21.   Contingencies

COVID-19

As a result of the pandemic, the Company has at times experienced reduced capacity to provide CDMO services as a result of instituting social distancing at work requirements in our Texas facility, restricting access to essential workers, as well as taking other precautions. The Company also experienced a full three-day operational shutdown in April 2020 for extensive facility cleaning following the discovery that an employee had contracted COVID-19, and successfully resumed operations on a reduced capacity basis.

The Company has ascertained that certain risks associated with further COVID-19 developments may adversely impact its operations and liquidity, and its business and share price may also be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Company does not anticipate any significant threat to its operations at this point in time. Due to the general unknown nature surrounding the crisis, the Company cannot reasonably estimate the potential for any future impacts on its operations or liquidity.

The outbreak and spread of COVID-19 and continued progress in various countries around the world, including the United States, has led authorities around the globe to take various extraordinary measures to stem the spread of the disease, such as emergency travel and transportation restrictions, school closures, quarantines and social distancing measures. The outbreak of COVID-19 has had an adverse effect on global markets and may continue to affect the economy in the United States and globally, especially if new strains of SARS-CoV-2 emerge.