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 June 30, 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 001-31392

PLURI INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada		98-0351734
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

MATAM Advanced Technology Park, Building No. 5, Haifa, Israel		3508409
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number 011-972-74-7108600

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

Title of each class		Trading Symbol		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Shares, par value $0.00001		PLUR		The Nasdaq Global Market

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the 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 Section 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.

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 ☒

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked prices of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

$34,413,220

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common shares, as of the latest practicable date.

41,351,870 as of September 8, 2023

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		Page

PART I		1

Item 1.	Business	1

Item 1A.	Risk Factors	19

Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	34

Item 2.	Properties	34

Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	34

Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	34

PART II		35

Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	35

Item 6.	[Reserved]	35

Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	35

Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	39

Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	F-1

Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	40

Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	40

Item 9B.	Other Information	40

Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections	40

PART III		41

Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	41

Item 11.	Executive Compensation	45

Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	52

Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence	54

Item 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	54

PART IV		55

Item 15.	Exhibits	55

Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	57

Our financial statements are stated in thousands United States Dollars and are prepared in accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or U.S. GAAP.

In this annual report, unless otherwise specified, all dollar, amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars.

As used in this annual report, the terms “we”, “us”, “our”, the “Company”, and “Pluri” mean Pluri Inc., our wholly owned Israeli subsidiary, our majority owned Israeli subsidiary, and the wholly owned subsidiary of our Israeli subsidiary in Germany, unless otherwise indicated or required by the context.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by, among other things, the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “intends,” “plans,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” or “anticipates” or the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We remind readers that forward-looking statements are merely predictions and therefore inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors and involve known and unknown risks that could cause the actual results, performance, levels of activity, or our achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, levels of activity, or our achievements, or industry results, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements appear in Item 1 – “Business” and Item 7 – “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” (especially in the section titled “Outlook”) as well as elsewhere in this Annual Report and include, among other statements, statements regarding the following:

●

the expected development and potential benefits from our products in regenerative medicine, biologics and food technology, or food tech, as well as potentially in other industries and verticals that have a need for our mass scale and cost-effective cell expansion platform;

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the prospects of entering into additional license agreements, or other forms of cooperation with other companies, research organizations and medical institutions, including, without limitation Tnuva (as defined below);

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our pre-clinical and clinical study plans, including timing of initiation, expansion, enrollment, results, and conclusion of trials;

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achieving regulatory approvals;

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receipt of future funding from the Israel Innovation Authority, or IIA, the European Union’s Horizon programs, the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, as well as grants from other independent third parties;

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developing capabilities for new clinical indications of placenta expanded, or PLX, cells and new products;

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our expectation to demonstrate a real-world impact and value from our pipeline, technology platform and commercial-scale manufacturing capacity;

●

the possible impacts of cybersecurity incidents on our business and operations;

●

our expectations regarding our short- and long-term capital requirements;

●

our outlook for the coming months and future periods, including but not limited to our expectations regarding future revenue and expenses;

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information with respect to any other plans and strategies for our business; and

●

the Israeli government is pursuing extensive changes to Israel’s judicial system, which may negatively impact the business environment in Israel with reluctance for investments or transactions as well as lead to increased currency fluctuations, downgrades in credit rating and increased interest rates.

The factors discussed herein, including those risks described in Item 1A. “Risk Factors”, and expressed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, could cause actual results and developments to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by such statements. In addition, historic results of scientific research, clinical and preclinical trials do not guarantee that the conclusions of future research or trials would not suggest different conclusions. Also, historic results referred to in this Annual Report would be interpreted differently in light of additional research, clinical and preclinical trials results. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this filing, and except as required by law we undertake no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

iii

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Overview

We are a biotechnology company with an advanced cell-based technology platform. We have developed a unique three-dimensional, or 3D, technology platform for cell expansion with an industrial scale in-house Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP, cell manufacturing facility. We are utilizing our technology in the field of regenerative medicine and food tech and plan to utilize it in other industries and verticals that have a need for our mass scale and cost-effective cell expansion platform.

We use our advanced cell-based technology platform in the field of regenerative medicine to develop placenta-based cell therapy product candidates for the treatment of inflammatory, muscle injuries and hematologic conditions. Our PLX cells are adherent stromal cells that are expanded using our 3D platform. Our PLX cells can be administered to patients off-the-shelf, without blood or tissue matching or additional manipulation prior to administration. PLX cells are believed to release a range of therapeutic proteins in response to the patient’s condition.

Our operations are focused on the research, development and manufacturing of cells and cell-based products, conducting clinical studies and the business development of cell therapeutics and cell-based technologies, such as our collaboration with Tnuva Food Industries – Agricultural Cooperative in Israel Ltd., through its fully owned subsidiary, Tnuva Food-Tech Incubator (2019), Limited Partnership, or Tnuva, to use our technology to establish a cultivated food platform, as well as the collaboration agreement we signed in 2022 with a leading European manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients, or APIs, to use our expansion technology, which aims to revolutionize the production of biologics by enabling a cost-effective, sustainable and cruelty-free ingredient.

In the pharmaceutical area, we have focused on several indications utilizing our product candidates, including, but not limited to, muscle recovery following surgery for hip fracture, incomplete recovery following bone marrow transplantation, critical limb ischemia, or CLI, Chronic Graft versus Host Disease and a potential treatment for Hematopoietic Acute Radiation Syndrome, or H-ARS. Some of these studies have been completed while others are still ongoing. We believe that each of these indications is a severe unmet medical need.

In July 2023, we announced that we signed a three year $4.2 million contract with the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, which is part of the NIH. Pluri will collaborate with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, or AFRRI, and the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, or USUHS, in Maryland, U.S.A., to further advance the development of its PLX-R18 cell therapy as a potential novel treatment for H-ARS, a deadly disease that can result from nuclear disasters and radiation exposure.

In the food tech field, we established a new venture with Tnuva, Ever After Foods Ltd., or Ever After Foods, (previously Plurinuva Ltd.), which is incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel. Ever After Foods is developing cultivated meat products based on Pluri’s platform 3D cell expansion technology.

We were incorporated in Nevada on May 11, 2001. Pluri Inc. has a wholly owned subsidiary, Pluri Biotech Ltd., or the Subsidiary, which is incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel. In January 2020, the Subsidiary established a wholly owned subsidiary, Pluristem GmbH, which is incorporated under the laws of Germany.

Scientific Background – Cell Therapy

Cell therapy is an established field within the regenerative medicine area. The characteristics and properties of cells vary as a function of tissue source and growth conditions. The human placenta from which our PLX cells are derived provides a unique source of non-embryonic, adult cells and represents an innovative approach in the cell therapy field. The different factors that PLX cells release suggest that the cells can be used therapeutically for a variety of ischemic, inflammatory, autoimmune and hematological deficiencies.

Our Technology

Our technology platform, a patented and validated state-of-the-art 3D cell expansion system, aims to advance novel cell-based solutions for a range of industries, including, but not limited to pharmaceuticals, food, agricultural, and biologics. Our method is uniquely accurate, scalable, cost-effective, and consistent from batch to batch. Our technology is currently implemented in the fields of regenerative medicine and food tech.

Our system utilizes a synthetic scaffold to create an artificial 3D environment where cells can grow. Our automated proprietary 3D, Current Good Manufacturing Practice, or cGMP, approved process enables the large-scale monitored and controlled production of reproducible, high quality cell products and in mass quantities. Additionally, our current manufacturing process, which has scaled up during the years, has demonstrated batch-to-batch consistency, an important manufacturing challenge for biological products.

We developed a new cell manufacturing process for industrial scale cell manufacturing called PluriMatrix, which we announced in April 2023, and which is built upon our platform 3D cell expansion technology, scaling high-quality cell production. PluriMatrix is also used by Ever After Foods, for producing cultivated meat.

Product Candidates

We believe that our technology will continue to fuel medical research and develop pharmaceuticals, while also being used to potentially create novel cell-based solutions for other innovative initiatives—such as food tech, cellular agriculture and biologics. We aim to establish partnerships that leverage our 3D cell-based technology to additional industries that require effective, mass cell production and will enable us to accelerate the time to market.

Pluri Health

Our primary objective is to be the leading provider of allogeneic placenta-based cell therapy products that are true off-the-shelf products that do not require any matching or additional manipulation prior to administration. Currently, our PLX products are administered intramuscular, or IM, using a standard needle and syringe.

PLX-PAD

Our first product candidate, PLX-PAD, is composed of maternal mesenchymal stromal cell, or MSC, like cells originating from the placenta.

PLX-R18

Our second product candidate, PLX-R18, is composed of fetal MSC like cells originating from the placenta.

Modified PLX cells

As a platform technology company, we are also developing additional product candidates, which are modified or induced PLX cells:

Induced PLX cells: we are using cells from the placenta, induced with cytokines, to transiently alter their secretion profile.

Modified PLX cells using CRISPR, or other gene editing technology: CRISPR is a unique technology which allows precise gene editing of cells. Using this technology, we can initiate the next evolution in cell therapy by allowing the reprograming of cells for specific needs. Our aim is to incorporate the genetic engineering techniques into our cell manufacturing platform in order to develop large scale allogenic engineered PLX products designed for specific indications.

We believe that using the placenta as a unique cell source, combined with our innovative research, development and high-quality manufacturing capabilities, will be the “engine” that drives this platform technology towards the successful development of additional PLX cell therapy products and indications.

Our Clinical Development Product Candidates

Orthopedic Indications. Following U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, and European Medicine Agency, or EMA, clearance, a multinational Phase III study was conducted and completed in the United States, Europe and Israel. The primary endpoint of this study was the Short Physical Performance Battery, or SPPB, a test for lower limb performance and functional status. We completed enrollment of 240 patients and the study was designed to assess the efficacy at six months and a year, as well as safety for up to two years.

On July 13, 2022, we announced topline results from our Phase III study of muscle regeneration following hip fracture surgery. PLX-PAD was demonstrated to be an effective accelerator of muscle strength and regeneration. A significant increase in Hip Abduction Strength (HAS) was observed at week 26 and week 52 for patients treated with PLX-PAD (n=120), in the injured leg (p=0.047, p=0.0022) and uninjured leg (p=0.073, p=0.0046) compared to placebo (n=120). The study did not meet the primary endpoint, which was the SPPB test at week 26. On October 26, 2022, a 52-week follow up of all patients was completed.

Our Phase III study protocol and design was based on our phase I/II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (n=20) to assess the safety and efficacy of IM injections of allogeneic PLX-PAD cells for the regeneration of injured gluteal musculature after total hip replacement had been conducted in Germany under the approval of Paul Ehrlich Institute, or PEI. In this study, PLX-PAD cells or placebo were administered into the traumatized gluteal muscle during total hip replacement surgery. The study results met its primary efficacy endpoint, change in maximal voluntary isometric contraction force of the gluteal muscle at six months after total hip replacement. Patients treated with PLX-PAD had a significantly greater improvement of maximal voluntary muscle contraction force than the placebo group (p=0.0067). In addition, the study demonstrated that PLX-PAD was safe and well tolerated by patients.

COVID-19 Complicated by Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, or ARDS. In May 2020, the FDA cleared our Investigational New Drug Application, or IND, for a Phase II study of our PLX-PAD cells for treatment of severe COVID-19 cases complicated by ARDS and we initiated the study in June 2020. The U.S. study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, parallel-group intended to evaluate the efficacy and safety of IM injections of PLX-PAD for the treatment of severe COVID-19 cases complicated by ARDS. The primary endpoint is the number of ventilator free days, or VFD, from day 1 through day 28 of the study. Secondary efficacy endpoints include all-cause mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit, or ICU, free-days, and hospitalization free-days. Safety and survival follow-up will be conducted until week 52. In addition, the FDA has cleared our Expanded Access Program, or EAP, for the use of our PLX-PAD cells to treat ARDS caused by COVID-19 outside of the Phase II COVID-19 complicated by ARDS study in the United States. The EAP approval was for up to 100 patients.

In August 2020, the PEI cleared our Phase II study in Germany titled, “A Randomized, Controlled, Multicenter, Parallel-Group Phase II Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Intramuscular Injections of PLX PAD for the Treatment of severe COVID-19,” relating to the treatment of patients hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19 complicated by ARDS. The primary efficacy endpoint of the study is the number of ventilator free days during the 28-days from day one through day 28 of the study. Secondary efficacy endpoints include all-cause mortality, duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU free-days, and hospitalization free-days. Safety and survival follow-up will be conducted until week 52. We enrolled patients in Europe and Israel under this protocol.

On July 8, 2021, we announced that we were bringing our COVID-19 complicated by ARDS Phase II studies in the United States, Europe and Israel to clinical readout. The analysis was based on 89 patients enrolled.

On December 27, 2021, we announced topline results for our COVID-19 studies based on 89 patients enrolled. The studies did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint of statistically significant improvement of VFD at 28 days. Taking into consideration the baseline risk factors of the ARDS patients, no differences in the safety profile were observed between PLX-PAD and placebo. The U.S., Europe, and Israel studies are complete and the clinical study reports have been submitted to the relevant regulatory agencies.

Recovery Following HCT. This Phase I study of PLX-R18 in HCT was completed in the United States and Israel. The study assessed the safety of PLX-R18 by assessing adverse events, safety labs and vital signs in patients receiving different doses of PLX-R18. One year follow up for all patients was completed in September 2021 and the results of the study were announced on March 23, 2022. PLX-R18 was well-tolerated with a favorable safety profile. Patients treated with PLX-R18 showed a mean increase in all three blood cell types compared to baseline with platelets (p<0.001), hemoglobin (p=0.01) and neutrophils (p=0.15) levels increasing as early as 1 month following PLX-R18 administration and enduring up to 12 months following treatment. Additionally, the number of transfused units decreased from a mean monthly number of 5.09 for platelets and 2.91 for red blood cells at baseline to 0.55 for platelets (p=0.045) and 0 for red blood cells (p=0.0005) at 12 months.

Peripheral and Cardiovascular Diseases. We investigated the use of PLX-PAD cells for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease, or PAD, including intermittent claudication, or IC, and CLI. We completed two Phase I safety/dose-escalating clinical studies for CLI, one in the United States and one in Germany. These CLI studies demonstrated that no blood type or human leukocyte antigen matching is required, and that the administration of PLX-PAD cells is safe, even if two doses are administered to a patient on two different occasions. We completed a Phase II study in IC which was conducted in the United States, Germany, South Korea and Israel. A total of 172 patients were treated in this study. IM administration of PLX-PAD cells was concluded to be safe and well tolerated. We completed a pivotal Phase III study of PLX-PAD cells in the treatment of CLI for patients with minor tissue loss (Rutherford Category 5) who are unsuitable for revascularization. This multinational Phase III study was conducted in the United States, Europe and Israel and enrolled 213 patients in total. In December 2020, the independent Data Monitoring Committee, or DMC, issued its recommendation letter following an interim analysis relating to the CLI Phase III study. A clinical dataset was reviewed by the independent DMC for safety and analysis of the primary endpoint of amputation-free survival, defined as time to occurrence of major amputation of the index leg or death. Based on the review, the DMC concluded that the CLI study was unlikely to meet the primary endpoint by the time of the final analysis. Following the DMC’s recommendation, we decided to terminate the CLI study.

ARS. On July 11, 2023, we signed a three-year $4.2 million contract with the NIAID, which is part of the NIH. Pluri will collaborate with the U.S. Department of Defense’s, or DoD’s, AFRRI and USUHS to further advance the development of its PLX-R18 cell therapy as a potential novel treatment for H-ARS. H-ARS is a deadly disease that can result from nuclear disasters and radiation exposure. The period of performance of this contract will be from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, which may be extended for an additional two year period.

Before signing the contract, we conducted several animal studies for the evaluation of PLX-R18 for the treatment of ARS, in collaboration with NIAID.

The NIH funded and conducted a pilot study in non-human primates, or NHPs, to evaluate the therapeutic effect of PLX-R18 on hematological aspects of ARS. In 2017, we announced results of the NHPs pilot study for PLX-R18 as a treatment for ARS. Although study size was not designed to show significance, results showed a trend toward improved survival of PLX-R18 treated animals compared to control, placebo treated animals. The study, conducted and funded by the NIAID, was designed to assess the safety and efficacy of PLX-R18 following IM injection into irradiated and non-irradiated NHPs. Efficacy measures included survival as well as hematological parameters which are affected by exposure to high levels of radiation as may occur in a nuclear accident or attack. These data will help the design of a pivotal study to fulfill the requirements for a Biologics License Application, or BLA, submission under the FDA’s Animal Rule regulatory pathway.

In October 2017, we announced that the FDA granted us an orphan drug designation for our PLX-R18 cell therapy for the prevention and treatment of ARS. In April 2018, we announced that the FDA approved our Investigational New Drug, or IND, application for PLX-R18 cell therapy in the treatment of ARS. The IND allows us to treat victims who may have been acutely exposed to high dose radiation due to nuclear attack or accident. In July 2019, we presented positive results from a series of studies of our PLX-R18 cell therapy product conducted by the DoD Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, part of the USUHS. The studies were designed to evaluate PLX-R18 as a potential prophylactic countermeasure against ARS administered prior to radiation exposure. These animal studies demonstrate that PLX-R18, administered 24 hours before radiation exposure, and again 72 hours after exposure, resulted in a significant increase in survival rates, from 4% survival rate in the placebo group to 74% in the treated group. In addition, the data show an increase in recovery of blood lineages and a favorable safety profile. Furthermore, histopathological analysis and hematopoietic progenitor clonogenic assay of tissues collected show a significant increase in bone marrow cell numbers and improved regenerative capability into all blood lineages.

Steroid-Refractory cGVHD. In September 2017, we signed an agreement with Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital) to conduct a Phase I/II clinical study of PLX-PAD cell therapy for the treatment of Steroid-Refractory cGVHD. This study is an investigator-initiated study. As such, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center supports the study and is responsible for its design and implementation. 17 patients have been treated in this study to date.

Regulatory and Clinical Affairs Strategy

Our cell therapy development strategy is to hold open and frequent discussions with regulators at all stages of development from preclinical studies to more advanced regulatory stages. We utilize this strategy in working with the FDA, the EMA, Germany’s PEI as well as other European national competent authorities, the Minister of Health, or MOH, Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, or PMDA, and also the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, or MFDS, of South Korea.

Our Activities in the Food Tech Sector - Ever After Foods

On January 5, 2022, we signed definitive collaboration agreements with Tnuva through the Subsidiary. Under the definitive collaboration agreements, or the Joint Venture Agreement, we established a new company, Ever After Foods, with the purpose of developing cultivated meat products of all types and kinds. Ever After Foods is engaged in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of technology, know-how and products that will be based on licensed products, or the Licensed Products, relating to the field of cultivated meat, or the Field.

Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreement, Tnuva entered into a share purchase agreement, or the SPA, with Ever After Foods and the Subsidiary, pursuant to which Ever After Foods issued on the closing date of the SPA, or the Closing Date, 187,500 ordinary shares, representing 15.79% of its share capital, to Tnuva, as well as a warrant to purchase additional shares of Ever After Foods, in consideration of an aggregate of $7.5 million in cash, which expired unexercised.

In December 2022, we reported that our joint venture successfully completed proof of concept in its development of cultivated meat based on our cell-based technology platform. Ever After Foods is also using PluriMatrix for producing cultivated meat.

Technology Collaboration the Biologics Field

In September 2022, we entered into a collaboration agreement, or API Collaboration, with a leading European manufacturer of APIs, among others, used to treat liver diseases and gallstones. As part of our collaboration, we utilize our platform to develop and manufacture a unique biologic API. The current source of this API is derived from animals that are sacrificed during the extraction process. The joint goal of the collaboration is to grow the specific cells needed for this API in our 3D cell expansion bioreactor systems which in return will secrete the biological molecule without harming animals. As of June 30, 2023, we recorded revenues of $270,000 related to API Collaboration.

We believe that proof of concept with API derived from animals will open opportunities for us to serve additional API manufacturers in the rapidly growing biologics markets.

Intellectual Property

We understand that our success will depend, in part, on maintaining our intellectual property, and therefore we are committed to protecting our technology and product candidates with patents and other methods described below.

We are the sole owner of 142 issued patents and approximately 55 pending patent applications in the United States, Europe, China, Japan and Israel, as well as in additional countries worldwide, including countries in the Far East and South America (in calculating the number of issued patents, each European patent validated in multiple jurisdictions was counted as a single patent).

Based on the well-established understanding that the characteristics and therapeutic potential of a cell product are largely determined by the source of the cells and by the methods and conditions used during their culturing, our patent portfolio includes different types of claims that protect the various unique aspects of our technology.

Our multi-national portfolio of patent and patent applications includes the following claims:

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our proprietary 3D expansion methods for adherent cells including placental stromal cells plant cells;

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composition of matter claims covering the cells;

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our proprietary 3D expansion methods for cells in suspension including immune cells;

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the therapeutic and cosmetic use of PLX cells for the treatment of a variety of conditions; and

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cell-culture, harvest, thawing and formulation devices.

Through our experience with the development of adherent stromal cell-based products, we have gained expertise and know-how in this field and have established procedures for manufacturing clinical-grade PLX cells in our facilities. Certain aspects of our manufacturing process are covered by patents and patent applications. In addition, specific aspects of our technology are retained as know-how and trade secrets that are protected by our confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, contractors, manufacturers and advisors. These agreements generally provide for protection of confidential information, restrictions on the use of materials, and obligations to assign to us inventions created during the course of performing services for us.

The following table sets forth our key patents and patent applications and is not intended to represent an assessment of claims, limitations or scope. In some cases, a jurisdiction is listed as both pending and granted for a single patent family. This is due to pending continuation or divisional applications of the granted case.

The expiration dates of these patents, based on filing dates, range from 2027 to 2043. Actual expiration dates will be determined according to extensions received based on the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-417), commonly known as the “Hatch-Waxman” Act, which permits extensions of pharmaceutical patents to reflect regulatory delays encountered in obtaining FDA market approval. The Hatch-Waxman Act is based on a U.S. federal law and therefore only relevant to U.S. patents.

There is a risk that our patents will be invalidated, and that our pending patent applications will not result in issued patents. We also cannot be certain that we will not infringe on any patents that may be issued to others. See “Risk Factors – The patent approval process is complex, and we cannot be sure that our pending patent applications or future patent applications will be approved”

Our Patent Portfolio

Patent Name/ Int. App. No.	Pending Jurisdictions	Granted Jurisdictions	Expiry Date
METHODS FOR CELL EXPANSION AND USES OF CELLS AND CONDITIONED MEDIA PRODUCED THEREBY FOR THERAPY PCT/IL2007/000380		Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Europe, Israel, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Singapore	March 23, 2027
ADHERENT CELLS FROM PLACENTA TISSUE AND USE THEREOF IN THERAPY PCT/IL2008/001185	United States	Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, United States, South Korea	September 2, 2028
METHODS OF TREATING INFLAMMATORY COLON DISEASES PCT/IL2009/000527		United States, Israel, Russia	May 26, 2029
METHODS OF SELECTION OF CELLS FOR TRANSPLANTATION PCT/IL2009/000844		Europe, Israel	September 1, 2029
ADHERENT CELLS FROM PLACENTA TISSUE AND USE THEREOF IN THERAPY PCT/IL2009/000846		Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Mexico, Singapore, United States	September 1, 2029
ADHERENT CELLS FROM PLACENTA TISSUE AND USE THEREOF IN THERAPY PCT/IL2009/000845		United States, Europe, Israel	September 1, 2029
ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS DERIVED FROM PLANCENTAS OF MULTIPLE DONORS AND USES THEREOF PCT/IB2011/001413		Israel	Israel: April 21, 2031
ADHERENT CELLS FROM PLACENTA AND USE OF SAME IN DISEASE TREATMENT PCT/IB2010/003219	United States, Israel	Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Europe, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, United States	November 29, 2030

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR HARVESTING ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS PCT/IB2012/000933	China, Israel	Australia, Canada, Europe, Israel, India, South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, United States	April 15, 2032
METHODS FOR TREATING RADIATION OR CHEMICAL INJURY PCT/IB2012/000664	United States	Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, South Korea, United States	March 22, 2032
SKELETAL MUSCLE REGENERATION USING MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS PCT/EP2011/058730		United States, Europe, Israel	May 27, 2031
GENE AND PROTEIN EXPRESSION PROPERTIES OF ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS CULTURED IN 3D PCT/IB2014/059114		Israel, United States	February 20, 2034
METHODS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PREECLAMPSIA PCT/IB2013/058186		China, Hong Kong, Europe, Israel, Japan, South Korea, United States	August 31, 2033
METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THAWING BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL PCT/IB2013/059808		Australia, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Singapore, United States	October 31, 2033
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR GROWING AND HARVESTING CELLS PCT/IB2015/051559		Israel, United States	March 3, 2035
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING AND PREVENTING MUSCLE WASTING DISORDERS PCT/IB2015/059763		Israel, United States	December 18, 2035
USE OF ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS FOR ENHANCING HEMATOPOIESIS IN A SUBJECT IN NEED THEREOF PCT/IB2016/051585	Israel		March 21, 2036
ALTERED ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS AND METHODS OF PRODUCING AND USING SAME PCT/IB2016/053310		Europe, United States, Israel	June 6, 2036
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING CANCERS AND NEOPLASMS PCT/IB2017/050868	Canada	Europe, Japan, Israel	February 16, 2037
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS PCT/IB2018/052806	Israel, United States		April 23, 2038

METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TUMOR ASSESSMENT PCT/IB2018/050984		Israel	February 18, 2038
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING ADDICTIONS PCT/IB2018/055473	Israel, United States		July 23, 2038
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR DETACHING ADHERENT CELLS Germany 10 2018 115 360.0	Germany		June 25-July 3, 2038
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PRODUCING CANNABINOIDS PCT/IL2020/050477	Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, United States		April 28, 2040
METHODS FOR EXPANDING ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS AND CELLS OBTAINED THEREBY PCT/IB2019/052569	Israel, Singapore, United States		March 28, 2039
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING SUBJECTS EXPOSED TO VESICANTS AND OTHER CHEMICAL AGENTS PCT/IB2019/055074	Israel, United States		June 18, 2039
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR FORMULATING AND DISPENSING PHARMACEUTICAL FORMULATIONS PCT/IB2019/053115	United States	Israel	United States: April 16, 2039 Israel: April 26, 2038
THERAPEUTIC DOSAGE REGIMENS COMPRISING ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS PCT/IB2019/054828	Israel, United States		June 10, 2039
MODULAR BIOREACTOR PCT/IB2019/058429	Europe, Israel, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, United States		October 3, 2039
THERAPEUTIC METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS PCT/IB2019/059544	Israel, United States		November 6, 2039

METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR TREATING VIRAL INFECTIONS AND SEQUELAE THEREOF PCT/IL2021/050268	United States, Europe, Israel, Mexico	Israel	First Israeli application: May 14, 2040 Other applications: March 11, 2041
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR AESTHETIC AND COSMETIC TREATMENT AND STIMULATING HAIR GROWTH PCT/IL2020/050363	United States, Europe, Canada, China, Israel, Australia		March 26, 2040
METHODS FOR EXPANDING ADHERENT STROMAL CELLS AND CELLS OBTAINED THEREBY IL277560	Israel		September 23, 2040
METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR ENRICHMENT OF TARGET CELLS PCT/IL2021/020514	United States, Israel		May 05, 2041
PLACENTAL CELL TREATMENT FOR CRITICAL LIMB ISCHEMIA PATIENT SUBPOPULATIONS PCT/IL2022/050937	Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT		August 29, 2042
SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR IMMUNE CELLS EXPANSION AND ACTIVATION IN LARGE SCALE PCT/IL2023/050529	PCT, United States		May 23, 2043

On January 8, 2022, we entered into a definitive license agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG, or Takeda, a company based in Switzerland, which operates in the field of adipose-derived cells, pursuant to which we granted Takeda a global, non-exclusive license to use several of our patents (EP2591789, EP3103463, and 3091071), limited to adipose fat cells only, in the field of therapeutics, in exchange for Takeda ceasing its opposition with regards to said patents and paying us a lump sum of $200,000. The license covers methods for expanding adherent stromal cells and specified second medical uses.

On January 10, 2022, we entered into a definitive license agreement with Novadip Biosciences, or Novadip, a company based in Belgium, which operates in the field of adipose-derived stem cells for cell therapy and cell-free therapy in respect of medical or cosmetic conditions, under which we granted Novadip a global, non-exclusive, royalty free license to use two of our patents (EP2591789, EP3103463), limited to non-placental cells and cell-derived therapies, sub-licensable only to Novadip’s customers.

In April 2016, the Subsidiary entered into a licensing agreement with TES Holdings Co., Ltd., a venture company derived from the University of Tokyo, to obtain a key patent in Japan to cover the treatment of ischemic diseases with placental cell therapy. This license is subject to future single low-digit royalties from sales of our product for treatment in the field of ischemic diseases in Japan, until expiry of the patent in 2023. This license is in addition to the grant of 13 patents to us by the Japanese Patent Office, which address 3D methods for expanding placental and adipose cells, and specified cell therapies produced from placental tissue using these methods and bedside thawing devices. The patent in Japan expired in March 2023; and therefore, the licensing agreement expired.

Research and Development

Foundational Research

Our initial technology, the PluriX™ Bioreactor system, was invented at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, in collaboration with researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science. This technology was acquired by us and has been further significantly developed by our research and development teams over the ensuing years.

Ongoing Collaborations

EIB Agreement

In April 2020, we and our subsidiaries, Pluri Biotech Ltd. and Pluristem GmbH, executed a finance agreement executed with the EIB, or the EIB Finance Agreement, for non–dilutive funding of up to €50 million in the aggregate, payable in three tranches. The proceeds from the EIB Finance Agreement were intended to support our research and development in the EU to further advance our regenerative cell therapy platform, and to bring the products in our pipeline to market. The term of the project was three years commencing on January 1, 2020.

During June 2021, we received the first tranche in the amount of €20 million pursuant to the EIB Finance Agreement. The amount received is due to be repaid on June 1, 2026, and bears annual interest of 4% to be paid together with the principal of the loan. As of June 30, 2023, the interest accrued was in the amount of €1,665,000. In addition to the interest payable, the EIB is also entitled to royalty payments, pro-rated to the amount disbursed from the EIB loan, on our consolidated revenues beginning in the fiscal year 2024 up to and including its fiscal year 2030, in an amount equal to up to 2.3% of our consolidated revenues below $350 million, 1.2% of our consolidated revenues between $350 million and $500 million and 0.2% of our consolidated revenues exceeding $500 million. As the project term ended on December 31, 2022, we do not expect to receive additional funds pursuant to the EIB Finance Agreement. The EIB Finance Agreement contains certain limitations that we must adhere to such as the use of proceeds received from the EIB, the disposal of assets, substantive changes in the nature of our business, our potential execution of mergers and acquisitions, changes in our holding structure, distributions of future potential dividends and our engaging with other banks and financing entities for other loans.

Charité Agreement

In July 2007, we entered into a five-year collaborative research agreement with the Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies at Charité – University Medicine Berlin, or Charité, which was extended from time to time through June 2027. We and Charité are collaborating on a variety of indications utilizing PLX cells. According to the agreement, we will be the exclusive owner of the technology and any products produced as a result of the collaboration. Charité will receive between 1% to 2% royalties from net sales of new developments that have been achieved during the joint development.

U.S. Department of Defense

In August 2017, we announced that a pilot study of our PLX-R18 cell therapy was initiated by the DoD. The study examined the effectiveness of PLX-R18 as a treatment for ARS prior to, and within the first 24 hours of exposure to radiation. In July 2019, we presented positive results from a series of studies of our PLX-R18 cell therapy product conducted by the DoD.

NIAID Agreement

On July 11, 2023 we signed a three year $4.2 million contract with the NIAID, which is part of the NIH. Pluri will collaborate with the U.S. DoD’s AFRRI and USUHS to further advance the development of its PLX-R18 cell therapy as a potential novel treatment for H-ARS. H-ARS is a deadly disease that can result from nuclear disasters and radiation exposure. The period of performance of this contract will be from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, which may be extended for additional two years period.

If at any time during performance of this contract, the contracting officer determines, in consultation with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), NIH, that we are not in compliance with any of the requirements and standards stated in the agreement, the contracting officer may immediately suspend, in whole or in part, work and further payments under this contract until we correct the noncompliance. If we fail to complete corrective action within the period of time designated in the contracting officer’s written notice of suspension, the contracting officer may, in consultation with OLAW, NIH, terminate this contract in whole or in part.

Fukushima Medical University

We signed a memorandum of understanding for a collaboration with Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima Global Medical Science Center, or Fukushima. The purpose of the collaboration is to develop our PLX-R18 cells for the treatment of ARS, and for morbidities following radiotherapy in cancer patients. The collaboration will proceed alongside research supported by the NIH, which is studying PLX-R18 as a potential treatment for the hematologic component of ARS. The MOU for a collaboration with Fukushima will be renewed automatically on a yearly basis. Each party is entitled to terminate the agreement for convenience upon providing the other party 30 days prior notice.

CHA Agreement

On June 26, 2013, we entered into an exclusive out-licensing and commercialization agreement, or the CHA Agreement, with CHA Biotech for conducting clinical studies and commercialization of our PLX-PAD product candidate in South Korea in connection with two indications: the treatment of CLI and IC. We will continue to retain rights to our proprietary manufacturing technology and cell-related intellectual property.

The first clinical study that was performed as part of the CHA Agreement was a Phase II study in IC. Upon the first regulatory approval for a PLX product in South Korea, if granted, for the specified indications, we and CHA will establish an equally owned joint venture with the purpose of commercializing PLX cell products in South Korea. Additionally, we will be able to use the data generated by CHA to pursue the development of PLX product candidates outside of South Korea.

The term of the CHA Agreement extends from June 24, 2013 until the later of the expiration, lapse, cancellation, abandonment or invalidation of the last valid patent claim covering the development of the product indications. The CHA Agreement contains customary termination provisions, including in the event that the parties do not reach an agreement upon a development plan for conducting the clinical studies.

Upon termination of the CHA Agreement, the license granted thereunder will terminate, and all rights included therein will revert to us, whereupon we will be free to enter into agreements with any other third parties for the granting of a license in or outside South Korea or to deal in any other manner with such rights as it shall see fit in our sole discretion.

Horizon 2020

The Phase III study of PLX-PAD in CLI was conducted as a collaborative project carried out by an international consortium led by the Berlin-Brandenburg Center for Regenerative Therapies, together with the Company and with the participation of additional third parties.

Our Phase III study of PLX-PAD cell therapy in the treatment of muscle recovery following surgery for hip fracture is a collaborative project carried out by an international consortium led by Charité, together with us and with the participation of additional third parties.

In October 2017, we entered into a collaborative project, the nTRACK, carried out by an international consortium led by Leitat Technological Center. The aim of this project is to examine gold nano particles labeling of stem cells to enable assessment of cells’ in vivo persistence and distribution in correlation to biological efficacy. Under the project, PLX cells, labeled and non-labeled will be characterized and examined in animal models for muscle injury.

All of our collaborative projects under the Horizon 2020 program ended as of June 30, 2023.

Horizon Europe - PROTO

On September 6, 2022, we announced that a €7.5 million non-dilutive grant from the European Union, or EU’s, Horizon program has been awarded to PROTO (Advanced PeRsOnalized Therapies for Osteoarthritis), an international collaboration led by Charité Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies. The goal of the PROTO project is to utilize our PLX-PAD cells in a Phase I/IIA study for the treatment of mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis. Final approval of the grant is subject to completion of the consortium and Horizon Europe grant agreements, or Horizon Europe. The funds from the grant are expected to be allocated between us and other members of the consortium in accordance with budget and work packages which will be determined by the consortium.

The Phase I/IIa study will be carried out by Charité. We, together with an international consortium under the leadership of Professor Tobias Winkler, Principal Investigator, at the Berlin Institute of Health Center of Regenerative Therapies, Julius Wolff Institute and Center for Musculoskeletal Surgery will be carrying out the study.

Indiana University

In April 2018, NIAID awarded a $2.5 million grant to Indiana University to conduct, together with us, studies of our PLX-R18 cell therapy in the treatment of ARS. The goal of this project is to extend the PLX-R18 ARS studies to include examination of survival in pediatric and geriatric populations as well as the ability of PLX-R18 to alleviate delayed effects of radiation in survivors. The grant period ended during fiscal year 2023.

Chart Industries

In November 2018, we entered into a license agreement with a subsidiary of Chart Industries, Inc., or Chart, regarding our thawing device for cell-based therapies. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Chart obtained the exclusive rights to manufacture and market the thawing device in all territories worldwide, excluding Greater China, and we are to receive royalties from sales of the product and supply of an agreed upon number of thawing devices. Royalties shall commence on the date of Chart’s first commercial sale of the thawing device. As of the date of this annual report, we have not received any royalties from Chart that relate to the sale of the thawing device.

CRISPR-IL

In June 2020, we announced that we were selected as a member of the CRISPR-IL consortium, a group funded by the IIA. CRISPR-IL brings together the leading experts in life science and computer science from academia, medicine, and industry, to develop Artificial Intelligence, or AI, based on end-to-end genome-editing solutions. These next-generation, multi-species genome editing products for human, plant, and animal DNA, have applications in the pharma, agriculture, and aquaculture industries. CRISPR-IL is funded by the IIA with a total budget of approximately $10,000,000 of which, an amount of approximately $480,000 was a direct grant allocated to us, for an initial period of 18 months, with a potential for extension of an additional 18 months, or the Second Period, with additional budget from the IIA.

In October 2021, we received approval for an additional grant of approximately $583,000 from the IIA pursuant to the CRISPR-IL consortium program, for an additional period of eighteen months.

The CRISPR-IL consortium program which ended on June 30, 2023 does not require us to pay royalties to the IIA.

United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center

In August 2020, we signed a non-binding MOU with the United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center, a specialist healthcare center focused on cell therapy and regenerative medicine. The aim of the collaboration is to capitalize on each party’s respective areas of expertise in cell therapies. The parties have agreed to exchange research results, share samples, join usage of equipment and testing, and other essential activities related to advancing the treatment and research of cell therapies for a broad range of medical conditions.

In-House Clinical Manufacturing

We have the in-house capability to perform clinical cell manufacturing. Our state-of-the-art Good GMP grade manufacturing facility in Haifa has been in use since February 2013 for the main purpose of clinical grade, large-scale manufacturing. The facility’s new automated manufacturing process and products were approved for production of PLX-PAD for clinical use by the FDA, EMA, MFDS, PMDA and the MOH. Our second product, PLX-R18, was cleared by the FDA and the MOH for clinical use. Furthermore, the site was inspected and approved by a European Union qualified person (European accreditation body), approving that the site and production processes meet the current GMP for the purpose of manufacturing clinical grade products.

The site was also inspected and approved by the MOH and we received a cGMP Certification and manufacturer-importer authorization.

We obtain the human placentas used for our research and manufacturing activities from various hospitals in Israel after receiving a written informed consent by the mother and pathogen clearance. Any medical waste related to the use of placentas is treated in compliance with local environmental laws and standards.

We have developed a serum-free formulation to support the manufacturing of our cell therapy products. This serum-free formulation was developed using our deep understanding in cell therapy industrial scale production standards, and the quality methods designed to support implementation in Phase III development and marketing. Achieving this significant technological challenge is expected to provide us with large-scale, highly consistent production capacity with operational independency from third party suppliers for standard serum, an expensive and quantity limited product. PLX-R18 is the first product candidate manufactured using the serum-free media.

Government Regulation – Pharma

The development, manufacturing, and future marketing of our cell therapy product candidates are subject to the laws and regulations of governmental authorities in the United States, Europe and Israel, as well as other countries in which our products may be marketed in the future like Japan, and South Korea. In addition, the manufacturing conditions are specifically inspected by the MOH.

In the U.S. and European Union, the FDA and the European Medicines Agency, or EMA, respectively, must approve products prior to marketing. Furthermore, various governmental statutes and regulations also govern or influence testing, manufacturing, safety, labeling, storage and record keeping related to such products and their marketing. Governments in other countries may have similar requirements for testing and marketing.

The process of obtaining these approvals and the subsequent compliance with appropriate statutes and regulations require the expenditure of substantial time, resources and money. There can be no assurance that our product candidates will ultimately receive marketing approval, or, if approved, will be reimbursed by public and private health insurance.

There are several stages every drug undergoes during its development process. Among these are:

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Performance of nonclinical laboratory and animal studies to assess a drug’s biological activity and to identify potential safety concerns, and to characterize and document the product’s chemistry, manufacturing controls, formulation, and stability. In accordance with regulatory requirements, nonclinical safety and toxicity studies are conducted under Good Laboratory Practice, requirements to ensure their quality and reliability;

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The manufacture of the product according to cGMP regulations and standards;

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Conducting adequate and well-controlled human clinical studies in compliance with Good Clinical Practice, or GCP, to establish the safety and efficacy of the product for its intended indication; and

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Potential post-marketing clinical testing and surveillance of the product after marketing approval, which can result in additional conditions on the approvals or suspension of clinical use.

Approval of a drug for clinical studies in humans and approval of marketing are sovereign decisions of states, made by national, or, in case of the European Union, international regulatory competent authorities.

The Regulatory Process in the United States

In the United States, our product candidates are subject to regulation as a biological product under the Public Health Service Act and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The FDA, regulating the approval of clinical studies and marketing applications in the United States, generally requires the following steps prior to approving a new biological product for use either for clinical studies or for commercial sale:

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Submission of an IND Application, which must become effective before clinical testing in humans can begin;

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Obtaining approval of Institutional Review Boards, or IRBs, of research institutions or other clinical sites to introduce the drug candidate into humans in clinical studies;

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FDA may grant approval for EAP prior to the completion of clinical studies, in order to allow access for the investigational drug, for patients that are excluded from the study;

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FDA may grant priority review status to expedite the BLA review process. Obtaining a Fast Track designation allows access for the request of priority review;

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Submission of a BLA for marketing authorization of the product, which must include adequate results of pre-clinical testing and clinical studies;

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Submission of BLA with a proof of efficacy that is based only on animal studies is feasible in instances where human efficacy studies cannot be conducted because the conduct of such studies would not be ethical or feasible (such as H-ARS). In these cases, approval can be based on well controlled animal studies conducted under the FDA Animal Rule;

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FDA review of the BLA in order to determine, among other things, whether the product is safe and effective for its intended uses; and

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FDA inspection and approval of the product manufacturing facility at which the product will be manufactured.

The Regulatory Process in Europe

In the European Union, our investigational cellular products are regulated under the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products regulation, a regulation specific to cell and tissue products. Additionally, as of January 31, 2022, the Clinical Trials Regulation harmonizes the submission, assessment and supervision processes of clinical trials in the European Union. This European Union regulation requires:

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Filing a Central Clinical Trial Application utilizing the Clinical Trials Information System, and obtaining an assessment and approval;

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Obtaining approval of local and central ethics committees as required to test the investigational product into humans in clinical studies;

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Conducting adequate and well-controlled clinical studies to establish the safety and efficacy of the investigational product for its intended use; and

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Since our investigational cellular products are regulated under the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product regulation, the application for marketing authorization to the EMA is mandatory within the 28 member states of the European Union. The EMA is expected to review and approve the MAA.

In May 2015, we were selected by the EMA for development of PLX-PAD cells via the EMA Adaptive Pathways Project.

Government Regulations - Food Tech

Regulators around the world are in the process of developing a regulatory approval process for cultivated meat. Although some companies have recently brought their cultivated meat products to market in the United States, cultivated meat is not yet generally commercially available, but technologies like the one being developed by Ever After Foods are anticipated to facilitate the imminent scaling up of cultivated meat production. In general, cultivated meat production is subject to extensive regulatory laws and regulations in the United States and in other jurisdictions such as Canada, Japan, the European Union and the United Kingdom. The FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, will be issuing additional guidance and regulations applicable to cultivated meat. Additional details are being developed at the FDA and the USDA, pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, published by the FDA and USDA on March 7, 2019 entitled the “Formal Agreement to Regulate Cell-Cultured Food Products from Cell Lines of Livestock and Poultry.”

Under the MOU, which is expected to affect Ever After Food’s future customers producing cultivated meat, the two agencies will operate under a joint regulatory framework wherein the FDA will oversee cell collection, cell banks and cell growth and differentiation. A transition from FDA to USDA oversight will then occur during the cell harvest stage, at which point the USDA will oversee the production and labeling of cultivated meat. The USDA will be advancing new labeling requirements. To the best of our knowledge, the regulatory approval details under development, including the draft guidance on FDA premarket oversight, might apply to our business directly, but they are instructive as to the regulatory requirements that our cultivated meat production customers are expected to face and their expectations of us, in the form of customer assurances, regarding our products.

In the United States, companies manufacturing cultivated meat products are subject to regulation by various government agencies, including the FDA, USDA, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or FTC. Equivalent foreign regulatory authorities include the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Japanese Food Safety Commission, the European Food Safety Authority and authorities of the EU member states, the State Food and Drug Administration of China and the SFA. These agencies, among other things, prescribe the requirements and establish the standards for food quality and safety, and regulate various food technologies, including alternative meat product composition, ingredients, manufacturing, labeling and other marketing and advertising to consumers.

We expect that federal, state and foreign regulators will have the authority to inspect our customers’ facilities to evaluate compliance with applicable food safety requirements. Federal, state and foreign regulatory authorities also require that certain nutrition and product information appear on the product labels of our customers’ food products and, more generally, that such labels, marketing and advertising be truthful, non-misleading and not deceptive to consumers.

As the cell-based agriculture industry is still developing, and its regulatory framework is emerging and evolving, legislation and regulation may evolve to raise barriers to our go-to-market strategies.

In addition to federal regulatory requirements in the United States, certain states impose their own manufacturing and labeling requirements. For example, states typically require facility registration with the relevant state food safety agency, and those facilities are subject to state inspections as well as federal inspections. Further, states can impose state-specific labeling requirements. In the United States, the USDA will be developing new labeling requirements for foods under its jurisdiction produced through cell culture technology as noted in an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or ANPR, published in September 2021.

We are subject to labor and employment laws, laws governing advertising, privacy laws, safety regulations and other laws, including consumer protection regulations that regulate retailers or govern the promotion and sale of merchandise. Our operations are subject to various laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and worker health and safety matters. We monitor changes in these laws and believe that we are in material compliance with applicable laws.

Clinical Studies

Typically, in the United States, as well as in the European Union, clinical development involves a series of clinical studies from early, small scale, Phase 1 studies to late-stage large, Phase 3 studies, although the phases may overlap. Phase I, clinical studies are conducted in a small number of healthy volunteers, or patients with the disease or condition. These studies are designed to provide information about product safety and dosage by gathering information on the drug interaction with the human body, its side effects as well as early preliminary information on effectiveness.

Phase II clinical studies are conducted in a homogenous group of patients afflicted with the specific target disease, to explore preliminary efficacy, optimal dosages and confirm the safety profile. In some cases, an initial study is conducted in patients to assess both preliminary efficacy and preliminary safety and patterns of drug metabolism and distribution, in which case it is referred to as a Phase I/II study. Phase III clinical studies, sometimes known as pivotal studies, are generally large-scale, multi-center, controlled studies conducted with a heterogeneous group of patients afflicted with the target disease, aiming to provide statistically significant support of efficacy, as well as safety and potency. The Phase III studies are considered confirmatory for establishing the efficacy and safety profile of the drug and are critical for approval. In some circumstances, a regulatory agency may require Phase IV, or post-marketing studies in case additional information needs to be collected after the drug is on the market.

During all phases of clinical development, regulatory agencies require extensive monitoring and auditing of all clinical activities, clinical data and clinical study sites investigators to minimize risks and ensure high quality and integrity of the collected data. The sponsor of a clinical study is required to submit an annual safety report to the relevant regulatory agencies, in which serious adverse events are reported, and also to submit in an expedited manner any individual serious adverse events that are suspected to be related to the tested drug and are unexpected with its use. An agency may, at its discretion, re-evaluate, alter, suspend, or terminate the clinical study based upon the data that have been accumulated to that point and its assessment of the risk/benefit ratio to the patient.

Employees

As of June 30, 2023, we employed a total of 123 full-time employees and 11 part-time employees, of whom, 97 full-time employees and 9 part-time employees are engaged in cell research, development, and manufacturing including clinical and regulation affairs, excluding Ever After Foods.

Competition

Regenerative medicine:

The regenerative medicine field is characterized by intense competition, as global and local pharma players are becoming more engaged in the cell therapy field based on the advancements made in clinical studies and due to the favorable regenerative medicine legislation in certain regions. We face competition from both allogeneic and autologous cell therapy companies, academic, commercial and research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, biopharmaceutical companies, and governmental agencies. Some of the clinical indications we currently have under development are also being investigated in preclinical and clinical programs by others.

While there are hundreds of companies in the regenerative medicine space globally, there are multiple participants in the cell therapy field based in the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, and Australia such as Athersys Inc., Celularity Inc., Tigenix NV (acquired by Takeda), SanBio Inc. and Mesoblast Ltd. Among other things, we expect to compete based upon our intellectual property portfolio, our in-house manufacturing efficiencies and capabilities, and the potential efficacy of our products. Our ability to compete successfully will depend on our continued ability to attract and retain experienced and skilled executives, scientific and clinical development personnel, to identify and develop viable cellular therapeutic candidates and exploit these products commercially, and keep expanding and improving our unique technological capabilities. Given the magnitude of the potential opportunity for cell therapy, we expect competition in this area to intensify.

Food Tech:

Competitors in the cultivated meat domain include both producers of consumer-end-products, as well as those developing inputs for the production process. Ever After Foods competes with companies that include Upside Foods, Believer Meats, GOOD Meat, Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Stakeholder 3D and Gourmey.

We believe that our ability to compete in the cultivated food field will derive from our experienced team, our unique 3D technology platform, and our industrial scale in-house GMP, cell manufacturing facility, together with our partner, Tnuva, which has vast experience in the food industry.

Available Information

Additional information about us is contained on our Internet website at www.pluri-biotech.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report. Under the “Investors & ESG”, under the “Investors” and “Media” sections of our website, we make available free of charge our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Our reports filed with the SEC are also made available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The following Corporate Governance documents are also posted on our website: Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Anti Bribery and Corruption and Anti Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Compliance Policy, Trading Policy and the Charters for each of the Committees of our Board of Directors, or the Board.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the following information about these risks, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report before making an investment decision. Our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected as a result of any of the following risks. The value of our securities could decline as a result of any of these risks. You could lose all or part of your investment in our securities. Some of the statements in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” are forward-looking statements. The following risk factors are not the only risk factors facing our Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Summary of Risk Factors

Our business is subject to a number of risks, including risks that may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. These risks are discussed more fully below and include, but are not limited to, risks related to:

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we have a history of losses and have not generated significant revenues to date. We expect to experience future losses and do not foresee generating significant or steady revenues in the immediate future;

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we may need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future, and such capital raising may be costly or difficult to obtain and could dilute our shareholders’ ownership interests, and such offers or availability for sale of a substantial number of our common shares may cause the price of our publicly traded shares to decline;

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we may become subject to claims by much larger and better funded competitors enforcing their intellectual property rights against us or seeking to invalidate our intellectual property or our rights thereto;

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there are inherent risks in the manufacturing of our product candidates, including meeting relevant high regulatory standards, the failure of which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and the value of our business;

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if we are unable to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products and technology, others may be able to utilize our intellectual property, which would adversely affect our business;

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we are an international business, and we are exposed to various global and local risks that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations;

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the market prices of our common shares are subject to fluctuation and have been and may continue to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses for investors;

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we anticipate being subject to fluctuations in currency exchange rates because a significant portion of our business is conducted outside the United States and we are exposed to currency exchange fluctuations in other currencies such as the New Israeli Shekel, or NIS, and the Euro;

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restrictions and covenants contained in the EIB Finance Agreement may restrict our ability to conduct certain strategic initiatives;

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limitations we may face relating to the grants we have received from the IIA may impact our plans and future decisions;

	●	if there are significant shifts in the political, economic and military conditions in Israel and its neighboring countries, it could have a material adverse effect on our business relationships and profitability;

	●	it may be difficult for investors in the United States to enforce any judgments obtained against us or some of our directors or officers;

	●	cybersecurity incidents may have an adverse impact on our business and operations;

	●	recent increasing global inflation could affect our ability to purchase materials needed for manufacturing and could increase the costs of our future product;

	●	we have a limited operating history in the field of food tech to date and our prospects will be dependent on our ability to meet a number of challenges;

	●	there are risks relating to our food-tech endeavors, including changes in consumer preferences and governmental regulations relating to cultivated meat;

	●	our business and market potential in the field of cultivated food are unproven, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business;

	●	the research and development associated with technologies for cultivated meat manufacturing is a lengthy and complex process; and

	●	we could fail to maintain the listing of our common shares on Nasdaq, which could harm the liquidity of our shares and our ability to raise capital or complete a strategic transaction.

Risk Related to Our Business

We may need to raise additional financing to support the research, development and manufacturing of our cell based products in the future, but we cannot be sure we will be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us when needed. If we are unable to obtain additional financing to meet our needs, our operations may be adversely affected or terminated.

It is highly likely that we will need to raise significant additional capital in the future. Although we were successful in raising capital in the past, our current financial resources are limited, and may not be sufficient to finance our operations until we become profitable, if that ever happens.

It is likely that we will need to raise additional funds in the future in order to satisfy our working capital and capital expenditure requirements. Therefore, we are dependent on our ability to sell our common shares for funds, receive grants, enter into collaborations and licensing deals or to otherwise raise capital. Any sale of our common shares in the future could result in dilution to existing shareholders and could adversely affect the market price of our common shares.

Also, we may not be able to raise additional capital in the future to support the development and commercialization of our products, which could result in the loss of some or all of one’s investment in our common shares.

Our likelihood of profitability depends on our ability to license and/or develop and commercialize our products based on our technology, which is currently in the development stage. If we are unable to complete the development and commercialization of our cell-based products successfully, or are unable to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals, our likelihood of profitability will be limited severely.

We are engaged in the business of developing cell-based products. We have not realized a profit from our operations to date and there is little likelihood that we will realize any profits in the short or medium term. Any profitability in the future from our business will be dependent upon successful commercialization of our cell-based products and/or licensing of our products, which will require additional research and development.

If our cell therapy product candidates do not prove to be safe and effective in clinical trials, we will not obtain the required regulatory approvals. If we fail to obtain such approvals, we may not generate sufficient revenues to continue our business operations.

Even after granting regulatory approval, the FDA, the EMA, and regulatory agencies in other countries continue to regulate marketed products, manufacturers and manufacturing facilities, which may create additional regulatory barriers and burdens. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, manufacturer or facility, may result in restrictions on the product or manufacturer, including a withdrawal of the product from the market.

We have not generated significant or consistent revenues to date, which raises doubts with respect to our ability to generate revenues in the future.

We have a limited operating history in our business of commercializing cell-based products and cell technology and we have not generated material revenues to date. It is not clear when we will generate material revenues or whether we will generate material revenues in the future. We cannot give assurances that we will be able to generate any significant revenues or income in the future. There is no assurance that we will ever be profitable.

Because most of our officers and directors are located in non-U.S. jurisdictions, you may have no effective recourse against the management for misconduct and may not be able to enforce judgment and civil liabilities against our officers, directors, experts and agents.

Most of our directors and officers are nationals and/or residents of countries other than the United States, and all or a substantial portion of their assets are located outside the United States.

As a result, it may be difficult to enforce within the United States any judgments obtained against our officers or directors, including judgments predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any U.S. state.

While we may seek partners for licensing deals, joint ventures, partnerships, and direct sale of our products in various industries, there is no guarantee we will be successful in doing so.

To date, we have focused our efforts primarily in the regenerative medicine field and in the Food Tech field, but we may seek partners for licensing deals, joint ventures, partnerships, and direct sale of our products or use of our technology in various industries. Licensing deals, joint ventures and partnerships in new fields involve numerous risks, including the potential integration of our technology and products in various new ways, which may or may not be successful. Such projects may require significant funds, time and attention of management and other key personnel. In addition, as we do not have experience in areas outside of the regenerative medicine field and limited experience in Food Tech field, we may lack the personnel to properly lead such initiatives. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in finding the relevant partners to fund and market our cell-based products.

Risks Related to Development, Clinical studies, and Regulatory Approval of Our Product Candidates

If we are not able to conduct our clinical trials properly and on schedule, marketing approval by FDA, EMA, MOH and other regulatory authorities may be delayed or denied.

The completion of our future clinical trials may be delayed or terminated for many reasons, such as:

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The FDA, the EMA or the MOH does not grant permission to proceed or places trials on clinical hold;

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Subjects do not enroll in our trials at the rate we expect;

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Government actions, such as those enacted during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which limit the general populations movement;

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The regulators may ask to increase subject’s population in the clinical trials;

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Subjects experience an unacceptable rate or severity of adverse side effects;

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Third party clinical investigators and other related vendors may not perform the clinical trials under the anticipated schedule or consistent with the clinical trial protocol, GCP and regulatory requirements;

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Third party clinical investigators and other related vendors may declare bankruptcy or terminate their business unexpectedly, which most likely will result in further delays in our clinical trials’ anticipated schedule and cause additional expenditures;

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Inspections of clinical trial sites by the FDA, EMA, MOH and other regulatory authorities find regulatory violations that require us to undertake corrective action, suspend or terminate one or more sites, or prohibit us from using some or all of the data in support of our marketing applications; or

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One or more IRBs suspends or terminates the trial at an investigational site, precludes enrollment of additional subjects, or withdraws its approval of the trial.

If we will be unable to conduct clinical trials properly and on schedule, marketing approval may be delayed or denied by the FDA, EMA, MOH and other regulatory authorities.

The results of our clinical trials may not support our product candidates’ claims or any additional claims we may seek for our product candidates and our clinical trials may result in the discovery of adverse side effects.

Even if any clinical trial that we need to undertake is completed as planned, or if interim results from existing clinical trials are released, we cannot be certain that such results will support our product candidates claims or any new indications that we may seek for our products or that the FDA or foreign authorities will agree with our conclusions regarding the results of those trials. The clinical trial process may fail to demonstrate that our products or a product candidate is safe and effective for the proposed indicated use, which could cause us to stop seeking additional clearances or approvals for our product candidates. Any delay or termination of our clinical trials will delay the filing of our regulatory submissions and, ultimately, our ability to commercialize a product candidate. It is also possible that patients enrolled in clinical trials will experience adverse side effects that are not currently part of the product candidate’s profile.

Favorable results from compassionate use treatment or initial interim results from a clinical trial do not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful and success in early-stage clinical trials does not ensure success in later-stage clinical trials.

PLX cells have been administered as part of compassionate use treatments, which permit the administration of the PLX cells outside of clinical trials. No assurance can be given that any positive results are attributable to the PLX cells, or that administration of PLX cells to other patients will have positive results. Compassionate use is a term that is used to refer to the use of an investigational drug outside of a clinical trial to treat a patient with a serious or immediately life-threatening disease or condition who has no comparable or satisfactory alternative treatment options. Regulators often allow compassionate use on a case-by-case basis for an individual patient or for defined groups of patients with similar treatment needs.

Success in early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and initial results from a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. While results from treating patients through compassionate use have in certain cases been successful, we cannot be assured that further trials will ultimately be successful. Results of further clinical trials may be disappointing.

Even if early-stage clinical trials are successful, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials for product candidates with patients receiving the drug for longer periods before we are able to seek approvals to market and sell these product candidates from the FDA and regulatory authorities outside the United States. Even if we are able to obtain approval for our product candidates through an accelerated approval review program, we may still be required to conduct clinical trials after such an approval. If we are not successful in commercializing any of our lead product candidates, or are significantly delayed in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

Our product development programs are based on novel technologies and are inherently risky.

We are subject to the risks of failure inherent in the development of products based on new technologies. The novel nature of our therapeutics creates significant challenges in regard to product development and optimization, manufacturing, government regulation, third party reimbursement and market acceptance. For example, the FDA, the EMA and other countries’ regulatory authorities have relatively limited experience with cell therapies. Very few cell therapy products have been approved by regulatory authorities to date for commercial sale, and the pathway to regulatory approval for our cell therapy product candidates may accordingly be more complex and lengthier. As a result, the development and commercialization pathway for our therapies may be subject to increased uncertainty, as compared to the pathway for new conventional drugs.

Our cell therapy drug candidates represent new classes of therapy that the marketplace may not understand or accept.

Even if we successfully develop and obtain regulatory approval for our cell therapy candidates, the market may not understand or accept them. We are developing cell therapy product candidates that represent novel treatments and will compete with a number of more conventional products and therapies manufactured and marketed by others, including major pharmaceutical companies. The degree of market acceptance of any of our developed and potential products will depend on a number of factors, including:

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the clinical safety and effectiveness of our cell therapy drug candidates and their perceived advantage over alternative treatment methods, if any;

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adverse events involving our cell therapy product candidates or the products or product candidates of others that are cell-based; and

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the cost of our products and the reimbursement policies of government and private third-party payers.

If the health care community does not accept our potential products for any of the foregoing reasons, or for any other reason, it could affect our sales, having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Interim, “top-line,” and preliminary data from our clinical trials that we announce or publish from time to time may change as more patient data become available or as additional analyses are conducted, and as the data are subject to audit and verification procedures, which could result in material changes in the final data.

From time to time, we may publish interim, “top-line,” or preliminary data from our clinical studies. Interim data from clinical trials that we may complete are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and more patient data become available. Preliminary or “top-line” data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from the preliminary data we previously published. As a result, interim and preliminary data should be viewed with caution until the final data are available. Material adverse changes between preliminary, “top-line,” or interim data and final data could significantly harm our business prospects.

Risks Related to Our Cultivated Food Business

Ever After Foods has a limited operating history in the field of cultivated meat to date and its prospects will be dependent on its ability to meet a number of challenges.

Ever After Foods’ business prospects are difficult to predict due to its lack of operational history in the new and emerging food tech field, and its success will be dependent on its ability to meet a number of challenges. Because it has a limited operating history in the field of cultivated meat and it is in the early stages of development, Ever After Foods may not be able to evaluate its future prospects accurately. Ever After Foods’ prospects will be primarily dependent on its ability to successfully develop industrial scale cultivated meat technologies and processes, and market these to its potential customers. If Ever After Foods is not able to successfully meet these challenges, its prospects, business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely impacted.

In addition, Ever After Foods will be subject to changing laws, rules and regulations in the United States, Israeli, Asia Pacific, the European Union and other jurisdictions relating to the food tech industry. Such laws and regulations may negatively impact its ability to expand its business and pursue business opportunities. Ever After Foods may also incur significant expenses to comply with the laws, regulations and other obligations that will apply to it.

Ever After Foods is primarily focused on utilizing its technology for the development of cultivated meat, and it has limited data on the performance of our and its technologies in the field of cultivated meat to date.

Ever After Foods does not currently have any products or technologies approved for sale and it is still in the early stages of development. To date, Ever After Foods has limited data on the ability of our and its technologies to successfully manufacture cultivated meat, towards which they have devoted substantial resources to date. Ever After Foods’ current technologies are, in large part, based on our technologies and intellectual property. It may not be successful in developing its technologies in a manner sufficient to support its expected scale-ups and future growth, or at all. Ever After Foods expects that a substantial portion of its efforts and expenditures over the next few years will be devoted to the development of technologies designed to enable Ever After Foods to market industrial scale cultivated meat manufacturing processes. Ever After Foods cannot guarantee that it will be successful in developing these technologies, based on its current roadmap, or at all. If Ever After Foods is able to successfully develop its cultivated meat technologies, it cannot ensure that it will obtain regulatory approval or that, following approval, upon commercialization its technologies will achieve market acceptance. Any such delay or failure could materially and adversely affect Ever After Foods’ financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Consumer preferences for alternative proteins in general, and more specifically cultured meats, are difficult to predict and may change, and, if we are unable to respond quickly to new trends, Ever After Food’s business may be adversely affected.

Ever After Food’s business is focused on the development and marketing of licensable cultured meat manufacturing technologies. Consumer demand for the cultured meats manufactured using these technologies could change based on a number of possible factors, including dietary habits and nutritional values, concerns regarding the health effects of ingredients and shifts in preference for various product attributes. If consumer demand for such products decreases, Ever After Food’s business and financial condition would suffer. Consumer trends that we believe favor sales of products manufactured using our licensed technologies could change based on a number of possible factors, including a shift in preference from animal-based protein products, economic factors and social trends. A significant shift in consumer demand away from products manufactured using our technologies could reduce our sales or our market share and the prestige of our brand, which would harm our business and financial condition.

We expect that products utilizing Ever After Food’s technologies will be subject to regulations that could adversely affect its business and results of operations.

The manufacture and marketing of food products is highly regulated. Ever After Foods, its suppliers and licensees, may be subject to a variety of laws and regulations. These laws and regulations apply to many aspects of Ever After Food’s business, including the manufacture, composition and ingredients, packaging, labeling, distribution, advertising, sale, quality and safety of food products, as well as the health and safety of our employees and the protection of the environment.

For the reasons discussed below, we ourselves do not expect to be directly regulated by the FDA for United States compliance purposes but will apply the FDA’s food contact substance standards or analogous foreign regulations. From a regulatory perspective, in the United States, we expect companies manufacturing finished cultured meat products to be subject to regulation by various government agencies, including the FDA, the USDA, the FTC, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the requirements of various state and local agencies and laws, such as the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. We likewise expect these products to be regulated by equivalent agencies outside the United States by various international regulatory bodies.

As the manufacturer of technology used to produce cultured meat, and consistent with the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Federal Meat Inspection Act, and Poultry Products Inspection Act, we believe we will not be directly regulated by the FDA or USDA. Rather, we believe the regulatory obligation falls on our customers — cultured meat producers — to ensure that all food produced using our technology is wholesome and not adulterated. Consistent with food industry norms, we expect that our customers will therefore request assurances from us that our products are suitable for their intended use from an FDA regulatory perspective.

The manufacturing of cultured meat is expected to be subject to extensive regulations internationally, with products subject to numerous food safety and other laws and regulations relating to the sourcing, manufacturing, composition and ingredients, storing, labeling, marketing, advertising and distribution of these products. In addition, enforcement of existing laws and regulations, changes in legal requirements and/or evolving interpretations of existing regulatory requirements may result in increased compliance costs and create other obligations, financial or otherwise, that could adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results. In addition, we could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws, which generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to officials or other third parties for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. While our policies mandate compliance with anti-bribery laws, our internal control policies and procedures may not protect us from reckless or criminal acts committed by our employees, contractors or agents. Violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our business and adversely impact our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

Any changes in, or changes in the interpretation of, applicable laws, regulations or policies of the USDA, state regulators or similar foreign regulatory authorities that relate to the use of the word “meat” or other similar words in connection with cultured meat products could adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations or financial condition.

The USDA, state regulators or similar foreign regulatory authorities, such as Health Canada or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, or authorities of the EU or the EU member states (e.g., European Food Safety Authority, or EFSA), could take action to impact our ability to use the term “meat” or similar words, such as “beef”, to describe the product. In addition, a food may be deemed misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading in any particular way, and the USDA, CFIA, EFSA or other regulators could interpret the use of the term “meat” or any similar phrase(s) to describe our cultured meat products as false or misleading or likely to create an erroneous impression regarding their composition. In the U.S., the USDA will develop new labeling requirements for foods under its jurisdiction produced through cell culture technology as noted in an ANPR published in September 2021.

Risk Related to Commercialization of Our Product Candidates

We may not successfully establish new collaborations, joint ventures or licensing arrangements, which could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

One of the elements of our business strategy is to license our technology to other companies. Our business strategy includes development and in-house manufacturing of innovative new cell- based products and solutions powered by our 3D cell expansion technology platforms and establishing joint ventures and partnerships that leverage our cell expansion technology and cell-based product portfolio to expand product pipelines and meet cell-based manufacturing needs for a variety of industries. To date, we have a strategic partnership with Tnuva to use our technology to establish a cultivated food platform, with CHA for both the IC and CLI indications in South Korea and with Chart for the thawing device. Notwithstanding, we may not be able to further establish or maintain such licensing and collaboration arrangements necessary to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

Even if we are able to maintain or establish licensing or collaboration arrangements, these arrangements may not be on favorable terms and may contain provisions that will restrict our ability to develop, test and market our product candidates. Any failure to maintain or establish licensing or collaboration arrangements on favorable terms could adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition, or ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.

Our agreements with our collaborators and licensees may have provisions that give rise to disputes regarding the rights and obligations of the parties. These and other possible disagreements could lead to termination of the agreement or delays in collaborative research, development, supply, or commercialization of certain product candidates, or could require or result in litigation or arbitration. Moreover, disagreements could arise with our collaborators over rights to intellectual property or our rights to share in any of the future revenues of products developed by our collaborators. These kinds of disagreements could result in costly and time-consuming litigation. Any such conflicts with our collaborators could reduce our ability to obtain future collaboration agreements and could have a negative impact on our relationship with existing collaborators.

The market for our cell therapy products will be heavily dependent on third party reimbursement policies.

Our ability to successfully commercialize our cell therapy product candidates will depend on the extent to which government healthcare programs, as well as private health insurers, health maintenance organizations and other third-party payers will pay for our products and related treatments.

Reimbursement by third party payers depends on a number of factors, including the payer’s determination that use of the product is safe and effective, not experimental, or investigational, medically necessary, appropriate for the specific patient and cost-effective. Reimbursement in the United States or foreign countries may not be available or maintained for any of our product candidates. If we do not obtain approvals for adequate third-party reimbursements, we may not be able to establish or maintain price levels sufficient to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development. Any limits on reimbursement from third party payers may reduce the demand for, or negatively affect the price of, our products. The lack of reimbursement for these procedures by insurance payers has negatively affected the market for our products in this indication in the past.

Managing and reducing health care costs has been a general concern of federal and state governments in the United States and of foreign governments. In addition, third party payers are increasingly challenging the price and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, and many limit reimbursement for newly approved health care products. In particular, third-party payers may limit the indications for which they will reimburse patients who use any products that we may develop. Cost control initiatives could decrease the price for products that we may develop, which would result in lower product revenues to us.

Risk Related to Intellectual Property

Our success depends in large part on our ability to develop and protect our technology and our cell therapy products. If our patents and proprietary rights agreements do not provide sufficient protection for our technology and our cell therapy products, our business and competitive position will suffer.

Our success will also depend in part on our ability to develop our technology and commercialize our products without infringing the proprietary rights of others. We have not conducted full freedom of use patent searches and no assurance can be given that patents do not exist or could not be filed which would have an adverse effect on our ability to develop our technology or maintain our competitive position with respect to our potential cell therapy products. If our technology components, devices, designs, products, processes or other subject matter are claimed under other existing United States or foreign patents or are otherwise protected by third party proprietary rights, we may be subject to infringement actions. In such event, we may challenge the validity of such patents or other proprietary rights, or we may be required to obtain licenses from such companies in order to develop, manufacture or market our technology or products. There can be no assurances that we would be able to obtain such licenses or that such licenses, if available, could be obtained on commercially reasonable terms. Furthermore, the failure to either develop a commercially viable alternative or obtain such licenses could result in delays in marketing our proposed products or the inability to proceed with the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring such licenses, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we are required to defend ourselves against charges of patent infringement or to protect our proprietary rights against third parties, substantial costs will be incurred regardless of whether we are successful. Such proceedings are typically protracted with no certainty of success. An adverse outcome could subject us to significant liabilities to third parties and force us to curtail or cease our development of our technology and the commercialization our potential cell therapy products.

We have built the ability to manufacture clinical grade adherent stromal cells in-house. Through our experience with adherent stromal cell-based product development, we have developed expertise and know-how in this field. To protect these expertise and know-how, our policies require confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, contractors, manufacturers and advisors. These agreements generally provide for protection of confidential information, restrictions on the use of materials and assignment of inventions conceived during the course of performance for us. These agreements might not effectively prevent disclosure of our confidential information.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability and the ability of our collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. We have yet to conduct comprehensive freedom-to-operate searches to determine whether our proposed business activities or use of certain of the patent rights owned by us would infringe patents issued to third parties. We may become party to, or threatened with, future adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products and technology, including interference proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future. If we are found to infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing and marketing our products and technology. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing the infringing technology or product. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business. For example, we are aware of issued third party patents directed to placental stem cells and their use for therapy and in treating various diseases. We may need to seek a license for one or more of these patents. No assurances can be given that such a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common shares. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors are able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

The patent approval process is complex, and we cannot be sure that our pending patent applications or future patent applications will be approved.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our and any future licensors’ patent rights are highly uncertain. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection. The laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States and we may not be able to obtain meaningful patent protection for any of our commercial products either in or outside the United States.

No assurance can be given that the scope of any patent protection granted will exclude competitors or provide us with competitive advantages, that any of the patents that have been or may be issued to us will be held valid if subsequently challenged, or that other parties will not claim rights to or ownership of our patents or other proprietary rights that we hold. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that others have not developed or will not develop similar products, duplicate any of our technology or products or design around any patents that have been or may be issued to us or any future licensors. Since patent applications in the United States and in Europe are not publicly disclosed until patents are issued, there can be no assurance that others did not first file applications for products covered by our pending patent applications, nor can we be certain that we will not infringe any patents that may be issued to others.

Risk Related to Our Common Shares

The price of our common shares may fluctuate significantly.

The market for our common shares may fluctuate significantly. A number of events and factors may have an adverse impact on the market price of our common shares, such as:

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results of our clinical trials or adverse events associated with our products;

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the amount of our cash resources and our ability to obtain additional funding;

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changes in our revenues, expense levels or operating results;

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entering into or terminating strategic relationships;

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announcements of technical or product developments by us or our competitors;

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market conditions for pharmaceutical and biotechnology shares in particular;

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changes in laws and governmental regulations, including changes in tax, healthcare, competition and patent laws;

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disputes concerning patents or proprietary rights;

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new accounting pronouncements or regulatory rulings;

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public announcements regarding medical advances in the treatment of the disease states that we are targeting;

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patent or proprietary rights developments;

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regulatory actions that may impact our products;

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future sales of our common shares, or the perception of such sales;

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disruptions in our manufacturing processes; and

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competition.

In addition, a global pandemic, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and a market downturn in general and/or in the biopharmaceutical sector in particular, may adversely affect the market price of our securities, which may not necessarily reflect the actual or perceived value of our Company.

We could fail to maintain the listing of our common shares on Nasdaq, which could seriously harm the liquidity of our shares and our ability to raise capital or complete a strategic transaction.

On April 19, 2023, we received a letter, or Notice, from Nasdaq, advising us that for 30 consecutive trading days preceding the date of the Notice, the bid price of our common shares had closed below the $1.00 per share minimum required for continued listing on Nasdaq pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5450(a)(1), or MBPR. The Notice had no effect on the listing of our common shares , and our common shares continue to trade on Nasdaq under the symbol “PLUR”.

Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), if during the 180 calendar days period following the date of the Notice the closing bid price of our common shares is at or above $1.00 for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, we will regain compliance with the MBPR and our common shares will continue to be eligible for listing on Nasdaq, absent noncompliance with any other requirement for continued listing.

SEC Form 10-K filed by Pluri Inc.