Heron Therapeutics (HRTX) Risk Analysis

We are subject to healthcare fraud and abuse regulations that are enforced by the federal government and the states in which we conduct our business, as well as foreign jurisdictions in which we may conduct business. Healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any drug product with marketing approval. Our future arrangements with third-party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our Products with marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal, state and foreign healthcare laws and regulations include, but are not limited to, the following: - the Federal healthcare programs' Anti-Kickback Law, which prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, receiving, offering or paying remuneration, directly or indirectly, in exchange for or to induce either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, lease, order or recommendation of, any good or service for which payment may be made under federal healthcare programs such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs;- federal false claims laws, which prohibit, among other things, individuals or entities from knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, claims for payment from Medicare, Medicaid or other federal healthcare programs that are false or fraudulent. This false claims liability may attach in the event that a company is found to have knowingly submitted false average sales price, best price or other pricing data to the government or to have unlawfully promoted its drug products;- the federal Civil Monetary Penalties law, which prohibits, among other things, offering or transferring remuneration to a federal healthcare beneficiary that a person knows or should know is likely to influence the beneficiary's decision to order or receive items or services reimbursable by the government from a particular provider or supplier;- the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") also prohibits, among other actions, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private third-party payors, knowingly and willfully embezzling or stealing from a healthcare benefit program, willfully obstructing a criminal investigation of a healthcare offense, and knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services;- federal "sunshine" laws, now known as Open Payments, that require transparency regarding financial arrangements with healthcare providers, such as the reporting and disclosure requirements imposed by the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act within PPACA on drug manufacturers regarding any "payment or transfer of value" made or distributed to physicians, other healthcare professionals, and teaching hospitals as well as ownership and investment interests held by such physicians and their family;- the Drug Supply Chain Security Act ("DSCSA"), which imposes obligations on entities in the commercial product supply chain, including manufacturers, to identify and track prescription drugs as they are distributed in the United States;- state law equivalents of each of the above federal laws, such as anti-kickback and false claims laws, which may apply to items or services reimbursed by any third-party payor, including commercial insurers, state transparency laws that require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures and pricing information, state laws limiting interactions between pharmaceutical manufacturers and members of the healthcare industry, state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the industry's voluntary compliance guidelines and the applicable guidance promulgated by the federal government or otherwise restrict payments that may be made to healthcare providers and other potential referral sources, marketing restrictions and state laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by federal laws, thus complicating compliance efforts; and;- increasingly complex standards for complying with foreign laws and regulations, including those of the EU, that may differ substantially from country to country and may conflict with corresponding U.S. laws and regulations. The risk of being found in violation of these laws is increased by the fact that many of them have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of interpretations. Moreover, certain healthcare reform legislation has strengthened many of these laws. For example, the PPACA, among other things, amends the intent requirement of the federal anti-kickback and criminal healthcare fraud statutes to clarify that a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of this statute or specific intent to violate it. In addition, PPACA provides 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 false claims statutes. Finally,some states, such as California, Massachusetts and Vermont, mandate implementation of commercial compliance programs to ensure compliance with these laws. In addition, a number of states have laws that require pharmaceutical companies to track and report payments, gifts and other benefits provided to physicians and other healthcare professionals and entities. The FCPA and similar anti-bribery laws in other jurisdictions generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from providing money or anything of value to officials of foreign governments, foreign political parties, or international organizations with the intent to obtain or retain business or seek a business advantage. A determination that our operations or activities are not, or were not, in compliance with U.S. or foreign laws or regulations could result in the imposition of substantial fines, interruptions of business, loss of supplier, vendor or other third-party relationships, termination of necessary licenses and permits, and other legal or equitable sanctions. Other internal or government investigations or legal or regulatory proceedings, including lawsuits brought by private litigants, may also follow as a consequence. Changes in laws affecting the healthcare industry could also adversely affect our revenues and profitability, including new laws, regulations or judicial decisions, or new interpretations of existing laws, regulations or decisions related to patent protection and enforcement, healthcare availability, and drug product pricing and marketing. Changes in FDA regulations and regulations issued by other regulatory agencies inside and outside of the U.S., including new or different approval requirements, timelines and processes, may also require additional safety monitoring, labeling changes, restrictions on product distribution or other measures that could increase our costs of doing business and adversely affect the market for our Products. The enactment in the U.S. of healthcare reform, new legislation or implementation of existing statutory provisions on importation of lower-cost competing drugs from other jurisdictions and legislation on comparative effectiveness research are examples of previously enacted and possible future changes in laws that could adversely affect our business. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government-funded healthcare programs, like Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. Any penalties, damages, fines, curtailment or restructuring of our operations could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results. Although compliance programs can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, the risks cannot be entirely eliminated. Any action against us for violation of these laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management's attention from the operation of our business. Moreover, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable federal, state and foreign privacy, security and fraud laws may prove costly.

In the ordinary course of business, we collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, "processing") personal data and other sensitive information, including proprietary and confidential business data, trade secrets, intellectual property, sensitive third-party data, business plans, transactions and financial information (collectively, "sensitive data"). Our data processing activities may subject us to numerous data privacy and security obligations, such as various laws, regulations, guidance, industry standards, external and internal privacy and security policies, contractual requirements, and other obligations relating to data privacy and security. In the U.S., federal, state, and local governments have enacted numerous data privacy and security laws, including data breach notification laws, personal data privacy laws, consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws). For example, the CCPA requires businesses to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and honor requests of California residents to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA provides for civil penalties of up to $7,500 per violation and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages. In addition, the CPRA, which became operative January 1, 2023, expanded the CCPA's requirements, including applying to personal information of business representatives and employees and establishing a new regulatory agency to implement and enforce the law. Other states, such as Virginia and Colorado, have also passed comprehensive data privacy and security laws, and similar laws are being considered in several other states, as well as at the federal and local levels. These developments may further complicate compliance efforts and may increase legal risk and compliance costs for us and the third parties upon whom we rely. For example, HIPAA imposes specific requirements relating to the privacy, security, and transmission of individually identifiable health information. Healthcare providers who prescribe our products and from whom we may obtain patient health information are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA. We currently are not a HIPAA covered entity, do not intend to become one, and we do not operate as a business associate to any covered entities. We could be subject to criminal penalties if we knowingly obtain individually identifiable health information from a covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA or for aiding and abetting the violation of HIPAA. We are unable to predict whether our actions could be subject to prosecution in the event of an impermissible disclosure of health information to us. Outside the U.S., an increasing number of laws, regulations, and industry standards may govern data privacy and security. For example, GDPR imposes strict obligations and restrictions on the ability to collect, analyze and transfer personal data, including health data from clinical trials and adverse event reporting. In particular, these obligations and restrictions concern, when required, the consent of the individuals to whom the personal data relates, the information provided to the individuals, the transfer of personal data out of the EU or the United Kingdom, security breach notifications, security and confidentiality of the personal data and imposition of substantial potential fines for breaches of the data protection obligations. In addition, the EU and other jurisdictions have enacted laws restricting the transfer of personal data from the EU and other jurisdictions to the United States due to data localization requirements or limitations on cross-border data flows. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EU and United Kingdom to the United States in compliance with law, these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States. In addition to data privacy and security laws, we may be contractually subject to industry standards adopted by industry groups and may become subject to such obligations in the future. We may also be bound by other contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. We may publish privacy policies, marketing materials, and other statements, such as compliance with certain certifications or self-regulatory principles, regarding data privacy and security. If these policies, materials or statements are found to be deficient, lacking in transparency, deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our practices, we may be subject to investigation, enforcement actions by regulators, or other adverse consequences. Obligations related to data privacy and security are quickly changing, becoming increasingly stringent, and creating regulatory uncertainty. Additionally, these obligations may be subject to differing applications and interpretations, which may be inconsistent or conflict among jurisdictions. Preparing for and complying with these obligations requires us to devote significant resources and may necessitate changes to our services, information technologies, systems, and practices and to those of any third parties that process personal data on our behalf. We may at times fail (or be perceived to have failed) in our efforts to comply with our data privacy and security obligations. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties on whom we rely may fail to comply with such obligations, which could negatively impact our business operations. If we or the third parties on which we rely fail, or are perceived to have failed, to address or comply with applicable data privacy and security obligations, we could face significant consequences, including but not limited to: government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, penalties, audits, inspections, and similar); litigation (including class-action claims); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; bans on processing personal data; and orders to destroy or not use personal data. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, or financial condition, including but not limited to: loss of customers; inability to process personal data or to operate in certain jurisdictions; limited ability to develop or commercialize our products; expenditure of time and resources to defend any claim or inquiry; adverse publicity; or substantial changes to our business model or operations.

On October 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") issued its final rule for the 2026 calendar-year Physician Fee Schedule ("BFSF Certification Final Rule"), which requires manufacturers to obtain certifications from their third-party vendors confirming that Bona Fide Service Fees ("BFSFs") associated with Part B drug sales are not passed through, in whole or in part, to any client or customer, regardless of whether that entity takes title to the drug. Initially, manufacturers were required to comply with the BSFS Certification Final Rule beginning January 1, 2026, but the requirement for compliance was later delayed to April 1,2026. In addition to submitting these certifications to CMS, manufacturers must maintain detailed documentation supporting the reasonable assumptions used to calculate Average Sales Price ("ASP"), including the methodologies used to classify BFSFs for each applicable contract. These new requirements may increase the risk that certain fees could be reclassified as price concessions, which would negatively affect a product's ASP. Any such reclassification could reduce future reimbursement for our product(s) under Medicare Part B, which may materially and adversely impact our revenue.

Fast Track designation is intended to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new therapies to treat serious conditions with unmet medical needs by providing sponsors with the opportunity for frequent interactions with the FDA. Breakthrough Therapy designation is designed to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat serious conditions and for which preliminary clinical evidence indicates substantial improvement over available therapies on clinically significant endpoint(s). Priority Review designation is for drugs that, if approved, would be significant improvements in the safety or effectiveness of the treatment or prevention of serious conditions. Product candidates that receive Fast Track or Breakthrough Therapy designation may receive more frequent interactions with the FDA regarding the product candidate's development plan and clinical trials and may be eligible for the FDA's Rolling Review and Priority Review. Priority Review designation is intended to direct overall attention and resources of the FDA to the evaluation of such applications and means that the FDA's goal is to take action on such applications within six months, compared to 10 months under standard review. We can provide no assurances that any of our Products or product candidates that receive Fast Track, Breakthrough Therapy, Priority Review or similar designations in the U.S. or in any other regulatory jurisdictions will receive regulatory approval any sooner than other Products or product candidates that do not have such designations, or at all. The FDA or any foreign regulatory authorities may also withdraw or revoke Fast Track, Breakthrough Therapy, Priority Review or similar designations, or elect to treat designated candidates in a manner different from what was originally indicated, if they determine that any of our Products or product candidates that receive such designations no longer meet the relevant criteria. Failure to realize the potential benefits of these designations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

In the event we pursue the right to market and sell our Products in jurisdictions other than the U.S., we or our potential third-party partners would be required to obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements in each foreign country. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the U.S. generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the U.S., it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. In the event we choose to pursue them, we or our potential third-party partners may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the U.S. on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the U.S. does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. However, failure to obtain approval in one jurisdiction may impact our or our potential third-party partners' ability to obtain approval elsewhere. If we or our potential third-party partners are unable in the future to obtain approval of a product candidate by regulatory authorities in non-U.S. jurisdictions, the commercial prospects of that product candidate may be significantly diminished and our business prospects could decline.

We may publicly disclose interim, topline, or preliminary data from our clinical trials, which is based on a preliminary analysis of then-available data, and the results and related findings and conclusions are subject to change following a full analysis of all data related to the particular 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 trials, 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, topline data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. We may also disclose interim data from our clinical trials. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Adverse differences between interim, topline or preliminary 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 value of the particular program, the approvability or commercialization of the particular product candidate or product and our business 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 is the 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, product 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 expanded indications for our Products, or to obtain approvals for and commercialize our product candidates, our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition may be harmed.

Our long-term viability and growth will depend on the successful development of products through our research and development activities. Product development is very expensive and involves a high degree of risk. Only a small number of research and development programs result in the commercialization of a product. Success in preclinical work or early-stage clinical trials does not ensure that later-stage or larger-scale clinical trials will be successful. Our ability to complete our clinical trials in a timely fashion depends in large part on a number of key factors, including protocol design, regulatory and IRB approval, the rate of patient enrollment in clinical trials and compliance with extensive cGCP. In addition, because we fund the development of our Products and product candidates, we may not be able to continue to fund all such development efforts to completion or to provide the support necessary to perform the clinical trials, obtain regulatory approvals, or market any approved products. If our drug delivery technologies or product development efforts fail to result in the successful development and commercialization of our Products and product candidates, or if our new Products do not perform as anticipated, such events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

We have established an internal commercial organization for the sale, marketing and distribution of our Products in the U.S. The development of a sales organization to market our Products is expensive and time consuming, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to successfully develop this capacity or that this function will execute as expected. If we are unable to establish and maintain adequate sales, marketing and distribution capabilities, whether independently or with third parties, we may not be able to generate product revenue and our business and results of operations will suffer. Currently, we only have approval to market and sell our Products in the U.S and do not have current plans to expand to international markets. Furthermore, our internal sales and marketing organization is not currently structured or staffed to launch products on an international level and, therefore, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our Products outside of the U.S. In order to commercialize our Products in jurisdictions other than the U.S., we would be required to obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements in each foreign country. If we decide to seek the assistance of third parties with international expertise to help commercialize our Products outside of the U.S., we may not be successful in finding willing third parties and, even if we are able to find willing third parties, they might not be able to successfully obtain the approvals and take the steps needed to commercialize our Products. If we decide to commercialize our Products outside of the U.S. without the assistance of third parties with international expertise, it may take longer than expected to obtain the approvals and take the steps needed to commercialize them. As a result, we may decide to delay or abandon development efforts in certain markets. Any such delay or abandonment may have an adverse effect on the benefits otherwise expected from marketing our Products in foreign countries. From time to time, we may enter into additional arrangements with third parties to help commercialize our Products and we would be dependent on the subsequent efforts of these other parties to sell our Products. Currently, we have a co-promotion agreement with Crosslink Network, pursuant to which we have committed to pay Crosslink Network certain agreed-upon compensation to co-promote the sale of certain products and Crosslink Network has been appointed as our exclusive co-promoter of ZYNRELEF within the U.S. If Crosslink Network or any such other third party fails to perform their obligations as anticipated for any reason, it could adversely impact our financial condition and be detrimental to our future business prospects.

Conducting clinical trials is a lengthy, time-consuming and expensive process. For example, we incurred significant expenses in developing our Products, with no guarantees that doing so would result in a commercially viable product. Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any products, we, or our potential partners, must demonstrate through preclinical testing and clinical trials that our product candidates are safe and effective for their intended uses in humans. We have incurred and will continue to incur substantial expense and devote a significant amount of time to preclinical testing and clinical trials. The outcome of clinical testing is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process. The results of preclinical studies and early clinical trials of product candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. In addition, regulations are not static, and regulatory agencies, including the FDA, alter their staff, interpretations and practices and may in the future impose more stringent requirements than are currently in effect, which may adversely affect our planned drug development and/or our commercialization efforts. Satisfying regulatory requirements typically takes a significant number of years and can vary substantially based on the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidate. Our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected by any delays in, or termination of, our clinical trials. Factors that could impede our ability to generate commercially viable products through the conduct of clinical trials include: - insufficient funds to conduct clinical trials;- the inability to find partners, if necessary, for support, including research, development, manufacturing or clinical needs;- the failure of tests or studies necessary to submit an NDA, such as clinical studies, bioequivalence studies in support of a 505(b)(2) regulatory filing, or stability studies;- the failure of clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates to the extent necessary to obtain regulatory approvals;- the failure by us or third-party investigators, CROs, or other third parties involved in the research to adhere to regulatory requirements applicable to the conduct of clinical trials;- the failure of preclinical testing and early clinical trials to predict results of later clinical trials;- any delay in completion of clinical trials caused by a regional, national or global disturbance where we or our collaborative partners are enrolling patients in clinical studies, such as global pandemics and other public health emergencies, war, terrorist activities or political unrest, cyberattacks, a natural or man-made disaster or any other reason or event, resulting in increased costs;- any delay in obtaining advice from the FDA or similar regulatory authorities; and - the inability to obtain regulatory approval of our product candidates following completion of clinical trials, or delays in obtaining such approvals. From time to time, even if a product candidate has not failed, we may voluntarily determine to pause development, which effectively halts our ability to commercialize the product. For example, we decided to pause the development of HTX-034 to evaluate the program and market potential going forward. There can be no assurance that our decisions with respect to such pauses, and subsequent resumptions, if any, will yield the most favorable result for the Company. There can be no assurance, that if our clinical trials are successfully initiated and completed, we will be able to obtain approval by the FDA in the U.S. or similar regulatory authorities elsewhere in the world in a timely manner, if at all. If we fail to successfully develop and commercialize one or more of our product candidates, we may be unable to generate sufficient revenues to attain profitability, and our reputation in the industry and in the investment community would likely be significantly damaged, each of which would cause our stock price to significantly decrease.

Our policy is to actively seek patent protection in the U.S. and selected foreign countries, to obtain coverage for novel technologies and compositions of matter that may be commercially important to the development of our business. Granted patents include claims covering the product composition, methods of use and methods of preparation. Our existing patents may not cover future products, additional patents may not be issued and current patents, or patents issued in the future, may not provide meaningful protection or prove to be of commercial benefit. The patent positions of pharmaceutical companies, including ours, are uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly changed or reduced before the patent is issued. Consequently, our patent applications may not issue into patents, and any issued patents may not provide sufficient protection for our product candidates or provide sufficient protection to afford us a commercial advantage against competitive technologies or may be held invalid if challenged or circumvented. Patent applications in the U.S. are maintained in confidence by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for at least 18 months after their filing. Consequently, we cannot be certain that the patent applications we are pursuing will lead to the issuance of any patent or that the claimed inventions will be free from infringement or other claims from other parties. Our competitors may also independently develop products similar to ours or design around or otherwise circumvent patents issued to us or controlled (e.g., licensed) by us. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as U.S. laws. We may have to enforce and defend our intellectual property rights against third parties who infringe our patents and other intellectual property or who challenge our patents or trademarks. For example, in the U.S., manufacturers of putative generics of innovator drug products (including products in which the innovation comprises a new drug delivery method for an existing product, such as the drug delivery market occupied by us) may file Abbreviated New Drug Applications ("ANDA") (or New Drug Applications pursuant to Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA) and, in doing so, certify that their products either do not infringe the innovator's patents and/or that the innovator's patents are invalid. Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, the owners of patents listed in the FDA's publication "Approved Drug Products With Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations ("Orange Book") and referenced by an ANDA applicant (or a 505(b)(2) applicant) may bring patent infringement suit, commonly known as "Paragraph IV Litigation," against the applicant after receipt of the applicant's notice of paragraph IV certification. Paragraph IV litigations, of which there are often multiple in process by several applicants covering similar patents, could result in new or additional generic competition to any of our products and our product candidates and a potential reduction in product revenue. For example, on July 27, 2022, we filed a complaint for patent infringement of certain CINVANTI patents against Fresenius Kabi and a related entity in the District of Delaware in response to Fresenius Kabi's ANDA application seeking FDA approval to manufacture, use or sell a generic version of CINVANTI in the U.S. prior to expiration of the CINVANTI patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 9,561,229 (the "'229 Patent") and 9,974,794 (the "'794 Patent"). While in December 2024, the District Court found that the Company's '229 Patent and '794 Patent are valid and would be infringed by Fresenius Kabi's proposed generic product, this decision is currently pending appeal and there is no guarantee that other similar or future litigation will be resolved in our favor. Similarly, on January 24, 2024, we filed a complaint for patent infringement of certain CINVANTI patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 12,115,255 (the "'255 Patent") and 12,290,520 (the "'520 Patent"), against Azurity in the District of Delaware in response to Azurity's New Drug Application ("NDA") submission to the FDA under Section 505(b)(2) of the FDCA. On June 1, 2026, the District Court issued a decision holding that the Company's asserted claims of Azurity's infringement of the '255 Patent and the '520 Patent are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 112. The Court also entered a final judgment declaring that the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 9,561,229; 9,808,465; 9,974,742; 9,974,793; 9,974,794; 10,500,208; 10,624,850; 10,953,018; 11,173,118; and 11,744,800 are not infringed. On June 30, 2026, the Company appealed both final judgments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. On July 31, 2026, the appeals were consolidated. The consolidated appeal is in its early stages, and the parties have not yet submitted any briefing. While the Company intends to vigorously enforce its intellectual property rights relating to CINVANTI, there can be no assurance that this matter will be resolved in the Company's favor. An adverse outcome could have a material effect on the Company's business, results of operations and financial position. In addition, the Company has entered into settlement agreements in connection with patent infringement litigations related to ANDA filings from (i) Mylan with respect to CINVANTI and APONVIE, (ii) Qilu with respect to CINVANTI and APONVIE and (iii) Baxter with respect to CINVANTI, and such settlements are not impacted by the District Court's June 1, 2026 decision with respect to certain CINVANTI patents. For more information about the Company's patent litigations, see "Part I. Item 3. Legal Proceedings" in our 2025 Annual Report and "Part II. Item 1. Legal Proceedings" in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. We may enter into collaborative agreements that may subject us to obligations that must be fulfilled and require us to manage complex relationships with third parties. In the future, if we are unable to meet our obligations or manage our relationships with our collaborators under these agreements our revenue may decrease. The loss or diminution of our intellectual property rights could result in a decision by our third-party collaborators to terminate their agreements with us. In addition, these agreements are generally complex and contain provisions that could give rise to legal disputes, including potential disputes concerning ownership of intellectual property and data under collaborations. Such disputes can lead to lengthy, expensive litigation or arbitration, requiring us to divert management time and resources to such dispute. Because the patent positions of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies involve complex legal and factual questions, enforceability of patents cannot be predicted with certainty. The ultimate degree of patent protection that will be afforded to products and processes, including ours, remains uncertain and is dependent on the scope of protection decided on by the patent offices, courts and lawmakers in the U.S. and other countries in which we seek patent protection. The America Invents Act, which was enacted in 2011 and reformed certain patent laws in the U.S., may create additional uncertainty. Patents, if issued, may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. As more products are commercialized using our proprietary product platforms, or as any product achieves greater commercial success, our patents become more likely to be subject to challenge by potential competitors. We also rely on trade secrets, technical know-how and continuing technological innovation to develop and maintain our competitive position. We require our employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to execute appropriate confidentiality and assignment-of-inventions agreements with us. These agreements typically provide that all materials and confidential information developed or made known to the individual during the course of the individual's relationship with us is to be kept confidential and not disclosed to third parties except in specific circumstances, and that all inventions arising out of the individual's relationship with us shall be our exclusive property. These agreements may be breached, and in some instances, we may not have an appropriate remedy available for such breach. Furthermore, our competitors may independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques, reverse engineer our information and techniques, or otherwise gain access to our proprietary technology. We may be unable to meaningfully protect our rights in trade secrets, technical know-how and other non-patented technology. We may have to resort to litigation to protect our intellectual property rights, or to determine their scope, validity or enforceability. In addition, interference proceedings declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to our patent applications. Enforcing or defending our proprietary rights is expensive, could cause diversion of our resources and may not prove successful. In addition, courts outside the U.S. may be less willing to protect trade secrets. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to seek to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights. Any failure to enforce or protect our rights could cause us to lose the ability to exclude others from using our technology to develop or sell competing products.

We rely on independent third parties to provide certain services to us. We structure our relationships with these outside service providers in a manner that we believe results in an independent contractor relationship, not an employee relationship based on their degree of autonomy and independence in providing certain services. Tax or other regulatory authorities may challenge our characterization of services providers as independent contractors both under existing laws and regulations and under laws and regulations adopted in the future. If such regulatory authorities or state, federal or foreign courts were to determine that our service providers are employees and not independent contractors, we would, among other things, be required to withhold income taxes, to withhold and pay Social Security, Medicare and similar taxes, to pay unemployment and other related payroll taxes, and to provide certain employee benefits. We could also be liable for unpaid past taxes and other costs and subject to penalties. As a result, any determination that the service providers we characterize as independent contractors are determined to be employees could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The commercial success of our Products are dependent on the ability of our contract manufacturers to produce a product in commercial quantities at competitive costs of manufacture in a process that is validated by the FDA. We have scaled up manufacturing for CINVANTI and ZYNRELEF in order to realize important economies of scale, and these activities took time to implement, required additional capital investment, process development and validation studies and regulatory approval. We cannot guarantee that we will be successful in achieving competitive manufacturing costs through such scaled-up activities or that our contract manufacturers will perform their obligations. In addition, our manufacturing agreements include payment terms that require significant cash payments at specified times, and if we are unable to make the required payments at the required times, we are at risk of default under the agreements, which would severely hinder our ability to procure adequate amounts of our Products. The manufacture of pharmaceutical products is a highly complex process in which a variety of difficulties may arise, including product loss due to material failure, equipment failure, vendor error, operator error, labor shortages, inability to obtain material, equipment or transportation, physical or electronic security breaches and natural or man-made disasters. Problems with manufacturing processes could result in product defects or manufacturing failures, which could require us to delay shipment of products or recall products previously shipped, or could impair our ability to expand into new markets or supply products in existing markets. We may not be able to resolve any such problems in a timely manner, if at all.

We do not own or operate manufacturing facilities for the production of commercial or clinical quantities of any product, including our Products. Our ability to successfully commercialize our Products depends in part on our ability to arrange for, and rely on, other parties to manufacture our products at a competitive cost, in accordance with regulatory requirements, and in sufficient quantities for clinical testing and commercialization. We currently rely on a small number of third-party manufacturers to produce compounds used in our Products. Certain contract manufacturers are, at the present time (and are expected to be for the foreseeable future), our sole resource to manufacture certain key components of our Products. Although we entered into long-term commercial manufacturing agreements for the manufacture of our Products, including long-term agreements for the manufacture of our Biochronomer Technology, we might not be able to successfully negotiate long-term agreements with any additional third parties, or we might not receive all required regulatory approvals to utilize such third parties, and, accordingly, we might not be able to reduce or remove our dependence on a single supplier for the commercial manufacturing of our Products. We may have difficulties with these manufacturer relationships, and we may not be able to find replacement contract manufacturers on satisfactory terms or on a timely basis. At times, our contract manufacturers or other third parties might not perform their obligations under long-term commercial manufacturing agreements or other agreements, which could impede the manufacturing of our Products and could require us to incur additional costs, including legal fees, as we seek to enforce our contractual rights. Our reliance on third-party suppliers and contract manufacturers also subjects our business to risks associated with geographic areas in which those parties reside, which could include natural or man-made disasters, including severe weather, epidemics, pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, armed conflict or resource shortages. Due to regulatory and technical requirements, we may have limited ability to shift production to a different third-party should the need arise. We cannot be certain that we could reach agreement on reasonable terms, if at all, with such a manufacturer. Even if we were to reach agreement, the transition of the manufacturing process to a different third-party could take a significant amount of time and money and may not be successful. Further, we, along with our contract manufacturers, are required to comply with FDA and foreign regulatory requirements related to product testing, quality assurance, manufacturing and documentation. Our contract manufacturers may not be able to comply with the applicable FDA or foreign regulatory requirements. They may be required to pass an FDA pre-approval inspection for conformity with cGMP before we can obtain approval to manufacture our Products and our product candidates and will be subject to ongoing, periodic, unannounced inspection by the FDA and corresponding state agencies to ensure strict compliance with cGMP, and other applicable government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. If we and our contract manufacturers fail to achieve and maintain high manufacturing standards in compliance with cGMP, or fail to scale up manufacturing processes in a timely manner, we may experience manufacturing errors resulting in defective products that could be harmful to patients, product recalls or withdrawals, delays or interruptions of production or failures in product testing or delivery, delay or prevention of filing or approval of marketing applications for our product candidates, cost overruns or other problems that could seriously harm our business. For instance, our third party suppliers and contract manufacturers have produced drug products that do not meet our specifications and quality standards. We have, and may in the future, be required to take inventory write-offs and incur other charges and expenses for products that fail to meet specifications, undertake costly remediation efforts, experience delays that affect our operations and commercialization plans or seek more costly manufacturing alternatives. Not complying with FDA or foreign regulatory requirements could result in an enforcement action, such as a product recall, or prevent commercialization of our product candidates and delay our business development activities. In addition, such failure could be the basis for the FDA or foreign regulators to issue a warning or untitled letter or take other regulatory or legal action, including recall or seizure, total or partial suspension of production, suspension of ongoing clinical trials, refusal to approve pending applications or supplemental applications, and potentially civil and/or criminal penalties depending on the matter. Our Products may be in competition with other products for access to the facilities of third parties and, consequently, could be subject to manufacturing delays if our contractors give other companies' products greater priority than ours. Additionally, our contractors might be required by government regulation or government authority to prioritize production of other products. For this and other reasons, our third-party contract manufacturers may not be able to manufacture our Products in a cost-effective or timely manner. If not manufactured in a timely manner, the manufacture of any of our Products or their submission for regulatory approval could be delayed, and our ability to deliver products to market on a timely basis could be impaired. This could increase our costs, cause us to lose revenue or market share and damage our reputation.

Some of the critical materials and components used in manufacturing our Products are, or might be, sourced from single suppliers. An interruption in the supply of a key material could significantly delay or increase our expenses for commercialization or development products. Specialized materials must often be manufactured for the first time for use in drug delivery technologies, or materials may be used in these technologies in a manner different from their customary commercial uses. The quality of materials can be critical to the performance of a drug delivery technology, so a reliable source that provides a consistent supply of materials is important. Materials or components needed for our drug delivery technologies may be difficult to obtain on commercially reasonable terms, particularly when relatively small quantities are required or if the materials traditionally have not been used in pharmaceutical products. Our reliance on a single vendor for certain components used in the manufacturing of our Products also subjects our business to risk associated with the geographic areas in which those single vendors reside, which could include natural or man-made disasters, including severe weather, epidemics, pandemics, acts of war or terrorism, armed conflict, resource shortages or geopolitical instability, including as a result of increased tariffs and changing regulations and policies that may disrupt global markets or escalate tensions between countries. Such adverse events could cause global supply chain interruptions that could increase our costs and, to the extent such interruptions impair our ability to have sufficient inventory, cause us to lose revenue or market share. We continually evaluate our supply chains to identify potential risks and needs for additional manufacturers and other suppliers for the manufacturing of our Products. Establishing additional or replacement suppliers for certain raw materials in our proprietary polymers, if required, may not be accomplished quickly, or at all, and may involve significant expense. If we are able to find a replacement supplier, we would need to evaluate and qualify such replacement vendor and its ability to meet quality and compliance standards. Any change in suppliers or the manufacturing process for our Products could require additional regulatory approval and result in operational delays.

The success of our business is substantially dependent on our ability to achieve market acceptance of our Products. Although members of our management team have prior experience launching new drugs, ZYNRELEF, APONVIE, CINVANTI and SUSTOL are the first four products that we have launched. Further, even if our sales organization performs as expected, the revenue that we may receive from the sales of our Products, may be less than anticipated due to factors that are outside of our control. The factors that may affect revenue include: - the scope of our approved Product labels, including any expanded indications;- the perception of physicians and other members of the healthcare community of the safety and efficacy and cost-competitiveness relative to that of competing products;- our ability to maintain successful sales, marketing and educational programs for certain physicians and other healthcare providers;- our ability to raise patient and physician awareness of the risks associated with using opioids for postoperative pain management and encourage physicians to consider utilizing a non-opioid alternative;- our ability to raise patient and physician awareness of CINV associated with AC combination chemotherapy regimens, MEC or HEC and encourage physicians to look for incidence of CINV among patients;- our ability to raise patient and physician awareness of PONV associated with surgical procedures and encourage physicians to look for incidence of PONV among patients;- the timing and scope of acceptance of our Products by institutional formulary committees and the amount of time between such acceptance and the first use of our Products within the applicable setting of care;- patient and physician satisfaction with our Products;- the size of the potential market for our Products;- our ability to obtain coverage and adequate reimbursement from government and third-party payors;- unfavorable publicity concerning our Products or similar products;- the introduction, availability and acceptance of competing treatments, including competing generic products;- adverse event information relating to our Products or similar classes of drugs;- product liability litigation alleging injuries relating to our Products or similar classes of drugs;- our ability to maintain and defend our patents and trade secrets for our Products and our Biochronomer Technology;- our ability to continue to have our Products manufactured at commercial production levels successfully and on a timely basis;- our ability to scale up manufacturing of our Products to meet commercial requirements;- the availability of raw materials necessary to manufacture our Products;- our ability to establish and maintain successful commercial arrangements like our co-promotion agreement with Crosslink Network;- our ability to access third parties to manufacture and distribute our Products on acceptable terms or at all and those third parties' ability and/or willingness to fully perform their obligations;- regulatory developments related to the manufacture or continued use of our Products;- conduct of post-approval study requirements and the results thereof;- the extent and effectiveness of sales and marketing and distribution support for our Products;- our competitors' activities, including decisions as to the timing of competing product launches, generic entrants, pricing and discounting; and - any other material adverse developments with respect to the commercialization of our Products. Our business will be adversely affected if, due to these or other factors, our commercialization of our Products does not achieve the acceptance and demand necessary to sustain revenue growth. If we are unable to successfully commercialize our Products our business and results of operations will suffer.

The continuing efforts of the U.S. government, insurance companies, managed care organizations and other payors of healthcare costs to contain or reduce costs of healthcare may adversely affect our ability to generate adequate revenues and gross margins to make our Products commercially viable. Our ability to commercialize our Products successfully will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities, private health insurers and other organizations establish appropriate reimbursement levels for the cost of such products and related treatments and for what uses reimbursement will be provided. Adoption of our Products by the medical community may be limited if third-party payors will not offer adequate coverage. In addition, third-party payors often challenge the price and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, and such pressure may increase in the future. In many cases, uncertainty exists as to the adequate reimbursement status of newly approved healthcare products. Accordingly, our Products may not be considered cost-effective and adequate third-party reimbursement may not be available to enable us to maintain price levels sufficient to realize a profit. Further, coverage policies and third-party payor reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more of our Products or product candidates for which we receive regulatory approval, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future. Legislation and regulations affecting the pricing of pharmaceuticals may change and any such changes could further limit reimbursement. Cost control initiatives may decrease coverage and payment levels for our Products and, in turn, the reimbursement that we receive. We are unable to predict all changes to the coverage or reimbursement methodologies that will be applied by private or government payors to our Products. If our Products do not receive adequate reimbursement, our revenue could be severely limited. In the U.S., given federal and state government initiatives directed at lowering the total cost of healthcare, the U.S. Congress and state legislatures has continued to focus on healthcare reform, to reduce the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals and reforming the Medicare and Medicaid systems. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (collectively, the "PPACA") has resulted in sweeping changes to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for the healthcare and health insurance industries, impose taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. Since its enactment, there have been judicial, executive and Congressional challenges to certain aspects of the PPACA. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ("OBBBA") has enacted, among others, changes to enrollment and eligibility requirements for Medicaid and premium tax credits, which has resulted in less coverage in the PPACA's health insurance marketplace ("Marketplace"). Further, CMS recently proposed two mandatory payment model pilots, the Guarding U.S. Medicare Against Rising Drug Costs (GUARD) Model, focused on Part D drugs, and Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE), focused on Part B drugs, which will require pharmaceutical companies to pay additional rebates on certain medicines, whose U.S. net-of-discount prices exceed those in certain other countries. The SUPPORT Act of 2018, established policies to encourage the prevention and treatment of opioid addiction and the development of non-opioid pain management treatments. Due to the SUPPORT Act, Medicare pays separately for certain non-opioid pain management drugs in ambulatory surgical centers ("ASC") but not in the hospital outpatient setting ("OPPS"). However, under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, the prior payment policy was replaced by a new three-year period of separate payment for non-opioid pain relief products in the OPPS and ASC settings for 2025 through 2027. As of January 1, 2025, Medicare has implemented this new payment methodology, which remains in effect through December 31, 2027. ZYNRELEF is included in this new policy, as of April 1 2025, which means continued separate Medicare payment in the OPPS and ASC settings. While this change may improve access to ZYNRELEF, it may also lead to greater competition. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, removed the statutory cap on rebates that manufacturers pay to state Medicaid programs pursuant to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 also included a provision requiring drug manufacturers to pay CMS a refund for certain amounts of Part B drugs that are discarded from a single-dose container or single-use package. Under the law, and a CMS Proposed Rule issued in July 2022, this refund program became effective on January 1, 2023. Such legislation did not have a material impact on the Company, through December 31, 2025. Further, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 ("IRA"), includes various provisions intended to address drug-pricing issues which requires manufacturers to engage in the drug price negotiation program with Medicare or face steep penalties if they don't agree to provide their drug at the government-set price subject to a cap; imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation; establishes an out-of-pocket maximum for beneficiaries in Part D; and replaces the Part D coverage gap discount program with a new discounting program. If any of our Products are subject to price negotiations, it could, among other things, lead to lower revenues prior to the expiry of intellectual property protections. In addition, developments in Medicare hospital outpatient reimbursement for 340B-acquired drugs may further drive 340B hospital business for Heron. The 340B program allows certain hospitals and safety net providers to purchase Part B outpatient drugs from manufacturers at federally mandated discounted rates. Due to the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in American Hospital Association et al. v. Becerra et al, since January 1, 2023, the Medicare Part B hospital outpatient payment rate for 340B-acquired drugs has returned to being at the same rate as the rate for non-340B hospitals, Average Selling Price (ASP) + 6% methodology. However, pursuant to Executive Order 14273, Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First, CMS announced that it will conduct a new mandatory Medicare OPPS Drug Acquisition Cost Survey from January 1, 2026, through March 31, 2026. CMS has stated that this survey will inform potential changes to payment policy beginning with the calendar year 2027 OPPS/ASC proposed rule. These actions indicate that future adjustments to Medicare payment rates for 340B-acquired drugs may be under consideration, which could affect reimbursement dynamics for the Company's products purchased under the 340B program in hospital outpatient settings. We expect that other healthcare reform measures that may be adopted in the future may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, more rigorous coverage criteria, new payment methodologies and additional downward pressure on drug prices, which may affect prices of our Products in the future. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare or other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. The implementation of cost containment measures or other healthcare reforms may prevent us from being able to price our Products at what we consider to be a fair or competitive price, generate revenue, attain profitability, or commercialize our product candidates, if approved. Moreover, economic pressure on state budgets have resulted in states increasingly seeking to achieve budget savings through mechanisms that limit coverage or payment for drugs. For example, individual states in the U.S. have become increasingly active in implementing regulations through state Pharmacy Drug Review Boards designed to contain drug pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures. State Medicaid programs are increasingly asking manufacturers to pay supplemental rebates and requiring prior authorization by the state program for use of any drug for which supplemental rebates are not being paid. Regional healthcare authorities and individual hospitals are increasingly using bidding procedures to determine what pharmaceutical products and which suppliers will be included in their prescription drug and other healthcare programs. In addition, the trend toward managed healthcare in the U.S., which could significantly influence the purchase of healthcare services and products, may result in lower prices for our Products. Further, executive orders were signed to implement Most Favored Nation drug pricing policies designed to align certain prescription drug prices in the U.S. to lower prices available in other countries. Investigations are being conducted to examine price differentials and consider policy approaches for implementation, including through administrative action. If such Most Favored Nation policies are implemented, changes to drug pricing are expected to affect the profitability of pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the U.S. as well as in other countries, as a price referencing policy to the U.S. market could make it commercially unviable to commercialize a drug product in a price constrained market. The details of the proposed policies are unclear and the final terms and impact remain uncertain, and may pose long-term risks to our business and our future commercialization plans of our Products and product candidates. In addition, the Fair Prescription Drug Prices for Americans Act was re-introduced in May 2025 and proposes to cap the retail list price of prescription drugs and biological products in the United States at the average retail list price for such product among certain countries. Finally, in December 2025, the BIOSECURE Act was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which restricts U.S. government agencies from purchasing or obtaining certain biotechnology equipment or services from "biotechnology companies of concern" ("BCC"); entering, extending or renewing a contract with any entity using biotechnology equipment or services provided by a BCC to perform a government contract; or granting government funds or loans for such biotechnology equipment or services provided by a BCC. The BIOSECURE ACT may have significant implications for U.S. companies with government contracts that obtain biotechnology equipment or services from a BCC, including contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and any related impact on reimbursement under Medicaid and Medicare Part B. While we do not currently anticipate any material impact from the BIOSECURE Act, evolving regulatory requirements may introduce additional operational and contracting obligations over time. While we cannot predict the impact of such legislative or regulatory changes on our business, the announcement or adoption of these proposals could have a material and adverse effect on our potential revenues and gross margins.