48 • collabor a ators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our product candidates if the collabor a ators believe that competitive products are more likely to be successful f ly developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive than ours; • collabor a ators with marketing and distribution rights to one or more product candidates may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product candidates; • we may lose certain valuable rights under circumstances identifie f d in our collabor a ations, including if we undergo a change of control; • collabor a ators may undergo a change of control and the new owners may decide to take the collabor a ation in a direction which is not in our best interest; • collabor a ators may become party to a business combination transaction and the continued pursuit and emphasis on our development or commercialization program by the resulting entity under our existing collabor a ation could be delayed, diminished or terminated; • collabor a ators may become bankrupt r , which may significantly delay our research or development programs, or may cause us to lose access to valuable technology, know-how or intellectua t l property of the collaborator relating to our products, product candidates; • key personnel at our collabor a ators may leave, which could negatively impact our ability to productively work with our collabor a ators; • collabor a ations may require us to incur short and long-term expenditures, issue securities that dilute our stockholders, or disrupt r our management and business; • collabor a ations may be terminated and, if terminated, may result in a need for additional capi a tal to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates or our ABC Platform; and • collabor a ation agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most effi f cient manner or at all. We may face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborations. Recent business combinations among biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have resulted in a reduced number of potential collaborators. In addition, the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex, and we may not be able to negotiate collabor a ations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unabl a e to do so, we may have to curtail the development of the product candidate for which we are seeking to collabo a rate or delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be availabl a e to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop product candidates or bring them to market and generate product revenue. If we enter into collabor a ations to develop and potentially commercialize any product candidates, we may not be able to realize the benefit of such transactions if we or our collabor a ator elect not to exercise the rights granted under the agreement or if we or our collaborator are unabl a e to successful f ly integrate a product candidate into existing operations and company cultur t e. In addition, if our agreement with any of our collaborators terminates, our access to technology and intellectua t l property licensed to us by that collaborator may be restricted or terminate entirely, which may delay our continued development of our product candidates utilizing the collabor a ator’s technology or intellectua t l property or require us to stop development of those product candidates completely. We may also find it more difficult to find a suitabl a e replacement collaborator or attract new collabor a ators, and our development programs may be delayed or the perception of us in the business and financial communities could be adversely affe f cted. Any collabor a ator may also be subj u ect to many of the risks relating to product development, regulatory approval, and commercialization described in this “Risk Factors” section, and any negative impact on our collabor a ators may adversely affe f ct us. Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property If we are unablel to obtai t n i and maintain paten t t protect t io t n for any n product candid d at d es t we develop l or for our ABC Plat l for t m, r our competit t or t sr couldl develop l and commercialize productst or technology o simi i la i r or iden d tical to ours, and our ability i to successful f ly l commercializ l e any n product candidates t we may a develop, o and our technology o may a be adverse r ly affe f cted t .d Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our ABC Platform and any proprietary product candidates and other technologies we may develop. We seek to protect our proprietary position by in-licensing intellectua t l property and filing patent applications in the United States and abroad relating to our ABC Platform, product candidates and other technologies that are important to our business.