NEPHROS INC - Quarter Report: 2022 September (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the quarterly period ended: September 30, 2022

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from: _______ to _______

Commission File Number: 001-32288

NEPHROS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(201) 343-5202

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

N/A

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ YES ☐ NO

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐ YES ☒ NO

As of November 8, 2022, 10,316,597 shares of the registrant’s common stock, $0.001 par value per share, were outstanding.

NEPHROS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements.

NEPHROS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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

NEPHROS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(In thousands, except share and per share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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

NEPHROS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(In thousands, except share amounts)

(Unaudited)

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

NEPHROS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(In thousands)

(Unaudited)

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

NEPHROS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (unaudited)

Note 1 – Organization and Nature of Operations

Nephros, Inc. (“Nephros” or the “Company”) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on April 3, 1997. The Company was founded by health professionals, scientists and engineers affiliated with Columbia University to develop advanced end stage renal disease (“ESRD”) therapy technology and products.

Beginning in 2009, Nephros introduced high performance liquid purification filters to meet the demand for water purification in certain medical markets. The Company’s filters, generally classified as ultrafilters, are primarily used in hospitals for the prevention of infection from waterborne pathogens, such as legionella and pseudomonas, and in dialysis centers for the removal of biological contaminants from water and bicarbonate concentrate. The Company also develops and sells water filtration products for commercial applications, focusing on the hospitality and food service markets. The water filtration business is a reportable segment, referred to as the Water Filtration segment.

On October 4, 2022, the Company entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement with a third party for the sale of substantially all of the Company’s Pathogen Detection Systems (“PDS”) business (disposal group), which had been previously reported as a separate reportable operating segment.  As a result, the disposal group was determined to meet the accounting criteria for discontinued operations as well as an asset held for sale as of September 30, 2022.  PDS is no longer separately reported in the Company’s reportable segment footnote for any of the periods presented. (See Note 4 - Assets Held-for-Sale and Discontinued Operations).

In July 2018, the Company formed a new subsidiary, Specialty Renal Products, Inc. (“SRP”), to drive the development of its second-generation hemodiafiltration system and other products focused on improving therapies for patients with renal disease. After SRP’s formation, the Company assigned to SRP all of the Company’s rights to three patents relating to the Company’s hemodiafiltration technology, which were carried at zero book value. SRP is a reportable segment, referred to as the Renal Products segment.

The Company’s primary U.S. facilities are located at 380 Lackawanna Place, South Orange, New Jersey 07079, 3221 Polaris Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89102 and 1015 Telegraph Street, Unit B, Reno, Nevada 89502. These locations house the Company’s corporate headquarters, research, manufacturing, and distribution facilities. In addition, the Company maintains small administrative offices in various locations in the United States.

Note 2 – Basis of Presentation and Liquidity

Interim Financial Information

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 8 and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2021 was derived from the Company’s audited financial statements. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for annual financial statements. Results as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2022.

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements and notes thereto should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Nephros, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary Nephros International which was dissolved during the quarter ended June 30, 2022, and SRP, in which the Company maintains a controlling interest. Outside stockholders’ interest in SRP of 37.5% is shown on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as noncontrolling interest. All intercompany accounts and transactions were eliminated in the preparation of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities, at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amount of revenues and expenses, during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Included in these estimates are assumptions about the collection of accounts receivable, net realizable value of inventories, useful life of fixed assets and intangible assets, the assessment of expected cash flows used in evaluating goodwill and other long-lived assets, and assumptions used in determining stock compensation such as expected volatility and risk-free interest rate.

Liquidity

The Company has sustained operating losses and expects such losses to continue over the next several quarters. In addition, net cash from operations has been negative since inception, generating an accumulated deficit of $142.0 million as of September 30, 2022.

In February 2022, pursuant to a First Amendment to Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Amendment”) among SRP and the holders of SRP’s outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock, SRP issued and sold an additional 100,003 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock at a price of $5.00 per share, resulting in total gross proceeds of $500,015. See “Note 13 – Stockholders’ Equity – Noncontrolling Interest,” below. In addition to the funds provided by the sale of these additional shares of Series A Preferred Stock, the Company and SRP continue to maintain a loan agreement under which the Company agreed to lend up to $1.3 million to SRP, including the $1.0 million borrowed during the year ended December 31, 2020. These loaned funds were used to fund SRP’s operating activities through the recent FDA 510(k) clearance process of SRP’s second-generation hemodiafiltration system, which was initially submitted to the FDA on February 24, 2021 and which received 510(k) clearance on May 13, 2022. As of September 30, 2022, the outstanding balance of this loan, including accrued interest, was approximately $1.4 million.

Based on cash that is available for the Company’s operations, projections of future Company operations, and recent expense reduction measures taken by management, including the sale of the PDS assets and discontinuance of its operations, the Company believes that its cash balances will be sufficient to fund its current operating plan through at least the next 12 months from the date of issuance of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements. In the event that operations do not meet expectations, the Company may need to further reduce discretionary expenditures such as additional headcount, new R&D projects, and other variable costs to alleviate any substantial doubt as to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

While significant progress has been made against the COVID-19 pandemic, some uncertainty remains with respect to the Company’s projections regarding the availability of sufficient cash resources, due to the possibility that COVID-19 infections could increase again and cause further disruption to economic conditions. During the pandemic, particularly during calendar year 2020, the Company saw decreased demand for its hospital filtration products, particularly in emergency pathogen outbreak response. In addition, sales to new customers during 2020 – including water filtration and pathogen detection products – were hindered by pandemic-related travel restrictions. Also in 2020, the Company’s commercial filtration products, which are primarily targeted at the hospitality and food service markets, saw a decrease in demand, due to the closure of many hotels and restaurants. The Company believes that broad vaccine distribution and increased population immunity has reduced the probability of further significant negative COVID-19 impacts, but if these decreases in demand return and the Company is unable to achieve its revenue plan, the Company may need to reduce budgeted expenditures as appropriate to preserve its available capital resources, which could slow its revenue growth plans.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-04, “Issuer’s Accounting for Certain Modifications or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options,” which clarifies and reduces diversity in an issuer’s accounting for modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options that remain equity classified after modification or exchange. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2022, and the guidance did not have an impact on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements, Not Yet Effective

In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-08, “Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers,” which requires that an entity recognize contract assets and contract liabilities acquired in a business combination in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606. The guidance is effective for the Company beginning in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 and should be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted. The Company will assess the impact, if any, of adopting this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

Concentration of Credit Risk

The Company deposits its cash in financial institutions. At times, such deposits may be in excess of insured limits. To date, the Company has not experienced any impairment losses on its cash. The Company also limits its credit risk with respect to accounts receivable by performing credit evaluations when deemed necessary.

Major Customers

For the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the following customers, all of which are in the Water Filtration segment, accounted for the following percentages of the Company’s revenues, respectively:

Schedule of Revenues and Accounts Receivable Percentage of Major Customers 

For the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the following customers, all of which are in the Water Filtration segment, accounted for the following percentages of the Company’s revenues, respectively:

No other customer accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s revenue during the periods presented above.

As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the following customers accounted for the following percentages of the Company’s accounts receivable, respectively:

Accounts Receivable

The Company recognizes an allowance that reflects a current estimate of credit losses expected to be incurred over the life of a financial asset, including trade receivables. The Company continuously monitors collections and payments from its customers and maintains a provision for estimated credit losses. The Company determines its allowance for doubtful accounts by considering a number of factors, including the length of time balances are past due, the Company’s previous loss history, the customer’s current ability to pay its obligations to the Company and the expected condition of the general economy and the industry as a whole. The Company writes off accounts receivable when they are determined to be uncollectible. There was no allowance for doubtful accounts as of September 30, 2022. The allowance for doubtful accounts was approximately $1,000 as of December 31, 2021.

Depreciation Expense

Depreciation related to equipment utilized in the manufacturing process is recognized in cost of goods sold on the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, depreciation expense was approximately $3,000 and $19,000, respectively. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, depreciation expense was approximately $7,000 and $22,000, respectively.

Assets Held-For-Sale and Discontinued Operations

See Note 4, Assets Held-for-Sale and Discontinued Operations, for a discussion of the Company’s significant accounting policy surrounding the sale of substantially all of the Company’s PDS business.

Note 3 – Asset Acquisition

On July 9, 2021, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of GenArraytion, Inc. (“GenArraytion”). The acquisition did not qualify as a business combination and, as a result, was accounted for as an asset acquisition as the fair value of the gross assets acquired was primarily related to a single asset. In consideration for the acquisition of these assets, the Company issued 123,981 shares of the Company’s common stock to GenArraytion, reflecting an aggregate purchase price of $1.2 million. The purchase price, including direct acquisition costs of approximately $49,000, was allocated among the acquired assets which include intellectual property and equipment, based upon their relative fair values at the date of acquisition.

Fifty percent of the 123,981 common shares issued were subject to a risk of forfeiture which lapsed during the three months ended September 30, 2021. Pursuant to the purchase agreement with GenArraytion, the Company also agreed to make royalty payments to GenArraytion equal to 5% of net sales of certain products by the Company over the next five years. However, as a result of the Company’s pending sale of its PDS business to a third party, the Company will no longer make any net sales of GenArraytion products during such royalty period. (See Note 4 - Assets Held-for-Sale and Discontinued Operations).

The total consideration of $1.2 million was allocated as follows to the acquired assets:

Schedule of Assets Acquired 

The acquired intellectual property was being amortized over its estimated useful life of 10 years With the sale of the PDS assets announced on October 11, 2022, this asset was classified as held-for-sale, and then tested for impairment and subsequently written down to $0. (See Note 4 – Assets Held-for-Sale and Discontinued Operations).

Note 4 – Assets Held-for-Sale and Discontinued Operations

In accordance with ASC 360-10-45-9, a long-lived asset (disposal group) to be sold shall be classified as held for sale in the period in which all of the following criteria are met: management has committed to a plan to sell the asset; the asset is available for immediate sale in its present condition; an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the plan to sell the asset have been initiated; the sale of the asset is probable and is expected to qualify for recognition as a completed sale within one year; the asset is being actively marketed for sale at a price that is reasonable in relation to its current fair value; and actions required to complete the plan indicate that it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or that the plan will be withdrawn.

Long-lived assets that are classified as held-for-sale are recorded at the lower of carrying value or fair value less costs to sell and are considered to be Level 3 measurements as defined in Note 6.

On October 4, 2022, the Company entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement with a third party pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell substantially all of the assets used in the Company’s PDS business. In consideration for the sale of these assets, the Company will receive $1,000 in cash at the closing, plus potential royalties payable to Nephros for a seven year period commencing on January 1, 2023 subject to a minimum gross margin threshold.  As such, the potential royalties payable to the Company are a gain contingency as they pertain to an uncertain event that will be resolved in future reporting periods.  As a result, the Company will recognize the gain contingency when it is probable the contingency will be resolved, which is ultimately when settled. The Company determined all of the required criteria for held-for-sale and discontinued operations classification were met as of September 30, 2022. The Company concluded that the assets and liabilities related to this business met the criteria of assets held-for-sale and liabilities associated with assets held-for-sale as of September 30, 2022. As part of presenting these assets and liabilities as held-for-sale in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, the Company evaluated the disposal group including the relevant intangible assets for impairment. Based upon the selling price less the costs of sale, the Company determined the net carrying value of the assets held for sale were impaired, and the value of the asset group to be sold was $0.

The following table presents the components in assets held-for-sale and liabilities associated with assets held-for-sale:

Schedule of the Components in Assets Held for Sale and Liabilities Associated with Assets Held for Sale

Discontinued Operations

In accordance with ASC 205-20, Presentation of Financial Statements: Discontinued Operations, a disposal of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity (disposal group) is required to be reported as discontinued operations if the disposal represents a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results when the disposal group meets the criteria to be classified as held-for-sale. The condensed consolidated statements of operations reported for current and prior periods report the results of operations of the discontinued operations, including the impairment loss recognized as a component of net income (loss) separate from the net income (loss) from continuing operations.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, $49,000 of right-of-use assets related to discontinuing operations were obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities.

Note 5 – Revenue Recognition

The Company recognizes revenue related to product sales when product is shipped via external logistics providers and the other criteria of ASC 606 are met. Product revenue is recorded net of returns and allowances. There was no allowance for sales returns for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 or 2021. In addition to product revenue, the Company recognizes revenue related to royalty and other agreements in accordance with the five-step model in ASC 606. Royalty and other revenues recognized for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 is comprised of:

Schedule of Royalty and Other Revenues 

Bellco License Agreement

On June 27, 2011, the Company entered into a License Agreement (as thereafter amended, the “License Agreement”), effective July 1, 2011, with Bellco S.r.l. (“Bellco”), an Italy-based supplier of hemodialysis and intensive care products, for the manufacturing, marketing and sale of the Company’s patented mid-dilution dialysis filters (the “Products”). Under the License Agreement, the Company granted Bellco a license to manufacture, market and sell the Products under its own name, label, and CE mark in certain countries on an exclusive basis, and to do the same on a non-exclusive basis in certain other countries. Under the License Agreement with Bellco, the Company received upfront payments which were previously deferred and subsequently recognized as license revenue over the term of the License Agreement. In addition, the License Agreement also provided for the payment of certain royalties to the Company based on the number of units of Products sold per year in the covered territory. The License Agreement expired in accordance with its terms on December 31, 2021.

Other Revenue – Other revenues are derived from sales of services to customers, which primarily include installation, training and testing on product and equipment sold to certain customers.

Note 6 – Fair Value Measurements

The Company measures certain financial instruments and other items at fair value.

To determine the fair value, the Company uses the fair value hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available. Observable inputs are inputs market participants would use to value an asset or liability and are developed based on market data obtained from independent sources. Unobservable inputs are inputs based on assumptions about the factors market participants would use to value an asset or liability.

To measure fair value, the Company uses the following fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, of which the first two are considered observable and the last unobservable:

Level 1 – Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

Level 3 – Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. Value is determined using pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies, or similar techniques and also includes instruments for which the determination of fair value requires significant judgment or estimation.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

The Company evaluates its financial assets and liabilities subject to fair value measurements on a recurring basis to determine the appropriate level of classification for each reporting period.

At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company’s cash equivalents consisted of money market funds. The Company values its cash equivalents using observable inputs that reflect quoted prices for securities with identical characteristics and classify the valuation techniques that use these inputs as Level 1.

At September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the fair value measurements of the Company’s assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis were as follows:

Schedule of Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on Recurring Basis 

Assets and Liabilities Not Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

The carrying amounts of accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value due to the short-term maturity of these instruments.

The carrying amounts of the secured long-term note payable, lease liabilities and equipment financing approximate fair value as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 because those financial instruments bear interest at rates that approximate current market rates for similar agreements with similar maturities and credit.

Note 7 – Inventory

Inventory is stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value using the first-in, first-out method and consists of raw materials and finished goods. The Company’s inventory components as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, were as follows:

Schedule of Inventory, Net 

Note 8 – Intangible Assets and Goodwill

Intangible Assets, net

Intangible assets at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021 are set forth in the table below. Gross carrying values and accumulated amortization of the Company’s intangible assets by type are as follows:

Schedule of Intangible Assets 

The Company recognized amortization expense of approximately $11,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and $11,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2021. All were recognized in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

The Company recognized amortization expense of approximately $31,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and $31,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2021. All were recognized in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

As of September 30, 2022, future amortization expense for each of the next five years is (in thousands):

Schedule of Future Amortization Expense 

The Company recognized approximately $1.0 million in intangible asset impairment charges during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, related to the fair value of assets held for sale. (See Note 4 – Assets Held-for-Sales and Discontinued Operations).

Goodwill

Goodwill has a carrying value on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets of approximately $0.8 million at September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021. Goodwill has been allocated to the Water Filtration segment.

Note 9 – License and Supply Agreement, net

On April 23, 2012, the Company entered into a License and Supply Agreement (as thereafter amended, the “License and Supply Agreement”) with Medica S.p.A. (“Medica”), an Italy-based medical product manufacturing company, for the marketing and sale of certain filtration products based upon Medica’s proprietary Medisulfone ultrafiltration technology in conjunction with the Company’s filtration products, and for an exclusive supply arrangement for the filtration products. Under the License and Supply Agreement, Medica granted to the Company an exclusive license, with right of sublicense, to market, promote, distribute, offer for sale and sell the filtration products worldwide, with certain limitations on territory, during the term of the License and Supply Agreement. In addition, the Company granted to Medica an exclusive license under the Company’s intellectual property to make the filtration products during the term of the License and Supply Agreement. The filtration products covered under the License and Supply Agreement includes both certain products based on Medica’s proprietary Versatile microfiber technology and certain filtration products based on Medica’s proprietary Medisulfone ultrafiltration technology. The term of the License Agreement with Medica expires on December 31, 2025, unless earlier terminated by either party in accordance with the terms of the License and Supply Agreement.

In exchange for the license, the gross value of the intangible asset capitalized was $2.3 million. License and supply agreement, net, on the condensed consolidated balance sheet is $0.4 million and $0.5 million as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. Accumulated amortization is $1.9 million and $1.8 million, as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively. The intangible asset is being amortized as an expense over the life of the License and Supply Agreement. Amortization expense of approximately $33,000 was recognized in each of the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 on the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

As of September 2013, the Company has an understanding with Medica whereby the Company has agreed to pay interest to Medica at a 12% annual rate calculated on the principal amount of any outstanding invoices that are not paid pursuant to the original payment terms. There was no interest recognized for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 or September 30, 2021.

In addition, for the period beginning April 23, 2014 through December 31, 2025, the Company will pay Medica a royalty rate of 3% of net sales of the filtration products sold, subject to reduction as a result of a supply interruption pursuant to the terms of the License and Supply Agreement. Approximately $64,000 and $70,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, was recognized as royalty expense and is included in cost of goods sold on the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. Approximately $198,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, was recognized as royalty expense and is included in cost of goods sold on the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. Approximately $64,000 and $70,000 of this royalty expense was included in accrued liabilities as of September 30, 2022, and in accounts payable as of December 31, 2021.

Note 10 – Secured Note Payable

On March 27, 2018, the Company entered into a Secured Promissory Note Agreement (the “Secured Note”) with Tech Capital for a principal amount of $1.2 million. As of September 30, 2022, the principal balance of the Secured Note was approximately $0.1 million.

The Secured Note has a maturity date of April 1, 2023. The unpaid principal balance accrues interest at a rate of 8% per annum. Principal and interest payments are due on the first day of each month commencing on May 1, 2018. The Secured Note is subject to terms and conditions of and is secured by security interests granted by the Company in favor of Tech Capital under the Loan and Security Agreement entered into on August 17, 2017 and subsequently on December 20, 2019 (the “Loan Agreement”). An event of default under such Loan Agreement is an event of default under the Secured Note and vice versa.

During each of the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company made payments under the Secured Note of approximately $72,000. Included in the total payments made, approximately $4,000 and $9,000, respectively, was recognized as interest expense on the condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021. During each of the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company made payments under the Secured Note of approximately $216,000. Included in the total payments made, approximately $15,000 and $30,000 was recognized as interest expense on the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

As of September 30, 2022, future principal maturities are as follows (in thousands):

Schedule of Future Debt Principal Maturities 

Note 11 – Leases

The Company has operating leases for corporate offices, an automobile and office equipment. The leases have remaining lease terms of 1 year to 3 years.

Lease cost, as presented below, includes costs associated with leases for which right-of-use (“ROU”) assets have been recognized as well as short-term leases.

The components of total lease costs were as follows:

Schedule of Components of Lease Cost

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases was as follows:

Schedule of Supplemental Cash Flow Information Related to Leases

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases was as follows:

Schedule of Supplemental Balance Sheet Information Related to Leases

As of September 30, 2022, maturities of lease liabilities were as follows:

Schedule of Maturities of Lease Liabilities

Note 12 – Stock Plans and Share-Based Payments

The fair value of stock options and restricted stock is recognized as stock-based compensation expense in the Company’s condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. The Company calculates stock-based compensation expense in accordance with ASC 718. The fair value of stock-based awards is amortized over the vesting period of the award.

Stock Options

The Company granted stock options to purchase 19,615 and 274,115 shares of common stock, respectively, to employees during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022. These stock options are being expensed over the respective vesting periods of each option, which are conditioned upon the continued services of the option recipient. The fair value of the stock options granted during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, respectively, was $18,000 and $0.3 million.

The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The below assumptions for the risk-free interest rates, expected dividend yield, expected lives and expected stock price volatility were utilized for the stock options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

 Schedule of Fair Value Assumptions

Stock-based compensation expense related to stock options was $251,000 and $212,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For the three months ended September 30, 2022, approximately $227,000 and $24,000 are included in selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development expenses, respectively, on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. For the three months ended September 30, 2021, approximately $200,000 and $12,000 are included in selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development expenses, respectively, on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

Stock-based compensation expense related to stock options was $724,000 and $661,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, approximately $669,000 and $55,000 are included in selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development expenses, respectively, on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, approximately $626,000 and $35,000 are included in selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development expenses, respectively, on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

There was no tax benefit related to expense recognized in the three or nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, as the Company is in a net operating loss position. As of September 30, 2022, there was $1.3 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested stock-based awards granted under the equity compensation plans, which will be amortized over the weighted average remaining requisite service period of 2.06 years.

Restricted Stock

Total stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock on the Company’s condensed consolidated statement of operations was a credit to expense of ($16,000), due to the forfeiture of 15,000 unvested restricted shares, and $55,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For the three months ended September 30, 2022, approximately ($16,000) is included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. For the three months ended September 30, 2021, approximately $55,000 is included in selling, general and administrative expenses, on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

Total stock-based compensation expense for restricted stock was approximately $42,000 and $161,000 for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, approximately $42,000 is included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, approximately $161,000 is included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed consolidation statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

Approximately $168,000 of restricted stock was granted to employees during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 for services rendered during the year ended December 31, 2020.

As of September 30, 2022, there was no unrecognized compensation expense related to restricted stock-based awards granted under the equity compensation plans, and during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, 15,000 shares of restricted stock were forfeited as the conditions on the vesting of the restricted stock could not be met.

SRP Equity Incentive Plan

SRP’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “SRP Plan”) was approved on May 7, 2019 under which 150,000 shares of SRP’s common stock are reserved for the issuance of options, restricted stock and other stock awards.

There were no SRP stock options granted during the three months ended September 30, 2022. SRP issued 29,880 shares of restricted stock pursuant to the SRP Plan during the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Stock-based compensation expense related to the SRP stock grants was approximately $19,000 and $37,000 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and was included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

There was no stock-based compensation expense related to the SRP stock options for the three months ended September 30, 2021. There was approximately $3,000 recognized for stock-based compensation expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 which was included in selling, general and administrative expenses on the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

SRP stock grants are expensed over the respective vesting period, which was based on a service condition. Stock-based compensation expense related to the SRP stock grants is presented by the Company as noncontrolling interest on the consolidated balance sheets as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021.

Note 13 – Stockholders’ Equity

July 2021 Common Stock Issuance

On July 9, 2021, the Company issued 123,981 shares of common stock to acquire 100% of GenArraytion. The purchase price was $1.2 million, including transaction costs of approximately $49,000, and was allocated among the acquired assets based upon their relative fair values at the date of acquisition. Fifty percent of the 123,981 common shares issued were subject to a risk of forfeiture which lapsed during the three months ended September 30, 2021.

Noncontrolling Interest

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of a Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement, dated September 9, 2018, among SRP and the purchasers identified therein (the “SRP Purchase Agreement”), SRP sold to such purchasers an aggregate of 600,000 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock (the “Series A Preferred”) at a price of $5.00 per share resulting in total gross proceeds of $3.0 million. On February 1, 2022, SRP entered into a First Amendment to the SRP Purchase Agreement (the “SRP Amendment”) with the holders of its outstanding shares of Series A Preferred. The purpose of the SRP Amendment was to permit SRP to sell up to an additional 100,003 shares of Series A Preferred at one or more closings to occur by February 28, 2022, and on the same terms and conditions as otherwise set forth in the SRP Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to the SRP Amendment, on February 4, 2022, SRP conducted a closing in which it sold 100,003 shares of Series A Preferred, resulting in gross proceeds of $500,015. Approximately $188,000 of the proceeds were recorded as an increase to the equity of the non-controlling interests. The Company purchased 62,500 shares of SRP’s Series A Preferred at such closing and, as a result, maintained its 62.5% stock ownership position in SRP. The other purchasers at the February 4, 2022 closing included the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, who purchased 313 shares, and Lambda Investors LLC (“Lambda”), an affiliate of Wexford Capital, which beneficially owns approximately 36% of the Company’s common stock, which purchased 25,938 shares of SRP’s Series A Preferred. Such purchases were made on the same terms as all other purchasers. In addition to the funds provided by the SRP Purchase Agreement, Nephros and SRP continue to maintain a loan agreement under which Nephros agreed to lend up to $1.3 million to SRP, including the $1.0 million borrowed during the year ended December 31, 2020. These loaned funds were used to fund SRP’s operating activities through the recent FDA 510(k) clearance process of SRP’s second-generation hemodiafiltration system, which was initially submitted to the FDA on February 24, 2021 and which received 510(k) clearance on May 13, 2022. As of September 30, 2022, the outstanding balance of this loan, including accrued interest, was $1.4 million.

Each share of SRP Series A Preferred is initially convertible into one share of SRP common stock, subject to adjustment for stock splits and recapitalization events. Subject to customary exempt issuances, in the event SRP issues additional shares of its common stock or securities convertible into common stock at a per share price that is less than the original purchase price of the Series A Preferred , the conversion price of the Series A Preferred will automatically be reduced to such lower price.

In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of SRP, the holders of the Series A Preferred are entitled to be paid out of the assets of SRP available for distribution to its stockholders or, in the case of a deemed liquidation event, out of the consideration payable to stockholders in such deemed liquidation event or the available proceeds, before any payment shall be made to the holders of SRP common stock by reason of their ownership thereof, an amount per share equal to one times (1x) the Series A Preferred original issue price, plus any accruing dividends accrued but unpaid thereon, whether or not declared, together with any other dividends declared but unpaid thereon (the “Series A Liquidation Preference”). If upon any such liquidation, dissolution or winding up of SRP or deemed liquidation event, the assets of SRP available for distribution to its stockholders shall be insufficient to pay the Series A Liquidation Preference in full, the holders of Series A Preferred shall share ratably in any distribution of the assets available for distribution in proportion to the respective amounts which would otherwise be payable in respect of the shares held by them upon such distribution if all amounts payable on or with respect to such shares were paid in full. After the full payment of the Series A Liquidation Preference, the holders of the Series A Preferred and the holders of common stock will share ratably in any remaining proceeds available for distribution on an as-converted to common stock basis

Each share of Series A Preferred accrues dividends at the rate per annum of $0.40 per share. The accruing dividends shall accrue from day to day, whether or not declared, and shall be cumulative and shall be payable only when, as, and if declared by the Board.

Holders of Series A Preferred shall be entitled to cast the number of votes equal to the number of whole shares of common stock into which the shares of Series A Preferred held by such holder are convertible as of the record date for determining stockholders entitled to vote. Except as provided by law or by the other provisions, the holders of Series A Preferred vote together with the holders of common stock as a single class. Notwithstanding the foregoing, for as long as at least 150,000 shares of Series A Preferred are outstanding, SRP is required to obtain the affirmative vote or written consent of a majority of the Series A Preferred in order to effect certain corporate transactions, including without limitation, the issuance of any securities senior to or on parity with the Series A Preferred, a liquidation or deemed liquidation of SRP, amendments to SRP’s charter documents, the issuance of indebtedness in excess of $250,000, any annual budget for the Company’s operations, and the hiring or firing of any executive officers of SRP. In addition, the holders of the Series A Preferred are entitled to elect two members of SRP’s board of directors.

The noncontrolling interest in SRP held by holders of the Series A Preferred has been classified as equity on the accompanying consolidated interim balance sheet, as the noncontrolling interest is redeemable only upon the occurrence of events that are within the control of the Company.

Warrants

During the nine months ended September 30, 2022, warrants to purchase 60,374 shares of the Company’s common stock were exercised, resulting in proceeds of $0.2 million and the issuance of 60,374 shares of the Company’s common stock. Of the warrants exercised during the nine months ended September 30, 2022, warrants to purchase 14,815 shares of the Company’s common stock were exercised by members of management, resulting in proceeds of approximately $40,000. Warrants to purchase 63,102 shares of the Company’s common stock expired unexercised, during the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Note 14 – Net Loss per Common Share

Basic loss per common share is calculated by dividing net loss available to common shareholders by the number of weighted average common shares issued and outstanding. Diluted loss per common share is calculated by dividing net loss available to common shareholders by the weighted average number of common shares issued and outstanding for the period, plus amounts representing the dilutive effect from the exercise of stock options and warrants and unvested restricted stock, as applicable. The Company calculates dilutive potential common shares using the treasury stock method, which assumes the Company will use the proceeds from the exercise of stock options and warrants to repurchase shares of common stock to hold in its treasury stock reserves.

The following potentially dilutive securities have been excluded from the computations of diluted weighted average shares outstanding as they would be antidilutive:

 Schedule of Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share

Note 15 – Commitments and Contingencies

Purchase Commitments

In exchange for the rights granted under the License and Supply Agreement with Medica (see Note 9 – License and Supply Agreement, net), the Company agreed to make certain minimum annual aggregate purchases from Medica over the term of the License and Supply Agreement. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company has agreed to make minimum annual aggregate purchases from Medica of €3.5 million (approximately $3.7 million). As of September 30, 2022, the Company’s aggregate purchase commitments totaled €2.8 million (approximately $3 million).

Contractual Obligations

See Note 11 – Leases for a discussion of the Company’s contractual obligations.

Note 16 – Segment Reporting

The Company has defined three reportable segments : Water Filtration, Pathogen Detection and Renal Products. During the period ended September 30, 2022, it was determined the Pathogen Detection segment was to be treated as a discontinued operation (See Note 4 – Assets Held-for-Sale and Discontinued Operations). For purposes of this segment reporting, the Company is reporting only on the remaining two segments that are considered part of continuing operations.

The Water Filtration segment primarily develops and sells high performance water purification filters. The Renal Products segment is focused on the development of medical device products for patients with renal disease, including a second generation hemodiafiltration system for the treatment of patients with ESRD.

The Company’s chief operating decision maker evaluates the financial performance of the Company’s segments based upon segment revenues, gross margin and operating expenses which include research and development and selling, general and administrative expenses. Items below loss from operations are not reported by segment, since they are excluded from the measure of segment profitability reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker. The Company does not report balance sheet information by segment since such information is not reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker.

The accounting policies for the Company’s segments are the same as those described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

The tables below present segment information reconciled to total Company loss from operations, with segment operating loss including gross profit less direct research and development expenses and direct selling, general and administrative expenses to the extent specifically identified by segment:

 Schedule of Segment Information

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Item 1 of Part I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. This discussion includes forward-looking statements about our business, financial condition and results of operations including discussions about management’s expectations for our business. These statements represent projections, beliefs and expectations based on current circumstances and conditions and in light of recent events and trends, and these statements should not be construed either as assurances of performances or as promises of a given course of action. Instead, various known and unknown factors are likely to cause our actual performance and management’s actions to vary, and the results of these variances may be both material and adverse.

Business Overview

We are a commercial-stage company that develops and sells high performance water solutions to the medical and commercial markets.

In medical markets, we sell water filtration products and waterborne pathogen detection products. Our medical water filters, mostly classified as ultrafilters, are used primarily by hospitals for the prevention of infection from waterborne pathogens, such as legionella and pseudomonas, and in dialysis centers for the removal of biological contaminants from water and bicarbonate concentrate. Because our ultrafilters capture contaminants as small as 0.005 microns in size, they minimize exposure to a wide variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and endotoxins.

In commercial markets, we manufacture and sell water filters that improve the taste and odor of water and reduce biofilm, bacteria, and scale build-up in downstream equipment. Marketed under both the Nephros and AETHER brands, our products are marketed primarily to the food service, hospitality, convenience store, and health care markets.

We also have a subsidiary, Specialty Renal Products, Inc. (“SRP”), a development-stage medical device company that is focused primarily on developing hemodiafiltration (“HDF”) technology. On May 13, 2022, the FDA gave 510(k) clearance to SRP’s second-generation model of the OLpūr H2H Hemodiafiltration System, which enables nephrologists to provide HDF treatment to patients with end stage renal disease (“ESRD”).

We were founded in 1997 by healthcare professionals affiliated with Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital to develop and commercialize an alternative method to hemodialysis. We have extended our filtration technologies to meet the demand for liquid purification in other areas, in particular, water purification.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Most customers and prospects – including healthcare, hospitality, and food and beverage – have re-opened to our sales activity as the country has progressed through the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, our filter emergency response business has normalized. We expect the pandemic to continue its overall trend toward abatement in the coming months, but recent infection increases from new viral variants may interrupt that abatement from time to time, as has occurred with the Delta and Omicron variants.

During the pandemic, we maintained full operations, supporting our customers and strategic partners, with no significant interruptions in supply chain or service capabilities.

We believe that, as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, we may experience a net positive impact on demand for our products, due especially to increased global awareness of infectious pathogens and the serious problems they cause. Specifically, we expect that:

Our Products

Water Filtration Products

We develop and sell water filtration products used in both medical and commercial applications. Our water filtration products employ multiple filtration technologies, as described below.

In medical markets, our primary filtration mechanism is to pass liquids through the pores of polysulfone hollow fiber. Our filters’ pores are significantly smaller than those of competing products, resulting in highly effective elimination of waterborne pathogens, including legionella bacteria (the cause of Legionnaires disease) and viruses, which are not eliminated by most other microbiological filters on the market. Additionally, the fiber structure and pore density in our hollow fiber enables significantly higher flow rates than in other polysulfone hollow fiber.

Our primary sales strategy in medical markets is to sell through value-added resellers (“VARs”). Leveraging VARs has enabled us to expand rapidly our access to target customers without significant sales staff expansion. In addition, while we are currently focused on medical markets, the VARs that support these customers also support a wide variety of commercial and industrial customers. We believe that our VAR relationships will facilitate growth in filter sales outside of the medical industry.

In commercial markets, we develop and sell our Nephros- and AETHER-branded filters, for which carbon-based absorption is the primary filtration mechanism. Aether products allow us to improve water’s odor and taste, to reduce scale and heavy metals, and to reduce other water contaminants for customers who are primarily in the food service, convenience store, and hospitality industries.

Our Aether filter offerings have the potential to generate accretive revenue growth in at least three ways. First, we expect the business to continue its organic growth. Second, cross-selling opportunities are generated by offering taste/odor-focused products to the medical markets, as well as pathogen-focused filtration to the commercial markets. Finally, as part of the more substantial Nephros organization, Aether may be able to compete for larger filtration contracts than may have been available to it as a smaller, independent firm.

In commercial markets, our model combines both direct and indirect sales. Our sales staff have sold products directly to a number of convenience stores, hotels, casinos, and restaurants. We are also pursuing large corporate contracts through partnerships.

Target Markets

Our ultrafiltration products currently target the following markets:

Hospitals and Other Healthcare Facilities. Nephros filters are a leading tool used to provide proactive protection to patients in high-risk areas (e.g., ice machines, surgical rooms, NICUs) and reactive protection to patients in broader areas during periods of water pathogen outbreaks. Our products are used in hundreds of medical facilities to aid in infection control, both proactively and reactively.

As of 2019, according to the American Hospital Association, there are approximately 6,100 hospitals in the U.S., with approximately 921,000 beds. In 2019, over 36 million patients were admitted to these hospitals. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) estimates that healthcare associated infections (“HAI”) occur in approximately 1 out of every 31 hospital patients, which calculates to over 1 million patients in 2019. HAIs affect patients in hospitals or other healthcare facilities and are not present or incubating at the time of admission. They also include infections acquired by patients in the hospital or facility, but appearing after discharge, and occupational infections among staff. Many HAIs are caused by waterborne bacteria and viruses that can thrive in aging or complex plumbing systems often found in healthcare facilities.

In January 2022, the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) expanded its requirements – originally implemented in 2017 – for facilities to develop policies and procedures that inhibit the growth and spread of legionella and other opportunistic pathogens in building water systems. In this 2022 update, CMS requires teams to be assigned to the development of formal water management plans (“WMPs”), as well as detailed documentation regarding the development of the WMPs and their execution. CMS surveyors regularly review policies, procedures, and reports documenting water management implementation results to verify that facilities are compliant with these requirements. We believe that these CMS regulations may have a positive impact on the sale of our HAI-inhibiting ultrafilters.

We currently have FDA 510(k) clearance on the following portfolio of medical device products for use in the hospital setting to aid in infection control:

Our complete hospital infection control product line, including in-line, point-of-use, and cartridge filters, can be viewed on our website at http://www.nephros.com/infection-control/. We are not including the information on our website as a part of, nor incorporating it by reference into, this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

Dialysis Centers - Water/Bicarbonate. In the dialysis water market, Nephros ultrafiltration products are among the highest performing products on the market. The DSU-D, SSU-D and the SSUmini have become the standard endotoxin filter in many portable reverse osmosis systems. The EndoPur^®, our large-format ultrafilter targeted at dialysis clinic water systems, provides the smallest pore size available. Following a long pilot project at a major dialysis provider, we are now seeing growth in the use of this product. In addition, we aim to expand EndoPur’s usage into heat-disinfected water systems, which we anticipate will further open the market for this product.

To perform hemodialysis, all dialysis clinics have dedicated water purification systems to produce water and bicarbonate concentrate, two essential ingredients for making dialysate, the liquid that removes waste material from the blood. According to the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, there are approximately 6,500 dialysis clinics in the United States servicing approximately 468,000 patients annually. We estimate that there are over 100,000 hemodialysis machines in operation in the United States.

Medicare is the main payer for dialysis treatment in the United States. To be eligible for Medicare reimbursement, dialysis centers must meet the minimum standards for water and bicarbonate concentrate quality set by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (“AAMI”), the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) and the International Standards Organization (“ISO”). We anticipate that the stricter standards approved by these organizations in 2009 will be adopted by Medicare in the future.

We currently have FDA 510(k) clearance on the following portfolio of medical device products for use in the dialysis setting to aid in bacteria, virus, and endotoxin retention:

Commercial and Industrial Facilities. Our commercial NanoGuard^® product line accomplishes ultrafiltration via small pore size (0.005 micron) technology, filtering bacteria and viruses from water. In addition, the AETHER brand expanded our product line to include water filtration and purification technologies that are primarily focused on improving odor and taste and on reducing scale and heavy metals from filtered water.

We purchased the AETHER brand to expedite our access to commercial markets and to expand our filtration expertise and capabilities. Our commercial market focus is on the hotel, restaurant, and convenience store markets. In the first-year post-acquisition, we upgraded Aether facilities to increase production and logistics capacity, integrated Aether products into the Nephros infection control product portfolio, and initiated sales efforts with several large commercial customers. In March 2022, we closed a contract to provide water filtration systems to an organization of approximately 3,000 Quick Service Restaurants (“QSR”). We continue to pursue other national accounts, which may result in step-change increases in commercial market revenue.

Over time, we believe that the same water safety management programs currently underway at medical facilities may migrate to commercial markets. As the epidemiology of waterborne pathogens expands, links to contamination sources will become more efficient and the data more readily available. In cases where those sources are linked to restaurants, hotels, office buildings and residential complexes, the corporate owners of those facilities will likely face increasing liability exposure. We expect that building owners will come to understand ASHRAE-188, which outlines risk factors for buildings and their occupants, and provides water safety management guidelines. We believe, in time, most commercial buildings will need to follow the basic requirements of ASHRAE-188: create a water management plan, perform routine testing, and establish a plan to treat the building in the event of a positive test.

As demand for water testing and microbiological filtration grows, we will be ready to deploy our expertise and solutions based on years of experience servicing the medical market. We believe that we have an opportunity to offer unique expertise and products to the commercial market, and that our future revenue from the commercial market could even surpass our infection control revenue.

We currently market the following portfolio of proprietary products for use in the commercial, industrial, and food service settings:

AETHER products combine effectively with NanoGuard ultrafiltration technologies to offer full-featured solutions to the commercial water market, including to existing users of Everpure filter manifolds.

Military and Outdoor Recreation. We developed our individual water treatment device (“IWTD”) in both in-line and point-of-use configurations. Our IWTD allows a soldier in the field to derive drinking water from any freshwater source. This enables the soldier to remain hydrated, to help maintain mission effectiveness and unit readiness, and to extend mission reach. Our IWTD has been validated by the military to meet the NSF Protocol P248 standard. It has also been approved by the U.S. Army Public Health Command and the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command for deployment.

In May 2015, we entered into a Sublicense Agreement (the “Sublicense Agreement”) with CamelBak Products, LLC (“CamelBak”). Under this Sublicense Agreement, we granted CamelBak an exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide (with the exception of Italy) sublicense and license, in each case solely to market, sell, distribute, import and export the IWTD. In exchange for the rights granted to CamelBak, CamelBak agreed, through December 31, 2022, to pay us a percentage of the gross profit on any sales made to a branch of the U.S. military, subject to certain exceptions, and to pay us a fixed per-unit fee for any other sales made. CamelBak was also required to meet or exceed certain minimum annual fees payable to us, and, if such fees are not met or exceeded, we were able to convert the exclusive sublicense to a non-exclusive sublicense with respect to non-U.S. military sales. In the first quarter of 2019, the Sublicense Agreement was amended to eliminate the minimum fee obligations starting May 6, 2018, and, as such, CamelBak has no further minimum fee obligations. Related to this Sublicense Agreement, there was no royalty revenue recognized during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, and approximately $20,000 of revenue was recognized in the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

Hemodiafiltration (HDF) Systems and Specialty Renal Products, Inc.

Introduction to HDF

The current standard of care in the United States for patients with chronic renal failure is hemodialysis (“HD”), a process in which toxins are cleared via diffusion. Patients typically receive HD treatments at least 3 times weekly for 3-4 hours per treatment. HD is most effective in removing smaller, easily diffusible toxins. For patients with acute renal failure, the current standard of care in the United States is hemofiltration (“HF”), a process where toxins are cleared via convection. HF offers a much better removal of larger sized toxins when compared to HD; however, HF treatment is more challenging for patients, as it is performed daily, and typically takes 12-24 hours per treatment.

Hemodiafiltration (“HDF”) is an alternative dialysis modality that combines the benefits of HD and HF into a single therapy by clearing toxins using both diffusion and convection. Though not widely used in the United States, HDF is prevalent in Europe and is performed for a growing number of patients. Clinical experience and literature show the following clinical and patient benefits of HDF:

However, like HD, HDF can be resource-intensive and can require a significant amount of time to deliver one course of treatment.

Nephros and First-Generation HDF

In the early 2000’s, Nephros developed a medical device that enabled a standard HD machine to perform HDF. This first-generation device (“HDF1”) was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for the treatment of patients with chronic renal failure in 2012.

We refer to our approach as an on-line mid-dilution hemodiafiltration (“mid-dilution HDF”) system. Our HDF1 solution included an OLpūr H2H Hemodiafiltration Module (“H2H Module”), an OLpūr MD 220 Hemodiafilter (“HDF Filter”) and an H2H Substitution Filter (“Dialysate Filter”).

Our H2H Module attaches to a standard HD machine to perform on-line HDF therapy. The HD machine controls and monitors the basic treatment functions, as it would normally when providing HD therapy. The H2H Module is a free-standing, movable device that is placed next to either side of an HD machine. The H2H Module connects to the clinic’s water supply, drain, and electricity.

The H2H Module utilizes the HDF Filter, which is similar to a typical hollow fiber dialyzer assembled with a single hollow fiber bundle made with a high-flux (or high-permeability) membrane. With the HDF Filter, however, the fiber bundle is separated into two discrete, but serially connected, blood paths. Dialysate flows in one direction that is counter-current to blood flow in Stage 1 and co-current to blood flow in Stage 2.

In addition to the HDF Filter, the H2H Module also utilizes a Dialysate Filter during patient treatment. The Dialysate Filter is a hollow fiber, ultrafilter device that consists of two sequential (redundant) ultrafiltration stages in a single housing. During on-line HDF with the H2H Module, fresh dialysate is redirected by the H2H Module’s hydraulic (substitution) pump and passed through this dual-stage ultrafilter before being infused as substitution fluid into the extracorporeal circuit. Providing ultrapure dialysate is crucial for the success of on-line HDF treatment.

In the years following the HDF1 product’s FDA clearance, DaVita Healthcare Partners, the Renal Research Institute (a research division of Fresenius Medical Care), and Vanderbilt University conducted post-market evaluations of HDF1 in their clinics. We gathered feedback from these evaluations to develop a better understanding of how our system best fits into the clinical ESRD treatment paradigm. The purpose of this feedback was to better understand the potential for HDF in U.S. clinical settings, to (a) improve the quality of life for the patient, (b) reduce overall expenditure compared to other dialysis modalities, (c) minimize the impact on nurse workflow at the clinic, and (d) demonstrate the pharmacoeconomic benefit of the HDF technology to the U.S. healthcare system, as has been done in Europe with other HDF systems. The last evaluation was concluded at Vanderbilt in the first quarter of 2018.

Specialty Renal Products and Second-Generation HDF

In 2017 and 2018, we dramatically simplified and redesigned our HDF1 device into a second-generation device (HDF2). Our updates made the system significantly easier to use. By shifting from a reusable substitution ultrafilter to a disposable substitution ultrafilter, we simplified the set-up process and substantially reduced the time required between patient treatments – two of the key complaints from users of our first-generation system. We used real-time user feedback to aid in the fine-tuning of our changes to the system that impacted usability. We believe our second-generation HDF system will meet the needs of both clinicians and patients.

In July 2018, we spun-off the HDF device into a new private entity, Specialty Renal Products, Inc. (“SRP.”) We raised $3 million of new capital directly into SRP to fund the second-generation development described above. Nephros maintains a 62.5% ownership stake in SRP.

On May 13, 2022, the FDA cleared HDF2 for patient use, which enables nephrologists to provide HDF treatment to patients with end stage renal disease (“ESRD”). To date, Nephros’s HDF1 and HDF2 systems are the only HDF systems cleared by the FDA.

In late 2022, we plan to launch the HDF2 system at 1-3 clinics to establish clinical experience. SRP is currently manufacturing devices and supplies for its commercial launch. We have also hired a Director of Operations to lead the commercial launch and select initial clinics.

In 2023, we plan to expand our efforts on a measured basis, to clinics that wish to provide HDF therapy to their patients. We believe this measured launch approach is more likely to be successful than a broader push into the market. Nephrologists in the United States are not trained on HDF therapy; however, we believe many nephrologists are interested in exploring the option. We also believe that early adopters will want to perform studies to better understand the technology. We intend to support these investigator-initiated studies.

While several studies have been performed in Europe, the body of evidence for optimal use of HDF needs to be built in the U.S. treatment setting. According to European data from Fresenius, over 15% of dialysis treatments are HDF. That could translate to over 10 million individual treatments if HDF achieved that level of penetration in the United States. We do not believe that the United States will instantaneously mirror Europe. However, we do believe that HDF therapy has a place in the treatment landscape for patients with ESRD in the United States, and we look forward to enabling this pathway.

Critical Accounting Policies

For the three and nine month period ended September 30, 2022, there were no significant changes to our critical accounting policies as identified in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

We are subject to recently issued accounting standards, accounting guidance and disclosure requirements. For a description of these new accounting standards, see Note 2, “Basis of Presentation and Liquidity,” of the Notes to our Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements contained in Item 1 of Part I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Results of Operations

Fluctuations in Operating Results

Our results of operations have fluctuated significantly from period to period in the past, including recently, and are likely to continue to do so in the future. We anticipate that our annual results of operations will be impacted for the foreseeable future by several factors, including market acceptance of our products, expense management, and progress in achieving positive operating cash flow. Due to these fluctuations, we believe that the period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not a good indication of our future performance.

Three Months Ended September 30, 2022 Compared to the Three Months Ended September 30, 2021