Commitments and contingencies
From time to time, the Company may become involved in routine litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. At each reporting date, the Company evaluates whether or not a potential loss amount or a potential range of loss is probable and reasonably estimable under the provisions of the authoritative guidance that addresses accounting for contingencies. The Company does not have contingency reserves established for any litigation liabilities and any of the costs related to such legal proceedings are expensed as incurred. Note 3 discloses the settlement of the patent infringement litigation with Bruker Corporation in December 2025.
The Company may enter into certain agreements with partners in the ordinary course of operations that may include contractual milestone payments related to the achievement of pre-specified research, development, regulatory and commercialization events and indemnification provisions, which are common in such agreements. Pursuant to such agreements, the Company may be obligated to make research and development and regulatory milestone payments upon the occurrence of certain events and upon receipt of royalty payments in the low single-digits to mid-twenties percent based on certain net sales targets. The Company expensed nil for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Excluding the lease arrangements as accounted for in Note 14 – Leases, the Company has $12.2 million of commitments related ongoing clinical trials with third-party organizations, contract research organizations, and internal manufacturing capabilities all of which the Company expects to incur within one year.
About Commitments Disclosures
Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.
Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.