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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a filer, 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 of the Exchange Act.

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

As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the voting and equity held by of the registrant, based on the closing price of the registrant’s common equity on The Nasdaq Capital Market on June 30, 2021, was approximately $25.6 million.

Part III of this Annual Report on Form incorporates by reference certain information from the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for the registrant’s 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, or the Proxy Statement, which the registrant intends to file pursuant to Regulation 14A with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year end of December 31, 2021. Except with respect to information specifically incorporated by reference in this Form the Proxy Statement is not deemed to be filed as part of this Form

This Annual Report on Form including the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” contains express or implied forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “”). All statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this Annual Report on Form including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management and expected market growth are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form include, but are not limited to, statements about:

based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We discuss many of these risks in greater detail under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Annual Report on Form Also, these forward-looking statements represent our plans, objectives, estimates, expectations and intentions only as of the date of this filing. You should read this report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results and the timing of events may be materially different from what we expect, and we cannot otherwise guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized. We hereby qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements publicly, or to update or supplement the reasons that actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects.

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Below is a summary of the material risks that our business faces, which makes an investment in our common stock speculative and risky. This summary does not address all these risks. These risks are more fully described under. “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form Before making investment decisions regarding our common stock, you should carefully consider these risks. The occurrence of any of the events or developments described below could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, prospects and stock price. In such event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. In addition, there are also additional risks not described below that are either not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, and these additional risks could also materially impair our business, operations or market price of our common stock

We are a pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of JATENZO, the first and only oral or therapy (“”) of its kind that has received final approval by the FDA. We believe that current users of TRT are not satisfied with their current options and desire a therapeutic that is safe, effective and more convenient. Our primary goal for JATENZO is for it to become the preferred choice for TRT among men with hypogonadism — T deficiency accompanied by an associated medical condition. In parallel, our broader vision is to become a pharmaceutical company initially focused on the development and commercialization of JATENZO and other metabolic therapies for men and women.

In March 2019, our first commercial product, JATENZO, was approved by the FDA as a TRT for the treatment of adult men with hypogonadism due to certain medical conditions. JATENZO is the first oral T therapy approved by the FDA in more than 60 years. JATENZO is a prodrug created by the linkage of T with the fatty acid undecanoic acid to form (“”). Once absorbed, TU, an inactive version of T, is converted by natural enzymes in the body to bioactive T. In February 2020, we commenced U.S. commercial sales of JATENZO and, as of December 31, 2021, JATENZO was available under health plans, representing approximately 70% all insured lives. Of these patients, 77% of patients with commercial insurance had access to JATENZO. In the year ended December 31, 2021, JATENZO generated net revenues of approximately $14.0 million, demonstrating consistent month over month prescription growth since beginning commercialization despite the commercial challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic. In August 2019, the FDA granted Hatch-Waxman market exclusivity to JATENZO, which prevents the FDA from granting full market approval to similar new drugs or generic competitors for the protected conditions of use of JATENZO until March 27, 2022.

We were a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on May 22, 2020 and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. On September 9, 2021, (the “”), we consummated the previously announced business combination pursuant to the terms of that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger dated April 27, 2021 (the “”) by and among our company, our wholly-owned merger subsidiary, and Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. (“”), in which our merger subsidiary merged with and into Legacy Clarus, with Legacy Clarus surviving as the post-merger company and as a wholly owned subsidiary of our company. On the Closing Date, we changed our name from Blue Water Acquisition Corp. to Clarus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. At the effective time of the merger (the “”), we issued an aggregate of 17,886,348 shares of our common stock to the Legacy Clarus security holders, assumed some Legacy Clarus warrants that are now exercisable for 9,246 shares of our common stock, and the remaining shares of Legacy Clarus capital stock and all outstanding options, warrants or rights to purchase or subscribe for any Legacy Clarus capital stock, securities convertible into or exchangeable for, or that otherwise conferred on the holder any right to acquire any capital stock of Legacy Clarus were cancelled, retired and terminated without any consideration or any liability to Legacy Clarus with respect thereto. In addition, all shares of our Class B common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, were converted into Class A common stock and then redesignated as common stock.

is diagnosed in men by a simple blood test that identifies a T concentration below 300 nanograms per deciliter (“”). Common symptoms identified in the Endocrine Society’s clinical guidelines that suggest testing for T deficiency include reduced sexual activity and desire, decreased energy, increased body fat and reduced muscle mass, depressed mood and other emotional and physiological issues. affects approximately 20 million men over the age of 45, according to a study published in the in 2006. Of this population, about 8 million are diagnosed with hypogonadism, and even fewer, approximately 2.2

million, actually receive TRT, the standard treatment for hypogonadism. Even with this low treatment rate, the overall market for TRT grew 7% in 2020 over 2019, despite the ongoing pandemic, which followed a 6.6% growth in prescriptions in the United States in 2019 as compared to 2018. The overall therapy market was nearly 8 million prescriptions in 2020 and has been growing at a 5% compound annual growth rate, according to Symphony Health (Payer/Plan TRx Volume).

Existing therapeutic options for hypogonadal men, including (intramuscular and subcutaneous), buccal and implanted subcutaneous all suffer from limitations due to their routes of administration and ease of use. Consequently, these TRT options have low rates of adherence to prescribed dosing regimens. For example, only 31% and 14% of men continued taking six and 12 months after commencing therapy, respectively, according to a peer-reviewed study that reviewed enrollment and medical records of more than 15,000 men with hypogonadism. In addition, according to a survey we commissioned in 2020, 76% of the surveyed men reported that their needs are not being met by existing therapies. This same poll found that 82% of TRT users were interested in learning about an oral TRT option. We believe that many hypogonadal patients are not satisfied with therapies due to administration and other challenges. Thus, they often discontinue their TRT or switch from one option to another in a cyclical search of a TRT that is acceptable. We believe JATENZO not only provides patients with the convenience of an oral route of administration but also the efficacy and safety necessary to treat hypogonadism. Although and collectively represent 95% of the TRT market, these products have significant challenges. Injections are painful, yield considerable T level variability and carry the risk of pulmonary micro-embolisms (“”). Gels are messy, pose a significant risk of T transference to the patient’s partner or children and result in substantial amounts of T entering the environment when patients shower, bathe or swim. Overall, we believe that JATENZO is more convenient than currently approved T therapies, thus making it more likely that men will adhere to their treatment.

We own patents and pending applications in the United States and several other countries worldwide having claims covering the formulation and use of JATENZO, and have been involved in a U.S. district court patent infringement action, and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“”) interference proceedings with Lipocine, Inc. (“”) involving Lipocine patents and Clarus patent application having claims covering the use of JATENZO and/or Lipocine’s TLANDO product. See Item 3 “”. We have established a contract sales force of approximately 60 sales representatives as of December 17, 2021 to promote JATENZO in the United States. Assuming we are able to raise additional capital, we intend to invest additional resources to expand our national footprint to approximately 100 targeted sales representatives and to bring this sales force by the end of 2022. Our sales force currently targets high volume prescribing health care providers (“”) comprised of endocrinologists, urologists and primary care physicians. We continue to evaluate marketing or arrangements to leverage our existing sales force and provide even broader JATENZO penetration in the U.S. market. We continue to explore potential strategic partnerships to assist in obtaining marketing approval for and commercialization of JATENZO outside of the United States (particularly in Europe, Asia and the Middle East). Success in achieving sales of JATENZO outside the United States could be a source of funding. We are also actively exploring potential business development transactions to expand our portfolio and leverage our existing sales force.

Since the beginning of our operations in 2004 through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Clarus Therapeutics, Inc., we have assembled a seasoned management team with significant commercial TRT and large pharmaceutical experience. President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Robert Dudley, and founder of Clarus Therapeutics, Inc., has over 30 years of experience in the field and led the discovery, development, regulatory approval and launch of AndroGel, the first product. He also JATENZO and oversaw its development through approval by the FDA. Our senior management team includes industry veterans who have collectively more than 60 years of experience in the TRT market.

Approximately 20 million men in the United States between the ages of 45 and 75 years old may have deficient levels of T, defined as circulating T levels below 300 nanograms per deciliter, based upon prevalence rates published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice in 2006 and the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 population estimates.

Secondary hypogonadism is caused by a fault in the hypothalamic-pituitary axis that results in an inadequate gonadotropin signal to the testes to produce T. Secondary hypogonadism is relatively common among men with diseases such as diabetes and its common precursor, metabolic syndrome. For example, approximately 33% and 12% of men with diabetes and metabolic syndrome, respectively, are hypogonadal, according to research published in in 2007 and the in 2009. Secondary hypogonadism is also associated with obesity, chronic heart disease, chronic kidney disease, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

U.S. sales of therapies, currently the standard treatment for T deficiency, exceeded $1.3 billion in 2020, according to Symphony Health, and almost 8 million prescriptions for therapies are written per year. U.S. sales represent the vast majority of global TRT sales, with injections representing 36% and gels representing 58% of the U.S. sales dollars in 2020. Injections represent 75% and gels represent 24%, respectively, of all U.S. prescriptions written in 2020.

We believe there is potential for continued TRT market expansion. According to a study published in the in 2008, only 12% of hypogonadal men, representing less than half of all men diagnosed with hypogonadism, actually receive TRT. Additionally, the overall TRT market in 2020 grew 7% over 2019, to approximately 8 million prescriptions per year, despite the pandemic. This followed a 6.6% growth in prescriptions in 2019 as compared to 2018. Our expectation of continued growth and penetration in the TRT market in the United States is based on a number of factors, including:

The U.S. TRT market is comprised primarily of T treatments, including injections, gels, topical and buccal patches, and implanted subcutaneous pellets. Each of these products is associated with different T pharmacokinetic profiles which, in turn, can lead to significant intra- and inter-patient variabilities in circulating T response and associated symptom relief. Furthermore, each TRT delivery route has been associated with user challenges. For example, the pain of weekly deep muscle injections, skin irritation associated with the or risk of T transference to women and children by users, potential anaphylactic reactions observed with a long-acting depot form of TU, thrice-daily administration of a nasal T preparation, and a surgical procedure for placement of Consequently, there has been relatively poor patient adherence and significant ‘switching’ from one TRT to another. Missing from the available armamentarium of TRT therapies was an oral T product that was effective in meeting current regulatory standards and one not associated with potentially serious liver toxicity. Prior to JATENZO’s approval, the only oral product approved by FDA (over 60 years ago) was methyltestosterone — a chemical cousin of T that has been associated with serious liver toxicity and thus has been rarely prescribed. Therefore, when viewed in the historical context of TRT, we believe JATENZO offers appropriate hypogonadal patients an safe and effective TRT option that was not previously available.

Prior to 2000, with the introduction of a T was primarily available through either scrotal or patches, pellets, or injections. which became the dominant mode of administration and remain so today. However, besides having pain at the injection site, intramuscular T products carry significant risk of POME and polycythemia (i.e., increase in red blood cell count) which requires monitoring by the healthcare provider.

With the introduction of a formulation in 2000, topical T administration became desirable because of its ease of use. However, over time common side effects including itching, irritation and discomfort at the application site became increasingly problematic for patients. Additionally, topical place partners and children at risk of T transference (secondary exposure to T when transferred from user to (e.g., women and children)). This prompted the FDA to add boxed warnings to the labeling for relating to T transference. Despite these limitations, gels have continued to demonstrate significant market penetration.

The other approved TRT therapies have their own limitations, including gum, nasal and skin irritation and difficulty of administration (e.g., office procedure). As a result, TRT products are associated with low rates of patient compliance and adherence. More than 95,000 men change therapies more than once per year. According to a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2013, only 31% and 14% of patients were still on gel therapy six months and 12 months, respectively, after first dosing, and only about half of those who discontinued therapy later resumed treatment.

Our first commercial product, JATENZO, was approved in March 2019 by the FDA for oral TRT use in adult males for conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous, or naturally produced, T, including congenital or acquired primary and secondary hypogonadism, with a boxed warning. JATENZO was the first oral approved by the FDA in more than 60 years, the first oral and the first and only oral softgel TU TRT.

We commercially launched JATENZO in the United States in February 2020. In the year ended December 31, 2020, JATENZO generated net revenue of approximately $6.4 million and in the year ended December 31, 2021, JATENZO generated net revenue of approximately $14.0 million. Despite the ongoing pandemic which had a profound effect on our ability to market JATENZO to HCPs, we achieved prescription growth month-over-month during the first two years of our launch as a result of our increasing educational efforts and increasing commercial payor coverage.

As of December 31, 2021, JATENZO was available and covered for approximately 70% of all insured lives. Of these patients, 77% of patients with commercial insurance had access to JATENZO. This level coverage is consistent within the class of approved products. We anticipate being able to secure additional payor coverage for JATENZO but there is no guarantee this will occur.

The safety profile of JATENZO was consistent with data generated in two earlier Phase 3 trials and the general safety profiles for TRT products as a therapeutic class. No liver toxicity was observed. The most common adverse events of JATENZO were headache (5%), increased hematocrit (5%), hypertension (4%), decreased HDL (3%), and nausea (2%). Each of the treatment-emergent adverse events of an increased hematocrit was considered by the investigator as mild in intensity. Compared to baseline, mean serum sex hormone binding globulin concentrations declined significantly in response to JATENZO but remained within the normal range after approximately three to four months of JATENZO. In parallel, concentrations of free T increased such that by the end of treatment, mean levels were significantly higher than baseline but still within the normal range. JATENZO was associated with a modest increase in average systolic blood pressure of about mmHg — an increase consistent in magnitude with a currently marketed form of injectable testosterone. Because any increase in systolic blood pressure increases the theoretical risk of an adverse cardiovascular event (e.g., heart attack or stroke), FDA required that JATENZO (as well as an injectable T product approved in 2018 XYOSTED) to carry a boxed warning about potential increased blood pressure. Due to this risk, the boxed warning also states that use of JATENZO is only for the treatment of men with hypogonadal conditions associated with structural or genetic etiologies. We are also required by the FDA to conduct certain post-marketing studies to assess patient understanding of key risks relating to JATENZO, evaluate adrenal function with chronic JATENZO therapy, and conduct a pediatric study of JATENZO in adolescent hypogonadal patients.

In recent years, the FDA has mandated changes to all TRT product labeling to define the indicated uses of TRT products more explicitly and to strengthen precautions and warnings about their use. For example, language about potential cardiovascular risks, including deep vein thrombosis, now appears in TRT labeling as does a caution against TRT use in men with hypogonadism”.

Assuming we have sufficient capital, we plan to explore additional potential indications for JATENZO including, for example, treatment of hypogonadal men with chronic kidney disease and as T replacement in transgender patients. We plan to conduct small exploratory Phase 4 studies to confirm our hypotheses that JATENZO therapy in these patient populations will restore T levels to the normal male range and improve other biomarkers and symptoms associated with T deficiency. We then expect to conduct Phase 3 studies based on FDA guidance that would potentially result in expanded labeling indications for JATENZO. The following table summarizes our current pipeline of product candidates.

In May 2021, we entered into a licensing agreement to acquire the exclusive worldwide (excluding Australia) development and commercialization rights for HAVAH T+Ai is a proprietary combination of T (natural ligand for the androgen receptor; (“”)) and anastrozole (an aromatase inhibitor that blocks T conversion to estradiol) delivered by a subcutaneous implant for treatment of breast disease that predominantly affects women. Our initial therapeutic target will be inflammatory periductal mastitis (“) — a painful, often debilitating inflammation of breast tissue. We estimate that the annual total U.S. patient population of women with PDM is approximately 150,000. We are not aware of any effective pharmaceutical intervention for PDM and intend to seek FDA Orphan Drug designation for for use in the treatment of PDM. However, there can be no guarantee that FDA will grant such designation. In addition to PDM, may have potential use to treat estrogen receptor-positive (“”) breast cancer as AR is a tumor suppressor in ER+ breast cancer. Of the approximately 280,000 annual cases of breast cancer in the United States, 80% of these are ER+ and 90% of ER+ breast cancers are also AR+. We will need to undertake significant development to demonstrate clinical efficacy and safety and to secure FDA approval for both of these potential uses for There is no guarantee such development will be successful and result in FDA approval of for either condition.

In September 2021, we entered into a licensing agreement with McGill University (“”), Canada’s top ranked medical doctoral university, whereby we will develop and commercialize McGill’s proprietary technology to develop potential treatments for rare, endocrine, metabolic, and neurological conditions associated with primary and secondary CoQ10 (ubiquinone) deficiencies that belong to the wider class of mitochondrial diseases.

We have built a robust internal commercial organization in the United States to market and sell JATENZO and any additional products we may develop or acquire. We have also established with a commercial outsource partner a sales force at the time of launch (February 2020) of approximately 55 representatives dedicated solely to promoting JATENZO in the United States. On December 17, 2021 we increased that number to 60 representatives. Assuming we have sufficient capital, we intend to invest additional resources to bring our sales force while expanding our national footprint. Our sales force targets high prescribing endocrinologists, urologists and primary care physicians. We believe that this approach allows us to achieve broad geographic coverage while connecting with the most valuable targets. In addition, we conduct direct outreach to hypogonadal men through paid search, social media and programmatic advertising. In April 2020, in connection with the pandemic, we incorporated digital assets and virtual marketing into our sales force approach, including virtual sales calls, and we expect to proceed with a hybrid virtual and approach moving forward. We also intend to explore additional strategies to engage both the patient and the consumer through various modalities. The launch of any future products may require further expansion of our existing sales force.

In addition to developing our own commercial organization, we continue to evaluate distribution or arrangements with established pharmaceutical companies that have either complimentary product offerings or with established pharmaceutical companies to expand the footprint for JATENZO.

We are considering strategic partners with demonstrated commercial capabilities to assist in obtaining marketing approval for and commercialization of JATENZO outside of the United States. We intend to seek approval and launch commercial sales of JATENZO in territories outside of the United States by establishing additional collaborations with one or more pharmaceutical company collaborators, depending on, among other things, the applicable indications, the related development costs and our available resources. In May 2014, we entered into an agreement with CBC SPVI, Ltd. (“”), pursuant to which we and agreed to make commercially reasonable efforts to jointly develop a plan for the commercial manufacture, marketing, promotion, sale, distribution, and commercial importation and exportation of JATENZO and any related products in China. As part of this agreement, also purchased convertible promissory notes and became an investor in our company.

We have contracted with numerous wholesale distributors, including Cardinal, McKesson Corporation and Amerisource Bergen Corporation, to distribute JATENZO to retail pharmacies. In addition to shipping our product, these distributors provide inventory and sales reports as well as other services. In exchange for these services, we pay fees to certain distributors based on a percentage of wholesale acquisition cost. We also plan to explore using alternative, channels to distribute JATENZO.

We have established a comprehensive supply chain for commercial manufacture of JATENZO capsules. We rely on contract manufacturers to produce the drug substance and drug product required for our commercial supply and clinical studies. We have qualified two sources of bulk TU, entered into an exclusive manufacturing relationship for the manufacture of the softgel capsules and engaged with a commercial packager for the production of finished JATENZO capsules. All lots of drug substance and drug product used for our commercial supply and clinical studies are manufactured, packaged and labeled under current good manufacturing practices (“”). The FDA inspects manufacturing facilities periodically, with the frequency based on its assessment of risk. We have established an internal quality control and quality assurance program, including a set of standard operating procedures and specifications that we believe is cGMP-compliant.

In March 2021, we entered into a supply agreement with Pfizer (the “”), for the bulk supply of TU. We provide Pfizer estimates of our projected supply requirements. These supply forecasts are binding for an initial period, can be altered by a certain percentage over a subsequent period and then are used only to assist with Pfizer’s production planning over the final period. We have an obligation to purchase a minimum amount of TU from Pfizer, subject to an annual maximum, for the first three years of the Pfizer agreement. The price per kilogram of bulk TU under the Pfizer Agreement is fixed based on the total volume purchased during a calendar year. If Pfizer is unable to satisfy our delivery requirements, we may purchase more supply needs from an alternative supplier. The term of the Pfizer Agreement expires in January 2024. The Pfizer Agreement may be terminated by either party without cause upon 18 months’ prior written notice or upon the other party’s uncured breach of any material obligation. The Pfizer Agreement also contains customary representations and warranties, indemnification, limitation on liability, assignment, confidentiality and other provisions.

Our January 2014 agreement with Xianju (the “”) similarly requires us to project our bulk TU supply needs for the United States. Our purchase orders are then bound by each such supply forecast for an initial period, can be altered by a certain percentage over a subsequent period and then are used only to assist with Xianju’s production planning over such projection’s final period. The price per kilogram of bulk TU under the Xianju Agreement is fixed based on the total volume purchased in a year; however, Xianju may increase the price if there are sudden changes in economic circumstances that increase the cost of production or raw materials. In addition, Xianju may request each year that the parties renegotiate the agreed upon prices from the previous year. The Xianju Agreement had an initial term of seven years and automatically renewed for two consecutive three-year terms unless either party gives notice of no later than six months prior to the expiration of any initial or renewal term. The Xianju Agreement is also terminable by either party upon the other party’s bankruptcy, uncured material breach or for any changes in law or regulations that would render it impossible for a party to perform its material obligations. In the event of either or termination, however, Xianju will continue to supply us with bulk TU on the terms of the Xianju Agreement for up to 18 months. The Xianju Agreement also contains customary representations and warranties, indemnification, limitation on liability, assignment and confidentiality provisions, as well as provisions with respect to quality control and manufacturing procedures.

The JATENZO formulation is encapsulated in a softgel form. We have chosen Catalent, a third-party manufacturer, to produce clinical trial supplies and commercial quantities of JATENZO softgel capsules. JATENZO softgel capsules come in 158 mg TU, 198 mg TU, and 237 mg TU forms. We have entered into a manufacturing agreement with Catalent (the “”), which remains in effect until March 2025, six years following the date on which the FDA approved Catalent as a manufacturer of JATENZO, and automatically renews for successive periods, if not terminated one year prior to the expiration of the initial term or any then-current renewal term. Either we or Catalent may terminate the Catalent Agreement upon the other party’s bankruptcy, uncured material breach or upon 24 months’ prior written notice for convenience. In addition, Catalent may terminate the Catalent Agreement or cease performing its obligations if we fail to pay amounts within ten days of being due. We are required to purchase a minimum quantity of

Third-party payors often utilize a tiered reimbursement system, which may adversely affect demand for our products by placing them in a more expensive patient tier. Additionally, third party payors may require step edits or prior authorizations. We cannot be certain that our products will successfully be placed on the list of drugs covered by particular health plan formularies or in a more preferential position on their formularies. Third-party payors are currently demanding, and will most likely continue to demand, more aggressive pricing and rebates for favorable formulary placement. Some U.S. states have also created Medicaid preferred drug lists and include drugs on those lists only when the manufacturers agree to pay a supplemental rebate. If our products are not included on these preferred drug lists, they may be subject to prior authorization. Physicians may not be inclined to prescribe JATENZO to their Medicaid patients, and even if they do prescribe it, Medicaid may not authorize payment, thereby diminishing the potential market for our products in this market segment.

Currently, most of our prescriptions are open access, and we have negotiated agreements with several pharmacy benefits managers, including Express Scripts. We offer a assistance program to patients for JATENZO under which patients covered by commercial pharmacy benefit plans receive discounts on their prescriptions. Our JATENZO GO Assistance Program provides financial support to most commercially insured patients to assist with costs of JATENZO, such that most commercial covered patients will pay $0 for their prescription.

Similarly, in order to ensure coverage by Medicare Part D and commercial pharmacy benefit plans, we participate in certain rebate programs, which provide discounted prescriptions to qualified insured patients. Under these rebate programs, we pay a rebate to the third-party administrator of the program. We also provide discounts to authorized users of the Federal Supply Schedule (“”) of the General Services Administration under an FSS contract negotiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, including discounts mandated by the Veterans Health Care Act, discounted prescriptions to DoD’s Tricare retail pharmacy program, and discounts to federal grantees and safety net providers referred to as covered entities pursuant to our pharmaceutical pricing agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“ and the 340B drug discount program, which is required as a condition of Medicaid coverage. Government agencies ordering under the FSS and covered entities purchase products from the wholesale distributors at the discounted price, and the wholesale distributors then charge back the difference between the current wholesale acquisition cost and the price the entity paid for the product.

However, patent protection may not afford us with complete protection against competitors who seek to circumvent our patents. We cannot be sure that patents will be granted with respect to any of our pending patent applications or with respect to any patent applications filed by us in the future, nor can we be sure that any of our existing patents or any patents that may be granted to us in the future will be commercially useful in protecting our technology. There is also the risk that third parties have patents or may obtain patents having claims that also cover JATENZO. For example, Lipocine asserted the use of JATENZO infringed its patents, and attacked patents and applications in our portfolio by provoking patent interferences, see Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

Our success will depend significantly on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other proprietary protection for the technologies, inventions, and products we consider important to our business, defend our patents, preserve the confidentiality of our trade secrets and operate our business without infringing the patents and proprietary rights of third parties.

We solely own all the issued patents and the pending patent applications in our JATENZO patent portfolio. However there is risk that the USPTO could declare other interference proceedings involving patent claims that cover JATENZO as discussed in more detail in Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

TU, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in JATENZO, as well as its use for treating hypogonadism, are well known in this field. Accordingly, The TU active ingredient, standing alone, is not protected by any valid and unexpired third-party patents, although there are third party patents with claims that are alleged to cover use of TU in treating hypogonadism and the use of JATENZO as discussed in more detail in Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

There are several approved therapies on the market, as well as several therapies under review by the FDA. The TRT market is highly competitive, and our future success will depend on our ability to capture market share from currently approved therapies most notably injections and gels, the continued expansion of the TRT market, and our ability to operate freely with regard to or to preclude from competing against us several competitors who have also develop oral TU products, including Lipocine which has received tentative approval from the FDA and has alleged that JATENZO infringes certain Lipocine patents, as described in Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

Injectable (e.g., continue to represent the majority of the prescriptions in the TRT market. Over 5.9 million prescriptions were written for T injectables (75% of all TRT prescriptions and 36% of U.S. sales) in 2020. are predominantly given as (95% of all injections) and (1% of all injections). Injectables have experienced significant prescription growth in the U.S. market due to overall market demand for TRT and due to their generic availability and low cost. These men receive an injection every two to three weeks, most often intramuscularly, instead of applying a daily administration of other products. We believe physicians and their hypogonadal patients perceive the primary downsides of injections to be pain at injection site and risk for POME and polycythemia (excess concentration of red blood cells). Additionally, injecting T weekly or is associated with wide fluctuations in serum T levels between treatment cycles. For example, in many men limit of normal on day one of the injection, which may lead to undesirable side effects. Conversely, T levels often fall into the hypogonadal range before it is time for the next injection which leads to a return of undesirable symptoms.

Gels represent the second largest segment within the TRT market. Over 1.9 million prescriptions were written for gels in 2020 and represented 58% of U.S. sales in 2020. The T replacement products that are currently available include AbbVie’s AndroGel, and Endo’s Testim and Fortesta along with their respective authorized generics as well as generic equivalents of each version.

The FDA has granted a therapeutic equivalence (“”) rating of AB to “generic” versions of approved products that have been approved via a 505(b)(2) NDA. In July 2014, the FDA granted the AB rating to Perrigo’s 1% drug product (NDA 203098) approved in January 2013, and a BX rating to Teva’s 1% gel drug product (NDA 202763) approved in February 2012. Each are versions of AbbVie’s AndroGel 1.0% and employed 505(b)(2) submissions citing AndroGel as their reference listed drugs (“”). Teva’s version was found not to be bioequivalent to AndroGel, hence the BX rating. Upsher-Smith Laboratories also received approval for a version of Endo’s Testim (Vogelxo; NDA 204399) in June 2014 using the same pathway. In January of 2015, the FDA determined that Vogelxo is therapeutically equivalent to Testim and received an AB rating. In August 2015, the FDA granted AB rating to Perrigo’s 1.62% drug product (NDA 204268) which also received FDA approval in August 2015. Eli Lilly and Acrux’s Axiron had patent expiry in February 2017. On July 6, 2017, Acrux confirmed that a generic version of Axiron Topical Solution, 30 mg/1.5 mL Solution, 30 mg/1.5 mL) has been launched in the United States by Perrigo Company plc. Acrux also confirmed the availability of an authorized generic version of Axiron in the United States, through a marketing and distribution agreement between Lilly and a leading authorized generics company.

JATENZO also competes with other TRT products such as a nasal auto-injectable subcutaneous T, buccal T and topical and implantable subcutaneous

Transdermal include Allergan’s Androderm. An intramuscular depot form of TU also exists in branded form as Aveed by Endo. Additionally, Endo markets the buccal TRT Striant and the Testopel implantable which it acquired from Auxilium in 2015. Antares Pharma, Inc. markets a weekly auto-injector T therapy, Xyosted. Aytu BioScience Inc. markets an intranasal T therapy, Natesto, which it licensed from Acerus Pharmaceuticals in 2016.

Lipocine has developed an oral TU formulation, TLANDO. The FDA has granted tentative market approval to TLANDO for use as a TRT in adult males for conditions associated with a deficiency or absence of endogenous T, specifically congenital or acquired primary and secondary hypogonadism. In granting tentative approval, the FDA has concluded that TLANDO has met all required quality, safety and efficacy standards necessary for approval, but TLANDO has not received final approval and is not eligible for final approval and marketing in the United States until the expiration of JATENZO’s exclusivity period which expires on March 27, 2022. Like JATENZO and XYOSTED, we expect TLANDO to also carry a boxed warning about the potential for increased blood pressure because this was observed in clinical trials conducted by Lipocine. The FDA has also required Lipocine to conduct certain post-marketing studies to assess patient understanding of key risks relating to TLANDO and evaluate adrenal function with chronic TLANDO therapy, and conduct a pediatric study. In October 2021, Lipocine licensed the exclusive U.S. rights for TLANDO to Antares Pharma. In February 2022, Antares Pharma announced that the FDA accepted its NDA resubmission for TLANDO. The FDA designated the NDA as a Class 1 resubmission with a review goal period and set a PDUFA date of March 28, 2022.

Marius Pharmaceuticals has developed an oral under the name of KYZATREX as a TRT for the treatment of primary and secondary hypogonadism in adult men. The product was submitted to the FDA on January 5, 2021 with an expected PDUFA action date on October 31, 2021. Should KYZATREX meet all of the required quality, safety, and efficacy standards necessary for approval, we believe it will not receive a final approval or be eligible to receive final approval or marketing in the United States until the expiration, on March 27, 2022, of our Hatch-Waxman exclusivity period with respect to JATENZO. We expect KYZATREX labeling to carry boxed warning regarding the potential for increased blood pressure. We also believe that the FDA will require Marius Pharmaceuticals to assess patient understanding of key risks relating to KYZATREX, evaluate adrenal function with chronic KYZATREX therapy and conduct a pediatric study.

TesoRx Pharma LLC is developing an oral testosterone, for the treatment of Constitutional Delay of Growth and Puberty. Phase 2 clinical studies have been completed. TesoRx is also developing a potential once-daily oral TU product candidate, as TRT for hypogonadal in men.

In the United States, the FDA regulates drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (the “”) and its implementing regulations. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals and the subsequent compliance with applicable federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources. Failure to comply with the applicable U.S. requirements at any time during the product development process, approval process or after approval, may subject an applicant to a variety of administrative or judicial sanctions, such as the FDA’s refusal to approve a pending NDA, withdrawal of an approval, imposition of a clinical hold, issuance of warning letters, product recalls, product seizures, total or partial suspension of production or distribution, injunctions, fines, refusals of government contracts, restitution, disgorgement or civil or criminal penalties.

Preclinical studies include laboratory evaluation of drug substance chemistry, pharmacology, toxicity and drug product formulation, as well as animal studies to assess potential safety and efficacy. Prior to commencing the first clinical trial with a product candidate, a sponsor must submit the results of the preclinical tests and preclinical literature, together with manufacturing information, analytical data and any available clinical data or literature, among other required information, to the FDA as part of an IND. Some preclinical studies may continue even after the IND is submitted. The IND automatically becomes effective 30 days after receipt by the FDA, unless the FDA, within the time period, raises safety concerns or questions about the conduct of the clinical trial and imposes a clinical hold. In such a case, the IND sponsor and the FDA must resolve any outstanding concerns before the clinical trial can begin. As a result, submission of an IND may not result in FDA authorization to commence a clinical trial.

The FDA may require, or companies may pursue, additional clinical trials after a product is approved. These Phase 4 trials may be made a condition to be satisfied after approval. The results of Phase 4 trials can confirm the effectiveness of a product candidate and can provide important safety information.

Once an NDA is submitted for a product intended to treat a serious condition, the FDA may assign a priority review designation if FDA determines that the product, if approved, would provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness. A priority review means that the goal for the FDA to review an application is six months, rather than the standard review of ten months under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“”) goals. Under the current PDUFA performance goals, these review periods are measured from the filing date rather than the receipt date for NDAs for new molecular entities, which typically adds approximately two months to the timeline for review from the date of submission.

Once the FDA receives an application, it has 60 days to review the NDA to determine if it is substantially complete to permit a substantive review, before it files the application. Once the submission is filed by the FDA, the FDA begins an review of the NDA. Under the goals agreed to by the FDA under PDUFA, the FDA has set the review goal of 10 months from the filing date to complete its initial review of a standard NDA for a new molecular entity, or NME, and make a decision on the application. For priority review applications, the FDA has set the review goal of reviewing NME NDAs within six months of the filing date. Such deadlines are referred to as the PDUFA date. The PDUFA date is only a goal and the FDA does not always meet its PDUFA dates. The review process and the PDUFA date may also be extended if the FDA requests or the NDA sponsor otherwise provides certain additional information or clarification regarding the submission during the review period that amends the original application.

Once the FDA’s review of the application is complete, the FDA will issue either a Complete Response Letter (“”) or approval letter. A CRL indicates that the review cycle of the application is complete and the application is not ready for approval. A CRL generally contains a statement of specific deficiencies and provides recommendations for securing approval of the NDA. These recommendations may include additional clinical or preclinical testing or other information or analyses in order for the FDA to reconsider the application in the future. Even with the submission of additional information, the FDA ultimately may decide that the application does not satisfy the regulatory criteria for approval. If, or when the deficiencies have been met to the FDA’s satisfaction, the FDA will issue an approval letter. An approval letter authorizes commercial marketing of the drug with specific prescribing information for specific indications.

If regulatory approval of a product is granted, such approval may entail limitations on the indicated uses for which such product may be marketed or may include contraindications, warnings or precautions in the product labeling. The FDA may require certain contraindications and serious warnings to be placed in a box at the beginning of the labeling to highlight the information for prescribers, particularly those contraindications and warnings that may lead to death or serious injury. Once approved, the FDA may withdraw the product approval if compliance with and post-marketing regulatory standards is not maintained or if problems occur after the product reaches the marketplace. In addition, the FDA may require Phase 4 post-marketing studies to monitor the effect of approved products and may limit further marketing of the product based on the results of these post-marketing studies.

The FDA closely regulates the marketing and promotion of drugs. A company can make only those claims relating to safety and efficacy that are consistent with the FDA approved labeling. Physicians, in their independent professional medical judgment, may prescribe legally available products for uses that are not described in the product’s labeling and that differ from those tested in clinical trials and approved by the FDA. However, manufacturers and third parties acting on their behalf are prohibited from marketing or promoting drugs in a manner inconsistent with the approved labeling. The FDA and other agencies actively enforce the laws and regulations prohibiting the promotion of uses and a company that is found to have improperly promoted uses may be subject to significant liability.

The FDA provides periods of regulatory exclusivity, which provides the holder of an approved NDA limited protection from new competition in the marketplace for the pharmaceutical innovation represented by its approved drug for a period of three or five years following the FDA’s approval of the NDA. Five years of exclusivity are available to new chemical entities (“”). An NCE is a drug that contains no active moiety that has been approved by the FDA in any other NDA. An active moiety is the molecule or ion, excluding those appended portions of the molecule that cause the drug to be an ester, salt, including a salt with hydrogen or coordination bonds or other noncovalent bonds not involving the sharing of electron pairs between atoms, derivatives, such as a complex (i.e., formed by the chemical interaction of two compounds), chelate (i.e., a chemical compound) or clathrate (i.e., a polymer framework that traps molecules) of the molecule, responsible for the therapeutic activity of the drug substance. During the exclusivity period, the FDA may not accept for review or approve an Abbreviated New Drug Application (“”) or a 505(b)(2) NDA submitted by another company that contains the previously approved active moiety. An ANDA or 505(b)(2) application, however, may be submitted one year before NCE exclusivity expires if a Paragraph IV certification is filed.

Three years of exclusivity are available for an application for a drug product containing a previously approved active moiety. To qualify for such exclusivity the NDA applicant must conduct or sponsor a new clinical investigation that FDA determines is essential to the approval of the application. Three-year exclusivity prevents the approval of an ANDA or a 505(b)(2) NDA for a drug product containing the same active moiety for the protected conditions of approval. The scope of any three-year exclusivity granted by the FDA is determined on a basis and depends on several factors, including the FDA’s analysis of the scope of the new clinical investigations essential to approval conducted or sponsored by the applicant. JATENZO was awarded new product marketing exclusivity by the FDA. This exclusivity expires on March 27, 2022.

A drug can also obtain pediatric market exclusivity in the United States. Pediatric exclusivity, if granted, adds six months to existing exclusivity periods and patent terms. This exclusivity, which runs from the end of other exclusivity protection or patent term, may be granted based on the voluntary completion of a pediatric study in accordance with an “Written Request” for such a study. We may be able to provide data supporting the use of JATENZO in a pediatric population if invited to do so by the FDA. If we do so, and this data is deemed acceptable by the FDA, we may receive an additional extension of any unexpired exclusivity and an additional regulatory exclusivity that the FDA recognizes at the end of a patent term.

The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (“”) and its implementing regulations establish a “closed system” of regulations for controlled substances. The CSA imposes registration, security, recordkeeping and reporting, storage, manufacturing, distribution, importation and other requirements under the oversight of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“”). The DEA is the federal agency responsible for regulating controlled substances, and requires those individuals or entities that manufacture, import, export, distribute, research, or dispense controlled substances to comply with the regulatory requirements in order to prevent the diversion of controlled substances to illicit channels of commerce.

In the United States, to help patients afford our approved product, we may utilize programs to assist them, including patient assistance programs and coupon programs for eligible patients. Government enforcement agencies have shown increased interest in pharmaceutical companies’ product and patient assistance programs, including reimbursement support services, and a number of investigations into these programs have resulted in significant civil and criminal settlements. In addition, at least one insurer has directed its network pharmacies to no longer accept coupons for certain specialty drugs the insurer identified. Our coupon programs could become the target of similar insurer actions. In addition, in November 2013, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“”) issued guidance to the issuers of qualified health plans sold through the ACA’s marketplaces encouraging such plans to reject patient cost-sharing support from third parties and indicating that the CMS intends to monitor the provision of such support and may take regulatory action to limit it in the future. The CMS subsequently issued a rule requiring individual market qualified health plans to accept third-party premium and cost-sharing payments from certain government-related entities. In September 2014, the OIG of the HHS issued a Special Advisory Bulletin warning manufacturers that they may be subject to sanctions under the federal anti-kickback statute and/or civil monetary penalty laws if they do not take appropriate steps to exclude Part D beneficiaries from using coupons. Accordingly, companies exclude these Part D beneficiaries from using coupons. It is possible that changes in insurer policies regarding coupons and/or the introduction and enactment of new legislation or regulatory action could restrict or otherwise negatively affect these patient support programs, which could result in fewer patients using affected products, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our sales, business, and financial condition.

Third party patient assistance programs that receive financial support from companies have become the subject of enhanced government and regulatory scrutiny. The OIG has established guidelines that suggest that it is lawful for pharmaceutical manufacturers to make donations to charitable organizations who provide assistance to Medicare patients, provided that such organizations, among other things, are bona fide charities, are entirely independent of and not controlled by the manufacturer, provide aid to applicants on a first-come basis according to consistent financial criteria and do not link aid to use of a donor’s product. However, donations to patient assistance programs have received some negative publicity and have been the subject of multiple government enforcement actions, related to allegations regarding their use to promote branded pharmaceutical products over other less costly alternatives. Specifically, in recent years, there have been multiple settlements resulting out of government claims challenging the legality of their patient assistance programs under a variety of federal and state laws. It is possible that we may make grants to independent charitable foundations that help financially needy patients with their premium, and obligations. If we choose to do so, and if we or our vendors or donation recipients are deemed to fail to comply with relevant laws, regulations or evolving government guidance in the operation of these programs, we could be subject to damages, fines, penalties, or other criminal, civil, or administrative sanctions or enforcement actions. We cannot ensure that our compliance controls, policies, and procedures will be sufficient to protect against acts of our employees, business partners, or vendors that may violate the laws or regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate. Regardless of whether we have complied with the law, a government investigation could impact our business practices, harm our reputation, divert the attention of management, increase our expenses, and reduce the availability of foundation support for our patients who need assistance.

The full scope and enforcement of each of these laws is uncertain and subject to rapid change in the current environment of healthcare reform. Federal and state enforcement bodies have continued to increase their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices do 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 related governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, individual imprisonment, disgorgement, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, reputational harm, additional oversight and reporting obligations if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar settlement to resolve allegations of with these laws and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to similar actions, penalties and sanctions. Ensuring business arrangements comply with applicable healthcare laws, as well as responding to possible investigations by government authorities, can be time- and resource-consuming and can divert a company’s attention from its business.

The U.S. Congress (“”) has also enacted laws that modify certain provisions of the ACA, including decreasing the tax-based shared responsibility payment imposed on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year, which is commonly referred to as the “individual mandate,” to $0 effective January 1, 2019 as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. On December 14, 2018, a U.S. District Court judge in the Northern District of Texas ruled that the individual mandate portion of the ACA is an essential and inseverable feature of the ACA, and therefore because the mandate was effectively nullified, the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held the individual mandate is unconstitutional, but remanded the case to the lower court to reconsider its earlier invalidation of the full law. In March 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear this case and oral arguments were held on November 10, 2020. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case is forthcoming. Pending review, the ACA remains in effect, but it is unclear at this time what effect the latest ruling will have on the ACA long term.

Other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. In August 2011, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, included aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year, which went into effect in April 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments to the statute, will remain in effect through 2030 unless additional Congressional action is taken. These reductions have been suspended from May 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 due to the pandemic. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, extended the suspension period to March 31, 2021. An Act to Prevent Direct Spending Cuts, and for Other Purposes, signed into law on April 14, 2021, has extended the suspension period to December 31, 2021. In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law, which, among other things, further reduced Medicare payments to several providers, including hospitals, imaging centers and cancer treatment centers and increased the statute of limitations period for the government to recover overpayments to providers from three to five years. In December 2019, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1865) was signed into law, which repeals the Cadillac tax, the health insurance provider tax, and the medical device excise tax. It is impossible to determine whether similar taxes could be instated in the future.

Moreover, payment methodologies may be subject to changes in healthcare legislation and regulatory initiatives and there has been increasing legislative and enforcement interest in the United States with respect to drug pricing practices. For example, CMS may develop new payment and delivery models, such as bundled payment models. In addition, recently there has been heightened governmental scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their commercial products, which has resulted in several Congressional inquiries and proposed and enacted state and federal legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to product pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for pharmaceutical products. For example, at the federal level, the previous administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2021 included a $135 billion allowance to support legislative proposals seeking to reduce drug prices, increase competition, lower drug costs for patients and increase patient access to lower-cost generic and biosimilar drugs. On March 10, 2020, the previous administration sent “principles” for drug pricing to Congress, calling for legislation that would, among other things, cap Medicare Part D beneficiary pharmacy expenses, provide an option to cap Medicare Part D beneficiary monthly expenses and place limits on pharmaceutical price increases. Further, the previous administration previously released a “Blueprint” to lower drug prices and reduce out of pocket costs of drugs that contained proposals to increase drug manufacturer competition, increase the negotiating power of certain federal healthcare programs, incentivize manufacturers to lower the list price of their products and reduce the costs of drug products paid by consumers. HHS has solicited feedback on some of these measures and has implemented others under its existing authority. For example, in May 2019, CMS issued a final rule to allow Medicare Advantage Plans the option of using step therapy, a type of prior authorization, for Part B drugs beginning January 1, 2020. This final rule codified CMS’s policy change, which was effective as of January 1, 2019. Additionally, On December 27, 2018, the District Court for the District of Columbia invalidated a reimbursement formula change under the 340B drug pricing program, and CMS subsequently altered the Fiscal Years 2019 and 2018 reimbursement formula on specified covered outpatient drugs (“”). The court ruled this change was not an “adjustment” that was within the Secretary’s discretion to make but was instead a fundamental change in the reimbursement calculation. However, most recently, on July 31, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the district court’s decision and found that the changes were within the Secretary’s authority. On September 14, 2020, the plaintiffs-appellees filed a Petition for Rehearing En Banc (i.e., before the full court), but was denied on October 16, 2020. Plaintiffs-appellees filed a petition for a writ of certiorari at the Supreme Court on February 10, 2021. On Friday July 2, 2021, the Supreme Court granted the petition. The 340B drug pricing program imposes ceilings on prices that drug manufacturers can charge for medications sold to certain health care facilities.

Although a number of these and other measures may require additional authorization to become effective, Congress and the current administration have each indicated that they will continue to seek new legislative and/or administrative measures to control drug costs. Any reduction in reimbursement from Medicare and other government programs may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors. A July 2021 executive order affirmed the administration’s policy to (i) support legislative reforms that would lower the prices of prescription drug and biologics, including by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, by imposing inflation caps, and, by supporting the development and market entry of lower-cost generic drugs and biosimilars; and (ii) support the enactment of a public health insurance option. Among other things, the executive order also directs HHS to provide a report on actions to combat excessive pricing of prescription drugs, enhance the domestic drug supply chain, reduce the price that the Federal government pays for drugs, and address price gouging in the industry; and directs the FDA to work with states and Indian Tribes that propose to develop section 804 Importation Programs in accordance with the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, and the FDA’s implementing regulations. FDA released such implementing regulations on September 24, 2020, which went into effect on November 30, 2020, providing guidance for states to build and submit importation plans for drugs from Canada. On September 25, 2020, CMS stated drugs imported by states under this rule will not be eligible for federal rebates under Section 1927 of the Social Security Act and manufacturers would not report these drugs for “best price” or Average Manufacturer Price purposes. Because these drugs are not considered covered outpatient drugs, CMS further stated it will not publish a National Average Drug Acquisition Cost for these drugs. If implemented, importation of drugs from Canada may materially and adversely affect the price we receive for any of our product candidates. Further, on November 20, 2020 CMS issued an Interim Final Rule implementing the Most Favored Nation, or MFN, Model under which Medicare Part B reimbursement rates would have been be calculated for certain drugs and biologicals based on the lowest price drug manufacturers receive in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries with a similar gross domestic product per capita. However, on December 29, 2021 CMS rescinded the Most Favored Nations rule. Additionally, on November 30, 2020, HHS published a regulation removing safe harbor protection for price reductions from pharmaceutical manufacturers to plan sponsors under Part D, either directly or through pharmacy benefit managers, unless the price reduction is required by law. The rule also creates a new safe harbor for price reductions reflected at the point-of-sale, as well as a safe harbor for certain fixed fee arrangements between pharmacy benefit managers and manufacturers. Pursuant to court order, the removal and addition of the aforementioned safe harbors were delayed and recent legislation imposed a moratorium on implementation of the rule until January 1, 2026. Further, on December 31, 2020, CMS published a new rule, effective January 1, 2023, requiring manufacturers to ensure the full value of co-pay assistance is passed on to the patient or these dollars will count toward the Average Manufacturer Price and Best Price calculation of the drug. On May 21, 2021, PhRMA sued the HHS in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, to stop the implementation of the rule claiming that the rule contradicts federal law surrounding Medicaid rebates. It is unclear how the outcome of this litigation will affect the rule. Although a number of these and other proposed measures may require authorization through additional legislation to become effective, and the current or future administrations may reverse or otherwise change these measures, both the current administration and Congress have indicated that they will continue to seek new legislative measures to control drug costs. In addition, individual states in the United States have also increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to control pharmaceutical product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures and, in some cases, designed to encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. In addition, it is possible that additional governmental action is taken to address the pandemic. For example, on April 18, 2020, CMS announced that qualified health plan issuers under the ACA may suspend activities related to the collection and reporting of quality data that would have otherwise been reported between May and June 2020 given the challenges healthcare providers are facing responding to the ongoing pandemic.

The ANDA applicant is required to certify to the FDA concerning any patent information listed in the Orange Book for the approved product. Specifically, the applicant must certify that: (i) the required patent information has not been filed; (ii) the listed patent has expired; (iii) the listed patent has not expired but will expire on a particular date and approval is sought after patent expiration; (iv) the listed patent is invalid or will not be infringed by the proposed ANDA product or (v) that there are no relevant patents. The ANDA applicant may also elect to submit a section viii statement certifying that its proposed ANDA label does not contain (or carves out) any language regarding a patented rather than certify to a listed patent. If the ANDA applicant does not challenge the listed patents, the ANDA will not be approved until all the listed patents claiming the referenced product have expired.

The ANDA also will not be finally approved until any applicable exclusivity listed in the Orange Book for the referenced product has expired. Drugs listed in the Orange Book can also be cited by Section 505(b)(2) NDA applicants who must make relevant patent certifications as described above for ANDA applicants.

JATENZO was awarded new product marketing exclusivity by the FDA. This exclusivity expires on March 27, 2022.

In the United States, products also may be eligible for pediatric exclusivity which could extend not only any unexpired exclusivities, but also the effective term of an Orange Book-listed patent, provided the FDA decides to award pediatric exclusivity on a date that is not less than nine months prior to the expiration of any patent or exclusivity. We may be able to provide data supporting the use of JATENZO in a pediatric population if invited to do so by the FDA. If we do so, and this data is deemed acceptable by the FDA, we may receive an additional extension of any unexpired exclusivity and an additional regulatory exclusivity that the FDA recognizes at the end of a patent term.

We were formerly known as Blue Water Acquisition Corp. (“”) and were incorporated in Delaware May 2020 as a special purpose acquisition company, formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. On September 9, 2021, our wholly-owned merger subsidiary consummated the previously announced merger pursuant to the Merger Agreement, with Clarus Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, which became our wholly-owned subsidiary as result of the Business Combination. Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, we changed our name to “Clarus Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.”

Our principal executive office is located at 555 Skokie Boulevard, Suite 340, Northbrook, Illinois. We maintain a website at . The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not part of, and is not incorporated into, this Annual Report on Form

We have experienced negative operating cash flows and have accumulated significant accrued liabilities. Our net loss was $40.6 million and net income was $4.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and we had an accumulated deficit of $321.7 million as of December 31, 2021. Our revenue generated from the sales of JATENZO along with existing cash and cash equivalents of $26.4 million as of December 31, 2021 is expected to fund our operations into April 2022. Accordingly, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. Additionally, our independent registered public accounting firm’s report for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We plan to seek additional funding through the expansion of our commercial efforts to grow JATENZO and our operating cash flow, business development efforts to JATENZO internationally, equity financings, debt financings (including potential restructuring of our current indebtedness), or other capital sources including collaborations with other companies or other strategic arrangements with third parties. There can be no assurance that these future financing efforts will be successful. If we are unable to obtain funding or generate operating cash flow, or successfully restructure our debt or engage in a strategic transaction, we will be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate some or all of our product portfolio expansion or commercialization efforts, which could adversely affect our business prospects, or we may be unable to continue operations. We could also be required to limit or terminate our operations, make reductions in our workforce, discontinue our commercialization efforts for JATENZO as well as other development programs, liquidate all or a portion of our assets or pursue other strategic alternatives, and/or seek protection under the provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Beginning in September 1, 2022, in addition to interest payments, Legacy Clarus is required to make principal payments of $6 million on each of September 1, 2022, March 1, 2023, September 1, 2023 and March 1, 2024. Thereafter, in addition to interest payments, Legacy Clarus is required to make principal payments of $8 million on each of September 1, 2024 and March 1, 2025. Additionally, on February 1, 2023, Legacy Clarus is required to make a payment of principal in the amount of $3.125 million, which is the amount of a note Legacy Clarus issued on May 27, 2021, plus accrued and unpaid interest in respect of such principal.

We cannot provide any assurance that the noteholders would provide us with a consent or enter into a forbearance agreement should Legacy Clarus not be in compliance in the future. A failure to maintain compliance, in the event the noteholders do not agree to a consent for the would cause the outstanding borrowings to be in default and payable on demand which would have a material adverse effect on us.

Our business currently depends heavily on our ability to successfully commercialize JATENZO, an androgen indicated for therapy, in the United States to treat adult men with hypogonadism due to certain medical conditions. We may never be able to successfully commercialize the product or meet our expectations with respect to revenues. We may be subject to patent litigation that could materially impact or prevent commercialization. For example, Lipocine sued us for infringement of their patents. Although we prevailed on our motion for summary judgment in the litigation which invalidated the asserted Lipocine patents, and subsequently entered into a global settlement agreement with Lipocine, additional claims from other third parties could arise in the future. This and other proceedings are discussed in Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

Prior to our launch in February 2020, we had never marketed, sold or distributed for commercial use any pharmaceutical product. There is no guarantee that the infrastructure, systems, processes, policies, personnel, relationships and materials we have built to launch and commercialize JATENZO in the United States will be sufficient for us to achieve success at the levels we expect. Additionally, healthcare providers may not prescribe JATENZO due to safety risks posed by products. We may also encounter challenges related to the reimbursement of JATENZO, even if we have positive early indications from payors, including potential limitations in the scope, breadth, availability, or amount of reimbursement covering each product. Similarly, healthcare settings or patients may determine that the financial burdens of treatment are not acceptable. Our results may also be negatively impacted if we have not adequately sized our field teams or our targeting strategy is inadequate or if we encounter deficiencies or inefficiencies in our infrastructure or processes. Any of these issues could impair our ability to successfully commercialize JATENZO or to generate substantial revenues or profits or to meet our expectations with respect to the amount or timing of revenue or profits. Any issues or hurdles related to our commercialization efforts may materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. There is no guarantee that we will be successful in our commercialization efforts with respect to JATENZO.

We have established a specialty sales force to promote JATENZO to endocrinologists and urologists, as well as high-prescribers of therapies among primary care physicians (“”) in the United States. In addition, we will need to commit significant additional management and other resources to establish and grow our sales organization. We may not be able to achieve the necessary development and growth in a cost-effective manner or realize a positive return on our investment. We will also have to compete with other pharmaceutical companies to recruit, hire, train and retain sales and marketing personnel. In addition, we plan to explore partnership or arrangements with established pharmaceutical companies that have sales forces or contract with an outside sales force to achieve broader penetration into the U.S. PCP market, which may prove costly or difficult to implement. If we are unable to grow our sales force, or enter into agreements with third parties that have existing sales forces, we will not be able to successfully commercialize JATENZO and our ability to generate revenue will be impaired.

Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change” (generally defined as a greater than 50 percentage point change (by value) in the ownership of its equity over a three-year period), the corporation’s ability to use its net operating loss (“”) carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset its post-change income may be limited. We have experienced such ownership changes in the past, and we may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of the Business Combination or subsequent shifts in our stock ownership, some of which are outside our control. As of December 31, 2021, we had U.S. federal and state NOL carryforwards of $231.7 million and $202.7 million, respectively, and our ability to utilize those NOLs could be limited by an “ownership change” as described above, which could result in increased tax liability to us. Furthermore, our ability to utilize our NOLs or credits is conditioned upon our attaining profitability and generating U.S. federal and state taxable income. As a result, the amount of the NOL and tax credit carryforwards presented in our financial statements could be limited and may expire unutilized. Federal NOL carryforwards generated in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 will not be subject to expiration. However, any such NOL carryforwards may only offset 80% of our annual taxable income in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020.

If any contract manufacturing organization (“”) with whom we contract fails to perform its obligations, we may be forced to manufacture the materials ourselves, for which we may not have the capabilities or resources, or enter into an agreement with a different CMO, which we may not be able to do on reasonable terms, if at all. In either scenario, our clinical trials or commercial distribution could be delayed significantly as we establish alternative supply sources. In some cases, the technical skills required to manufacture our products or product candidates may be unique or proprietary to the original CMO and we may have difficulty, or there may be contractual restrictions prohibiting us from, transferring such skills to a or alternate supplier, or we may be unable to transfer such skills at all. In addition, if we are required to change CMOs for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new CMO maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations. We will also need to verify, such as through a manufacturing comparability study, that any new manufacturing process will produce our product according to the specifications previously submitted to or approved by the FDA or another regulatory authority. The delays associated with the verification of a new CMO could negatively affect our ability to develop product candidates or commercialize our products in a timely manner or within budget. Furthermore, a CMO may possess technology related to the manufacture of our product candidate that such CMO owns independently. This would increase our reliance on such CMO or require us to obtain a license from such CMO in order to have another CMO manufacture our products or product candidates. In addition, in the case of the CMOs that supply our product candidates, changes in manufacturers often involve changes in manufacturing procedures and processes, which could require that we conduct bridging studies between our prior clinical supply used in our clinical trials and that of any new manufacturer. We may be unsuccessful in demonstrating the comparability of clinical supplies which could require the conduct of additional clinical trials.

Additionally, in March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“”) was signed into law in response to the pandemic. Throughout the outbreak, there has been public concern over the availability and accessibility of critical medical products, and the CARES Act enhances FDA’s existing authority with respect to drug shortage measures. Under the CARES Act, we must have in place a risk management plan that identifies and evaluates the risks to the supply of approved drugs for certain serious diseases or conditions for each establishment where the drug or active pharmaceutical ingredient is manufactured. The risk management plan will be subject to FDA review during an inspection. If we experience shortages in the supply of our marketed products, our results could be materially impacted.

We rely on two third-party suppliers, Pfizer and Xianju, for our supply of the active pharmaceutical ingredient of JATENZO. Because there are only a limited number of TU suppliers in the world, if either of these parties ceases to provide us with TU or materially reduces the amount of TU they can provide us with, including below the minimum supply obligations in the case of our agreement with Pfizer, we may be unable to procure sufficient amounts of TU on commercially favorable terms, or may not be able to obtain it in a timely manner. Furthermore, the limited number of suppliers of TU may provide such companies with greater opportunity to raise their prices. Any increase in price for TU will likely reduce our gross margins.

We have established our own commercial organization in the United States, however, in order to achieve deeper penetration into the PCP market in the United States; we expect to enter into marketing or arrangements with established pharmaceutical companies that have a sales force or contract with an outside sales force. Additionally, we expect to consider strategic partnerships to assist in obtaining marketing approval for and commercialization of JATENZO outside of the United States. We will face significant competition in seeking appropriate partners and these partnership or arrangements are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. We may not be able to negotiate partnership or arrangements on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to enter into partnership or arrangements, we may have to curtail or delay commercialization of JATENZO in certain geographies, reduce the scope of our sales or marketing activities, reduce the scope of our commercialization plans, or increase our expenditures and undertake commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund commercialization activities outside of the United States 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 enter into partnership or arrangements and any of our partners does not devote sufficient time and resources for a partnership or arrangement with us, we may not realize the potential commercial benefits of the arrangement. In addition, if any future partner were to breach or terminate its arrangements with us, the commercialization of JATENZO in countries outside the United States could be delayed, curtailed or terminated because we may not have sufficient financial resources or capabilities to continue commercialization of JATENZO on our own in such locations.

The ongoing pandemic may continue to have a negative impact on the global economy which could impact our business and results of operations. The continued spread of could adversely impact our operations. In response to the spread of we have taken temporary precautionary measures intended to help minimize the risk of the virus to our employees, including encouraging all employees to work remotely and requiring vaccinations for all employees. Notwithstanding these measures, the pandemic could affect the health and availability of our workforce as well as those of the third parties we rely on taking similar measures.

Quarantines, and similar government orders, or the perception that such orders, shutdowns or other restrictions on the conduct of business operations could occur, related to the pandemic could also impact personnel at third-party manufacturing facilities in the United States and other countries, or the availability or cost of materials, which would disrupt our supply chain.

Business interruptions from the current or a future, pandemic may also adversely impact our commercial operations, including:

The full extent to which the pandemic will directly or indirectly impact our business, results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning and new variants such as the omicron variant the actions taken to contain it or treat its impact and the economic impact on local, regional, and national markets.

Some physicians and patients may determine that the benefits of JATENZO as a therapy in adult males do not outweigh the risks, including those risks set forth in the boxed warning for JATENZO. The boxed warning for JATENZO warns physicians that JATENZO can cause blood pressure increases that can increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death. Physicians are recommended to consider the patient’s baseline cardiovascular risk and ensure blood pressure is adequately controlled. Furthermore, physicians are encouraged to monitor for and treat hypertension or exacerbations of hypertension.

If we are not able to achieve a high degree of market acceptance of JATENZO for therapy, we may not be able to achieve our revenue goals or other financial goals or to achieve profitability or cash-flow break-even in the time periods we expect, or at all.

The FDA and other regulatory agencies strictly regulate the promotional claims that may be made about prescription products, such as JATENZO. In particular, a product may not be promoted for uses that are not approved by the FDA or other regulatory agencies as reflected in the product’s approved labeling. For instance, we received marketing approval for JATENZO for the treatment of adult men with hypogonadism due to certain medical conditions. Physicians may in their practice prescribe JATENZO to their patients in a manner that is inconsistent with the approved labeling. If we are found to have promoted such uses, we may become subject to public advisory or enforcement letters, reputational damage, and significant liability. The U.S. federal government has levied large civil and criminal fines against companies for alleged improper promotion under both the federal Anti-kickback Statute and False Claims Act and has enjoined several companies from engaging in promotion. The FDA has also requested that companies enter into consent decrees, corporate integrity agreements or permanent injunctions under which specified promotional conduct is changed or curtailed. If we cannot successfully manage the promotion of JATENZO to ensure it remains consistent with its approved labeling, we could become subject to significant liability, which would materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Physicians often show a reluctance to switch their patients from existing drug products even when new and potentially more effective and convenient treatments enter the market. Patients also often acclimate to the brand or type of drug product that they are currently taking and do not want to switch unless their physician recommends switching products or they are required to switch drug treatments due to lack of coverage and reimbursement for existing drug treatments. In addition, men who are currently tolerating their current therapy may not want to switch to a new product, including our product, particularly given the boxed warning, which includes warnings relating to blood pressure increases, and a limitation of use in the labeling that states that the safety and efficacy of JATENZO in males less than 18 years has not been established. The existence of either or both of physician or patient reluctance in switching to JATENZO, would depress demand for JATENZO and compromise our ability to successfully commercialize it.

Even though we have received marketing approval, we continue to be subject to conducting required post-marketing studies and clinical trials, and regulatory authorities may still impose significant restrictions on JATENZO’s indicated uses or marketing or impose further ongoing requirements for potentially costly post-approval studies (e.g., FDA post-marketing requirements of which Clarus is required over the next few years to complete: a) Medication Guide comprehension study; b) study to assess impact of chronic JATENZO therapy on adrenal function; c) assessment of JATENZO in pediatric patients who are unable to make sufficient T; and d) a clinical drug-drug interaction study). If we or a regulatory agency discover previously unknown problems with JATENZO, such as adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, a regulatory agency may impose restrictions on JATENZO including withdrawal of marketing approval. JATENZO is also subject to ongoing FDA requirements governing the labeling, packaging, storage, advertising and promotion of the product and recordkeeping and submission of safety and other post-market information. The FDA has significant post-marketing authority, including, for example, the authority to require labeling changes based on new safety information and to require post-marketing studies or clinical trials to evaluate serious safety risks related to the use of a drug. The FDA also has the authority to require the submission of a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (“”), either as part of a New Drug Application (an “”) or after the drug has been approved should FDA become aware of new safety information about a drug and determine that a REMS is necessary to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh its risks. A REMS could, for example, limit prescribing to certain physicians or medical centers that have undergone specialized training, limit treatment to patients who meet certain criteria or require treated patients to enroll in a registry. Any REMS required by the FDA may lead to increased costs to assure compliance with new post-approval regulatory requirements and potential requirements or restrictions on the sale of approved products, all of which could lead to lower sales volume and revenue.

We may never receive, regulatory approval to market JATENZO or other future product candidates outside of the United States or in any particular country or region, including in the European Union (“”). In order to market any product outside of the United States, we must establish and comply with the numerous and varying safety, efficacy and other regulatory requirements of other countries. Approval procedures vary among countries and can involve additional studies or clinical trials, additional work related to

Testosterone is regulated under the federal CSA as a Schedule III substance. The CSA and regulations promulgated by the DEA classify certain substances with a potential for abuse, known as “controlled substances” in either Schedule I, II, III, IV or V, with Schedule I substances considered to present the highest risk of abuse and dependence and Schedule V substances the lowest risk. The CSA establishes a closed chain of distribution for these drugs, and entities or individuals handling controlled substances are subject to DEA regulations relating to manufacturing, distribution, dispensing, importation and exportation. These regulations include requirements for registration, security, storage, recordkeeping and reporting. For example, facilities must maintain certain physical security for storing controlled substances and Schedule III drugs can only be prescribed by an authorized practitioner registered with the DEA and may only be refilled five times within a period from the date of the original prescription.

Applicable federal, state, and foreign healthcare laws and regulations that may affect our ability to operate include: the federal anti-kickback statute, the federal False Claims Act, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“”) (as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“”)), the federal false statements statute, the federal transparency requirements, sometimes referred to as the “Sunshine Act”, under the Patient Protection and ACA, various federal and state health information and data protection laws and regulations and analogous state laws and regulations. These laws and regulations impose a variety of monitoring and reporting obligations as well as civil and criminal penalties and liabilities for noncompliance.

We are subject to the FCPA, which prohibits companies and their intermediaries from making payments in violation of law to government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing any other improper advantage. We have an ongoing relationship with Xianju, a company, as a third-party supplier of TU and we may commercialize JATENZO outside of the United States in countries where we obtain marketing approval either alone or under a partnership or arrangement with a third party. Our significant reliance on a foreign supply of TU demands a high degree of vigilance in preventing our employees and consultants from participation in corrupt activity, because this supplier could be deemed our agent, and we could be held responsible for its actions. The FCPA and similar anti-bribery laws to which we may be subject are complex and in nature, and, as a result, we cannot assure you that we would not be required in the future to alter one or more of our practices to be in compliance with these laws or any changes in these laws or the interpretation thereof. Any violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction and involve significant costs and expenses, including legal fees. We could also suffer severe penalties, including criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement, and other remedial measures.

The therapies market is highly competitive and dominated by the sale of and injectable forms of T, which accounted for 95% of all prescriptions written in the United States for therapies in 2020. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to obtain and retain an appreciable share of the market. Potential competitors in North America, Europe and elsewhere include major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms and other drug discovery organizations. JATENZO or its use may infringe competitors’ patents, and if any patent infringement suit against us is successful, it could materially impact commercialization of JATENZO. Competitors may attack our patent portfolio, see Lipocine’s interferences under “— ” and in the “—” subsection below. Other pharmaceutical companies may develop oral therapies that would compete with JATENZO that do not infringe the claims of our pending patent applications or other proprietary rights, and these therapies may have competitive advantages over JATENZO. For example, because T and TU are not patented compounds and are commercially available to third parties, it is possible that competitors may design methods of T or TU administration that would be outside the scope of the claims of our issued patents and patent applications. This would enable their products to compete with JATENZO.

therapies currently on the market that would compete with JATENZO, include the following:

Several other pharmaceutical companies have therapies, including oral formulations, and other therapies that are either pending approval of an NDA or in clinical development, which may be approved for marketing in the United States or outside of the United States. Based on publicly available information, we believe that current therapies in development that would be competitive with JATENZO include:

Many of our potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than we do and significantly greater experience in the discovery and development of drug candidates, obtaining FDA and other marketing approvals of products and the commercialization of those products. Accordingly, our competitors may be more successful than we may be in obtaining FDA approval for drugs and achieving widespread market acceptance. Our competitors’ drugs may be more effective, less expensive or more effectively marketed and sold than JATENZO and may render JATENZO obsolete or before we can recover the expenses of developing and commercializing it. We anticipate that we will face intense and increasing competition as new drugs, both generic and branded, enter the market and advanced technologies become available.

Three Section 505(b)(2) NDAs citing to approved products have been approved for marketing in the United States. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA (“”) and Perrigo Israel Pharmaceuticals Ltd (“”) have obtained approval from the FDA to market products in the United States that are versions of AndroGel 1%. In addition, Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. (“”) received approval to market its product, a version of Auxilium’s Testim 1%, in the United States. The entrance of any generic into the market might cause downward pressure on the pricing of all therapies, and which could negatively affect the level of sales and price at which we can sell JATENZO.

Further, the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act (“”) was enacted in 2019 requiring sponsors of approved NDAs to provide sufficient quantities of product samples on commercially reasonable, market-based terms to entities developing generic drugs. The law establishes a private right of action allowing developers to sue application holders that refuse to sell them product samples needed to support their applications. If we are required to provide product samples or allocate additional resources to responding to such requests or any legal challenges under this law, our business could be adversely impacted.

The introduction of generic may also affect the reimbursement policies of government authorities and third-party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations. These organizations determine which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. Cost containment is a primary concern in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere. Government authorities and these third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for branded medications when there is a generic version available. If generic are available in the market, that may create an additional obstacle to the availability of coverage and reimbursement for JATENZO or lead to reduction in the level of such reimbursement, and our ability to generate revenue could be compromised.

We have no other compounds beyond JATENZO in clinical testing, preclinical testing, lead optimization or lead identification stages. If we fail to successfully commercialize JATENZO as a therapy, our ability to generate revenue will be impaired and we may need to develop other sources of revenues. If this occurs, we may seek out opportunities to discover, develop, acquire or license additional promising product candidates or drug compounds to expand our product candidate pipeline beyond JATENZO; however, this

We rely upon a combination of patents, trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to JATENZO. The strength of patents in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical field involves complex legal and scientific questions and can be uncertain. The patent applications that we own or may fail to result in issued patents with claims that cover JATENZO in the United States or in other foreign countries. If this were to occur, early generic competition could be expected against JATENZO. There is no assurance that all of the potentially relevant prior art relating to our patents and patent applications has been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent application from issuing as a patent. In particular, because the active pharmaceutical ingredient in JATENZO has been on the market as an ingredient in separate products for many years, it is possible that these products have previously been used in such a manner that such prior usage would affect the validity of our patents or our ability to obtain patents based on our patent applications. Even if patents do successfully issue, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated, or not infringed. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patents and patent applications may not adequately protect our intellectual property or prevent others from designing around our claims. If the patent applications we hold with respect to JATENZO fail to issue, or if the breadth or strength of protection of our patent portfolio is threatened, it could dissuade companies from partnering with us to commercialize JATENZO. We cannot offer any assurances about which, if any, patents will issue or whether any issued patents will be found not invalid and not unenforceable or will go unthreatened by third parties. For several of our patents and patent applications, Lipocine suggested patent interferences, which can invalidate a patent or preclude issuance of a patent application; two interferences were decided against us, another was declared but resolved in our favor as part of the global settlement agreement with Lipocine, and several more were suggested by Lipocine but not instituted to date, see below and see Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents subsection below. Further, if we encounter delays in regulatory approvals, the period of time during which we could market JATENZO under patent protection could be reduced. Because patent applications in the United States and most other countries are confidential for a period of time after filing, and some remain so until issued, we cannot be certain that we were the first to file any patent application related to JATENZO. Furthermore, if third parties have filed such patent applications, an interference proceeding in the United States can be provoked by a third party or instituted by us or the USPTO to determine who was the first to invent any of the subject matter covered by the patent claims of our applications. The outcome of an interference can invalidate one or both involved patents, and a license may be needed to practice the claims of the prevailing patent. Such license may not be available on favorable terms.

In addition to the protection afforded by patents, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary that is not patentable, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our drug discovery and development processes that involve proprietary information or technology that is not covered by patents. Although we expect all of our employees to assign their inventions to us, and all of our employees, consultants, advisors and any third parties who have access to our proprietary information or technology to enter into confidentiality agreements, we cannot provide any assurances that all such agreements have been duly executed or that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent or in the same manner as the laws of the United States. As a result, we may encounter significant problems in protecting and defending our intellectual property both in the United States and abroad. If we are unable to prevent material disclosure of the intellectual property related to our technologies to third parties, and there is no guarantee that we will have any such enforceable trade secret protection, we may not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market and our ability to achieve profitability could be impaired.

of our intellectual property or narrow the scope of our patent protection. If we are unable to prevent material disclosure of the intellectual property related to our technologies to third parties, and there is no guarantee that we will have any such enforceable trade secret protection, we may not be able to establish or maintain a competitive advantage in our market, which could hurt our ability to successfully commercialize JATENZO.

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. There is a substantial amount of litigation, both within and outside the United States, involving patent and other intellectual property rights in the pharmaceutical industries, including patent infringement lawsuits, interferences, oppositions, and post-grant review, review and inter party reexamination proceedings before the USPTO. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we and our collaborators are commercializing JATENZO. As the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that JATENZO may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties.

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to materials, formulations, methods of manufacture or methods for treatment related to the use or manufacture of JATENZO. Because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be currently pending patent applications which may later result in issued patents that JATENZO may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that use of our technologies infringes upon these patents. If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover the manufacturing process of JATENZO, any molecules formed during the manufacturing process or any final product itself, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to commercialize JATENZO unless we obtain a license under the applicable patents, or until such patents expire. Similarly, if any third-party patent were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our formulations, processes for manufacture or methods of use, including combination therapy, the holders of any such patent may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize JATENZO unless we obtain a license or until such patent expires. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. See, for example, Lipocine’s patent infringement suit filed against us, and past patent interferences under “— ” below.

Third parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize JATENZO; see Lipocine’s patent infringement suit filed against us under “— ” below. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing product, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. We cannot predict whether any such license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization, and we have done so from time to time. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize JATENZO, which could harm our business significantly. We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist which might be enforced against JATENZO, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our sales, or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties or other forms of compensation to third parties.

Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include, but are not limited to, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. If we fail to maintain the patents and patent applications covering JATENZO, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of employees and the scope of our operations. 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. Also, our management may need to divert a disproportionate amount of its attention away from our activities and devote a substantial amount of time to managing these growth activities. Due to our limited resources, 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 financial resources from other projects. Our future financial performance and our ability to successfully commercialize JATENZO and compete effectively will depend, in part, on our ability to effectively manage any future growth. If our management is unable to effectively manage our expected growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate or increase our revenue could be reduced and we may not be able to implement our business strategy.

We have limited resources to identify and execute the acquisition or of third-party products, businesses and technologies. Moreover, we will face significant competition in seeking to acquire or license promising product candidates or drug compounds. Other companies, including some with significantly greater financial, marketing and sales resources and more extensive experience in preclinical studies and clinical trials, obtaining marketing approval and manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products, may compete with us for the license or acquisition of product candidates and drug compounds. If we are unable to acquire or license additional promising product candidates or drug compounds, we will not be able to expand our product candidate pipeline and our prospects for future growth and our ability to sustain profitability will continue to be entirely dependent upon the success of JATENZO.

An acquisition or investment may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. In particular, we may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the businesses, products, personnel or operations of the acquired companies, particularly if the key personnel of the acquired business choose not to work for us, and we may have difficulty retaining the customers of any acquired business. Acquisitions may also disrupt our ongoing business, divert our resources and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for development of our business. Any acquisition or investment could expose us to unknown liabilities. Moreover, we cannot assure you that the anticipated benefits of any acquisition or investment would be realized or that we would not be exposed to unknown liabilities. An acquisition could also result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses or the of goodwill.

On February 18, 2022, we received two written notifications from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. The first notification indicated that as of February 18, 2022, we did not meet the $15,000,000 minimum market value of publicly held shares required to maintain continued listing as set forth in Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5450(b)(2)(C) (the “”) for the day period ended February 17, 2022. The second notification indicated that as of February 18, 2022, we did not meet the $50,000,000 minimum market value of listed securities required to maintain continued listing as set forth in Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5450(b)(2)(A) (the “” and together with the MVPHS Rule, the “”) for the day period ended February 17, 2022. Under Nasdaq rules, we will have 180 calendar days from the date of the notifications to regain compliance by meeting the continued listing requirements, namely the market value of publicly held shares closes at $15,000,000 or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days and the market value of listed securities closes at $50,000,000 or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days. If we are unable to regain compliance with the Rules during the period, and we receive a delisting determination from Nasdaq, we may, at that time, request a hearing to remain on the Nasdaq, which request will ordinarily suspend such delisting determination until a decision is issued by Nasdaq subsequent to the hearing.

If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

The sale of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. We issued a significant number of shares in the Business Combination to Legacy Clarus’ stockholders, all of which are freely tradable following expiration of the agreements other than by our “affiliates”. In addition, we adopted a new equity plan and an employee stock purchase plan, all of which could result in the issuance of additional shares into the market.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. As an emerging growth company, we can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company that is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company that has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accountant standards used.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the closing of the Blue Water IPO, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year; or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in debt securities during the prior three-year period.

We will have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants issued as part of the units in the Blue Water IPO at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when such warrants become redeemable, we may exercise our redemption right if there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of our common stock underlying such warrants. Redemption of such outstanding warrants could force you to: (i) exercise your warrants and pay the related exercise price at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so; (ii) sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants; or (iii) accept the nominal redemption price that, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants. None of the warrants issued in the private placement by Blue Water will be redeemable by us for cash so long as they are held by our former sponsor or its permitted transferees.

The rules dealing with U.S. federal, state and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service (“”), and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could adversely affect us or holders of our Common Stock. In recent years, many changes have been made and changes are likely to continue to occur in the future. Additional changes to U.S. federal income tax law are currently being contemplated, and future changes in tax laws could have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations. It cannot be predicted whether, when, in what form, or with what effective dates, new tax laws may be enacted, or regulations and rulings may be enacted, promulgated or issued under existing or new tax laws, which could result in an increase in our or our stockholders’ tax liability or require changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize or mitigate any adverse effects of changes in tax law or in the interpretation thereof.

This Annual Report on Form does not discuss any such tax legislation or the manner in which it might affect holders of our securities. We urge holders of our securities to consult with their legal and tax advisors with respect to any such legislation and the potential tax consequences of their ownership of our securities.

For a description of our material pending legal contingencies, please see Note 13 – Commitments and Contingents, to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form

The information required by Item 5 of Form regarding equity compensation plans is incorporated herein by reference to Item 12 of Part III of this Annual Report on Form

We are a pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of JATENZO, the first and only oral or therapy of its kind that has received final approval by the FDA. We believe that current users of TRT are not satisfied with their current options and desire a therapeutic that is safe, effective and more convenient. Our primary goal for JATENZO is for it to become the preferred choice for TRT among men with hypogonadism — T deficiency accompanied by an associated medical condition. In parallel, our broader vision is to become a pharmaceutical company initially focused on the development and commercialization of T and metabolic therapies for men and women.

In March 2019, our first commercial product, JATENZO, was approved by the FDA as a TRT for the treatment of adult men with hypogonadism due to certain medical conditions. JATENZO is the first oral T therapy approved by the FDA in more than 60 years. JATENZO is a prodrug created by the linkage of T with the fatty acid undecanoic acid to form TU. Once absorbed, TU, an inactive version of T, is converted by natural enzymes in the body to bioactive T. In February 2020, we commenced U.S. commercial sales of JATENZO and, as of December 31, 2021, JATENZO was available under health plans representing approximately 70% of all covered lives in the United States. Of those lives, 77% of the commercial lives had access to JATENZO. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, JATENZO generated net revenues of approximately $14.0 million, and $6.4 million, respectively, demonstrating consistent prescription and sales growth despite the commercial challenges presented by the ongoing pandemic. Total prescription growth for JATENZO for the year ended December 31, 2021 increased 81% as compared to the prior year period. In August 2019, the FDA granted Hatch-Waxman market exclusivity to JATENZO, which prevents the FDA from granting full market approval to similar new drugs or generic competitors of JATENZO until March 27, 2022.

We continue to work on several life cycle management projects for JATENZO, including a label expansion to treat hypogonadal men with CKD, development of a once-daily oral TU with Phase 2 clinical trial initiation anticipated in the first half of 2022, and a label expansion to provide T therapy for transgender individuals, with a Phase 4 clinical trial initiation anticipated in the first half of 2022.

The Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“”). Under this method of accounting, we are treated as the acquired company and Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. is treated as the acquirer for financial statement reporting and accounting purposes. As a result, the historical operations of Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. are deemed to be our financial statements. Therefore, the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form reflect (i) the historical operating results of Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. prior to the Business Combination; (ii) the combined results following the Business Combination on the Closing Date; (iii) the assets and liabilities of Clarus Therapeutics, Inc. at their historical cost; and (iv) our equity structure for all periods presented. The recapitalization of the number of shares of common stock attributable to the Business Combination is reflected retroactively to the earliest period presented and will be utilized for calculating earnings per share in all prior periods presented. basis of intangible assets or goodwill was recorded in the Business Combination consistent with the treatment of the transaction as a reverse recapitalization of Clarus Therapeutics, Inc.

Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses and have experienced negative operating cash flows. For the year ended December 31, 2021 our net loss was $40.6 million. For the year ended December 31, 2020 we had net income of $4.3 million, primarily due to a gain of $66.9 million as a result in a change in the warrant liability valuation. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $321.6 million. We expect to continue to generate operating losses and negative operating cash flows for the foreseeable future if and as we:

We expect to continue to incur significant and increasing expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Management believes that our existing cash and cash equivalents of $26.4 million as of December 31, 2021, and revenue generated from sales of JATENZO will fund our operations into April 2022. See “— .”

The business disruptions associated with the ongoing pandemic had a significant negative impact on our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Management expects that the public health actions being undertaken to reduce the spread of the virus, and that will have to be undertaken again in the event the pandemic worsens, such as by the omicron variant or other variants that may surface, will create significant disruptions to us with respect to: (i) the demand for our products, (ii) the ability of our sales representatives to reach healthcare customers, (iii) our ability to maintain staffing levels to support our operations, (iv) our ability to continue to manufacture certain of our products, (v) the reliability of our supply chain and (vi) our ability to achieve the financial covenants required by the senior secured notes agreement. The extent to which the ongoing pandemic will impact our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the duration of the outbreak, vaccinates rates and mandates, travel restrictions and social distancing in the United States and other countries, business closures or business disruptions and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease.

We are closely monitoring the evolving impact of the pandemic on all aspects of our business. We have implemented a number of measures designed to protect the health and safety of our employees, support its customers and promote business continuity. We are also actively reviewing and implementing cost-saving measures including discontinuing or delaying all services and programs and instituting controls on travel, events, marketing and clinical studies to adapt the business plan for the evolving challenges.

We expect to have an adequate supply of JATENZO through the end of 2022. We are working closely with our third-party manufacturers, distributors and other partners to manage our supply chain activities and mitigate potential disruptions to product supplies as a result of the pandemic.

Total revenue consists of net sales of JATENZO. Net sales represent the gross sales of JATENZO less provisions for product sales discounts and allowances. These provisions include trade allowances, rebates to government and commercial entities, copay costs and other customary sales discounts. Although we expect net sales to increase over time, the provisions for product sales discounts and allowances may fluctuate based on the mix of sales to different customer segments and/or changes in accrual estimates. For further discussion of the components of revenue see “— .”

Research and development expenses have primarily been limited to clinical trials, and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (“”), and CMC activities related to JATENZO. Our research and development costs as incurred, include:

We currently have one product, JATENZO, and do not currently track internal research and development expenses on an basis as they primarily relate to personnel, early research and consumable costs, which are deployed across multiple programs. A significant portion of research and development costs are external costs, such as fees paid to consultants, central laboratories, contractors, contract manufacturing organizations, contract research organizations and companies that manufacture clinical trial materials and potential future commercial supplies. Inventory acquired prior to receipt of the marketing approval of JATENZO was recorded as research and development expense as incurred. We began capitalizing the costs associated with the production of JATENZO after the FDA approval in March 2019.

Litigation settlement relates to cash payment received as a result of the patent infringement lawsuit with Lipocine, as further described in Note 13 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form We recognize the cash payments within income as they are received. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized $2.5 million associated with the first settlement payment received in July 2021.

On the Closing Date, we received net proceeds of approximately $17.0 million (not including the $25.0 million of additional capital provided prior thereto). Further, as a result of the closing of the merger, approximately $18.6 million of the principal balance of the senior secured notes and the related royalty obligation were exchanged for shares of our common stock, and our subsidiary’s’ s equity holders’ and convertible debt holders’ equity interests converted into the right to receive shares of our common stock or were canceled, retired and terminated without consideration as provided in the Merger Agreement. See “” for further discussion of the Merger.

In December 2021, we issued and sold 3,024,194 units in a private placement at a purchase price of $4.96 per unit, resulting in net proceeds of $13.8 million, after deducting offering expenses. Each unit consisted of one share of common stock (or one warrant in lieu thereof), and a five-year warrant to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price of $5.25 per share. In connection with the private placement, we filed a resale registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in December 2021 to register the resale of the common stock (including shares underlying the pre-funded warrants and other warrants) by the purchaser in the private placement.

As part of the merger (as further described in Note 3 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form $10.0 million of the principal on the senior secured notes and certain royalty rights were exchanged for an aggregate 1,905,000 shares of our common stock (which included the 405,000 shares of our common stock that were allocated to the senior secured noteholders pursuant to the share allocation agreement, of which 270,000 shares were reallocated from our subsidiary’s equity holders and 135,000 shares that were transferred from our former sponsor) and converted at a price of $10.20 per share. Further, an additional $5.0 million of the principal of the senior secured notes balance associated with the Indenture Note and $3.6 million of the principal of the senior secured notes balance associated with the Second Indenture Note, plus related accrued interest, were exchanged for an aggregate 882,318 shares of our common stock, which converted at a price of $10.00 per share.

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we recorded $8.9 million and $6.8 million, respectively in interest expense on the senior secured notes, of which $2.7 million and $2.2 million, respectively, expense associated with the amortization of the debt discount and debt issue costs. We did not make any cash interest payments during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

We classified the full carrying value of $42.3 million related to the senior secured notes as a current liability within the December 31, 2021 balance sheet as, if we are unable to obtain funding or generate operating cash flow, we do not expect that we will be in compliance with the covenants under the senior secured notes within one year of the balance sheet date. See Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form for further disclosure related to our assessment of the ability to operate as a going concern as of December 31, 2021.

In May 2021, our subsidiary entered into PIK, note (the “”), in relation to its missed interest payment (which was due in March 2021) on its senior secured notes, pursuant to which it borrowed an aggregate of $3.1 million from senior secured noteholders, to be included in the principal senior secured notes balance. The PIK Note accrues interest at a rate of 14.5%, compounded daily. Pursuant to the PIK Note, on February 1, 2023, we are required to make a payment of principal in the amount of $3.1 million, plus accrued and unpaid interest in respect of such principal.

In June 2021, our subsidiary entered into the Indenture Note (the “”), pursuant to which it borrowed an aggregate of $5.0 million from senior secured noteholders, to be included in the principal senior secured notes balance. The Indenture Note accrues interest at a rate of 14.5%, compounded daily, and was repaid with our common stock upon the closing of the merger.

In July 2021, our subsidiary entered into an additional note purchase agreement (the “”) pursuant to which it borrowed an aggregate of $3.6 million from senior secured noteholders. The outstanding balance under the Second Indenture Note accrues interest at a rate of 14.5%, compounded daily, and was repaid with our common stock upon the closing of the merger.

In March of 2020, the CARES Act was enacted to, among other provisions, provide emergency assistance for individuals, families and businesses affected by The CARES Act includes a Paycheck Protection Program (“”) administered through the Small Business Association (“”). Under the PPP, beginning April 3, 2020, small businesses and other entities and individuals could apply for loans from existing SBA lenders and other approved regulated lenders that enroll in the program, subject to numerous limitations and eligibility criteria.

Net cash used in operating activities was $43.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, reflecting net loss of $40.6 million and cash used in net operating assets and liabilities of $7.2 million, offset by charges of $4.0 million. The charges consist of interest expense on debt financings and the royalty obligation of $13.1 million, settlement of interest with note of $3.1 million, gain on extinguishment of senior note of $0.3 million, change in fair value of warrant liability of $12.5 million, stock-based compensation expense of $668 thousand and depreciation expense of $25 thousand. The change in net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase in inventory of $8.4 million, an increase in accounts receivable of $1.9 million, an increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets of $2.8 million, a decrease in deferred revenue of $0.4 million, partially offset by an increase in accrued expenses of $3.6 million and an increase in accounts payable of $1.8 million.

Net cash used in operating activities was $41.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, reflecting net income of $4.3 million, offset by a net change of $7.6 million in net operating assets and of $53.6 million. The primarily consist of the change in fair value of the warrant and derivative liabilities, expense on debt financings and the royalty obligation, stock-based compensation expense and depreciation. The change in net operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase in accounts payable of $7.7 million, an increase in accrued expenses of $2.9 million, an increase in deferred revenue of $1.2 million, partially offset by a decrease in accounts receivable of $4.4 million and a decrease in prepaid expenses of $0.8 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash provided by financing activities was $63.0 million, related to $23.6 million of proceeds from the issuance of convertible notes payable, $17.0 million in net proceeds from the Business Combination, $13.8 million of proceeds from issuance in a private placement of shares (or in lieu thereof, warrants) and accompanying purchase warrants, net of issuance costs, and $8.6 million of proceeds from the issuance of senior notes payable.

Our primary use of cash is to fund operating expenses, primarily related to our selling and marketing activities associated with the commercialization of JATENZO and our research and development activities. Cash used to fund operating expenses is impacted by the timing of when we pay these expenses, as reflected in the change in our outstanding accounts payable, accrued expenses and prepaid expenses. Until such time, if ever, we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. Our ability to raise additional capital may be adversely impacted by, but not limited to, potential worsening global economic conditions and our stock price, and the recent disruptions to, and volatility in, the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide resulting from the ongoing pandemic. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, ownership interests of existing stockholders may be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect our existing stockholders’ rights. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.

In addition to the consummation of the merger and the related investment, we plan to seek additional funding through the expansion of our commercial efforts to grow JATENZO and our operating cash flow, business development efforts JATENZO internationally, equity financings, debt financings such as the secured notes described in Note 8, Debt, in the Notes to the audited consolidated financial statements in this Annual Report on Form or other capital sources including collaborations with other companies or other strategic arrangements with third parties. There can be no assurance that these future financing efforts will be successful.

 

We have an agreement with Catalent under which we must make minimum annual purchases of JATENZO softgel capsules, through March 2025. Any shortfall between the minimum annual purchase quantities and actual purchases will be multiplied by a unit price, as defined in such agreement, and paid to Catalent within 30 days of that the minimum purchase requirement is not met. We have not made any payments to Catalent as a result of a shortfall in minimum purchase quantities. Purchases under the Catalent Agreement for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were $6.2 million and $3.2 million, respectively. The aggregate amount of future purchase obligations under the Catalent Agreement total $10.0 million as of December 31, 2021, of which $3.6 million is to be paid within one year.

As discussed above and in Note 8 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form we have outstanding senior secured notes.

Under the terms of our licensing agreement with HavaH, we made an upfront payment of $0.5 million and HavaH may be eligible for up to $10.8 million in potential development and regulatory milestone payments. Additionally, HavaH would be eligible for royalty payments and up to $30.0 million in potential commercial milestones. Such royalty payments will be based on total aggregate annual net sales the territory, at a low single digit percentage rate (when there is no patent protection or regulatory exclusivity) or a low teens percentage rate patent protection or regulatory exclusivity). Additionally, such royalties are payable until the later of ten years or the loss of patent protection or regulatory exclusivity. To date, pursuant to the HavaH Agreement, we have made cash payments of $0.5 million consisting of the upfront payment.

While our significant accounting policies are described in greater detail in Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report filed on Form we believe that the following accounting policies are those most critical to the judgments and estimates used in the preparation of its financial statements.

In accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“”), an entity recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the entity expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. We perform the following five steps to recognize revenue under ASC 606: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. We only recognize revenue when it is probable that it will collect the consideration to which it is entitled in exchange for the goods or services that will be transferred to the customer. At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, we assess the goods or services promised within each contract and determine those that are performance obligations. We then recognizes as revenue the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when (or as) the

We began selling JATENZO in February 2020, in the United States through a 3PL which takes title and control of the goods. The 3PL distributes the product to wholesale distributors (collectively the “”), with whom we have entered into formal agreements for delivery to retail pharmacies. We have also entered into arrangements with payors that provide government mandated and/or privately negotiated rebates, chargebacks and discounts for the purchase of our products.

We recognize revenue on sales of JATENZO when the customer obtains control of the product, which occurs at a point in time, typically upon delivery. Product revenues are recorded at the product’s wholesale acquisition costs, net of applicable reserves for variable consideration that are offered within contracts between us and our customers, wholesale distributors, payors, and other indirect customers relating to the sale of JATENZO. Components of variable consideration include government and commercial contract rebates, product returns, chargebacks, commercial program transactions and distribution services fees. These deductions are based on the amounts earned or to be claimed on the related sales and are classified as a current liability or reduction of receivables, based on expected value method and a range of outcomes and are probability weighted in accordance with ASC 606.

We offer to commercially insured patients meeting certain eligibility requirements. The calculation of the accrual for is based on an estimate of claims and the cost per claim that we expect to receive associated with product that has been recognized as revenue.

We market and sell products to both: (i) direct customers including its 3PL and (ii) indirect customers including independent pharmacies, other wholesalers, managed care organizations, group purchasing organizations (GPOs) and government entities. We enter into agreements with certain of its indirect customers to establish contract pricing for its product. These indirect customers then independently select a wholesaler from which to purchase the product at these contracted prices. Chargebacks represent the estimated obligations resulting from contractual commitments to sell our product at prices lower than the list prices charged to our Distributors. These Distributors charge us for the difference between what they pay for the product and the contracted selling price. These reserves are established in the same period that the related revenue is recognized, resulting in a reduction of product revenue and the establishment of a current liability. Reserves for chargebacks consist of amounts that we expect to pay for units that remain in the distribution channel inventories at each reporting we expect will be sold under a contracted selling price, and chargebacks that Distributors have claimed, but which have not yet been settled.

We offer discounts to certain of its customers. Provisions for such discounts are estimated and recorded at the time of sale. We estimates provisions for cash discounts based on contractual sales terms with customers, an analysis of unpaid invoices and historical payment experience. Estimated cash discounts have historically been predictable and less subjective due to the limited number of assumptions involved, the consistency of historical experience and the fact that we generally settles these amounts within 30 to 60 days.