, data privacy requirements, research ethics and compliance laws, anti-corruption laws, and anti-competition regulations, among others. Violations of these laws and regulations could result in fines and penalties, criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business and on our ability to offer our products and services in one or more countries, and could also materially affect our brand, our international expansion efforts, our ability to attract and retain employees, our business, and our operating results; and