UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

[X] ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019

[  ] TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _____________ to _____________

Commission File Number: 000-54878

Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act:

Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. [  ] Yes [X] 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 [X] 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. [X] 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). [X] 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.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transaction 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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). [  ] Yes [X] No

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates was $11,285,202 computed by reference to the closing price of the registrant’s common stock as quoted on the OTCQB maintained by OTC Markets, Inc. on December, 31 2018 (which was $9.65 per share). For purposes of the above statement only, all directors, executive officers and 10% shareholders are assumed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purpose.

As of October 2, 2019, there were 1,170,026 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 issued and outstanding.

PROPANC BIOPHARMA, INC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019 (this “Annual Report”) contains certain statements that are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “PSLRA”) and are made in reliance upon the protections provided by such act for forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including: any projections of earnings, revenues or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new products, services or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; any statements of belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Forward-looking statements may include the words “may,” “might,” “will,” “will likely result,” “would,” “should,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue,” “believe,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “seek,” “continue,” “target” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. The ultimate correctness of these forward-looking statements is dependent upon a number of known and unknown risks and events and is subject to various uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements.

The following important factors, among others, could affect our future results and events, causing those results and events to differ materially from those views expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements: our ability to continue as a going concern absent new debt or equity financings; our ability to successfully remediate material weaknesses in our internal controls; our ability to reach research and development milestones as planned and within proposed budgets; our ability to control costs; our ability to successfully implement our expansion strategies; our current reliance on substantial debt financing that we currently are unable to repay in cash; our ability to obtain adequate new financing; our ability to successfully develop PRP, our lead product candidate; our ability to successfully develop and market our technologies; our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection; our ability to recruit employees and directors with accounting and finance expertise; our dependence on third parties for services; our dependence on key executives; the impact of government regulations, including U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations; the impact of any future litigation; the availability of capital; changes in economic, business and competitive conditions; and other risks. Any one or more of such risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on us or the value of our common stock. For a further list and description of various risks, relevant factors and uncertainties that could cause future results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements, see Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of this Annual Report.

All forward-looking statements included in this Form-10-K are made only as of the date of this Annual Report or as of the date indicated. We do not undertake any obligation to, and may not, publicly update or correct any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur or which we hereafter become aware of, except as required by law. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time and we cannot predict these events or how they may affect us. When considering these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should keep in mind the cautionary statements contained in this Annual Report and any documents incorporated herein by reference. You should read this Annual Report and the documents that we incorporate by reference into this Annual Report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements.

PART I

Item 1. Business.

General

As used in this Annual Report, references to the “Company,” “Propanc,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Propanc Biopharma, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiary, unless otherwise indicated. In addition, references to our “financial statements” are to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report except as the context otherwise requires.

We prepare our financial statements in United States dollars and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as applied in the United States, (“U.S. GAAP”). In this Annual Report, references to “$” and “dollars” are to United States dollars.

Overview

We are a development-stage healthcare company that is currently focused on developing new cancer treatments for patients suffering from pancreatic, ovarian and colorectal cancer. Utilizing our scientific and oncology consultants, we have developed a rational, composite formulation of anti-cancer compounds, which together exert a number of effects designed to control or prevent tumors from recurring and spreading through the body. Our lead product candidate, PRP, is a variation upon our novel formulation and involves proenzymes, the inactive precursors of enzymes. As a result of positive early indications of the anti-cancer effects of our technology, over the last year we have conducted successful pre-clinical studies on PRP and subject to us receiving adequate financing, hope to submit a clinical trial application in the fourth calendar quarter of 2019. We intend to develop our PRP to treat early-stage cancer and pre-cancerous diseases and as a preventative measure for patients at risk of developing cancer based on genetic screening.

Key Research and Development Highlights:

Company History

We were originally incorporated in Melbourne, Victoria Australia on October 15, 2007 as Propanc PTY LTD and continue to be based in Camberwell, Victoria Australia. Since our inception, substantially all of our operations have been focused on the development of new cancer treatments targeting high-risk patients, particularly cancer survivors, who need a follow-up, non-toxic, long-term therapy designed to prevent the cancer from returning and spreading. We anticipate establishing global markets for our products.

On November 23, 2010, our Company was incorporated in the state of Delaware as Propanc Health Group Corporation. In January 2011, to reorganize our Company, we acquired all of the outstanding shares of Propanc PTY LTD on a one-for-one basis and Propanc PPY LTD became our wholly-owned subsidiary. Effective April 20, 2017, we changed our name to “Propanc Biopharma, Inc.” to better reflect our stage of operations and development. On the same date, we also effected a 1-for-250 reverse stock split whereby we (i) decreased the number of authorized shares of our common stock to 100,000,000 (ii) decreased the number of authorized shares of our preferred stock to 1,500,005 and (iii) decreased, by a ratio of 1-for-250 the number of retroactively issued and outstanding shares of our common stock.

On January 23, 2018, we filed a Certificate of Amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock from 100,000,000 to 400,000,000. On September 21, 2018, we filed a Certificate of Amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock from 400,000,000 to 4,000,000,000. On June 11, 2019, we filed a Certificate of Amendment, as amended, to our Certificate of Incorporation to decrease the number of authorized shares of our common stock from 4,000,000,000 to 100,000,000 in connection with the 1-for-500 reverse stock split that occurred on June 24, 2019.

Important Milestones for Propanc

The Problem

In the early phases of tumor progression, cancer cells multiply near the site where their predecessors first began uncontrolled proliferation. The result, usually over a long period of time, is a primary tumor mass. Tumors often need to reach a large size before they make themselves apparent to the individual concerned, or the clinician screening for them.

Eventually, tumors of substantial size may begin to compromise the functioning of organs in which they have arisen and begin to evoke symptoms. In many cases, the effects on normal tissue function come from the physical pressure exerted by the expanding tumor masses. For example, large tumors in the colon may obstruct digestion products through the lumen, or in the lungs, airways may be compromised.

As dangerous and threatening as these primary tumors are, they are ultimately responsible for only about 10% of deaths. A far greater threat often arises for the patient, even after a primary tumor has been identified and removed. This threat involves cancerous growths that are discovered at sites far removed from the locations in their bodies where their primary tumors first appeared. These cancerous growths, called metastases, are responsible for approximately 90% of patient deaths from cancer. Metastases are formed by cancer cells that have left the primary tumor mass and traveled by the body’s blood and lymphatic vessels (a vein-like vessel carrying lymph, or white blood cells, from the tissues) to seek new sites and form new colonies. For example, breast cancers often spawn metastatic colonies in many tissues throughout the body including the brain, liver, bones, and lungs.

For primary tumors that have not yet metastasized, current treatments for cancer can be effective in initially reducing tumor burden. However, for many forms of cancer, current treatments lack sufficient efficacy to achieve a long lasting clinical response. Therefore, a vast majority of patients who succumb to cancer are killed by tumors that have metastasized. According to the National Cancer Institute’s SEER Cancer Statistics Review (2001 – 2007), of the patients diagnosed with late stage metastatic breast cancer, only 23% are expected to live longer than five years. This is compared to a 98% five-year survival rate for an early stage breast cancer patient when the cancer is confined to the primary site.

The invasion-metastasis cascade

The great majority of life threatening cancers occur in epithelial tissues, yielding carcinomas. Epithelial cells generally have a multi-sided, uniform shape. They have well defined contact points with neighboring cells and a strong attachment to the underlying connective tissue, or stroma, which creates a framework for solid tumors in the body. Separating the two is the specialized type of extracellular matrix, known as the basement membrane.

By definition, carcinomas that originate on the epithelial side of the basement membrane are considered to be benign; as long as the cells forming them remain on the same side. However, many carcinomas acquire the ability to penetrate the basement membrane, and individual cancer cells or groups of cancer cells begin to invade the stroma. This mass of cells is now reclassified as malignant. Often, many pathologists and surgeons reserve the label “cancer” for those epithelial tumors that have acquired this invasive ability.

Thereafter, carcinoma cells may invade into lymphatic or blood microvessels. The latter may then transport these cancer cells to distant sites in the body where they may be trapped and subsequently form new metastases. 

It is important to note, that even before cells penetrate the basement membrane, they often stimulate angiogenesis (blood vessel formation) on the stromal side of the membrane, by expressing angiogenic proteins through the porous barrier. Not only does this enhance the ability of malignant cells to circulate into the blood, but also provides an important feedback loop for the cancer cell to maintain its invasiveness.

Understanding the mechanism by which benign cells change to a malignant state is therefore pivotal to developing anti-cancer treatments that have sufficient efficacy to achieve a long lasting clinical response.

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition and associated loss of E-cadherin expression enable carcinoma cells to become invasive.

Epithelial cells can undergo a transformation to a different cell type, called mesenchymal cells, through a process called the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (“EMT”). Mesenchymal cells have an elongated spindle shape, lack orderly contacts with neighboring cells and can survive without contact with a surface or connective tissue. The EMT process is a series of events that normally occur during the development of tissues and organs prior to birth, and also apply to normal wound healing processes. However, the same EMT process can also be applied to epithelial cancer cells, or carcinomas. When epithelial carcinoma cells residing in a solid tumor undergo the EMT process, the resulting mesenchymal cancer cells can invade through local barriers and metastasize to other parts of the body.

In addition to becoming invasive and motile after undergoing the EMT process, the resulting mesenchymal cells have significantly increased resistance to current cancer treatments. For example, in Cancer Research in 2005, it was reported that lung cancer cells expressing mesenchymal biomarkers appeared to be resistant to Tarceva and other targeted anti-cancer agents when transplanted into mice.

At the center of this critical process for transforming benign cells into carcinomas, is the protein Epithelial Cadherin (“E-Cadherin”). In normal cells, E-cadherin is located in the membrane and involved in maintaining cell to cell contact, which is critical to normal function and structure of epithelial tissues. The individual E-Cadherin molecules are attached to the actin (scaffolding, or cytoskeleton structure) within the cell, anchored by β-catenin, a protein which helps form the junction between epithelial cells. As well as forming an anchor between epithelial cells, β-catenin is also involved in gene transcription, a process by which DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid) is converted into RNA (ribose nucleic acid) within the nucleus of a cell for the purpose of producing new proteins normally associated with routine cell function.

In the case of tumors, when cells become invasive, E-Cadherin expression decreases substantially, and β-catenin becomes free within the cell, which may then migrate to the nucleus and induce expression of the EMT program. Furthermore, once cells undergo an EMT, they begin to produce their own cytokines (cell signaling molecules), such as Transforming Growth Factor β, (“TGF-β”). This protein plays a critical multi-functional role in promoting angiogenesis, immunosuppression (suppressing the immune system from recognizing and attacking cancer cells), and maintaining their mesenchymal cell structure for prolonged periods via a feedback mechanism. Studies also suggest that TGF-β works with β-catenin to cause epithelial cancer cells to undergo an EMT.

A study in the British Journal of Cancer in 2011 demonstrated that in cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) cell lines, treatment of TGF-β increased cell migration, invasion and mesenchymal changes. Furthermore, expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin was measured from resected (cut out) specimens from extra-hepatic (outside the liver) cholangiocarcinoma patients. Patients with low E-cadherin expression had a significantly lower survival rate than patients with high E-cadherin expression. They concluded the cadherin switch via TGF-β induced EMT in extra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma leads to cancer progression.

Conversely, in studies of several types of carcinoma cells that had lost E-cadherin expression, re-expression of this protein strongly suppressed the invasiveness and motility of these cancer cells.

Together, these observations indicate that E-Cadherin levels is a key determinant of the biological behavior of epithelial cancer cells and that the cell to cell contact constructed by E-cadherin molecules impede invasiveness and hence metastasis.

Our Solution

Our solution is to develop and commercialize a long-term therapy to prevent tumor recurrence and metastases, the main cause of patient death from cancer. We believe this problem can be addressed by developing a proenzyme formulation specifically targeting malignant carcinoma cells to create a long lasting clinical benefit to the patient.

Propanc’s Theory Proenzymes Regulate Cell Proliferation

More than 100 years ago, Professor John Beard, a comparative embryologist, made an observation that the pancreas develops in most vertebrates at the time when the placenta begins to slow its rate of growth. He hypothesized that enzymes produced by the developing pancreatic gland curtail trophoblastic invasion (a rare condition in which abnormal cells grow inside the uterus from tissue that forms after conception) and suggested that pancreatic extracts should have a similar inhibitory effect on invasive tumors.

Subsequently in the late 1990s, after following Professor Beard’s recommendations, Drs. Novak and Trnka hypothesized that administration of proenzymes, rather than the enzymes, was of crucial importance to the clinical effectiveness of the treatment approach first developed by Professor Beard, and that the precursor nature of the active enzymes may offer protection against numerous serpins (proteins which can inhibit proenzymes) in the blood.

As knowledge of tumor cell and molecular cell biology has increased over the years, our scientists and research partners have made important scientific discoveries identifying that proenzymes suppress the EMT program and induce cell differentiation, i.e., return cancerous cells towards normal cell behavior, or a benign state.

After more than 100 years, the initial observations made by Professor Beard may have a potential common link between embryogenesis and cancer, by which cells are able to become motile and invasive, via the EMT program, where the administration of proenzymes may regulate cell proliferation as a means to controlling carcinomas.

PRP

Our lead product, PRP, is a novel, patented formulation consisting of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, combined at a ratio of one-to-six (1:6), to be administered intravenously. After establishing proof of concept in vivo as described earlier, supplemented by laboratory research at the Universities of Jaén and Granada on the mechanism of action of the proenzyme mixture, evidence suggests PRP may be effective against a range of solid tumors.

Selectivity

Research published by Novak and Trnka in Anticancer Research (2005) suggests that the proenzymes in our product, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, exhibit specificity for tumor cells and not normal cells. Once activated, they in turn activate Protease Activated Receptors Type 2 (“PAR2”), which are located on the cell membrane and involved with cancer cell proliferation. Activation of PAR2 results in a cascade of intracellular activities, including activation of a major component of the cell which controls its structure and architecture, the actin cytoskeleton. In a cancer cell, proenzymes have the effect of converting globular actin into filamentous actin, which causes the cell structure to collapse and induce cell death. This reduces tumor volume and is often seen in clinical practice.

Anti-Cancer Effects and Mechanism of Action

PRP consists of proenzymes which are known to influence a number of pathways critical for cancer cells to invade, grow and metastasize. Research published in collaboration with our research partners at Jaén and Granada Universities in the Journal of Cellular Oncology in 2013 shows the clinical benefits of PRP appear to result from enhanced differentiation of tumor cells, which inhibits proliferation and consequently reduces their ability to invade and metastasize.

Specifically, the research showed that proenzymes:

Once activated, proenzymes influence the micro-immune environment around the cell, altering a number of pathways critical for supporting cancer cell growth, invasion and metastasis. This includes interacting with proteinases and cell signaling pathways in the extracellular matrix, whilst also interacting directly with cell surface proteins that effect the internal pathways of the cancer cell, triggering re-expression of epithelial markers, reducing important EMT markers, and inducing a series of cellular activities which alters the cancer cell’s morphology (structure) from a malignant to a benign state.

Planned Clinical Development

PRP recently completed preclinical development. A First-In-Human (FIH), Phase Ib study in patients with advanced solid tumors, evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor efficacy of PRP is planned to commence in the first half of 2020 calendar year in a jurisdiction to be selected by us, subject to us receiving adequate financing, and is hoped to be completed within twelve months. The study will be an open-label, multicenter, non-comparative study of PRP administered at increasing dose levels, with once daily intravenous injections over a 28-day cycle, with at least 20 and up to 40 patients enrolled.

The Phase Ib study is planned to be followed by two open Phase IIa studies evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor efficacy of PRP administered intravenously to patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, or to patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer who have failed prior anti-cancer therapy regimen. These studies are envisioned to start in parallel, shortly after the FIH Phase IIa study, and are hoped to be finalized in 2021. Both studies will be open, multicenter phase II studies measuring overall survival of patients having received once daily intravenous administrations of PRP.

Preclinical Development

We have extensive in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrating the anti-tumor efficacy of a novel proenzyme formulation consisting of a combination of trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen in a synergistic ratio. The preclinical work was undertaken in collaboration with our contract research organization, vivoPharm, in both Melbourne, Australia and Hummelstown, PA, United States, together with universities we partnered with, including the Biopathology and Regenerative Medicine Institute, Center for Biomedical Research, at the University of Granada in Granada, Spain, and the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Jaén in Jaén, Spain. We funded both vivoPharm and the universities to carry out this research and retained the intellectual property rights within the field relating to any discoveries based on the mechanism of action and anti-tumor effects of the proenzymes.

The following preclinical development activities have been undertaken to date:

Determination of Optimal Proenzyme Ratio

In this study, we determined first the half-maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen to measure their effect as single test articles in an extended panel of 24 human cancer cell lines. The IC₅₀ values of trypsinogen ranged from 2.5 to 17.5 mg/ml and from 1.4 to 25.2 mg/ml for chymotrypsinogen. The IC₅₀ values of trypsinogen were the basis for the calculation of concentration ratios for the combination of trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen at 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8, and 1:10. At these ratios, the growth inhibitory properties of the combination were evaluated in 24 cancer cell lines. Based on the coefficient of drug interaction (CDI) values, the combination of trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen demonstrated greater growth inhibition at ratios of 1:4, 1:6, and 1:8, compared to the 1:1 ratio in most cell lines tested. Finally, a ratio of trypsinogen to chymotrypsinogen of 1:6 was determined to be the optimal formulation and used for later experiments.

Determination of the Coefficient of Drug Interaction

The representative graphs show an optimal pro-enzyme synergistic ratio of the Trypsinogen to Chymotrypsinogen as 1:6

Anti-angiogenic efficacy of pancreatic proenzyme formulation

To determine whether PRP affects angiogenesis, we used a soft-agar tube formation assay. Dispersed human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) organized into clusters after three hours and began to form tube-like structures after five hours that were clearly evident after 24 hours. In contrast, PRP treated HUVECs presented a marked reduction in the number and length of closed capillary tubes in a concentration dependent manner, with a total disappearance of the structures after treatment with trypsinogen to chymotrypsinogen (T/C) 0.07/0.42 mg/ml.

To assess if the inhibition of the tubule-like structures formation could be due to cell death caused by PRP treatment, CellTracker Green/CMFDA staining was used to identify viable cells. Both control and PRP treated cells showed green staining, indicating that the inhibition of cellular cords was independent from cell viability.

Furthermore, quantification of the number of capillary-like structures at different areas of the cell revealed a dramatic and significant difference between the number of structures formed by non-treated cells when compared with PRP-treated cells (p <0.01 vs. Control).

The anti-angiogenic effect of PRP was additionally investigated in vivo using the AngioChamber™ assay, a model used to assess the efficacy of anti-angiogenic treatments by measuring fibrous capsule formation in mice. In this assay the inclusion of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in the chamber supports the induction of blood vessels development and formation of a fibrous capsule. AngioChamber™ were excised from all post-mortem mice on the termination day, 24 hours following final treatment (Day 5).

The results show that fibrous capsule formation was significantly greater in the vehicle control group with bFGF captured in the chamber (Group 2, Induction Control) than in the vehicle control group without bFGF loaded into the chamber (Group 1, Baseline Control) (p<0.05) indicating that bFGF adequately and significantly stimulated capsule formation. Furthermore, treatment with PRP (Group 3) resulted in a significant reduction in angiogenesis compared to the induction control (Group 2), as indicated by the difference in capsule weight (p < 0.05) with a 57% of fibrous capsule formation inhibition. Thus, PRP inhibits fibrous capsule formation showing significant in vivo anti-angiogenic effects.

Anti-invasion, anti-migration and anti-EMT effect of PRP

To analyze the in vitro anti-metastatic effect of the proenzyme treatment, we studied the effect of PRP in cell invasion, cell migration and the modulation of EMT related genes in cancer cells. First, to evaluate the effect of PRP on cell migration, a key event in carcinogenesis, we performed a wound-healing assay on human pancreatic BxPC3 and human ovarian A2780 cells. Migration is defined as the directed movement of cells on a substrate such as plastic plates occurring on 2D surfaces.

Results show that non-treated cells migrated faster to close the gap of a scratch in the cell monolayer than PRP treated cells. PRP significantly reduced cell migration of pancreatic BxPC3 cells and compared with control cells even enhanced the width of the wound.

Although the A2780 ovarian tumor cell line does not grow forming a homogeneous monolayer like BxPC3, it can be observed that PRP treatment significantly reduces the ability of the ovarian cells to migrate. Data showed significant cell migration inhibition after 24 hours and 48 hours of treatment with PRP compared to control cells.

Secondly, we tested the inhibitory effect of the proenzyme formulation on cell invasion of colon and pancreatic tumor cells. Invasion is defined as cell movement through an extracellular 3D matrix. The principle of this assay is based on two medium containing chambers separated by a porous membrane through which cells transmigrate. Here, we tested different concentrations of PRP on MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic and HCT-15 colon human cancer cell lines. PRP showed a marked and significantly dose-dependent inhibition of invasion in both cell lines. Total inhibition of cell migration was achieved from PRP concentrations of T/C 0.015/0.093 mg/ml and so on with the other increasing concentrations tested.

Finally, to investigate whether the exposure of PRP has a potential regulation in the transcriptional machinery that drives EMT in cancer cells, expression of EMT genes were studied in BxPC3 pancreatic and A2780 ovarian human cancer cells. EMT markers in both BxPC3 and A2780 cells were affected by PRP treatment at T/C 0.07/0.42 mg/ml. Results show that PRP treatment increased the expression of E-Cadherin (0.4 fold) (p < 0.05), whilst reduced the expressions of N-cadherin, Slug and vimentin (0.9, 0.5 and 0.6 fold, respectively) (p < 0.01) in BxPC3 cells.

In addition, PRP significantly up-regulated the expression of E-Cadherin (0.9 fold) (p < 0.01) and significantly down-regulated the expression of N-cadherin and Slug (0.4 and 0.6 fold, respectively) (p < 0.01) and induced a slight, but not significant, decrease of vimentin expression in A2780 cells.

PRP pharmacokinetic study

To evaluate the pharmacokinetics and organ distribution of trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, non-tumor bearing female athymic Nude-Foxn1nu mice were treated with IRDye® 800CW labeled trypsinogen (5 mg/kg) plus unlabeled trypsinogen (50 mg/kg), or IRDye® 800 CW labeled chymotrypsinogen (7 mg/kg) plus unlabeled Chymotrypsinogen (300 mg/kg). Animals were euthanized at specified time-points post-dose and plasma along with organ homogenates was prepared, then imaged via IVIS imaging system.

Fluorescence was measured in organ homogenates. Mice treated with labeled T, presented a fluorescence peak in all organs between 15 minutes and 2 hours post-dose. While mice treated with labeled C showed the maximum fluorescent emission between 15 minutes and 6 hours post-dose. For both highest readings were observed in the kidneys and liver. Maximum levels of both IRDye®800CW labeled trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen A in mouse plasma occurred at 15 minutes post dose (7.5 and 72.2 ìg/ml, respectively). Levels of both IRDye® 800CW labeled proenzymes decreased rapidly after this time.

Anti-tumor efficacy of PRP in orthotropic mice models

The effect of the proenzyme formulation PRP at different doses on tumor weight in orthotopically implanted pancreatic and ovary tumors was assessed. In the pancreatic tumor control group, there was significant (*P < 0.05) reduction in mean tumor weight in animals treated for 26 days with trypsinogen/chymotrypsinogen at 83.3/500 mg/kg (30.2 mg; 85.9% inhibition) compared with control (PBS; 214.8 mg), but not between trypsinogen/chymotrypsinogen at 27.5/165 mg/kg (196.5 mg; 8.5 % inhibition) and the control (as shown in the figure below).

Furthermore, ovary tumor-bearing mice (as shown in the figure below) showed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in mean tumor weight in animals treated for 21 days with two different doses of trypsinogen/chymotrypsinogen, 9.1/54 mg/kg and 27.5/165 mg/kg, compared with control (PBS). The mean weight of control group tumors was 2062.2 mg while the treated groups presented a mean tumor weight of 1074.2 mg and 957.3 respectively, ranging in a 50% tumor inhibition (52% - 46%).

The PRP Formulation

Oral pancreatic enzymes have been administered previously in a variety of circumstances and are in current clinical use in conditions where the pancreas is unable to produce sufficient enzymes for the digestion of food. A number of oral pancreatic enzyme products are presently approved in the U.S. for use in patients who do not produce enough pancreatic enzymes. Approved pancreatic enzyme products include Pancreaze™ from Johnson & Johnson, CREON® from Abbott Laboratories, and ULTRASE® from Axcan Pharma US.

PRP is a combination of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, specifically formulated within a specific ratio (1:6, as described above) designed to synergistically enhance their anti-cancer effects based on the mechanism of action. Patent protection for PRP has been secured in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, and continues to be sought for similar compositions and mechanisms of action.

Oral enzymes have also been investigated previously for the treatment of cancer and, while generating encouraging results, their widespread use has been hampered by the very large quantities that have been considered necessary for effective treatment – 130 or more tablets per day. The high dose used with oral delivery is considered necessary due to the oral enzymes being broken down in the stomach and duodenum, the first part of the small intestine and very little actually being absorbed into the general circulation. By administering a proenzyme parenterally, and using a specific proenzyme formulation, the normal breakdown of the enzymes when taken orally is avoided and the drug can potentially be absorbed into the general circulation intact. It is also suggested that proenzymes are resistant to inactivation by numerous protein digesting enzymes, like serpins, which are circulating in the blood. Together with our scientific consultants, we believe that the development of a parenteral proenzyme formulation will lead to improved efficacy in the treatment of cancer compared with oral enzyme preparations, and will substantially reduce the dose in comparison to that used previously for oral enzyme therapy for the treatment of cancer.

Target Indications

The management of cancer differs widely, with a multitude of factors impacting the choice of treatment strategy. Some of those factors include:

For many patients with solid cancers, such as breast, ovarian, colorectal, lung and pancreatic cancer, surgery is frequently the first treatment option, often followed by first line chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy. While hopefully such procedures are curative, in many instances the tumor returns, and second line treatment strategies are chosen in an effort to achieve a degree of control over the tumor. In most instances, the benefit is temporary, and eventually the point is reached where the patient’s tumor either fails to adequately respond to treatment, or the treatment has unacceptable toxicity which severely limits its usefulness.

Should the planned Phase I, II and III clinical trials confirm the efficacy of PRP, along with the favorable safety and tolerability profile suggested by pre-clinical studies conducted to date, we believe our product will have utility in a number of clinical situations including:

In the near term as part of our planned Phase I, II and III clinical trials, we plan to target patients with solid tumors, most likely ovarian and pancreatic, for whom other treatment options have been exhausted. This is a common approach by which most new drugs for cancer are initially tested. Once efficacy and safety has been demonstrated in this patient population, exploration of the potential utility of the drug in earlier stage disease can be undertaken, together with investigation of the drug’s utility in other types of cancers, such as gastro-esophageal tumors, colon or rectal carcinoma might be conducted. A Phase II study in a back-up indication, such as advanced therapy refractant prostate cancer will also be considered. This indication is based on positive preclinical pharmacology studies.

Development Strategy

Our goal is to undertake early stage clinical development of PRP through to a significant value inflection point, where the commercial attractiveness of a drug in development, together with a greater likelihood of achieving market authorization, may attract potential interest from licensees seeking to acquire new products. Such value inflection points in the context of cancer drugs are typically at the point where formal, controlled clinical trials have demonstrated either ‘efficacy’ or ‘proof of concept’ – typically meaning that there is controlled clinical trial evidence that the drug is effective in the proposed target patient population, has an acceptable safety profile, and is suitable for further development. From a ‘big picture’ perspective, it is our intention to progress the development of our technology through the completion of our planned Phase IIa clinical trials and then to seek a licensee for further development beyond that point.

As part of that commercial strategy, we will:

Development Plan and Milestones

PRP

We plan to progress PRP down a conventional early stage clinical development pathway for:

We are currently evaluating Australia, UK and Europe as the potential destination where we may commence the Phase Ib trial. In particular, we are closely evaluating Australia because of its research and development tax incentives, as well as a simplified regulatory environment. As part of such incentives, eligible companies conducting clinical trials in Australia may receive up to 43.5% “cash-back” benefit in the form of a refund of their qualified research and development costs and expenses. We are evaluating all options to conduct our planned clinical trials in the most cost-efficient manner, while striving to minimize dilution to our stockholders.

We anticipate reaching the Phase IIa proof of concept milestone in approximately three to four years, subject to regulatory approval in Europe, and the results from our research and development and licensing activities.

Our overhead and expenses are likely to increase from its current level as PRP progresses down the development pathway. This increase will be driven by the need to increase our internal resources in order to effectively manage our research and development activities.

Anticipated timelines

Below is the timeline and a detailed discussion of our anticipated milestones and steps that we plan to take in preparation for our planned Phase Ib clinical trial.

In fourth quarter of 2019 calendar year, we anticipate the submission of the Clinical Trial Application for PRP in a jurisdiction to be determined by us that would suit the best interests of the trial and our Company. We anticipate receiving approval of such application in the first calendar quarter of 2020. Following the clinical trial application, we plan to commence our Study Preparation, including CRO Selection and Contracts, Analytical Lab Selection Contracts and Trial Sites Selection and Contracts. In connection with the Clinical Trial Application, this product will be part of our Investigation Medicinal Product Dossier, Study Protocol and Investigator’s Brochure. In the first half of 2020 calendar year, we hope to complete the Study Preparation with the Preparation of Logistics and Trial Sites Initiation Visits and complete our clinical trial application review.

Commencing in the first half of 2020 calendar year, we intend to initiate a Phase Ib study in advanced cancer patients with solid tumors and the anticipated costs will be approximately $6.5 million. We will need to raise additional financing to fund our planned Phase I, II and III clinical trials and for working capital.

Financial Objectives

Multiple factors, many of which are outside of our control, can impact our ability to achieve our target objectives within the planned time and budgetary constraints. Subject to these caveats, our objective is to complete our planned Phase IIa study for PRP within the proposed budget.

Corporate Strategy

We primarily outsource services, skills and expertise to third parties as required to achieve our scientific and corporate objectives. As the business grows and gains more personnel, outsourcing will continue to be the preferred model, where fixed and variable costs are carefully managed on a project-by-project basis. This means our research and development activities are carried out by third parties. Additional third parties with specific expertise in research, compound screening and manufacturing (including raw material suppliers) have been contracted as required.

Our initial focus is to organize, coordinate and finance the various parts of our drug development pipeline. New personnel will be carefully introduced into our Company over a period of time as our research and development activities expand. They will have specific expertise in product development, manufacture and formulation, regulatory affairs, toxicology, clinical operations and business development (including intellectual property management, licensing and other corporate activities).

In the first instance, additional clinical management and development expertise is likely to be required for our lead product. Therefore, we anticipate an increase in employees in order to effectively manage our contractors as the projects progress down the development pathway.

This outsourcing strategy is common in the biotechnology sector, and is an efficient way to obtain access to the necessary skills required to progress a project, in particular as the required skills change as the project progresses from discovery, through manufacturing and non-clinical development and into clinical trials. We anticipate that we will continue to use this model, thereby retaining the flexibility to contract in the appropriate resource as and when required.

We intend to seek and identify potential licensing partners for our product candidates as they progress through the various development stages, reaching certain milestones and value inflection points. If a suitable licensee is identified, a potential licensing deal could consist of payments for certain milestones, plus royalties from future sales if the product is able to receive approval from the relevant regulatory authorities where future product sales are targeted. We intend to seek and identify potential licensees based on the initial efficacy data from Phase II clinical trials. To accomplish this objective, we have commenced discussions with potential partners in our current preclinical phase of development.

As part of our overall expansion strategy, from time to time, we investigate potential intellectual property acquisition opportunities to expand our product portfolio. While our initial focus is on the development of PRP as the lead product candidate, potential product candidates may also be considered for future preclinical and clinical development. These potential opportunities have arisen from other research and development organizations, which either own existing intellectual property or are currently developing new intellectual property, which may be of interest to us. These opportunities are possible new cancer treatments that are potentially less toxic than existing treatment approaches and are able to fill an existing gap in the treatment process, such as a systemic de-bulking method which could reduce the size and threat of metastases to a more manageable level for late stage cancer patients. We believe these potential treatment approaches will be complementary to existing treatment regimens and our existing product candidate, PRP. No formal approaches have been made at this stage and it is unknown whether we will engage in this discussion in the near future. However, we remain hopeful that as PRP progresses further down the development pathway, future opportunities may arise to use the expertise of our management and scientific personnel for future prospective research and development projects.

Current Operations

We are at a pre-revenue stage. We do not know when, if ever, we will be able to commercialize our products and begin generating revenue. We are focusing our efforts on organizing, coordinating and financing the various aspects of the drug research and development program outlined earlier in this document. In order to commercialize our products, we must complete preclinical development, Phase Ib, IIa and IIb clinical trials in Europe, the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia or elsewhere, and satisfy the applicable regulatory authority that PRP is safe and effective. If the results from the Phase II trials are convincing, we will seek conditional approval from the regulatory authorities sooner. Therefore, from the time we commence clinical trials, we estimate that this will take approximately three to four years if we seek conditional approval upon completion of Phase II trials, or up to seven years if we determine that Phase III trials are needed. As described previously, when we advance our development projects sufficiently down the development pathway and achieve a major increase in value, such as obtaining interim efficacy data from Phase II clinical trials, we will seek a suitable licensing partner to complete the remaining development activities, obtain regulatory approval and market the product.

Current Therapies

We are developing a therapeutic solution for the treatment of patients with advanced stages of cancer targeting solid tumors, which is cancer that originates in organs or tissues other than bone marrow or the lymph system. Common cancer types classified as solid tumors include lung, colorectal, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer and liver cancers. In each of these indications, there is a large market opportunity to capitalize on the limitations of current therapies.

Current therapeutic options for the treatment of cancer offer, at most, a few months of extra life or tumor stabilization. Some experts believe that drugs that kill most tumor cells do not affect cancer stem cells, which can regenerate the tumor (e.g. chemotherapy). Studies are revealing the genetic changes in cells that cause cancer and spur its growth. This research is providing scientific researchers with many potential targets for drugs. Tumor cells, however, can develop resistance to drugs.

Limitations of Current Therapies

PRP was developed because of the limitation of current cancer therapies. While surgery is often safe and effective for early stage cancer, many standard therapies for late stage cancer urgently need improvement; current treatments generally provide modest benefits, and frequently cause significant adverse effects. Our focus is to provide oncologists and their patients with therapies for metastatic cancer which are more effective than current therapies, and which have a substantially reduced side effect profile.

While progress has been made within the oncology sector in developing new treatments, the overall cancer death rate has only improved by 7% over the last 30 years. Most of these new treatments have some limitations, such as:

We believe that our treatment will provide a competitive advantage over the following treatments:

License Agreements

We previously sponsored a collaborative research project at Bath University to investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the potential clinical approach of our proprietary proenzyme formulation. As a result of this undertaking, we entered into a Commercialization Agreement with University of Bath (UK), dated November 12, 2009 (the “Commercialization Agreement”), where, initially, we held an exclusive license with Bath University, and where we and Bath University co-owned the intellectual property relating to our proenzyme formulations. The Commercialization Agreement originally provided for Bath University to assign the Patents (as defined therein) to Propanc in certain specified circumstances, such as successful completion of a clinical trial and commencement of a Phase II (Proof of Concept) clinical trial.

On June 14, 2012, Propanc and Bath University agreed to an earlier assignment to us of the patents pursuant to an Assignment and Amendment Deed, on the proviso that Bath University retains certain rights arising from the Commercialization Agreement, as follows:

In consideration of such assignment, we agreed to pay royalties of 2% of net revenues to Bath University. Additionally, we agreed to pay 5% of each and every license agreement subscribed for. The contract is cancellable at any time by either party. To date, no amounts are owed under the agreement.

We continue to learn the properties of proenzymes with the long-term aim of screening new compounds for development. We anticipate engaging in future discussions with several technology companies who are progressing new developments in the oncology field as potential additions to our product line. Initially targeting the oncology sector, our focus is to identify and develop novel treatments that are highly effective targeted therapies, with few side effects as a result of toxicity to healthy cells.

Intellectual Property

We have filed multiple patent applications relating to our lead product, PRP. The first application was filed in October 2010 in each of the countries listed in the table below. This application has been granted and remains in force in the United States, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Turkey, United Kingdom, Australia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Mexico, Republic of Korea and India. In Brazil and Canada, the patent application remains under examination.

In 2016 and 2017 we filed other patent applications, as indicated below. Three applications were filed under the PCT. The PCT assists applicants in seeking patent protection by filing one international patent application under the PCT, which allows the applicants to seek protection for an invention in over 150 countries. Once national or regional applications are filed, the application is placed under the control of the national or regional patent offices, as applicable, in what is called the national or regional phase. One PCT application, filed in November 2016, entered the national phase in July 2018 in each of the countries listed in the table below. A second application filed in January 2017 entered the national phase commencing July 2018. A third application filed in April 2017 entered the national phase in October 2018.

Further patent applications are expected to be filed to capture and protect additional patentable subject matter based on our field of technology relating to pharmaceutical compositions of proenzymes for treating cancer.

The basis of our intellectual property protection will be built around the following elements:

Regulatory Matters

United States

Government oversight of the pharmaceutical industry is usually classified into pre-approval and post-approval categories. Most of the therapeutically significant innovative products marketed today are the subject of New Drug Applications (“NDA”). Preapproval activities, based on these detailed applications, are used to assure the product is safe and effective before marketing. In the United States, The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (“CDER”), is the FDA organization responsible for over-the-counter and prescription drugs, including most biological therapeutics, and generic drugs.

Before approval, the FDA may inspect and audit the development facilities, planned production facilities, clinical trials, institutional review boards and laboratory facilities in which the product was tested in animals. After the product is approved and marketed, the FDA uses different mechanisms for assuring that firms adhere to the terms and conditions of approval described in the application and that the product is manufactured in a consistent and controlled manner. This is done by periodic unannounced inspections of production and quality control facilities by FDA’s field investigators and analysts.

Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and Public Health Service Act

Prescription drug and biologic products are subject to extensive pre- and post-market regulation by the FDA, including regulations that govern the testing, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labelling, storage, record keeping, advertising and promotion of such products under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, and their implementing regulations. The process of obtaining FDA approval and achieving and maintaining compliance with applicable laws and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with applicable FDA or other requirements may result in refusal to approve pending applications, a clinical hold, warning letters, civil or criminal penalties, recall or seizure of products, partial or total suspension of production or withdrawal of the product from the market. FDA approval is required before any new drug or biologic, including a new use of a previously approved drug, can be marketed in the United States. All applications for FDA approval must contain, among other things, information relating to safety and efficacy, stability, manufacturing, processing, packaging, labelling and quality control.

New Drug Applications (“NDAs”)

The FDA’s NDA approval process generally involves:

The preclinical and clinical testing and approval process requires substantial time, effort and financial resources, and we cannot guarantee that any approvals for our product candidates will be granted on a timely basis, if at all. Preclinical tests include laboratory evaluation of toxicity and immunogenicity in animals. The results of preclinical tests, together with manufacturing information and analytical data, are submitted as part of an IND application to the FDA. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA raises concerns or questions about the conduct of the clinical trial, including concerns that human research subjects will be exposed to unreasonable health risks. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before clinical trials can begin. Our submission of an IND may not result in FDA authorization to commence clinical trials. A separate submission to an existing IND must also be made for each successive clinical trial conducted during product development. Further, an independent institutional review board (“IRB”) covering each medical center proposing to conduct clinical trials must review and approve the plan for any clinical trial before it commences at that center and it must monitor the study until completed. The FDA, the IRB or the sponsor may suspend a clinical trial at any time on various grounds, including a finding that the subjects or patients are being exposed to an unacceptable health risk. Clinical testing also must satisfy extensive “good clinical practice” (“GCP”) regulations, which include requirements that all research subjects provide informed consent and that all clinical studies be conducted under the supervision of one or more qualified investigators.

For purposes of an NDA submission and approval, human clinical trials are typically conducted in the following sequential phases, which may overlap:

Progress reports detailing the results of the clinical studies must be submitted at least annually to the FDA and safety reports must be submitted to the FDA and the investigators for serious and unexpected adverse events. Concurrent with clinical studies, sponsors usually complete additional animal studies and must also develop additional information about the product and finalize a process for manufacturing the product in commercial quantities in accordance with CGMP requirements. The manufacturing process must be capable of consistently producing quality batches of the product candidate and, among other things, the manufacturer must develop methods for testing the identity, strength, quality and purity of the final product. Moreover, appropriate packaging must be selected and tested and stability studies must be conducted to demonstrate that the product candidate does not undergo unacceptable deterioration over its shelf life.

The results of product development, preclinical studies and clinical trials, along with the aforementioned manufacturing information, are submitted to the FDA as part of a NDA. NDA’s must also contain extensive manufacturing information. Under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), the FDA agrees to specific goals for NDA review time through a two-tiered classification system, Standard Review and Priority Review. Standard Review is applied to products that offer at most, only minor improvement over existing marketed therapies. Standard Review NDAs have a goal of being completed within a ten-month timeframe, although a review can take significantly longer. A Priority Review designation is given to products that offer major advances in treatment, or provide a treatment where no adequate therapy exists. A Priority Review takes the FDA six months to review a NDA. It is likely that our product candidates will be granted Standard Reviews. The review process is often significantly extended by FDA requests for additional information or clarification. The FDA may refer the application to an advisory committee for review, evaluation and recommendation as to whether the application should be approved. The FDA is not bound by the recommendation of an advisory committee, but it generally follows such recommendations.

The FDA may deny approval of a NDA if the applicable regulatory criteria are not satisfied, or it may require additional clinical data or additional pivotal Phase III clinical trials. Even if such data is submitted, the FDA may ultimately decide that the NDA does not satisfy the criteria for approval. Data from clinical trials is not always conclusive and the FDA may interpret data differently than Propanc. Once issued, product approval may be withdrawn by the FDA if ongoing regulatory requirements are not met or if safety problems occur after the product reaches the market. In addition, the FDA may require testing, including Phase IV clinical trials, Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (“REMS”), and surveillance programs to monitor the effect of approved products that have been commercialized, and the FDA has the power to prevent or limit further marketing of a product based on the results of these post-marketing programs. Products may be marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. Further, if there are any modifications to the drug, including changes in indications, labelling or manufacturing processes or facilities, approval of a new or supplemental NDA may be required, which may involve conducting additional preclinical studies and clinical trials.

Other U.S. Regulatory Requirements

After approval, products are subject to extensive continuing regulation by the FDA, which include company obligations to manufacture products in accordance with GMP, maintain and provide to the FDA updated safety and efficacy information, report adverse experiences with the product, keep certain records, submit periodic reports, obtain FDA approval of certain manufacturing or labeling changes and comply with FDA promotion and advertising requirements and restrictions. Failure to meet these obligations can result in various adverse consequences, both voluntary and FDA-imposed, including product recalls, withdrawal of approval, restrictions on marketing and the imposition of civil fines and criminal penalties. In addition, later discovery of previously unknown safety or efficacy issues may result in restrictions on the product, manufacturer or NDA holder.

Propanc, and any manufacturers of our products, are required to comply with applicable FDA manufacturing requirements contained in the FDA’s GMP regulations. GMP regulations require, among other things, quality control and quality assurance as well as the corresponding maintenance of records and documentation. The manufacturing facilities for our products must meet GMP requirements to the satisfaction of the FDA pursuant to a pre-approval inspection before Propanc can use them to manufacture products. Propanc and any third-party manufacturers are also subject to periodic inspections of facilities by the FDA and other authorities, including procedures and operations used in the testing and manufacture of our products to assess our compliance with applicable regulations.

With respect to post-market product advertising and promotion, the FDA imposes complex regulations on entities that advertise and promote pharmaceuticals, which include, among others, standards for direct-to-consumer advertising, promoting products for uses or in patient populations that are not described in the product’s approved labeling (known as “off-label use”), industry-sponsored scientific and educational activities and promotional activities involving the Internet. Failure to comply with FDA requirements can have negative consequences, including adverse publicity, enforcement letters from the FDA, mandated corrective advertising or communications with doctors and civil or criminal penalties. Although physicians may prescribe legally available drugs for off-label uses, manufacturers may not market or promote such off-label uses.

Changes to some of the conditions established in an approved application, including changes in indications, labeling, or manufacturing processes or facilities, require submission and FDA approval of a new NDA or NDA supplement before the change can be implemented. A NDA supplement for a new indication typically requires clinical data similar to that in the original application, and the FDA uses the same procedures and actions in reviewing NDA supplements as it does in reviewing a NDA.

Adverse event reporting and submission of periodic reports is required following FDA approval of a NDA. The FDA also may require post-marketing testing, known as Phase IV testing, risk mitigation strategies and surveillance to monitor the effects of an approved product or to place conditions on an approval that could restrict the distribution or use of the product.

Orphan Drug Designation

In June 2017, we were notified by the FDA that PRP had been granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Orphan drug designation may be granted by the FDA when a rare disease or condition is implicated and a potential treatment qualifies under the Orphan Drug Act and applicable FDA regulations. This qualifies us for various developmental incentives, including protocol assistance, the potential for research grants, the waiver of future application fees, and tax credits for clinical testing if we choose to host future clinical trials in the United States.

In October 2017, we submitted a request for a second orphan drug designation for PRP, this time for ovarian cancer.

On November 2, 2017, we were notified by the FDA that our request was not granted. The Office of Orphan Products Development (“OOPD”) stated that complete prevalence is used as a measure of disease in ovarian cancer, as this reflects the number of women who have been diagnosed with disease and may be eligible for treatment with the proposed therapy. Therefore, on the date of the submission of our application, the OOPD estimated that the prevalence of ovarian cancer was 228,110 cases. Since the prevalence exceeds the threshold of 200,000 to qualify for orphan drug designation, they could not grant our request. We may consider resubmitting our application if we can identify a suitable sub population in ovarian cancer, which may meet the target threshold.

European Union

In addition to regulations in the United States, we will be subject to a variety of foreign regulations governing clinical trials, commercial sales and distribution of our products. Whether or not we obtain FDA approval for a product, we must obtain approval of a product by the comparable regulatory authorities of foreign countries before we can commence clinical trials or market our product in those countries. The approval process varies from country to country and the time may differ than that required for FDA approval. The requirements governing the conduct of clinical trials, product licensing, pricing and reimbursement vary greatly from country to country. Despite these differences, the clinical trials will be conducted according to international standards such as Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP), which is recognized by each foreign country under the International Conference of Harmonization (ICH) Guidelines. We will conduct our trials in each foreign jurisdiction according to these standards, undertaking a First-In-Human (FIH) Phase I study in patients with advanced solid tumors, evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics, and anti-tumor efficacy of PRP. This will be followed by two Phase II studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of PRP. To ensure harmonization between the jurisdictions, we intend to conduct regulatory meetings in the country where trials are conducted, as well as the FDA and European Medicines Agency. A pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) meeting will be held with the FDA once initial patient data has been collected from the FIH study to ensure acceptability of future planned Phase II trials.

Under European Union regulatory systems, we must submit and obtain authorization for a clinical trial application in each member state in which we intend to conduct a clinical trial. After we have completed clinical trials, we must obtain marketing authorization before it can market its product. We must submit applications for marketing authorizations for oncology products under a centralized procedure. The centralized procedure provides for the grant of a single marketing authorization that is valid for all European Union member states. The European Medicines Agency (the “EMA”) is the agency responsible for the scientific evaluation of medicines that are to be assessed via the centralized procedure.

UK

On June 23, 2016, the UK government held a referendum to gauge voters’ support to remain or leave the European Union. The referendum resulted in 51.9% of UK voters in favor of leaving the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit.” On March 29, 2017, the UK invoked Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty to initiate complete withdrawal from the European Union by March 30, 2019. Currently, the center for the EMA is based in London but the European Union intends to relocate the center to another city.

The impact of Brexit on the drug approval process in the UK is uncertain, which could significantly impact Propanc as we may elect to conduct our clinical trials for PRP in the UK. Companies based in the UK and operating in the drug industry are urging the European Union and the UK to reach an agreement to harmonize the regulatory process once the UK officially exits the European Union. We hope to commence our Phase IIa trials in 2021, and we are hopeful that there will be greater clarity on the regulatory process for drug approvals in UK in the near future.

Australia

In Australia, the relevant regulatory body responsible for the pharmaceutical industry is the Therapeutics Goods Administration (the “TGA”). Prescription medicines are regulated under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Under the Therapeutic Goods Act, the Therapeutic Goods Administration evaluates new products for quality, safety and efficacy before being approved for market authorization, according to similar standards employed by the FDA and EMA in the United States and European Union, respectively. However, receiving market authorization in one or two regions does not guarantee approval in another.

Third-Party Payor Coverage and Reimbursement

Although none of our product candidates have been commercialized for any indication, if they are approved for marketing, commercial success of our product candidates will depend, in part, upon the availability of coverage and reimbursement from third-party payors at the federal, state and private levels. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, a drug must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that country.

Eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost drugs and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies.

In many countries outside the United States, a drug must be approved for reimbursement before it can be approved for sale in that country. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one foreign regulatory authority does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other foreign countries or by the FDA. The foreign regulatory approval process may include all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. We may not obtain foreign regulatory approvals on a timely basis, if at all. We may not be able to file for regulatory approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in any foreign market.

Marketing Approvals, Pricing and Reimbursement Regulations

The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drug products vary widely from country to country. In the United States, recently passed legislation may significantly change the approval requirements in ways that could involve additional costs and cause delays in obtaining approvals. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted.

Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications. Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products.

Other Regulations

We are also subject to numerous federal, state and local laws relating to such matters as safe working conditions, manufacturing practices, environmental protection, fire hazard control, and disposal of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances. We may incur significant costs to comply with such laws and regulations now or in the future.

Competition

The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by continuing technological advancement and significant competition. While we believe that our technology platforms, product candidates, know-how, experience and scientific resources provide us with competitive advantages, we face competition from major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and public and private research institutions, among others. Any product candidates that we successfully develop and commercialize will compete with existing therapies and new therapies that may become available in the future. Key product features that would affect our ability to effectively compete with other therapeutics include the efficacy, safety and convenience of our products. The level of generic competition and the availability of reimbursement from government and other third-party payers will also significantly impact the pricing and competitiveness of our products. Our competitors also may obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Smaller or early-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel and establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Employees

As of October 2, 2019, we have one full-time employee and two part-time employees. In addition to our employees, we engage key consultants and utilize the services of independent contractors to perform various services on our behalf. Some of our executive officers and directors are engaged in outside business activities that we do not believe conflict with our business. Over time, we may be required to hire additional employees or engage independent contractors to execute various projects that are necessary to grow and develop our business. These decisions will be made by our officers and directors, if and when appropriate.

Our Corporate Information

Our principal executive office is located at 302, 6 Butler Street, Camberwell, VIC, 3124 Australia.

Available Information

Copies of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other documents that we will file with or furnish to the SEC will be available free of charge by sending a written request to our Corporate Secretary at our corporate headquarters. Additionally, the documents we file with the SEC are or will be available free of charge at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Other information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding registrants that file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s website is www.sec.gov.

We maintain a corporate website at www.propanc.com. You will be able to access our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports, proxy statements and other information to be filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act with the SEC free of charge at our website as soon as reasonably practicable after such material will be electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this Annual Report.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this Annual Report, before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. The occurrence of any of the risks described below could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and future growth prospects. In these circumstances, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION AND OUR NEED FOR ADDITIONAL CAPITAL

Our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed concerns about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is in substantial doubt absent obtaining adequate new debt or equity financings.

The report of our independent registered public accounting firm expresses concern about our ability to continue as a going concern based on the absence of revenues, recurring losses from operations and our need for additional financing to fund all of our operations. Working capital limitations continue to impinge on our day-to-day operations, thus contributing to continued operating losses. For the fiscal years ended June 30, 2019 and June 30, 2018, we had net losses of $5,758,369 and $7,039,155, respectively. Further, as of June 30, 2019, we had $2,394 in cash and had an accumulated deficit of $51,041,047.

Based upon our current business plan, we will need considerable cash investments to have the opportunity to be successful. Our capital requirements and cash needs are significant and continuing. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to generate a sufficient amount of revenue, if any, from our business in order to achieve profitability. It is not possible at this time for us to predict with assurance the potential success of our business. The revenue and income potential of our proposed business and operations are unknown. If we cannot continue as a viable entity, we may be unable to continue our operations and you may lose some or all of your investment in our common stock.

We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our net loss was $5,758,369 and $7,039,155, respectively, for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2019 and June 30, 2018. As of June 30, 2019, we had a deficit accumulated during the development phase of $51,041,047. To date, we have not generated any revenues and have financed most of our operations with funds obtained from private financings.

Since October 2007, we have devoted substantially all of our efforts to research and development of our product candidates, particularly PRP, and efforts to protect our intellectual property. Most recently, from January-February 2016, and October 2016-April 2017, we have contracted with third parties to perform a number of laboratory studies and dose range finding studies designed to examine the anti-cancer effects of PRP and prepare for human clinical trials. Since mid-2017, we developed a suitable manufacturing process for each active drug substance in the PRP formulation, capable of producing a full scale GMP manufacture of PRP for human trials. We were granted Orphan Drug Designation status from the FDA for PRP for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. In March 2018, a scientific advice meeting was conducted with the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency) UK, to assist with preparation of our first Clinical Trial Application (CTA). We expect that it will be many years, if ever, before we have a product candidate ready for commercialization. We expect to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for the foreseeable future if and as we progress PRP into clinical trials, continue our research and development, seek regulatory approvals, establish or contract for a sales and marketing infrastructure, maintain and expand our intellectual property portfolio, and add personnel.

To become profitable, we must develop and eventually commercialize PRP or some other product with significant market potential. This will require us to successfully complete clinical trials, obtain market approval and market and sell PRP or whatever other product that we obtain approval for. We might not succeed in any one or a number of these activities, and even if we do, we may never generate revenues that are significant enough to achieve profitability. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease our value and could impair our ability to raise capital, maintain our research and development efforts, expand our business or continue our operations.

As an early stage company, it may be difficult for you to evaluate the success of our business to date and to assess our future viability.

Despite having been founded in 2007, we remain an early-stage company. We commenced active operations in the second half of 2010. Our operations to date have been mainly limited to establishing our research programs, particularly PRP, building our intellectual property portfolio and deepening our scientific understanding of our product development. We have not yet initiated, let alone demonstrated any ability to successfully complete, any clinical trials, including large-scale, pivotal clinical trials, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product, or arrange for a third party to do so on our behalf, or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. It will take a number of years for PRP to be made available for the treatment of cancer, if it ever is. Given our relatively short operating history compared to the timeline required to fully develop a new drug, you are cautioned about making any predictions on our future success or viability based on our activities or results to date. In addition, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors. We will eventually need to transition from a company with a research focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.

We currently rely, and may continue to rely for the foreseeable future, on substantial debt financing that we are not able to repay in cash.

In order to maintain our operations, including our research and development efforts and our preclinical development of PRP, we have over the last few years entered into a number of securities purchase agreements pursuant to which we issued convertible debt in return for cash. We are not currently able to repay either the current principal or interest on this debt in cash. Our lenders, therefore, can convert their debt into shares of our common stock, at a discount to current market prices and then attempt to sell these shares on the open market in order to pay down their loans and receive a return on their investment. These financings pose the risk that as these debts are converted, our stock price will reflect the reduced prices our lenders are willing to sell their shares at, given the discount they have received. These financings contain no floor on the price our lenders can convert their debt into shares of our common stock and they could conceivably reduce the price our common stock to near zero. These types of financings negatively impact our balance sheet and the appeal of our common stock as an investment. While we are actively exploring various alternatives to reduce if not eliminate this debt, for the foreseeable future we will continue to carry it on our balance sheet, and we may have to enter into additional such financings in order to sustain our operations. As a result, the price of our common stock and our market capitalization are subject to significant declines until our convertible debt is either refinanced on a favorable basis or is eliminated.

As of June 30, 2019, the total amount of debt outstanding under these convertible notes, including interest, is approximately $1,177,000 (not including redemption premium). Please see the section captioned “Management’s Discussion of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Recent Developments” for further information.

We will continue to need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development programs or commercialization efforts.

We expect our expenses to significantly increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly if we initiate clinical trials of, and ultimately seek marketing approval for, PRP. In addition, even if we ultimately obtain marketing approval for PRP or any other product candidate, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. We also hope to continue and expand our research and development activities. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our future commercialization efforts or any research and development programs.

Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including, among others, the scope, progress and, results of our potential future clinical trials, the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of PRP, the costs of any future commercialization activities, and the costs of preparing and filing future patent applications, if any. Accordingly, we will continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Even if we are able to enter into financing agreements, we may be forced to pay higher interest rates, accept default provisions in financing agreements that we believe are overly punitive, make balloon payments as required, and, as noted below, if we issue convertible debt the price of our common stock may well be negatively affected and our existing stockholders may suffer dilution.

Raising additional capital will cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to continue to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings and additional debt financings, and possibly also through future collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or debt securities, including convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our existing stockholders will be diluted upon conversion, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our existing stockholders.

Debt financing, if available, may also involve agreements that include restrictive covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as merging with other companies or consummating certain changes of control, acquiring other companies, engaging in new lines of business, incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, making certain investments, paying dividends, transferring or disposing of assets, amending certain material agreements, incurring additional indebtedness or enter into various specified transactions. We therefore may not be able to engage in any of the foregoing transactions unless we obtain the consent of the lender or terminate such debt agreements. Our debt agreements may also contain certain financial covenants, including achieving certain milestones and may be secured by substantially all of our assets. In the event we enter into such debt agreements, there is no guarantee that we will be able to generate sufficient cash flow or sales to pay the principal and interest under our debt agreements or to satisfy all of the financial covenants.

If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

The conversion of some or all of our currently outstanding convertible notes in shares of our common stock will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders.

The conversion of some or all of our currently outstanding convertible notes in shares of our common stock will dilute the ownership interests of existing stockholders. As of June 30, 2019, we had 10 outstanding notes convertible into up 1,810,347 shares of our common stock (based on then applicable conversion prices). Each holder of the notes has agreed to a 4.99% beneficial ownership conversion limitation (subject to certain noteholders’ ability to increase such limitation to 9.99% upon 60 days’ notice to us), and each note may not be converted during the first six-month period from the date of issuance. Any sales in the public market of the common stock issuable upon such conversion or any anticipated conversion of our convertible notes into shares of our common stock could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock.

The accounting method for convertible debt securities that may be settled in cash could have a material adverse effect on our reported financial results.

Under Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (“ASC 470-20”), we are required to separately account for the liability and equity components of our convertible notes because they may be settled entirely or partially in cash upon conversion in a manner that reflects our economic interest cost. The effect of ASC 470-20 on the accounting for our convertible notes is that the equity component is required to be included in the additional paid-in capital section of stockholders’ deficit on our consolidated balance sheet, and the value of the equity component would be treated as original issue discount for purposes of accounting for the debt component of our convertible notes. As a result, we will be required to record a greater amount of non-cash interest expense in current periods presented as a result of the amortization of the discounted carrying value of our convertible debt or notes to their face amount over the terms. We will report higher net loss in our financial results in part because ASC 470-20 will require interest to include both the current period’s amortization of the debt discount and the instrument’s coupon interest, which could adversely affect our reported or future financial results, the trading price of our common stock and the trading price of our convertible notes.

In addition, because our convertible notes may be settled entirely or partly in cash, under certain circumstances, these are currently accounted for utilizing the treasury stock method, the effect of which is that the shares issuable upon conversion are not included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share except to the extent that the conversion value exceeds their principal amount. Under the treasury stock method, for diluted earnings per share purposes, the transaction is accounted for as if the number of shares of common stock that would be necessary to settle such excess, if we elected to settle such excess in shares, are issued. We cannot be sure that the accounting standards in the future will continue to permit the use of the treasury stock method. If we are unable to use the treasury stock method in accounting for the shares issuable upon conversion of our convertible notes, then our diluted earnings per share would be adversely affected.

We maintain our cash in Australian financial institutions that are not insured.

The Company maintains its cash in banks and financial institutions in Australia. Bank deposits in Australian banks are uninsured. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts through to date.

RISKS RELATED TO THE DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES

Because PRP remains in the early stages of development and may never become commercially viable, you may lose your investment.

At present, our only product candidate, PRP, is still in preclinical development. While we are hopeful that the preclinical testing we have completed will lead to our initiating human clinical trials in 2019, as noted elsewhere we expect that it will be several years, at least, before PRP can be commercialized. Further, if clinical trials for PRP fail to produce statistically significant results, we would likely be forced to either spend several more years in development attempting to correct whatever flaws were identified in the trials, or we would have to abandon PRP altogether. Either of those contingencies, and especially the latter, would dramatically increase the amount of time before we would be able to generate any product-related revenue, and we may well be forced to cease operations. Under such circumstances, you may lose at least a portion of, and perhaps your entire, investment.

PRP may cause undesirable side effects that could negatively impact its clinical trial results or limit its use, hindering further development, subject us to possible product liability claims, and make it more difficult to commercialize PRP.

In addition to the possibility that the clinical trials we hope to initiate for PRP could demonstrate a lack of efficacy, if we alternatively identify adverse and undesirable side effects caused by it this will likely interrupt, delay or even halt our further development, or possibly limit our planned therapeutic uses for it, and may even result in adverse regulatory action by the FDA or other regulatory authorities.

Moreover, this may subject us to product liability claims by the individuals enrolled in our clinical trials; while we intend to obtain product liability insurance in connection with our clinical trials, it is possible that the potential liability of any claims against us could exceed the maximum amount of this coverage, or at least increase our premiums. Either would result in an increase in our operating expenses, in turn making it more difficult to complete our clinical development, or in the suspension or termination of the clinical trial. Any negative information concerning PRP, however unrelated to its composition or method of use, could also damage our chances to obtain regulatory approval.

Even if we are able to complete PRP’s development and receive regulatory approvals, undesirable side effects could prevent us from achieving or maintaining market acceptance of the product or substantially increase the costs and expenses of commercializing it.

Because successful development of our products is uncertain, our results of operations may be materially harmed.

Our development of PRP and future product candidates is subject to the risks of failure inherent in the development of new pharmaceutical products that are based on new technologies, including but not limited to delays in product development, clinical testing or manufacturing; unplanned and higher expenditures; adverse findings relating to safety or efficacy; failure to receive regulatory approvals; the emergence of superior or equivalent products; an inability by us or one of our collaborators to manufacture our product candidates on a commercial scale on our own, or in collaboration with third parties; and, ultimately, a failure to achieve market acceptance.

Because of these risks, our development efforts may not result in PRP, or any other product we attempt to develop, becoming commercially viable. If even one aspect of these development efforts is not successfully completed, required regulatory approvals will not be obtained, or if any approved products are not commercialized successfully, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially harmed.

A variety of factors, either alone or in concert with each other, could result in our clinical trials of PRP being delayed or unsuccessful.

While we have conducted a variety of preclinical studies, which we have concluded provide evidence to support the potential therapeutic utility of PRP, comprehensive human clinical trials in order to demonstrate the product’s safety, tolerability and efficacy will now need to be completed. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. A failure of one or more clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The outcome of preclinical testing and even early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their products.

Among the numerous unforeseen events that may occur during, or as a result of, clinical trials that alone or in concert with each other could either delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize PRP are the following:

If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of PRP beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of PRP or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may:

Any delay in, or termination of, our clinical trials may result in increased development costs, which would very likely cause the market price of our shares to decline and severely limit our ability to obtain additional financing and, ultimately, our ability to commercialize our products and generate product revenues. This in turn would likely materially harm our business, financial condition and operating results, and possibly lead us to cease operations.

If we fail to obtain regulatory approval in jurisdictions outside the United States, we will not be able to market PRP in those jurisdictions.

We intend to seek regulatory approval for PRP in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and/or other countries outside of the United States and expect that these countries will be important markets for our product, if approved. Marketing our product in these countries will require separate regulatory approvals in each market and compliance with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The regulations that apply to the conduct of clinical trials and approval procedures vary from country to country and may require additional testing. Moreover, the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval.

If, in the future, we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market PRP, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates if and when they are approved.

We do not have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have no experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for PRP or any other approved product, we must either develop a sales and marketing organization or outsource these functions to third parties. In the future, we may choose to build a focused sales and marketing infrastructure to market or co-promote some of our product candidates if and when they are approved.

There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our products on our own include:

If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenues or the profitability of these product revenues to us are likely to be lower than if we were to market and sell any products that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our products effectively. If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing PRP.

We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.

The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. We face competition with respect to our current product candidate, and will face competition with respect to any product candidates that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. There are a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of products for the treatment of the disease indications for which we are developing our product candidates. Some of these competitive products and therapies are based on scientific approaches that target and eradicate cancer stem cells to treat metastatic cancer. Potential competitors also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization.

We are developing PRP for the treatment of pancreatic, ovarian and colorectal cancer. There are a variety of available therapies marketed for cancer. In many cases, these drugs are administered in combination to enhance efficacy. Some of these drugs are branded and subject to patent protection, and others are available on a generic basis. Many of these approved drugs are well-established therapies and are widely accepted by physicians, patients and third-party payors. Insurers and other third-party payors may also encourage the use of generic products. We expect that if our product candidate is approved, it will be priced at a significant premium over competitive generic products. This may make it difficult for us to achieve our business strategy of using PRP in combination with existing therapies or replacing existing therapies with PRP.

There are also a number of products in clinical development by other parties to treat and prevent metastatic cancer. Our competitors may develop products that are more effective, safer, more convenient or less costly than any that we are developing or that would render our product candidate obsolete or non-competitive. In addition, our competitors may discover biomarkers that more efficiently measure their effectiveness to treat and prevent metastatic cancer, which may give them a competitive advantage in developing potential products. Our competitors may also obtain marketing approval from the FDA or other regulatory authorities for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours, which could result in our competitors establishing a strong market position before we are able to enter the market.

Most of our competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller and other early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs. In addition, to the extent that product or product candidates of our competitors demonstrate serious adverse side effects or are determined to be ineffective in clinical trials, the development of our product candidates could be negatively impacted.

Even if we are able to commercialize PRP, we will need to seek approval for reimbursement before it can be marketed, and it may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third-party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives, which would harm our business.

The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drug products vary widely from country to country. In the United States, recently passed legislation may significantly change the approval requirements in ways that could involve additional costs and cause delays in obtaining approvals. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain marketing approval for PRP in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of it, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of PRP in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in PRP, even after it has obtained marketing approval.

Our ability to commercialize PRP successfully also will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement for it will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications. Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products. We cannot be sure that reimbursement will be available for PRP that we commercialize and, if reimbursement is available, the level of reimbursement. Reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the price of, PRP. Obtaining reimbursement for it may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with drugs administered under the supervision of a physician. If reimbursement is not available or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize PRP.

There may be significant delays in obtaining reimbursement for newly approved drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost drugs and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. Third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and profitable payment rates from both government-funded and private payors for any approved products that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR DEPENDENCE ON THIRD PARTIES

We will depend on collaborations with third parties for the development and commercialization of PRP and other product candidates, and these collaborations may be unsuccessful.

We currently seek third-party collaborators for the development and commercialization of PRP, contract manufacturers (CMOs), contract research organizations (CROs), regulatory and development consultants, and hospitals for clinical trial sites. We intend to continue to rely on third-party collaborators for current and future product candidates for the foreseeable future. Our likely collaborators for any collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies. If we do enter into any such arrangements with any third parties, we will likely have limited control over the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators dedicate to the development or commercialization of our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenues from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators’ abilities to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements.

Collaborations involving our product candidates would pose the following risks to us:

Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner or at all. If a present or future collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, the continued pursuit and emphasis on our product development or commercialization program could be delayed, diminished or terminated.

If we are not able to establish collaborations, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans.

Our potential commercialization of PRP will require substantial additional cash to fund clinical trial and other expenses. As noted above, we may decide to collaborate with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for the development and potential commercialization of PRP and perhaps future product candidates as well.

We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of clinical trials, the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject product candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such product candidate to patients, the potential of competing products, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge and industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us for our product candidate. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators.

We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to do so, we may have to curtail the development of such product candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, 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 available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop our product candidates or bring them to market and generate product revenue.

We currently contract with a third party for the manufacture of PRP and this third party may not perform satisfactorily or at all, and our reliance on any third-party for the supply of PRP carries material risks.

We do not have any manufacturing facilities or personnel. We currently obtain all of our supply of PRP for clinical development through our Manufacturing Service Agreement (the “MSA”) with Amatsigroup, and we expect to continue to rely on Amatsigroup for the manufacture of clinical and, if necessary, commercial quantities of PRP. We anticipate that our payments to Amatsigroup under the MSA will range between $2.5 million and $5.0 million over three years, when the finished drug product is manufactured and released for clinical trials. We have spent a total of $1,689,146 as of June 30, 2019 under the MSA. The MSA shall continue for a term of three years unless extended by mutual agreement in writing. Either party to the MSA has the right to terminate the MSA by written notice to the other party if the other party commits a material breach of the MSA (subject to a 30-day cure period). If we are not current with payments to Amatsigroup and Amatsigroup terminates the MSA or suspends its manufacturing services to us, this adversely affect our supply of PRP and result in harm to our business and results of operations.

This reliance on a third party increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of PRP on hand at any given time, which could delay, prevent or impair our development efforts. We do not currently have alternative arrangements in place to supply us with PRP should Amatsigroup fail to perform for any reason. Amatsigroup may also fail to comply with current good manufacturing practices (“cGMP”) regulations or similar regulatory requirements outside the United States. Any such failure to comply with applicable regulations could result in sanctions being imposed on Amatsigroup, and possibly us as well. These sanctions could include fines, injunctions, civil penalties, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of PRP, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could significantly and adversely affect our supply of PRP and result in harm to our business and results of operations.

PRP and any other product that we may develop may compete with other product candidates and products for access to manufacturing facilities. Although we believe that there are several potential alternative manufacturers who could manufacture PRP, we may incur added costs and delays in identifying and qualifying any such replacement, as well as producing the drug product. In addition, we would then have to enter into technical transfer agreements and share our know-how with the new third-party manufacturers, which can be time-consuming and may result in delays.

Even if we were able to quickly establish agreements with other third-party manufacturers, our general reliance on third-party manufacturers entails many of the same risks as our agreement with Amatsigroup, including:

Our current reliance on the services of Amatsigroup and current and anticipated future dependence upon others for the manufacture of PRP may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to commercialize any products that receive marketing approval on a timely and competitive basis.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

If we fail to comply with our obligations under any intellectual property licenses with third parties, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.

We are currently a party to a joint commercialization agreement with the University of Bath, and hope to enter into other license agreements in the future. If we fail to comply with the obligations included in any future license we may enter into in the future, such licensors may have the right to terminate these agreements, in which event we might not be able to market any product that is covered by the agreements, or to convert the exclusive licenses to non-exclusive licenses, which could materially adversely affect the value of the product candidate being developed under these license agreements. As a general matter, termination of license agreements or reduction or elimination of our licensed rights may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated licenses with less favorable terms.

If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our technology and products, or if any licensors are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for the technology or products that we may license from them in the future, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and products may be adversely affected.

We have obtained patent protection for PRP in twenty-nine countries, and have a patent application either pending or under examination in two others, Brazil and Canada. Our future success depends in large part on our and, as applicable, our licensors’, ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology. We cannot be certain that patents will be issued in those countries where our applications are still under examination.

The patent process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.

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 patent rights are 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. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned or licensed patents or pending patent applications, or that we or our licensors were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions.

Assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, in the United States, for patents that have an effective filing date prior to March 15, 2013, the first to make the claimed invention is entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application is entitled to the patent. In March 2013, the United States transitioned to a first inventor to file system in which, assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, the first inventor to file a patent application will be entitled to the patent. We may be subject to a third party preissuance submission of prior art to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter parties review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights.

Even if our owned and licensed patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our patents. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims, which can be expensive and time consuming. In addition, in an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, our licensors may have rights to file and prosecute such claims and we are reliant on them.

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 the success of our business.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability and the ability of our collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell PRP and any other 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 use of certain of the patent rights owned by or licensed to 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 and their European Union and global equivalents. 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. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

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 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 stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be 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.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and products, we also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position would be harmed.

RISKS RELATED TO REGULATORY APPROVAL OF OUR PRODUCT CANDIDATES AND OTHER LEGAL COMPLIANCE MATTERS

If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals, we will not be able to commercialize PRP, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.

PRP and the activities associated with its development and commercialization, including design, testing, manufacture, safety, efficacy, recordkeeping, labeling, storage, approval, advertising, promotion, sale and distribution, are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA and other regulatory agencies in the United States and by comparable authorities in other countries. Failure to obtain marketing approval for PRP will prevent us from commercializing it. We have not received approval to market PRP or any other product candidate from regulatory authorities in any jurisdiction. We have only limited experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain marketing approvals and expect to rely on third-party contract research organizations to assist us in this process. Securing FDA approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to the FDA for each therapeutic indication to establish PRP’s safety and efficacy. Securing FDA approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the FDA. PRP may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining marketing approval or prevent or limit commercial use.

The process of obtaining marketing approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive, may take many years if additional clinical trials are required, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. Changes in marketing approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application, may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application. The FDA has substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent marketing approval of a product candidate. Any marketing approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.

If we experience delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of PRP, the commercial prospects for PRP may be harmed and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.

Failure to obtain marketing approval in international jurisdictions would prevent PRP from being marketed abroad.

We intend to seek regulatory approval for PRP in a number of countries outside of the United States and expect that these countries will be important markets for it, if approved. In order to market and sell our products in the European Union, the UK, Australia and many other jurisdictions, we or our third-party collaborators must obtain separate marketing approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We or these third parties may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. We may not be able to file for marketing approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in any market.

PRP or any other product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our products, when and if any of them are approved.

PRP, or any other product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such product, will be subject to continual requirements of and review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, cGMP requirements relating to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. Even if marketing approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved labeling. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use and if we do not market our products for their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing.

In addition, later discovery of previously unknown problems with our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:

Our current attempts to both expand our patent protection and seek regulatory approvals from multiple countries, as well as our future relationships with customers and third-party payors will be subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse and other laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.

As we seek to obtain patent protection from multiple jurisdictions and eventually to seek marketing approval for PRP in those counties, we are and will continue to be subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which makes it illegal for any U.S. business, even one like Propanc that is physically located in another country, to influence foreign officials with personal payments and rewards.

Moreover, healthcare providers, physicians and third-party payors will play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of PRP and any other product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. Our future arrangements with third-party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, include the following:

Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines and exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs.

Recently enacted and future legislation, particularly in the United States, may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize PRP and affect the prices we may obtain.

In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions there have been many legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval.

In the United States, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“Medicare Modernization Act”), changed the way Medicare covers and pays for pharmaceutical products. The legislation expanded Medicare coverage for drug purchases by the elderly and introduced a new reimbursement methodology based on average sales prices for physician-administered drugs. In addition, this legislation provided authority for limiting the number of drugs that will be covered in any therapeutic class. Cost reduction initiatives and other provisions of this legislation could decrease the coverage and price that we receive for any approved products. While the Medicare Modernization Act applies only to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Therefore, any reduction in reimbursement that results from the Medicare Modernization Act may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.

In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Affordable Care Act”), a sweeping law intended to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for health care and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. Among other things, the Affordable Care Act revised the definition of “average manufacturer price” for reporting purposes, which could increase the amount of Medicaid drug rebates to states, and it imposed a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products.

At present, the future of the Affordable Care Act is the subject of significant debate in the U.S. Congress, with proposals to either partially or entirely repeal it being considered and the likelihood that there will be a new law to replace it is uncertain. It is not yet possible for us to determine the impact, if any, the enactment of any of these proposals will have on our future ability to obtain approval of or commercialize PRP.

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union could significantly increase regulatory burdens on obtaining approvals for PRP within the UK.

On March 29, 2017, the UK invoked Article 50 of Lisbon Treaty to initiate complete withdrawal from the European Union to a date yet to be determined, and therefore, the regulatory drug approval process in that country may be significantly different from the current drug regulatory policies in the European Union. We currently are considering holding our clinical trials in the UK, among other countries, and therefore this event could significantly impact our efforts to successfully bring PRP to market. It is not yet possible for us to determine the impact of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, but any additional costs or delays in obtaining approvals may hinder our ability to conduct clinical trials or market PRP in the UK.

RISKS RELATING TO EMPLOYEE MATTERS AND MANAGING GROWTH

Our future success depends on our ability to retain our chief executive officer and our chief scientific officer and, as we continue to develop and grow as a company, to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are highly dependent on our management team, specifically Mr. James Nathanielsz, our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Acting Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and a director, and Dr. Julian Kenyon, our director who also serves as our chief scientific officer in a non-executive officer capacity. While we have a current employment agreement with Mr. Nathanielsz and a director agreement with Dr. Kenyon, both such employment agreement and director agreement permit each of the respective parties thereto to terminate such agreements upon notice. If we lose this key employee and/or the services of our other director, our business will suffer and we may have to cease operations.

Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our future success, as we continue to develop PRP and attempt to grow as a company. We may not be able to attract and retain these personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors, including our scientific co-founders, may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us.

We expect to expand our development, regulatory and future sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of drug development, regulatory affairs and sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The physical expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that, if not properly remediated, could result in material misstatements in our consolidated financial statements in future periods.

In connection with the audits of our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, we identified certain deficiencies relating to our internal control over financial reporting that constitute a material weakness under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”). The PCAOB defines a material weakness as a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis.

The following material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting continued to exist at June 30, 2019:

We outsource the functions that would normally be performed by a principal financial officer to assist us in implementing the necessary financial controls over the financial reporting and the utilization of internal management and staff to effectuate these controls.

We believe that these material weaknesses primarily relate, in part, to our lack of sufficient staff with appropriate training in U.S. GAAP and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) rules and regulations with respect to financial reporting functions, and the lack of robust accounting systems, as well as the lack of sufficient resources to hire such staff and implement these accounting systems.

We plan to take a number of actions in the future to correct these material weaknesses including, but not limited to, establishing an audit committee of our board of directors comprised of at least two independent directors, adding experienced accounting and financial personnel and retaining third-party consultants to review our internal controls and recommend improvements, subject to receiving sufficient additional capital. If we receive sufficient capital, we hope to hire a part- or full-time chief financial officer as the first step in building out our accounting department. We will need to take additional measures to fully mitigate these issues, and the measures we have taken, and expect to take, to improve our internal controls may not be sufficient to (1) address the issues identified, (2) ensure that our internal controls are effective or (3) ensure that the identified material weakness or other material weaknesses will not result in a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements. In addition, other material weaknesses may be identified in the future. If we are unable to correct deficiencies in internal controls in a timely manner, our ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information accurately and within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC will be adversely affected. This failure could negatively affect the market price and trading liquidity of our common stock, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, subject us to civil and criminal investigations and penalties, and generally materially and adversely impact our business and financial condition.

We do not have any independent directors, which represents a potential conflict of interest, and helps create a material weakness in our disclosure controls and procedures as well as our internal control over financial reporting.

We do not have any independent directors, and no audit or compensation committees that in a larger company would be expected to be comprised of independent directors. The functions of these committees, as well as other important functions that would normally be carried out by independent directors, are performed by our directors, one of whom also serves as principal executive and financial officer of the Company, resulting in an inherent and obvious conflict of interest.

Also, our lack of independent directors and an audit committee necessitates that we do not currently have a director who qualifies as an audit committee financial expert. This fact, together with our additional lack of in-house accounting personnel knowledgeable in debt and equity transactions and our extremely small administrative staff that makes it impossible to segregate critical duties, combine to create material weaknesses in both our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting.

If we fail to implement and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.

Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. In addition, any testing by us conducted in connection with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or the subsequent testing by our independent registered public accounting firm, if and when required, may reveal additional deficiencies in our internal controls over financial reporting that are deemed to be material weaknesses or that may require prospective or retroactive changes to our consolidated financial statements or identify other areas for further attention or improvement. If in the future we identify other material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, including at some of our acquired companies, if we are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the stock exchange on which our securities are then listed, the SEC, or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.

Additionally, we currently do not have an internal audit group nor an audit committee of our board of directors, and we will eventually need to hire additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge to have effective internal controls for financial reporting.

We will continue to incur significant increased costs as a result of operating as a public company.

As a public company, we will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. For example, we are subject to mandatory reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which require, among other things, that we continue to file with the SEC annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. We have incurred and will continue to incur costs associated with the preparation and filing of these SEC reports. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as rules subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and national stock exchanges have imposed various other requirements on public companies. Stockholder activism, the current political environment and the current high level of government intervention and regulatory reform may lead to substantial new regulations and disclosure obligations, which may lead to additional compliance costs and impact (in ways we cannot currently anticipate) the manner in which we operate our business. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations have and will continue to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we will incur additional expense to increase our director and officer liability insurance.

In addition, if and when we cease to be a smaller reporting company and become subject to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we will be required to furnish an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with Section 404 within the prescribed time period, we will continue to be engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to dedicate substantially greater internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that our independent registered public accounting firm, when required, will not be able to conclude within the prescribed timeframe that our internal control over financial reporting is effective as required by Section 404. This could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements.

Judgments that our stockholders obtain against us may not be enforceable.

Substantially all of our assets are located outside of the United States. In addition, our Chief Executive Officer, James Nathanielsz, resides in Australia and our other director, Dr. Julian Kenyon, resides in the UK. As a result, it may be difficult for you to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons. It is uncertain whether the courts of Australia or the UK would recognize or enforce judgments of the United States or state courts against us or such persons predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the laws of the United States or any state.

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RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK

The market price of our common stock may continue to be highly volatile, you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the public offering price and you could lose all or part of your investment.

The trading price of our common stock may continue to be highly volatile. For example, the closing price of our stock during a short period of time from August 24, 2018 to September 5, 2018, fluctuated between a low of $2.00 and a high of $129.95. Our stock price could continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including the following:

The stock markets in general, and the small-cap biotech market, in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations in recent years that have significantly affected the quoted prices of the securities of many companies, including companies in our industry. The changes often appear to occur without regard to specific operating performance. The price of our shares of common stock could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with our company and these fluctuations could materially reduce our share price. Broad market, clinical trial results and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.

Currently there is a limited public market for our common stock, and we cannot predict the future prices or the amount of liquidity of our common stock.

Currently, there is a limited public market for our common stock. Our common stock is quoted on the OTCQB under the symbol “PPCB.” However, the OTCQB is not a liquid market in contrast to the major stock exchanges. We cannot assure you as to the liquidity or the future market prices of our common stock if a market does develop. If an active market for our common stock does not develop, the fair market value of our common stock could be materially adversely affected. We cannot predict the future prices of our common stock.

The designation of our common stock as a “penny stock” would limit the liquidity of our common stock.

Our common stock may be deemed a “penny stock” (as that term is defined under Rule 3a51-1 of the Exchange Act) in any market that may develop in the future. Generally, a “penny stock” is a common stock that is not listed on a securities exchange and trades for less than $5.00 a share. Prices often are not available to buyers and sellers and the market may be very limited. Broker-dealers who sell penny stocks must provide purchasers of these stocks with a standardized risk-disclosure document prepared by the SEC. The document provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks involved in investing in the penny stock market. A broker must also provide purchasers with bid and offer quotations and information regarding broker and salesperson compensation and make a written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and obtain the purchaser’s written agreement to the purchase. Many brokers choose not to participate in penny stock transactions. Because of the penny stock rules, there may be less trading activity in any market that develops for our common stock in the future and stockholders are likely to have difficulty selling their shares.

Although our common stock is currently quoted on the OTCQB, if we do not meet or comply with the OTCQB’s quotation requirements, our shares would be downgraded from the OTCQB and would be traded on the OTC Pink (aka the Pink Sheets).

Although our common stock is currently quoted on the OTCQB, to be eligible to continue to be quoted on the OTCQB, among other things, our common stock is required to meet a minimum closing bid test of $0.01 per share on at least one of the prior thirty consecutive calendar days. On May 14, 2019, the OTCQB informed us that the bid price for our common stock has closed below $0.01 for more than 30 consecutive calendar days, and therefore, our common stock no longer meets the Standards for Continued Eligibility for OTCQB. The OTCQB has granted us a cure period of 90 calendar days from such date during which the minimum closing bid price of our common stock must be $0.01 or greater for ten consecutive trading days in order for our common stock to continue trading on the OTCQB.

Our management determined that a Reverse Stock Split would allow us to satisfy such minimum closing price requirement for the duration of the required period. Our Reverse Stock Split occurred on June 24, 2019, within the 90 calendar day cure period allowing the Company to meet the minimum closing bid test of $0.01 per share following the Reverse Stock Split.

Because our directors and officers currently and for the foreseeable future will continue to control our Company, it is not likely that you will be able to elect directors or have any say in the policies of our Company.

Our stockholders are not entitled to cumulative voting rights. Consequently, the election of directors and all other matters requiring stockholder approval will be decided by majority vote. Our directors and officers beneficially own less than 1.0% of our outstanding common stock. In addition, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer beneficially owns all of our preferred stock, which entitles him, as a holder of Series A preferred stock, to vote on all matters submitted or required to be submitted to a vote of the stockholders, except election and removal of directors, and each share entitles him to five hundred votes per share of Series A preferred stock, and as a holder of Series B preferred stock, to voting power equivalent of the number of votes equal to the total number of shares of common stock outstanding as of the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at each meeting of our stockholders and entitled to vote on all matters submitted or required to be submitted to a vote of our stockholders. Due to such a disproportionate voting power, new investors will not be able to affect a change in our business or management, and therefore, stockholders would have limited recourse as a result of decisions made by management.

Moreover, this preferred stock ownership may discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us, which in turn could reduce our stock price or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over our stock price.

Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase common stock could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our stock price to decline.

We are authorized to issue up to 100,000,000 shares of our common stock, $0.001 par value per share. We have the right to raise additional capital or incur borrowings from third parties to finance our business. The board of directors has the authority, without the consent of any of the shareholders, to cause us to issue more shares of our common stock and/or securities convertible into our common stock. We will likely issue additional shares of our common stock and/or such securities in the future and such future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase our common stock could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders. We may sell common stock, convertible securities and other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner as we may determine from time to time. If we sell any such securities in subsequent transactions, our stockholders may be materially diluted. New investors in such subsequent transactions could gain rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock.

In the future, we may issue additional preferred stock without the approval of our stockholders, which could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us and could depress our stock price.

We are authorized to issue up to 1,500,005 shares of our preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, having such rights, preferences and privileges as are determined by our board of directors in their discretion. We have the right to raise additional capital or incur borrowings from third parties to finance our business. The board of directors has the authority, without the consent of any of the stockholders, to cause us to issue more shares of our preferred stock. Our board of directors may issue, and has in the past issued, without a vote of our stockholders, one or more series of our preferred stock with such rights and preferences as it determines. This could permit our board of directors to issue preferred stock to investors who support us and our management and permit our management to retain control of our business. Additionally, issuance of preferred stock could block an acquisition which could result in both a drop in our stock price and a decline in interest of our common stock.

Since we intend to retain any earnings for development of our business for the foreseeable future, you will likely not receive any dividends for the foreseeable future, and capital appreciation, if any, will be the source of gain for our stockholders.

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends or distributions on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain our future earnings to support operations and to finance expansion and therefore we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for our stockholders for the foreseeable future.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

Section 382 (“Section 382”) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), contains rules that limit the ability of a company that undergoes an ownership change to utilize its net operating losses (“NOLs”) and tax credits existing as of the date of such ownership change. Under the rules, such an ownership change is generally any change in ownership of more than 50% of a company’s stock within a rolling three-year period. The rules generally operate by focusing on changes in ownership among stockholders considered by the rules as owning, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of the stock of a company and any change in ownership arising from new issuances of stock by the company. As a result of this Section 382 limitation, any ownership changes as defined by Section 382 may limit the amount of NOL carryforwards that could be utilized annually to offset future taxable income.

As a smaller reporting company, we are subject to scaled disclosure requirements that may make it more challenging for investors to analyze our results of operations and financial prospects.

As a “smaller reporting company,” we (i) are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosures in our filings, (ii) are exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that independent registered public accounting firms provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting and (iii) have certain other decreased disclosure obligations in our filings with the SEC, including being required to provide only two years of audited financial statements in annual reports. Consequently, it may be more challenging for investors to analyze our results of operations and financial prospects.

We will remain a smaller reporting company until the beginning of a fiscal year in which we had a public float of $250 million held by non-affiliates as of the last business day of the second quarter of the prior fiscal year, assuming our common stock is registered under Section 12 of the Exchange Act on the applicable evaluation date. Even if we remain a smaller reporting company, if our public float exceeds $75, we will become subject to the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

***

The risks above do not necessarily comprise of all those associated with an investment in our Company. This Annual Report contains forward looking statements that involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, those set out above.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

Our principal executive office is located at 302, 6 Butler Street, Camberwell, VIC, 3124 Australia, which we lease from Horizon Pty Ltd., a related party, of which Mr. Nathanielsz, our chief executive officer, chief financial officer and a director, and his wife are owners and directors. The lease has a five-year term commencing May 4, 2016, and we are obligated to pay $3,300 AUD or $2,325 USD (depending on exchange rate), inclusive of tax, in rent per month

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

A complaint against us, dated September 26, 2019, has been filed by Foley Shechter Ablovatskiy (“Foley Shechter”), our former counsel, seeking $150,000 for legal fees, among other fees. The Company believes these claims to be unfounded and the Company is continuing to vigorously defend itself against this lawsuit and is preparing to file an answer with the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of New York, together with counterclaims against the plaintiff, including, without limitation, malpractice claims, arising out of Foley Shechter’s grossly negligent mishandling of the matter and excessive billing.

We have received a demand letter, dated October 10, 2019, from Regal Consulting, LLC (“Regal”), our former consultant. Notwithstanding the termination of our agreement with Regal, Regal is demanding approximately $400,000 and 60,000 shares of our common stock as payment for services that Regal purports to have performed, even though no timely invoices were sent and no descriptions of the services were ever provided. The Company is continuing to vigorously defend itself against Regal’s unsubstantiated claims.

In addition to the above, from time to time, we may be involved in litigation in the ordinary course of business. Other than as set forth above, we are not currently involved in any litigation that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Other than as set forth above, to our knowledge, there is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or by any court, public board, government agency, self-regulatory organization or body pending or, to the knowledge of our executive officers or any of our subsidiaries, threatened against or affecting our Company, our common stock, any of our subsidiaries or any of our subsidiaries’ officers or directors in their capacities as such, in which an adverse decision could have a material adverse effect.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not applicable.

PART II

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

Market Information

Our common stock is quoted under the ticker symbol “PPCB” on the OTCQB. Only a limited market exists for our common stock. There is no assurance that a regular trading market will develop, or if developed, that it will be sustained. Therefore, a stockholder may be unable to resell his securities in our Company.

On October 2, 2019, the last reported sales price per share of our common stock on the OTCQB was $0.98.

Penny Stock

The SEC has adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in penny stocks. Penny stocks are generally equity securities with a market price of less than $5.00, other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on the NASDAQ system, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system. The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC, that: (a) contains a description of the nature and level of risk in the market for penny stocks in both public offerings and secondary trading; (b) contains a description of the broker’s or dealer’s duties to the customer and of the rights and remedies available to the customer with respect to a violation of such duties or other requirements of the securities laws; (c) contains a brief, clear, narrative description of a dealer market, including bid and ask prices for penny stocks and the significance of the spread between the bid and ask price; (d) contains a toll-free telephone number for inquiries on disciplinary actions; (e) defines significant terms in the disclosure document or in the conduct of trading in penny stocks; and (f) contains such other information and is in such form, including language, type size and format, as the SEC shall require by rule or regulation.

The broker-dealer also must provide, prior to effecting any transaction in a penny stock, the customer with (a) bid and offer quotations for the penny stock; (b) the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction; (c) the number of shares to which such bid and ask prices apply, or other comparable information relating to the depth and liquidity of the market for such stock; and (d) a monthly account statement showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account.

In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, the broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written acknowledgment of the receipt of a risk disclosure statement, a written agreement as to transactions involving penny stocks, and a signed and dated copy of a written suitability statement.

These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the trading activity for our common stock. Therefore, stockholders may have difficulty selling our securities.

Number of Holders

As of October, 2, 2019, we had 72 record holders of our common stock holding 1,170,026 shares, one holder of our Series A Preferred Stock holding 500,000 shares and one holder of our Series B Preferred Stock holding one share.

Dividends

We have not paid any cash dividends to our stockholders. The declaration of any future cash dividends is at the discretion of our Board and depends upon our earnings, if any, our capital requirements and financial position, and general economic conditions. It is our present intention not to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future, but rather to reinvest earnings, if any, in our business operations.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

There were no unregistered sales of the Company’s equity securities during the year ended June 30, 2019 that were not previously disclosed in a Current Report on Form 8-K or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Settlement of Accounts Payable for Shares of Common Stock

On February 13, 2017, we entered into an agreement with a third party whereby we agreed to issue and deliver to the third party, in lieu of payment of $50,000 of existing accounts payable, shares of our common stock. On March 2, 2017, we issued 34 shares of its common stock at a per share price of $1,500.00 in consideration for the $50,000 in accounts payable.

Issuance of Shares of Common Stock upon Conversion

Fiscal Year 2016

During our first quarter ended September 30, 2015, we issued 64 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $2,445 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $155,760 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our second quarter ended December 31, 2015, we issued 501 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $2,170.00 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $970,322 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our third quarter ended March 31, 2016, we issued 1,315 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $1,480.00 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $1,656,749 underlying certain notes converted during such period.

During our fourth quarter ended June 30, 2016, we issued 909 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $2,160 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $2,116,413 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

Fiscal Year 2017

During our first quarter ended September 30, 2016, we issued 124 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $1,240 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $153,610 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our second quarter ended December 31, 2016, we issued 511 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $865 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $424,374 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our third quarter ended March 31, 2017, we issued 457 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $760 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $356,257 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our fourth quarter ended June 30, 2017, we issued 1,378 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $345 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $472,495 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

Fiscal Year 2018

During our first quarter ended September 30, 2017, we issued 3,536 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $135 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $432,791 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our second quarter ended December 31, 2017, we issued 22,664 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $45 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $945,137 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our third quarter ended March 31, 2018, we issued 24,845 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $35 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $796,772 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our fourth quarter ended June 30, 2018, we issued 30,750 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $20 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $595,488 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

Fiscal Year 2019

During our first quarter ended September 30, 2018, we issued 258,285 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $5 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $1,413,317 underlying certain convertible notes converted during such period.

During our second quarter ended December 31, 2018, we issued 127,684 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $10 as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $1,095,100 underlying certain outstanding convertible notes converted during such period.

During our third quarter ended March 31, 2019, we issued 140,673 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $4.20, as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $583,331 underlying certain outstanding convertible notes converted during such period.

During our fourth quarter ended June 30, 2019, we issued 177,615 shares of our common stock at an average conversion price of $1.46, as a result of the conversion of principal and interest in the aggregate amount of $259,034 underlying certain outstanding convertible notes converted during such period.

We had 3,409,692 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuances based on lender note conversion requirements pursuant to underlying financing documents at June 30, 2019.

Other Issuance of Shares of Common Stock

On October 5, 2018, we issued 7,701 shares of our common stock to L2 Capital as the commitment fee under the L2 Equity Purchase Agreement.

Issuance of Restricted Stock Units

On May 14, 2019, our board of directors approved a grant of an aggregate of 78,000 restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to Mr. Nathanielsz, our Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, acting Chief Financial Officer and a director. 39,000 of such RSUs shall vest on the one-year anniversary of the date of the grant, subject to Mr. Nathanielsz being employed by us on such vesting date. The remaining 39,000 RSUs shall vest based on the Company achieving certain milestones as set forth in Mr. Nathanielsz’s Amended and Restated Employment Agreement and summarized elsewhere in this Annual Report. The fair value of the granted RSUs at such grant date was $4.25 per RSU or $331,500 in total based on the closing price of the shares of our common stock on the date of the grant. On May 14, 2019, our board of directors also approved a grant of an aggregate of 39,000 RSUs to Dr. Kenyon, our Chief Scientific Officer and a director. 19,500 of such RSUs shall vest on the one-year anniversary of the date of the grant, subject to Dr. Kenyon being employed by us on such vesting date. The remaining 19,500 RSUs shall vest based on the Company achieving certain milestones as set forth in Dr. Kenyon’s Amended and Restated Services Agreement and summarized elsewhere in this Annual Report. The fair value of the granted RSUs at such grant date was $4.25 per RSU or $165,750 in total based on the closing price of the shares of our common stock on the date of the grant.

Issuance of Options

As of June 30, 2019, we had entered into agreements to grant options to purchase 1,144 shares of our common stock, with a weighted average exercise price per share of $76.

On April 14, 2016, our board of directors approved a grant of 572 stock options, with an exercise price of $3,750 (market value of the shares of our common stock on such grant date), to each of Mr. Nathanielsz, our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and a director, and Dr. Kenyon, our non-executive director. 191 of such options vested on such grant date and expire on April 14, 2021, 191 of such options vested on April 14, 2017 (first anniversary of such grant date) and expire on April 14, 2021 and 191 of such options vested on April 14, 2018 (second anniversary of such grant date) and expire on April 14, 2021. The fair value of each grant of the 572 options at such grant date was $1,962,440 (aggregate total of $3,924,880).

On May 14, 2019, our board of directors approved a grant of 39,000 stock options to Mr. Nathanielsz, with an exercise price of $4.675 per share, which shall vest annually over a period of three years from the date of the grant, provided, that on each such vesting date Mr. Nathanielsz is employed by us and subject to the other provisions of his Amended and Restated Employment Agreement. On May 14, 2019, our board of directors also approved a grant of 19,500 stock options to Dr. Kenyon, with an exercise price of $4.25 per share, which shall vest annually over a period of three years from the date of the grant, provided, that on each such vesting date Dr. Kenyon is employed by us and subject to the other provisions of his Amended and Restated Services Agreement.

Issuance of Warrants

In connection with the consulting agreement, dated May 7, 2015, we issued to a consultant 5-year warrants to purchase 27 shares of our common with an exercise price of $3,750 per share.

In connection with the consulting agreement, dated May 21, 2015, we issued to a consultant 5-year warrants to purchase 8 shares of our common stock with an exercise price of $8,750 per share.

On October 28, 2015, pursuant to a convertible debenture, we issued 4-year warrants to purchase 210 shares of our common stock with an exercise price of $75,000 per share.

In connection with the consulting agreement, dated November 11, 2015, on February 22, 2016, we issued to a consultant 5-year warrants to purchase 32 shares of our common stock with an exercise price of $5,625 per share.

On July 8, 2016, the 2015 Warrant to purchase 210 shares of our common stock issued to Delafield Limited Investments (“Delafield”) was fully exercised at a price of $1,500 per share for a total of $314,286 in connection with the Letter Agreement, dated July 1, 2016, entered into with Delafield.

On August 3, 2016, pursuant to the Letter Agreement, dated August 3, 2016 (the “August Letter Agreement”), entered into with Delafield we issued warrants to purchase 1,920 shares of our common stock. 1,600 of these warrants had exercise prices ranging from $1,500 to $2,500 per share and expired five months from the date of issuance. 320 of these warrants had an exercise price of $12,500 per share and expired two years from the date of issuance. These warrants were subsequently cancelled.

On August 18, 2016, pursuant to the August Letter Agreement, warrants to purchase 100 shares of our common stock issued to Delafield were exercised at a price of $1,500 per share under the first tranche of the Five Month Warrant or $150,000 in the aggregate. These shares were subsequently cancelled.

On November 9, 2016, we entered into an agreement (the “November Agreement”) to adjust the exercise price of a warrant, issued on September 30, 2013, to purchase 24 shares of our common stock. Under the terms of the November Agreement, the exercise price for the shares underlying the warrant was reduced to $1,440 per share. The November Agreement did not affect the remaining terms of the warrant.

On December 12, 2016, pursuant to the December Letter Agreement, dated December 2, 2016, entered into with Delafield, we issued a 2-year warrant to purchase 208 shares of our common stock with an exercise price of $6,250 per share.

As of June 30, 2019, there were 59 warrants outstanding and exercisable with expiration dates commencing May 2020 and continuing through November 2020, with a weighted average exercise price per share of $4,765.

Except as otherwise noted, the securities in the transactions describe above were sold in reliance on the exemption from registration provided in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act for transactions not involving any public offering. Each of the persons acquiring the foregoing securities was an accredited investor (as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D) and confirmed the foregoing and acknowledged, in writing, that the securities must be acquired and held for investment. All certificates evidencing the shares sold bore a restrictive legend. No underwriter participated in the offer and sale of these securities, and no commission or other remuneration was paid or given directly or indirectly in connection therewith. The proceeds from these sales were used for general corporate purposes.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data.

Not applicable to smaller reporting companies.

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

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our business and results of operations in conjunction with the information set forth under Part I, Item 1A “Risks Factors,” and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto appearing under Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report. Our discussion includes forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. See “Forward-Looking Statements” on page 3 of this Annual Report. As used herein, references to the “Company,” “Propanc,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Propanc Biopharma, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiary, unless otherwise indicated.

U.S. Dollars are denoted herein by “USD,” “$” and “dollars”.

Overview

We were incorporated in the state of Delaware as Propanc Health Group Corporation on November 23, 2010. In January 2011, to reorganize our Company, we acquired all of the outstanding shares of Propanc PTY LTD, an Australian corporation, on a one-for-one basis and Propanc PTY LTD became our wholly-owned subsidiary. Effective April 20, 2017, we changed our name to “Propanc Biopharma, Inc.” to better reflect our current stage of operations and development.

We are a development-stage healthcare company that is currently focused on developing new cancer treatments for patients suffering from pancreatic, ovarian and colorectal cancer. Utilizing our scientific and oncology consultants, we have developed a rational, composite formulation of anti-cancer compounds, which together exert a number of effects designed to control or prevent tumors from recurring and spreading through the body. Our lead product candidate, PRP, is a variation upon our novel formulation and involves pro-enzymes, the inactive precursors of enzymes.

As a result of positive early indications of the anti-cancer effects of our technology, over the last 12-18 months we have conducted successful pre-clinical studies on PRP. Subject to us receiving sufficient financing, we plan to begin our Investigational Medicinal Product Dossier, study proposal and Investigator’s Brochure in the second half of 2019 calendar year. Our plan is to then commence our study preparation process with the contract research organization, analytical lab and trial site(s) selection and to begin our clinical trial application for PRP (“CTA”) compilation in the third calendar quarter of 2019 and complete the CTA compilation and submit the CTA in the fourth calendar quarter of 2019. In January 2020, we plan to begin the preparation of logistics and trial site initiation visits. Subject to raising additional sufficient capital, we subsequently plan to commence a First-In-Human (FIH), Phase Ib study in patients with advanced solid tumors, evaluating the safety, pharmacokinetics and anti-tumor efficacy of PRP in the first half of 2020 calendar year, which study we hope to complete within twelve months thereafter. We intend to develop our PRP to treat early-stage cancer and pre-cancerous diseases and as a preventative measure for patients at risk of developing cancer based on genetic screening.

To date, we have generated no revenue, have no cancer treatment products available to market and have no products which have reached the clinical trial stage. We require substantial additional financing to continue to test and commercialize PRP.

Recent Developments

Business Developments

Initiation of Development of a Bio-Analytical Assay ― In March 2019, we announced that we have initiated development of a bio-analytical assay intended to quantify the active ingredients of our lead product candidate, PRP, in preparation for human trials, planned for the beginning of the 2020 calendar year. The work will be conducted by a specialist Contract Research Organization with extensive knowledge in the development of functional assays for different bio-therapeutics. PRP is a solution of two proenzymes, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, administered by I.V. injection. Development of the bio-analytical assay will be an important step towards the clinical development of PRP, as we consider the possible sites to conduct a First-In-Human study in advanced cancer patients, possibly in Europe, specifically the UK, or at a prominent cancer hospital in Australia, with significant experience in early stage clinical development. Attractive R&D tax incentive benefits could be gained by undertaking the trial in Australia, as well as utilizing world-class facilities dedicated to treating and caring for people with cancer. We will investigate selected clinical trial sites more thoroughly as we commence preparation of a clinical trial application for PRP.

USPTO Notice of Allowance ― In March 2019, we announced that we have received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) confirming composition of matter claims involving trypsinogen and chymotryosinogen have been allowed. The additional composition claims are a continuation from the original foundation patent in the U.S. and as a result, both method of treatment and composition claims will protect PRP, our lead product candidate. A Notice of Allowance is issued by the USPTO to indicate that it believes an invention qualifies for a patent. The reasons for allowance stipulated by the USPTO examiner stated that the scientific declarations presented establishes that compositions comprising trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen exhibit a synergistic ability to inhibit the growth of various cancer cell lines, and that this effect would be unexpected to one of ordinary skill in the art, thus concluding the claims were patentable.

Reverse Stock Split ― In March 2019, our board of directors and stockholders holding majority of the outstanding voting power of our capital stock approved for the following actions to be taken by our Company: (i) at the discretion of our Board, to carry out a reverse stock split of our common stock at a reverse stock split ratio in the range of between 1-for-150 and 1-for-500 (the “Reverse Stock Split”), which specific ratio will be determined by our Board at its sole discretion, with a corresponding pro-rata decrease of the authorized number of shares of our Common Stock; and (ii) (2) to fix the number of authorized shares of our common stock after the Reverse Stock Split at 100,000,000 shares, which change will effected in connection with the consummation of the Reverse Stock Split. Our Board has the authority, but not the obligation, in its sole discretion and without further action on the part of our stockholders, to select the ratio for the Reverse Stock Split (not to exceed 1-for-500) and to effect the Reverse Stock Split. On May 25, 2019, our Board determined that the reverse stock split ratio should be 1-for-500. The Reverse Stock Split, at a ratio of 1-for-500, occurred on June 24, 2019.

Partnership with University of Jaén ― In January 2019, we announced that a cooperation agreement has been entered into between the University of Jaén and our Company to commence the POP1 joint drug discovery program to be co-funded by both parties. The agreement coincides with the appointment of research scientist, Mr. Aitor González, to lead the drug discovery and research activities over the next 3 to 4 years. The objective of the program is to identify and develop suitable backup compounds to our lead product candidate, PRP.As part of the agreement, Macarena Perán, Ph.D. and Julian Kenyon, M.D. have been appointed as joint supervisors, representing the University and our Company, respectively. The program involves advancing new compounds through a drug screening process, followed by preclinical and early stage clinical development. As the drug candidate progresses along the development pathway, the collaboration will also involve the Universities of Granada and Jaén, as well as Granada and Almeria Hospitals, which are members of FIBAO, a Public Health Foundation, based in Granada, Spain, committed to assisting commercial partners with the development and commercialization of innovative technologies designed to benefit humankind.

In December 2018, we announced that our foundation patent application has been granted by the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Design and Trademarks, India. The foundation patent, which covers our lead product candidate, PRP, pioneers the discovery of a pharmaceutical composition for treating cancer via a combination of trypsinogen and/or chymotrypsinogen pancreatic proenzymes. As of June 30, 2019, the foundation patent has been granted in the USA, Europe (including Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Turkey and the United Kingdom), China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong and more recently, India. It is presently under examination in Canada and Brazil.

Financing Activities

In February 2019, we entered into the Equity Purchase Agreement (the “Equity Purchase Agreement”) with Oasis Capital, LLC, an institutional accredited investor (“Oasis Capital”) pursuant to which Oasis Capital committed to purchase up to $10,000,000 worth of shares of our common stock (the “Equity Line”).

Effective May 23, 2019, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with Redstart Holdings Corp. (“Redstart”), pursuant to which Redstart purchased a convertible promissory note (the “May 2019 Redstart Note”) from us in the aggregate principal amount of $133,000, such principal and the interest thereon convertible into shares of our common stock at the option of Redstart. The transactions contemplated by the securities purchase agreement closed on or about May 30, 2019. We intend to use the net proceeds ($130,000) from this financing for general working capital purposes.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Below is a discussion of our more subjective accounting estimation processes for purposes of explaining (i) the methodology used in calculating the estimates, (ii) the inherent uncertainties pertaining to such estimates, and (iii) the possible effects of a significant variance in actual experience, from that of the estimate, on our financial condition. Estimates involve numerous assumptions that, if incorrect, could create a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations and financial condition.

Reference is frequently made herein to the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”). This is the source of authoritative US GAAP recognized by the FASB to be applied to non-governmental entities. Each ASC reference in this filing is presented with a three-digit number, which represents its Topic. As necessary for explanation and as applicable, an ASC topic may be followed with a two-digit subtopic, a two-digit section or a two-or-three digit paragraph.

Foreign Currency Translation and Comprehensive Income (Loss): Our functional currency is the AUD. For financial reporting purposes, the Australian Dollar (“AUD”) has been translated into USD as the reporting currency. Assets and liabilities are translated at the exchange rate in effect at the balance sheet date. Revenues and expenses are translated at the average rate of exchange prevailing during the reporting period. Equity transactions are translated at each historical transaction date spot rate. Translation adjustments arising from the use of different exchange rates from period to period are included as a component of stockholders’ equity (deficit) as “accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).” Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are included in the statement of operations and comprehensive loss as other income (expense).

Accounting for Income Taxes: We are governed by Australian and United States income tax laws, which are administered by the Australian Taxation Office and the United States Internal Revenue Service, respectively. We follow ASC 740, “Accounting for Income Taxes,” which requires an asset and liability approach to financial accounting and reporting for income taxes. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are computed annually for temporary differences between the financial statements and tax bases of assets and liabilities that will result in taxable or deductible amounts in the future based on enacted tax laws and rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Income tax expense is the tax payable or refundable for the period plus or minus the change during the period in deferred tax assets and liabilities.

The Company adopted provisions of ASC 740, Sections 25 through 60, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes.” These sections provide detailed guidance for the financial statement recognition, measurement and disclosure of uncertain tax positions recognized in the financial statements. Tax positions must meet a “more-likely-than-not” recognition threshold at the effective date to be recognized upon the adoption of ASC 740 and in subsequent periods.

Accounting for Stock Based Compensation: We record stock based compensation in accordance with ASC 718, “Stock Compensation” and Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 107 issued by the SEC in March 2005 regarding its interpretation of ASC 718. ASC 718 requires the fair value of all stock-based employee compensation awarded to employees to be recorded as an expense over the related requisite service period. The statement also requires the recognition of compensation expense for the fair value of any unvested stock option awards outstanding at the date of adoption. We value any employee or non-employee stock based compensation at fair value using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Model.

We account for non-employee share-based awards in accordance with the measurement and recognition criteria of ASC 718.

Derivative Instruments: ASC 815, “Derivatives and Hedging,” establishes accounting and reporting standards for derivative instruments and for hedging activities by requiring that all derivatives be recognized in the balance sheet and measured at fair value. Gains or losses resulting from changes in the fair value of derivatives are recognized in earnings. On the date of conversion, or payoff, of debt, we record the fair value of the conversion shares, remove the fair value of the related derivative liability, remove any discounts and record a net gain or loss on debt extinguishment.

Convertible Notes with Variable Conversion Options: We have entered into convertible notes, some of which contain variable conversion options, whereby the outstanding principal and accrued interest may be converted, by the holder, into common shares at a fixed discount to the price of the common stock at the time of conversion. We treat these convertible notes as stock settled debt under ASC 480 and measure the fair value of the notes at the time of issuance, which is the result of the share price discount at the time of conversion, and records the put premium as accretion to interest expense to the date of first conversion.

Research and Development Tax Credits: We may apply for Research and Development tax concessions with the Australian Taxation Office on an annual basis. Although the amount is possible to estimate at year end, the Australian Taxation Office may reject or materially alter the claim amount. Accordingly, we do not recognize the benefit of the claim amount until cash receipt since collectability is not certain until such time. The tax concession is a refundable credit. If we have net income then we can receive the credit which reduces its income tax liability. If we have net losses, then we may still receive a cash payment for the credit, however, our net operating loss carry forwards are reduced by the gross equivalent loss that would produce the credit amount when the income tax rate is applied to that gross amount. The concession is recognized as an income tax benefit, in operations, upon receipt.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For a discussion of recently issued and adopted accounting pronouncements, please see section captioned “Recent Accounting Pronouncements” in Note 1 to our condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.

Reverse Stock Split Presentation

The share and per share figures in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of operations section, along with elsewhere in this annual report, have been adjusted to reflect the 1-for-500 Reverse Stock Split of our authorized and outstanding shares of common stock, which occurred on June 24, 2019.

Results of Operations

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The results discussed below are of the Company and its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, Propanc PTY LTD.

Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2019, as compared to the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2018

Revenue

For the fiscal years 2019 and 2018 we generated no revenue because we are currently undertaking research and development activities for market approval and no sales were generated in this period.

Administration Expense

Administration expense increased to $2,326,350 for the year ended June 30, 2019 as compared to $2,103,684 for the year ended June 30, 2018. This increase is primarily attributable to an increase of $260,000 in investor relations expense, an increase of $189,000 in general and intellectual property legal fees, an increase of $284,000 in costs related to employee salaries and on costs, an increase of $61,000 related to new insurance policies; along with a decrease of $306,000 primarily related to a decrease in stock based consulting fees, a decrease of $103,000 in capital raising costs, a decrease of $182,000 in consulting fees.

Occupancy Expense

Occupancy expense decreased by approximately $2,500 to $28,062 for the year ended June 30, 2019. The decrease relates to the fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates in the year ended June 30, 2019.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses were $260,335 for the year ended June 30, 2019, as compared to $1,825,728 for the year ended June 30, 2018. The decrease in in research and development expenditure is primarily attributable to a decrease in process development activities as the progresses its lead product, PRP, to clinical trials, The company plans to raise sufficient capital to complete the engineering run and planned full scale GMP manufacture of PRP which will be used for the Phase I trial if the drug product meets the required specifications.

Interest Expense/Income

Interest expense decreased to $1,314,539 for the year ended June 30, 2019, as compared to $2,789,196 for the year ended June 30, 2018. Interest expense is primarily comprised of approximately $390,000 of debt discount amortization, and approximately $706,000 accretion of debt premium. This decrease is primarily attributable to a decrease in the issuance of derivative debt resulting in lower amortization of debt discount offset by higher accretion amounts of convertible notes with discounted debt features during the year ended June 30, 2019.

Change in Fair Value of Derivative Liabilities

Change in fair value of derivative liabilities increased by $2,464,534 to a loss of $2,472,146 for the year ended June 30, 2019, as compared to a loss of $(7,612) for the year ended June 30, 2018. This increase is primarily attributable to an increase in the volatility of the Company’s stock along with a decrease in stock price during the year ended June 30, 2019, which resulted in the recognition of such loss.

Loss on Debt Settlements, Net

Loss on settlement of debt decreased by $32,686 to a gain of $14,101 for the year ended June 30, 2019, as compared with a loss of $(18,585) for the year ended June 30, 2018. The decrease in loss on debt settlements is primarily attributable to fewer fair market value price adjustments in the year ended June 30, 2019.

Foreign Currency Transaction Gain (Loss)

Foreign currency transaction decreased to a loss of $(690,748) for the year ended June 30, 2019 as compared with a loss a of $(694,614) for the year ended June 30, 2018.

Income Tax Benefit

During the years ended June 30, 2019 and 2018, the Company applied for and received from the Australian Taxation Office a research and development tax credit in the amount of $115,437 and $179,306, respectively.

Net loss

Net loss decreased to $(5,758,369) for the year ended June 30, 2019 as compared to a net loss of $(7,039,155) for the year ended June 30, 2018. The decrease is primarily attributable to decreases in research and development expenditures and interest expense.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Current Financial Condition

As of June 30, 2019, we had total assets of $101,652, comprised primarily of cash of $2,394, GST tax receivable of $5,439, prepaid expenses and other current assets of $83,299 and property and equipment, net, of $8,417. This compares with total assets of $71,387 as of June 30, 2018, comprised primarily of cash of $19,921, GST tax receivable of $6,257, prepaid expenses and other current assets of $34,712 and property and equipment, net, of $8,277.

We had current liabilities of $4,402,888, primarily comprised of net convertible debt of $1,657,377, accounts payable and accrued expenses of $1,640,379 and embedded conversion option liabilities of $698,264, as of June 30, 2019. This compares with current liabilities of $6,823,307, primarily comprised of net convertible debt of $4,699,299, account payable and accrued expenses of $1,521,773 and embedded conversion option liabilities of $371,532, as of June 30, 2018.

We have funded our operations primarily through the issuance of equity and/or convertible securities for cash. The cash was used primarily for payments for research and development, administration expenses, occupancy expenses, professional fees, consultants and travel.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2019 and as of the date of this Annual Report, we borrowed $133,000 on May 23, 2019 from Redstart Holdings Corp via a convertible promissory note that matures on May 22, 2020, $78,000 on July 3, 2019 from Power Up Lending Group Ltd via a convertible promissory note that matures on July 2, 2020, $320,000 from Odyssey Capital Funding, LLC on July 30, 2019 via a convertible promissory note that matures on July 29, 2020, $550,000 from Auctus Fund, LLC on August 30, 2019 via a convertible promissory note that matures on August 29, 2020, $131,000 from GW Holdings Group, LLC on October 1, 2019 via a convertible promissory note that matures on October 1, 2020, $103,000 from Crown Bridge Partners, LLC on October 3, 2019 via a convertible promissory note that matures on October 3, 2020.

We have substantial capital resource requirements and have incurred significant losses since inception. As of June 30, 2019, we had $2,394 in cash. We depend upon debt and/or equity financing to fund our ongoing operations and to execute our current business plan. Such capital requirements are in excess of what we have in available cash and for which we currently have commitments. Therefore, we presently do not have enough available cash to meet our obligations over the next 12 months. If continued funding and capital resources are unavailable at reasonable terms, we may curtail our plan of operations. We will be required to obtain alternative or additional financing from financial institutions, investors or otherwise, in order to maintain and expand our existing operations. The failure by us to obtain such financing would have a material adverse effect upon our business, financial condition and results of operations, and adversely affecting our ability to complete ongoing activities in connection with our research and development programs.

Sources and Uses of Cash

Net cash used in operating activities was $2,060,037 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019 compared to $2,177,645 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. This fluctuation is related to the changes in valuation of new derivative liabilities and the revaluation of existing derivative liabilities in the year ended June 30, 2019.

Cash flows provided by financing activities for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019 were $2,118,560 as compared to $2,396,488 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. During the year ended June 30, 2019, we received proceeds from the sale of convertible promissory notes of $1,369,000. During the year ended June 30, 2018, we received proceeds from convertible promissory notes of $2,890,080.

The effect of the exchange rate on cash resulted in a $73,175 negative adjustment to cash flows in the year ended June 30, 2019 as compared to a negative adjustment of $267,965 to cash flows in the year ended June 30, 2018. The reason for the fluctuation is due to the application of currency translation rates throughout the cash flow statement, the volume of transactions within each period and the daily fluctuation in exchange rates.

Going Concern Qualification

We did not generate any revenue for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 and have incurred significant losses and cash used in operations, and such losses and use of cash are expected to continue. Our independent registered public accounting firm has included a “Going Concern Qualification” in their audit report for each of the fiscal years ended June 30, 2019 and 2018. In addition, we have negative working capital and convertible debt that is past maturity that we are currently negotiating with lenders in order to amend the maturity dates. The foregoing raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on our ability to execute our strategy and on our ability to raise additional funds and/or to consummate a public offering. Management is currently seeking additional funds, primarily through the issuance of equity and/or debt securities for cash to operate our business. No assurance can be given that any future financing will be available or, if available, that it will be on terms that are satisfactory to us. Even if we are able to obtain additional financing, it may contain undue restrictions on our operations, in the case of debt financing or cause substantial dilution for our stockholders, in case of equity and/or convertible debt financing. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. The “Going Concern Qualification” might make it substantially more difficult to raise capital.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.

Not applicable to smaller reporting companies.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

The following audited consolidated financial statements of Propanc Biopharma, Inc. are included in this Annual Report:

PROPANC BIOPHARMA, INC.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders’ and the Board of Directors of:

Propanc Biopharma, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Propanc Biopharma, Inc. and Subsidiary (the “Company”) as of June 30, 2019 and 2018, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss), changes in stockholders’ deficit, and cash flows, for each of the two years in the period ended June 30, 2019, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of the Company as of June 30, 2019 and 2018, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended June 30, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Going Concern

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has a net loss and cash used in operations of $5,758,369 and $2,060,037, respectively, in 2019 and has a working capital deficit, stockholders’ deficit and accumulated deficit of $4,311,756, $4,301,236 and $51,041,047, respectively, at June 30, 2019. These matters raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s Plan in regards to these matters is also described in Note 2. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ Salberg & Company, P.A.

SALBERG & COMPANY, P.A.

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2011.

Boca Raton, Florida

October 15, 2019

2295 NW Corporate Blvd., Suite 240 • Boca Raton, FL 33431

Phone: (561) 995-8270 • Toll Free: (866) CPA-8500 • Fax: (561) 995-1920

www.salbergco.com • info@salbergco.com

Member National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts • Registered with the PCAOB

Member CPAConnect with Affiliated Offices Worldwide • Member Center for Public Company Audit Firms

PROPANC BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

PROPANC BIOPHARMA, INC. AND SUBSIDIARY

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)