BIOLIFE SOLUTIONS INC - Annual Report: 2021 (Form 10-K)

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K” or “Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K do not constitute guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our products, including our newly acquired products, customers, regulatory approvals, the potential utility of and market for our products and services, our ability to implement our business strategy and anticipated business and operations, in particular following our acquisitions in 2021, 2020, and 2019, future financial and operational performance, our anticipated future growth strategy, including the acquisition of other synergistic cell and gene therapy manufacturing tools and services or technologies or other companies or technologies, capital requirements, intellectual property, suppliers, joint venture partners, future financial and operating results, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, revenues, costs and expenses, interest rates, outcome of contingencies, business strategies, regulatory filings and requirements, the estimated potential size of markets, capital requirements, the terms of any capital financing agreements and other statements that are not historical facts. You can find many of these statements by looking for words like “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “may”, “should”, “will”, “could”, “plan”, “intend”, or similar expressions in this Form 10-K. We intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby.

These forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from current expectations and projections. Factors that might cause such a difference include those discussed under “Risk Factors”, as well as those discussed elsewhere in the Form 10-K.

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Form 10-K or, in the case of documents referred to or incorporated by reference, the date of those documents.

All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Form 10-K or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable U.S. securities law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

References throughout this Form 10-K to “BioLife Solutions, Inc.”, “BioLife”, “we”, “us”, “our”, or the “Company” refer to BioLife Solutions, Inc. and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole, unless the context otherwise indicates.

PART I

The following discussion of our business contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties (see the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” herein). Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those factors set forth under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

Overview

We develop, manufacture, and market bioproduction tools and services to the cell and gene therapy (“CGT”) industry and broader biopharma market, which are designed to improve quality and de-risk biologic manufacturing, storage, and distribution. Our products are used in basic and applied research and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies. Customers use our products to maintain the health and function of biologic material during sourcing, manufacturing, storage, and distribution.

We currently operate as one bioproduction tools and services business which supports several steps in the biologic material manufacturing and delivery process. We have a diversified portfolio of tools and services that focus on biopreservation, cell processing, frozen biologic storage products and services, cold-chain transportation, and thawing of biologic materials. We have in-house expertise in cryobiology and continue to capitalize on opportunities to maximize the value of our product platform for our extensive customer base through both organic growth innovations and acquisitions.

COVID-19 Considerations

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. In the second quarter of 2021, we believe our quarterly revenues were affected by COVID-19. Sales of portable freezers were significantly higher in the second quarter than the third and fourth quarters. The weight of these units and their compatibility with prevailing global electrical outlets attracted governments, scholarly institutions, and others to choose them for the distribution of drugs and drug materials in the pandemic. As the pandemic continues, customers who have secured enough freezers to achieve their objectives are tapering purchases with the intent to maintain their existing fleet. In the third and fourth quarters of 2021, our freezer and thaw systems product line experienced supply chain disruptions related to sheet metal and electronic components that incorporate semiconductor chips that led to increased supplier pricing and delays in production. We believe that the supply chain risks that were present in these quarters have been significantly mitigated through the diversification of sheet metal suppliers and strategic agreements with electronic component suppliers. However, we cannot provide any assurance that a continued or prolonged global pandemic will not have additional negative impacts on our manufacturing and shipping processes or our product costs. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affects our future financial results and operations will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the recurrence, severity and/or duration of the ongoing pandemic, and current or future domestic and international actions to contain and treat COVID-19.

We are following public and private sector policies and initiatives to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, such as the imposition of travel restrictions and the promotion of social distancing and work-from-home arrangements. We are taking a variety of measures to ensure the availability and functioning of our critical infrastructure, to promote the safety and security of our employees and to support the communities in which we operate. These measures include increasing our raw materials, manufacturing safety stock inventory for our biopreservation media and expanding availability of our biological and pharmaceutical storage, requiring remote working arrangements for employees who are not integral to physically making and shipping our products or who do not need specialized equipment to perform their work, restricting on-site visits by non-employees and implementing social distancing protocols, and investing in personal protective equipment. Beginning April 2, 2020, BioLife became actively engaged in managing the company COVID-19 response and protocols in accordance with federal, state and local regulations. BioLife has mandated mask wearing for all team members on-site throughout the pandemic per the guidelines and regulations in place. COVID-19 response is actively managed through daily reporting, contact tracing and quarantine guidelines as published by the CDC and state health departments in order to maintain safe working conditions. As a part of our COVID-19 response, on-site visitors have been limited to essential visitors only in order to reduce risk of transmission. Additionally, throughout the pandemic, BioLife has encouraged positions not essential to being on-site to work remotely in order to further reduce transmission rates and potential contact.

For further discussion of the risks relating to COVID-19, see “Our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic” in Item 1A. “Risk Factors”, below.

Our products

Our bioproduction tools and services are comprised of three revenue lines that contain seven main offerings:

Cell processing

Biopreservation media

Our proprietary biopreservation media products, HypoThermosol® FRS and CryoStor®, are formulated to mitigate preservation-induced, delayed-onset cell damage and death, which result when cells and tissues are subjected to reduced temperatures. Our technology can provide our CGT customers with significant shelf life extension of biologic source material and final cell products, and can also greatly improve post-preservation cell and tissue viability and function. Our biopreservation media is serum-free, protein-free, fully defined, and manufactured under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). We strive to source wherever possible, the highest available grade, multi-compendium raw materials. We estimate our media products have been incorporated in more than 530 customer clinical applications, including numerous chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell and other cell types. 

Stability (i.e. shelf-life) and functional recovery are crucial aspects of academic research and clinical practice in the biopreservation of biologic-based source material, intermediate derivatives, and isolated/derived/expanded cellular products and therapies. Limited stability is especially critical in the CGT field, where harvested cells and tissues will lose viability over time, if not maintained appropriately at normothermic body temperature (37ºC) or stored in a hypothermic state in an effective preservation medium. Chilling (hypothermia) is used to reduce metabolism and delay degradation of harvested cells and tissues. However, subjecting biologic material to hypothermic environments induces damaging molecular stress and structural changes. Although cooling successfully reduces metabolism (i.e., lowers demand for energy), various levels of cellular damage and death occur when using suboptimal methods. Traditional biopreservation media range from simple “balanced salt” (electrolyte) formulations to complex mixtures of electrolytes, energy substrates such as sugars, osmotic buffering agents and antibiotics. The limited stability, which results from the use of these traditional biopreservation media formulations, is a significant shortcoming that our optimized proprietary products address with great success.

Our scientific research activities over the last 20+ years enabled a detailed understanding of the molecular basis for the hypothermic and cryogenic (low-temperature induced) damage/destruction of cells through apoptosis and necrosis. This research led directly to the development of our HypoThermosol® FRS and CryoStor® technologies. Our proprietary biopreservation media products are specifically formulated to:

A key feature of our biopreservation media products is their “fully-defined” profile. All of our cGMP products are serum-free, protein-free and are formulated and filled using aseptic processing. We strive to use USP/Multicompendial grade or the highest quality available synthetic components. All of these features benefit prospective customers by facilitating the qualification process required to incorporate our products into their regulatory filings.

The results of independent testing demonstrate that our biopreservation media products significantly extend shelf-life and improve cell and tissue post-thaw viability and function. Our products have demonstrated improved biopreservation outcomes, including greatly extended shelf-life and post-thaw viability, across a broad array of cell and tissue types.

Competing biopreservation media products are often formulated with simple isotonic media cocktails, animal serum, potentially a single sugar or human protein. A key differentiator of our proprietary HypoThermosol FRS formulation is the engineered optimization of the key ionic component concentrations for low temperature environments, as opposed to normothermic body temperature around 37°C, as found in culture media or saline-based isotonic formulas. Competing cryopreservation freeze media is often comprised of a single permeating cryoprotectant such as dimethyl sulfoxide (“DMSO”). Our CryoStor formulations incorporate multiple permeating and non-permeating cryoprotectant agents which allow for multiple mechanisms of protection and reduces the dependence on a single cryoprotectant. We believe that our products offer significant advantages over in-house formulations, or commercial “generic” preservation media, including, time savings, improved quality of components, more rigorous quality control release testing, cost effectiveness, and improved preservation efficacy.

We estimate that annual revenue from each customer commercial application in which our products are used could range from $500,000 to $2.0 million, if such application is approved and our customer commences large scale commercial manufacturing of the biologic-based therapy.

Human platelet lysate media, cryogenic vials and automated cell-processing fill machines

In September 2021, we acquired Sexton Biotechnologies, Inc. (“Sexton”), a producer of bioproduction tools. Sexton's bioproduction tools portfolio includes human platelet lysates for cell expansion reducing risk and improving downstream performance over fetal bovine serum, human serum, and other chemically defined media, CellSeal® closed system vials that are purpose-built rigid containers used in CGT that can be filled manually or with high throughput systems, and automated cell processing machines that bring multiple processes traditionally performed by manual techniques under a higher level of control to protect therapies from loss or contamination.

Freezers and thaw systems

Ultra-low temperature freezers

In May 2021, we acquired Global Cooling, Inc. (“Global Cooling”), a manufacturer of class defining ultra-low temperature freezers. Global Cooling carries a portfolio of freezers that range in size from portable units to stationary upright freezers to accommodate a wide variety of use cases. Users can configure these freezers to achieve temperatures between -20°C and -86°C. The portfolio was designed to be environmentally friendly and energy efficient, using as little as 2.8 kWh/day at temperatures of -80°C. The freezers do not use compressor-based or cascade refrigeration systems. Instead, they use patented free-piston Stirling engine technology that uses fewer moving parts.

Cryogenic freezers and accessories

In November 2019, we acquired Custom Biogenic Systems, Inc. (“CBS”) a global leader in the design and manufacture of state-of-the-art liquid nitrogen laboratory freezers, cryogenic equipment and accessories. CBS’s Isothermal LN2 freezers are constructed with a patented system which stores liquid nitrogen in a jacketed space in the walls of the freezer. This dry storage method eliminates liquid nitrogen contact with stored specimens, reduces the risk of cross-contamination and provides increased user safety in a laboratory setting. To accommodate customer requirements, we offer customizable features including wide bodied and extended height. CBS’s high capacity controlled rate freezers (“HCFR”) are designed for large volume storage with customizable freezing programs and the ability to monitor conditions in real time.

To accompany the offerings of cryogenic freezer equipment, we supply equipment for storing critically important biological materials. This storage equipment includes upright freezer racks, chest freezer racks, liquid nitrogen freezer racks, canisters/cassettes and frames as well as laboratory boxes and dividers. Due to our onsite design and manufacturing capability, racks and canisters can be customized to address customers’ varying requirements.

In order to provide customers with a proactive approach to safety and monitoring of equipment containing liquefied gas, CBS offers Versalert^TM, a patented wireless remote asset monitoring system that can monitor and record temperatures. Versalert has an intelligent mesh network system that enables customers to view current equipment conditions and receive alarm notification on smartphones, tablets or personal computers and maintain permanent electronic records for regulatory compliance and legal verification.

Automated thawing devices

In April 2019, we acquired Astero Bio Corporation (“Astero”), a provider of automated thawing devices. The ThawSTAR® line includes automated vial and cryobag thawing products that control the heat and timing of the thawing process of biologic material. Our customizable, automated, water-free thawing products use algorithmic programmed, heating plates to consistently bring biologic material from a frozen state to a liquid state in a controlled and consistent manner. This helps reduce damage during the temperature transition. The ThawSTAR products can reduce risks of contamination versus using a traditional water bath.

Storage and cold chain services

Biological and pharmaceutical storage

In October 2020, we acquired SciSafe Holdings, Inc. (“SciSafe”), a premier provider of biological and pharmaceutical storage. In addition to providing storage services, SciSafe provides cold chain logistics that ensures materials are kept at target temperatures from the moment that the materials leave the customer’s premises to their ultimate return. State-of-the-art monitoring systems employed by SciSafe allow for customers to monitor the storage temperatures of their materials throughout the entire logistics chain.

We operate six storage facilities in the USA and one facility in the Netherlands.

Cloud connected “smart” shipping containers

In August 2019, we acquired the remaining shares of SAVSU Technologies, Inc. (“SAVSU”) we did not previously own. SAVSU is a leading developer and supplier of next generation cold chain management tools for cell and gene therapies. The evo.is cloud app allows biologic products to be traced and tracked in real time. Our evo platform consists of rentable cloud-connected shippers and include technologies that enable tracking software to provide real-time information on geolocation, payload temperature, ambient temperature, tilt of shipper, humidity, altitude, and real-time alerts when a shipper has been opened. Our internally developed evo.is software allows customers to customize alert notifications both in data measurements and user requirements. The evo Dry Vapor Shipper (“DVS”) is specifically marketed to cell and gene therapies. The evo DVS has improved form factor and ergonomics over the traditional dewar, including extended thermal performance, reduced liquid nitrogen recharge time, improved payload extractors and ability to maintain temperature for longer periods on its side.

We utilize couriers who already have established logistic channels and distribution centers. Our strategy greatly reduces the cash need to build out specialized facilities around the world. Our partnerships with several white glove couriers allow us to scale our sales and marketing effort by utilizing their salesforce. Our courier partnerships market our evo platform to their existing cell and gene therapy customers as a cost effective and innovative solution. We also market directly to our existing and prospective customers who can utilize the evo platform through our courier partnerships.

Our market opportunity

The CGT market has been rapidly expanding, treating diseases once thought incurable. According to the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (“ARM”), “2022 State of the Industry Report” there were over 2,200 ongoing clinical trials utilizing regenerative medicine at the end of Q3 2021, including over 1,100 industry-sponsored clinical trials. Six new products received approvals in 2021. ARM also reported there were over $23.1 billion in total global financings in the regenerative market raised in 2021. The FDA predicts ten to twenty cell and gene therapies per year will be approved by 2025.

These technologies change the way physicians treat patients. The manufacturing, distribution and the delivery process is significantly different from many other types of medicines and therapies. We believe we are well positioned to address many of the manufacturing difficulties in the process of producing cell and gene therapies.

The bioproduction process

Our products currently fulfill several steps in the bioproduction process for cell and gene therapies. See the diagram below from an illustration of this process and our product roles. We now offer products that integrate into the critical steps of preservation, thawing, fixed storage, and transportable storage under controlled conditions.

Complementary products portfolio

Expanding Participation in Customers’ Workflow

Our strategy

We are focused on the development, production, and commercialization of differentiated, best-in-class products and services that facilitate the manufacturing, delivery and storage of cell and gene therapies and biologic materials. Our products are designed to increase our customers’ product yield and we are committed to supporting our customers with strong customer service and applications expertise.

We leverage our numerous relationships with the leading cell and gene therapy companies that use our expanded product portfolio of bioproduction tools and services to cross-sell our parts of the portfolio. Over the last several years, we have built a strong reputation as a trusted supplier of critical tools used in cell and gene therapy manufacturing and the broader biopharma market. We believe that our relationships and reputation could enable us to drive incremental revenue growth through the sale of additional products to a captive customer base. Our products are designed to increase our customers’ product yield and functionality, and we are committed to supporting our customers with strong customer service and our expertise associated with the clinical applications of our products.

Business Operations

Research and development

Our research and development activity is focused on evaluating new potential disruptive technologies which may be applicable throughout the cell and gene therapy manufacturing workflow. We routinely assess and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of competitive products and are typically engaged in business development discussions on an ongoing basis. We strive to continue to introduce differentiated and high-quality products that address specific difficulties in manufacturing, delivery and storage of biologic material.

Sales and marketing

We market and sell our products through direct sales and third-party distribution. We have significantly expanded our global commercial organization from 11 team members in 2019 to 43 team members as of December 31, 2021.

We have experienced field-based sales employees who market our growing product portfolio on a direct basis. Over time, we have expanded and anticipate continuing to expand our sales team. Our technical applications engineers and customer care support teams have extensive experience with the products and services that we offer.

Our products are also marketed and distributed by STEMCELL Technologies, MilliporeSigma, VWR, part of Avantor, Thermo Fisher and several other regional distributors under non-exclusive agreements. In 2021, 2020, and 2019, sales to third party distributors accounted for 46%, 45%, and 46% of our revenue, respectively.

In the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, we derived approximately 17%, 13%, and 15% of our revenue from one customer, one customer, and one customer, respectively.

The following table represents the Company’s total revenue by geographic area (based on the location of the customer):

Manufacturing

Cell processing – We maintain and operate two independent cGMP clean room production suites for manufacturing sterile biopreservation media products in Bothell, Washington. Our quality management system (“QMS”) in Bothell is certified to the ISO 13485:2016 standard. Our QMS takes guidance from applicable sections of 21 CFR Part 820 - Quality System Regulation for Good Manufacturing Practice of medical devices, 21 CFR Parts 210 and 211 - cGMP for Finished Pharmaceuticals, FDA Guidance - Sterile Drug Products, Volume 4, EU Guidelines Annex 1 - Manufacture of Sterile Medicinal Products, ISO 13408 - Aseptic Processing of Healthcare Products, and ISO 14644 - Clean Rooms and Associated Controlled Environments.

We also maintain and operate one cGMP clean room production suite for manufacturing hPL media in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our quality management system (“QMS”) in Indianapolis is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard. Our QMS takes guidance from applicable sections of 21 CFR Part 820 - Quality System Regulation for Good Manufacturing Practice of medical devices, 21 CFR Parts 210 and 211 - cGMP for Finished Pharmaceuticals, Volume 4, EU Guidelines Annex 2 - Manufacture of Biological active substances and Medicinal Products for Human Use and ISO 14644 – Clean Rooms and Associated Controlled Environments.

We seek to manage single-source supplier risk by regularly assessing the quality and capacity of our suppliers, implementing supply and quality agreements where appropriate and actively managing lead times and inventory levels of sourced components. Pursuant to our supply agreements, we are required to notify customers of any changes to our raw materials. For certain components in which we do not have a secondary supplier, we estimate that it would take up to six months to find and qualify a second source. Order quantities and lead times for externally sourced components are based on our forecasts, which are derived from historical demand and anticipated future demand. Lead times for components may vary depending on the size of the order, specific supplier requirements and current market demand for the materials and parts. Due to COVID-19, we have seen increased lead times for certain raw materials, particularly personal protective equipment used in our clean rooms and certain form factors of bottles and vials used in our finished products. To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in obtaining raw materials for the manufacture of our biopreservation media products.

Freezers and thaw systems – Ultra-low temperature (“ULT”) freezers are produced in our facility in Athens, Ohio and by a contract manufacturing organization (“CMO”) based in Ohio. We believe this CMO has the skills, experience and capacity needed to meet our quality standards and demand expectations for the product line. We estimate that it would take up to six months to find and qualify an alternative CMO. To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in obtaining our ULT freezer products from our CMO. In the year ended December 31, 2021, we experienced difficulties in obtaining sheet metal and electrical components that incorporate semiconductor chips for the manufacture of our ULT freezer products. These difficulties led to increased supplier pricing for these materials and reduced production levels of ULT freezers in the third and fourth quarters of 2021. We believe the supply chain challenges related to sheet metal that we experienced in 2021 have been substantially mitigated through the diversification of suppliers. The availability of components that incorporate semiconductor chips, however, continues to be a challenge in comparison to pre-pandemic availability levels. Our strategic partnerships with key suppliers have secured sufficient supply of these electrical components for our operations for the foreseeable future.

The majority of our isothermal LN2 freezers and related accessories are manufactured in our facility in Bruce Township, Michigan. We are reliant on certain critical suppliers for some components. Due to COVID-19, we have seen increased lead times for certain raw materials and components from our suppliers as well as increased costs on certain raw materials. To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in obtaining raw materials for the manufacture of our LN2 freezers freezer and related accessories.

Our ThawSTAR automated, water-free thawing products are produced by a CMO based in the United States. We believe this CMO has the skills, experience and capacity needed to meet our quality standards and demand expectations for the product line. Due to COVID-19, we have seen increased lead times from our CMO due to increased lead times from our CMO’s suppliers. We estimate that it would take up to six months to find and qualify an alternative CMO. To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in obtaining our automated thaw products from our CMO.

Storage and cold chain services – Production of our evo cold chain management hardware products is performed by external CMOs and by personnel in our Albuquerque, New Mexico facility. Our QMS is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard. Due to COVID-19, we have seen increased lead times for certain raw materials and components from our suppliers. To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in obtaining raw materials for the manufacture of our evo cold chain products.

We practice continuous improvement based on routine internal audits as well as external feedback and audits performed by our partners and customers. In addition, we maintain a business continuity management system that focuses on key areas such as contingency planning, security stocks and off-site storage of raw materials and finished goods to ensure continuous supply of our products.

SciSafe operates five cGMP compliant storage facilities and one state-of-the-art facility in the United States and one facility in the Netherlands. One facility in the United States is certified to the ISO 20387:2018 standard and one facility in the United States is certified to the ISO 9001:2015 standard. We rely on outside suppliers for the build out of our cold-storage chambers and stand-alone freezers. Due to COVID-19, we have experienced increased lead times in acquiring external stand-alone freezers, which we use to store customers’ biologic materials.

Product regulatory status

Our products are not subject to any specific United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) or other international marketing regulations for drugs, devices, or biologics. We are not required to sponsor formal prospective, controlled clinical trials in order to establish safety and efficacy. However, to support our current and prospective clinical customers, we manufacture and release our products in compliance with cGMP and other relevant quality standards.

To assist customers with their regulatory applications, we maintain Type II Master Files at the FDA for CryoStor, HypoThermosol FRS, BloodStor 27, Stemulate, nLiven PR, T-Liven PR, CellSeal Closed System Cryogenic Vials, and our Cell Thawing Media products, which provide the FDA with information regarding our manufacturing facility and process, our quality system, stability and safety, and any additional testing that has been performed. Customers engaged in clinical and commercial applications may notify the FDA of their intention to use our products in their product development and manufacturing process by requesting a cross-reference to our master files.

A group of isothermal, standard, and carousel LN2 freezers in our freezers and thaw systems product line is currently regulated as Class 2 medical devices in the EU.

Intellectual property

The following table lists our granted and pending patents. We have also obtained certain trademarks and tradenames for our products to distinguish our genuine products from our competitors’ products and we maintain certain details about our processes, products, and strategies as trade secrets. While we believe that the protection of patents and trademarks is important to our business, we also rely on a combination of trade secrets, nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements, scientific expertise and continuing technological innovation to maintain our competitive position. Despite these precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy certain aspects of our products and/or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary (see “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this Annual Report for additional details). The laws of some foreign countries in which we may sell our products do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States.

Competition

Our bioproduction products and services compete on the basis of value proposition, performance, quality, cost effectiveness, and application suitability with numerous established technologies. Additional products using new technologies that may be competitive with our products may also be introduced. Many of the companies selling or developing competitive products have greater financial and human resources, R&D, manufacturing and marketing experience than we do. They may undertake their own development of products that are substantially similar to or compete with our products and they may succeed in developing products that are more effective or less costly than any that we may develop. These competitors may also prove to be more successful in their production, marketing and commercialization activities. We cannot be certain that the research, development and commercialization efforts of our competitors will not render any of our existing or potential products obsolete.

Human capital

We view our employees and our culture as key to our success. As of December 31, 2021, we had 432 full time employees and 5 part-time employees. Our employees are not covered by any collective bargaining agreement. We consider relations with our employees to be good.

Corporate history

We were incorporated in Delaware in 1987 under the name Trans Time Medical Products, Inc. In 2002, the Company, then known as Cryomedical Sciences, Inc. was engaged in manufacturing and marketing cryosurgical products. The entity was merged with our wholly-owned subsidiary, BioLife Solutions, Inc., which was engaged as a developer and marketer of biopreservation media products for cells and tissues. Following the merger, we changed our name to BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Principal offices; available information

Our principal executive offices are located at 3303 Monte Villa Parkway, Suite 310, Bothell, Washington 98021 and the telephone number is (425) 402-1400. We maintain a website at www.biolifesolutions.com. The information contained on or accessible through our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and is not incorporated in any manner into this Annual Report. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), are available free of charge on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish those reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SEC also maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report, before deciding to invest in our common stock. If any of the following risks materialize, our business, financial condition, results of operation and prospects will likely be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks related to our financial condition

Despite our increasingly diversified customer base, we have historically depended on a limited number of customers and products in a limited number of market sectors; if we lose any of these large customers or if there are problems in those market sectors, particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our net product revenue and operating results could decline significantly.

In the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we derived approximately 17%, 13%, and 15% of our revenue from one customer, one customer, and one customer, respectively. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue in the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019. Our principal customers may vary from period to period and such customers may not continue to purchase products from us at current levels or at all (particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic). Further, the inability of some of our customers to consummate anticipated purchases of our products due to changes in end-user demand, and other unpredictable factors that may affect customer ordering patterns could lead to significant reductions in net product revenue which could harm our business. Because our revenue and operating results are difficult to predict (particularly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations are not a good indicator of our future performance. Additionally, if revenue declines in a quarter, whether due to a delay in recognizing expected revenue, adverse economic conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues or otherwise, our results of operations will be harmed because many of our expenses are relatively fixed. In particular, a large portion of our manufacturing costs, our research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses are not significantly affected by variations in revenue. Further, our cost of product revenue is dependent on product mix. If our quarterly operating results fail to meet investor expectations, the price of our common stock may decline.

We expect our operating results to fluctuate significantly from period to period.

Following our acquisitions in 2021, 2020 and 2019, we have increased our fixed costs and now sell products having higher costs of product revenue than our biopreservation media products. We expect that the result of these acquisitions will make it more difficult to predict our revenue and operating results from period-to-period and that, as a result, comparisons of our results of operations are not currently and will not be for the foreseeable future a good indicator of our future performance. For example, if revenue declines in a quarter, whether due to a delay in recognizing expected revenue, adverse economic conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues or otherwise, our results of operations in such period will be harmed because many of our expenses are now relatively fixed. In particular, a large portion of our manufacturing costs, research and development expenses, sales and marketing expenses and general and administrative expenses are not significantly affected by variations in revenue. Further, a shift in product revenue concentration away from our CryoStor products and towards our new products with higher costs of product revenue will adversely affect our operating margin. If our quarterly operating results fail to meet investor expectations, the price of our common stock may decline.

Risks related to our acquisition strategy

We may engage in future acquisitions or strategic transactions which may require us to seek additional financing or financial commitments, increase our expenses and/or present significant distractions to our management.

In the last three years, we acquired six companies and made investments in two other companies. We are continuing to actively evaluate opportunities to grow our portfolio of bioproduction tools and services for the cell and gene therapy and broader biopharma markets. In the event we engage in an acquisition or strategic transaction, including by making an investment in another company, we may need to acquire additional financing. Obtaining financing through the issuance or sale of additional equity and/or debt securities, if possible, may not be at favorable terms and may result in additional dilution to our current stockholders. Additionally, any such transaction may require us to incur non-recurring or other charges, may increase our near and long-term expenditures and may pose significant integration challenges or disrupt our management or business, which could adversely affect our operations and financial results. For example, an acquisition or strategic transaction, may entail numerous operational and financial risks, including the risks outlined above and additionally:

Accordingly, although there can be no assurance that we will undertake or successfully complete any transactions of the nature described above, any transactions that we do complete could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

If intangible assets and goodwill that we recorded in connection with our acquisitions become impaired, we may have to take significant charges against earnings.

In connection with the accounting for our completed acquisitions in 2021, 2020, and 2019, we recorded a significant amount of intangible assets, including developed technology, in-process research and development, and customer relationships relating to the acquired product lines, and goodwill. Under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, we must assess, at least annually and potentially more frequently, whether the value of indefinite-lived intangible assets and goodwill have been impaired. Intangible assets and goodwill will be assessed for impairment in the event of an impairment indicator. Any reduction or impairment of the value of intangible assets and goodwill will result in a charge against earnings, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations and shareholders’ equity in future periods.

Our acquisitions expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business, and we may not achieve the anticipated benefits of acquisitions of businesses or technologies.

As a part of our growth strategy, we have made and may continue to make selected acquisitions of complementary products and/or businesses. Any acquisition involves numerous risks and operational, financial, and managerial challenges, including the following, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations:

In addition, the successful integration of acquired businesses requires significant efforts and expense across all operational areas, including sales and marketing, research and development, manufacturing, finance, legal, and information technologies. There can be no assurance that any of the acquisitions we may make will be successful or will be, or will remain, profitable. Our failure to successfully address the foregoing risks may prevent us from achieving the anticipated benefits from any acquisition in a reasonable time frame, or at all.

The integration of our acquisitions may result in significant accounting charges that adversely affect the announced results of our company.

The financial results of our company may be adversely affected by cash expenses and non-cash accounting charges incurred in connection with our acquisitions over the prior three years. In addition to the anticipated cash charges, costs associated with the amortization of intangible assets are expected. The price of our common stock could decline to the extent our financial results are materially affected by the foregoing charges or if the foregoing charges are larger than anticipated.

Our recent acquisitions may result in unexpected consequences to our business and results of operations.

Although we believe that our recently acquired businesses will generally be subject to risks similar to those to which we are subject to in our existing operations, we may not have discovered all risks applicable to these businesses during the due diligence process. Some of these risks could produce unexpected and unwanted consequences for us. Undiscovered risks may result in us incurring financial liabilities, which could be material and have a negative impact on our business operations.

Failure to realize the benefits expected from our recent acquisitions, and in particular our acquisition of Global Cooling, could adversely affect the value of our common stock.

The success of our recent acquisitions will depend, in part, on our ability to:

However, to realize the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions we must successfully integrate their businesses in a manner that permits those benefits and cost savings to be realized. Although we expect significant benefits to result from these acquisitions, there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully realize these benefits. The challenges involved in this integration will be complex and time consuming and may require a disproportionate amount of resources and management attention and could result in the loss of valuable employees, the disruption of each company’s ongoing business or inconsistencies in standards, controls, procedures, practices, and policies that could adversely impact our operations. If we do not successfully manage these and related issues and challenges, we may not achieve the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions and our revenue, expenses, operating results, financial condition and stock price could be materially adversely affected.

Risks related to our business and operations

Healthcare reform measures could adversely affect our business.

The efforts of governmental and third-party payors to contain or reduce the costs of healthcare may adversely affect the business and financial condition of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including ours. Specifically, in both the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory proposals to change the healthcare system in ways that could affect our ability to sell our products profitably. Efforts by governments and other third-party payors to contain or reduce the costs of healthcare through various means may limit our commercial opportunities and adversely affect our operating results and result in a decrease in the price of our common stock or limit our ability to raise capital.

If our products do not perform as expected or the reliability of the technology on which our products are based is questioned, we could experience lost revenue, delayed or reduced market acceptance of our products, increased costs and damage to our reputation.

Our success depends on the market’s confidence that we can provide reliable, high-quality products to our customers. We believe that customers in our target markets are likely to be particularly sensitive to product defects and errors. Our reputation and the public image of our products and technologies may be impaired if our products fail to perform as expected. Although our products are tested prior to shipment, defects or errors could nonetheless occur in our products. In the future, if our products experience, or are perceived to experience, a material defect or error, this could result in loss or delay of revenues, delayed market acceptance, damaged reputation, diversion of development resources, legal claims, increased insurance costs or increased service and warranty costs, any of which could harm our business. Such defects or errors could also narrow the scope of the use of our products, which could hinder our success in the market. Even after any underlying concerns or problems are resolved, any lingering concerns in our target market regarding our technology or any manufacturing defects or performance errors in our products could continue to result in lost revenue, delayed market acceptance, damaged reputation, increased service and warranty costs and claims against us.

We face significant competition.

The life sciences industry is highly competitive. We anticipate that we will continue to face increased competition as existing companies may choose to develop new or improved products and as new companies could enter the market with new technologies, any of which could compete with our product or even render our products obsolete. Many of our competitors are significantly larger than us and have greater financial, technical, research, marketing, sales, distribution and other resources than us. There can be no assurance that our competitors will not succeed in developing or marketing technologies and products that are more effective or commercially attractive than any that are being developed or marketed by us, or that such competitors will not succeed in obtaining regulatory approval, or introducing or commercializing any such products, prior to us. Such developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, even if we can compete successfully, there can be no assurance that we can continue do so in a profitable manner.

We are dependent on outside suppliers for all our manufacturing supplies.

We rely on outside suppliers for all our manufacturing supplies, parts and components. Although we believe we could develop alternative sources of supply for most of these components within a reasonable period of time, there can be no assurance that, in the future, our current or alternative sources will be able to meet all our demands on a timely basis, particularly given the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Unavailability of necessary components could require us to re-engineer our products to accommodate available substitutions, which could increase costs to us and/or have a material adverse effect on manufacturing schedules, products performance and market acceptance. In addition, an uncorrected defect or supplier’s variation in a component or raw material, either unknown to us or incompatible with our manufacturing process, could harm our ability to manufacture products. We might not be able to find a sufficient alternative supplier in a reasonable amount of time, or on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If we fail to obtain a supplier for the components of our products, our operations could be disrupted.

In the year ended December 31, 2021, we experienced difficulties in obtaining sheet metal and electrical components that incorporate semiconductor chips for the manufacture of our ULT freezer products. These difficulties led to increased supplier pricing for these materials and reduced production levels of ULT freezers in the third and fourth quarters of 2021. The availability of components that incorporate semiconductor chips continues to be a challenge in comparison to pre-pandemic availability levels. Our strategic partnerships with key suppliers have secured sufficient supply of these electrical components for our operations for the foreseeable future.

Our success will depend on our ability to attract and retain key personnel.

In order to execute our business plan, we must attract, retain and motivate highly qualified managerial, scientific, manufacturing, and sales personnel. If we fail to attract and retain skilled scientific and sales personnel, our sales efforts will be hindered. Our future success depends to a significant degree upon the continued services of key scientific and technical personnel. If we do not attract and retain qualified personnel, we will not be able to achieve our growth objectives.

Difficulties in manufacturing could have an adverse effect upon our expenses and our product revenues.

We currently manufacture all of our biopreservation media products, freezer products and related components. We currently outsource the manufacturing of certain thaw products, certain cold chain products, two ULT freezer models, and components of our LN2 freezers. The manufacturing of our products is difficult and complex. To support our current and prospective clinical customers, we comply with and intend to continue to comply with cGMP in the manufacture of our products. Our ability to adequately manufacture and supply our products in a timely matter is dependent on the uninterrupted and efficient operation of our facilities and those of third-parties producing raw materials and supplies upon which we rely in our manufacturing. The manufacture of our products may be impacted by:

If efficient manufacture and supply of our products is interrupted, we may experience delayed shipments or supply constraints. If we are at any time unable to provide an uninterrupted supply of our products to customers, our customers may be unable to supply their end-products incorporating our products to their patients and other customers, which could materially and adversely affect our product revenue and results of operations.

While we are not currently subject to FDA or other regulatory approvals on our products, if we become subject to regulatory requirements, the manufacture and sale of our products may be delayed or prevented, or we may become subject to increased expenses.

None of our products are subject to FDA. In particular, we are not required to sponsor formal prospective, controlled clinical-trials to establish safety and efficacy. A group of isothermal, standard, and carousel LN2 freezers in our freezers and thaw systems product line is currently regulated as Class 2 medical devices in the EU. Additionally, we comply with cGMP requirements. This is done solely to support our current and prospective clinical customers. However, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to obtain approval from the FDA, or foreign regulatory authorities, as applicable, prior to marketing any of our products in the future. Any such requirements could delay or prevent the sale of our products or may subject us to additional expenses.

Our business may be subject to product liability claims or product recalls, which could be expensive and could result in a diversion of management’s attention.

Our business exposes us to potential product liability risks that are inherent in the design, manufacture and marketing of our products. In particular, we are a supplier of bioproduction tools to the cell and gene therapy industry. Our products are used in basic and applied research, and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies. Customers use our products to maintain the health and function of biologic material during sourcing, manufacturing, storage, and distribution of cells and tissues, and component failures, manufacturing flaws, design defects or inadequate disclosure of product-related risks with respect to these or other products we manufacture or sell could result in an unsafe condition or injury. As a result, we face an inherent risk of damage to our reputation if one or more of our products are, or are alleged to be, defective. Although we carry product liability insurance, we may be exposed to product liability and warranty claims in the event that our products actually or allegedly fail to perform as expected or the use of our products results, or is alleged to result, in bodily injury and/or property damage. The outcome of litigation, particularly any class-action lawsuits, is difficult to quantify. Plaintiffs often seek recovery of very large or indeterminate amounts, including punitive damages. The magnitude of the potential losses relating to these lawsuits may remain unknown for substantial periods of time and the cost to defend against any such litigation may be significant. Accordingly, we could experience product liability losses in the future and incur significant costs to defend these claims.

In addition, if any of our products are, or are alleged to be, defective, we may voluntarily participate, or be required by applicable regulators, to participate in a recall of that product if the defect or the alleged defect relates to safety. In the event of a recall, we may experience lost sales and be exposed to individual or class-action litigation claims and reputational risk. Product liability, warranty and recall costs may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Insurance coverage is increasingly difficult to obtain or maintain.

While we currently maintain product liability insurance, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, general liability insurance, and other types of insurance, first- and third-party insurance is increasingly more costly and narrower in scope, and we may be required to assume more risk in the future. If we are subject to third-party claims or suffer a loss or damage in excess of our insurance coverage, we may be required to share that risk in excess of our insurance limits. Furthermore, any first- or third-party claims made on our insurance policies may impact our future ability to obtain or maintain product liability insurance coverage at reasonable costs, if at all.

We are and may become the subject of various claims, litigation or investigations which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or price of our common stock.

We are and may become subject to various claims (including “whistleblower” complaints), litigation or investigations, including commercial disputes and employee claims, and from time to time may be involved in governmental or regulatory investigations or similar matters. Any claims asserted against us or our management, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, could harm our reputation and have an adverse impact on our relationship with our clients, distribution partners and other third parties and could lead to additional related claims. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in defending ourselves in pending or future litigation or similar matters under various laws. Any judgments or settlements in any pending litigation or future claims, litigation or investigation could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and price of our common stock.

Risks related to our intellectual property and cyber security

Expiration of our patents may subject us to increased competition and reduce our opportunity to generate product revenue.

The patents for our products have varying expiration dates and, when these patents expire, we may be subject to increased competition and we may not be able to recover our development costs. In some of the larger economic territories, such as the United States and Europe, patent term extension/restoration may be available. We cannot, however, be certain that an extension will be granted or, if granted, what the applicable time or the scope of patent protection afforded during any extended period will be. If we are unable to obtain patent term extension/restoration or some other exclusivity, we could be subject to increased competition and our opportunity to establish or maintain product revenue could be substantially reduced or eliminated. Furthermore, we may not have sufficient time to recover our development costs prior to the expiration of our U.S. and non-U.S. patents.

Our proprietary rights may not adequately protect our technologies and products.

Our commercial success will depend on our ability to obtain patents and/or regulatory exclusivity and maintain adequate protection for our technologies and products in the United States and other countries. We will be able to protect our proprietary rights from unauthorized use by third parties only to the extent that our proprietary technologies and products are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are effectively maintained as trade secrets.

We intend to apply for additional patents covering both our technologies and products, as we deem appropriate. We may, however, fail to apply for patents on important technologies or products in a timely fashion, if at all. Our existing patents and any future patents we obtain may not be sufficiently broad to prevent others from practicing our technologies or from developing competing products and technologies. In addition, the patent positions of life science industry companies are highly uncertain and involve complex legal and factual questions for which important legal principles remain unresolved. As a result, the validity and enforceability of our patents cannot be predicted with certainty. In addition, we cannot guarantee that:

The actual protection afforded by a patent varies on a product-by-product basis, from country to country and depends on many factors, including the type of patent, the scope of its coverage, the availability of regulatory related extensions, the availability of legal remedies in a particular country and the validity and enforceability of the patents. Our ability to maintain and solidify our proprietary position for our products will depend on our success in obtaining effective claims and enforcing those claims once granted. Our issued patents and those that may be issued in the future, or those licensed to us, may be challenged, invalidated, unenforceable or circumvented, and the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with proprietary protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar products. We also rely on trade secrets to protect some of our technology, especially where it is believed that patent protection is inappropriate or unobtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to maintain. While we use reasonable efforts to protect our trade secrets, our employees, consultants, contractors or scientific and other advisors may unintentionally or willfully disclose our proprietary information to competitors. Enforcement of claims that a third party has illegally obtained and is using trade secrets is expensive, time consuming and uncertain. In addition, non-U.S. courts are sometimes less willing than U.S. courts to protect trade secrets. If our competitors independently develop equivalent knowledge, methods and know-how, we would not be able to assert our trade secrets against them and our business could be harmed.

We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.

Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on all our products in every jurisdiction would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products. These products may compete with our products and may not be covered by any patent claims or other intellectual property rights.

The laws of some non-U.S. countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending such rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial cost and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business.

If we fail to protect our intellectual property rights, our competitors may take advantage of our ideas and compete directly against us.

Our success will depend to a significant degree on our ability to secure and protect intellectual property rights and enforce patent and trademark protections relating to our technology. While we believe that the protection of patents and trademarks is important to our business, we also rely on a combination of copyright, trade secret, nondisclosure and confidentiality agreements, know-how and continuing technological innovation to maintain our competitive position. From time to time, litigation may be advisable to protect our intellectual property position. However, these legal means afford only limited protection and may not adequately protect our rights or permit us to gain or keep any competitive advantage. Any litigation in this regard could be costly, and it is possible that we will not have sufficient resources to fully pursue litigation or to protect our intellectual property rights. This could result in the rejection or invalidation of our existing and future patents. Any adverse outcome in litigation relating to the validity of our patents, or any failure to pursue litigation or otherwise to protect our patent position, could materially harm our business and financial condition. In addition, confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, customers, and key vendors may not prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our technology. It is possible that these agreements will be breached or that they will not be enforceable in every instance, and that we will not have adequate remedies for any such breach. Enforcement of these agreements may be costly and time consuming. Furthermore, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.

We may incur substantial costs as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patent and other intellectual property rights and we may be unable to protect our rights to, or use of, our technology.

If we choose to go to court to stop someone else from using the inventions claimed in our patents or our licensed patents, that individual or company has the right to ask the court to rule that these patents are invalid and/or should not be enforced against that third party. These lawsuits are expensive and would consume time and other resources even if we were successful in stopping the infringement of these patents. In addition, there is a risk that the court will decide that these patents are invalid or unenforceable and that we do not have the right to stop the other party from using the inventions. There is also the risk that, even if the validity or enforceability of these patents is upheld, the court will refuse to stop the other party on the grounds that such other party’s activities do not infringe our rights.

If we wish to use the technology claimed in issued and unexpired patents owned by others, we will need to obtain a license from the owner, enter into litigation to challenge the validity or enforceability of the patents or incur the risk of litigation in the event that the owner asserts that we infringed its patents. The failure to obtain a license to technology or the failure to challenge an issued patent that we may require to discover, develop or commercialize our products may have a material adverse effect on us.

If a third party asserts that we infringed its patents or other proprietary rights, we could face a number of risks that could seriously harm our results of operations, financial condition and competitive position, including:

The biotechnology industry has produced a proliferation of patents, and it is not always clear to industry participants, including us, which patents cover various types of products or methods of use. The coverage of patents is subject to interpretation by the courts, and the interpretation is not always uniform. If we are sued for patent infringement, we would need to demonstrate that our products or methods of use either do not infringe the patent claims of the relevant patent, and/or that the patent claims are invalid, and/or that the patent is unenforceable, and we may not be able to do this. Proving invalidity, in particular, is difficult since it requires a showing of clear and convincing evidence to overcome the presumption of validity enjoyed by issued patents.

U.S. patent laws as well as the laws of some foreign jurisdictions provide for provisional rights in published patent applications beginning on the date of publication, including the right to obtain reasonable royalties, if a patent subsequently issues and certain other conditions are met.

Because some patent applications in the United States may be maintained in secrecy until the patents are issued, because patent applications in the United States and many foreign jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, and because publications in the scientific literature often lag behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that others have not filed patent applications for technology covered by our issued patents or our pending applications, or that we were the first to invent the technology.

Patent applications filed by third parties that cover technology similar to ours may have priority over our patent applications and could further require us to obtain rights to issued patents covering such technologies. If another party files a U.S. patent application on an invention similar to ours, we may elect to participate in or be drawn into an interference proceeding declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine priority of invention in the United States. The costs of these proceedings could be substantial, and it is possible that such efforts would be unsuccessful, resulting in a loss of our U.S. patent position with respect to such inventions. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation more effectively than we can because they have substantially greater resources. In addition, any uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of any litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to continue our operations. We cannot predict whether third parties will assert these claims against us, or whether those claims will harm our business. If we are forced to defend against these claims, whether they are with or without any merit and whether they are resolved in favor of or against us, we may face costly litigation and diversion of management’s attention and resources. As a result of these disputes, we may have to develop costly non-infringing technology, or enter into licensing agreements. These agreements, if necessary, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, if at all, which could seriously harm our business or financial condition.

Our inability to protect our systems and data from continually evolving cybersecurity risks or other technological risks, including as a result of breaches of our associated third parties, could affect our ability to conduct our business.

In conducting our business, we process, transmit and store sensitive business information and personal information about our customers, vendors, and other parties. This information may include account access credentials, credit and debit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, names and addresses and other types of sensitive business or personal information. Some of this information is also processed and stored by our third-party service providers to whom we outsource certain functions and other agents, including our customers, which we refer to collectively as our associated third parties.

We are a regular target of malicious third-party attempts to identify and exploit system vulnerabilities, and/or penetrate or bypass our security measures, in order to gain unauthorized access to our networks and systems or those of our associated third parties. Such access could lead to the compromise of sensitive, business, personal or confidential information. As a result, we proactively employ multiple methods at different layers of our systems to defend our systems against intrusion and attack and to protect the data we collect. However, we cannot be certain that these measures will be successful and will be sufficient to counter all current and emerging technology threats that are designed to breach our systems in order to gain access to confidential information.

Our computer systems and our associated third parties’ computer systems could be in the future, subject to breach, and our data protection measures may not prevent unauthorized access. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and are often difficult to detect. Threats to our systems and our associated third parties’ systems can derive from human error, fraud or malice on the part of employees or third parties, or may result from accidental technological failure. Computer viruses and other malware can be distributed and could infiltrate our systems or those of our associated third parties. In addition, denial of service or other attacks could be launched against us for a variety of purposes, including to interfere with our services or create a diversion for other malicious activities. Our defensive measures may not prevent downtime, unauthorized access or use of sensitive data. Further, while we select our third party service providers carefully, and we seek to ensure that our customers adequately protect their systems and data, we do not control their actions and are not able to oversee their processes. Any problems experienced by our associated third parties, including those resulting from breakdowns or other disruptions in the services provided by such parties or cyber-attacks and security breaches, could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business and our financial condition.

We could also be subject to liability for claims relating to misuse of personal information, such as violation of data privacy laws. We cannot provide assurance that the contractual requirements related to security and privacy that we impose on our service providers who have access to customer data will be followed or will be adequate to prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of data. Any failure to adequately enforce or provide these protective measures could result in liability, protracted and costly litigation, governmental intervention and fines.

Risks related to our common stock

Our stock price may be volatile, and purchasers of our securities could incur substantial losses.

Our common stock, traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market, may be volatile and has experienced price and volume fluctuations. For example, in the year ended December 31, 2021, the highest intra-day sale price of our common stock on NASDAQ was $60.67 per share and the lowest intra-day sale price of our common stock on NASDAQ was $28.15 per share. We may continue to incur substantial increases or decreases in our stock price in the foreseeable future.

Our stock price and the market prices of many publicly traded companies, including emerging companies in the life sciences industry, have been, and can be expected to be, highly volatile. The future market price of our common stock could be significantly impacted by numerous factors, including, but not limited to:

A significant percentage of our outstanding common stock is held by one stockholder, and this stockholder therefore has significant influence on us and our corporate actions.

As of December 31, 2021, based on our review of public filings and the Company’s records, one of our existing stockholders, Casdin Capital, LLC (“Casdin”), owned 7,566,292 shares of our common stock, representing 18% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock. Accordingly, this stockholder has had, and will continue to have, significant influence in determining the outcome of any corporate transaction or other matter submitted to our stockholders for approval, including mergers, consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all our assets, election of directors and other significant corporate actions. In addition, without the consent of this stockholder, we could be prevented from entering into transactions that could be beneficial to us.

Any future sales of our securities in the public markets or any future securities issuances in connection with our acquisition strategy may cause the trading price of our common stock to decline and could impair our ability to raise capital through future equity offerings.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock or other securities in the public markets, or the perception that these sales may occur, could cause the market price of our common stock or other securities to decline and could materially impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional securities. If we issue additional securities in a public offering or a private placement, such sales or any resales of such securities could further adversely affect the market price of our common stock. The sale of a large number of shares of our common stock or other securities also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at the prices that we deem appropriate.

We do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends on our common stock.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not plan to pay any cash dividends in the near future. Our current policy is to retain all funds and earnings for use in the operation and expansion of our business.

Risks related to accounting matters

Changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates, and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial results or financial condition.

Generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines, and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business, such as revenue recognition, asset impairment and fair value determinations, inventories, business combinations and intangible asset valuations, leases, and litigation, are highly complex and involve many subjective assumptions, estimates, and judgments. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates, or judgments could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance or financial condition and could require us to restate our prior financial statements and issue a non-reliance statement regarding our prior financial disclosures.

Our ability to use net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards and certain built-in losses to reduce future tax payments is limited by provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, and it is possible that certain transactions or a combination of certain transactions may result in material additional limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards.

Section 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, contain rules that limit the ability of a company that undergoes an ownership change, which is generally any change in ownership of more than 50% of its stock over a three-year period, to utilize its net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards and certain built-in losses recognized in years after the ownership change. These rules generally operate by focusing on ownership changes involving stockholders owning directly or indirectly 5% or more of the stock of a company and any change in ownership arising from a new issuance of stock by the company. Generally, if an ownership change occurs, the yearly taxable income limitation on the use of net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards and certain built-in losses is equal to the product of the applicable long-term, tax-exempt rate and the value of the company’s stock immediately before the ownership change. We may be unable to offset our taxable income with losses, or our tax liability with credits, before such losses and credits expire and therefore would incur larger federal income tax liability.

If we are unable to develop an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report financial results or prevent fraud. If we identify additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or are unable to rectify the material weaknesses that we have identified, our ability to meet our reporting obligations and the trading price of our stock could be negatively affected.

As described in Item 9A — Controls and Procedures and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, Management identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

In the course of making our assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2019, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting with regard to our controls over the accounting for financial instruments containing characteristics of both liabilities and equity due to insufficient technical resources.

In the course of making our assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, we identified several material weaknesses. Material weaknesses were identified in relation to (i) inappropriately designed entity-level controls impacting the control environment, risk assessment, and monitoring activities to prevent or detect material misstatements to the consolidated financial statements attributed to an insufficient number of qualified resources and inadequate oversight and accountability over the performance of controls, ineffective identification and assessment or risks impacting internal control over financial reporting, and ineffective monitoring controls; (ii) information system logical access within certain key financial systems; (iii) accounting policies and procedures and related controls over complex financial statement areas; (iv) accounting policies, procedures, and related controls over assets held for lease; (v) accounting policies, procedures, and related controls over the preparation and review of projected financial information used in determining the valuation of acquired intangible assets and contingent consideration in business combinations as well as the quantitative impairment analysis of indefinite-lived intangible assets; and (vi) policies, procedures, and related controls over the presentation and disclosure of amounts presented in the consolidated financial statements in accordance with the applicable financial reporting requirements. Because material weaknesses in internal control exist, the Company’s internal controls may not prevent, or detect and correct a material misstatement in its financial statements or disclosures.

The aforementioned material weaknesses did not result in any identified material misstatements to our financial statements, and there were no changes to previously released financial results.

Effective internal controls are necessary to provide reliable financial reports and to assist in the effective prevention of fraud. Any inability to provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud could harm our business. We regularly review and update our internal controls, disclosure controls and procedures, and corporate governance policies. In addition, we are required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to report annually on our internal control over financial reporting. Any system of internal controls, however well designed and operated, is based in part on certain assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurances that the objectives of the system are met. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Accordingly, a material weakness increases the risk that the financial information we report contains material errors.

While we are in the process of addressing our material weaknesses as disclosed herein, elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects. Any failure to maintain such internal controls could adversely impact our ability to report our financial results on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations or may lose confidence in our reported financial information. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis as required by the SEC and The NASDAQ Stock Market, we could face severe consequences from those authorities. In either case, it could result in a material adverse effect on our business or have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. Further, if we fail to remedy these deficiencies (or any other future deficiencies) or maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny, civil or criminal penalties or shareholder litigation. We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weaknesses identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of our financial statements will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of those controls.

Further, in the future, if we cannot conclude that we have effective internal control over our financial reporting, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide an unqualified opinion regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which could lead to a decline in our stock price. Failure to comply with reporting requirements could also subject us to sanctions and/or investigations by the SEC, The NASDAQ Stock Market or other regulatory authorities.

Risks related to COVID-19 and other disruptive events

Our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

We continue to closely monitor the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on all aspects of our business and geographies, including how it has and will impact our customers, team members, suppliers, vendors, business partners and distribution channels. The COVID-19 global pandemic has created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption, which may continue to affect our business operations and may materially and adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows and financial position.

We are currently following the recommendations of local health authorities to minimize exposure risk for our team members and visitors. While we have implemented specific business continuity plans to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and believe that we have sufficient inventory to meet forecasted demand for the next six to nine months, there is no guarantee that our continuity plan will be successful or that our inventory will meet forecasted or actual demand.

In the third and fourth quarters of 2021, we experienced difficulties in obtaining sheet metal and electrical components that incorporate semiconductor chips for our ULT freezer manufacturing operations. These difficulties led to increased supplier pricing for these materials and reduced production levels of ULT freezers in the third and fourth quarters of 2021. We believe some or all of these difficulties arose as a result of suppliers’ production planning in response to COVID-19 and logistics challenges that have occurred as a result of the global pandemic. We believe the supply chain challenges related to sheet metal that we experienced in 2021 have been substantially mitigated through the diversification of suppliers. The availability of components that incorporate semiconductor chips, however, continues to be a challenge in comparison to pre-pandemic availability levels. Our strategic partnerships with key suppliers have secured sufficient supply of these electrical components for our operations for the foreseeable future.

Additional disruptions may occur for our customers or suppliers that may materially affect our ability to obtain supplies or other components for our products, produce our products or deliver inventory in a timely manner. This would result in lost product revenue, additional costs, or penalties, or damage our reputation. Similarly, COVID-19 could impact our customers and/or suppliers as a result of a health epidemic or other outbreak occurring in other locations which could reduce their demand for our products or their ability to deliver needed supplies for the production of our products.

We cannot predict at this time the full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will impact our business, results, and financial condition, which will depend on many factors that are not known at this time, as the situation is unprecedented and continues to evolve. These include, among others, the extent of harm to public health, including the duration of the pandemic, any potential subsequent waves of COVID-19 infection, the emergence of new variants of COVID-19, some of which may be more transmissible or virulent than the initial strain, and the availability and distribution of effective vaccines and medical treatments, further disruption to the manufacturing of and demand for our products, our ability to effectively manage inventory levels and adjust our production schedules to align with demand, impairments and other charges, the impact of the global business and economic environment on liquidity and the availability of capital, the costs incurred to keep our employees safe while maintaining continued operations, and our ability to effectively motivate and retain the necessary workforce. We are staying in close communication with our manufacturing facilities, employees, customers, and suppliers, and acting to mitigate the impact of this dynamic and evolving situation through a variety of measures, which may not be successful and are subject to the factors described above, many of which are uncertain or outside of our control. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may continue to experience impacts to our business as a result of its global economic impact.

Natural disasters, geopolitical unrest, war, terrorism, public health issues or other catastrophic events could disrupt the supply, delivery or demand of products, which could negatively affect our operations and performance.

We are subject to the risk of disruption by earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, fire, power shortages, geopolitical unrest, war, terrorist attacks and other hostile acts, public health issues, epidemics or pandemics and other events beyond our control and the control of the third parties on which we depend. Any of these catastrophic events, whether in the United States or abroad, may have a strong negative impact on the global economy, our employees, facilities, partners, suppliers, distributors or customers, and could decrease demand for our products, create delays and inefficiencies in our supply chain and make it difficult or impossible for us to deliver products to our customers. A catastrophic event that results in the destruction or disruption of our data centers or our critical business or information technology systems would severely affect our ability to conduct normal business operations and, as a result, our operating results would be adversely affected.

None.

Our material office and manufacturing leases are detailed below:

We consider the facilities to be in a condition suitable for their current uses. Because of anticipated growth in the business and due to the increasing requirements of customers or regulatory agencies, we may need to acquire additional space or upgrade and enhance existing space. We believe that adequate facilities will be available upon the conclusion of our leases.

From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business. We are not currently aware of any such proceedings or claims that we believe will have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. 

Not applicable.

PART II

Market information for common stock

Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market exchange under the ticker symbol “BLFS.”

Stockholders and dividends

As of March 16, 2022, there were approximately 224 holders of record of our common stock. We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate that any cash dividends will be paid in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all earnings, if any, to support our operations. Any future determination as to the payment of dividends will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors our Board of Directors deems relevant.

See Item 12 for information regarding securities authorized for issuance under our equity compensation plans.

Performance graph

The following graph shows the cumulative total stockholder return on our common stock with the cumulative total return of the S&P Small Cap 600 Index and our peer group, assuming an initial investment of $100 on December 31, 2016 and the reinvestment of all dividends.

Issuer repurchases of equity securities

Not applicable.

Reserved.

This Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements”. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties. We caution readers that any forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future performance and that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statement. These statements are based on current expectations of future events. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our products, including our newly acquired products, customers, regulatory approvals, the potential utility of and market for our products and services, our ability to implement our business strategy and anticipated business and operations, in particular following the 2021, 2020, and 2019 acquisitions, future financial and operational performance, our anticipated future growth strategy, including the acquisition of synergistic cell and gene therapy manufacturing tools and services or technologies, or other companies or technologies, capital requirements, intellectual property, suppliers, joint venture partners, future financial and operating results, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions, revenues, costs and expenses, interest rates, outcome of contingencies, business strategies, regulatory filings and requirements, the estimated potential size of markets, capital requirements, the terms of any capital financing agreements and other statements that are not historical facts. You can find many of these statements by looking for words like “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “may”, “should”, “will”, “could” “plan”, “intend”, or similar expressions in this Form 10-K. We intend that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. 

These forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from current expectations and projections. Factors that might cause such a difference include those discussed under “Risk Factors”, as well as those discussed elsewhere in the Form 10-K.

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Form 10-K or, in the case of documents referred to or incorporated by reference, the date of those documents.

All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Form 10-K or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable U.S. securities law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

We are a life sciences company that develops and commercializes innovative technologies used in the manufacture, storage and transportation of biological materials and provides storage solutions for biological and pharmaceutical materials.

We develop, manufacture, and market bioproduction tools and services to the cell and gene therapy (“CGT”) industry and broader biopharma market, which are designed to improve quality and de-risk biologic manufacturing, storage, and distribution. Our products are used in basic and applied research and commercial manufacturing of biologic-based therapies. Customers use our products to maintain the health and function of biologic material during sourcing, manufacturing, storage, and distribution.

Our current portfolio of bioproduction tools and services are comprised of three revenue lines that contain seven main offerings: (i) cell processing (including biopreservation media for the preservation of cells and tissues, human platelet lysate media for the supplementation of cell expansion, cryogenic vials and automated fill machines that provide high-quality, efficient, and precise mixes of solutions), (ii) freezers and thaw systems (including a full line of mechanical ULT, isothermal, and liquid nitrogen freezers and accessories, automated thaw devices which provide controlled, consistent thawing of frozen biologics in vials and cryobags), and (iii) storage and cold chain services (including biological and pharmaceutical storage services, and “smart”, cloud connected devices for transporting biologic payloads).

We currently operate as one bioproduction tools and services business which supports several steps in the biologic material manufacturing and delivery process. We have a diversified portfolio of tools and services that focus on biopreservation, cell processing, frozen biologic storage products and services, cold-chain transportation, and thawing of biologic materials. We have in-house expertise in cryobiology and continue to capitalize on opportunities to maximize the value of our product platform for our extensive customer base through both organic growth innovations and acquisitions.

Sexton Biotechnologies, Inc. acquisition

On August 9, 2021, BioLife entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Sexton Merger Agreement”) with BLFS Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Sexton Merger Sub”), Fortis Advisors LLC, in its capacity as the representative of the stockholders of Sexton (the “Sexton Seller Representative”) and Sexton Biotechnologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

On September 1, 2021, the Company completed the merger of Sexton Merger Sub with and into Sexton and Sexton became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Sexton Merger”). As consideration for the Sexton Merger (the “Sexton Merger Consideration”), holders of common stock, preferred stock and options of Sexton, other than the Company (collectively, the “Sexton Participating Holders”), are entitled to receive an aggregate of 530,502 newly issued shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain post-closing adjustments, of which 477,452 shares of Common Stock were issued to the Sexton Participating Holders at the Closing, and 53,050 shares of Common Stock, or approximately 10% of the Merger consideration, were deposited into an escrow account for indemnification and post-closing purchase price adjustment purposes. Prior to the merger, the Company held preferred stock in Sexton, which was accounted for using a measurement alternative that measures the securities at cost minus impairment, if any. The Company accounted for the merger as a step acquisition, which required remeasurement of the Company’s existing ownership in Sexton to fair value prior to completing the acquisition method of accounting. Using step acquisition accounting, the Company increased the value of its existing equity interest to its fair value, resulting in the recognition of a non-cash gain of $6.5 million, which was included in the gain on acquisition of Sexton Biotechnologies, Inc. in the Consolidated Statements of Operations in the year ended December 31, 2021. The Company utilized a market-based valuation approach to determine the fair value of the existing equity interest based on the total merger consideration offered and the Company’s stock price at acquisition.

The Sexton Merger was accounted for as a purchase of a business under FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. The fair value of the net tangible assets acquired was approximately $4.1 million, the deferred tax liability acquired was approximately $1.5 million, the fair value of the intangible assets acquired was approximately $8.8 million, and the residual goodwill was approximately $28.5 million. The fair value calculations required critical estimates, including, but not limited to, future expected cash flows, revenue and expense projections, discount rates, revenue volatility, and royalty rates.

Global Cooling, Inc. acquisition

On March 19, 2021, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “GCI Merger Agreement”) with BLFS Merger Subsidiary, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“GCI Merger Sub”), Global Cooling, a Delaware corporation and Albert Vierling and William Baumel, in their capacity as the representatives of the stockholders of GCI (collectively, the “GCI Seller Representative”).

On May 3, 2021, pursuant to the GCI Merger Agreement, subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein, the transactions contemplated by the GCI Merger Agreement were consummated (the “GCI Closing”), GCI Merger Sub merged with and into GCI (the “GCI Merger” and, together with other transactions contemplated by the GCI Merger Agreement, the “GCI Transactions”), with GCI continuing as the surviving corporation in the GCI Merger and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In the GCI Merger, all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of GCI immediately prior to the filing of the Certificate of Merger with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (other than those properly exercising any applicable dissenter’s rights under Delaware law) were converted into the right to receive the GCI Merger Consideration (as defined below). The Company paid the GCI Merger Consideration to the holders of common stock and preferred stock of GCI (collectively, the “GCI Stockholders”).

The aggregate merger consideration paid pursuant to the GCI Merger Agreement to the GCI Stockholders was 6,646,870 newly issued shares of common stock, provided, however, that the GCI Merger Consideration otherwise payable to GCI Stockholders is subject to the withholding of the GCI Escrow Shares (as defined below) and is subject to reduction for indemnification obligations. The GCI Merger Consideration allocable to one GCI stockholder was reduced by 10,400 shares to satisfy an outstanding note receivable of $374,000. In accordance with ASC 805, the Company recognized the settlement of pre-existing relationships in the forms of cash deposits, trade receivables, and trade payables, which are included in the consideration transferred. The GCI Merger Consideration is not subject to any purchase price adjustments.

At the GCI Closing, approximately nine percent (9%) of the GCI Merger Consideration (the “Escrow Shares”, along with any other dividends, distributions or other income on the GCI Escrow Shares, the “GCI Escrow Property”) otherwise issuable to the GCI Stockholders (allocated pro rata among the GCI Stockholders based on the GCI Merger Consideration otherwise issuable to them at the GCI Closing), was deposited into a segregated escrow account in accordance with an escrow agreement to be entered into in connection with the GCI Transactions (the “GCI Escrow Agreement”).

The GCI Escrow Property will be held for a period of up to twenty-four (24) months after the GCI Closing as the sole and exclusive source of payment for any post-GCI Closing indemnification claims (other than fraud claims), unless earlier released in accordance with the terms of the GCI Escrow Agreement.

The GCI Merger was accounted for as a purchase of a business under FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. The fair value of the net tangible assets acquired was $740,000, the deferred tax liability acquired was $24.1 million, the fair value of the intangible assets acquired was $120.5 million, and the residual goodwill was $137.8 million. The fair value calculations required critical estimates, including, but not limited to, future expected cash flows, revenue and expense projections, discount rates, revenue volatility, and royalty rates. 

SciSafe Holdings, Inc. acquisition

On September 18, 2020, BioLife entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement, by and among the Company, SciSafe Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and the stockholders of SciSafe (collectively, the “SciSafe Sellers”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to purchase from the SciSafe Sellers one hundred percent (100%) of the issued and outstanding capital shares or other equity interests of SciSafe (the “SciSafe Acquisition”). The SciSafe Acquisition closed October 1, 2020.

In connection with the SciSafe Acquisition, the Company issued to the SciSafe Sellers 611,683 shares of common stock valued at $29.29 per share and a cash payment of $15 million, with $1.5 million held in escrow to account for adjustments for net working capital and as a security for, and a source of payment of, the Company’s indemnity rights. Pending the occurrence of certain events, the Company will issue to the SciSafe Sellers an additional 626,000 shares of common stock, which are issuable to SciSafe Sellers upon SciSafe achieving certain specified revenue targets in each year from 2021 to 2024. The revenue target set for 2021 was met and, therefore, has resulted in 64,130 shares of common stock becoming issuable to the SciSafe Sellers.

The SciSafe Acquisition was accounted for as a purchase of a business under FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. The fair value of the contingent consideration was $3.7 million, the fair value of the net tangible assets acquired was $2.8 million, the deferred tax liability was $3.3 million, the fair value of the intangible assets acquired was $12.1 million, and the residual goodwill was $24.9 million. The fair value estimates required critical estimates, including, but not limited to, future expected cash flows, revenue and expense projections, discount rates, revenue volatility, and royalty rates.

Custom Biogenic Systems, Inc. Acquisition

On November 10, 2019, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement, by and among the Company, Arctic Solutions, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, and Custom Biogenic Systems, Inc., a Michigan corporation (“CBS Seller”), pursuant to which we agreed to purchase from the CBS Seller substantially all of CBS Seller’s assets, properties and rights (the “CBS Acquisition”). The CBS Seller, a privately held company with operations located near Detroit, Michigan, designs and manufactures liquid nitrogen laboratory freezers and cryogenic equipment and also offers a related cloud-based monitoring system that continuously assesses biologic sample storage conditions and alerts equipment owners if a fault condition occurs. The Acquisition closed on November 12, 2019.

In connection with the CBS Acquisition, we paid to CBS Seller a base payment in the amount of $15.0 million, consisting of a cash payment of $11.0 million paid at the closing of the CBS Acquisition, less a cash holdback escrow of $550,000 to satisfy certain indemnification claims, and an aggregate number of shares of our common stock, with an aggregate fair value equal to $4.0 million, less a holdback escrow of shares of Common Stock with an aggregate value equal to $3.0 million to satisfy potential payments related to any product liability claims outstanding as of March 13, 2019 and potential earnout payments in calendar years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 of up to an aggregate of, but not exceeding, $15.0 million payable to CBS Seller upon achieving certain specified revenue targets in each year for certain product lines. The revenue targets set for 2020 and 2021 were not met and no amounts were paid or are considered payable for the earnouts related to those years.

The CBS acquisition was accounted for as a purchase of a business under FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the acquired assets and liabilities assumed from CBS were recorded as of the acquisition date, at their fair values, and consolidated with BioLife. The fair value of the net tangible assets acquired was $6.0 million, the fair value of the identifiable intangibles was $6.8 million, and the residual goodwill was $3.1 million. The fair value estimates required critical estimates, including, but not limited to, future expected cash flows, revenue and expense projections, discount rates, revenue volatility, and royalty rates. 

SAVSU Technologies, Inc. Acquisition

On August 7, 2019, the Company consummated the acquisition (the “SAVSU Acquisition”) of the remaining shares of SAVSU Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, pursuant to a Share Exchange Agreement (the “Exchange Agreement”) by and among the Company, SAVSU and SAVSU Origin LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Origin”). Pursuant to the Exchange Agreement, Origin agreed to transfer to the Company and the Company agreed to acquire from Origin 8,616 shares of common stock of SAVSU, representing the remaining 56% of the outstanding shares of SAVSU that the Company did not own, in exchange for 1,100,000 shares of common stock of the Company. On August 8, 2019, the Company completed the SAVSU Acquisition, and SAVSU became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

SAVSU is a leading developer and supplier of next generation cold chain management tools for CGT. The evo® cloud connect platform allows biologic products to be traced and tracked in real time. Our evo platform consists of rentable cloud connected shippers and evo technology tracking software provides real-time information on geolocation, payload temperature, ambient temperature, tilt of shipper, humidity, altitude, and real-time alerts when a shipper has been opened. Our internally developed evo software allows customers to customize alert notifications both in data measurements and user requirements. The evo Dry Vapor Shipper (“DVS”) is specifically marketed to CGT companies. The evo DVS has improved form factor and ergonomics over the traditional dewar, including extended thermal performance, reduced liquid nitrogen recharge time, improved payload extractors and ability to maintain temperature for longer periods on its side. The evo DVS does not require to be shipped in a pallet format, enabling shipping on narrow-bodied aircraft which is not an option for competitors who use palletized shipments. Our integrated system of internal and external packing innovations reduces risk of payload breakage due to shock while in transportation.

The Company paid to Origin 1,100,000 shares of unregistered common stock totaling $19.9 million (based on a share price of $18.12 at the time of acquisition) for the 56% we did not previously own.

The SAVSU Acquisition was accounted for as a purchase of a business under ASC 805, Business Combinations. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the acquired assets and liabilities assumed from SAVSU were recorded as of the acquisition date, at their fair values, and consolidated with BioLife. The fair value of the net tangible assets acquired was $4.2 million, the fair value of the identifiable intangibles was $12.2 million, and the residual goodwill was $19.5 million. The fair value estimates required critical estimates, including, but not limited to, future expected cash flows, revenue and expense projections, discount rates, revenue volatility, and royalty rates. 

Astero Bio Corporation Acquisition

On April 1, 2019, BioLife completed the acquisition of all the outstanding shares of Astero (the “Astero Acquisition”). Astero’s ThawSTAR product line is comprised of a family of automated thawing devices for frozen cell and gene therapies packaged in cryovials and cryobags. The products improve the quality of administration of high-value, temperature-sensitive biologic therapies to patients by standardizing the thawing process and reducing the risks of contamination and overheating, which are inherent with the use of traditional water baths.

In connection with the Astero Acquisition, the Company paid a base payment in the amount of $12.5 million consisting of an initial cash payment of $8.0 million at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement, subject to adjustment for working capital, net debt and transaction expenses, and a deferred cash payment that was paid into escrow of $4.5 million payable upon the earlier of Astero meeting certain product development milestones or one year after the date of the Closing. In addition to the consideration paid, the sellers were eligible to receive earnout payments in calendar years 2021, 2020, and 2019 of up to an aggregate of $3.5 million, which would have been payable upon Astero achieving certain specified revenue targets in each year and a separate earnout payment of $5.0 million for calendar year 2021 which would have been payable upon Astero achieving a cumulative revenue target over the three-year period from 2019 to 2021. In the second quarter of 2020 we paid $483,000 for the earnout related to 2019 revenues. Revenue targets for 2020, 2021, and the cumulative period from 2019 to 2021 were not met and no amounts were paid or are considered payable for the earnouts related to those years.

The Astero acquisition was accounted for as a purchase of a business under FASB ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations. Under the acquisition method of accounting, the assets acquired and liabilities assumed from Astero were recorded as of the acquisition date, at their respective fair values, and consolidated with those of BioLife. The fair value of the contingent consideration of $1.5 million was determined using an option pricing model. The fair value of the net tangible assets acquired was $324,000, the fair value of the intangible assets acquired was $4.1 million, and the residual goodwill was $9.5 million. The fair value estimates required critical estimates, including, but not limited to, future expected cash flows, revenue and expense projections, discount rates, revenue volatility, and royalty rates. 

Critical accounting policies and estimates

We have identified the policies and estimates below as being critical to our business operations and the understanding of our results of operations. These policies require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgements, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. The impact of any associated risks related to these policies on our business operations are discussed throughout “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition,” including in the “Results of Operations” section, where such policies affect our reported and expected financial results. Although we believe that our estimates, assumptions, and judgements are reasonable, they are based upon information presently available. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions, judgments, or conditions.

Revenue recognition

To determine revenue recognition for contractual arrangements that we determine are within the scope of Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, we perform the following five steps: (i) identify each contract with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to our performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) we satisfy the relevant performance obligation. We only apply the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that we will collect the consideration we are entitled to in exchange for the goods or services we transfer to the customer. Contracts with customers may contain multiple performance obligations. For such arrangements, the transaction price is allocated to each performance obligation based on the estimated relative standalone selling prices of the promised products or services underlying each performance obligation. The Company determines standalone selling prices based on the price at which the performance obligation is sold separately. If the standalone selling price is not observable through past transactions, the Company estimates the standalone selling price, taking into account available information such as market conditions and internally approved pricing guidelines related to the performance obligations. Payment terms and conditions vary, although terms generally include a requirement of payment within 30 to 90 days. 

The Company primarily recognizes product revenues, service revenues, and rental revenues. Product revenues are generated from the sale of biopreservation media, ThawSTAR, and freezer products. We recognize product revenue, including shipping and handling charges billed to customers, when we transfer control of our products to our customers. Shipping and handling costs are classified as part of cost of product revenue in the Consolidated Statement of Operations. Service revenues are generated from the storage of biological and pharmaceutical materials. We recognize service revenues over time as services are performed or ratably over the contract term. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration, the Company estimates the amount of variable consideration that should be included in the transaction price utilizing the expected value method or the most likely amount method, depending on the facts and circumstances relative to the contract. When determining the transaction price of a contract, an adjustment is made if payment from a customer occurs either significantly before or significantly after performance, resulting in a significant financing component. Applying the practical expedient in paragraph 606-10-32-18, the Company does not assess whether a significant financing component exists if the period between when the Company performs its obligations under the contract and when the customer pays is one year or less. None of the Company’s contracts contained a significant financing component or variable consideration as of and during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019.

The Company also generates revenue from the leasing of our property, plant, and equipment, operating right-of-use assets, and evo cold chain systems to customers pursuant to service contracts or rental arrangements entered into with the customer. Revenue from these arrangements is not within the scope of FASB ASC Topic 606 as it is within the scope of FASB ASC Topic 842, Leases. All customers leasing shippers currently do so under month-to-month rental arrangements. We account for these rental transactions as operating leases and record rental revenue on a straight-line basis over the rental term.

Business combinations

Amounts paid for acquisitions are allocated to the tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed, if any, based on their fair values at the dates of acquisition. This purchase price allocation process requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions with respect to intangible assets and deferred revenue obligations. The fair value of identifiable intangible assets is based on detailed valuations that use information and assumptions determined by management. Any excess of purchase price over the fair value of the net tangible and intangible assets acquired is allocated to goodwill. While we use our best estimates and assumptions to accurately value assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date as well as any contingent consideration, where applicable, our estimates are inherently uncertain and subject to refinement. As a result, during the measurement period, which may be up to one year from the acquisition date, we record adjustments to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed with the corresponding offset to goodwill. Upon conclusion of the measurement period or final determination of the values of assets acquired or liabilities assumed, whichever comes first, any subsequent adjustments are recorded to our Consolidated Statements of Operations. The fair value of contingent consideration includes estimates and judgments made by management regarding the probability that future contingent payments will be made, the extent of royalties to be earned in excess of the defined minimum royalties, etc. Management updates these estimates and the related fair value of contingent consideration at each reporting period based on the estimated probability of achieving the earnout targets and applying a discount rate that captures the risk associated with the expected contingent payments. To the extent our estimates change in the future regarding the likelihood of achieving these targets we may need to record material adjustments to our accrued contingent consideration. Changes in the fair value of contingent consideration are recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. We use the income approach to determine the fair value of certain identifiable intangible assets including customer relationships and developed technology. This approach determines fair value by estimating after-tax cash flows attributable to these assets over their respective useful lives and then discounting these after-tax cash flows back to a present value. We base our assumptions on estimates of future cash flows, expected growth rates, expected trends in technology, etc. We base the discount rates used to arrive at a present value as of the date of acquisition on the time value of money and certain industry-specific risk factors. We believe the estimated purchased customer relationships, developed technologies, trademarks, tradenames, patents, and in process research and development amounts so determined represent the fair value at the date of acquisition and do not exceed the amount a third party would pay for the assets. 

Intangible assets and goodwill

Intangible assets

Intangible assets with a definite life are amortized over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method and the amortization expense is recorded within intangible asset amortization in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. If the estimate of a definite-lived intangible asset’s remaining useful life is changed, the remaining carrying amount of the intangible asset is amortized prospectively over the revised remaining useful life. Definite-lived intangible assets and their related estimated useful lives are reviewed at least annually to determine if any adverse conditions exist that would indicate the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable. The Company determined that no adverse conditions existed that would indicate that the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable.

Indefinite-lived intangibles are carried at the initially recorded fair value less any recognized impairment. In-process research and development (“IPR&D”) is initially capitalized at fair value as an intangible asset with an indefinite life. When the IPR&D project is complete, it is reclassified as a definite-lived intangible asset and is amortized over its estimated useful life. If an IPR&D project is abandoned, a charge would be recorded for the value of the related intangible asset to our Consolidated Statement of Operations in the period it is abandoned. Indefinite-lived intangibles are tested annually for impairment. Impairment assessments are conducted more frequently if certain conditions exist, including a change in the competitive landscape, any internal decisions to pursue new or different technology strategies, a loss of a significant customer, or a significant change in the marketplace, including changes in the prices paid for the Company’s products or changes in the size of the market for the Company’s products. If impairment indicators are present, the Company determines whether the underlying intangible asset is recoverable through estimated future undiscounted cash flows. If the asset is not found to be recoverable, it is written down to the estimated fair value of the asset based on the sum of the future discounted cash flows expected to result from the use and disposition of the asset. The Company performed a quantitative impairment test of one of the IPR&D assets acquired during 2021 during the fourth quarter of 2021 and determined that no impairment existed. The Company performed a qualitative test for the other IPR&D assets acquired during 2021 and determined that no impairment existed.

Goodwill

We test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis, and between annual tests if events and circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that the fair value of our goodwill is less than its carrying value. Events that would indicate impairment and trigger an interim impairment assessment include, but are not limited to, current economic and market conditions, including a decline in the Company’s market capitalization, a significant adverse change in legal factors, business climate or operational performance of the business, and an adverse action or assessment by a regulator. Goodwill is tested for impairment in the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently as warranted by events or changes in circumstances mentioned above. Accounting guidance also permits an optional qualitative assessment for goodwill to determine whether it is more likely than not that the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value. If, after this qualitative assessment, we determine that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then no further quantitative testing would be necessary. A quantitative assessment is performed if the qualitative assessment results in a more likely than not determination or if a qualitative assessment is not performed. The quantitative assessment considers whether the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value, in which case an impairment charge is recorded to the extent the reporting unit’s carrying value exceeds its fair value. The Company operates as one reporting unit as of the goodwill impairment measurement date in the fourth quarter of 2021. As of the testing date and the period after that date through the issuance date of our financial statements, the Company has observed no indicators of potential goodwill impairment at any point during the period based on its qualitative assessment.

Warranty guarantees

Our freezer and thaw and certain cell processing products are warranted to provide assurance that the product will function as expected and to ensure customer confidence in design and overall quality. Warranty coverage on our products is generally provided for specified periods of time and on select products' hours of usage, and generally covers parts, labor, and other expenses for non-maintenance repairs. Warranty coverage generally does not cover operator abuse or improper use.

At the time of sale, we recognize expense and record a warranty accrual by product line for estimated costs in connection with forecasted future warranty claims. Our estimate of the cost of future warranty claims is based primarily on the estimated number of products under warranty, historical average costs incurred to service warranty claims, the trend in the historical ratio of warranty claims for each part covered, and the historical length of time between the sale and resulting warranty claim. If applicable, historical claims experience may be adjusted for known product design improvements or for the impact of unusual product quality issues. We periodically assess the adequacy of our warranty accruals based on changes in our estimates and assumptions and record any necessary adjustments if the cost of actual claim experience differs from our estimate and indicates that adjustments to our warranty accrual are necessary. Factors that could have an impact on actual future claims and our warranty accrual include, but are not limited to, items such as performance of new products; product failure rates; factors impacting product usage, such as changes in sales volumes and shifts in product mix; manufacturing quality and product design issues, including significant manufacturing or design defects not discovered until after the product is delivered to customers; higher or lower than expected service and component part costs to satisfactorily address the repair, and, if applicable, changes to the warranty coverage periods. Additionally, from time to time, we also establish warranty accruals for our estimate of the costs necessary to settle major rework campaigns on a product-specific basis during the period in which the circumstances giving rise to the major rework campaign become known and when the costs to satisfactorily address the situation are both probable and estimable. The warranty accrual for the cost of a major rework campaign is primarily based on an estimate of the cost to repair each affected unit and the number of affected units expected to be repaired.

We believe that our analysis of historical warranty claim trends and knowledge of potential manufacturing and/or product design improvements or issues provide sufficient information to establish a reasonable estimate for the cost of future warranty claims at the time of sale and our warranty accruals as of the date of our Consolidated Balance Sheets. We believe that our $9.4 million warranty accrual as of December 31, 2021 is adequate and historically has been adequate; however, due to the inherent uncertainty in the accrual estimation process, including forecasting future warranty claims, costs associated with servicing future warranty claims, and unexpected major rework campaigns that may arise in the future, our actual warranty costs incurred may differ from our warranty accrual estimate. An unexpected increase in warranty claims and/or in the costs associated with servicing those claims would result in an increase in our warranty accruals and a decrease in our net earnings.

Contingent consideration

We estimate the acquisition date fair value of the acquisition-related contingent consideration using various valuation approaches, including option pricing models and Monte Carlo simulations, as well as significant unobservable inputs, reflecting the Company’s assessment of the assumptions market participants would use to value these liabilities. The fair value of the contingent consideration is remeasured each reporting period, with any change in the value recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Operations as change in fair value of contingent consideration.

Stock-based compensation

We measure and record compensation expense using the applicable accounting guidance for share-based payments related to stock options, time-based restricted stock, market-based restricted stock awards and performance-based awards granted to our directors and employees. The fair value of stock options is determined by using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The fair value of market-based restricted stock awards is estimated, at the date of grant, using the Monte Carlo Simulation model. The Black-Scholes and Monte Carlo Simulation valuation models incorporate assumptions as to stock price volatility, the expected life of options or awards, a risk-free interest rate and dividend yield. In valuing our stock options and market-based stock awards, significant judgment is required in determining the expected volatility of our common stock. Expected volatility for stock options is based on the historical and implied volatility of our own common stock while the volatility for our market-based restricted stock awards is based on the historical volatility of our own stock and the stock of companies within our defined peer group. Further, our expected volatility may change in the future, which could substantially change the grant-date fair value of future awards and, ultimately, the expense we record. The fair value of restricted stock, including performance awards, without a market condition is estimated using the current market price of our common stock on the date of grant.

We expense stock-based compensation for stock options, restricted stock awards, and performance awards over the requisite service period. For awards with only a service condition, we expense stock-based compensation using the straight-line method over the requisite service period for the entire award. For awards with a market condition, we expense over the vesting period regardless of the value that the award recipients will ultimately receive.

Provision for income taxes

The assessment regarding whether a valuation allowance is required considers both positive and negative evidence when determining whether it is more likely than not that deferred tax assets are recoverable. In making this assessment, significant weight is given to evidence that can be objectively verified. In its evaluation, the Company considered its cumulative loss and its forecasted losses in the near-term as significant negative evidence. Based upon a review of the four sources of income identified within ASC 740, Accounting for Income Taxes, the Company determined that the Company’s recorded deferred tax liabilities as of December 31, 2021 would be a sufficient source of taxable income to realize all of its deferred tax assets except for a portion of its net operating loss carryforwards. As a result, a partial valuation allowance on its deferred tax assets was recorded as of December 31, 2021. The Company will continue to assess the realizability of its assets going forward and will adjust the valuation allowance as needed.

The Company determines its uncertain tax positions based on a determination of whether and how much of a tax benefit taken by the Company in its tax filings or positions is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by the relevant income tax authorities. The Company is generally subject to examination by U.S. federal and local income tax authorities for all tax years in which loss carryforward is available.

The Company applies judgment in the determination of the financial statement recognition and measurement of tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. As of December 31, 2021, the Company has an unrecorded tax benefit of $255,000 related to tax attributes being carried forward. The Company is generally subject to examination by U.S. federal and local income tax authorities for all tax years in which loss carryforward is available.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had U.S. federal net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards of approximately $120.6 million, which is available to reduce future taxable income. Approximately $39.5 million of NOL will expire from 2022 through 2037, and approximately $81.1 million of NOL will be carried forward indefinitely. The NOL carryforwards are subject to an annual limitation in the event of certain cumulative changes in the ownership interest. This limits the amount of tax attributes that can be utilized annually to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities. Subsequent ownership changes may further affect the limitation in future years.

Recent accounting standards update

See Note 1: “Organization and significant accounting policies – recent accounting pronouncements,” to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report for more information.

Results of operations

The following discussion of the financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements and the related footnotes thereto.

Revenue

Revenues diversified significantly in the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. This diversification was primarily driven by the acquisition of Global Cooling and Sexton in May and September of 2021, respectively. Most notably, the Company’s freezer and thaw revenues increased by 318% as a result of the acquisition of Global Cooling and growth in LN2 freezer sales. Revenues also diversified significantly in the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019. This diversification was primarily driven by the acquisition of SciSafe in October of 2020 and the recognition of a full year of revenue from the acquisition of Custom Biogenic Systems in November of 2019. Given the Company’s acquisition strategy, we expect product diversification to continue in future periods as the Company executes its strategy and makes additional acquisitions.

Revenue concentrations with one customer increased to 17% in the year ended December 31, 2021 from 13% from a different customer in the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily as a result of concentrations of sales to a prominent international distributor. Revenue concentrations with one customer decreased to 13% in the year ended December 31, 2020 from 15% from the same customer in the year ended December 31, 2019, primarily due to the expansion of the Company’s customer base through the aforementioned acquisitions. We expect customer concentrations to diminish as revenues increase and we expand our presence in the global markets in which we participate.

Revenue for years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were comprised of the following:

In the year ended December 31, 2021, revenue increased by $71.1 million, or 148%, from the year ended December 31, 2020. Of this increase, $40.9 million, or 85%, was driven by inorganic growth from the acquisitions of Global Cooling and Sexton. The remaining $30.2 million, or 63%, of the increase was driven primarily by organic growth in our biological and pharmaceutical storage and biopreservation media product lines of $13.0 million and $12.2 million, respectively.

In the year ended December 31, 2020, revenue increased by $20.7 million, or 76%, from the year ended December 31, 2019. Of this increase, $1.8 million, or 6%, was driven by inorganic growth from the acquisition of SciSafe. The remaining $18.9 million, or 70%, of the increase was driven primarily by organic growth in our biopreservation media product line of $7.6 million and the recognition of a full year of revenue from the acquisition of Custom Biogenic Systems in November of 2019, which contributed $9.7 million of incremental revenue in 2020.

Revenue is impacted by the relatively high degree of customer concentration, the timing of orders, the development efforts of our customers or end-users and regulatory approvals for biologics that incorporate our products, which may result in significant quarterly fluctuations. Such fluctuations are expected, but they may not be predictive of future revenue or otherwise indicative of a trend.

Costs and operating expenses

Total costs and operating expenses for years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were comprised of the following:

Cost of product, rental, and service revenue

In the year ended December 31, 2021, cost of product, rental, and service revenue increased $61.5 million or 298% from the year ended December 31, 2020. Of this increase, $44.2 million, or 214%, was driven by inorganic growth from the acquisitions of Global Cooling and Sexton. The remaining $17.3 million, or 84%, of the increase was driven primarily by organic growth in our biopreservation media and biological and pharmaceutical storage product lines.

In the year ended December 31, 2020, cost of product, rental, and service revenue increased $11.9 million or 136% from the year ended December 31, 2019. Of this increase, $1.2 million, or 14%, was driven by inorganic growth from the acquisition of SciSafe. The remaining $10.7 million, or 122%, of the increase driven primarily by organic growth in our biopreservation media product line and the recognition of a full year of costs from the acquisition of Custom Biogenic Systems in November of 2019.

We expect the cost of product, rental, and service revenue to fluctuate in future quarters based on production volumes, product mix, and the impact of any future acquisitions.

Cost of product, rental, and service revenue as a percentage of revenue was 69%, 43%, and 32% for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. Cost of product, rental, and service revenue in the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 includes $1.1 million, $411,000, and $289,000, respectively, in inventory step-up expense recorded in the purchase accounting of our Global Cooling, Custom Biogenic Systems, and AsteroBio acquisitions.

The increase in cost of product, rental, and service revenue as a percentage of revenue to 69% in the year ended December 31, 2021 from 43% in the year ended December 31, 2020 is primarily a result of the acquisitions of Global Cooling and Sexton, which were acquired in May and September of 2021, respectively. Of the increase noted, $43.0 million was recognized by Global Cooling and $1.2 million was recognized by Sexton. $9.8 million of the costs recognized by Global Cooling were incurred in relation to warranty expenses. In the third and fourth quarters of 2021, Global Cooling experienced supply chain disruptions related to sheet metal and electronic components that incorporate semiconductor chips that led to increased supplier pricing and delays in production that led to a lower margin profile than we believe to otherwise be achievable. We believe that the supply chain risks that were present in these quarters have been significantly mitigated through the diversification of sheet metal suppliers and strategic agreements with electronic component suppliers.

The increase in cost of product, rental, and service revenue as a percentage of revenue to 43% in the year ended December 31, 2020 from 32% in the year ended December 31, 2019 is primarily a result of the acquisition of SciSafe, which was acquired in October of 2020 and the recognition of a full year of costs from the acquisition of Custom Biogenic Systems in November of 2019. Of the increase noted, SciSafe recognized $1.2 million, whereas the incremental costs recognized by Custom Biogenic Systems in the year ended December 31, 2021 amounted to $7.2 million.

Research and development expenses

During the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019, research and development (“R&D”) expense consisted primarily of personnel-related costs, consulting, and external product development services.

R&D expense increased $5.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2021, or 76%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase is primarily due to in-process research and development costs associated with the freezer technology acquired in the acquisition of Global Cooling.

R&D expense increased $3.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2020, or 112%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2019. The increase is primarily due to recognition of a full year of research and development activity from the acquisitions of Custom Biogenic Systems, SAVSU, and AsteroBio in the year ended December 31, 2019. Additionally, the Company invested increased levels of capital into the refinement of its cold chain shipper products in the year ended December 31, 2020.

We expect our R&D expense to increase as we continue to expand, develop, and refine our product lines.

Sales and marketing expenses

Sales and marketing expense (“S&M”) consisted primarily of personnel-related costs, stock compensation expense, trade shows, sales commissions and advertising.

S&M expense increased $7.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2021, or 118%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2020. Of this increase, $4.4 million, or 68%, was incurred by Global Cooling. The remaining costs primarily relate to additional headcount of $1.2 million, commission expense associated with organic revenue growth of $413,000, and stock-based compensation of $691,000.

S&M expense increased $1.7 million in the year ended December 31, 2020, or 36%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2019. Of this increase, $336,000 was composed of incremental costs associated with a full year’s ownership of Custom Biogenic Systems, $306,000 was composed of incremental costs associated with a full year’s ownership of SAVSU, and $139,000 was composed of incremental costs associated with a full year’s ownership of AsteroBio. The remaining costs primarily relate to additional headcount of $506,000.

We expect S&M expense to increase, as we expand our product line offerings and our presence in the markets in which we participate.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative (“G&A”) expense consists primarily of personnel-related expenses, non-cash stock-based compensation for administrative personnel and members of the board of directors, professional fees, such as accounting and legal, and corporate insurance.

In the year ended December 31, 2021, G&A expenses increased by $17.8 million, or 122%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2020. Of this increase, $4.2 million, or 29%, was incurred by Global Cooling. The remaining costs primarily relate to stock-based compensation awarded to attract and retain talent of $4.4 million, accounting fees of $1.4 million, insurance expense of $524,000, and the continued buildout of our administrative infrastructure, predominantly through increased headcount of $4.6 million, to support expected future growth.

In the year ended December 31, 2020, G&A expenses increased by $5.7 million, or 64%, compared with the year ended December 31, 2019. Of this increase, $1.3 million, or 22%, was composed of incremental costs associated with a full year’s ownership of Custom Biogenic Systems and $471,000, or 8%, associated with a full year’s ownership of SAVSU. The remaining costs primarily relate to stock-based compensation awarded to attract and retain talent and the continued buildout of our administrative infrastructure, predominantly through increased headcount, to support expected future growth.

We expect G&A expense to increase as we continue to execute on our growth strategy. 

Intangible asset amortization expense

Amortization expense consists of charges related to the amortization of intangible assets associated with the acquisitions of Global Cooling, Custom Biogenic Systems, SciSafe, SAVSU, and AsteroBio in which we acquired definite-lived intangible assets.

Acquisition costs

Acquisition costs consist of legal, accounting, third-party valuations, and other due diligence costs related to our Global Cooling, Custom Biogenic Systems, SciSafe, Sexton, SAVSU, and AsteroBio acquisitions.

Change in fair value of contingent consideration

Change in fair value of contingent consideration consists of changes in estimated fair value of our potential earnouts related to our SciSafe, CBS, and Astero acquisitions.

Other income and expenses

Total other income and expenses for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, and 2019 were comprised of the following:

Change in fair value of warrant liability. Reflects the changes in fair value associated with the periodic “mark-to-market” valuation of certain warrants that were issued in 2014. See Note 1: “Organization and Significant Accounting Policies” of our accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements “Certain Warrants which have Features that may Result in Cash Settlement” for more information.

Change in fair value of investments. Reflects the fair value adjustments to our investment in iVexSol convertible debt prior to its conversion to Series A-1 Preferred Stock. The fair value was determined by expected term of the instrument, the underlying credit worthiness of iVexSol and the valuation of various embedded features in the note, which were based on future financings of iVexSol. The expected term range of our estimate was 1 to 5 years, with projected weighting over this term.

Interest (expense) income, net. Interest expense incurred in the year ended December 31, 2021 related primarily to three term loans that were assumed in the acquisition of Global Cooling. These term loans were refinanced in the fourth quarter of 2021 to obtain more favorable interest rates to the Company. We also earn interest on cash held in our money market account. Despite having a higher average cash balance in the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, yields in our money market account dropped steeply between February and March of 2020 due to reduced interest rates set by the United States Federal Reserve, causing interest income to be significantly lower for the remainder of 2020 and the year ended December 31, 2021.

Loss on equity method investment. Reflects the non-cash loss associated with our proportionate share of the net loss in our investment in SAVSU prior to our acquisition of the remaining shares of SAVSU and subsequent consolidation of SAVSU in our financial statements.

Gain on acquisition of SAVSU. Reflects the non-cash gain associated with our equity investment in SAVSU due to the step-acquisition of the remaining shares of SAVSU and subsequent consolidation of SAVSU in our financial statements. 

Gain on acquisition of Sexton Biotechnologies, Inc. Reflects the non-cash gain associated with our investment in Sexton due to the step-acquisition of the remaining shares of Sexton and subsequent consolidation of Sexton in our financial statements. 

Income Tax Benefit

Income tax benefit for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was as follows:

The income tax benefit recognized in the year ended December 31, 2021 primarily related to losses generated in 2021 and the recognition of the release of our valuation allowance related to the acquisition of Global Cooling. Our effective tax rate for 2021 was higher than the U.S. statutory rate of 21% primarily due to windfall benefits on stock compensation, 162(m) limitations on executive compensation, and the change in our valuation allowance.

The income tax benefit recognized in the year ended December 31, 2020 primarily related to the partial release of our valuation allowance related to the acquisition of SciSafe. Our effective tax rate in 2020 was significantly higher than the U.S. statutory rate of 21% primarily due to windfall benefits on stock compensation, changes in the fair value of our warrant liability, changes in the fair value of contingent consideration, and the expiration of net operating losses.

The income tax benefit recognized in the year ended December 31, 2019 primarily related to the recognition of partial release of our valuation allowance related to the acquisitions of SAVSU and Astero. Our effective tax rate was higher than the U.S. statutory rate of 21% due primarily to changes in the fair value of our warrant liability, windfall benefits on stock compensation, and gain recognized on our acquisition of SAVSU.

Liquidity and capital resources

We believe our cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations, and credit lines will satisfy, for at least the next twelve months, our liquidity requirements, both globally and domestically, including the following: working capital needs, capital expenditures, business acquisitions, contractual obligations, commitments, principal and interest payments on debt, and other liquidity requirements associated with our operations. We have not identified any material liquidity concerns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On December 31, 2021, we had $69.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $90.4 million as of December 31, 2020. The decrease in cash is primarily due to the payoff of debt and liabilities acquired in the Global Cooling transaction, the use of capital for funding operations, and the expansion of our storage services footprint both domestically and in the Netherlands.

On May 22, 2020, the Company closed on a share purchase agreement with Casdin Capital LLC, a current stockholder of the Company, pursuant to which Casdin invested $20.0 million in the Company at $10.50 per share.

On July 7, 2020, the Company closed its public offering of 5,951,250 shares of common stock at the public offering price of $14.50 per share, which includes the shares purchased pursuant to the exercise in full of the underwriters' option to purchase up to an additional 776,250 shares of its common stock. The net proceeds from the public offering to BioLife, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated underwriter offering expenses of $6.1 million, were approximately $80.2 million.

On October 1, 2020, we acquired SciSafe for $15.0 million in cash, 611,683 shares of common stock, and up to 626,000 additional shares of common stock as contingent consideration. 64,130 of the additional shares were earned as of December 31, 2021 and will be issued in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Cash flows

Operating activities

In the year ended December 31, 2021, our operating activities used cash of $4.6 million reflecting net loss of $7.6 million and non-cash charges totaling $6.6 million primarily related to depreciation, amortization, changes in the fair value of investments, changes in fair value of contingent consideration, deferred income tax benefit, stock-based compensation, and non-cash lease charges. An increase in accounts receivable of $10.1 million was primarily driven by the 148% year-to-date increase in revenues. The remaining cash provided by operating activities resulted from favorable changes in various other working capital accounts.

In the year ended December 31, 2020, our operating activities provided cash of $6.6 million reflecting net income of $2.7 million and non-cash charges totaling $5.8 million primarily related to depreciation, amortization, changes in the fair value of investments, changes in fair value of contingent consideration, income tax benefit related to the acquisition of SciSafe, change in the fair value of the warrant liability, and stock-based compensation charges. An increase in accounts receivable of $1.8 million was primarily driven by the 76% year-to-date increase in revenues and an increase in inventory used $629,000 to support future revenue. These cash items used for operating activities were offset by cash items provided by operating activities that included an increase in accrued liabilities of $780,000. The remaining cash used in operating activities resulted from unfavorable changes in various other working capital accounts.

In the year ended December 31, 2019, our operating activities provided cash of $1.2 million, reflecting a net loss of $1.7 million and non-cash charges totaling $7.3 million primarily related to depreciation, amortization, gain on acquisition of SAVSU, changes in fair value contingent consideration, income tax benefit related to the acquisition of SAVSU, fair value change in warrant liability and stock-based compensation charges. An increase in accounts receivable used $290,000 of cash and was primarily driven by the 39% year-to-date increase in revenues and an increase in inventory used $3.8 million to support future revenue. These cash items used for operating activities were offset by cash items provided by operating activities that included an increase in accounts payable of $768,000. The remaining cash used in operating activities resulted from unfavorable changes in various other working capital accounts.

Investing activities

Our investing activities used $13.2 million of cash in the year ended December 31, 2021. We acquired $1.6 million in cash in the acquisitions of Global Cooling and Sexton. Capital expenditures and purchases of assets held for rent used $14.8 million as we continue to invest in our manufacturing and storage facilities.

Our investing activities used $24.7 million of cash in the year ended December 31, 2020. We used $15.0 million in cash for the SciSafe acquisition. We also invested $1.0 million and $995,000 in our strategic investments in iVexSol and PanTHERA, respectively. Capital expenditures, deposits on future capital expenditures, purchases of assets held for rent, and deposits made on assets held for rent used $7.8 million.

Our investing activities used $27.0 million of cash in the year ended December 31, 2019. We used $12.4 million, acquired $1.3 million, and used $11.0 million in cash for the Astero, SAVSU, and CBS acquisitions, respectively. We also invested $1.0 million and $1.5 million in our strategic investments in iVexSol and Sexton, respectively. Capital expenditures used $2.3 million in our manufacturing facilities and to increase SAVSU’s assets held for rent.

Financing activities

In the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used by financing activities was $2.8 million. We used $4.2 million to pay off the line of credit assumed in the acquisition of Global Cooling. Other significant cash flows include $1.6 million provided by lenders to finance equipment for our continued expansion, $1.4 million provided by the exercise of stock options, and $1.0 million used to pay financed insurance premiums.

In the year ended December 31, 2020, cash provided by financing activities was $102.1 million. We received $100.1 million from the sale of common shares and $1.5 million from the proceeds of warrant and stock option exercises. We used $483,000 for contingent consideration related to the Astero acquisition.

In the year ended December 31, 2019, cash provided by financing activities of $1.6 million included $1.8 million from the proceeds of warrant and stock option exercises.

Impacts of COVID-19

Our domestic and international operations have been and continue to be affected by the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19 and the resulting volatility and uncertainty it has caused in the U.S. and international markets. During the year ended December 31, 2021, many businesses and countries, including the U.S., continued applying preventative and precautionary measures to mitigate the spread of the virus including government orders and other restrictions on the conduct of business operations.

In the year ended December 31, 2021, we experienced supply chain disruptions due to the effects of COVID-19 on our suppliers of sheet metal and electronic components that incorporate semiconductor chips. These supply chain disruptions decreased the Company’s profitability as a result of increased supplier pricing and production stoppages. We believe that the supply chain risks that were present have been significantly mitigated through the diversification of sheet metal suppliers and strategic agreements with electronic component suppliers. However, we cannot be assured that a continued or prolonged global pandemic will not have other negative impacts on our manufacturing and shipping processes or our product costs. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic affects our future financial results and operations will depend on future developments which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including the recurrence, severity and/or duration of the ongoing pandemic, and current or future domestic and international actions to contain and treat COVID-19.

We are following public and private sector policies and initiatives to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, such as the imposition of travel restrictions and the promotion of social distancing and work-from-home arrangements. We are taking a variety of measures to ensure the availability and functioning of our critical infrastructure, to promote the safety and security of our employees and to support the communities in which we operate. These measures include increasing our raw materials, manufacturing safe stock inventory for our biopreservation media and expanding availability of our biological and pharmaceutical storage, requiring remote working arrangements for employees who are not integral to physically making and shipping our products or who do not need specialized equipment to perform their work, restricting on-site visits by non-employees and implementing social distancing protocols and investing in personal protective equipment. Beginning April 2, 2020, BioLife became actively engaged in managing the company COVID-19 response and protocols in accordance with federal, state and local regulations. BioLife has mandated mask wearing for all team members on-site throughout the pandemic per the guidelines and regulations in place. COVID-19 response is actively managed through daily reporting, contact tracing and quarantine guidelines as published by the CDC and state health departments in order to maintain safe working conditions. As a part of our COVID-19 response, on-site visitors have been limited to essential visitors only in order to reduce risk of transmission. Additionally, throughout the pandemic, BioLife has encouraged positions not essential to being on-site to work remotely in order to further reduce transmission rates and potential contact.

Contractual obligations

Our cash flows from operations are dependent on a number of factors, including fluctuations in our operating results, accounts receivable collections, inventory management, and the timing of tax and other payments.  As a result, the impact of contractual obligations on our liquidity and capital resources in future periods should be analyzed in conjunction with such factors.

The following summarizes certain of our contractual obligations as of December 31, 2021 and the effect such obligations are expected to have on our cash flows in future periods:

Purchase orders or contracts for the purchase of supplies and other goods and services are not included in the table above.  We are not able to determine the aggregate amount of such purchase orders that represent contractual obligations, as purchase orders may represent authorizations to purchase rather than binding agreements.  Our purchase orders are based on our current procurement or developmental needs and fulfilled by our vendors within short time horizons.

Capital requirements

Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including the following:

Absent acquisitions of additional products, product candidates, or intellectual property, we believe our current cash balances are adequate to meet our cash needs for at least the next 12 months. We expect operating expenses in the year ending December 31, 2022 to increase as we continue to expand our CGT tools business. We expect to incur continued spending related to the development and expansion of our product lines and expansion of our commercial capabilities for the foreseeable future. Our future capital requirements may include, but are not limited to, purchases of property, plant and equipment, the acquisition of additional cell and gene therapy products and technologies to complement our existing manufacturing capabilities, and continued investment in our intellectual property portfolio. 

We actively evaluate various strategic transactions on an ongoing basis, including acquiring complementary products, technologies or businesses that would complement our existing portfolio. We continue to seek to acquire such potential assets that may offer us the best opportunity to create value for our shareholders. In order to acquire such assets, we may need to seek additional financing to fund these investments. If our available cash balances and anticipated cash flow from operations are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, including because of any such acquisition-related financing needs or lower demand for our products, we may seek to sell common or preferred equity or convertible debt securities, enter into a credit facility or another form of third-party funding, or seek other debt funding. The sale of equity and convertible debt securities may result in dilution to our stockholders, and those securities may have rights senior to those of our common shares. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of preferred stock, convertible debt securities or other debt financing, these securities or other debt could contain covenants that would restrict our operations. Any other third-party funding arrangement could require us to relinquish valuable rights. We may require additional capital beyond our currently anticipated amounts. Additional capital may not be available on reasonable terms, if at all.

The Company operates internationally, and thus is subject to potentially adverse movements in foreign currency exchange rates. Approximately 1% of the Company's consolidated net sales in the year ended December 31, 2021 were made in euros. The Company is exposed to market risk primarily from foreign exchange rate fluctuations of the euro as compared to the U.S. dollar as the financial position and operating results of the Company's foreign operations are translated into U.S. dollars for consolidation.

Month-end exchange rates between the euro and the U.S. dollar, which have not been weighted for actual sales volume in the applicable months in the periods, were as follows:

The Company's exposure to foreign exchange rate fluctuations also arises from trade receivables and intercompany payables denominated in one currency in the financial statements, but receivable or payable in another currency.

The Company does not enter into foreign currency forward contracts to reduce its exposure to foreign currency rate changes on forecasted intercompany sales transactions or on intercompany foreign currency denominated balance sheet positions. Foreign currency transaction gains and losses are included in "Other income (expense)" in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The effect of translating net assets of foreign subsidiaries into U.S. dollars are recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet as part of "Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of taxes".

The effects of a hypothetical 10% appreciation in the U.S. dollar from December 31, 2021 levels against the euro are as follows (in thousands):

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Shareholders and Board of Directors

BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Bothell, Washington

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of BioLife Solutions, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive (loss) income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) and our report dated March 31, 2022 expressed an adverse opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

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

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

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

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Contingent Consideration – SciSafe Holdings (“SciSafe”)

As described in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, contingent consideration liabilities are recorded at fair value on the acquisition date and are revalued each reporting period, with changes in the fair value recognized within the consolidated statement of operations. As of and for the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recorded a contingent consideration liability associated with the October 1, 2020 acquisition of SciSafe of $9.9 million and a change in fair value of $3.0 million. Management estimated the fair value of contingent consideration through valuation models that incorporate unobservable inputs including projected revenue, revenue and asset volatility, and discount rates. Changes in the fair value of contingent consideration can result from changes to one or multiple assumptions.

We identified the estimation of the fair value of the SciSafe contingent consideration liability as a critical audit matter. The determination of the SciSafe contingent consideration liability’s fair value requires management to make significant judgments including the appropriateness of the valuation model and the reasonableness of estimates and assumptions. Changes in these estimates and assumptions could have a significant impact on the fair value of the SciSafe contingent consideration liability. Auditing these elements involved especially challenging auditor judgment due to the subjectivity and the nature and extent of audit effort required to address the matter, including the extent of specialized skill or knowledge needed.

The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:

Business Combinations – Valuation of Acquired Intangible Assets

As described in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements, on May 3, 2021, the Company acquired Global Cooling, Inc. (“GCI”) for purchase consideration of approximately $234.9 million and on September 1, 2021, the Company acquired Sexton Biotechnologies (“Sexton”) for purchase consideration of approximately $39.9 million. Management applied significant judgment in estimating the fair value of the identifiable intangible assets including in-process research and development assets, developed technology, customer relationships, and tradenames.

We identified the determination of the fair values of the identifiable intangible assets as a critical audit matter. The Company’s estimation of the acquisition date fair values of certain identifiable intangible assets is complex, requires management’s judgment and involves the use of significant estimates and assumptions, including selection of the appropriate valuation methodology, revenue growth rates, forecasted expenses, royalty rates, and discount rates. Auditing these elements involved especially challenging and subjective auditor judgment due to the nature and extent of audit effort required to address these matters, including the extent of specialized skill or knowledge needed.

The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:

/s/ BDO USA, LLP

We have served as the Company's auditor since 2019.

Seattle, Washington

March 31, 2022

BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

The accompanying Notes to consolidated Financial Statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements 

BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

The accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive (Loss) Income

The accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity

The accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

BioLife Solutions, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows