MNKD 2017 Annual Report
adverse impact on our reputation and divert management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. Our operations might be interrupted by the occurrence of a natural disaster or other catastrophic event. We expect that at least for the foreseeable future, our manufacturing facility in Danbury, Connecticut will be the sole location for the manufacturing of Afrezza. This facility and the manufacturing equipment we use would be costly to replace and could require substantial lead time to repair or replace. We depend on our facilities and on collaborators, contractors and vendors for the continued operation of our business, some of whom are located in other countries. Natural disasters or other catastrophic events, including interruptions in the supply of natural resources, political and governmental changes, severe weather conditions, wildfires and other fires, explosions, actions of animal rights activists, terrorist attacks, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and wars could disrupt our operations or those of our collaborators, contractors and vendors. We might suffer losses as a result of business interruptions that exceed the coverage available under our and our contractors’ insurance policies or for which we or our contractors do not have coverage. For example, we are not insured against a terrorist attack. Any natural disaster or catastrophic event could have a significant negative impact on our operations and financial results. Moreover, any such event could delay our research and development programs or cause interruptions in our commercialization of Afrezza. We deal with hazardous materials and must comply with environmental laws and regulations, which can be expensive and restrict how we do business. Our research and development and commercialization of Afrezza work involves the controlled storage and use of hazardous materials, including chemical and biological materials. In addition, our manufacturing operations involve the use of a chemical that may form an explosive mixture under certain conditions. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations (i) governing how we use, manufacture, store, handle and dispose of these materials (ii) imposing liability for costs of cleaning up, and damages to natural resources from past spills, waste disposals on and off-site, or other releases of hazardous materials or regulated substances, and (iii) regulating workplace safety. Moreover, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from hazardous materials cannot be completely eliminated, and in the event of an accident, we could be held liable for any damages that may result, and any liability could fall outside the coverage or exceed the limits of our insurance. Currently, our general liability policy provides coverage up to $1.0 million per occurrence and $2.0 million in the aggregate and is supplemented by an umbrella policy that provides a further $20.0 million of coverage; however, our insurance policy excludes pollution liability coverage and we do not carry a separate hazardous materials policy. In addition, we could be required to incur significant costs to comply with environmental laws and regulations in the future. Finally, current or future environmental laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts or have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. When we purchased the facilities located in Danbury, Connecticut in 2001, a soil and groundwater investigation and remediation was being conducted by a former site operator (the responsible party) under the oversight of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, which is not completed. The responsible party will make all filings necessary to achieve closure for the environmental remediation conducted at the site, and has agreed to indemnify us for any future costs and expenses we may incur that are directly related to the final closure. If we are unable to collect these future costs and expenses, if any, from the responsible party, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed. We are increasingly dependent on information technology systems, infrastructure and data security. We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data security. Our business requires manipulating, analyzing and storing large amounts of data. In addition, we rely on an enterprise software system to operate and manage our business. Our business therefore depends on the continuous, 34
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