UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(MARK ONE)

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

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023

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

For the transition period from ________ to __________

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 001-37487

Aethlon Medical, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

nevada	13-3632859
(State or other jurisdiction of	(I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)	Identification No.)

11555 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite 203
San Diego, California	92121
(Address of principal executive office)	(Zip Code)

REGISTRANT’S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE: (619) 941-0360

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT:

TITLE OF EACH CLASS

COMMON STOCK, $0.001 PAR VALUE

TRADING SYMBOL

AEMD

NAME OF EACH EXCHANGE ON WHICH REGISTERED

NASDAQ CAPITAL MARKET

SECURITIES REGISTERED UNDER SECTION 12(g) OF THE EXCHANGE ACT:

NONE

(TITLE OF CLASS)

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

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one)

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

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of September 30, 2022 was approximately $13.2 million, computed by reference to the closing sale price of the common stock of $0.58 per share on the Nasdaq Capital Market on September 30, 2022. Shares of common stock held by each executive officer and director and by each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding common stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. The determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

The number of shares of the common stock of the registrant outstanding as of June 26, 2023 was 24,771,367.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, pursuant to Regulation 14A in connection with the registrant’s 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed subsequent to the date hereof, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Such proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days following the end of the registrant’s fiscal year ended March 31, 2023.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		PAGE
PART I.

Item 1.	Business		1

Item 1A.	Risk Factors		16

Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments		46

Item 2.	Properties		47

Item 3.	Legal Proceedings		47

Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures		47

PART II.

Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		48

Item 6.	[Reserved]		48

Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		49

Item 7A	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk		58

Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		58

Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		58

Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures		58

Item 9B.	Other Information		59

Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections.		59

PART III.

Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance		60

Item 11.	Executive Compensation		60

Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters		60

Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence		60

Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services		60

PART IV.

Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules		61

Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary		63

Signatures			64

CAUTIONARY NOTICE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, which are subject to the safe harbor created by those sections.

We may, in some cases, use words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements and are based upon our current expectations, beliefs, estimates and projections, and various assumptions, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond our control. Such statements, include, but are not limited to, statements contained in this Annual Report relating to our business, business strategy, products and services we may offer in the future, the timing and results of future regulatory filings, the timing and results of future clinical trials, and capital outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. They are neither statement of historical fact nor guarantees of assurance of future performance. We caution you therefore against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, a decline in general economic conditions nationally and internationally; the ability to protect our intellectual property rights; competition from other providers and products; risks in product development; inability to raise capital to fund continuing operations; changes in government regulation; the ability to complete capital raising transactions, and other factors (including the risks contained in Item 1A of this Annual Report under the heading “Risk Factors”) relating to our industry, our operations and results of operations and any businesses that may be acquired by us. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned.

Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to and do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

SUMMARY RISK FACTORS

Below is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, and other risks that we face, can be found below under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I of this Annual Report and should be carefully considered, together with other information in this Annual Report and our other filings with the SEC before making investment decisions regarding our securities.

	·	We have incurred significant losses and expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future.

	·	We will require additional financing to sustain our operations, achieve our business objectives and satisfy our cash obligations, which may dilute the ownership of our existing stockholders.

	·	We have limited experience in identifying and working with large-scale contracts with medical device manufacturers; manufacture of our devices must comply with good manufacturing practices in the United States.

	·	Delays, interruptions or the cessation of production by our third-party suppliers of important materials or delays in qualifying new materials, has and may continue to prevent or delay our ability to manufacture our Hemopurifier.

	·	Our Hemopurifier technology may become obsolete.

	·	If we fail to comply with extensive regulations of U.S. and foreign regulatory agencies, the commercialization of our products could be delayed or prevented entirely.

	·	If we are unable to regain compliance with the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market, our common stock may be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and could make it more difficult for you to sell your shares.

	·	As a public company with limited financial resources undertaking the launch of new medical technologies, we may have difficulty attracting and retaining executive management and directors.

	·	We plan to expand our operations, which may strain our resources; our inability to manage our growth could delay or derail implementation of our business objectives.

	·	Delays in successfully completing our planned clinical trials could jeopardize our ability to obtain regulatory approval.

iii

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, references to the “Company”, “Aethlon”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Aethlon Medical, Inc.

Overview and Corporate History

Aethlon Medical, Inc., or Aethlon, the Company, we or us, is a medical therapeutic company focused on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases. The Aethlon Hemopurifier is a clinical-stage immunotherapeutic device designed to combat cancer and life-threatening viral infections. In cancer, the Hemopurifier is designed to deplete the presence of circulating tumor-derived exosomes that promote immune suppression, seed the spread of metastasis and inhibit the benefit of leading cancer therapies. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, has designated the Hemopurifier as a “Breakthrough Device” for two independent indications:

	·	the treatment of individuals with advanced or metastatic cancer who are either unresponsive to or intolerant of standard of care therapy, and with cancer types in which exosomes have been shown to participate in the development or severity of the disease; and

	·	the treatment of life-threatening viruses that are not addressed with approved therapies.

We believe the Hemopurifier can be a substantial advance in the treatment of patients with advanced and metastatic cancer through the clearance of exosomes that promote the growth and spread of tumors through multiple mechanisms. We are currently working with our new contract research organization, or CRO, on preparations to conduct a clinical trial in Australia in patients with solid tumors, including head and neck cancer, gastrointestinal cancers and other cancers.

On October 4, 2019, the FDA approved our Investigational Device Exemption, or IDE, application to initiate an Early Feasibility Study, or EFS, of the Hemopurifier in patients with head and neck cancer in combination with standard of care pembrolizumab (Keytruda). The primary endpoint for the EFS, designed to enroll 10 to 12 subjects at a single center, is safety, with secondary endpoints including measures of exosome clearance and characterization, as well as response and survival rates. This clinical trial, initially conducted at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh, PA, or UPMC, treated two patients. Due to lack of further patient enrollment, we and UPMC terminated this trial.

In January 2023, we entered into an agreement with North American Science Associates, LLC, or NAMSA, a world leading MedTech CRO offering global end-to-end development services, to oversee our clinical trials investigating the Hemopurifier for oncology indications. Pursuant to the agreement, NAMSA will manage our clinical trials of the Hemopurifier for patients in the United States and Australia with various types of cancer tumors. We anticipate that the initial clinical trials will begin in Australia.

We also believe the Hemopurifier can be part of the broad-spectrum treatment of life-threatening highly glycosylated, or carbohydrate coated, viruses that are not addressed with an already approved treatment. In small-scale or early feasibility human studies, the Hemopurifier has been used in the past to treat individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, hepatitis-C and Ebola.

Additionally, in vitro, the Hemopurifier has been demonstrated to capture Zika virus, Lassa virus, MERS-CoV, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, Herpes simplex virus, Chikungunya virus, Dengue virus, West Nile virus, smallpox-related viruses, H1N1 swine flu virus, H5N1 bird flu virus, Monkeypox virus and the reconstructed Spanish flu virus of 1918. In several cases, these studies were conducted in collaboration with leading government or non-government research institutes.

On June 17, 2020, the FDA approved a supplement to our open IDE for the Hemopurifier in viral disease to allow for the testing of the Hemopurifier in patients with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, or COVID-19, in a New Feasibility Study. That study was designed to enroll up to 40 subjects at up to 20 centers in the United States. Subjects had to have an established laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, be admitted to an intensive care unit, or ICU, and have acute lung injury and/or severe or life-threatening disease, among other criteria. Endpoints for this study, in addition to safety, included reduction in circulating virus as well as clinical outcomes (NCT # 04595903). In June 2022, the first patient in this study was enrolled and completed the Hemopurifier treatment phase of the protocol. Due to lack of COVID-19 patients in the ICUs of our trial sites, we terminated this study in 2022.

Under Single Patient Emergency Use regulations, the Company has treated two patients with COVID-19 with the Hemopurifier, in addition to the COVID-19 patient treated with our Hemopurifier in our COVID-19 clinical trial discussed above.

We currently are experiencing a disruption in our Hemopurifier supply, as our existing supply of Hemopurifiers expired on September 30, 2022, and as previously disclosed, we are dependent on FDA approval of qualified suppliers to manufacture our Hemopurifier. Our intended transition to a new supplier for galanthus nivalis agglutinin, or GNA, a component of our Hemopurifier, is delayed as we work with the FDA for approval of our supplement to our IDE, which is required to make this manufacturing change.

In October 2022, we launched a wholly owned subsidiary in Australia, formed to conduct clinical research, seek regulatory approval and commercialize our Hemopurifier in that country. The subsidiary will initially focus on oncology trials in Australia.

We also obtained Ethics Review Board, or ERB, approval and entered into a clinical trial agreement with Medanta Medicity Hospital, a multi-specialty hospital in Delhi NCR, India, for a COVID-19 clinical trial at that location. One patient has completed participation in the Indian COVID-19 study. The relevant authorities in India have accepted the use of the Hemopurifiers made with the GNA from our new supplier.

In May 2023, we also received ERB approval from the Maulana Azad Medical College, or MAMC, for a second site for our clinical trial in India to treat severe COVID-19. MAMC was established in 1958 and is located in New Delhi, India. MMAC is affiliated with the University of Delhi and is operated by the Delhi government.

We also recently announced that we also have begun investigating the use of our Hemopurifier in the organ transplant setting. Our objective is to confirm that the Hemopurifier, in our translational studies, when incorporated into a machine perfusion organ preservation circuit, can remove harmful viruses and exosomes from harvested organs. We have previously demonstrated the removal of multiple viruses and exosomes from buffer solutions, in vitro, utilizing a scaled-down version of our Hemopurifier. This process potentially may reduce complications following transplantation of the harvested organ, which can include viral infection, delayed graft function and rejection. We believe this new approach could be additive to existing technologies that currently are in place to increase the number of viable organs for transplant.

Previously, we were the majority owner of Exosome Sciences, Inc., or ESI, a company formed to focus on the discovery of exosomal biomarkers to diagnose and monitor life-threatening diseases, and thus consolidated ESI in our consolidated financial statements. For more than four years, the primary activities of ESI were limited to the payment of patent maintenance fees and applications. In September 2022, the Board of Directors of ESI and we, as the majority stockholder of ESI, approved the dissolution of ESI.

Successful outcomes of human trials will also be required by the regulatory agencies of certain foreign countries where we plan to market and sell the Hemopurifier. Some of our patents may expire before FDA approval or approval in a foreign country, if any, is obtained. However, we believe that certain patent applications and/or other patents issued more recently will help protect the proprietary nature of the Hemopurifier treatment technology.

In addition to the foregoing, we are monitoring closely the impact of inflation, recent bank failures and the war in Ukraine on our business. Given the level of uncertainty regarding the duration and impact of these events on capital markets and the U.S. economy, we are unable to assess the impact on our timelines and future access to capital. The full extent to which inflation, recent bank failures and the war in Ukraine will impact our business, results of operations, financial condition, clinical trials and preclinical research will depend on future developments, as well as the economic impact on national and international markets that are highly uncertain.

We incorporated in Nevada on March 10, 1999. Our executive offices are located at 11555 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite 203, San Diego, California 92121. Our telephone number is (619) 941-0360. Our website address is www.aethlonmedical.com.

The Mechanism of the Hemopurifier

The Hemopurifier is an affinity hemofiltration device designed for the single-use removal of exosomes and life-threatening viruses from the human circulatory system. In the United States, the Hemopurifier is classified as a combination product whose regulatory jurisdiction is the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, or CDRH, the branch of FDA responsible for the premarket approval of all medical devices.

In our current applications, our Hemopurifier can be used on the established infrastructure of continuous renal replacement therapy, or CRRT, and dialysis instruments located in hospitals and clinics worldwide. It could also potentially be developed as part of a proprietary closed system with its own pump and tubing set, negating the requirement for dialysis infrastructure. Incorporated within the Hemopurifier is a protein called a lectin, that aids in binding exosomes and viruses.

The Hemopurifier - Clinical Trials In Viral Infections

The initial development of the Hemopurifier was focused on viral infections. In non-clinical bench experiments using a laboratory version of the Hemopurifier, performed in Company labs as well as in multiple other outside labs, including the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, Battelle Memorial Research Institute and others, we have demonstrated that a miniature version of the Hemopurifier can bind and clear multiple different glycosylated viruses. These viruses include HIV, HCV, Dengue, West Nile, multiple strains of influenza, Ebola, Chikungunya, smallpox, monkeypox, multiple herpes viruses, a MERS-CoV related pseudovirus and others.

Initial clinical trials on the Hemopurifier were conducted overseas on dialysis patients with HCV, with a subsequent EFS conducted in the United States under an FDA approved IDE.

On March 13, 2017, we concluded an FDA-approved EFS under an IDE in end stage renal disease patients on dialysis who were infected with HCV. The study was conducted at DaVita MedCenter Dialysis in Houston, Texas. We reported that there were no device-related adverse events in enrolled subjects who met the study inclusion-exclusion criteria. We also reported that an average capture of 154 million copies of HCV (in International Units, I.U.) within the Hemopurifier during four-hour treatments. Prior to this approval, we collected supporting Hemopurifier data through investigational human studies conducted overseas.

SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19

SARS-COV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 is a member of the coronavirus family, which includes the original SARS virus, SARS-CoV, and the MERS virus. SARS-CoV-2, like all coronaviruses, is glycosylated. This suggests that the Hemopurifier could potentially clear it from biologic fluids, including blood.

On June 17, 2020, the FDA approved a supplement to our open IDE for the Hemopurifier in viral disease to allow for the testing of the Hemopurifier in patients with SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in a New Feasibility Study. That study was designed to enroll up to 40 subjects at up to 20 centers in the United States. Subjects had to have an established laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, be admitted to an ICU, and have acute lung injury and/or severe or life threatening disease, among other criteria. Endpoints for this study, in addition to safety, include reduction in circulating virus, as well as clinical outcomes (NCT # 04595903). In June 2022, the Company completed the treatment protocol for its first patient in this study.

In September 2021, we entered into an agreement with a leading global CRO to oversee our U.S. clinical studies investigating the Hemopurifier for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Due to lack of COVID-19 patients in the ICUs of our trial sites, we terminated this study in 2022.

Under Single Patient Emergency Use regulations, we have also treated two patients with COVID-19 with the Hemopurifier, in addition to the COVID-19 patient treated with our Hemopurifier in our COVID-19 clinical trial discussed above. We published a manuscript reviewing case studies covering those two Single Patient Emergency Use treatments entitled “Removal of COVID-19 Spike Protein, Whole Virus, Exosomes and Exosomal microRNAs by the Hemopurifier® Lectin-Affinity Cartridge in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 Infection.”

The manuscript described the use of the Hemopurifier for a total of nine sessions in two critically ill COVID-19 patients. The first case study demonstrated the improvement in the patient who was a SARS-COV-2 positive COVID-19 present at entry to the hospital, with associated coagulopathy, or CAC, lung injury, inflammation, and tissue injury despite the absence of demonstrable COVID-19 viremia at the start of treatment at Day 22 and having demonstrated strong viremia earlier in the patient’s disease cycle, suggesting that the significant removal of exosomes contributed to the patient’s recovery. This patient received eight Hemopurifier treatments without complications and eventually was weaned from a ventilator and was discharged from the hospital.

The second patient case study demonstrated in vivo removal of SARS-CoV-2 virus from the blood stream of an infected patient. This patient completed a six-hour Hemopurifier treatment without complications and subsequently was placed on continuous renal replacement therapy, or CRRT. The patient ultimately expired three hours after being placed on CRRT because of the advanced stage of the patient’s disease.

In May 2022, we announced the publication of a pre-print manuscript featuring data that demonstrated Aethlon's proprietary GNA affinity resin was able to bind seven clinically relevant SARS-CoV-2 variants in vitro, including the Delta and Omicron variants. Viral capture efficiency with the GNA affinity resin ranged from 53% to 89% for all variants tested. The GNA affinity resin is a key component of the Aethlon Hemopurifier®. The manuscript is titled "Removal of Clinically Relevant SARS-CoV-2 Variants by An Affinity Resin Containing Galanthus nivalis Agglutinin" and was published in bioRxiv.

We previously commissioned Battelle Memorial Institute in 2008 to run a monkeypox virus, or MPV, in vitro study using a mini-Hemopurifier. This study demonstrated that high concentrations of MPV (approximately 35 thousand cpu/ml) were rapidly depleted from cell culture fluids when circulated through the Hemopurifier. The study data indicated that the Hemopurifier removed 44 percent of infectious MPV in the first hour of testing, 82 percent after six hours, and 98 percent after 20 hours. The studies were conducted in triplicate and data verification was provided by real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The Hemopurifier – Clinical Trials Conducted Overseas in Viral Infections

EBOLA Virus

In December of 2014, Time Magazine named the Hemopurifier a “Top 25 Invention” as the result of treating an Ebola-infected physician at Frankfurt University Hospital in Germany. The physician was comatose with multiple organ failure at the time of treatment with the Hemopurifier. At the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting, Dr. Helmut Geiger, Chief of Nephrology at Frankfurt University Hospital reported that the patient received a single 6.5 hour Hemopurifier treatment. Prior to treatment, viral load was measured at 400,000 copies/ml. Post-treatment viral load reported to be at 1,000 copies/ml. Dr. Geiger also reported that 242 million copies of Ebola virus were captured within the Hemopurifier during treatment. The patient ultimately made a full recovery. Based on this experience, the Company filed an Expanded Access protocol with the FDA to treat Ebola virus infected patients in up to ten centers in the United States and a corresponding protocol was approved by HealthCanada. These protocols remain open allowing Hemopurifier treatment to be offered to patients presenting for care in both countries. In 2018, we applied for and were granted a Breakthrough Designation by the FDA “… for the treatment of life-threatening viruses that are not addressed with approved therapies.”

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

Prior to FDA approval of the IDE feasibility study, we conducted investigational HCV treatment studies at the Apollo Hospital, Fortis Hospital and the Medanta Medicity Institute in India. In the Medanta Medicity Institute study, 12 HCV-infected individuals were enrolled to receive three six-hour Hemopurifier treatments during the first three days of a 48-week peginterferon+ribavirin treatment regimen. The study was conducted under the leadership of Dr. Vijay Kher. Dr. Kher’s staff reported that Hemopurifier therapy was well tolerated and without device-related adverse events in the 12 treated patients.

Of these 12 patients, ten completed the Hemopurifier-peginterferon+ribavirin treatment protocol, including eight genotype-1 patients and two genotype-3 patients. Eight of the ten patients achieved a sustained virologic response, which is the clinical definition of treatment cure and is defined as undetectable HCV in the blood 24 weeks after the completion of the 48-week peginterferon+ribavirin drug regimen. Both genotype-3 patients achieved a sustained virologic response, while six of the eight genotype-1 patients achieved a sustained virologic response, which defines a cure of the infection.

Hemopurifier - Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

In addition to treating Ebola and HCV-infected individuals, we also conducted a single proof-of-principle treatment study at the Sigma New Life Hospital in an AIDS patient who was not being administered HIV antiviral drugs. In the study, viral load was reduced by 93% as the result of 12 Hemopurifier treatments (each four hours in duration) that were administered over the course of one month.

The Hemopurifier in Cancer

Our primary focus in recent years has been on the evaluation of the Hemopurifier in cancer, where we have previously shown in non-clinical studies and in a COVID-19 emergency use patient that it is capable of clearing exosomes, which are subcellular particles that are secreted by both normal and malignant cells. Tumor derived exosomes, have been shown in multiple laboratories to be critical components in the progression of cancers. They can mediate resistance to chemotherapy, resistance to targeted agents such as trastuzumab (Herceptin), metastasis and resistance to the newer immuno-oncology agents, such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Based on these observations and data, in November 2019 the FDA granted us a second Breakthrough Designation “…for the treatment of individuals with advanced or metastatic cancer who are either unresponsive to or intolerant of standard of care therapy, and with cancer types in which exosomes have been shown to participate in the development or severity of the disease.”

U.S. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

We have recognized revenue under the following government contracts/grants over the past two years:

Phase 2 Melanoma Cancer Contract

On September 12, 2019, the National Cancer Institute, or NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, awarded to us an SBIR Phase II Award Contract, for NIH/NCI Topic 359, entitled “A Device Prototype for Isolation of Melanoma Exosomes for Diagnostics and Treatment Monitoring”, or the Award Contract. The Award Contract amount was $1,860,561 and, as amended, ran for the period from September 16, 2019 through September 15, 2022.

The work performed pursuant to this Award Contract was focused on melanoma exosomes. This work followed from our completion of a Phase I contract for the Topic 359 solicitation that ran from September 2017 through June 2018, as described below. Following on the Phase I work, the deliverables in the Phase II program involved the design and testing of a pre-commercial prototype of a more advanced version of the exosome isolation platform.

The Award Contract ended on September 15, 2022 and we presented the required final report to the NCI. As the NCI completed its close out review of the contract, we recognized as revenue the $574,245 previously recorded as deferred revenue on our December 31, 2022 balance sheet.

Subaward with University of Pittsburgh

In December 2020, we entered into a cost reimbursable subaward arrangement with the University of Pittsburgh in connection with an NIH contract entitled “Depleting Exosomes to Improve Responses to Immune Therapy in HNNCC.” Our share of the award was $256,750. We did not record revenue related to this subaward in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023. We recorded $64,467of revenue related to this subaward in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022.

In October 2022, we agreed with the University of Pittsburgh to terminate the subaward arrangement, effective as of November 10, 2022, since it related to our clinical trial in head and neck cancer in which the University of Pittsburgh was unable to recruit patients. There are no provisions in the subaward arrangement requiring repayment of cash received for work completed through November 10, 2022.

Research and Development Costs

A substantial portion of our operating budget is used for research and development activities. The cost of research and development, all of which has been charged to operations, amounted to approximately $2,745,000 and $2,341,000 in the fiscal years ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Intellectual Property

We currently own or have license rights to a number of U.S. and foreign patents and patent applications and endeavor to continually improve our intellectual property position. We consider the protection of our technology, whether owned or licensed, to the exclusion of use by others, to be vital to our business. While we intend to focus primarily on patented or patentable technology, we also rely on trade secrets, unpatented property, know-how, regulatory exclusivity, patent extensions and continuing technological innovation to develop our competitive position. We also own certain trademarks.

Our success depends in large part on our ability to protect our proprietary technology, including the Hemopurifier product platform, and to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. We rely on a combination of patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark laws, as well as confidentiality agreements, licensing agreements and other agreements, to establish and protect our proprietary rights. Our success also depends, in part, on our ability to avoid infringing patents issued to others. If we were judicially determined to be infringing on any third-party patent, we could be required to pay damages, alter our products or processes, obtain licenses or cease sales of products or certain activities.

To protect our proprietary medical technologies, including the Hemopurifier product platform and other scientific discoveries, we have a portfolio of over 50 issued patents and pending applications worldwide. We currently have five issued U.S. patents and 32 issued patents in countries outside of the United States. In addition, we have thirteen patent applications pending worldwide related to our Hemopurifier product platform and other technologies. We are seeking additional patents on our scientific discoveries.

It is possible that our pending patent applications may not result in issued patents, that we will not develop additional proprietary products that are patentable, that any patents issued to us may not provide us with competitive advantages or will be challenged by third parties and that the patents of others may prevent the commercialization of products incorporating our technology. Furthermore, others may independently develop similar products, duplicate our products or design around our patents. U.S. patent applications are not immediately made public, so it is possible that a third party may obtain a patent on a technology we are actively using.

There is a risk that any patent applications that we file and any patents that we hold or later obtain could be challenged by third parties and declared invalid or unenforceable. For many of our pending applications, patent interference proceedings may be instituted with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, when more than one person files a patent application covering the same technology, or if someone wishes to challenge the validity of an issued patent. At the completion of the interference proceeding, the USPTO will determine which competing applicant is entitled to the patent, or whether an issued patent is valid. Patent interference proceedings are complex, highly contested legal proceedings, and the USPTO’s decision is subject to appeal. This means that if an interference proceeding arises with respect to any of our patent applications, we may experience significant expenses and delays in obtaining a patent, and if the outcome of the proceeding is unfavorable to us, the patent could be issued to a competitor rather than to us. Third parties can file post-grant proceedings in the USPTO, seeking to have issued patent invalidated, within nine months of issuance. This means that patents undergoing post-grant proceedings may be lost, or some or all claims may require amendment or cancellation, if the outcome of the proceedings is unfavorable to us. Post-grant proceedings are complex and could result in a reduction or loss of patent rights. The institution of post-grant proceedings against our patents could also result in significant expenses.

Patent law outside the United States is uncertain and in many countries, is currently undergoing review and revisions. The laws of some countries may not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Third parties may attempt to oppose the issuance of patents to us in foreign countries by initiating opposition proceedings. Opposition proceedings against any of our patent filings in a foreign country could have an adverse effect on our corresponding patents that are issued or pending in the United States. It may be necessary or useful for us to participate in proceedings to determine the validity of our patents or our competitors’ patents that have been issued in countries other than the United States. This could result in substantial costs, divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Outside of the United States, we currently have pending patent applications or issued patents in Europe, India, Russia, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In addition to patent protection, we rely on unpatented trade secrets and proprietary technological expertise. It is possible that others could independently develop or otherwise acquire substantially equivalent technology, somehow gain access to our trade secrets and proprietary technological expertise or disclose such trade secrets, or that we may not successfully ultimately protect our rights to such unpatented trade secrets and proprietary technological expertise. We rely, in part, on confidentiality agreements with our marketing partners, employees, advisors, vendors and consultants to protect our trade secrets and proprietary technological expertise. We cannot assure you that these agreements will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach or that our unpatented trade secrets and proprietary technological expertise will not otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors.

Patents

The following table lists our issued patents and patent applications, including their ownership status:

Patents Issued in the United States

PATENT #	PATENT NAME	ISSUANCE DATE	OWNED OR LICENSED	EXPIRATION DATE
9,707,333	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles	7/18/17	Owned	1/6/29
9,364,601	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles	6/14/16	Owned	10/2/29
8,288,172	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles	10/16/12	Owned	3/30/29
7,226,429	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis	6/5/07	Owned	1/20/24
10,022,483	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis	7/17/18	Owned	1/20/24

Patent Applications Pending in the United States

APPLICATION #	APPLICATION NAME	FILING DATE	OWNED OR LICENSED
16/415,713	Affinity capture of circulating biomarkers	5/17/19	Owned
17/301,666	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis	4/09/21	Owned
16/459,220	Methods and compositions for quantifying exosomes	7/01/19	Owned
17/918,085	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof	10/10/22	Owned

Foreign Patents

PATENT #	PATENT NAME	ISSUANCE DATE	OWNED OR LICENSED	EXPIRATION DATE
2353399	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Russia)	4/27/09	Owned	1/20/24
1624785	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Belgium)	7/17/13	Owned	1/20/24
1624785	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Ireland)	7/17/13	Owned	1/20/24
1624785	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Italy)	7/17/13	Owned	1/20/24
1624785	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Great Britain)	7/17/13	Owned	1/20/24
1624785	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (France)	7/17/13	Owned	1/20/24
1624785	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Germany)	7/17/13	Owned	1/20/24
2516403	Method for removal of viruses from blood by lectin affinity hemodialysis (Canada)	8/12/14	Owned	1/20/24
2591359	Methods for quantifying exosomes (Germany)	3/01/17	Owned	7/07/31
2591359	Methods for quantifying exosomes (France)	3/01/17	Owned	7/07/31
2591359	Methods for quantifying exosomes (Great Britain)	3/01/17	Owned	7/07/31
2591359	Methods for quantifying exosomes (Spain)	3/01/17	Owned	7/07/31
2644855	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Canada)	11/19/19	Owned	1/20/24
3061952	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Canada)	7/19/22	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Germany)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Switzerland)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Spain)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (France)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Great Britain)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Italy)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Netherlands)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1993600	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Sweden)	4/24/19	Owned	1/20/24
1126138	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Hong Kong)	6/19/20	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Switzerland)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Germany)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Denmark)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Spain)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (France)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Great Britain)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Ireland)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Netherlands)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24
3517151	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (Sweden)	4/21/21	Owned	1/20/24

Pending Foreign Patent Applications

APPLICATION #

APPLICATION NAME

FILING
DATE

OWNED OR LICENSED

8139/DELNP/2008	Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles (exosomes) (India)	3/9/07	Owned
2939652	Brain specific exosome based diagnostics and extracorporeal therapies (Canada)	8/12/06	Owned
2021256402	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof (Australia)	10/16/22	Owned
3178687	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof (Canada)	9/29/22	Owned
21788894.0	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof (Europe)	10/26/22	Owned
297109	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof (Israel)	10/26/22	Owned
2023-505809	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof (Japan)	10/12/22	Owned
11202253625T	Devices and methods for treating a coronavirus infection and symptoms thereof (Singapore)	9/29/22	Owned

Pending International Patent Applications

APPLICATION #

APPLICATION NAME

FILING

DATE

OWNED OR

LICENSED

PCT/US2022/077885

Devices and methods for treating a viral infection and symptoms thereof

10/11/22

Owned

Trademarks

APPLICATION NAME	FILING DATE	OWNED OR LICENSED
TAUSOME	7/24/2015	Owned
SANSAGITTA	7/8/2021	Owned
HEMOSAGITTA	1/13/2021	Owned

Trademarks

In addition to the Tausome, Sansagitta and Hemosagitta trademarks noted in the above table, we also have trademark registrations in the United States for Hemopurifier and Aethlon Medical, Inc., and obtained a trademark registration in India for Hemopurifier. We also have common law trademark rights in Aethlon ADAPT™ and ELLSA™.

Licensing and Assignment Agreements

On November 7, 2006, we executed an assignment agreement with the London Health Science Center Research, Inc. under which an invention and related patent rights for a method to treat cancer were assigned to us. The invention provides for the "Extracorporeal removal of microvesicular particles" for which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent (Patent No.8,288,172) in the United States as of October 2012. The agreement provided for an upfront payment of 53 shares of unregistered common stock and a 2% royalty on any future net sales of all products or services, the sale of which would infringe in the absence of the assignment granted under this agreement. We are also responsible for paying certain patent application and filing costs. Under the assignment agreement, we own the patents until their respective expirations. Under certain circumstances, ownership of the patents may revert to the London Health Science Center Research, Inc. if there is an uncured substantial breach of the assignment agreement.

Industry & Competition

The industry for treating infectious disease and cancer is extremely competitive, and companies developing new treatment procedures face significant capital and regulatory challenges. As our Hemopurifier is a clinical-stage device, we have the additional challenge of establishing medical industry support, which will be driven by treatment data resulting from human clinical studies. Should our device become market cleared by the FDA or the regulatory body of another country, we may face significant competition from well-funded pharmaceutical organizations. Additionally, we would likely need to establish large-scale production of our device in order to be competitive. We believe that our Hemopurifier is a first-in-class therapeutic candidate and we are not aware of any affinity hemofiltration device being market cleared in any country for the single-use removal of circulating viruses or tumor-derived exosomes.

Government Regulation

The Hemopurifier is subject to regulation by numerous regulatory bodies, primarily the FDA, and comparable international regulatory agencies. These agencies require manufacturers of medical devices to comply with applicable laws and regulations governing the development, testing, manufacturing, labeling, marketing, storage, distribution, advertising and promotion, and post-marketing surveillance reporting of medical devices. As the primary mode of action of the Hemopurifier is attributable to the device component of this combination product, the CDRH has primary jurisdiction over its premarket development, review and approval. Failure to comply with applicable requirements may subject a device and/or its manufacturer to a variety of administrative sanctions, such as issuance of warning letters, import detentions, civil monetary penalties and/or judicial sanctions, such as product seizures, injunctions and criminal prosecution.

FDA’s Pre-market Clearance and Approval Requirements

Each medical device we seek to commercially distribute in the United States will require either a prior 510(k) clearance, unless it is exempt, or a pre-market approval from the FDA. Generally, if a new device has a predicate that is already on the market under a 510(k) clearance, the FDA will allow that new device to be marketed under a 510(k) clearance; otherwise, a premarket approval, or PMA, is required. Medical devices are classified into one of three classes—Class I, Class II or Class III—depending on the degree of risk associated with each medical device and the extent of control needed to provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness. Class I devices are deemed to be low risk and are subject to the general controls of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, such as provisions that relate to: adulteration; misbranding; registration and listing; notification, including repair, replacement, or refund; records and reports; and good manufacturing practices. Most Class I devices are classified as exempt from pre-market notification under section 510(k) of the FD&C Act, and therefore may be commercially distributed without obtaining 510(k) clearance from the FDA. Class II devices are subject to both general controls and special controls to provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness. Special controls include performance standards, post market surveillance, patient registries and guidance documents. A manufacturer may be required to submit to the FDA a pre-market notification requesting permission to commercially distribute some Class II devices. Devices deemed by the FDA to pose the greatest risk, such as life-sustaining, life-supporting or implantable devices, or devices deemed not substantially equivalent to a previously cleared 510(k) device, are placed in Class III. A Class III device cannot be marketed in the United States unless the FDA approves the device after submission of a PMA. However, there are some Class III devices for which FDA has not yet called for a PMA. For these devices, the manufacturer must submit a pre-market notification and obtain 510(k) clearance in orders to commercially distribute these devices. The FDA can also impose sales, marketing or other restrictions on devices in order to assure that they are used in a safe and effective manner. We believe that the Hemopurifier will be classified as a Class III device and as such will be subject to PMA submission and approval.

Pre-market Approval Pathway

A pre-market approval application must be submitted to the FDA for Class III devices for which the FDA has required a PMA. The pre-market approval application process is much more demanding than the 510(k) pre-market notification process. A pre-market approval application must be supported by extensive data, including but not limited to technical, preclinical, clinical trials, manufacturing and labeling to demonstrate to the FDA’s satisfaction reasonable evidence of safety and effectiveness of the device.

After a pre-market approval application is submitted, the FDA has 45 days to determine whether the application is sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review and thus whether the FDA will file the application for review. The FDA has 180 days to review a filed pre-market approval application, although the review of an application generally occurs over a significantly longer period of time and can take up to several years. During this review period, the FDA may request additional information or clarification of the information already provided. Also, an advisory panel of experts from outside the FDA may be convened to review and evaluate the application and provide recommendations to the FDA as to the approvability of the device.

Although the FDA is not bound by the advisory panel decision, the panel’s recommendations are important to the FDA’s overall decision making process. In addition, the FDA may conduct a preapproval inspection of the manufacturing facility to ensure compliance with the Quality System Regulation, or QSR. The agency also may inspect one or more clinical sites to assure compliance with FDA’s regulations.

Upon completion of the PMA review, the FDA may: (i) approve the PMA which authorizes commercial marketing with specific prescribing information for one or more indications, which can be more limited than those originally sought; (ii) issue an approvable letter which indicates the FDA’s belief that the PMA is approvable and states what additional information the FDA requires, or the post-approval commitments that must be agreed to prior to approval; (iii) issue a not approvable letter which outlines steps required for approval, but which are typically more onerous than those in an approvable letter, and may require additional clinical trials that are often expensive and time consuming and can delay approval for months or even years; or (iv) deny the application. If the FDA issues an approvable or not approvable letter, the applicant has 180 days to respond, after which the FDA’s review clock is reset.

Emergency Use Authorizations, or EUAs, are granted by FDA in public health emergencies but allow use of the authorized device only during the period of the respective public health emergency, and do not change the requirement to ultimately seek PMA approval after the authorization period has ended.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are almost always required to support pre-market approval and are sometimes required for 510(k) clearance. In the United States, for significant risk devices, these trials require submission of an application for an IDE to the FDA. The IDE application must be supported by appropriate data, such as animal and laboratory testing results, showing it is safe to test the device in humans and that the testing protocol is scientifically sound. The IDE must be approved in advance by the FDA for a specific number of patients at specified study sites. During the trial, the sponsor must comply with the FDA’s IDE requirements for investigator selection, trial monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping. The investigators must obtain patient informed consent, rigorously follow the investigational plan and study protocol, control the disposition of investigational devices and comply with all reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Clinical trials for significant risk devices may not begin until the IDE application is approved by the FDA and the appropriate institutional review boards, or IRBs, at the clinical trial sites. An IRB is an appropriately constituted group that has been formally designated to review and monitor medical research involving subjects and which has the authority to approve, require modifications in, or disapprove research to protect the rights, safety and welfare of human research subjects. The FDA or the IRB at each site at which a clinical trial is being performed may withdraw approval of a clinical trial at any time for various reasons, including a belief that the risks to study subjects outweigh the benefits or a failure to comply with FDA or IRB requirements. Even if a trial is completed, the results of clinical testing may not demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the device, may be equivocal or may otherwise not be sufficient to obtain approval or clearance of the product.

Ongoing Regulation by the FDA

Even after a device receives clearance or approval and is placed on the market, numerous regulatory requirements apply. These include:

establishment registration and device listing;

the QSR, which requires manufacturers, including third-party manufacturers, to follow stringent design, testing, control, documentation and other quality assurance procedures during all aspects of the manufacturing process;

labeling regulations and the FDA prohibitions against the promotion of products for uncleared, unapproved or “off-label” uses and other requirements related to promotional activities;

medical device reporting regulations, which require that manufactures report to the FDA if their device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury, or if their device malfunctioned and the device or a similar device marketed by the manufacturer would be likely to cause or contribute to a death or serious injury if the malfunction were to recur;

corrections and removal reporting regulations, which require that manufactures report to the FDA field corrections or removals if undertaken to reduce a risk to health posed by a device or to remedy a violation of the FDCA that may present a risk to health; and

post market surveillance regulations, which apply to certain Class II or III devices when necessary to protect the public health or to provide additional safety and effectiveness data for the device.

Some changes to an approved PMA device, including changes in indications, labeling or manufacturing processes or facilities, require submission and FDA approval of a new PMA or PMA supplement, as appropriate, before the change can be implemented. Supplements to a PMA often require the submission of the same type of information required for an original PMA, except that the supplement is generally limited to that information needed to support the proposed change from the device covered by the original PMA. The FDA uses the same procedures and actions in reviewing PMA supplements as it does in reviewing original PMAs.

Failure by us or by our suppliers to comply with applicable regulatory requirements can result in enforcement action by the FDA or state authorities, which may include any of the following sanctions:

warning or untitled letters, fines, injunctions, consent decrees and civil penalties;

customer notifications, voluntary or mandatory recall or seizure of our products;

operating restrictions, partial suspension or total shutdown of production;

delay in processing submissions or applications for new products or modifications to existing products;

withdrawing approvals that have already been granted; and

criminal prosecution.

The Medical Device Reporting laws and regulations require us to provide information to the FDA when we receive or otherwise become aware of information that reasonably suggests our device may have caused or contributed to a death or serious injury as well as a device malfunction that likely would cause or contribute to death or serious injury if the malfunction were to recur. In addition, the FDA prohibits an approved device from being marketed for off-label use. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of off-label uses, and a company that is found to have improperly promoted off-label uses may be subject to significant liability, including substantial monetary penalties and criminal prosecution.

Newly discovered or developed safety or effectiveness data may require changes to a product’s labeling, including the addition of new warnings and contraindications, and also may require the implementation of other risk management measures. Also, new government requirements, including those resulting from new legislation, may be established, or the FDA’s policies may change, which could delay or prevent regulatory clearance or approval of our products under development.

Healthcare Regulation

In addition to the FDA’s restrictions on marketing of pharmaceutical products, the U.S. healthcare laws and regulations that may affect our ability to operate include: the federal fraud and abuse laws, including the federal anti-kickback and false claims laws; federal data privacy and security laws; and federal transparency laws related to payments and/or other transfers of value made to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors) and other healthcare professionals (such as physicians assistants and nurse practitioners) and teaching hospitals. Many states have similar laws and regulations that may differ from each other and federal law in significant ways, thus complicating compliance efforts. For example, states have anti-kickback and false claims laws that may be broader in scope than analogous federal laws and may apply regardless of payor. In addition, state data privacy laws that protect the security of health information may differ from each other and may not be preempted by federal law. Moreover, several states have enacted legislation requiring pharmaceutical manufacturers to, among other things, establish marketing compliance programs, file periodic reports with the state, make periodic public disclosures on sales and marketing activities, report information related to drug pricing, require the registration of sales representatives, and prohibit certain other sales and marketing practices. These laws may adversely affect our sales, marketing and other activities with respect to any product candidate for which we receive approval to market in the United States by imposing administrative and compliance burdens on us.

Because of the breadth of these laws and the narrowness of available statutory exceptions and regulatory safe harbors, it is possible that some of our business activities, particularly any sales and marketing activities after a product candidate has been approved for marketing in the United States, could be subject to legal challenge and enforcement actions. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of the federal and state laws described above or any other governmental regulations that apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties, including, without limitation, damages, fines, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, additional reporting obligations and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or other agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations.

From time to time, legislation is drafted and introduced in Congress that could significantly change the statutory provisions governing the regulatory approval, manufacture and marketing of regulated products or the reimbursement thereof. For example, in the United States, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, or collectively, ACA, among other things, reduced and/or limited Medicare reimbursement to certain providers and imposed an annual excise tax of 2.3% on any entity that manufactures or imports medical devices offered for sale in the United States, with limited exceptions. However, the 2020 federal spending package permanently eliminated, effective January 1, 2020, this ACA-mandated medical device tax. On June 17, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a challenge on procedural grounds that argued the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the “individual mandate” was repealed by Congress. Further, on August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or IRA, into law, which among other things, extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. The IRA also eliminates the "donut hole" under the Medicare Part D program beginning in 2025 by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost and creating a new manufacturer discount program. It is possible that the ACA will be subject to judicial or Congressional challenges in the future. It is unclear how such challenges and any additional healthcare reform measures will impact the ACA.

Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted since the ACA was enacted. The Budget Control Act of 2011, as amended by subsequent legislation, further reduces Medicare’s payments to providers by two percent through fiscal year 2032. These reductions may reduce providers’ revenues or profits, which could affect their ability to purchase new technologies. Furthermore, the healthcare industry in the United States has experienced a trend toward cost containment as government and private insurers seek to control healthcare costs by imposing lower payment rates and negotiating reduced contract rates with service providers. In July 2021, the Biden Administration released an executive order, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” which contained provisions relating to prescription drugs. On September 9, 2021, in response to this executive order, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, released a Comprehensive Plan for Addressing High Drug Prices that outlines principles for drug pricing reform and sets out a variety of potential legislative policies that Congress could pursue as well as potential administrative actions HHS can take to advance these principles. Further, the IRA, among other things (i) directs HHS to negotiate the price of certain high-expenditure, single-source drugs and biologics covered under Medicare and (ii) imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation. These provisions will take effect progressively starting in fiscal year 2023, although they may be subject to legal challenges. HHS has and will continue to issue and update guidance as these programs are implemented. It is currently unclear how the IRA will be implemented but is likely to have a significant impact on the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, in response to the Biden administration’s October 2022 executive order, on February 14, 2023, HHS released a report outlining three new models for testing by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation which will be evaluated on their ability to lower the cost of drugs, promote accessibility, and improve quality of care. It is unclear whether the models will be utilized in any health reform measures in the future.

Legislation could be adopted in the future that limits payments for our products from governmental payors. It is possible that additional governmental action will be taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, commercial payors such as insurance companies, could adopt similar policies that limit reimbursement for medical device manufacturers’ products.

Coverage and Reimbursement

In both the U.S. and international markets, the use of medical devices is dependent in part on the availability of reimbursement from third-party payors, such as government and private insurance plans. Healthcare providers that use medical devices generally rely on third-party payors to pay for all or part of the costs and fees associated with the medical procedures being performed or to compensate them for their patient care services. Should our Hemopurifier or any other products under development be approved for commercialization by the FDA, any such products may not be considered cost-effective, reimbursement may not be available in the United States or other countries, if approved, and reimbursement may not be sufficient to allow sales of our future products on a profitable basis. The coverage decisions of third-party payors will be significantly influenced by the assessment of our future products by health technology assessment bodies. If approved for use in the United States, we expect that any products that we develop, including the Hemopurifier, will be purchased primarily by medical institutions, which will in turn bill various third-party payors for the health care services provided to patients at their facility. Payors may include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, which administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer Medicaid, other government programs and private insurance plans. The process involved in applying for coverage and reimbursement from CMS is lengthy and expensive. Further, Medicare coverage is based on our ability to demonstrate that the treatment is “reasonable and necessary” for Medicare beneficiaries. Even if products utilizing our Aethlon Hemopurifier technology receive FDA and other regulatory clearance or approval, they may not be granted coverage and reimbursement by any payor, including by CMS. Many private payors use coverage decisions and payment amounts determined by CMS as guidelines in setting their coverage and reimbursement policies and amounts. However, no uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement for medical devices exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement can differ significantly from payor to payor.

Manufacturing

To date, manufacturing of our Hemopurifier occurs in collaboration with a contract manufacturer based in California under current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, regulations promulgated by the FDA. Our contract manufacturer is registered with the FDA. To date, our manufacture of the Hemopurifier has been limited to quantities necessary to support our clinical studies.

Our costs of compliance with federal, state and local environmental laws have been immaterial to date.

Sources and Availability of Raw Materials and the Names of Principal Suppliers

Our Hemopurifiers were previously assembled by Aethlon personnel in a cGMP manufacturing facility provided by Life Science Outsourcing, Inc, or LSO. Currently, we are in the process of bringing our manufacturing operations in-house. Aethlon personnel assemble the various components of the Hemopurifier with materials from our various suppliers, which are purchased and released by Aethlon. Specifically, the Hemopurifier contains three critical components with limited available suppliers. The GNA lectin is sourced from Vector Laboratories Inc. and also is available from other suppliers. We currently are experiencing a disruption in our Hemopurifier supply, as our existing supply of Hemopurifiers expired on September 30, 2022, and as previously disclosed, we are dependent on FDA approval of qualified suppliers to manufacture our Hemopurifier. Our intended transition to a new supplier for GNA is delayed as we work with the FDA for approval of our supplement to our IDE, which is required to make this manufacturing change. The base cartridge on which the Hemopurifier is constructed is sourced from Medica S.p.A and we are dependent on the continued availability of these cartridges. Although there are other suppliers, the process of qualifying a new supplier takes time and regulatory approvals must be obtained. We currently purchase the diatomaceous earth from Janus Scientific, Inc., as the distributor; however, the product is manufactured by Imerys Minerals Ltd. There potentially are other suppliers of this product, but as with the cartridges, qualifying and obtaining required regulatory approvals takes time and resources.

Sales and Marketing

We do not currently have any sales and marketing capability. With respect to commercialization efforts in the future, we intend to build or contract for distribution, sales and marketing capabilities for any product candidate that is approved. From time to time, we have had and are having strategic discussions with potential collaboration partners for our product candidates, although no assurance can be given that we will be able to enter into one or more collaboration agreements for our product candidates on acceptable terms, if at all.

Product Liability

The risk of product liability claims, product recalls and associated adverse publicity is inherent in the testing, manufacturing, marketing and sale of medical products. We have limited clinical trial liability insurance coverage. It is possible that future insurance coverage may not be adequate or available. We may not be able to secure product liability insurance coverage on acceptable terms or at reasonable costs when needed. Any liability for mandatory damages could exceed the amount of our coverage. A successful product liability claim against us could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. Moreover, a product recall could generate substantial negative publicity about our products and business and inhibit or prevent commercialization of other future product candidates.

Employees

As of June 26, 2023, we had 15 full-time employees and no part-time employees. All of our employees are located in the United States. We do intend to hire additional employees. We utilize, whenever appropriate, consultants in order to conserve cash and resources.

We believe our employee relations are good. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or are subject to collective-bargaining agreements.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below as well as the other information in this Annual Report before deciding to invest in or maintain your investment in our company. The risks described below are not intended to be an all-inclusive list of all of the potential risks relating to an investment in our securities. Any of the risk factors described below could significantly and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known or that are currently considered to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business. As a result, the trading price or value of our securities could be materially adversely affected and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital

We have incurred significant losses and expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future.

We have never been profitable. We have generated revenues during the fiscal years ended March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022 in the amounts of $574,245 and $294,165, respectively, primarily from our contract with the NIH, which ended in September 2022. Our revenues, from research grants, continue to be insufficient to cover our cost of operations. It is possible that we may not be able to enter into future government contracts. Future profitability, if any, will require the successful commercialization of our Hemopurifier technology or any other product that we develop or from additional government contract or grant income we may obtain. We may not be able to successfully commercialize the Hemopurifier or any other products, and even if commercialization is successful, we may never be profitable.

We will require additional financing to sustain our operations, achieve our business objectives and satisfy our cash obligations, which may dilute the ownership of our existing stockholders.

We will require significant additional financing for our operations and for expected additional future clinical trials in the United States, India and Australia, regulatory clearances, and continued research and development activities for the Hemopurifier and other future products. In addition, as we expand our activities, our overhead costs to support personnel, laboratory materials and infrastructure will increase. We may also choose to raise additional funds in debt or equity financings if they are available to us on reasonable terms to increase our working capital and to strengthen our financial position. Any sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities could result in dilution of the equity interests of our existing stockholders. Additionally, new investors may require that we and certain of our stockholders enter into voting arrangements that give them additional voting control or representation on our Board of Directors. If required financing is unavailable to us on reasonable terms, or at all, we may be unable to support our operations, including our research and development activities, which would have a material adverse effect on our ability to commercialize our products or continue our business.

Our ability to raise additional funds may be adversely impacted by our ability to remain listed on Nasdaq, the potential worsening global economic conditions and disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States, including due to bank failures, actual or perceived changes in interest rates and economic inflation, and worldwide resulting from macroeconomic factors. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we cannot predict the timing or amount of increased expenses and cannot assure you that we will ever be profitable or generate positive cash flow from operating activities.

Risks Related to Our Business Operations

Delays, interruptions or the cessation of production by our third-party suppliers of important materials or delays in qualifying new materials, has and may continue to prevent or delay our ability to manufacture our Hemopurifier.

Most of the raw materials used in the process for manufacturing our Hemopurifier are available from more than one supplier. However, there are materials within the manufacturing and production process that come from single suppliers. We do not have written contracts with all of our single source suppliers, and at any time they could stop supplying our orders. FDA review of a new supplier is required if these materials become unavailable from our current suppliers. Currently, we are experiencing an interruption in the manufacturing of our Hemopurifier as we transition to a new supplier of galanthus nivalis agglutinin, or GNA, used in the manufacture of our Hemopurifier. We have not received the required FDA approval of our proposal to approve a new qualified supplier of the GNA and are working with the FDA to gain approval of this supplier. Although we have completed the manufacture of 112 Hemopurifiers, which have passed our quality control measures, we cannot ship the cartridges for domestic use until we have FDA approval of our new GNA supplier. FDA review of the new supplier could take several additional months to obtain.

In addition, an uncorrected impurity, a supplier’s variation in a raw material or testing, either unknown to us or incompatible with its manufacturing process, or any other problem with our materials, testing or components, would prevent or delay the release of our Hemopurifiers for use in our clinical trials. For example, in late 2020, we identified during our device quality review procedures prior to product release that one of our critical suppliers had produced a Hemopurifier component that was not produced to our specifications, although no affected Hemopurifiers were released into our inventory or to any clinical trial sites. Our current inventory of Hemopurifiers expired on September 30, 2022. Any further delay in achieving the required FDA approvals for our new supplier will limit our ability to meet any demand for the Hemopurifier in the United States and delay our clinical trials in the United States, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Difficulties in manufacturing our Hemopurifier could have an adverse effect upon our expenses, our product revenues and our ability to complete our clinical trials.

We currently outsource most of the manufacturing of our Hemopurifier. The manufacturing of our Hemopurifier is difficult and complex. To support our current clinical trial needs, we comply with and intend to continue to comply with cGMP in the manufacture of our product. Our ability to adequately manufacture and supply our Hemopurifier in a timely matter is dependent on the uninterrupted and efficient operation of our facilities and those of third parties producing raw materials and supplies upon which we rely in our manufacturing. We currently are experiencing an interruption in our Hemopurifier manufacturing due to delays in obtaining necessary regulatory approval of a new manufacturer of GNA. The manufacture of our products may also be impacted by:

availability or contamination of raw materials and components used in the manufacturing process, particularly those for which we have no other source or supplier;

our ability to comply with new regulatory requirements, including our ability to comply with cGMP;

natural disasters;

changes in forecasts of future demand for product components;

potential facility contamination by microorganisms or viruses;

updating of manufacturing specifications;

product quality success rates and yields; and

global viruses and pandemics, including the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The current interruption in the manufacture and supply of our Hemopurifier has and may continue to delay shipments of our Hemopurifier for use in clinical trials in the United States.

Our products are manufactured with raw materials that are sourced from specialty suppliers with limited competitors and we may therefore be unable to access the materials we need to manufacture our products.

Specifically, the Hemopurifier contains three critical components with limited supplier numbers. The base cartridge on which the Hemopurifier is constructed is sourced from Medica S.p.A and we are dependent on the continued availability of these cartridges. We currently purchase the diatomaceous earth from Janus Scientific Inc., our distributor; however, the product is manufactured by Imerys Minerals Ltd., which is the only supplier of this product. The GNA is sourced from Vector Laboratories, Inc. and also is available from other suppliers; however, Sigma Aldrich is our only back up supplier at this time and we are in the process of working with the FDA to obtain regulatory approval for this supplier. A business interruption at any of these sources, including the interruption resulting from the delay in obtaining FDA approval of our new GNA supplier, has and may continue to have a material impact on our ability to manufacture the Hemopurifier.

We face intense competition in the medical device industry.

We compete with numerous U.S. and foreign companies in the medical device industry, and many of our competitors have greater financial, personnel, operational and research and development resources than we do. We believe that because the field of exosome research is burgeoning, multiple competitors are or will be developing competing technologies to address exosomes in cancer. Progress is constant in the treatment and prevention of viral diseases, so the opportunities for the Hemopurifier may be reduced there as well. Diagnostic technology may be developed that can supplant diagnostics we are developing for viruses and cancer. Our commercial opportunities will be reduced or eliminated if our competitors develop and market products for any of the diseases we target that:

are more effective;

have fewer or less severe adverse side effects;

are better tolerated;

are more adaptable to various modes of dosing;

are easier to administer; or

are less expensive than the products or product candidates we are developing.

Even if we are successful in developing the Hemopurifier and obtain FDA and other regulatory approvals necessary for commercialization, our products may not compete effectively with other successful products. Researchers are continually learning more about diseases, which may lead to new technologies for treatment. Our competitors may succeed in developing and marketing products that are either more effective than those that we may develop, alone or with our collaborators, or that are marketed before any products we develop are marketed. Our competitors include fully integrated pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies as well as universities and public and private research institutions. Many of the organizations competing with us have substantially greater capital resources, larger research and development staffs and facilities, greater experience in product development and in obtaining regulatory approvals, and greater marketing capabilities than we do. If our competitors develop more effective pharmaceutical treatments for infectious disease or cancer, or bring those treatments to market before we can commercialize the Hemopurifier for such uses, we may be unable to obtain any market traction for our products, or the diseases we seek to treat may be substantially addressed by competing treatments. If we are unable to successfully compete against larger companies in the pharmaceutical industry, we may never generate significant revenue or be profitable.

We have limited experience in identifying and working with large-scale contracts with medical device manufacturers; manufacture of our devices must comply with good manufacturing practices in the United States.

To achieve the levels of production necessary to commercialize our Hemopurifier and any other future products, we will need to secure large-scale manufacturing agreements with contract manufacturers which comply with good manufacturing practice standards and other standards prescribed by various federal, state and local regulatory agencies in the United States and any other country of use. We have limited experience coordinating and overseeing the manufacture of medical device products on a large-scale. It is possible that manufacturing and control problems will arise as we attempt to commercialize our products and that manufacturing may not be completed in a timely manner or at a commercially reasonable cost. In addition, we may not be able to adequately finance the manufacture and distribution of our products on terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we cannot successfully oversee and finance the manufacture of our products if they obtain regulatory clearances, we may never generate revenue from product sales and we may never be profitable.

Our Hemopurifier technology may become obsolete.

Our Hemopurifier product may be made unmarketable prior to commercialization by us by new scientific or technological developments by others with new treatment modalities that are more efficacious and/or more economical than our products. The homeland security industry is growing rapidly with many competitors that are trying to develop products or vaccines to protect against infectious disease. Any one of our competitors could develop a more effective product which would render our technology obsolete. Further, our ability to achieve significant and sustained penetration of our key target markets will depend upon our success in developing or acquiring technologies developed by other companies, either independently, through joint ventures or through acquisitions. If we fail to develop or acquire, and manufacture and sell, products that satisfy our customers’ demands, or we fail to respond effectively to new product announcements by our competitors by quickly introducing competitive products, then market acceptance of our products could be reduced and our business could be adversely affected. Our products may not remain competitive with products based on new technologies.

Our success is dependent in part on our executive officers.

Our success depends to a critical extent on the continued services of our Chief Executive Officer, Charles J. Fisher, Jr., M.D., our Chief Financial Officer, James B. Frakes, our Chief Medical Officer, Steven LaRosa, M.D., our Chief Scientific Officer, Lee D. Arnold, Ph.D., and our Chief Business Officer, Guy Cipriani. If any of these key executive officers were to leave us, we would be forced to expend significant time and money in the pursuit of a replacement, which would result in both a delay in the implementation of our business plan and the diversion of limited working capital. The unique knowledge and expertise of these individuals would be difficult to replace within the biotechnology field. We do not currently carry key man life insurance policies on any of our key executive officers which would assist us in recouping our costs in the event of the loss of those officers. If any of our key officers were to leave us, it could make it impossible, if not cause substantial delays and costs, to implement our long-term business objectives and growth.

Our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel could impede our ability to achieve our business objectives.

We have 15 full-time employees. We utilize, whenever appropriate, consultants in order to conserve cash and resources. Although we believe that these employees and consultants will be able to handle most of our additional administrative, research and development and business development in the near term, we will nevertheless be required over the longer-term to hire highly skilled managerial, scientific and administrative personnel to fully implement our business plan and growth strategies. Due to the specialized scientific nature of our business, we are highly dependent upon our ability to attract and retain qualified scientific, technical and managerial personnel. Competition for these individuals, especially in San Diego, California, where many biotechnology companies are located, is intense and we may not be able to attract, assimilate or retain additional highly qualified personnel in the future. We may not be able to engage the services of qualified personnel at competitive prices or at all, particularly given the risks of employment attributable to our limited financial resources and lack of an established track record. Also, if we are required to attract personnel from other parts of the U.S. or abroad, we may have significant difficulty doing so due to the high cost of living in the Southern California area and due to the costs incurred with transferring personnel to the area. If we cannot attract and retain qualified staff and executives, we will be unable to develop our products and achieve regulatory clearance, and our business could fail.

We plan to expand our operations, which may strain our resources; our inability to manage our growth could delay or derail implementation of our business objectives.

We will need to significantly expand our operations to implement our longer-term business plan and growth strategies. We will also be required to manage multiple relationships with various strategic partners, technology licensors, customers, manufacturers and suppliers, consultants and other third parties. This expansion and these expanded relationships will require us to significantly improve or replace our existing managerial, operational and financial systems, procedures and controls; to improve the coordination between our various corporate functions; and to manage, train, motivate and maintain a growing employee base. The time and costs to effectuate these steps may place a significant strain on our management personnel, systems and resources, particularly given the limited amount of financial resources and skilled employees that may be available at the time. We may not be able to institute, in a timely manner or at all, the improvements to our managerial, operational and financial systems, procedures and controls necessary to support our anticipated increased levels of operations and to coordinate our various corporate functions, or that we will be able to properly manage, train, motivate and retain our anticipated increased employee base. If we cannot manage our growth initiatives, including our expansion of our clinical trials in India and potentially in other countries, we will be unable to commercialize our products on a large-scale in a timely manner, if at all, and our business could fail.

We may enter new business areas, such as the organ transplant market or diagnostics. We do not have any experience in these areas. We would likely face competition from entities more familiar with these businesses and our efforts may not succeed.

In the future, we may expand our operations into business areas, such as the organ transplant market which we currently are exploring, where we do not have any experience. These areas would be new to our product development and management personnel, and we may not be successful in these new areas. Even if we are successful in developing our Hemopurifier for the organ transplant market, we may not be able to compete effectively or generate significant revenues in this new area. Many companies of all sizes, including major pharmaceutical companies, specialized biotechnology companies, and traditional healthcare providers, are engaged in redesigning organ transplant care and diagnostic medicine. Competitors operating in these potential new business areas may have substantially greater financial and other resources, larger research and development staff, and more experience in these business areas. It is possible that, even if we are successful in these new areas, that the market will not accept our product, or that our product will generate significant revenues for us.

As a public company with limited financial resources undertaking the launch of new medical technologies, we may have difficulty attracting and retaining executive management and directors.

The directors and management of publicly traded corporations are increasingly concerned with the extent of their personal exposure to lawsuits and stockholder claims, as well as governmental and creditor claims which may be made against them, particularly in view of recent changes in securities laws imposing additional duties, obligations and liabilities on management and directors. Due to these perceived risks, directors and management are also becoming increasingly concerned with the availability of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to pay on a timely basis the costs incurred in defending such claims. While we currently carry directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, such insurance is expensive and difficult to obtain. If we are unable to continue or provide directors’ and officers’ liability insurance at affordable rates or at all, it may become increasingly more difficult to attract and retain qualified outside directors to serve on our Board of Directors. We may lose potential independent board members and management candidates to other companies in the biotechnology field that have greater directors’ and officers’ liability insurance to insure them from liability or to biotechnology companies that have revenues or have received greater funding to date which can offer greater compensation packages. The fees of directors are also rising in response to their increased duties, obligations and liabilities. In addition, our products could potentially be harmful to users, and we are exposed to claims of product liability including for injury or death. We have limited insurance and may not be able to afford robust coverage even as our products are introduced into the market. As a company with limited resources and potential exposures to management, we will have a more difficult time attracting and retaining management and outside independent directors than a more established public or private company due to these enhanced duties, obligations and potential liabilities.

SEC Form 10-K filed by Aethlon Medical Inc.