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Risk Overview Q2, 2026
Risk Distribution
31% Finance & Corporate
27% Tech & Innovation
19% Legal & Regulatory
16% Ability to Sell
6% Production
2% Macro & Political
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
This chart displays the stock's most recent risk distribution according to category. TipRanks has identified 6 major categories: Finance & corporate, legal & regulatory, macro & political, production, tech & innovation, and ability to sell.
Risk Change Over Time
S&P500 Average
Sector Average
Risks removed
Risks added
Risks changed
Tempus AI, Inc. Class A Risk Factors
New Risk (0)
Risk Changed (0)
Risk Removed (0)
No changes from previous report
The chart shows the number of risks a company has disclosed. You can compare this to the sector average or S&P 500 average.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
The quarters shown in the chart are according to the calendar year (January to December). Businesses set their own financial calendar, known as a fiscal year. For example, Walmart ends their financial year at the end of January to accommodate the holiday season.
Risk Highlights Q2, 2026
Main Risk Category
Finance & Corporate
With 33 Risks
Finance & Corporate
With 33 Risks
Number of Disclosed Risks
108
+9
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 31
108
+9
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 31
Recent Changes
9Risks added
0Risks removed
4Risks changed
Since Jun 2026
9Risks added
0Risks removed
4Risks changed
Since Jun 2026
Number of Risk Changed
4
+4
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 1
4
+4
From last reportS&P 500 Average: 1
See the risk highlights of Tempus AI, Inc. Class A in the last period.
Risk Word Cloud
The most common phrases about risk factors from the most recent report. Larger texts indicate more widely used phrases.
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 108
Finance & Corporate
Total Risks: 33/108 (31%)Above Sector Average
Share Price & Shareholder Rights12 | 11.1%
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1
Failure to complete the proposed acquisition could negatively impact the price of shares of our Class A common stock, as well as our business and results of operations.Added
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 2
Our stockholders may not realize a benefit from the proposed acquisition commensurate with the ownership dilution they will experience in connection with the proposed acquisition.Added
If the combined company is unable to realize the full strategic and financial benefits currently anticipated from the proposed acquisition, our stockholders will have experienced substantial dilution of their ownership interests in us without receiving any commensurate benefit, or only receiving part of the commensurate benefit to the extent the combined company is able to realize only part of the strategic and financial benefits currently anticipated from the proposed acquisition.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 3
Anti-takeover provisions in our articles of incorporation and under Nevada law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our Class A common stock.In addition to the effects of our dual class structure, provisions in our articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control or changes in our management. Our articles of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management.
In addition, our status as a Nevada corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the NRS may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of two years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, subject to certain exceptions, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock, and they could deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you would receive a premium for your shares of our Class A common stock in an acquisition.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 4
Future sales of our Class A common stock in the public market could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.Sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Many of our existing equity holders have substantial unrecognized gains on the value of the equity they hold, and therefore they may take steps to sell their shares or otherwise secure the unrecognized gains on those shares. All of the Class A common stock sold in our IPO is freely tradable without restrictions or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any shares held by our affiliates as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act, or Rule 144. In addition, the lockup and market standoff agreements entered into in connection with our IPO expired on December 10, 2024. We are unable to predict the timing of or the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock.
Sales, short sales, or hedging transactions involving our equity securities, whether or not we believe them to be prohibited, could adversely affect the price of our Class A common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 5
An active public trading market for our Class A common stock may not continue to develop or be sustained.Prior to the IPO, there was no public market for our Class A common stock. An active public trading market for our Class A common stock may not continue to develop or be sustained. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair value of your shares. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 6
We cannot predict the impact our dual class structure may have on the market price of our Class A common stock.We cannot predict whether our dual class structure, combined with the concentrated control of our Chief Executive Officer, Founder and Chairman, who beneficially owns all of the outstanding shares of our Class B common stock, will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. Certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple-class share structures in certain of their indexes. For example, in July 2017, FTSE Russell and Standard & Poor's announced that they would cease to allow most newly public companies utilizing dual or multi-class capital structures to be included in their indices. Under the announced policies, our dual class capital structure would make us ineligible for inclusion in any of these indices. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indexes, exclusion from stock indexes would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 7
We have not elected to take advantage of the "controlled company" exemption to the corporate governance rules for publicly listed companies but may do so in the future.Because our Chief Executive Officer, Founder, and Chairman, Eric Lefkofsky, who, collectively with his controlled entities, holds all our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, beneficially owns shares representing in excess of 50% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock, we are eligible to elect the "controlled company" exemption to the corporate governance rules for publicly listed companies. We have not elected to do so. If we decide to become a "controlled company" under the corporate governance rules for publicly listed companies, we would not be required to have a majority of our board of directors be independent, nor would we be required to have a compensation committee or an independent nominating function. If we choose controlled company status in the future, our status as a controlled company could cause our Class A common stock to be less attractive to certain investors or otherwise harm our trading price.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 8
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with our Chief Executive Officer, Founder and Chairman, which will limit your ability to influence the outcome of important decisions.Our Class B common stock has 30 votes per share and our Class A common stock has one vote per share. As of December 31, 2025, our Chief Executive Officer, Founder, and Chairman, Eric Lefkofsky, who, collectively with his controlled entities, holds all our outstanding shares of Class B common stock, beneficially owned shares representing approximately 58.2% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, Mr. Lefkofsky has the ability to control the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger, other sale of our company or our assets or significant acquisitions, even if his stock ownership represents less than 50% of the outstanding aggregate number of shares of our capital stock. This concentration of voting control limits the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and may cause us to make strategic decisions that could involve risks to you or that may not be aligned with your interests. In addition, Mr. Lefkofsky serves as an observer on our nominating and corporate governance committee, and accordingly, may have substantial influence over the individuals nominated to serve as directors. As a board member, Mr. Lefkofsky owes a fiduciary duty to our stockholders and is legally obligated to act in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believes to be in the best interests of our stockholders. As a stockholder, Mr. Lefkofsky is entitled to vote his shares in his own interests, which may not always be in the interests of our stockholders generally. Mr. Lefkofsky's control may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 9
Our articles of incorporation provide that the courts in the State of Nevada and the federal district courts of the United States of America are the exclusive forums for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders' ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees.Our articles of incorporation provide that the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada be the exclusive forum for actions or proceedings brought under Nevada statutory or common law:
- any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;- any action or proceeding asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed to us or our stockholders by any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees, or any of our stockholders;- any action or proceeding asserting a claim against us or any of our current or former directors, officers or other employees, or any of our stockholders, arising pursuant to any provision of the Nevada Revised Statutes, our articles of incorporation or bylaws, as each may be amended from time to time;- any action or proceeding to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our articles of incorporation or bylaws, including any right, obligation or remedy thereunder;- any internal action (as defined in NRS 78.046) and any action or proceeding as to which jurisdiction of the District Courts of the State of Nevada is conferred by Title 7 of the Nevada Revised Statutes; and - any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees, or any of our stockholders, governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in all cases to the fullest extent permitted by law and subject to the court's having personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties named as defendant
The provisions would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our articles of incorporation further provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause or causes of action arising under the Securities Act, including all causes of action asserted against any defendant to such complaint. For the avoidance of doubt, this provision is intended to benefit and may be enforced by us, our officers and directors, the underwriters to any offering giving rise to such complaint, and any other professional entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying the offering.
Although NRS 78.046 permits the articles of incorporation or bylaws of a Nevada corporation to require, to the extent not inconsistent with any applicable jurisdictional requirements and the laws of the United States, that any, all or certain actions must be brought solely or exclusively in a specified court, it is possible that a court of law could rule that this provision is inapplicable or unenforceable if it is challenged in a proceeding or otherwise. If a court were to find either exclusive forum provision contained in our second amended and restated articles of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, all of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
These exclusive forum provisions may limit a stockholder's ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and other employees. If a court were to find either exclusive-forum provision in our articles of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur further significant additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, all of which could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 10
Our stock price may be volatile, and the value of our Class A common stock may decline.The market price of our Class A common stock has been highly volatile, ranging from $22.89 to $103.25 per share since our IPO in June 2024. The price of our Class A common stock may fluctuate or decline substantially as a result of a variety of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:
- actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition or results of operations;- variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;- changes in the pricing of our products;- our ability to service or pay down existing or future debt obligations;- changes in our projected operating and financial results;- changes in laws or regulations applicable to our Platform and products, including changes in the regulation of data or in the structure of healthcare payment systems;- announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions, or new products;- significant data breaches, disruptions to or other incidents involving our products;- our involvement in litigation or governmental investigations;- future sales of our Class A common stock by us or our stockholders;- changes in senior management or key personnel;- the issuance of new or changed securities analysts' reports or recommendations;- the trading volume of our Class A common stock;- changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market; and - economic and market conditions in general, or in our industry in particular.
Broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, regulatory, and market conditions, may also negatively impact the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, technology stocks have historically experienced high levels of volatility. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial expenses and divert our management's attention.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 11
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish unfavorable or inaccurate research about our business, the market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock could decline.The market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock is heavily influenced by the way analysts interpret our financial information and other disclosures. We do not have control over these analysts. If few securities analysts commence coverage of us, or if industry analysts cease coverage of us, our stock price would be negatively affected. If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, downgrade our Class A common stock, or publish negative reports about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our Class A common stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price to decline and could decrease the trading volume of our Class A common stock.
Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 12
Certain of our officers, directors and principal stockholders may pursue corporate opportunities independent of us that could present conflicts with our and our stockholders' interests.Certain of our officers, directors and principal stockholders are in the business of making or advising on investments in companies and hold (and may from time to time in the future acquire) interests in or provide advice or services to businesses that may directly or indirectly compete with our business or be suppliers or customers of ours. These persons may also pursue acquisitions that may be complementary to our business or enter into lines that we may otherwise be well positioned to enter, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us. For example our Chief Executive Officer, Founder, and Chairman, Eric Lefkofsky, is a co-founder and serves as Executive Chairman of the board of Pathos AI, Inc., a company engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutics and with whom we have a commercial relationship, as well as Lightbank LLC, a private venture capital firm specializing in investments in technology companies. Our articles of incorporation provide that none of our officers or directors who are also an officer, director, employee, partner, managing director, principal, independent contractor or other affiliate of our principal stockholders will be liable to us or our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary duty by reason of the fact that any such individual pursues or acquires a corporate opportunity for its own account or the account of an affiliate, as applicable, instead of us, directs a corporate opportunity to any other person, instead of us or does not communicate information regarding a corporate opportunity to us.
Accounting & Financial Operations7 | 6.5%
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 1
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our operating results could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could therefore differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. It is possible that interpretation, industry practice and guidance may evolve as we work toward implementing these new accounting standards. If our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from our assumptions, our operating results may be adversely affected and could fall below our publicly announced guidance or the expectations of analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 3
Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud.We are subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. We designed our disclosure controls and procedures to provide reasonable assurance that information we must disclose in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated, communicated to management, recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC. We believe that any disclosure controls and procedures, no matter how well-conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met.
These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 4
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes our future operating results difficult to predict and could cause our operating results to fall below expectations or any guidance we may provide.Our quarterly and annual operating results may fluctuate significantly, which makes it difficult for us to predict our future operating results. Because we plan to operate our business with a long-term focus, these fluctuations may be more pronounced than those experienced by other companies that operate with a shorter-term focus. These fluctuations may occur due to a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including, but not limited to:
- the timing and cost of, and level of investment in, research, development, regulatory approval or certification and commercialization activities relating to our Platform and products, which may change from time to time;- the volume and customer mix of our Diagnostics, algorithmic diagnostic testing and other products;- the start and completion of projects in which our Data and applications products are utilized;- the introduction of new products or product enhancements by us or others in our industry;- coverage and reimbursement policies with respect to our products and products that compete with our products;- expenditures that we may incur to acquire, develop or commercialize additional products and technologies;- changes in governmental regulations, including with respect to privacy and data security and medical device regulation, and our compliance therewith, or in the status of our regulatory approvals, certifications or applications;- future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies;- developments or disruptions in the business and operations of our clinical, commercial and other partners;- the impact of natural disasters, political and economic instability, including wars (such as the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the hostilities in the Middle East), terrorism, and political unrest, epidemics or pandemics, boycotts, curtailment of trade and other business restrictions; and - general market conditions, including fluctuations in inflation and interest rates, government bank closures, liquidity concerns at other financial institutions, and other factors, including factors unrelated to our operating performance or the operating performance of our competitors, which may impact not only our business, but the value of our marketable securities.
Additionally, it is difficult to predict the amounts, if any, we will be able to collect for our diagnostic tests from commercial payers. We are a participating network provider in a small number of commercial payers from whom we receive reimbursement for our diagnostic tests. Payers determine the amount they are willing to reimburse us for tests. We have provided testing to patients with many disease types and indications, most of the time as a non-participating provider. Even when payers have paid a claim, they may elect at any time to review previously paid claims for overpayment against these claims. While we have not experienced significant retroactive adjustments to date, in the event of an overpayment determination, the payer may offset the amount they determine they overpaid against amounts they owe us on current claims. We have limited leverage to dispute these retroactive adjustments and we cannot predict when, or how often, a payer might engage in these reviews. A significant amount of these offsets by one or more payers in any given quarter could have a material effect on our results of operations and cause them to fall below expectations or guidance we may provide. Due to the inherent variability and unpredictability of the reimbursement landscape, including related to the amount that payers reimburse us for any of our tests, previously recorded revenue adjustments are not indicative of future revenue adjustments from actual cash collections, which may fluctuate significantly.
In addition, the demand for our Diagnostics and Data and applications products will depend in part upon the research and development and clinical budgets of pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers, which are impacted by factors beyond our control, such as:
- changes in government programs (such as the National Institutes of Health) that provide funding to research institutions and companies;- macroeconomic conditions (including any impact of unforeseen events such as the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the hostilities in the Middle East), the political climate and the impact of public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic, tariffs and trade restrictions, inflation rates and, interest rates, government closures of banks and liquidity concerns at other financial institutions;- changes in the regulatory environment;- differences in budgetary cycles;- competitor products or pricing;- market-driven pressures to consolidate operations and reduce costs; and - market acceptance of relatively new products.
Uncertainty in the current political environment could also impact our business. In addition to potential changes in government programs and the research and development and clinical budgets of our potential customers, changes in government staffing or funding levels could affect various aspects of our business. For example, the reimbursement rates we receive from government payers may experience downward pressures, and certain of our products that require government review or approval may experience delays in obtaining requisite authorizations. Conversely, the government may implement programs to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence within the healthcare industry, which could have a favorable impact on our operations. Given these uncertainties, it is impossible to predict how a shifting political environment may influence our operations.
Our operating results may fluctuate significantly due to reductions and delays in research and development or clinical expenditures by our customers. Further, many of our data licensing agreements allow us to deliver data to our customers over a period of time, which can span a year or longer. Revenue pursuant to our data licensing agreements is recognized upon delivery of the data to the customer, upon completion of performance obligations for related services, or ratably over time in the case of subscriptions. The actual timing of data deliveries can be based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the customer's requirements and/or our technological, operational, and human capital capacity; in addition, management assesses relevant contractual terms in contracts with customers and applies significant judgment in identifying and accounting for all terms and conditions in certain contracts.
The cumulative effects of the factors discussed above could result in large fluctuations and unpredictability in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful. Investors should not rely on our past results as an indication of our future performance.
This variability and unpredictability could also result in our failing to meet the expectations of industry or financial analysts or investors for any period. If our revenue or operating results fall below the expectations of analysts or investors or below any guidance we may provide, or if the guidance we provide is below the expectations of analysts or investors, the price of our Class A common stock could decline substantially. Such a stock price decline could occur even when we have met any previously publicly stated guidance we may provide.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 5
We have incurred significant losses since inception, we may continue to incur losses in the future, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and maintain profitability.We have incurred significant losses since our inception. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, we incurred net losses of $245.0 million, $705.8 million and $214.1 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $2.4 billion. To date, we have financed our operations principally from the sale of stock and convertible securities, the incurrence of debt and revenue from our Diagnostics and Data and applications businesses. We have devoted substantially all of our resources to the development and commercialization of our Platform and current products and to research and development activities related to Platform development and future products, including regulatory initiatives to obtain marketing approval or certification for our diagnostic tests, sales and marketing activities for our Diagnostics and Data and applications businesses. We will need to generate substantial revenue to achieve and then sustain profitability, and even if we achieve profitability, we cannot be sure that we will remain profitable for any period of time.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 6
Our limited operating history and rapid growth make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter.We were founded in 2015 and have experienced rapid growth in revenue, adoption of our products and services, testing volume, size of our datasets, clinical trial matches and other metrics that we believe are important to assessing our business. In addition, we operate in highly competitive markets characterized by rapid technological advances and our business has evolved, and we expect it to continue to evolve, over time to remain competitive. Our limited operating history, evolving business, rapid growth and ambitious goals make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter, and may increase the risk that we will not continue to grow at or near historical rates. Further, these factors may make it difficult for us to achieve our stated milestones and goals, and to accurately project the future performance of our business. For example, we may never realize the potential benefits of our technology and research and development efforts as contemplated elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those described elsewhere in this "Risk Factors" section, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. We have encountered in the past, and will encounter in the future, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies with limited operating histories in rapidly changing industries. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan and operate our business, are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 7
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our Class A common stock.While we have in the past paid dividends to holders of our convertible preferred stock, we do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors. Accordingly, you may need to rely on sales of our Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on your investment.
Debt & Financing6 | 5.6%
Debt & Financing - Risk 1
Our 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2030, or the 2030 Notes, and our 0.00% Convertible Senior Notes due 2032, or the 2032 Notes and, together with the 2030 Notes, the Notes, and the issuance of shares of our Class A common stock upon conversion of the Notes, if any, may impact our financial results, result in dilution to our stockholders, create downward pressure on the price of our Class A common stock, and restrict our ability to raise additional capital or to engage in a beneficial takeover.Changed
Debt & Financing - Risk 2
The conditional conversion feature of the Notes, if triggered, may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.Changed
In the event the conditional conversion feature of the Notes is triggered, holders of the Notes will be entitled to convert their Notes at any time during specified periods at their option. If one or more holders elect to convert their Notes, unless we elect to satisfy our conversion obligation by delivering solely shares of our Class A common stock (other than paying cash in lieu of delivering any fractional share), we would be required to settle a portion or all of our conversion obligation through the payment of cash, which could adversely affect our liquidity. In addition, even if holders do not elect to convert their Notes, we could be required under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or any portion of the outstanding principal of the Notes as a current rather than long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital.
Debt & Financing - Risk 3
The Capped Call Transactions may affect the value of the Notes and our Class A common stock.Changed
In connection with the issuance of the 2030 Notes and the 2032 Notes, we entered into capped call transactions, or the 2030 Capped Call and the 2032 Capped Call, respectively, and together the Capped Call Transactions, with one of the initial purchasers and certain other financial institutions, or the option counterparties. The Capped Call Transactions cover, subject to customary adjustments, the number of shares of our Class A common stock initially underlying the Notes. The Capped Call Transactions are expected generally to reduce the potential dilution to our Class A common stock upon any conversion of Notes and/or offset any cash payments we are required to make in excess of the principal amount of converted Notes, as the case may be, with such reduction and/or offset subject to a cap.
In connection with establishing their initial hedges of the Capped Call Transactions the option counterparties or their respective affiliates likely entered into various derivative transactions with respect to our Class A common stock and/or purchased shares of our Class A common stock concurrently with or shortly after the pricing of the Notes, including with, or from, as the case may be, certain investors in the Notes. In addition, the option counterparties or their respective affiliates may modify their hedge positions by entering into or unwinding various derivatives with respect to our Class A common stock and/or purchasing or selling our Class A common stock or other securities of ours in secondary market transactions following the issuance of the Notes and prior to the maturity of the Notes (and are likely to do so during the 20 trading day period beginning on the 21st scheduled trading day prior to the maturity date of the Notes, or, to the extent we exercise the relevant election under the Capped Call Transactions, following any repurchase, redemption, or conversion of the Notes). The potential effect, if any, of these transactions and activities on the market price of our Class A common stock or the Notes will depend in part on market conditions and cannot be ascertained at this time. Any of these activities could adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock and the value of the Notes.
Debt & Financing - Risk 4
We are subject to counterparty risk with respect to the Capped Call Transactions.Changed
The option counterparties are financial institutions, and we will be subject to the risk that any or all of them might default under the Capped Call Transactions. Our exposure to the credit risk of the option counterparties will not be secured by any collateral.
Global economic conditions have from time to time resulted in the actual or perceived failure or financial difficulties of many financial institutions and could adversely affect the option counterparties' performance under the Capped Call Transactions. If an option counterparty becomes subject to insolvency proceedings, we will become an unsecured creditor in those proceedings with a claim equal to our exposure at that time under the Capped Call Transactions with such option counterparty. In addition, upon a default by an option counterparty, we may suffer more dilution than we currently anticipate with respect to our Class A common stock. We can provide no assurances as to the financial stability or viability of the option counterparties.
In addition, the terms of the Capped Call Transactions may be subject to adjustment in the event of certain corporate and other transactions or events. The Capped Call Transactions may not operate as we anticipate in the event that terms of such instruments are adjusted as a result of transactions in the future or in the event of other unanticipated developments that may adversely affect the value of the Capped Call Transactions to us.
Debt & Financing - Risk 5
Our existing and any future debt may affect our flexibility in operating and developing our business and our ability to satisfy our obligations.As of December 31, 2025, we had indebtedness of $1.3 billion, comprising (i) $208.7 million under the convertible promissory note, as amended, or the Second Amended Note, that we issued to Google LLC, or Google, (ii) $206.0 million of senior secured term loans, or the Additional Term Loan Facility, and $100.0 million in priority revolving loan commitments, or the Revolving Credit Facility, pursuant to a credit agreement, or as amended, the Credit Agreement, with affiliates of Ares Capital Corporation, or Ares and (iii) $750.0 million of 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2030, or the Notes, Our current and future indebtedness may have significant negative effects on our operations, including:
- impairing our ability to obtain additional financing in the future (or to obtain such financing on acceptable terms) for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions or other important needs, and subjecting us to other restrictive covenants that may reduce our ability to take certain corporate actions;- requiring us to dedicate a portion of our cash resources to the payment of interest and principal, reducing money available to fund working capital, capital expenditures, potential acquisitions, international expansion, new product development, new enterprise relationships and other general corporate purposes;- requiring us to repay the principal and accrued interest on the Second Amended Note if we terminate our agreement with Google for use of Google Cloud or as a result of an event of default under the operating covenants in the Second Amended Note, or requiring us to repay the principal and accrued interest on the Additional Term Loan Facility and/or the Revolving Credit Facility in an event of default under the covenants of the Credit Agreement, any of which could impair our liquidity and reduce the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other important needs;- limiting our ability to adjust to rapidly changing conditions in the industry, reducing our ability to withstand competitive pressures and making us more vulnerable to a downturn in general economic conditions or business than our competitors with relatively lower levels of debt;- in the event the conditional conversion feature of the Notes is triggered, requiring us under applicable accounting rules to reclassify all or a portion of the outstanding principal of the Notes as a current rather than a long-term liability, which would result in a material reduction of our net working capital; and - requiring us, in certain circumstances, to obtain approval from Ares and/or the lenders party to the Credit Agreement before embarking on certain mergers, acquisitions, capital expenditures, or other operational issues.
We intend to satisfy our current and future debt service obligations with our then existing cash and cash equivalents. However, we may not have sufficient funds, and may be unable to arrange for additional financing, to pay the amounts due under the the Second Amended Note, Additional Term Loan Facility, the Revolving Credit Facility, the Notes, or any other debt instruments. In addition, the Second Amended Note and the Credit Agreement, contain, and the agreements governing our future indebtedness may contain, restrictive covenants that may limit our ability to engage in activities that may be in our long-term best interest. These restrictive covenants include, among others, limitations on indebtedness, liens, mergers, consolidations, liquidations and dissolutions, sales of assets, investments (including acquisitions), dividends and other restricted payments and transactions with affiliates. Our failure to make payments under or comply with other covenants contained in the documents governing our indebtedness could result in an event of default which, if not cured or waived, could result in the acceleration of substantially all of our debt and potentially the foreclosure on our assets in the event we are unable to repay all amounts owed.
Debt & Financing - Risk 6
We may need to raise additional capital to fund our existing operations, develop our Platform, commercialize new products or expand our operations.We may need to raise additional capital in the future to expand our business, meet existing obligations, pursue acquisitions or strategic investments, or take advantage of financing opportunities or for other reasons, including to:
- increase our sales and marketing efforts to drive market adoption of our current products and services, and address competitive developments;- fund development and marketing efforts of our products under development or any other future products we may develop;- acquire, license or invest in technologies;- acquire or invest in complementary businesses or assets; and - finance capital expenditures and general and administrative expenses.
Our present and future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including:
- our ability to achieve revenue growth and favorable gross profits;- our rate of progress in establishing payer coverage and reimbursement arrangements with domestic and international commercial payers and government payers;- the cost of expanding our laboratory operations and product offerings, including our sales and marketing efforts;- our rate of progress in, and costs of our sales and marketing activities associated with, establishing adoption of and reimbursement for our current products, including our diagnostic tests and our data analytics products;- the rate at which we choose to advance, rate of progress in, and costs of our research and development activities associated with, products in development;- the effect of competing technological and market developments;- costs related to our international expansion; and - the potential costs of, and delays in product development as a result of any existing or new regulatory oversight applicable to our products.
We are party to a credit agreement with Ares Capital Corporation, under which we have $206.0 million outstanding in term loans and $100.0 million outstanding in revolving credit facility as of December 31, 2025. We also have $750.0 million outstanding aggregate principal amount of 0.75% Convertible Senior Notes due 2030. In addition, we are party to a Controlled Equity OfferingSMSales Agreement, or the Sales Agreement, with Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., TD Securities (USA), LLC and Allen & Company LLC, as sales agents, or collectively, the Sales Agents, pursuant to which we may offer and sell from time to time, at our option, shares of Class A common stock through the Sales Agents, or the ATM, having an aggregate offering price of up to $500.0 million. In addition to the foregoing sources of capital, we may seek to sell equity securities, through the ATM or otherwise, or convertible securities, enter into additional credit facilities or another form of third-party funding, or seek other debt financing. The various ways we could raise additional capital carry potential risks. If we raise funds by issuing equity or convertible securities, dilution to our stockholders could result. Any preferred equity securities issued also could provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. If we raise funds by issuing debt securities, those debt securities would have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. The terms of debt securities issued or borrowings pursuant to a credit agreement could impose significant restrictions on our operations. If we raise funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we might be required to relinquish significant rights to our Platform or products or grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us. These alternatives of raising additional capital may not be available to us on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or in amounts sufficient to meet our needs. The failure to obtain any required future financing may require us to reduce or eliminate certain existing operations and could contribute to negative market perceptions about us or our securities.
Corporate Activity and Growth8 | 7.4%
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 1
We have and may in the future acquire businesses, form joint ventures or make investments in companies or technologies that could negatively affect our operating results, distract management's attention from other business concerns, dilute our stockholders' ownership, and significantly increase our debt, costs, expenses, liabilities and risks.Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 2
If we are not successful in executing our strategy to increase sales of our Data and applications products to large pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers, our results of operations may suffer.An important part of our growth strategy is to increase sales of Data and applications products, and in particular our Insights product, to large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Sales to large companies involve risks that may not be present (or that are present to a lesser extent) with sales to small-to-mid-sized entities. These risks include:
- increased leverage held by large customers in negotiating contractual arrangements with us;- changes in key decision makers within these organizations that may negatively impact our ability to negotiate in the future;- customer employees may perceive that our products pose a threat to their internal control and advocate for internally developed solutions over our product;- resources may be spent on a potential customer that ultimately elects not to purchase our products;- more stringent requirements in our service contracts, including stricter service response times, and increased penalties for any failure to meet service requirements;- increased competition from larger competitors that traditionally target large enterprises and government entities;- less predictability in completing some of our sales than we do with smaller customers; and - the potential that advancements in AI allow our Data customers to develop models that serve as functional equivalents of our database and render our own products obsolete.
Selling to large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies is often a lengthy process, generally taking several months and sometimes longer. Following the establishment of the relationship, the negotiation of purchase terms can be time-consuming, and a potential customer may require an extended evaluation and testing period. Due to the length, size, scope, and requirements of these evaluations, we frequently provide short-term pilot deployments of our Data and applications products at no or low cost. We sometimes spend substantial time, effort and money in our sales efforts without producing any sales. The success of the investments that we make to acquire customers depends on factors such as our ability to identify potential customers for which our data products have an opportunity to add significant value to the customer's business, our ability to identify and agree with the potential customer on an appropriate pilot deployment to demonstrate the value of our products, and whether we successfully execute on such pilot deployment. Even if the pilot deployment is successful, we or the customer could choose not to enter into a larger contract for a variety of reasons. For example, product purchases by large companies are frequently subject to budget constraints, leadership changes, multiple approvals, and unplanned administrative, processing, and other delays, any of which could significantly delay or entirely prevent our realization of sales. As a result, in the event a sale is not completed or is canceled or delayed, we may have incurred substantial expenses, making it more difficult for us to become profitable or otherwise negatively impacting our financial results.
Finally, large companies typically (i) have longer implementation cycles, (ii) require greater product functionality and scalability and a broader range of services, including design services, (iii) demand that vendors take on a larger share of risks, (iv) sometimes require acceptance provisions that can lead to a delay in revenue recognition and (v) expect greater payment flexibility from vendors.
All of these factors can add further risk to business conducted with these customers. If sales expected from a large customer for a particular quarter are not realized in that quarter or at all, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 3
The proposed acquisition may not be completed, and the merger agreement may be terminated in accordance with its terms.Added
The proposed acquisition is subject to a number of conditions that must be satisfied or waived prior to the completion of the proposed acquisition, including, among others, the approval by Personalis stockholders of the proposal to adopt the merger agreement, the receipt of requisite regulatory approvals and the approval for listing on Nasdaq of the shares of our Class A common stock issuable to Personalis stockholders pursuant to the merger agreement.
These conditions to the completion of the proposed acquisition may not be satisfied or waived in a timely manner or at all, and, accordingly, the proposed acquisition may be delayed or may not be completed. In addition, if the proposed acquisition is not completed by April 20, 2027, which date may be extended to October 20, 2027 (and potentially to April 20, 2028) in certain circumstances, either we or Personalis may choose not to proceed with the proposed acquisition by terminating the merger agreement, and the parties can mutually decide to terminate the merger agreement at any time, before or after stockholder approval. Personalis may also terminate the merger agreement if, immediately prior to the closing, the volume-weighted average trading price of our Class A common stock is finally determined to be less than $46.00 per share based on the 15 consecutive trading days prior to but not including the last trading day prior to the closing. In addition, we and Personalis may elect to terminate the proposed acquisition in certain other circumstances as set forth in the merger agreement. If the merger agreement is terminated under specified circumstances, Personalis would be required to pay us a termination fee of approximately $76.8 million, and in certain circumstances, we would be required to pay Personalis a termination fee of the same amount.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 4
Uncertainties associated with the proposed acquisition may cause a loss of our and Personalis' management personnel and other key employees, which could adversely affect the business and operations of the combined company following the proposed acquisition.Added
Each of us and Personalis depends on the experience and industry knowledge of its officers and other key employees to execute its business plans. The success of the combined company after the proposed acquisition will depend, in part, on its ability to retain key management personnel and other key employees. Our and Personalis' current and prospective employees may experience uncertainty about their roles within the combined company following the proposed acquisition or other concerns regarding the timing and completion of the proposed acquisition or the operations of the combined company following the proposed acquisition, any of which may have an adverse effect on our and Personalis' ability to retain or attract key management and other key personnel. If we or Personalis are unable to retain personnel, including our or Personalis' key management, who are critical to the future operations of the companies, we and Personalis could face disruptions in our respective operations, loss of existing clients, loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated additional recruitment and training costs. In addition, the loss of our and Personalis' key personnel could diminish the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 5
We are expected to incur significant costs in connection with the proposed acquisition and integration of the two companies, which may be in excess of those anticipated by us.Added
We have incurred and expect to continue to incur costs associated with negotiating and completing the proposed acquisition and combining the operations of the two companies. These costs have been, and will continue to be, substantial. The substantial majority of costs will consist of transaction costs related to the proposed acquisition and include, among others, fees paid to financial, legal and accounting advisors, filing fees, employee retention costs and other employment-related costs. Many of these costs will be borne by us even if the proposed acquisition is not completed.
We will also incur transaction costs related to formulating and implementing integration plans, including facilities, systems and service contract consolidation costs and employment-related costs. We will continue to assess the magnitude of these costs, and additional unanticipated costs may be incurred in connection with the proposed acquisition and the integration of the two companies' businesses. Although we expect that the elimination of duplicative costs, as well as the realization of other synergies related to the integration of the businesses, should allow the combined company to offset integration-related costs over time, this net benefit may not be achieved in the near term, or at all. The costs described above, as well as other unanticipated costs and expenses, could adversely affect the results of operations, financial condition and cash flows of the combined company following the completion of the proposed acquisition.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 6
The failure to integrate our and Personalis' businesses and operations successfully in the expected time frame may adversely affect the combined company's business and results of operations.Added
We and Personalis have operated and, until the completion of the proposed acquisition, will continue to operate independently. Following the completion of the proposed acquisition, our and Personalis' businesses may not be integrated successfully. It is possible that the integration process could result in the loss of our or Personalis' key employees, the loss of clients, service providers, vendors or other business counterparties, the disruption of either company's or both companies' ongoing businesses, inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies, potential unknown liabilities and unforeseen expenses, delays, or regulatory conditions associated with and following completion of the proposed acquisition; or higher-than-expected integration costs and an overall post-completion integration process that takes longer than originally anticipated.
In addition, at times the attention of certain members of either company's or both companies' management and resources may be focused on completion of the proposed acquisition and the integration of the businesses of the two companies and may reduce their availability for day-to-day business operations or other opportunities that may be beneficial, which may disrupt each company's ongoing operations and the operations of the combined company.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 7
The combined company may fail to realize all of the anticipated benefits of the proposed acquisition.Added
The success of the proposed acquisition will depend, in part, on our ability to realize the operating synergies and other benefits from combining our and Personalis' businesses. The anticipated operating synergies and other benefits of the proposed acquisition may not be realized fully or at all, may take longer to realize than expected, or may result in other adverse effects that we do not currently foresee, in which case, among other things, the proposed acquisition may not generate the expected growth or value for our stockholders. The integration process may, for each of us and Personalis, result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of ongoing businesses or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures and policies. In addition, there could be potential unknown liabilities and unforeseen expenses associated with the proposed acquisition that could adversely impact the combined company.
Corporate Activity and Growth - Risk 8
The future results of the combined company following the proposed acquisition will suffer if the combined company does not effectively manage its expanded operations.Added
Following the proposed acquisition, the size and complexity of the combined company will increase significantly compared to the separate businesses of each of us and Personalis. The combined company's future success will depend, in part, upon its ability to manage this expanded business, which will pose substantial challenges for management, including challenges related to the management of a larger number of operations and geographies and associated increased costs and complexity. The combined company may also face increased scrutiny from, and/or additional regulatory requirements of, governmental authorities as a result of the significant increase in the size and complexity of the business. There can be no assurances that the combined company will be successful or that it will realize the expected operating synergies or other benefits currently anticipated from the proposed acquisition.
Tech & Innovation
Total Risks: 29/108 (27%)Above Sector Average
Innovation / R&D6 | 5.6%
Innovation / R&D - Risk 1
We have invested and expect to continue to invest in research and development efforts that further enhance our data analytics. Such investments may affect our operating results, and, if the return on these investments is lower or develops more slowly than we expect, our revenue and operating results may suffer.Innovation / R&D - Risk 2
Modifications to our FDA-cleared, approved or CE marked products may require new 510(k) clearances or premarket approvals or certification, or may require us to cease marketing or recall the modified products until clearances are obtained.For any product approved pursuant to a PMA, we are required to seek supplemental approval for many types of changes to the approved product, for which we will need to determine whether a PMA supplement or other regulatory filing is needed or whether the change may be reported via the PMA Annual Report. Similarly, any modification to a 510(k)-cleared device that could significantly affect its safety or effectiveness, or that would constitute a major change in its intended use, design, or manufacture, requires new 510(k) clearance or, possibly, approval of a new PMA. If the FDA requires us to seek approvals or clearances for modifications to our previously approved or cleared products, for which we concluded that new approvals or clearances are unnecessary, we may be required to cease marketing or distribution of our products or to recall the modified product until we obtain the approval or clearance, and we may be subject to significant regulatory fines or penalties. Similarly, in the EU, for any products we have CE marked, future changes or updates to our products, which affect their safety or efficacy, may require new Notified Body certification before we may sell the revised product.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 3
If our existing and new products fail to achieve and sustain sufficient scientific acceptance, we will not generate expected revenue and our prospects may be harmed.The life sciences scientific community comprises a small number of early adopters and key opinion leaders who significantly influence the rest of the community. The success of life sciences products is due, in large part, to acceptance by the scientific community and their adoption of certain products as best practice in the applicable field of research. The current system of academic and scientific research views publishing in a peer- reviewed journal as a measure of success. In such journal publications, the researchers will describe not only their discoveries but also the methods and typically the products used to fuel such discoveries. Mentions in peer-reviewed journal publications are a good barometer for the general acceptance of our products as best practices. Ensuring that early adopters and key opinion leaders publish research involving the use of our products is critical to gaining widespread acceptance and market growth. Continuing to establish and maintain good relationships with such key opinion leaders is vital to growing our market. The number of times our products were mentioned in peer-reviewed publications has increased significantly in recent years. As of December 31, 2025, our products have been mentioned in over 800 peer-reviewed articles published in major journals. We cannot assure investors, however, that our products will continue to be mentioned in peer-reviewed articles with any frequency or that any new products that we introduce in the future will be mentioned in peer-reviewed articles. In addition, self-authored journal publications that mention our products may present an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest and, therefore, the number of publications in which our products are mentioned may not be indicative of the level of acceptance of our products. If too few researchers describe the use of our products, too many researchers shift to a competing product and publish research outlining their use of that product or too many researchers negatively describe the use or usability of our products in publications, it may drive existing and potential customers away from our products, which could harm our operating results. Any decrease in the frequency at which our products are mentioned in peer reviewed journals, or a decline in the quality of such publications, may negatively impact our prospects.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 4
If we are not successful in leveraging our Platform to identify, develop and commercialize additional genomic and algorithmic tests, our ability to expand our business and achieve our strategic objectives would be impaired.A key element of our strategy is to leverage our Platform to identify, develop and potentially commercialize genomic and algorithmic tests beyond our current portfolio to diagnose various types of diseases. Identifying new genomic and algorithmic tests requires substantial technical, financial and human resources, whether or not any genomic or algorithmic tests are ultimately developed and commercialized. We may pursue what we believe is a promising opportunity to leverage our Platform only to discover that certain of our risk or resource allocation decisions were incorrect or insufficient, or that individual genomic or algorithmic tests have limitations that were previously unknown or underappreciated.
Our strategy of pursuing the value of our Platform to develop genomic and algorithmic tests over a long time horizon and across a broad array of human diseases may not be effective. In the event that material decisions in any of these areas turn out to be incorrect or sub-optimal, we may experience a material adverse impact on our business and ability to fund our operations, and we may never realize what we believe is the potential of our Platform for developing and commercializing genomic and algorithmic tests.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 5
New product development and commercialization involve a lengthy and complex process and we may be unable to develop or commercialize new products on a timely basis, or at all.Products that are under development have taken time and considerable resources to develop, and we may not be able to complete the development and commercialization of such products on a timely basis, or at all.
Before we can commercialize any new Diagnostics or algorithmic diagnostic products, we will need to expend significant funds in order to:
- conduct substantial research and development, including validation studies and, in some cases, clinical trials;- further develop and scale our laboratory or algorithmic processes to accommodate diagnostic tests in additional disease areas; and - further develop and scale our infrastructure to be able to analyze increasingly large amounts of data.
Our diagnostic product development process involves a high degree of risk, and product development efforts may fail for many reasons, including:
- failure of the diagnostic product to perform as expected, including defects and errors;- lack of validation data or validation activities that subsequently may be challenged or questioned; or - failure to demonstrate the clinical utility of the diagnostic test.
Expanding the offerings of our Data and applications business is also a speculative and risky endeavor and may require us to:
- acquire additional access to patient healthcare information that is relevant to the products we offer;- correctly identify current and future customer needs and preferences;- allocate our research and development funding to areas with higher growth prospects; and - anticipate and respond to our competitors' development of new products and technological innovations.
Our Platform development plan involves using data and analytical insights generated from our current products to foster research and development in our future products. However, if we are unable to generate additional or compatible data and insights, then we may not be able to advance our products under development as quickly, or at all, or without significant additional investment.
As we develop our products, we have made and will have to continue to make significant investments in Platform development, marketing and selling resources, which could adversely affect our future cash flows. We may also rely on third parties to develop new products that we may license and include in our overall offering, particularly with respect to our Applications business, and we may exert limited or no control over such development efforts.
In addition, in our development and commercialization plans for our offerings, we may forego other opportunities that may provide greater revenue or be more profitable. For example, while we expect to continue to provide diagnostic and data technologies to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies (including companies in which our Chief Executive Officer, Founder, and Chairman, Eric Lefkofsky, or our other executive officers, directors or significant stockholders may have significant or controlling voting and economic interests) developing therapeutics for various diseases, including cancers, we do not currently expect to conduct development of therapeutics ourselves. As a result, even if our development efforts result in commercially viable products, our business and results of operations could underperform in comparison to our customers and competitors.
Innovation / R&D - Risk 6
Our Applications product line is nascent.We have limited commercialized algorithms within our Applications product line. Revenue generated from Applications is reported within our Data and applications product line and was $20.2 million, $12.4 million and $5.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which represents 1.6%, 1.8% and 1.0% of our total revenue in each period. We have a number of additional algorithms in development and we may not be successful in developing and commercializing these or future algorithms, or in attaining our other development targets. Further, the scope and robustness of the Applications that we can offer our customers depend significantly on the continued success of our Diagnostics product line and access to third-party data, of which there can be no assurance. We also cannot accurately estimate how our future Applications will be priced, whether reimbursement can be obtained or whether we will generate any revenue from such Applications. Further, the use of diagnostics that are entirely algorithmic in nature is novel which (a) today represents only a small proportion of the diagnostics market (b) may be subject to existing and entirely new regulations that may substantially impact their adoption, use, reimbursement and ongoing viability, and (c) involves nascent billing and reimbursement policies, which could limit their adoption, use, and reimbursement. While we believe Applications represent a significant long-term opportunity for us, there can be no assurances that a robust and sustained market for such diagnostics will develop or that we will successfully compete in any such market.
Trade Secrets14 | 13.0%
Trade Secrets - Risk 1
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats.Trade Secrets - Risk 2
Patent terms may be inadequate to protect our competitive position for an adequate amount of time.Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, if all maintenance fees are timely paid, the natural expiration of a patent is generally 20 years from its earliest U.S. non-provisional filing date. Various extensions may be available, but the life of a patent, and the protection it affords, is limited. Even if patents covering our Platform or products are obtained, once the patent life has expired, we may be open to competition. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of our new products, patents protecting them might expire before or shortly after they are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with a sufficient exclusivity period to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.
Trade Secrets - Risk 3
Obtaining and maintaining our patent and trademark protection depends on compliance with various required procedures, document submissions, fee payments and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other governmental fees on patents and/or applications and trademarks and trademark applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various governmental patent agencies outside of the United States at several stages over the lifetime of the patents and/or applications and trademarks and trademark applications. We have systems in place to remind us to pay these fees, and we rely on our outside counsel to pay these fees due to U.S. and non-U.S. patent and trademark agencies. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent and trademark agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar requirements during the patent and trademark application processes. In many cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. However, there are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or forfeiture of the patent or patent application or trademark or trademark application and thus the partial or complete loss of patent or trademark rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Such an event would allow our competitors to enter the unprotected market and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Trade Secrets - Risk 4
We are and may in the future become involved in litigation and other legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third-party intellectual property rights, or asserting our intellectual property rights, which could be time-intensive and costly and may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.We are and may become involved with litigation or USPTO actions with various third parties. For example, on June 11, 2024, Guardant filed a complaint for patent infringement against us alleging that the Tempus xF, Tempus xF+, Tempus xM Monitor and Tempus xM MRD products use liquid biopsy technology that infringes five Guardant U.S. patents. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, unspecified monetary damages (including enhanced damages), a future mandatory royalty, costs and attorneys' fees. On January 17, 2025, Guardant separately sought a Declaratory Judgment against Tempus in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware regarding the veracity of certain advertisements Guardant has published regarding the companies' respective products. We expect that the number of such types of claims may increase as the number of our products grows, and the level of competition in our industry segments increases. Given the vast number of patents in our field of technology, we cannot be certain or guarantee that we do not infringe existing patents or that we will not infringe patents that may be granted in the future. Many companies and institutions have filed, and continue to file, patent applications related to the development and commercialization of genomic and algorithmic diagnostic tests. Some of these patent applications have already been allowed or issued and others may issue in the future. Since this area is competitive and of strong interest to biotechnology companies, there will likely be additional patent applications filed and additional patents granted in the future, as well as additional research and development programs expected in the future. If a patent holder believes the manufacture, use, sale or importation of our products infringe its patent, the patent holder may sue us even if we own or have licensed other patent protection for our technology. The biotechnology industry is characterized by extensive and complex litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. Moreover, we face and expect to continue to face allegations of patent infringement, and we may face claims regarding such allegations, from nonpracticing entities that have no relevant product revenue and against whom our owned or licensed patent portfolio may therefore have no deterrent effect. Any infringement claim, regardless of its validity, could harm our business by, among other things, resulting in time-consuming and costly litigation, diverting management's time and attention from the development of our business, or requiring the payment of monetary damages (including treble damages, attorneys' fees, costs and expenses if we are found to have willfully infringed) and ongoing royalties.
Litigation may be necessary for us to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights or to determine the scope, coverage and validity of the intellectual property and proprietary rights of others. The outcome of such lawsuits, as well as any other litigation or proceeding, is inherently uncertain and might not be favorable to us. Further, we could encounter delays in product introductions, or interruptions in the sale of products, as we develop alternative products. In addition, if we resort to legal proceedings to enforce our intellectual property rights or to determine the validity, scope and coverage of the intellectual property or other proprietary rights of others, the proceedings could be burdensome and expensive, even if we were to prevail. If we do not prevail in such legal proceedings, we may be required to pay damages, and we may lose significant intellectual property protection for our products, such that competitors could copy our products. Any litigation that may be necessary in the future could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As we move into new markets and applications for our Platform or products, incumbent participants in such markets may assert their patents and other intellectual property or proprietary rights against us as a means of slowing our entry into such markets or as a means to extract substantial license and royalty payments from us. As our business matures and our public profile grows, we may also be subject to an increased number of allegations of patent infringement, whether by our competitors or other patent owners, both in the United States and throughout the world wherever we seek to commercialize our products. Our competitors and others may have significantly larger and more mature patent portfolios than we have. In addition, while we can assert our own patents or other rights during litigation, our own patents may provide little or no deterrence or protection against patent holding companies or other patent owners who have no relevant product or service revenue. Therefore, our commercial success may depend in part on our non-infringement of the patents or other rights of third parties and on our success in defending ourselves in litigation.
However, our research, development and commercialization activities may be subject to claims that we infringe or otherwise violate patents or other intellectual property rights owned or controlled by third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation and other patent challenges, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the biotechnology industry, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions and inter partes review proceedings before the USPTO, and corresponding proceedings before foreign patent offices. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing products. As the intelligent medicine and healthcare data analytics industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our Platform or products may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties. Numerous significant intellectual property issues have been litigated, are being litigated and will likely continue to be litigated, between existing and new participants in our existing and targeted markets, and our competitors have asserted and may in the future assert that our Platform or products infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate their intellectual property rights as part of a business strategy to impede our successful entry into or growth in those markets, and we may enforce our owned or licensed intellectual property rights against our competitors and other parties.
Third parties may assert that we are employing their patents, proprietary technology or trade secrets without authorization. By interacting with us, our licensors may learn more about our business or technology and could assert additional patent rights against us, such as patent rights that are not currently licensed to us or patent rights that may be obtained by any such licensors in the future, which may occur if such patent rights are not available for licensing or if they are not offered on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms. Because patent applications can take many years to issue and are not publicly available until a certain period of time passes from filing, there may be currently pending patent applications which may later result in issued patents that our current or future products and services may infringe. In addition, similar to what other companies in our industry have experienced, we expect our competitors and others may develop or obtain patents with our Platform or products in mind and claim that making, having made, using, selling, offering to sell or importing our products infringes these patents.
Patent and other types of intellectual property litigation can involve complex factual and legal questions, and their outcome is uncertain. Even if we believe such claims are without merit, a court of competent jurisdiction could hold that these third-party patents are valid, enforceable and infringed, which could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our technology. In order to successfully challenge the validity of any such U.S. patent in federal court, we would need to overcome a presumption of validity. As this burden is a high one requiring us to present clear and convincing evidence as to the invalidity of any such U.S. patent claim, there can be no assurance that a court of competent jurisdiction would invalidate the claims of any such U.S. patent or find that our technology did not infringe any such claims. Further, even if we were successful in defending against any such claims, such claims could require us to incur substantial costs and divert financial resources and the attention of our management and technical personnel in defending against any of these claims. Parties making claims against us may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can, for example, because they have substantially greater resources.
If any third-party patent were to be asserted against us, there can be no assurance that any defenses will be successful. If our defenses to such assertion were unsuccessful, the third-party making claims against us may be able to obtain injunctive or other relief, including by court order, which could block our ability to develop, commercialize and sell certain products, and could result in the award of substantial damages against us, including treble damages, attorney's fees, costs and expenses if we are found to have willfully infringed. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may be required to pay damages and ongoing royalties, and obtain one or more licenses from third parties, or be prohibited from selling certain products. Further, we may be required to redesign our technology in a non-infringing manner which may not be commercially feasible. We could also be required or may choose to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing, manufacturing and marketing our technology. However, we may not be able to obtain these licenses on acceptable or commercially reasonable terms, if at all, or these licenses may be non-exclusive, which could result in our competitors gaining access to the same intellectual property. In addition, we could encounter delays in product introductions while we attempt to develop alternative products to avoid infringing third-party patents or otherwise violating proprietary rights. Defense of any lawsuit or failure to obtain any of these licenses could prevent us from commercializing products, and the prohibition of sale of any of our products could materially affect our business and our ability to gain market acceptance for our products. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our scientific and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, during the course of this kind of litigation, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our Class A common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities.
In addition, our agreements with some of our customers, suppliers or other entities with whom we do business require us to defend or indemnify these parties to the extent they become involved in infringement claims, including the types of claims described above. We could also voluntarily agree to defend or indemnify third parties in instances where we are not obligated to do so if we determine it would be important to our business relationships. If we are required or agree to defend or indemnify third parties in connection with any infringement claims, we could incur significant costs and expenses that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Trade Secrets - Risk 5
We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our owned or licensed intellectual property or claims asserting ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.While it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the conception or development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who, in fact, conceives or develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Moreover, even when we obtain agreements assigning intellectual property to us, the assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing or the assignment agreements may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Furthermore, individuals executing agreements with us may have preexisting or competing obligations to a third party, such as an academic institution, and thus an agreement with us may be ineffective in perfecting ownership of inventions developed by that individual. Disputes about the ownership of intellectual property that we may own may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, former employees may refuse to assign certain intellectual property rights to us, even though we have agreements requiring them to do so. Our ability to enforce our contractual rights may require us to seek legal action, which could be costly and time-intensive.
We or our licensors may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in or right to our owned or licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property. For example, we or our licensors may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of employees, consultants or others who are involved in developing such intellectual property. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or ownership of our owned or licensed patents, trade secrets or other intellectual property. If we or our licensors fail in defending against any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. An inability to incorporate such technologies or features would harm our business and may prevent us from successfully commercializing our products or at all. In addition, we may lose personnel as a result of such claims and any such litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with independent contractors. A loss of key personnel or their work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize our products. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in damage to our reputation and substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Trade Secrets - Risk 6
We may not be able to protect and enforce our trademarks and we could infringe or otherwise violate others' trademarks and if our trademarks are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest.We have not yet registered trademarks in all of our potential markets, although we have registered Tempus and certain diagnostic test names for certain classes of goods and services in the United States. If we apply to register additional trademarks in the United States and other countries, our applications may not be allowed for registration in a timely fashion or at all, and our registered trademarks may not be maintained or enforced and our trademarks may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on or otherwise violating another mark. For example, opposition or cancellation proceedings may be filed against our trademark applications and registrations, and our trademarks may not survive such proceedings. Such proceedings can be expensive and time-consuming, particularly for a company of our size. If we do not timely register and enforce marks used in connection with our Platform or products, we may encounter difficulty in enforcing them against third parties, and if these marks are registered by others, we could infringe or otherwise violate such trademarks.
We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors or other third parties may adopt trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trademark infringement or other violation claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our registered or unregistered trademarks. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Trade Secrets - Risk 7
We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties or that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed trade secrets of their former employers.We have employed or engaged and expect to employ or engage individuals who were previously employed at or associated with universities or other companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees, consultants and independent contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we have in the past been, and may again in the future be, subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of their former employers or other third parties, or to claims that we have improperly used or obtained such trade secrets. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we lose, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may be deprived of valuable intellectual property and face increased competition. A loss of key research personnel or work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize potential products, which could harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in damage to our reputation and substantial costs and be a distraction to management and affected individuals.
Trade Secrets - Risk 8
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, the value of our Platform and other technology could be materially adversely affected and our business could be harmed.In addition to pursuing patents on our Platform and other technology, we take steps to protect our intellectual property and proprietary know-how and technology that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, including certain of our algorithms and software. We seek to protect our trade secrets and proprietary know-how and technology by entering into agreements, including confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements, with our employees, consultants, academic institutions, corporate partners and, when needed, our advisers. However, we cannot be certain that such agreements have been entered into with all relevant parties, and we cannot be certain that our trade secrets and other proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors or other third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. For example, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Such agreements may not be enforceable or may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure or other breaches of the agreements, and we may not be able to prevent such unauthorized use or disclosure. If we are required to assert our rights against such party, it could result in significant cost and distraction.
Monitoring unauthorized use or disclosure is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to prevent such use or disclosure are, or will be, adequate. If we were to enforce a claim that a third party had illegally obtained and was using our trade secrets, it would be expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome would be unpredictable. In addition, trade secrets can be difficult to protect and some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets.
We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our proprietary information by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems, but it is possible that these security measures could be breached and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. If any of our confidential proprietary information were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, absent patent protection, we would have no right to prevent such competitor from using that technology or information to compete with us, which could harm our competitive position.
Trade Secrets - Risk 9
We may not be able to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights adequately throughout the world.Filing, prosecuting and defending patents and trademarks on our Platform and products in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some territories outside the United States are less extensive than those in the United States. In some cases, we or our licensors may not be able to obtain patent or trademark protection for certain technology outside of the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries and regions do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the federal and state laws in the United States, and we may encounter difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions where we do pursue patent or trademark protection. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all jurisdictions, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Competitors may use our inventions in jurisdictions where we have not pursued and obtained patent protection to develop their own products and may also export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products. Our patents or other intellectual property rights existing outside the United States may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing. Similarly, intellectual property rights may be exhausted in certain situations, and others could import our products sold abroad and compete with us domestically.
Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries and regions, and particularly developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology products, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement, misappropriation or other violations of our patents, trademarks or other intellectual property, or marketing of competing products in violation of our intellectual property rights generally in such jurisdictions. Proceedings to enforce our patent or other intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents or other intellectual property at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded to us, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage.
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 licensors is forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Trade Secrets - Risk 10
If we cannot license and maintain rights to use third-party intellectual property on reasonable terms, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our products. Our licensed or acquired technology may lose value or utility over time.From time to time, we may identify third-party intellectual property we may need, including to develop or commercialize new products. We may also need to negotiate licenses before or after introducing a commercial product, and we may not be able to obtain necessary licenses to such intellectual property. The licensing or acquisition of third party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and several more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We also may be unable to license or acquire third party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment or at all. If we are unable to enter into the necessary licenses on acceptable terms or at all, if any necessary licenses are subsequently terminated, if the licensors fail to abide by the terms of the licenses or fail to prevent infringement, misappropriation, or other violations by third parties, or if the licensed patents or other rights are found to be invalid or unenforceable, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. In addition, any technology licensed or acquired by us may lose value or utility, including as a result of a change in the industry, in our business objectives, others' technology, our dispute with the licensor, and other circumstances outside our control. In return for the use of a third party's technology, we may agree to pay the licensor royalties based on sales of our products or services. Royalties are a component of the cost of products and affect the margins on our products. If we are unable to negotiate reasonable royalties or if we have to pay royalties on technology that becomes less useful for us or ceases to provide value to us, our profit margin will be reduced and we may suffer losses.
Trade Secrets - Risk 11
We rely on licenses from third parties to provide certain products, and if we lose these licenses or if our rights under these licenses are limited, then our business will be adversely impacted.We are, and we may acquire companies that are, party to various license agreements that grant us rights to use certain intellectual property, including de-identified patient data, AI software, and certain patents and patent applications, typically in certain specified fields of use. Such license agreements impose, and future agreements may impose, various obligations, such as diligence, development, payment, royalty, sublicensing and other obligations on us in order to maintain the licenses. We may need to obtain additional licenses from others to advance our research, development and commercialization activities. Our future licenses may not provide us with exclusive rights to use the licensed intellectual property and technology, or may not provide us with exclusive rights to use such intellectual property and technology in all relevant fields of use and in all territories in which we may wish to develop or commercialize our technology in the future. As a result, we may not be able to prevent competitors or other third parties from developing and commercializing competitive products, including in territories covered by our licenses.
If these licenses are terminated, or if the underlying intellectual property rights fail to provide the intended rights and protections, our ability to develop and commercialize products and technology covered by these license agreements would be limited or lost, and our competitors or other third parties might have the freedom to develop, produce, seek regulatory approval or certification of, or to market, products identical or similar to ours and we may be required to cease our development and commercialization activities. Our actual or potential licensors could also take action with respect to our licensed intellectual property that may decrease the value of such licensed intellectual property. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Moreover, disputes could arise with respect to any aspect of our license agreements, including:
- the scope of rights granted under the license agreement and other interpretation-related issues;- our financial or other obligations under the license agreement;- the extent to which our Platform, products, and processes infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate the intellectual property of the licensor that is not subject to the licensing agreement;- the licensing of patent and other rights controlled by our licensors or developed under our collaborative development relationships to others;- the sublicensing of patent and other rights;- the inventorship and ownership of inventions and know-how licensed to us or resulting from the joint creation or use of intellectual property by our licensors, us and/or our partners; and - the validity, enforceability or priority of licensed patent rights.
If we do not prevail in such disputes, we may lose any of such license agreements, the license agreements may not be meaningful for our business and operations, and we may be subject to unnecessary or additional payment obligations.
In addition, the agreements under which we currently license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements could be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any such contract interpretation disagreement 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 and results of operations. Moreover, if disputes over licensed intellectual property impair our ability to enforce licensed intellectual property against third parties or use it to defend ourselves in litigation, the value of such licensed intellectual property may be diminished.
Additionally, our licenses may be subject to certain rights of third parties, and, as a result, our current and future licenses may not provide us with exclusive rights to use the licensed intellectual property and technology. Such licenses may be subject to reservations of rights including certain non-commercial rights reserved by universities and certain rights retained by the U.S. government, including march-in rights. Patents licensed to us could be put at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly in litigation filed by or against our licensors or another licensee or in administrative proceedings brought by or against our licensors or another licensee in response to such litigation or for other reasons. As a result, we may not be able to prevent competitors or other third parties from developing and commercializing competitive products, including in territories covered by our licenses.
If we fail to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected product, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of these license agreements is terminated, if the licensor fails to abide by the terms of the license agreement, if the licensor fails to prevent infringement, misappropriation, or other violations by third parties, or if the licensed patent or other rights are found to be invalid or unenforceable, we may lose our rights to develop and market our technology, may be unable to achieve our business goals and our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. 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 our products. Absent the license agreements, we could infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate patents or other intellectual property rights 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 and be a distraction to management. If we do not prevail, we may be required to pay damages, including treble damages, attorneys' fees, costs and expenses, royalties or, be enjoined from selling our products and services, including our tests, which could adversely affect our ability to offer products and our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Trade Secrets - Risk 12
Issued patents covering our Platform or products could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged.Our owned and licensed patents and patent applications may be subject to priority, validity, inventorship and enforceability disputes. If we or our licensors are unsuccessful in any of these proceedings, such patents and patent applications may be narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable and we may be required to obtain licenses from third parties, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or we may be required to cease the development, manufacture and commercialization the products we may develop. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Some of our owned or licensed patent rights may be challenged at a future point in time in opposition, derivation, re-examination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings and other similar proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. Any successful third-party challenge to our patent rights in this or any other proceeding could result in the narrowing, unenforceability or invalidity, in whole or in part, of such patent rights, which may lead to increased competition to our business, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications is threatened, regardless of the outcome, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize our current or future products.
We may not be aware of all third-party intellectual property rights potentially relating to our Platform and products. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until approximately 18 months after filing or, in some cases, not until such patent applications issue as patents. We might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by each of our pending patent applications and we might not have been the first to file patent applications for these inventions. To determine the priority of these inventions, we may participate in interference proceedings, derivation proceedings or other post-grant proceedings declared by the USPTO that could result in substantial cost to us. The outcome of such proceedings is uncertain. No assurance can be given that other patent applications will not have priority over our patent applications. In addition, changes to the patent laws of the United States allow for various post-grant opposition proceedings that have not been extensively tested, and their outcome is therefore uncertain. Our licensors may also license patent rights to others, and we may not be aware of such licenses before they are granted or such licenses may be subject to disputes or uncertainties that affect patent rights licensed by us or could limit our ability to enforce such patent rights. If third parties bring actions against our owned or licensed patent rights, we could experience significant costs and management distraction.
In patent litigation in the United States or abroad, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, written description, non-enablement or failure to claim patent-eligible subject matter. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could include an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO or made a misleading statement during prosecution. Similar claims may also be raised before administrative bodies in the United States or abroad, even outside the context of litigation, through mechanisms including re-examination, post-grant review and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions (e.g., opposition proceedings). Such proceedings could result in revocation or amendment to our patent rights in such a way that they no longer cover our Platform and products. The outcome of patent litigation or patent office proceedings following assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art, of which we and our licensing partners and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a third party were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity and/or unenforceability, we would lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection on our Platform and products. Such a loss of patent protection could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We and our licensors may initiate or become involved in legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering our Platform or one of our products. Defendants in such proceedings could counterclaim that the patents covering our Platform or product are invalid or unenforceable and could institute legal proceedings to challenge such patents both in court and before patent offices.
The intellectual property landscape in the next generation sequencing, AI, and other fields in which we operate continues to evolve in ways that may impact our business. For example, we are aware of patent litigation involving certain disciplines in which we operate, such as liquid biopsy sequencing methods and minimal residual disease testing methods. Many of our competitors are or have been party to these suits, including Guardant Health, Inc., or Guardant, Haystack Oncology, Inc., Invitae Corp., Illumina, Inc., Natera, Inc., NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc., Personalis, Inc., TwinStrand Biosciences, Inc., and others, and, as a result, we have monitored and continue to monitor their developments and their potential impact on us. In addition, on June 11, 2024, Guardant filed a complaint for patent infringement against us alleging that the Tempus xF, Tempus xF+, Tempus xM Monitor and Tempus xM MRD products use liquid biopsy technology that infringes five Guardant U.S. patents. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, unspecified monetary damages (including enhanced damages), a future mandatory royalty, costs and attorneys' fees. On January 17, 2025, Guardant separately sought a Declaratory Judgment against Tempus in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware regarding the veracity of certain advertisements Guardant has published regarding the companies' respective products. Given the uncertainty of outcomes of patent litigation disputes, we have not determined whether our products and services could be subject to potential additional claims of patent infringement based on the patents at issue in these or other cases, whether we may need to modify or change any existing or planned sequencing procedures, or whether any of the patents at issue are valid or enforceable against us. However, it is possible that we will be subject to additional claims of patent infringement and that we may need to either modify our existing or future sequencing methods or license intellectual property from third parties, both of which could be time consuming and expensive.
From time to time we may receive notifications from third parties purportedly asserting certain intellectual property rights with respect to our products and services. For example, on September 21, 2023, SEngine Precision Medicine LLC (including its predecessor corporation SEngine Precision Medicine, Inc.), or SEngine, a company we acquired on October 3, 2023, received a letter from an attorney representing HUB Organoids IP B.V., or HUB Organoids, which states that SEngine's PARIS test methodologies "appear to share similarities with methods that the HUB has used in its own organoid work." Similarly, on January 30, 2024, we received a letter from an attorney representing Molecular Loop Biosciences, Inc., which states that "[a]fter reviewing specific products made, used or sold by Tempus, Molecular Loop believes that Tempus requires a license to several of the patents in Molecular Loop's patent portfolio." Ambry Genetics has also received a letter from Molecular Loop. While the letter received on behalf of HUB Organoids contains no specific allegations that SEngine infringes certain patents controlled by HUB Organoids referenced in the letter, and while the letters received on behalf of Molecular Loop contains only generalized allegations that Tempus and Ambry Genetics may infringe certain patents controlled by Molecular Loop referenced in the letters, and while we have received and may in the future receive letters alleging patent infringement from other third parties, if any claims against us were made by these parties, including any claim that any portion of our products and services infringes any of the referenced patents, or any other patents held by a third party, we would defend against such claims, however, there can be no assurances that any such defense would be successful. Moreover, if we are subject to claims of patent infringement, we may need to modify existing methods governing use of our products and services, or license third party intellectual property, at some point in the future, which may be time consuming and expensive or may not be technically feasible.
Trade Secrets - Risk 13
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 Platform and products.Changes in either the patent laws or in interpretations of patent laws in the United States or other countries or regions may diminish the value of our intellectual property. We cannot predict the breadth of claims that may be allowed or enforced in our patents or in third-party patents. We may not develop additional proprietary products, methods and technologies that are patentable.
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, or the America Invents Act, enacted in 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 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 or our licensors were the first to either (i) file any patent application related to our products or (ii) invent any of the inventions claimed in our or our licensor's patents or patent applications.
The America Invents Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and also affect patent litigation. These include allowing third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures to challenge the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review and derivation proceedings, to attack the validity of a patent. 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 might not be sufficient to invalidate the claim if presented in a district court action. Accordingly, third parties have used and may continue to use the USPTO proceedings to invalidate our patent claims that would not have been invalidated if first challenged by the third party in a district court action. Therefore, the America Invents Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding our or our licensors' prosecution of patent applications and enforcement or defense of issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The patent positions of companies engaged in the development and commercialization of biotechnology and software are particularly uncertain. Court rulings may narrow the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances and weaken the rights of patent owners in certain situations. We cannot predict how decisions by the courts, the U.S. Congress or the USPTO may impact the value of our patents. Any similar adverse changes in the patent laws of other jurisdictions could also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. 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. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Trade Secrets - Risk 14
If we are unable to obtain, maintain and enforce sufficient intellectual property protection for our Platform and products, or if the scope of the intellectual property protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors or other third parties could develop and commercialize products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our products may be impaired.We rely on patent protection as well as trademark, copyright, trade secret and other intellectual property rights protection and contractual restrictions to protect our Platform, products and other proprietary technologies, all of which provide limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. If we fail to protect our intellectual property, third parties may be able to compete more effectively against us. In addition, we have incurred and may continue to incur substantial litigation costs in our attempts to recover or restrict use of our intellectual property.
To the extent our intellectual property offers inadequate protection, or is found to be invalid or unenforceable, we would be exposed to a greater risk of direct competition. If our intellectual property does not provide adequate coverage of our competitors' products, our competitive position could be adversely affected, as could our business, financial condition and results of operations. Both the patent application process and the process of managing patent disputes can be time-consuming and expensive. Our pending and future owned and licensed patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology, effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies or otherwise provide any competitive advantage. In fact, patent applications may not issue as patents at all. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued, and its scope can be reinterpreted after issuance.
As is the case with other biotechnology companies, our success depends in part on our ability to obtain and maintain protection of the intellectual property we own solely and may own jointly with others or we have licensed and may continue to license from others, particularly patents, in the United States and other countries with respect to our products and technologies. We apply for patents covering our products and technologies and uses thereof, as we deem appropriate. However, obtaining and enforcing patents, and specifically biotechnology patents, is costly, time-consuming and complex, and we may fail to apply for patents on important products, services and technologies in a timely fashion or at all, or we may fail to apply for patents in potentially relevant jurisdictions. We may not be able to obtain or maintain patent applications and patents due to the subject matter claimed in such patent applications and patents being in disclosures in the public domain. In some cases, the inventions we attempt to patent may have been previously discovered by others and entered the public domain, which may preclude our ability to obtain patent protection for such inventions. We may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications, or maintain, enforce and license any patents that may issue from such 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 enter into nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to confidential or patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach these agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection. Moreover, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the rights to patents licensed to us. Therefore, these patents and applications may not be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business.
We own or license numerous U.S. patents and pending U.S. patent applications, with international counterparts in certain countries. It is possible that our or our licensors' pending patent applications will not result in issued patents in a timely fashion or at all, and even if patents are granted, they may not provide a basis for intellectual property protection of commercially viable products or services, may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be challenged and invalidated by third parties. It is possible that others will design around our current or future patented technologies to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or therapeutics in a non-infringing manner. If the patent protection provided by the patents and patent applications we own or license is not sufficiently broad to impede such competition, our ability to successfully commercialize our products could be negatively affected, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Some of our patent rights may be challenged in the future, including at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, in post-grant proceedings, at the European Patent Office, or EPO, in opposition proceedings. We may not be successful in defending any such challenges made against our owned or licensed patents or patent applications. Any successful third-party challenge to such patent rights could result in their unenforceability or invalidity and increased competition to our business. We have challenged and may choose to challenge the patents or patent applications of third parties. The outcome of patent litigation or other proceeding can be uncertain, and any attempt by us to enforce our patent rights against others or to challenge the patent rights of others may not be successful, or, if successful, may take substantial time and result in substantial cost, and may divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.
The patent positions of life sciences companies can be highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of any patent rights are highly uncertain. No consistent policy regarding the breadth of claims allowed in such companies' patents has emerged to date in the United States or elsewhere. Courts frequently render opinions in the biotechnology field that may affect the patentability of certain inventions or discoveries, including opinions that may affect the patentability of methods for analyzing or comparing DNA sequences.
In particular, the patent positions of companies engaged in the development and commercialization of genomic and algorithmic diagnostic tests, like our current products and services, and our future products, are particularly uncertain. Various courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have rendered decisions that affect the scope of patentability of certain inventions or discoveries relating to certain diagnostic tests and related methods. These decisions state, among other things, that a patent claim that recites an abstract idea, natural phenomenon or law of nature (for example, the relationship between particular genetic variants and cancer) are not themselves patentable. Precisely what constitutes an abstract idea, natural phenomenon or law of nature is uncertain, and it is possible that certain aspects of genetic or algorithmic diagnostics tests would be found not patentable. Accordingly, the evolving legal and administrative standards around the world, including in the United States may adversely affect our ability to obtain patents and may facilitate third-party challenges to any owned or licensed patents. The laws of some foreign jurisdictions do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and we may encounter difficulties in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of many foreign jurisdictions do not favor the enforcement of patent rights and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patent rights and other violations of our intellectual property rights thereunder. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights and other intellectual property protection in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.
Cyber Security1 | 0.9%
Cyber Security - Risk 1
If our information technology systems or those third parties with whom we work or our data, are or were compromised, we could experience adverse consequences resulting from such compromise, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; loss of customers or sales; and other adverse consequences.Technology8 | 7.4%
Technology - Risk 1
We depend on information technology systems, including on-premises, co-located and third-party data centers and platforms, and any interruptions of service or failures may impair and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.Technology - Risk 2
We may not be successful in updating or otherwise enhancing our Platform and products.We have developed multiple genomics diagnostics tests across oncology (including hereditary tests, infectious diseases, and neuropsychiatry, as well as algorithmic diagnostic tests across oncology and cardiology. A major part of our strategy is bringing new high-value enhancements to our customers through updates to our Platform and existing products, which may include expanding our existing products with additional features, applications and data modalities. We expect to make significant investments to advance these efforts.
Enhancing our Platform and products is a speculative and risky endeavor. Features, applications and data modalities that initially show promise may fail to achieve the desired results or may not achieve acceptable levels of analytical accuracy or utility. We may need to alter our products in development and repeat studies before we identify a potentially successful update. Product development is expensive, may take years to complete and can have uncertain outcomes. Failure can occur at any stage of development. Even if we confirm that our products can be successfully updated for additional features, applications and data modalities, those features, applications and data modalities may be limited in scope to only some diseases, disease segments, patient markets or geographies. If, after development, an updated product appears successful, we may, depending on the nature of the update, need to obtain FDA's, Notified Bodies' and other regulatory bodies' clearances, authorizations, certifications or approvals before we can market the updated product.
The FDA's and Notified Bodies' clearance, authorization, approval or certification pathways are likely to require significant time and expenditures. The FDA, or other applicable regulatory authority or Notified Bodies may not clear, authorize, certify or approve any product update we develop and may even change the applicable regulations or the application of those regulations in ways that would impact our existing products or services, including our Platform. Even if we develop a product update that receives regulatory clearance, certification, authorization or approval, we or our collaborators would need to commit substantial resources to commercialize, sell and market the updated product, which may never achieve significant market acceptance among various stakeholders and be commercially successful.
In addition, we generally sell our products in industries that are characterized by rapid technological changes, frequent new product introductions and changing industry standards. If we do not develop Platform and product enhancements based on technological innovation on a timely basis, our Platform and products may become obsolete over time and our financial and competitive position will suffer. Our success will depend on several factors, including our ability to:
- correctly identify current and future customer needs and preferences;- allocate our research and development funding to areas with higher growth prospects;- anticipate and respond to our competitors' development of new products and technological innovations;- innovate and develop new technologies and applications, and acquire or obtain rights to third-party technologies that may have valuable applications in the markets we serve;- successfully develop and commercialize new technologies and applications in a timely manner; and - convince customers to adopt new technologies and applications.
The expenses or losses associated with unsuccessful expansion of our Platform could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Technology - Risk 3
Our diagnostic products, or our competitors' diagnostic products, could have defects or errors or otherwise fail to meet the expectations of patients, healthcare providers, and third-party payers; in such cases our operating results, reputation and business could suffer.The success of our Diagnostics and algorithmic diagnostic products depends in part on patients', healthcare providers, and third-party payers' confidence that our Platform can provide reliable, high-quality intelligent diagnostics that will improve clinical outcomes and lower healthcare costs, as well as our ability to comply with applicable privacy and data security requirements. We believe that patients, physicians and third-party payers are likely to be particularly sensitive to our use of data, as well as product defects and errors in the use of our products, including if our products fail to detect genomic alterations or other clinical relevant information with high accuracy from samples, if we fail to list or inaccurately include certain treatment options and available clinical trials in our test reports, or if we fail to comply with applicable privacy and data security laws, and there can be no guarantee that we will be successful in this regard. Furthermore, if our competitors' diagnostic products do not perform to expectations or if they fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations, it may result in lower confidence in us as well. As a result, the failure of our diagnostic products or our competitors' diagnostic products to perform as expected, or failure by us or our competitors to comply with applicable laws and regulations, could significantly impair our operating results and our reputation. In addition, we may be subject to legal claims arising from any such failures, including claims that defects or errors in our diagnostic products led to injury or death. Confidence in us, as well as the strength of our brand and reputation, could also be eroded by perceived failures by us or our competitors, even absent any evidence of failure or wrongdoing.
Technology - Risk 4
The success of our business depends on our continued access to, and ability to monetize, de-identified patient data.Our business relies on our ability to obtain, process, monetize and distribute highly regulated data in the healthcare industry, in a manner that complies with applicable laws, regulations and contractual and technological restrictions. The data that we collect through the provision of Diagnostics tests and through other sources is critical to our ability to offer the products and services across both of our product lines. Our Platform also includes proprietary software and dedicated data pipelines that create a network of healthcare institutions that supply us with complex multimodal data. Further, we rely on certain collaborations and licensing agreements to access important data. The success of our business depends on our continued access to, and ability to monetize, this internal and external de-identified patient data. As we seek to expand our business into additional disease areas and geographies, we will also need to successfully in build and maintain sufficiently large relevant data sets and obtain the permissions necessary to de-identify and use that data for commercial purposes.
Our ability to maintain, expand and monetize our datasets is subject to a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. With respect to data included in our Data and applications products, we rely on a combination of the statutory rights available to us as a HIPAA covered entity and as a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, business associate. As a HIPAA covered entity, we utilize data generated through our provision of Diagnostics tests. As a HIPAA business associate, we may rely on healthcare providers to obtain the requisite consents from their patients, with whom we may have no direct contact, to use the de-identified data that we generate in the provision of our other offerings to the providers, or that we generate from the protected health information, or PHI, we obtain from providers. More broadly, the failure by us or our data suppliers and processors to obtain patient data in a compliant manner could have a harmful effect on our ability to use and disclose data which in turn could impair our functions and operations, including our ability to share data with third parties or incorporate it into our products. In addition, the use, processing and distribution of patient data may require us or our data suppliers and processors to obtain consent from third parties or follow additional laws, regulations or contractual and technological restrictions that apply to the healthcare industry. These requirements could interfere with our ability to deploy our products, prevent creation of new products (including the development of foundation models, which depend on our ability to leverage de-identified data), or otherwise limit data-driven activities that benefit us. Moreover, due to lack of valid notice, sufficient consents or waiver, we may be subject to claims or liability for use or disclosure of data or other information.
We are also dependent on the healthcare institutions within our network continuing to provide us with broad access to multimodal data to support the robustness of our Diagnostics tests and other offerings, as well as on establishing and maintaining our collaborations with third party organizations with access to large, multimodal datasets, particularly as we attempt to expand into other disease areas. These third parties may have interests that diverge from our interests, including a desire to monetize their data in different ways, and there can be no assurance that we will be successful in maintaining and growing our datasets. Further, our arrangements with some of these third parties are not exclusive, which could allow such parties to provide data to our competitors, thereby adversely impacting our ability to offer differentiated products and services. Our practice of making available to providers the raw data from our Diagnostics testing, along with corresponding clinical data we may have structured as part of providing testing also may allow those providers to use data in ways that may be harmful to our business interests.
The use, processing and distribution of patient data is also the subject of complex, interconnected and frequently changing laws and regulations in the United States and globally. We have policies and procedures in place to address the proper handling and use of data, but could face claims that our practices are insufficient, or occur in a manner not permitted under applicable laws or our agreements with or obligations to data providers, patients or other third parties. These claims or liabilities and other failures to comply with applicable requirements could subject us to unexpected costs and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, any actual or perceived failure to comply with applicable privacy and data security laws could have an adverse impact on the willingness of the third parties on whom we rely for access to data to continue to provide us with such data.
Technology - Risk 5
Our products contain third-party open source software components and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open source software licenses could restrict our ability to sell our products or may require us to publicly disclose our proprietary software.Our products contain software tools licensed by third parties under open source software licenses. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source software licensors generally do not provide warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement or other violation claims or the quality of the code. Some open source software licenses contain requirements that the licensee make its source code publicly available if the licensee creates modifications or derivative works using the open source software or provide software services at no cost to the user, depending on the type of open source software the licensee uses and how the licensee uses it. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source software licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public for free. This would allow our competitors to create similar products with less development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of product sales and revenue. In addition, some companies that use third-party open source software have faced claims challenging their use of such open source software, seeking enforcement of open source license provisions, asserting ownership of open source software incorporated in products and demanding compliance with the terms of the applicable open source license. We may be subject to suits by third parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software, or claiming non-compliance with the applicable open source licensing terms. Use of open source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to compromise or attempt to compromise our Platform and systems. If an author or other third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of an open source license, we could incur significant legal costs defending ourselves against such allegations. In the event such claims were successful, we could be subject to significant damages or be enjoined from the distribution of our products.
There is little legal precedent and the terms of many open source software licenses have not been interpreted by United States courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products. Moreover, we cannot assure investors that our processes for monitoring and controlling our use of open source software in our products will be effective. If we are held to have breached the terms of an open source software license, we could be required to seek licenses from third parties to continue offering our products on terms that are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our product, to discontinue the sale of our products if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, or to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, to the extent we use open source technologies or licensed third-party technologies in our Applications product line, those products may be subject to similar concerns or even unanticipated or unknown risks given the nascency of the industry and the types of products we intend to develop and deploy. For example, developers of open source technologies and third-party licensors may not adhere to the same or similar standards that we adhere to in the development, validation, training and maintenance of AI models. To the extent such third parties' standards fall below a certain level and go undetected during our diligence and evaluation of such technologies, our business could suffer unintended consequences, including a detrimental impact on the patients we serve or the introduction of malware or other information security vulnerabilities into our network architecture.
Technology - Risk 6
We may experience challenges with the acquisition, development, enhancement or deployment of technology necessary for our businesses.Our Platform requires sophisticated computer systems and software in order to accurately and efficiently capture, service and process increasing volumes of health data, in particular a growing number of genomic profiles generated by our customers through various NGS test kits, sequencers and sample materials from different manufacturers. Some of the technologies are changing rapidly and we must continue to adapt to these changes in a timely and effective manner at an acceptable cost. There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop, acquire, enhance, deploy or integrate new technologies, including technologies needed to integrate genomics data into our Platform, that these new technologies will be effective and efficient, will meet our needs or achieve our expected goals or that we will be able to do so as quickly or cost effectively as our competitors.
Technology - Risk 7
Our use of AI tools may pose particular risks to our proprietary software and systems and subject us to legal liability.We use AI tools (including generative AI) in our business and expect to use AI tools in the future. Using AI tools to produce content that can be indistinguishable from that generated by humans is a relatively novel development, with many of the benefits, risks and liabilities still unknown. Recent decisions of the U.S. Copyright Office suggest that we would not be able to claim copyright ownership in any source code, text, images, or other materials that we develop through use of generative AI tools, and the availability of such protections in other countries is unclear. As a result, we could have no remedy if third parties reused those same materials, or similar materials also generated by AI tools.
We face and expect to continue to face allegations, and we may face claims regarding such allegations, from third parties of infringement of their intellectual property rights, or mandatory compliance with open source software or other license terms, with respect to software, or other materials or content we believe to be available for use, and not subject to license terms or other third-party proprietary rights. We could also be subject to claims from providers of generative AI tools if, for example, we use any of the generated materials in a manner inconsistent with their terms of use. Any of these claims could result in legal proceedings and could require us to purchase a costly license, comply with the requirements of open source software license terms, or limit or cease using the implicated software, or other materials or content unless and until we can re-engineer such software, materials, or content to avoid infringement or change the use of, or remove, the implicated third-party materials, which could reduce or eliminate the value of our technologies and services. Our use of AI tools may also present additional security risks because the generated source code may have been modeled from publicly available code, or otherwise not subject to all of our standard internal controls, which may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to determine how to breach our website and systems that rely on the code. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and future prospects.
Technology - Risk 8
We use AI in our products and services which may result in operational challenges, legal liability, reputational concerns and competitive risks.AI enables and is integrated into our Platform and, as a result, our diagnostic and data products, and is therefore a significant element of our current business and our future strategy. As with many developing technologies, AI presents risks and challenges that could affect its further development, adoption, and use, and therefore our business. Many known and unknown risks to AI exist. Some of the currently known risks include accuracy, bias, toxicity, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, data privacy and cybersecurity and data provenance. For example, our development and use of AI may result in the incorporation of third-party data, including personal, proprietary or confidential data, into our AI. If we do not have sufficient rights to use the data on which AI relies, we may incur liability through the violation of such laws, third-party privacy or other rights or contracts to which we are a party.
Additionally, regulation in the AI space is constantly changing, and may make it difficult to continue using our AI approach to diagnostics and data analysis. AI is the subject of evolving review by various U.S. governmental and regulatory agencies, including the SEC and the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, and various U.S. states and other foreign jurisdictions are applying, or are considering applying, their cybersecurity and data protection laws to AI, particularly generative AI, and/or are considering general legal frameworks on AI (such as the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act, or the AI Act, which took effect on August 1, 2024, and provides for administrative fines of up to 35 million Euros or 7% of a company's total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is the greater). In addition, the use and deployment of AI present complexities and challenges with respect to compliance with applicable laws and regulations, particularly because we are both a technology company and a healthcare provider of diagnostic testing services. Life sciences companies may underwrite or fund, in part, the development of AI algorithms, which may require us to disclose applicable funding sources and which may, as a result, slow the adoption of such technologies. Further, to the extent the output of an algorithm we develop or deploy recommends, directly or indirectly, the potential ordering of a product or service reimbursable by a federal healthcare program, we may encounter enforcement challenges even when such recommendations are based on objective clinical guidelines and criteria. If any such event were to occur, it could have a materially adverse impact on our business operations and reputation.
Additionally, algorithms may be flawed or biased, and datasets may be insufficient, of poor quality or contain biased information. Overcoming technical obstacles and correcting defects or errors could prove to be impossible or impracticable, and the costs incurred may be substantial and adversely affect our results of operations. If the diagnoses, determinations, recommendations, forecasts or analyses that our Platform's applications assist in producing are deficient or inaccurate, we could be subjected to competitive harm, potential legal liability and brand or reputational harm. Further, content generated by AI may be offensive, biased, or harmful, or violate current or future laws and regulations, and our reliance on AI could pose ethical concerns and lead to a lack of human oversight and control.
Inappropriate or controversial data practices by data scientists, engineers and end-users of our or our competitors' products could also impair the acceptance of AI products. Though our business practices are designed to mitigate many of these risks, if we enable or offer AI products that are controversial because of their purported or real impact on human rights, privacy, employment, or other social issues, we may experience brand or reputational harm.
Our investments in deploying AI technologies may be substantial and may be more expensive than anticipated. If our Platform does not function reliably, fails to meet expectations in terms of performance, or cannot be fully utilized due to increasing regulation or reputational concerns, we may be unable to provide such services, our customers may stop using our products, or our competitors may incorporate AI technology into their products or services more successfully than we do, all of which may impair our ability to effectively compete in the market.
We understand that the terms "AI," "Machine Learning," "Agentic AI," "Generative AI," "Large Language Models" and other similar terms may mean different things to different people. Accordingly, when we use those terms, we ascribe to them their broadest, commonly accepted meanings. For example, AI is a scientific field that allows computer software to perform human-like intelligence tasks. At its core, AI is simply the sophisticated application of mathematics to help machines perform tasks similar to, or better than, humans. AI is an umbrella term that encompasses many other subfields and technologies, including those listed above and described below:
- Machine Learning is a type of AI where the computer software is tasked with learning without being explicitly programmed. Instead, the software learns and adapts through a combination of instruction from humans and self-experimentation.
- Agentic AI is a type of AI that can function independently to actively achieve specific outcomes with limited human involvement through pre-programmed planning, reasoning, and decision execution.
- Generative AI is a type of AI that can take different types of inputs (such as text, image, audio, video, code, etc.) and generate new content using a variety of different modalities and based on a sophisticated and advanced set of rules.
- Large Language Models are algorithms that can recognize, summarize, translate, predict, answer questions about, and generate content using very large datasets, such as our own multimodal clinical- molecular database.
- Neural Networks are a type of machine learning that teach computers to process data in a way that is inspired by the human brain. Neural networks use interconnected nodes or neurons, much in the same way the human brain does.
Legal & Regulatory
Total Risks: 20/108 (19%)Below Sector Average
Regulation13 | 12.0%
Regulation - Risk 1
Changes in healthcare laws, regulations and policies could increase our costs, decrease our sales and revenue and negatively impact reimbursement for our tests.Regulation - Risk 2
If the validity of an informed consent from patients regarding our tests was challenged, we could be forced to stop offering our products or using our resources, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be negatively affected.We seek to ensure that all data and biological samples that we receive have been collected from patients, subjects or participants who have provided the necessary informed consent for purposes that extend to all associated activities. In many instances, our ability to obtain these consents requires the physician or hospital system ordering the diagnostic system to obtain the consent of the patient and to attest that they have done so on our requisition forms. We also have certain relationships where data and samples, and certain data licensed to us by third parties, are provided to us in a de-identified manner, or as a business associate in order to enable us to perform de-identification services. The collection and analysis of data and samples in many different jurisdictions results in complex legal questions regarding the adequacy of informed consent and the status of genetic material. Therefore, with respect to data and samples received from our customers, we rely on physicians and hospital systems to comply, and with regard to data received from our suppliers, we rely on these third parties to comply, with the informed consent requirements and with applicable local law regarding informed consent. The subject's informed consent obtained in any particular jurisdiction could be challenged in the future, and that consent could prove invalid, unlawful or otherwise inadequate for our purposes. Any findings against us, or our customers or suppliers, could deny us access to or force us to stop using some of our data and clinical samples, which would hinder our product development efforts, potentially involve us in costly and prolonged litigation, result in reputational harm and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Regulation - Risk 3
We are subject to numerous federal, state and foreign healthcare statutes and regulations; complying with such laws pertaining to our business is an expensive and time-consuming process, and any failure to comply could result in substantial penalties and a material adverse effect to our business, financial condition and results of operations.Our operations are subject to other extensive federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations, all of which are subject to change. These laws and regulations may include, among others:
- the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, or AKS, which prohibits knowingly and willfully offering, paying, soliciting or receiving remuneration, directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind (e.g. provision of free or discounted goods, services or items), in return for or to induce such person to refer an individual, or to purchase, lease, order, arrange for or recommend purchasing, leasing or ordering, any good, facility, item or service that is reimbursable, in whole or in part, under a federal healthcare program. The term ‘‘remuneration'' has been broadly interpreted to include anything of value. Although there are a number of statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors protecting certain common activities from prosecution or other regulatory sanctions, the exceptions and safe harbors are drawn narrowly, and practices that involve remuneration that are alleged to be intended to induce referrals, purchases or recommendations of covered items or services may be subject to scrutiny if they do not qualify for an exception or safe harbor. Failure to meet all of the requirements of a particular applicable statutory exception or regulatory safe harbor does not make the conduct per se illegal under the AKS. Instead, the legality of the arrangement will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis based on a cumulative review of all its facts and circumstances. Several courts have held that if any one purpose of an arrangement involving remuneration is to induce referrals of federal healthcare covered business, the AKS has been violated. Moreover, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. Violations are subject to significant civil monetary penalties, plus up to three times the remuneration involved. Violations of the AKS may also result in criminal penalties, including additional fines and imprisonment of up to ten years, and exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid or other governmental healthcare programs;- the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act of 2018, or EKRA, which prohibits knowingly and willfully soliciting or receiving any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe or rebate) directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, in return for referring a patient or patronage to a laboratory; or paying or offering any remuneration (including any kickback, bribe or rebate) directly or indirectly, overtly or covertly, in cash or in kind, to induce a referral of an individual to a laboratory or in exchange for an individual using the services of that laboratory. EKRA was enacted to help reduce opioid-related fraud and abuse. However, EKRA defines the term "laboratory" broadly and without reference to any connection to substance use disorder treatment. The EKRA applies to all payers including commercial payers and government payers. Violations of EKRA are subject to significant fines and/or up to 10 years in jail, separate and apart from existing AKS regulations and penalties. The law includes a limited number of exceptions, some of which closely align with corresponding AKS exceptions and safe harbors, and others that materially differ. Currently, there is no regulation interpreting or implementing EKRA, nor any guidance released by a federal agency regarding the scope of EKRA. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee that our relationships with providers, sales representatives, or customers will not be subject to scrutiny or will withstand regulatory challenge under EKRA;- the Stark Law, which prohibits a physician from making a referral for certain designated health services covered by the Medicare or Medicaid program, including laboratory and pathology services, if the physician or an immediate family member of the physician has a financial relationship with the entity providing the designated health services and prohibits that entity from billing, presenting or causing to be presented a claim for the designated health services furnished pursuant to the prohibited referral, unless an exception applies. Sanctions for violating the Stark Law include denial of payment, significant civil monetary penalties (on a per claim basis and additional penalties for a circumvention scheme), and exclusion from the federal healthcare programs;- the federal Civil Monetary Penalties Law, which prohibits, among other things, the offering or transfer of remuneration to a Medicare or state healthcare program beneficiary if the person knows or should know it is likely to influence the beneficiary's selection of a particular provider, practitioner or supplier of services reimbursable by Medicare or a state healthcare program, unless an exception applies. Violations can result in significant civil monetary penalties for each wrongful act;- federal and state "Anti-Markup" rules, which, among other things, typically prohibit a physician or supplier billing for clinical or diagnostic tests (with certain exceptions) from marking up the price of a purchased test performed by another physician or supplier that does not "share a practice" with the billing physician or supplier;- the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, biologicals, and kits, medical devices or supplies that require premarket approval by or notification to the FDA, and for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program to report annually to CMS, information related to (i) payments and other transfers of value to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), other healthcare professionals (such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners), and teaching hospitals; and (ii) ownership and investment interests in such manufacturers held by physicians and their immediate family members. Failure to submit required information may result in significant civil monetary penalties for any payments, transfers of value or ownership or investment interests that are not timely, accurately, and completely reported in an annual submission, and may result in liability under other federal laws or regulations;- the federal government may bring a lawsuit under the False Claims Act, or the FCA, against any party whom it believes has knowingly or recklessly presented, or caused to be presented, a false or fraudulent request for payment from the federal government, or who has made a false statement or used a false record to get a claim for payment approved. The federal government and a number of courts have taken the position that claims presented in violation of certain other statutes, including the AKS or the Stark Law, can also be considered a violation of the FCA based on the theory that a provider impliedly certifies compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and other rules when submitting claims for reimbursement. An FCA violation may provide the basis for the imposition of administrative penalties as well as exclusion from participation in governmental healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. A number of states including California have enacted laws that are similar to the federal FCA. Private individuals can bring FCA "qui tam" actions, on behalf of the government and such individuals, commonly known as "whistleblowers," may share in amounts paid by the entity to the government in fines or settlement. When an entity is determined to have violated the FCA, the government may impose civil fines and penalties for each false claim, plus treble damages, and exclude the entity from participation in federal healthcare programs;- the HIPAA fraud and abuse provisions, which created federal criminal statutes that prohibit, among other things, knowingly and willfully executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, including private insurers, 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. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation;- HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, and their respective implementing regulations, which impose obligations on covered entities, including certain healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses, as well as their respective business associates that create, receive, maintain or transmit individually identifiable health information for or on behalf of a covered entity, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information, and their covered subcontractors;- federal and state laws related to, among other things, unlawful schemes to defraud, excessive fees for services, unlawful trade practices, insurance fraud, kickbacks, patient inducement and statutory or common law fraud restrict the provision of products, services or items for free or at reduced charge to government or non-government healthcare program beneficiaries. These laws and regulations relating to the provision of items or services for free are complex and are subject to interpretation by the courts and by government agencies;- other federal and state fraud and abuse laws, such as state anti-kickback, self-referrals, false claims and anti- markup laws, any of which may extend to services reimbursable by any payer, including private insurers;- state laws that prohibit other specified practices, such as billing physicians for tests that they order; providing tests at no or discounted cost to induce adoption; waiving co-insurance, co-payments, deductibles or other amounts owed by patients; billing a state healthcare program at a price that is higher than what is charged to other payers; or employing, exercising control over or splitting fees with licensed medical professionals; and - similar foreign laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate or may operate in the future.
As a clinical laboratory, our business practices may face additional scrutiny from various government agencies such as the Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, or OIG, and CMS. Certain arrangements between clinical laboratories and referring physicians have been identified in fraud alerts issued by the OIG as implicating the AKS. The OIG has stated that it is particularly concerned about these types of arrangements because the choice of laboratory and the decision to order laboratory tests typically are made or strongly influenced by the physician, with little or no patient input. Moreover, the provision of payments or other items of value by a clinical laboratory to a referral source could be prohibited under the Stark Law unless the arrangement meets all criteria of an exception. The government has been active in enforcement of these laws against clinical laboratories.
Numerous states have enacted laws prohibiting business corporations, such as us, from practicing medicine and from employing or engaging physicians and other medical professionals (generally referred to as the prohibition against the corporate practice of medicine), which could include physician laboratory directors. These laws are designed to prevent interference in the medical decision-making process by anyone who is not a licensed medical professional. For example, the medical boards of certain states have indicated that determining the appropriate diagnostic tests for a particular condition and taking responsibility for the ultimate overall care of a patient, including making treatment options available to the patient, would constitute the unlicensed practice of medicine if performed by an unlicensed person. Violation of these laws may result in sanctions and civil or criminal penalties. It is possible that governmental authorities may conclude that our business practices, including our consulting and advisory board arrangements with physicians and other healthcare providers, a small number of whom may receive stock or stock options as compensation for services provided, do not comply with current or future corporate practice of medicine statutes, regulations, agency guidance or case law.
The growth and international expansion of our business may increase the potential of violating applicable laws and regulations. The risk is further increased by the fact that many such laws and regulations have not been fully interpreted by the regulatory authorities or the courts, and their provisions are open to a variety of interpretations. Efforts to ensure that our internal operations and business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Any action brought against us for violation of these or other laws or regulations, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management's attention from the operation of our business. Any of the foregoing consequences could seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. To the extent our business operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or regulations, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, including, without limitation, damages, monetary fines, individual imprisonment, disgorgement of profits, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other healthcare programs, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting or oversight obligations if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with the law and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and pursue our strategy. If any of the healthcare providers or other parties with whom we interact or may interact in the future, are found not to be in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from participation in various healthcare programs, which could also negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As part of the detailed regulatory regime discussed above, we routinely receive requests for medical records and billing information from certain Unified Program Integrity Contractors, or UPICs, or other auditing agencies regarding clinical diagnostic services provided by Tempus to patients enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Federal and state governments continue to pursue enforcement policies resulting in a significant number of investigations, inspections, audits, citations of regulatory deficiencies, and other regulatory sanctions including demands for refund of overpayments, terminations from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, bans on Medicare and Medicaid payments for new admissions, and civil monetary penalties or criminal penalties. These policies may impact our business. For example, on May 19, 2022, we received a subpoena from the Office of the Ohio Attorney General. The subpoena required production of certain billing and patient records associated with nine Ohio Medicaid patients who received our clinical diagnostic tests between 2019 and 2022. We provided responsive documents in June 2022 and have not received any additional inquiry since that time. Similarly, on March 4, 2024, we received a Civil Investigative Demand, or CID, from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. The CID requested documents and other information related to our compliance with the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback statute, and in particular 42 C.F.R. § 414.510(b), which is commonly referred to as the Medicare 14-Day Rule. We provided an initial production on April 4, 2024, and have continued to produce responsive documents on a rolling basis since that time. While we believe our programs and payments comply with the Anti-Kickback statute and other applicable regulations, no assurance can be given as to the timing or outcome of the government's investigation, or that it will not result in a material adverse effect on our business.
In addition, we expect audits under the CMS Recovery Audit Contractor, or RAC, program, the CMS Targeted Probe and Educate, or TPE, program, the UPIC program and other federal and state audits evaluating the medical necessity of services to further intensify the regulatory environment surrounding the healthcare industry as third-party firms engaged by CMS and others conduct extensive reviews of Tempus' claims data and medical and other records to identify improper payments to healthcare providers under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. If we fail to comply with the extensive laws, regulations and prohibitions applicable to our businesses, we could become ineligible to receive government program reimbursement, suffer civil or criminal penalties, or be required to make significant changes to our operations and refund certain payments we have received. In addition, we could be forced to expend considerable resources responding to investigations, audits or other enforcement actions related to these laws, regulations or prohibitions.
Our status as both a healthcare company and a technology company presents unique complexities when attempting to comply with these myriad laws and regulations. For example, certain data services we provide as a technology company may result in compensating other healthcare providers for access to data or the right to commercialize de-identified data. While such services, standing alone, appear routine, the compliance issues become more complex when considering our status as a healthcare provider that performs clinical diagnostic testing on behalf of healthcare providers. We have implemented programs to ensure we comply with all applicable laws and regulations notwithstanding these complexities; however, we cannot guarantee we will be successful in doing so, or that government enforcement agencies will agree that our efforts have been sufficient. Accordingly, we may be subject to enforcement actions that could materially impact our reputation, operations, and results.
Regulation - Risk 4
Failure to comply with federal, state and foreign laboratory licensing requirements and the applicable requirements of the FDA or any other regulatory authority, could cause us to lose the ability to perform our tests, experience disruptions to our business, or become subject to administrative or judicial sanctions.We are subject to CLIA, a federal law that regulates clinical laboratories that perform testing on specimens derived from humans for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of disease. CLIA regulations establish specific standards with respect to personnel qualifications, facility administration, proficiency testing, quality control, quality assurance and inspections. Any testing subject to CLIA regulation must be performed in a CLIA certified laboratory. CLIA certification is also required in order for us to be eligible to bill state and federal healthcare programs, as well as commercial payers, for our tests. We have a current CLIA certificate to perform our tests at our laboratories in Chicago, Illinois, Atlanta, Georgia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Aliso Viejo, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota. To maintain this certificate, we are subject to survey and inspection every two years. Moreover, CLIA inspectors may make random inspections of our laboratory from time to time. Similar considerations may apply in foreign countries.
We are also required to maintain clinical laboratory licenses to perform testing in Illinois, Georgia, North Carolina, and California. State laboratory laws establish standards for day-to-day operation of our clinical laboratories, including the training and skills required of personnel and quality control. In addition, some other states require our laboratories to be licensed in the state in order to test specimens from those states. In addition to Illinois, North Carolina Georgia, and California, our laboratories are licensed in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland, among others. Although we have obtained licenses from states where we believe we are required to be licensed, it is possible that other states we are not aware of currently require out-of-state laboratories to obtain licensure in order to test specimens from the state, and that other states may adopt similar requirements in the future.
We may also be subject to regulations in foreign jurisdictions as we seek to expand international utilization of our tests or as such jurisdictions adopt new licensure requirements, which may require review of our tests in order to offer them or may have other limitations such as restrictions on the transport of specimens necessary for us to perform our tests that may limit our ability to make our tests available outside of the United States. Complying with licensure requirements in new jurisdictions may be expensive, time-consuming and subject us to significant and unanticipated delays.
Failure to comply with applicable clinical laboratory licensure requirements may result in a range of enforcement actions, including suspension, limitation or revocation of our CLIA certificate and/or state licenses, imposition of a directed plan of action, on-site monitoring, civil monetary penalties, criminal sanctions, inability to receive reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payers, as well as significant adverse publicity. Any sanction imposed under CLIA, its implementing regulations, or state or foreign laws or regulations governing clinical laboratory licensure or our failure to renew our CLIA certificate, a state or foreign license or accreditation, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Even if we were able to bring our laboratory back into compliance, we could incur significant expenses and potentially lose revenue in doing so.
In order to test specimens from New York, LDTs must be approved by the New York State Department of Health, or NYSDOH, on a product-by-product basis before they are offered, and versions of our xT and xF tests have been approved by NYSDOH. We will need to seek NYSDOH approval of any future LDTs we develop, or for modifications to our existing LDTs, and want to offer for clinical testing to New York residents, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such approval. As a result, we are subject to periodic inspection by the NYSDOH and are required to demonstrate ongoing compliance with NYSDOH regulations and standards. To the extent NYSDOH identifies any non-compliance and we are unable to implement satisfactory corrective actions to remedy such non-compliance, the State of New York could withdraw approval for our tests.
The College of American Pathologists, or CAP, maintains a clinical laboratory accreditation program. While not required to operate a CLIA-certified laboratory, many private insurers require CAP accreditation as a condition to contracting with clinical laboratories to cover their tests. In addition, some countries outside the United States require CAP accreditation as a condition to permitting clinical laboratories to test samples taken from their citizens. We have obtained CAP accreditation for our Chicago, Atlanta, Raleigh, North Carolina, Aliso Viejo, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota laboratories. In order to maintain CAP accreditation, we are subject to survey for compliance with CAP standards every two years. Failure to maintain CAP accreditation could have a material adverse effect on the sales of our tests and the results of our operations.
Regulation - Risk 5
We may never obtain approval or certification in foreign jurisdictions for any of our products and, even if we do, we may never be able to commercialize them in any other jurisdiction, which would limit our ability to realize their full market potential.In order to eventually market any of our current or future products in any particular foreign jurisdiction, we must comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis regarding quality, safety, data privacy, performance and efficacy. In addition, products offered in one country may not be accepted by regulatory authorities in other countries. Approval and certification processes vary among countries and can involve additional product testing and validation and additional administrative review periods.
Seeking foreign regulatory clearance, authorization, approval or certification could result in difficulties and costs for us and require additional studies, trials or investigations which could be costly and time-consuming. Regulatory requirements and ethical approval obligations can vary widely from country to country and could delay or prevent the introduction of our products in those countries. If we or our collaborators fail to comply with regulatory requirements in international markets or to obtain and maintain required regulatory clearances, authorizations, approvals or certification in international markets, or if those approvals or certification are delayed, our target market will be reduced and our ability to realize the full market potential of our products will be unrealized.
Regulation - Risk 6
Even if we receive regulatory approval or certification of our products, we will continue to be subject to extensive regulatory oversight.Medical devices are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA in the United States, European Union legislation in the European Economic Area, or EEA, enforced by the Competent Authorities of EEA countries, and comparable regulatory authorities in other territories where we do or may do business. If any of our products are approved by the FDA, or other comparable foreign regulatory authorities, or CE marked in accordance with EU legislation governing medical devices or IVDs, we will be required to timely file various reports. If these reports are not filed timely, regulators may impose sanctions and sales of our products may suffer, and we may be subject to product liability or regulatory enforcement actions, all of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, as a condition of approving a PMA application, the FDA may also require some form of post-approval study or post-market surveillance, whereby the applicant conducts a follow-up study or follows certain patient groups for a number of years and makes periodic reports to the FDA on the clinical status of those patients when necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and effectiveness data for the device. The product labeling must be updated and submitted in a PMA supplement as results, including any adverse event data from the post-approval study, become available. Failure to conduct or timely complete post-approval studies in compliance with applicable regulations, update the product labeling, or comply with other post-approval requirements could result in withdrawal of approval of the PMA, which would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations Similar considerations and requirements apply in relation to those products we have CE marked in the EEA, or for any products we may CE mark in the future in accordance with the IVDR or the MDR.
The FDA the FTC and comparable foreign regulatory authorities also regulate the advertising and promotion of medical devices to ensure that their promotional claims made are consistent with the applicable marketing authorizations or certification, that there are adequate and reasonable data to substantiate the claims, and that the promotional labeling and advertising is neither false nor misleading in any respect. If the FDA, FTC or a comparable foreign regulatory authority determines that any of our promotional claims are false, misleading, not substantiated or not permissible, we may be subject to enforcement actions and we may be required to revise our promotional claims and make other corrections or restitutions.
The FDA, state and foreign authorities have broad enforcement powers. Our failure to comply with applicable regulatory requirements could result in enforcement action by the FDA, state or foreign regulatory authorities, or actions by Notified Bodies in the EEA in relation to the CE Certificate of Conformity they have issued in accordance with EU legislation governing medical devices or IVDs, which may include any of the following sanctions:
- adverse publicity, warning letters, untitled letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties;- repair, replacement, refunds, recalls, termination of distribution, administrative detention or seizures of our products;- operating restrictions, partial suspension or total shutdown of production;- customer notifications or repair, replacement or refunds;- refusing our requests for clearances, approvals or certification of new products, new intended uses or modifications to existing products;- withdrawals of current clearances, approvals or certification, resulting in prohibitions on sales of our products;- refusal to issue certificates needed to export products for sale in other countries; and - criminal prosecution.
Any of these sanctions could also result in higher than anticipated costs or lower than anticipated sales of our products and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, the FDA may change its clearance and approval policies, adopt additional regulations or revise existing regulations, or take other actions which may prevent or delay approval or clearance of our current or future products under development. For example, in November 2018, FDA officials announced forthcoming steps that the FDA intends to take to modernize the premarket notification pathway under Section 510(k) of the FDCA. Similar considerations apply in foreign countries.
Among other things, the FDA announced that it planned to develop proposals to drive manufacturers utilizing the 510(k) pathway toward the use of newer predicates. These proposals included plans to potentially sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway, and to potentially publish a list of devices that have been cleared on the basis of demonstrated substantial equivalence to predicate devices that are more than 10 years old. In May 2019, the FDA solicited public feedback on these proposals. The FDA requested public feedback on whether it should consider certain actions that might require new authority, such as whether to sunset certain older devices that were used as predicates under the 510(k) clearance pathway. These proposals have not yet been finalized or adopted, and the FDA may work with Congress to implement such proposals through legislation. Accordingly, it is unclear the extent to which any proposals, if adopted, could impose additional regulatory requirements on us that could delay our ability to obtain new 510(k) clearances, increase the costs of compliance, or restrict our ability to maintain our current clearances, or otherwise create competition that may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The FDA may establish performance criteria for classes of devices for which we or our competitors seek or currently have received clearance, and it is unclear the extent to which such performance standards, if established, could impact our ability to obtain new 510(k) clearances or otherwise create competition that may negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The changes to the regulatory system implemented in the EU by the IVDR and the MDR include stricter requirements for clinical evidence and pre-market assessment of safety and performance, new classifications to indicate risk levels, requirements for third party testing by Notified Bodies, tightened and streamlined quality management system assessment procedures and additional requirements for the quality management system, additional requirements for traceability of products and transparency as well a refined responsibility of economic operators. We would also be required to provide clinical data in the form of a clinical evaluation or performance report. Fulfillment of the obligations imposed by these Regulations may cause us to incur substantial costs. We may be unable to fulfill these obligations, or our Notified Body may consider that we have not adequately demonstrated compliance with our related obligations to merit the issuance of a CE Certificate of Conformity under the IVDR or the MDR for any of our products, or the continued use of any CE Certificate of Conformity issued under the IVDR or MDR.
Any new statutes, regulations or revisions or reinterpretations of existing regulations may impose additional costs or lengthen review times of our current or future products or make it more difficult to obtain clearance or approval for, manufacture, market or distribute our products.
The FDA's and other regulatory authorities' policies may change and additional government regulations may be promulgated that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory clearance, approval or certification of our diagnostic tests.
We also cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad, including the potential impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo, which curtails the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer.
Regulation - Risk 7
Our "research use only" and any potential "investigational use only" products could become subject to more onerous regulation by the FDA or other regulatory authorities in the future, which could increase our costs and delay our commercialization efforts, thereby materially and adversely affecting our business, financial condition and results of operations.In the United States, some of our products are currently available, or may become available, for research use only, or RUO, or for investigational use only, or IUO, depending on the proposed application. We make our RUO and IUO products available to a variety of parties, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and research institutes. Because RUO and IUO products are not intended for use in clinical practice and cannot be advertised or promoted for clinical or diagnostic claims, they are exempt from many regulatory requirements otherwise applicable to medical devices. In particular, while the FDA regulations require that RUO products be labeled "For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures," and that IUO products be labeled "For Investigational Use Only. The performance characteristics of this product have not been established," such products are not subject to the FDA's pre- and post-market controls for medical devices.
A significant change in the laws governing RUO or IUO products or how they are enforced may require us to change our business model in order to maintain compliance. For instance, in November 2013 the FDA issued a guidance document entitled "Distribution of In Vitro Diagnostic Products Labeled for Research Use Only or Investigational Use Only," or the RUO/IUO Guidance, which highlights the FDA's interpretation that distribution of RUO or IUO products with any labeling, advertising or promotion that suggests that clinical laboratories can validate the test through their own procedures and subsequently offer it for clinical diagnostic use as an LDT is in conflict with the RUO or IUO status. The RUO/IUO Guidance further articulates the FDA's position that any assistance offered in performing clinical validation or verification, or similar specialized technical support, to clinical laboratories, is in conflict with RUO or IUO status. If we engage in any activities that the FDA deems to be in conflict with the RUO or IUO status held by any of our products so labeled, we may be subject to immediate, severe and broad FDA enforcement action that would adversely affect our ability to continue operations. Accordingly, if the FDA finds that we are distributing our RUO or IUO products in a manner that is inconsistent with its RUO/IUO Guidance, we may be forced to stop distribution of our RUO/IUO tests until we are in compliance, which would reduce our revenue, increase our costs and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Regulation - Risk 8
There is no guarantee that the FDA will grant 510(k) clearance or a premarket approval or that comparable foreign regulatory authorities will grant the necessary clearance, approval or certification of our products and failure to obtain necessary clearances, approvals or certification for our products would adversely affect our ability to grow our business.Before we begin to label and market certain of our products for use as clinical diagnostics in the United States, including as companion diagnostics, we may be required to obtain either 510(k) clearance or a premarket approval, or supplemental premarket approval, or respectively, PMA or sPMA, from the FDA, unless an exemption applies or FDA exercises its enforcement discretion and refrains from enforcing its medical device requirements.
The process of obtaining regulatory clearance or approval can be a rigorous, costly, lengthy and uncertain process. In the PMA process, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is safe and effective for its intended use based, in part, on extensive data, including, but not limited to, technical, pre-clinical, clinical trial, manufacturing and labeling data. In the 510(k) clearance process, the FDA must determine that a proposed device is "substantially equivalent" to a device legally on the market, known as a "predicate" device, in order to clear the proposed device for marketing. To be "substantially equivalent," the proposed device must have the same intended use as the predicate device, and either have the same technological characteristics as the predicate device or have different technological characteristics and not raise different questions of safety or effectiveness than the predicate device. Clinical data is sometimes required to support a substantial equivalence determination.
The FDA can delay, limit or deny clearance or approval of a device for many reasons, including:
- our inability to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the FDA that our products are safe or effective for their intended uses;- the disagreement of the FDA with the design, conduct or implementation of our clinical trials or the analysis or interpretation of data from our pre-clinical studies or clinical trials;- serious and unexpected adverse effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials;- the data from our pre-clinical studies and clinical trials may be insufficient to support clearance or approval, where required;- our inability to demonstrate that the clinical and other benefits of any of our tests outweigh the risks;- an advisory committee, if convened by the FDA, may recommend against approval of our PMA or other application for any of our tests or may recommend that the FDA require, as a condition of approval, additional pre-clinical studies or clinical trials, limitations on approved labeling or distribution and use restrictions, or even if an advisory committee, if convened, makes a favorable recommendation, the FDA may still not approve the test;- the FDA may identify deficiencies in our marketing application, and in our manufacturing processes, facilities or analytical methods or those of our third-party contract manufacturers;- the potential for approval policies or regulations of the FDA to change significantly in a manner rendering our clinical data or regulatory filings insufficient for the clearance or approval; and - the FDA may audit our clinical trial data and conclude that the data is not sufficiently reliable to support a PMA application.
In foreign jurisdictions, we may be required to procure similar regulatory approvals, clearances or certification prior to marketing our diagnostic products. For example, in the Europe Union, we need to comply with the new MDR and IVDR. IVDs must comply with the General Safety and Performance Requirements ("GSPRs") set out in Annex I to the IVDR and medical devices must comply with the GSPRs set out in Annex I to the MDR. Compliance with these requirements is a prerequisite to be able to affix the CE Mark to IVDs or medical devices, without which they cannot be marketed or sold in the EEA. To demonstrate compliance with the GSPRs provided in the IVDR or the MDR and obtain the right to affix the CE mark, medical devices manufacturers must undergo a conformity assessment procedure. Depending on the type of IVD or medical device and its classification, the conformity assessment procedure may require the intervention of a Notified Body. The Notified Body issues a CE Certificate of Conformity following successful completion of a conformity assessment procedure conducted in relation to the IVD or medical device and its manufacturer and their conformity with the GSPRs. This Certificate and the related conformity assessment process entitles the manufacturer to affix the CE mark to its IVDs or medical devices after having prepared and signed a related EU Declaration of Conformity. Obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals, clearances or certification in foreign jurisdictions can be expensive and may involve considerable delay.
Any delay or failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals, clearances or certification would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Regulation - Risk 9
Certain of our tests are currently marketed as LDTs, and future changes in FDA enforcement discretion for LDTs could subject our operations to much more significant regulatory requirements.The FDA has historically operated under a policy of enforcement discretion with respect to LDTs whereby the FDA did not actively enforce its regulatory requirements for such tests. On May 6, 2024, the FDA published final regulations that took effect on July 5, 2024, and which attempted to phase-out enforcement discretion over a period of four years and required compliance with device registration and listing requirements, medical device reporting requirements, 510(k) clearance, denovo authorization or Premarket Approval and the requirements of the FDA's Quality System Regulation. In March 2025, however, a federal district court in the Northern District of Texas vacated and set aside the FDA's final rule, which effectively ended the FDA's attempt to regulate such diagnostic tests as medical devices and called into question the agency's long-standing policy of enforcement discretion with respect to LDT's. It is unclear whether this or future administrations will attempt to reinstitute such policies, or how the changing regulatory regime might impact our business.
A decision to re-implement these regulations, or the potential for congressional legislation governing laboratory developed tests, could cause us to stop selling existing tests or launching any other tests we may develop, and to conduct additional clinical trials or take other actions prior to continuing to market our tests. This could significantly increase the costs and expenses of conducting, or otherwise harm, our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, because our Platform and other software applications we make available include functionality related to the reporting of results from the LDTs we run, the FDA could attempt to regulate the software applications, including portions of our Platform, that we utilize to provide results of the LDTs to our customers and this may require costly modifications, additional development or the reduction in functionality in our offerings which could, in turn, make them less attractive to our customers.
Regulation - Risk 10
We conduct business in a heavily regulated industry, and changes in regulations or violations of regulations may, directly or indirectly, reduce our revenue, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.The diagnostic testing industry is highly regulated, and there can be no assurance that the regulatory environment in which we operate will not change significantly and adversely to us in the future. Areas of the regulatory environment that may affect our ability to conduct business include, without limitation:
- federal and state laws applicable to test ordering, documentation of tests ordered, billing practices and claims payment and/or regulatory agencies enforcing those laws and regulations;- federal and state health care fraud and abuse laws;- federal and state laboratory anti-mark-up laws;- coverage and reimbursement levels by Medicare, Medicaid, other governmental payers and private insurers;- restrictions on coverage of and reimbursement for tests;- federal and state laws governing laboratory testing, including CLIA, and state licensing laws;- federal and state laws and enforcement policies governing the development, use and distribution of diagnostic medical devices, including laboratory developed tests, or LDTs;- federal and state laws and enforcement policies governing the use of AI in analyzing data, including data in healthcare related areas;- federal, state and local laws governing the handling and disposal of medical and hazardous waste;- federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules and regulations;- the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, and similar state data privacy and security laws; and - consumer protection laws; and - similar foreign laws and regulations in the countries in which we operate or may operate in the future.
In particular, the laws and regulations governing the marketing of diagnostic tests are complex, and there are often no sufficient regulatory or judicial interpretations of these laws and regulations. For example, some of our diagnostic tests are actively regulated by the FDA pursuant to the medical device provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDCA. The FDA defines a medical device to include any instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent or other similar or related article, including a component, part or accessory, intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, in man or other animals. Many of our genomic and algorithmic diagnostic tests are likely to be considered by the FDA to be medical devices. Among other things, pursuant to the FDCA and its implementing regulations, the FDA regulates the research, design, testing, manufacturing, safety, labeling, storage, record keeping, premarket clearance or approval, marketing and promotion and sales and distribution of medical devices in the United States to ensure that medical devices distributed domestically are safe and effective for their intended uses. In addition, the FDA regulates the import and export of medical devices.
In the EEA, in order to place an in vitro diagnostic medical device, or IVD, or an accessory to an IVD, on the market, or put it into service in the EEA, the device must be designed, developed, manufactured and marketed in compliance with the relevant legal framework. On May 26, 2022, the Regulation on In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (Regulation (EU) 2017/746), or IVDR, entered into application, repealing and replacing the Directive on In-Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices (98/79/EC), or the IVDD. The IVDR and its associated guidance documents and harmonized standards governing, among other things, device design and development, preclinical and clinical or performance testing, premarket conformity assessment, registration and listing, manufacturing, labeling, storage, claims, sales and distribution, export and import and post-market surveillance, vigilance, and market surveillance. The IVDR also establishes transitional provisions permitting certain devices that have been CE marked in accordance with the IVDD to continue to be placed on the EEA market under strict conditions and for a specific period of time depending on the risk classification of the device. Medical devices are governed by the Regulation on Medical Devices (Regulation (EU) 2017/745) ("MDR") which entered into application on May 26, 2021, repealing and replacing the Directive on Medical Devices (93/42/EC) (the "MDD"). The MDR establishes similar provisions to the IVDR in relation to medical devices. If we do not comply with these requirements or fail to adequately comply, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed.
Changes in the current regulatory framework for algorithmic diagnostic products and services can impose additional regulatory burdens on us. Recent changes to the European Union regulatory framework for IVDs may materially impact our operations, product availability, compliance costs, and market access in the EU. In July 2024, Regulation (EU) 2024/1860 entered into application. The Regulation extends existing IVDR transition timelines and imposes new manufacturer obligations, including mandatory pre-notification of supply interruptions starting January 10, 2025. In addition, the Regulation introduces the gradual rollout of EUDAMED, the EU's central database for medical devices and diagnostics. Starting from May 28, 2026, the use of the first four modules will become mandatory - actor registration, UDI/Devices registration, notified bodies and certificates, and Market Surveillance. Furthermore, on December?16,?2025, the European Commission published a proposal to amend the MDR and the IVDR with the stated objective of simplifying and reducing the regulatory burden, addressing certification bottlenecks, and improving predictability while maintaining patient safety. The proposal introduces broad changes, including more flexible clinical-evidence pathways, removal of fixed certificate validity periods, and adjustments to classification rules that may shift certain devices into lower risk categories. The FDA is also currently considering the development of novel regulatory pathways for AI technologies and other software. As the regulatory framework evolves, we may incur substantial costs to ensure compliance with new or amended laws and regulations. Failure to comply with any of these laws and regulations could result in enforcement actions against us, damage to our reputation and loss of goodwill, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Regulation - Risk 11
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations, and rules, contractual obligations, industry standards, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and security. Our (or the third parties with whom we work) actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could lead to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation (including class claims) and mass arbitration demands; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse business consequences.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, "process") personal data and other sensitive information, including large amounts of personal health and financial information, proprietary and confidential business data, trade secrets, intellectual property, data we collect about trial participants in connection with clinical trials, and sensitive third-party data. Our data processing activities 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 United States, 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, HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH, imposes specific requirements relating to the privacy, security, and transmission of individually identifiable protected health information.
HIPAA establishes a set of national privacy and security standards for the protection of PHI by health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and certain healthcare providers that submit certain covered transactions electronically, or ‘‘covered entities,'' and their ‘‘business associates,'' which are persons or entities that perform certain services for, or on behalf of, a covered entity that involve creating, receiving, maintaining or transmitting PHI, and their covered subcontractors. We are a covered entity under HIPAA, and also routinely receive large amounts of PHI as a business associate under HIPAA, and therefore must comply with its requirements to protect the privacy and security of health information and must provide individuals with certain rights with respect to their health information. If we engage a business associate to help us carry out healthcare activities and functions, or if we serve as a business associate on behalf of another covered entity, we must have a written business associate contract or other arrangement with the business associate that establishes specifically what the business associate (or covered entity) has been engaged to do and requires the business associate to comply with the same requirements.
Numerous U.S. states have enacted comprehensive privacy laws that impose certain obligations on covered businesses, including providing specific disclosures in privacy notices and affording residents with certain rights concerning their personal data or laws governing the privacy of consumer health data, which can be broadly defined. As applicable, such rights may include the right to access, correct, or delete certain data, to opt-out of certain data processing activities, such as targeted advertising, profiling, and automated decision-making, and to require patient-level consents for the use of other types of health data. The exercise of these rights may impact our business and ability to provide our products and services. Certain states also impose stricter requirements for processing certain personal data or consumer health data, including sensitive information, such as conducting data privacy impact assessments. These state laws allow for statutory fines for noncompliance. For example, the CCPA applies to personal data of consumers, business representatives, and employees who are California residents, and requires businesses to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and honor requests of such individuals to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA provides for fines and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages. The CCPA and other comprehensive U.S. state privacy laws generally exempt some data processed in the context of clinical trials, or enumerate other exceptions, but these developments may further complicate compliance efforts, and increase legal risk and compliance costs for us, the third parties with whom we work. Similar laws are being considered in several states, as well as at the federal and local levels, and we expect more states to pass similar laws in the future.
These laws and regulations are not necessarily preempted by HIPAA, particularly if a state affords greater protection to individuals than HIPAA. Where state laws differ from HIPAA, we may have to comply with these provisions. In addition to fines and penalties imposed upon violators, some of these state laws also afford private rights of action to individuals who believe their personal information has been misused. The interplay of federal and state laws may be subject to varying interpretations by courts and government agencies, creating complex compliance issues for us and our clients, and potentially exposing us to additional expense, adverse publicity and liability. Further, as regulatory focus on privacy issues continues to increase and laws and regulations concerning the protection of personal information expand and become more complex, these potential risks to our business could intensify. Changes in laws or regulations associated with the enhanced protection of certain types of sensitive data, such as PHI or other types of sensitive personally identifiable information, or PII, or increased demands for enhanced data security infrastructure applied to personally identifiable information, could greatly increase our costs of providing our products, decrease demand for our products, reduce our revenue and/or subject us to additional risks. In addition, the interpretation and application of consumer, health-related, and data protection laws, especially with respect to genetic samples and data, in the United States, the EU (including all countries in the EEA), and elsewhere are often uncertain, contradictory, and in flux.
Outside the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations, and industry standards govern data privacy and security. For example, EU GDPR and UK GDPR (collectively, GDPR) impose strict requirements for processing personal data. For example, under the GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions; fines of up to 20 million Euros under the EU GDPR, 17.5 million pounds sterling under the UK GDPR or, in each case, 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is greater; or private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests. The GDPR enhances data protection obligations for processors and controllers of personal data, including, for example, higher standards for obtaining consent from individuals to process their personal data, more robust disclosures to individuals and a strengthened individual data rights regime, timelines for data breach notifications as short as 72 hours for notification to supervisory authorities, limitations on retention of information, increased requirements pertaining to health data, other special categories of personal sequencing and pseudonymized (i.e., key-coded) data and additional obligations when we contract third-party processors in connection with the processing of the personal data. The GDPR provides that EU member states may make their own further laws and regulations limiting the processing of personal data, including genetic, biometric or health data, which could limit our ability to use and share personal data or could cause our costs to increase, and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the ordinary course of business, we transfer personal data from Europe and other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries. Europe and other jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the EEA and the UK have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws it generally believes are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt or have already adopted similarly stringent data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA standard contractual clauses, the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum, and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the UK extension thereto (which allows for transfers to relevant U.S.-based organizations who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework), 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. If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally-compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions (such as Europe) at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties, and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business. Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants, and activist groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers out of Europe for allegedly violating the GDPR's cross-border data transfer limitations. Regulators in the United States such as the Department of Justice are also increasingly scrutinizing certain personal data transfers and have proposed and may enact certain data localization requirements, for example, the Biden Administration's executive order Preventing Access to Americans' Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern.
Our employees and personnel use generative AI and machine learning technologies to perform their work, and the disclosure and use of personal data in generative AI technologies is subject to various privacy laws and other privacy obligations. Governments have passed and are likely to pass additional laws regulating generative AI. Our use of this technology could result in additional compliance costs, regulatory investigations and actions, and lawsuits. If we are unable to use generative AI, it could make our business less efficient and result in competitive disadvantages.
We use AI/machine learning to assist us in making certain decisions, which is regulated by certain privacy laws. Due to inaccuracies or flaws in the inputs, outputs, or logic of the AI/machine learning, the model could be biased and could lead us to make decisions that could bias certain individuals (or classes of individuals), and adversely impact their rights, employment, and ability to obtain certain pricing, products, services, or benefits.
In addition, we use AI, including generative AI, and machine learning technologies in our products and services. The development and use of AI/machine learning present various privacy and security risks that may impact our business. AI/machine learning are subject to privacy and data security laws, as well as increasing regulation and scrutiny. Several jurisdictions around the globe, including Europe and certain U.S. states, have proposed enacted, or are considering laws governing the development and use of AI/machine learning, such as the EU's AI Act, the Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act, California Bot Disclosure Law, the Utah Artificial Intelligence Policy Act, and the CCPA regulations on automated decision-making technology. For example, the EU AI Act sets out a risk-based framework, subjecting certain AI technologies to numerous compliance obligations, including transparency, conformity and risk assessment, monitoring and human oversight requirements. Under the EU AI Act, non-compliant companies may be subject to administrative fines of up to 35 million Euros or 7% of a company's total worldwide annual turnover for the preceding financial year, whichever is the higher. Certain of our activities subject us to the EU AI Act and depending on how the EU AI Act is implemented and interpreted, we may have to adapt our business practices, contractual arrangements, and services to comply with such obligations. We expect other jurisdictions will adopt similar laws. Additionally, certain privacy laws extend rights to consumers (such as the right to delete certain personal data) and regulate automated decision making, which may be incompatible with our use of AI/machine learning. These obligations may make it harder for us to conduct our business using AI/machine learning, lead to regulatory fines or penalties, require us to change our business practices, retrain our AI/machine learning, or prevent or limit our use of AI/machine learning. For example, the FTC has required other companies to turn over (or disgorge) valuable insights or trainings generated through the use of AI/machine learning where they allege the company has violated privacy and consumer protection laws. If we cannot use AI/machine learning or that use is restricted, our business may be less efficient, or we may be at a competitive disadvantage.
Additionally, under various privacy laws and other obligations, we may be required to obtain certain consents to process personal data. For example, some of our data processing practices may be challenged under wiretapping laws, if we obtain consumer information from third parties through various methods, including chatbot and session replay providers, or via third-party marketing pixels. These practices may be subject to increased challenges by class action plaintiffs. Our inability or failure to obtain consent for these practices could result in adverse consequences, including class action litigation and mass arbitration demands.
In addition to data privacy and security laws, we are contractually subject to industry standards adopted by industry groups and, we are, and may become in the future, subject to such obligations. We are also bound by contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. We publish privacy policies, marketing materials, whitepapers, and other statements, such as statements related to compliance with certain certifications or self-regulatory principles, concerning data privacy, security and artificial intelligence. Regulators in the United States are increasingly scrutinizing these statements, and if these policies, materials or statements are found to be deficient, lacking in transparency, deceptive, unfair, misleading, 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 (and consumers' data privacy expectations) are quickly changing, becoming increasingly stringent, and creating 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, which 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. In addition, these obligations may require us to change our business model. 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, the third parties with whom we work may fail to comply with such obligations, which could negatively impact our business operations. Future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions, integrations, and other commercial relationships) could expose, and have exposed, us to additional privacy, security and compliance risks, and these third parties have been, and may in the future be, subject to litigation, regulatory investigations and other risks relating to privacy and security arising out of business transactions. For example, Ambry, which we acquired in February 2025, and another third party with whom we work, have experienced data breaches which required notification to certain impacted individuals and government regulators, and for which regulator investigations remain ongoing.
If we or the third parties with whom we work 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) and mass arbitration demands; additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; bans or restrictions on processing personal data; orders to destroy or not use personal data; and imprisonment of company officials. In particular, plaintiffs have become increasingly more active in bringing privacy-related claims against companies, including class claims and mass arbitration demands. Some of these claims allow for the recovery of statutory damages on a per violation basis, and, if viable, carry the potential for monumental statutory damages, depending on the volume of data and the number of violations.
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; interruptions or stoppages in our business operations (including, as relevant, clinical trials); interruptions or stoppages of data collection needed to train our algorithms; 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.
Regulation - Risk 12
We could be adversely affected by violations of the FCPA and other anti-bribery laws.We are subject to the FCPA, which prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making payments in violation of law to non-U.S. government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing any other improper advantage, as a result of our international operations. We are also subject to similar anti-bribery laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including the United Kingdom's Bribery Act of 2010, which also prohibits commercial bribery and makes it a crime for companies to fail to prevent bribery. These laws are complex and far-reaching in nature, and, as a result, we cannot assure that we would not be required in the future to alter one or more of our practices to be in compliance with these laws or any changes in these laws or the interpretation thereof. Any violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction, cause us to incur significant costs and expenses, including legal fees, and result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We could also suffer severe penalties, including criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement and other remedial measures.
Regulation - Risk 13
The legislative, judicial and regulatory landscapes relating to AI are evolving and may impact our ability to use AI, and could limit our ability to operate and expand our business, cause revenue to decline and adversely affect our business.Uncertainty in the legal regulatory regime relating to AI may require significant resources to modify and maintain business practices to comply with U.S. and non-U.S. laws, the nature of which cannot be determined at this time. Several jurisdictions around the globe, including Europe and certain U.S. states, have already proposed or enacted laws governing AI. For example, on May 17, 2024, Colorado became the first state in the United States to pass a law that requires developers of high-risk AI systems to avoid algorithmic discrimination involving certain AI decisions and to extensively document how the high-risk AI system was evaluated for performance and mitigation of algorithmic discrimination. The law also requires documentation of data governance measures used with the training data sets, the intended outputs of the high-risk AI system, how the AI system should and should not be used, and other aspects of the system. The law could require us to significantly alter our use of AI or how we train our algorithms, which could lead to increased costs. The law does not go into effect until February 1, 2026.
Further, on July 12, 2024, the AI Act was published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will follow a phased implementation process with the bulk of its requirements currently scheduled to become applicable from August 2, 2026, including the core of various requirements relevant to the "high-risk" AI systems referred to below (although, based upon certain targeted amendments suggested by the European Commission as part of its Digital Omnibus Regulation Proposal, the implementation date of such requirements may be delayed to a later date). The AI Act will establish, among other things, a risk-based governance framework for regulating AI systems in the EU. This framework would categorize AI systems, based largely on the risks associated with such AI systems' intended purposes or their capabilities, for example, prohibiting certain "unacceptable" AI practices, classifying certain AI systems as "high-risk" systems that must meet stringent compliance requirements (including various transparency, conformity and risk assessment, monitoring, and human oversight requirements), introducing specific compliance obligations for certain "general-purpose AI systems" (more commonly known as foundation models) with all other AI systems being considered either limited risk (requiring primarily adherence to certain transparency requirements) or low risk. There is a risk that our use of AI may obligate us to comply with the applicable requirements of the AI Act, which may impose additional costs on us, increase our risk of liability or adversely affect our business.
On December 11, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Ensuring a National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence." The order directs federal agencies to challenge and preempt AI state AI laws that are inconsistent with federal policy. The order's primary goal is to replace a patchwork of varying state regulations with a single, minimally burdensome federal standard. Due to the uncertainty in the regulatory framework, and the potential that other jurisdictions may decide to adopt similar or more restrictive legislation that may render the use of such technologies challenging, we may not be able to adequately anticipate or respond to these evolving laws and regulations, and we may need to expend additional resources to adjust our offerings in certain jurisdictions if applicable legal frameworks are inconsistent across jurisdictions.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities4 | 3.7%
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 1
Litigation relating to the proposed acquisition, if any, could result in an injunction preventing the completion of the proposed acquisition and/or substantial costs to us.Added
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 2
We may be subject to fines, penalties, licensure requirements, or legal liability, if it is determined that through our test reports we are practicing medicine without a license.Many of our test reports delivered to physicians provide information regarding therapies and clinical trials that physicians may use in making treatment decisions for their patients and certain other reports provide pharmacogenomic information. We make members of our organization available to discuss the information provided in the reports. Certain state laws prohibit the practice of medicine without a license. Our customer service representatives and medical affairs team provide support to our customers, including assistance in interpreting the test report results. A governmental authority or other parties could allege that the identification of available therapies and clinical trials in our reports and the related customer service we provide constitute the practice of medicine. A state may seek to have us discontinue the inclusion of certain aspects of our test reports or the related services we provide, or subject us to fines, penalties, or licensure requirements. Any determination that we are practicing medicine without a license may result in significant liability to us, and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be harmed.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 3
If we were to be sued for product liability or professional liability, we could face substantial liabilities that exceed our resources.The marketing, sale and use of our products could lead to the filing of product liability claims were someone to allege that our products identified inaccurate or incomplete information regarding the sample or information analyzed, reported inaccurate or incomplete information concerning the available therapies for a disease, or otherwise failed to perform as designed. We may also be subject to professional liability for errors in, a misunderstanding of, or inappropriate reliance upon, the information we provide in the ordinary course of our business activities. A product liability or professional liability claim could result in substantial damages and be costly and time-consuming for us to defend.
We maintain product and professional liability insurance, but this insurance may not fully protect us from the financial impact of defending against product liability or professional liability claims. Any product liability or professional liability claim brought against us, with or without merit, could increase our insurance rates or prevent us from securing insurance coverage in the future. Additionally, any product liability or professional liability lawsuit could damage our reputation or cause current clinical customers to terminate existing agreements with us and potential clinical customers to seek other partners, any of which could adversely impact our results of operations.
Litigation & Legal Liabilities - Risk 4
Legal claims and proceedings could adversely impact our business.We have been and may in the future be subject to threatened or actual legal claims and regulatory proceedings. We consider our historical experiences with such claims and proceedings to be in the normal course of our business or typical for our industry; however, it is difficult to assess the outcome of these matters, and we may not prevail in any current or future proceedings or litigation. Regardless of their merit, any threatened or actual claims or proceedings can require significant time and expense to investigate and defend. Since litigation is inherently uncertain, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending ourselves against such claims or proceedings, or that our assessment of the materiality of these matters, including any reserves taken in connection therewith, will be consistent with the ultimate outcome of such matters.
Taxation & Government Incentives1 | 0.9%
Taxation & Government Incentives - Risk 1
Taxing authorities may successfully assert that we should have collected or in the future should collect sales and use, value added, or similar taxes, and we could be subject to tax liabilities with respect to past or future sales, which could adversely affect our results of operations.Environmental / Social2 | 1.9%
Environmental / Social - Risk 1
Ethical, legal and social concerns related to the use of genetic information could reduce demand for our tests.Environmental / Social - Risk 2
We face risks related to handling of hazardous materials and other regulations governing environmental safety.Our operations are subject to complex and stringent environmental, health, safety and other governmental laws and regulations that both public officials and private individuals may seek to enforce. Our activities that are subject to these regulations include, among other things, our use of hazardous materials in manufacturing and in our products, and the generation, transportation and storage of waste. We could discover that we or our suppliers are not in material compliance with these regulations. Existing laws and regulations may also be revised or reinterpreted, or new laws and regulations may become applicable to us, whether retroactively or prospectively, that may have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. It is also impossible to eliminate completely the risk of accidental environmental contamination or injury to individuals. In such an event, we could be liable for any damages that result, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Ability to Sell
Total Risks: 17/108 (16%)Above Sector Average
Competition2 | 1.9%
Competition - Risk 1
If we cannot compete successfully with our competitors, we may be unable to increase or sustain our revenue or to achieve and then sustain profitability.Competition - Risk 2
Certain disruptions in supply of, and changes in the competitive environment for, raw materials and components integral to the manufacturing of our products may adversely affect our ability to achieve and maintain profitability.We use a broad range of materials and supplies, including chemicals and other electronic components, in our Diagnostics product line. A significant disruption in the supply of these materials, including disruptions like those stemming from the pandemics and epidemics, could decrease production and shipping levels, materially increase our operating costs and materially adversely affect our profit margins. Shortages of materials or interruptions in transportation systems, labor strikes, work stoppages, infectious disease, epidemics or pandemics, outbreaks, conflict (including the armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and the hostilities in the Middle East), civil unrest, acts of terrorism or other interruptions to or difficulties in the employment of labor (such as strikes by unionized workforces) or transportation in the markets in which we purchase materials, components and supplies for the production of our diagnostic tests, in each case may adversely affect our ability to maintain our testing capacity. Unforeseen end-of-life or unavailability for certain components, such as enzymes, could cause backorders as we modify our product specifications to accommodate replacement components. If we were to experience a significant disruption in the supply of, or prolonged shortage of, critical components from any of our suppliers and could not procure the components from other sources, we would be unable to sustain our testing capacity, which would adversely affect our sales, margins and customer relations.
Demand8 | 7.4%
Demand - Risk 1
Seasonality may cause fluctuations in our revenue and results of operations.Demand - Risk 2
If we are unable to support demand for our current and future Diagnostics product line, including ensuring that we have adequate capacity to meet increased demand, or we are unable to successfully manage our anticipated growth, our business could suffer.As the volume of our Diagnostics product line sales grows, we will need to continue to increase our workflow capacity for sample intake, customer service, billing and general process improvements, expand our internal quality assurance program and extend our Platform to support comprehensive genomic analysis at a larger scale within expected turnaround times. We will need additional certified laboratory scientists and other scientific and technical personnel to process higher volumes of our Diagnostics tests. Portions of our process are not automated and will require additional personnel to scale. We will also need to purchase additional equipment, some of which can take several months or more to procure, set up and validate, and increase our software and computing capacity to meet increased demand. There can be no assurance that any of these increases in scale, expansion of personnel, equipment, software and computing capacities or process enhancements will be successfully implemented, if at all, or that we will have adequate space in our laboratory facility or be able to secure additional facility space to accommodate such required expansion.
As we commercialize additional Diagnostics products, we will need to incorporate new equipment, implement new technology systems and laboratory processes, and hire new personnel with different qualifications. Failure to manage this growth or transition could result in turnaround time delays, higher product costs, declining product quality, deteriorating customer service and slower responses to competitive challenges. A failure in any one of these areas could make it difficult for us to meet market expectations for our products and could damage our reputation and the prospects for our business.
Our ability to attract and retain individuals to support the expansion of our Diagnostics and other products may be influenced by factors outside our control, or factors that we can control but which we fail to execute. For example, global labor shortages, our compensation and benefits offerings, attempts at unionization by our employees, and other factors may impact our ability to recruit, hire, train, and retain employees, which will further impact our ability to meet our growth and expansion goals.
In addition, our ability to manage our growth properly will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, as well as our reporting systems and procedures. The time and resources required to implement these new systems and procedures is uncertain and could be demanding, and failure to complete this in a timely and efficient manner could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Demand - Risk 3
The industries in which we operate are subject to rapid change, which could make our Platform, our current products and any future products we may develop obsolete.The healthcare diagnostic and data industries are characterized by rapid changes, including technological and scientific breakthroughs, frequent new product introductions and enhancements and evolving industry standards, any of which could make our current and future products obsolete. Our future success will depend on our ability to keep pace with the evolving needs of our customers on a timely and cost-effective basis and to pursue new market opportunities that develop as a result of scientific and technological advances. In recent years, there have been numerous advances in technologies relating to genomic and hereditary diagnostic testing, as well as advances in the application of AI to healthcare diagnostics and decision-making. We must continuously enhance our Platform and our existing diagnostic, data and analytics products and develop new products to keep pace with evolving standards of care. If we do not update our product offerings to reflect new scientific knowledge about disease biology and hereditary risk, information about new therapies or relevant clinical trials, or insights regarding the current treatment landscape for applicable indications and advances in computational biology, software development, and AI, our Platform and products could become obsolete and sales of our current products and any new products we may develop could decline or fail to grow as expected. Further, to the extent that pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies are able to develop therapies or technologies that eradicate or substantially limit the incidence of diseases for which we sell diagnostics, the market for our applicable products could disappear entirely.
Demand - Risk 4
The sizes of the markets for our current and future products have not been established with precision, and may be smaller than we estimate.Our estimates of the annual total addressable markets for our current products and products under development are based on a number of internal and third-party estimates, including, without limitation, the number of patients profiled with genomic diagnostics in the diseases we test, the assumed prices for genomic and algorithmic testing products, the number of genomic and algorithmic tests that we are able to successfully develop and commercialize, and the existing market for multimodal patient data and clinical trial matching services. While we believe our assumptions and the data underlying our estimates are reasonable, these assumptions and estimates may not be correct and the conditions supporting our assumptions or estimates may change at any time, thereby reducing the predictive accuracy of these underlying factors. As a result, our estimates of the annual total addressable market for our current or future products may prove to be incorrect. If the actual number of patients who would benefit from our products, the price at which we can sell our products, the number of genomic or algorithmic tests we are able to successfully develop and commercialize, or the annual total addressable market for our products is smaller than we have estimated, it may impair our sales growth and have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Demand - Risk 5
A significant portion of our Data and applications product line revenue are generated by sales to life sciences industry customers, and factors that adversely affect this industry could also adversely affect our Data and applications business sales.A significant portion of our current Data and applications products sales are to customers in the life sciences industry, in particular the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Demand for our Data and applications products could be affected by factors that adversely affect the life sciences industry, including macroeconomic and market conditions that may adversely impact earlier stage biotechnology companies. The life sciences industry is highly regulated and competitive and has experienced periods of considerable consolidation. Consolidation among our customers could cause us to lose customers, decrease the available market for our products, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, changes in regulations that make investment in the life sciences industry less attractive or drug development more expensive could adversely impact the demand for our data analytics products. For these reasons and others, selling data analytics products to life sciences companies can be competitive, expensive, and time consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that we will successfully complete a sale. Accordingly, our operating results and our ability to efficiently provide our products to life sciences companies and to grow or maintain our customer base could be adversely affected as a result of factors that affect the life sciences industry generally.
Demand - Risk 6
If our existing customers do not renew their licenses, do not buy additional products from us, or renew at lower prices, our business and operating results will suffer.For the year ended December 31, 2025, we derived $132.7 million, or approximately 42% and 10%, of our Data and applications product line revenue and total revenue, respectively, from three customers. We expect to continue to derive a significant portion of our Data and applications product line revenue from renewal of existing agreements. As a result, maintaining the renewal rate of our existing customers and selling additional products to them is critical to our future operating results. Factors that may affect the renewal rate for our customers and our ability to sell additional products to them include:
- the price, performance, and functionality of our products;- the availability, price, performance, and functionality of competing products;- the effectiveness of our support services;- our ability to develop complementary products;- the success of competitive products or technologies;- the stability, performance, and security of our technological infrastructure; and - the business environment of our customers.
We deliver our Insights product through license agreements that allow our customers to use de-identified datasets for a specified term or for specified uses. Our customers have no obligation to renew their licenses for our Data and applications products after the license ends, and many of our contracts may be terminated or reduced in scope either immediately or upon notice. In addition, our customers may negotiate terms less advantageous to us upon renewal, which may reduce our revenue from these customers. Factors that are not within our control may contribute to a reduction in our Data and applications product line revenue. For instance, our customers may change the indications in which they are conducting research and development, which could result in a reduced demand for our products and thus a lower aggregate renewal fee. The loss, reduction in scope, or delay of a large contract, or the loss or delay of multiple contracts, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our future operating results also depend, in part, on our ability to sell expanded products to our existing customers. For example, the willingness of existing customers to expand their use of our Insights product will depend on our ability to deliver meaningful information and insights relevant to our customers' research and development endeavors, which we may not do successfully. If our customers fail to renew their agreements, renew their agreements upon less favorable terms or at lower fee levels, or fail to purchase expanded licenses from us, our revenue may decline and our future revenue may be constrained.
In April 2025, we entered into expanded multi-year strategic collaborations with AstraZeneca and Pathos for the development of a foundation model in the field of oncology. Under this collaboration, we will work together with AstraZeneca and Pathos to build the foundation model, which will incorporate our multi-modal de-identified oncology data, and once complete, the model will be shared among all three parties to advance their individual efforts to improve patient care. The development and deployment of foundation models could ultimately reduce demand for our Data and applications products, as once a company is able to utilize a foundation model to advance its business objectives, it may no longer have a need to license our de-identified data. Any significant decrease in the demand for, or value of, our Data and applications products would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Also, there is no guarantee that our development efforts will be successful, or that the foundation model will achieve its intended purpose.
Demand - Risk 7
Our current or future products may not achieve or maintain sufficient commercial market acceptance.We believe our commercial success is dependent upon our ability to continue to successfully market and sell our current Diagnostics products, including both Oncology testing (legacy Tempus) and Hereditary testing (legacy Ambry Genetics), to continue to grow our Data and applications business by expanding our current relationships and developing new relationships with clinicians and pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers, and to develop and commercialize new products based on our Platform, including by expanding our Diagnostics product line to new disease areas and by advancing our Applications product line. Our ability to achieve and maintain sufficient commercial market acceptance of our existing and future products will depend on a number of factors, including:
- our ability to increase awareness of our Diagnostics and algorithmic diagnostic tests and other Applications, including new product offerings as they become available;- the rate of adoption and/or endorsement of our Diagnostics and algorithmic diagnostic tests and Applications by clinicians, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, KOLs, and advocacy groups;- the timing and scope of obtaining any necessary approvals or certification by regulatory authorities, including the FDA, for our diagnostic tests, any software offerings, Applications, or any features of our Platform, in each case, that may be subject to regulatory oversight;- our ability to obtain positive coverage decisions for our tests from additional commercial payers and to broaden the scope of indications included in such coverage decisions;- our ability to obtain reimbursement and expanded coverage from government payers, including Medicare or comparable foreign programs;- our ability to increase demand for our Data and applications business, including by expanding our database of de- identified patient information and increasing the utility of our product offerings;- our ability to successfully expand into new disease areas, including neuropsychiatry, cardiology, radiology, digital pathology, and other indications;- our ability to build and maintain robust data sets with respect to patient populations in geographic regions that we may seek to enter in the future;- the impact of our investments in Platform development, product innovation and commercial growth;- public perception of our products, those of our competitors and the industry in which we operate, including our ability to avoid adverse publicity from defects or errors; and - our ability to further validate our Platform through clinical research and accompanying publications.
We cannot assure that we will be successful in addressing each of these criteria or other criteria that might affect the market acceptance of our products. If we are unsuccessful in achieving and maintaining sufficient market acceptance of our products, our business, financial condition and results of operations will suffer.
Demand - Risk 8
The continued adoption of our products and services is dependent on a number of factors, many of which are interrelated.Our ability to execute our growth strategy and become profitable is highly dependent on a number of factors, many of which are interrelated.
Continued adoption and use of our Diagnostics product line will depend on several factors, including the prices we charge for our tests, the scope of coverage and amount of reimbursement available from third-party payers for our tests, the availability of clinical data that support the value of our tests and the inclusion of our tests in industry treatment guidelines. In addition, many clinicians, hospital systems and pharmaceutical companies have existing relationships with companies that develop molecular diagnostic tests, including our competitors, and may continue to use their tests instead of ours. Despite our business development efforts, it could be difficult, expensive and/or time-consuming for healthcare providers to switch diagnostic tests for their patients, and our tests may not be widely accepted by those providers, if at all, which could in turn hinder the growth of sales of our tests. If we are unable to achieve commercial success for our tests, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be materially and adversely affected. We are also particularly dependent on our clinical oncology and hereditary tests, which collectively accounted for 74%, 63% and 63% of our revenue in the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We cannot ensure that our oncology and hereditary tests will continue to maintain or gain market acceptance, and any failure to do so would materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Continued adoption of and use of our Data and applications products will depend, in part, on our ability to maintain relationships and to enter into new relationships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers and provide relevant data to such customers for outcomes research, companion diagnostic development, novel target discovery and validation, among other uses. This can be difficult due to many factors, including the type of data required and our ability to deliver it to our pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers' satisfaction. Our pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers may decide to decrease or discontinue their use of our Insights product due to changes in their research and product development plans, failures in their clinical trials, financial constraints, or other circumstances outside of our control. Furthermore, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies may decline to do business with us or decrease or discontinue their use of our data due to a strategic collaboration with any of our competitors. We invest resources in seeking to develop relationships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies regarding potential commercial opportunities on an ongoing basis, but there can be no assurance that any of this investment will result in a commercial agreement, that the resulting relationship will be successful, or that the data we provide as part of the engagement will produce successful outcomes. If we cannot maintain our current relationships, or enter into new relationships, with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, our product development could be delayed and revenue and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The scope and robustness of the Data and applications products that we can offer our customers also depend significantly on the continued success of our Diagnostics product line, as the data that we collect through genomic testing is an essential component of our Data and applications products. Further, we believe that growth in the use of our Data and applications products will help drive awareness and adoption of our Diagnostics product line, which in turn will drive further growth within our Data and applications product line. However, there can be no assurance that we will realize these synergies.
Sales & Marketing7 | 6.5%
Sales & Marketing - Risk 1
If we are unable to collect receivables from our customers, our operating results may be adversely affected.Sales & Marketing - Risk 2
We may not be able to successfully market, sell or distribute our products, and if we are unable to expand our sales organization to adequately address our customers' needs, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.We may not be able to market, sell or distribute our data products and diagnostic tests, and other products we may develop effectively enough to support our planned growth. We currently sell our Diagnostics and algorithmic diagnostic tests to healthcare providers and hospital systems in the United States through our own sales organization and leverage distributors to help sell our diagnostic tests in international markets, and we sell our Data and applications products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies through our business development team.
Each of our target markets is large, distinct and diverse. As a result, we believe it is necessary for many of our sales representatives and business development managers to have established diagnostic- or healthcare data- focused expertise. Competition for such employees within the precision diagnostics and healthcare data analytics industries is intense. We may not be able to attract and retain personnel or be able to build an efficient and effective sales organization or business development team, which could negatively impact sales and market acceptance of our products and limit our revenue growth and potential profitability.
Our expected future growth will impose significant added responsibilities on members of management, including the need to identify, recruit, maintain and integrate additional employees. Our future financial performance and our ability to commercialize our products, to increase our sales and to compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to manage this potential future growth effectively, without compromising quality.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 3
If we are unable to obtain or maintain adequate reimbursement for our Diagnostics product line outside of the United States, our ability to expand internationally will be compromised.A substantial portion of our Diagnostics product line revenues come from third-party payer reimbursement. In many countries outside of the United States, reimbursement systems vary significantly by country and by region within some countries, and reimbursement approvals must be obtained on a country-by-country basis and various coverage, pricing and reimbursement approvals are required for our tests to be available to patients in significant volume. In the EU some countries require the completion of additional studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a particular medical device candidate to currently available therapies. This Health Technology Assessment, or HTA process, which is currently governed by the national laws of the individual EU Member States, is the procedure according to which the assessment of the public health impact, therapeutic impact, and the economic and societal impact of use of a given medical device in the national healthcare systems of the individual country is conducted. The outcome of HTA regarding specific medical device will often influence the pricing and reimbursement status granted to these products by the competent authorities of individual EU Member States. On January 12, 2025, Regulation No 2021/2282 on Health Technology Assessment, or HTA Regulation, entered into application through a phased implementation and is intended to harmonize the clinical benefit assessment of HTA across the European Union. Selected high-risk medical devices will be required to be assessed under these rules in 2026. We expect that it will take several years to establish broad coverage and reimbursement for our tests with payers in countries outside of the United States, and our efforts may not be successful.
Even if public or private reimbursement is obtained, it may cover competing tests, or the reimbursement may be limited to a subset of the eligible patient population or conditioned upon local performance of the tests or other requirements we may have difficulty satisfying.
Reimbursement levels outside of the United States may vary considerably from the domestic reimbursement amounts we receive. We may also be negatively affected by the financial instability of, and austerity measures implemented by, several countries in the European Union, or EU, and elsewhere.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 4
If third-party payers, including commercial payers and government healthcare programs, do not provide coverage of, or adequate reimbursement for, or reverse or change their policies related to our tests, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be negatively affected.As of December 31, 2025, we had received payment on approximately 55% of our clinical oncology next generation sequencing, or NGS, tests and 50% of our hereditary tests across all payers performed from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2024. We calculated this metric on a trailing basis based on payer adjudication timing. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, our average reimbursement for NGS tests in oncology (i.e., excluding hereditary testing) was approximately $1,600, $1,510 and $1,450, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, our average reimbursement for NGS tests in hereditary testing was approximately $770 and $760, on a pro forma basis, for which pro forma amounts have been calculated after applying the Company's accounting policies. In addition, we receive a substantial portion of our diagnostic revenue from a limited number of third-party commercial payers, most of which have not contracted with us to be a participating provider. We also receive reimbursement from Medicare for claims submitted with respect to our various diagnostic tests. Approximately 26% of our clinical oncology tests were for Medicare beneficiaries in the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Approximately 10% of our hereditary tests were for Medicare beneficiaries in the year ended December 31, 2025. Our revenue and commercial success depend on achieving coverage and reimbursement for our tests from payers, including both commercial and government payers. If payers do not provide coverage of, or do not provide adequate reimbursement for our tests, we may need to seek payment from the patient, which may adversely affect demand for our tests.
In addition, because our Diagnostics and algorithmic diagnostic tests represent new approaches to the diagnosis and detection of diseases or hereditary risk we cannot accurately estimate how they would be priced, whether reimbursement could be obtained or any potential revenue generated. Coverage determinations by a payer may depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to a payer's determination that a test is appropriate, medically necessary or cost-effective. If we are unable to provide payers with sufficient evidence of the clinical utility and validity of our test, they may not provide coverage, may provide limited coverage or may terminate coverage, which will adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. To the extent that more competitors enter our markets, the availability of coverage and the reimbursement rate for our tests may decrease as we encounter pricing pressure from our competitors or as payers decide based on other factors to lower the reimbursement rate for our tests.
Each payer makes its own decision as to whether to provide coverage for our tests, whether to enter into a contract with us and the reimbursement rate for a test. Negotiating with payers is time-consuming, and payers often insist on their standard form contracts, which may allow payers to terminate coverage on short notice, impose significant obligations on us and create additional regulatory and compliance hurdles for us. There can be no guarantee that a payer will provide adequate coverage or reimbursement for our tests or that we can reach an agreement with the payer on reasonable terms without being subject to additional regulatory and compliance risks. In cases where there is no coverage, or we do not have a contracted rate for reimbursement with the payer, the patient is typically responsible for a greater share of the cost of the test, which may result in delay of revenue, increase collection costs or decrease the likelihood of collection. We maintain a financial assistance program under which we assess patient financial need and offer discounted or no-cost tests to certain patients who meet the financial and other eligibility criteria of the program. This may result in scrutiny by payers of our financial assistance program and could result in recoupment actions or termination of coverage of our tests.
Our claims for reimbursement have in the past been denied and may again in the future be denied, and we have needed, and again may need, to appeal such denials in order to get paid. Such appeals may not result in payment. Payers may perform audits of historically paid claims and attempt to recoup funds years after the funds were initially distributed if the payers believe the funds were paid in error or determine that our tests were medically unnecessary. If a payer's audit of our claims results in a negative finding, and we are unable to reverse the finding through appeal, any subsequent recoupment could result in a material adverse effect on our revenue. Additionally, in some cases commercial payers for whom we are not a participating provider may elect at any time to review claims previously paid and determine the amount they paid was excessive. In these situations, the payer typically notifies us of its decision and then offsets the amount it determines to be overpaid against amounts it owes us on current claims. We do not have a mechanism to dispute these retroactive adjustments, and we cannot predict when, or how often, a payer might engage in these reviews, as historic success and payments are not indicative of future success of and payments from such appeals.
Our efforts to become a participating provider of a number of commercial payers may not be successful. When we contract with a payer as a participating provider, reimbursements by the payer are generally made pursuant to a negotiated fee schedule and are limited to only covered indications or where prior approval has been obtained.
Although we are a participating provider with several commercial payers, some large commercial payers have issued non-coverage policies that consider tissue and liquid comprehensive genomic profile testing, including certain of our Diagnostics tests, as experimental or investigational. If we are not successful in obtaining coverage from such payers, or if other payers issue similar non-coverage policies, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Coverage and reimbursement are ever changing, and we are not in control of how our competitors' coverage and pricing strategies are established. Some of our competitors have widespread brand recognition and substantially greater financial and technical resources and development, production and marketing capabilities than we do. Others may develop lower-priced, less complex tests that payers and healthcare professionals could view as functionally equivalent to our products, which could force us to lower the list price of our tests and impact our operating margins and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability. Payers may compare our products to our competitors and utilize them as precedents, which may impact our coverage and reimbursement. In addition, technological innovations that result in the creation of enhanced diagnostic tools that are more effective than ours may enable other clinical laboratories, hospitals, medical personnel or medical providers to provide specialized diagnostic tests similar to ours in a more patient-friendly, efficient or cost-effective manner than is currently possible.
In the United States, many significant decisions about reimbursement for new diagnostics are made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, which makes a national coverage determination, or NCD, as to whether and to what extent a new diagnostic will be covered and reimbursed under Medicare, although it frequently delegates this authority to local Medicare Administrative Contractors, or MACs, which may make a local coverage determination, or LCD, with respect to coverage and reimbursement. Private payers tend to follow Medicare to a substantial degree. During the year ended December 31, 2025, Medicare claims represented 26% of our clinical oncology testing volume and 10% of our hereditary testing volume. Given we operate laboratories in multiple MACs and run both LDTs and an FDA-approved assay, the applicable reimbursement determination varies based on the assay being run and the locations where it is being processed. The rules and standards that CMS uses to determine reimbursement rates for our tests are frequently changing and subject to revision, which could have a material impact on our results.
For example, Medicare's NCD for NGS first established in 2018 and subsequently updated in 2020, states that NGS oncology tests (such as our |xT and |xF tests), would be covered by Medicare nationally if and when: (1) performed in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, or CLIA, certified laboratory, (2) ordered by a treating physician, (3) the patient meets certain clinical and treatment criteria, including having recurrent, relapsed, refractory, metastatic, or advanced stages III or IV cancer, (4) the test is approved or cleared by the FDA as a companion in vitro diagnostic for an FDA approved or cleared indication for use in that patient's cancer, and (5) results are provided to the treating physician for management of the patient using a report template to specify treatment options. We believe that our xT CDX assay, which received FDA approval in April 2023, meets the criteria for reimbursement under the NCD. In addition, effective July 1, 2024, our xT CDX assay was awarded Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory Test status by CMS. The NGS NCD also states that each MAC may provide local coverage of other next-generation sequencing tests for cancer patients only when the test is performed by a CLIA-certified laboratory, ordered by a treating physician and the patient meets the same clinical and treatment criteria required of nationally covered next-generation sequencing tests under the NGS NCD. An NGS test is typically not covered by Medicare when cancer patients do not have the above-noted indications for cancer under either an NCD or LCD.
National Government Services, Inc. is the local MAC that makes local coverage determinations, or LCDs, for tests conducted at our Chicago laboratory. National Government Services has issued two LCDs related to genetic testing in cancer, each of which currently requires claims to be submitted under a single current procedural terminology, or CPT, code that describes the test. Since issuing the LCDs, National Government Services has, from time to time, issued modifications and interpretations of the LCDs and associated guidance documents that may impact how we bill for, and how National Government Services reimburses, our diagnostic tests.
Palmetto is the MAC jurisdiction that determines reimbursement for tests conducted at our Raleigh and Atlanta laboratories. Noridian is the MAC jurisdiction that determines reimbursement for tests conducted at our Aliso Viejo laboratory. Both Palmetto and Noridian are subject to the MolDx program. MolDx requires laboratories to complete a technical assessment process in order to secure reimbursement for tests run at labs in its jurisdiction. Upon receiving approval in the technical assessment process, assays are assigned a z-code and a price at which MolDx will reimburse claims. In conjunction with launching our Raleigh laboratory, we submitted a technical assessment for our xT assay in 2022 and our xF assay in 2023. We received approval on our xT assay in October 2023 and on our xF assay in March 2024.
Other factors, beyond the NCD and applicable LCD's, impact how we bill for our tests, whether they are reimbursed by third party-payors, and the amount we receive from government payors. For example, CMS has specific processes, such as the gapfill process, for determining the amount we are reimbursed for certain laboratory tests. In addition, certain CMS regulations prevent us from billing Medicare directly for tests provided to Medicare beneficiaries in certain situations when the test is ordered as part of a beneficiary's inpatient stay at a hospital. At the same time, CMS has adopted an exception to its laboratory date of service rules, and if certain conditions are met, molecular testing laboratories such as us can rely on that exception to bill Medicare directly, instead of seeking payment from the hospital. If this exception is repealed or curtailed by CMS, if the laboratory date of service regulation is otherwise changed to adversely impact our ability to bill Medicare directly, or if we incorrectly implement billing procedures related to the date of service exception, our revenue could be materially reduced, and we could be subject to further regulatory actions.
Some payers have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, laboratory benefit management programs, often using third-party benefit managers to manage these programs. The stated goals of these programs are to help improve the quality of outpatient laboratory services, support evidence-based guidelines for patient care and lower costs. The impact on laboratories, such as us, of active laboratory benefit management by third parties is unclear, and we expect that it would have a negative impact on our revenue in the short term. Payers may resist reimbursement for our tests in favor of less expensive tests, require pre-authorization for our tests, or impose additional pricing pressure on and substantial administrative burden for reimbursement for our tests. We expect to continue to focus substantial resources on increasing adoption of, and coverage and reimbursement for, our current tests and any future tests we may develop. We believe it may take several years to achieve broad coverage and adequate contracted reimbursement with a majority of payers for our tests. However, coverage policies and third-party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained for one or more of our tests, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future. We cannot predict whether, under what circumstances, or at what price levels payers will cover and reimburse our tests. If we fail to establish and maintain broad adoption of, and coverage and reimbursement for, our tests, our ability to generate revenue could be harmed and our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 5
If we cannot provide quality technical support and services for our Data and applications products, we could lose customers and our business and prospects will suffer.Our ability to provide relevant information to customers of our Data and applications business, and in particular of our Insights product, depends substantially on our ability to provide quality technical support and services during the term of their license. Accordingly, we need highly trained technical support and services personnel. Hiring support and services personnel is very competitive in our industry due to the limited number of people available with the necessary scientific and technical backgrounds and ability to understand our products and the needs of our customers. To effectively support new customers and the expanding needs of current customers, we will need to substantially expand our support and services staff and develop our support infrastructure and processes. If we are unable to attract, train or retain the number of highly qualified technical services personnel that our business needs, our business and prospects will suffer.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 6
We rely on commercial courier delivery services to transport samples to our laboratory facility in a timely and cost-efficient manner and if these delivery services are disrupted, our business will be harmed.Our business depends on our ability to deliver test results quickly and reliably to our customers. Blood and tissue samples sent from the United States by patients, physicians or hospital pathology departments are typically received within days for analysis at our Chicago, Atlanta, Raleigh, Aliso Viejo or Minneapolis facilities. Disruptions in delivery services to transport samples to that facility, whether due to labor disruptions, bad weather, natural disaster, terrorist acts or threats or for other reasons could adversely affect specimen integrity and our ability to process samples in a timely manner, delay our provision of test results to our customers, and ultimately our reputation and our business. In addition, if we are unable to continue to obtain expedited delivery services to transport samples to us on commercially reasonable terms, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Sales & Marketing - Risk 7
Our billing and claim processing are complex and time-consuming, and any delay in submitting claims or failure to comply with applicable billing requirements could hinder collection and have an adverse effect on our revenue.Billing for our diagnostic tests is complex, time-consuming and expensive. Depending on the billing arrangement and applicable law, we bill various payers, such as Medicare, Medicaid, health plans, insurance companies, hospital systems, providers, and patients, all of which may have different billing requirements. Several factors make the billing process complex, including:
- differences between the list prices for our test, the reimbursement rates of payers, the amounts we charge healthcare institutions directly, and the cost to patients who pay for our tests out-of-pocket;- compliance with complex federal, state and foreign regulations related to billing government healthcare programs, including Medicare and Medicaid or comparable foreign programs, to the extent our tests are covered by such programs;- differences in coverage among payers and the effect of patient co-payments or co-insurance;- differences in information, pre-authorization and other billing requirements among payers;- changes to codes and coding instructions governing our tests;- incorrect or missing billing information; and - the resources required to manage the billing and claim appeals process.
These billing complexities and the related uncertainty in obtaining payment for our tests could negatively affect our revenue and cash flow, our ability to achieve profitability and the consistency and comparability of our results of operations. In addition, if claims for our tests are not submitted to payers on a timely basis, or if we fail to comply with applicable billing requirements, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, the coding procedure used by third-party payers to identify various procedures, including our tests, during the billing process is complex, does not adapt well to our tests and may not enable coverage and adequate reimbursement rates. Third-party payers usually require us to identify the test for which we are seeking reimbursement using a CPT code. CPT coding plays a significant role in how our diagnostic tests are reimbursed both from commercial and governmental payers. For example, historically, no CPT code comprehensively describes our NGS oncology tests. In the past, we submitted claims using individual codes or combinations of codes based on the cancer subtype profiled. Over time, in response to guidance from payers and our local MAC, we transitioned from using individual gene codes, or combinations of individual gene codes, to using "panel" CPT codes. With the introduction of new codes that are potentially applicable to comprehensive genomic profiling tests like the ones we offer, we are continuously updating and evaluating our approach to ensure consistency with all applicable policies, rules, and regulations. Despite our diligence in developing a comprehensive billing strategy that accurately describes the tests we provide, payers, such as the Local MACs, have in the past and may in the future disagree with our CPT code selection and instruct us to submit our claims using a different designated CPT code. Any disputes over appropriate coding, or requirements that we submit claims under codes with lower reimbursement rates, may materially adversely affect our business financial condition and results of operations.
Use of certain coding to bill for certain products can result in the claim being examined to determine what test was provided, whether the test was appropriate and medically necessary, and whether payment should be rendered. This process has in the past and may in the future result in a delay in processing the claim, a lower reimbursement amount or denial of the claim. For example, we continue to appeal the denials of certain of our NGS oncology tests by the Local MAC. Because billing third-party payers for our tests is an unpredictable, challenging, time-consuming and costly process, we may face long collection cycles and the risk that we may never collect at all, either of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, and we may have to increase collection efforts and incur additional costs.
Because next generation genomic sequencing is a rapidly evolving area of medicine, and because clinical treatment guidelines continue to develop, any changes to, or interpretations of, applicable billing and coding guidance, rules, policies, and procedures may impact our business. Tempus offers multiple diagnostic tests, which enable ordering healthcare providers to sequence both a patient's tissue and blood. Healthcare providers may order multiple tests, either concurrently or longitudinally, even when those distinct tests cover similar genes. Similarly, when a treating healthcare provider orders our tissue-based test, we can provide, and historically have provided when available, distinct test results for DNA and RNA. Effective January 1, 2023, we began billing these tests under separate codes based on American Medical Association guidance and the National Correct Coding Initiative Manual Provider instructions. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 50% of the liquid biopsy tests we provide are ordered in proximity to a solid tissue-based test, and over 90% of our solid tissue-based tests include both RNA and DNA results. In each case, while the ordering physician attests to each distinct test's medical necessity, there is no guarantee that our retrospective or prospective billing practices will not be challenged or reversed, such as by a demand for repayment, recoupment, or prospective billing policies. Any such attempts could adversely affect our results and operations.
Production
Total Risks: 7/108 (6%)Below Sector Average
Manufacturing2 | 1.9%
Manufacturing - Risk 1
Our products may in the future be subject to product recalls. A recall of our products, either voluntarily or at the direction of the FDA or another governmental authority or regulatory authority, or the discovery of serious safety issues with our products, could have a significant adverse impact on us.Manufacturing - Risk 2
If our existing laboratory and storage facilities become damaged or inoperable or we are required to vacate our existing facilities, our ability to perform our tests and pursue our research and development efforts may be jeopardized.We currently derive nearly all of our diagnostic revenue from tests performed at laboratory facilities located in Chicago, Illinois, Atlanta, Georgia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Aliso Viejo, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota and these facilities generally do not have completely redundant capabilities. Our facilities and equipment could be harmed or rendered inoperable by natural or man-made disasters, including war, fire, earthquake, power loss, communications failure or terrorism, which may render it difficult or impossible for us to operate our Diagnostics product line for some period of time and which may also cause us to lose valuable stored tissue samples, including organoids. The inability to perform our tests or to reduce the backlog that could develop if a facility is inoperable for even a short period of time, may result in the loss of customers or harm to our reputation, and we may be unable to regain those customers or repair our reputation. Furthermore, our facilities and the equipment we use to perform our research and development work could be unavailable or costly and time-consuming to repair or replace. It would be difficult, time-consuming and expensive to rebuild a facility, to locate and qualify a new facility or enable a third party to practice our proprietary technology, particularly in light of licensure and accreditation requirements. Even if we are able to find a third party with such qualifications to perform our tests, the parties may be unable to agree on commercially reasonable terms. Our physical laboratory facilities are also subject to regulatory oversight, such by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, and certain state analogs. On occasion, certain safety issues are reported directly to OSHA. While we have been successful in promptly remediating any such issues, there is no guarantee we will be able to do so in the future, and these regulatory bodies could intervene and suspend our operations, which could have a material impact on our business.
We carry insurance for damage to our property and disruption of our business, but this insurance may not cover all of the risks associated with damage or disruption to our facilities and business, may not provide coverage in amounts sufficient to cover our potential losses and may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all.
Employment / Personnel4 | 3.7%
Employment / Personnel - Risk 1
Labor relations matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.Employment / Personnel - Risk 2
Our research and development strategy emphasizes rapid innovation and advancement of successful hires who may not have prior industry expertise, and we frequently prioritize patient care and customer satisfaction over short-term financial results. If we cannot maintain or properly manage our culture as we grow, our business may be harmed.We have a research and development strategy that encourages employees to quickly develop and launch technologies intended to solve our customers' most important problems and prioritizes the advancement of Platform and product development, technology and engineering employees to positions of significant responsibility based on merit despite, in some cases, limited prior work or industry experience. Successful entry-level hires are often quickly advanced and rewarded with significant responsibilities, including in important customer-facing roles as project managers, development leads, and product managers. As our business grows and becomes more complex, our cultural emphasis on moving quickly and staffing research and development personnel, including certain customer-facing employees, without significant industry experience may result in unintended outcomes or in decisions that are poorly received by customers or other stakeholders. For example, in many cases we launch, at our expense, pilot deployments with customers without a long-term contract in place, and some of those deployments have not resulted in the customer's adoption or expansion of its use of our products, or the generation of significant, or any, revenue or payments. In addition, as we continue to grow, including geographically, and as we develop a public company infrastructure, we may find it difficult to maintain our culture.
Our culture also prioritizes patient care and customer satisfaction over short-term financial results, and we frequently make product decisions that may reduce our short-term revenue or cash flow if we believe that the decisions are consistent with our mission and thereby have the potential to improve our financial performance over the long term. These decisions may not produce the long-term benefits and results that we expect or may be poorly received in the short term by the public markets, in which case our customer growth and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed.
Employment / Personnel - Risk 3
We are highly dependent on the services of Eric Lefkofsky and other members of our senior management team and the loss of any member of our senior management team or our inability to attract and retain highly skilled scientists, clinicians, sales representatives and business development managers could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.Our success depends on the skills, experience and performance of key members of our senior management team. In particular, we are highly dependent on the services of Eric Lefkofsky, our Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of our board of directors. Mr. Lefkofsky spends substantially all of his professional time with us, and he is highly active in our management; however, he does devote some of his time and attention to other endeavors. Mr. Lefkofsky is also a co-founder and serves as Executive Chairman of the board of Pathos AI, Inc., an AI-enabled drug development company that has entered into an agreement with us, is the managing partner and co-founder of Lightbank LLC, a private venture capital firm specializing in investments in technology companies that has invested in us, and is a trustee of the Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Northwestern Medicine, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. Mr. Lefkofsky's participation in and attention to these other endeavors may impact our business. In October 2022, for example, Lightbank and the Lefkofsky Family Foundation experienced a cybersecurity incident in which third party hackers gained access to Lightbank's internal computer services and were able to exfiltrate data regarding Lightbank's historical business practices and Mr. Lefkofsky's personal financial information. While the incident did not involve or impact Tempus' systems, this security breach or others like it could indirectly impact Tempus.
In addition, we depend on the services of our Chief Operating Officer, Ryan Fukushima, who was promoted to Chief Executive Officer, Data, effective February 20, 2026, and Tom Schoenherr, who was appointed Chief Executive Officer, Diagnostics, effective February 20, 2026. Mr. Fukushima is a co-Founder of Pathos AI, Inc. and currently devotes some of his professional time to Pathos.
The individual and collective efforts of Mr. Lefkofsky, Mr. Fukushima, Mr. Schoenherr and our other employees will be important as we continue to develop our Platform and additional products, and as we expand our commercial activities. The loss or incapacity of existing members of our executive management team, or the inability of such individuals to devote sufficient time to our endeavors, could adversely affect our operations if we experience difficulties in hiring qualified successors. While our executive officers have entered into employment agreements with us, they are at-will employees and we cannot guarantee their retention for any period of time. We do not maintain "key person" insurance on any of our employees, including Mr. Lefkofsky. Additionally, we have a number of key employees whose equity ownership in our company gives them a substantial amount of personal wealth. As a result, it may be difficult for us to continue to retain and motivate these employees, and this wealth could affect their decisions about whether or not they continue to work for us or at all.
Our research and development programs and laboratory operations depend on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled scientists and technicians. We may not be able to attract or retain qualified scientists and technicians in the future due to the competition for qualified personnel among life science businesses, particularly near our laboratories in Chicago, Atlanta, Raleigh, Aliso Viejo and Minneapolis.
We also face competition from universities and public and private research institutions in recruiting and retaining highly qualified scientific personnel. In addition, we may have difficulties locating, recruiting or retaining qualified sales representatives and business development managers, as well as software engineers. Recruiting and retention difficulties can limit our ability to support our research and development and sales programs. All of our employees are at-will, which means that either we or the employee may terminate their employment at any time. Our employees also are subject to certain post-employment noncompete obligations, unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law.
Further, certain macroeconomic conditions, which have been referred to as the Great Resignation, may result in higher than normal attrition in the sectors in which we operate, and in our business in particular. Our ability to manage human capital, and attract and retain the resources necessary to operate our business successfully, may suffer as a result.
In addition, any failure in our hiring practices, including insufficient background screening, misrepresentation of job roles, or recruiting under false pretenses, could expose us to operational disruptions, legal claims, regulatory investigations, and reputational harm. Litigation, regulatory enforcement actions, or other claims arising from employee misconduct or improper hiring practices could result in significant costs, management distraction, and damage to our brand, financial condition, and results of operations.
Employment / Personnel - Risk 4
Our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including non-compliance with regulatory standards and requirements and insider trading.We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional failures to comply with the regulations of the FDA, CMS and non-U.S. regulators, comply with healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations in the United States and abroad, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing, and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, misconduct, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical studies, which could result in regulatory sanctions and cause serious harm to our reputation. We currently have a code of conduct applicable to all of our employees, but it is not always possible to identify and deter employee misconduct, and our code of conduct and the other precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses, or in protecting us from governmental investigations, lawsuits or other actions stemming from a failure to comply with these laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could result in the imposition of significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, including, without limitation, damages, monetary fines, individual imprisonment, disgorgement of profits, possible exclusion from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal healthcare programs or comparable foreign programs, or from coverage of commercial payers, contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings, additional reporting or oversight obligations if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with the law and curtailment or restructuring of our operations, which could have a significantly adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Whether or not we are successful in defending against such actions, we could incur substantial costs and expenses, including legal fees, and divert the attention of management from the operation of our business.
Supply Chain1 | 0.9%
Supply Chain - Risk 1
We rely on a limited number of suppliers or, in some cases, sole suppliers, for some of our laboratory instruments and materials and may not be able to find replacements or promptly transition to alternative suppliers.Macro & Political
Total Risks: 2/108 (2%)Below Sector Average
International Operations1 | 0.9%
International Operations - Risk 1
International expansion of our business exposes us to business, regulatory, political, operational, financial, and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.Natural and Human Disruptions1 | 0.9%
Natural and Human Disruptions - Risk 1
Our business could be adversely affected by the effects of health pandemics or epidemics.See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.
FAQ
What are “Risk Factors”?
Risk factors are any situations or occurrences that could make investing in a company risky.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that publicly traded companies disclose their most significant risk factors. This is so that potential investors can consider any risks before they make an investment.
They also offer companies protection, as a company can use risk factors as liability protection. This could happen if a company underperforms and investors take legal action as a result.
It is worth noting that smaller companies, that is those with a public float of under $75 million on the last business day, do not have to include risk factors in their 10-K and 10-Q forms, although some may choose to do so.
How do companies disclose their risk factors?
Publicly traded companies initially disclose their risk factors to the SEC through their S-1 filings as part of the IPO process.
Additionally, companies must provide a complete list of risk factors in their Annual Reports (Form 10-K) or (Form 20-F) for “foreign private issuers”.
Quarterly Reports also include a section on risk factors (Form 10-Q) where companies are only required to update any changes since the previous report.
According to the SEC, risk factors should be reported concisely, logically and in “plain English” so investors can understand them.
How can I use TipRanks risk factors in my stock research?
Use the Risk Factors tab to get data about the risk factors of any company in which you are considering investing.
You can easily see the most significant risks a company is facing. Additionally, you can find out which risk factors a company has added, removed or adjusted since its previous disclosure. You can also see how a company’s risk factors compare to others in its sector.
Without reading company reports or participating in conference calls, you would most likely not have access to this sort of information, which is usually not included in press releases or other public announcements.
A simplified analysis of risk factors is unique to TipRanks.
What are all the risk factor categories?
TipRanks has identified 6 major categories of risk factors and a number of subcategories for each. You can see how these categories are broken down in the list below.
1. Financial & Corporate
- Accounting & Financial Operations - risks related to accounting loss, value of intangible assets, financial statements, value of intangible assets, financial reporting, estimates, guidance, company profitability, dividends, fluctuating results.
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights – risks related to things that impact share prices and the rights of shareholders, including analyst ratings, major shareholder activity, trade volatility, liquidity of shares, anti-takeover provisions, international listing, dual listing.
- Debt & Financing – risks related to debt, funding, financing and interest rates, financial investments.
- Corporate Activity and Growth – risks related to restructuring, M&As, joint ventures, execution of corporate strategy, strategic alliances.
2. Legal & Regulatory
- Litigation and Legal Liabilities – risks related to litigation/ lawsuits against the company.
- Regulation – risks related to compliance, GDPR, and new legislation.
- Environmental / Social – risks related to environmental regulation and to data privacy.
- Taxation & Government Incentives – risks related to taxation and changes in government incentives.
3. Production
- Costs – risks related to costs of production including commodity prices, future contracts, inventory.
- Supply Chain – risks related to the company’s suppliers.
- Manufacturing – risks related to the company’s manufacturing process including product quality and product recalls.
- Human Capital – risks related to recruitment, training and retention of key employees, employee relationships & unions labor disputes, pension, and post retirement benefits, medical, health and welfare benefits, employee misconduct, employee litigation.
4. Technology & Innovation
- Innovation / R&D – risks related to innovation and new product development.
- Technology – risks related to the company’s reliance on technology.
- Cyber Security – risks related to securing the company’s digital assets and from cyber attacks.
- Trade Secrets & Patents – risks related to the company’s ability to protect its intellectual property and to infringement claims against the company as well as piracy and unlicensed copying.
5. Ability to Sell
- Demand – risks related to the demand of the company’s goods and services including seasonality, reliance on key customers.
- Competition – risks related to the company’s competition including substitutes.
- Sales & Marketing – risks related to sales, marketing, and distribution channels, pricing, and market penetration.
- Brand & Reputation – risks related to the company’s brand and reputation.
6. Macro & Political
- Economy & Political Environment – risks related to changes in economic and political conditions.
- Natural and Human Disruptions – risks related to catastrophes, floods, storms, terror, earthquakes, coronavirus pandemic/COVID-19.
- International Operations – risks related to the global nature of the company.
- Capital Markets – risks related to exchange rates and trade, cryptocurrency.