CVRx, Inc. (CVRX) FY 2021 MD&A

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview

We are a commercial-stage medical device company focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing innovative and minimally invasive neuromodulation solutions for patients with cardiovascular disease. Our proprietary platform technology, Barostim, is designed to leverage the power of the brain and nervous system to address the imbalance of the Autonomic Nervous System, which causes HFrEF and other cardiovascular diseases. Our second-generation product, Barostim, is the first and only commercially available neuromodulation device indicated to improve symptoms for patients with HFrEF. Barostim provides Baroreflex Activation Therapy by sending imperceptible and persistent electrical pulses to baroreceptors located in the wall of the carotid artery to signal the brain to modulate cardiovascular function. Barostim is currently approved by the FDA to improve the symptoms of patients with HFrEF and is CE Marked for HFrEF and resistant hypertension.

81

Table of Contents

Since our inception we have generated minimal revenue, as our activities have consisted primarily of developing Barostim Therapy, conducting our BeAT-HF pre-market and post-market pivotal studies in the U.S. and filing for regulatory approvals. Our ability to generate revenue from product sales and become profitable will depend on our ability to successfully commercialize Barostim and any product enhancements we may advance in the future. We expect to derive future revenue by expanding our own dedicated salesforce and increasing awareness of Barostim among payors, physicians and patients.

Our sales and marketing efforts are directed at electrophysiologists, HF specialists, general cardiologists and vascular surgeons because they are the primary users of our technology. However, we consider hospitals, where the procedures are performed primarily in an outpatient setting, to be our customers, as they are the purchasing entities of Barostim in the U.S. We intend to continue making significant investments building our U.S. commercial infrastructure by expanding and training our U.S. sales force. We have dedicated significant resources to educate physicians who treat HFrEF about the advantages of Barostim and train them on the implant procedure.

The costs for the device and implantation procedure are reimbursed through various third-party payors, such as government agencies and commercial payors. In the U.S., we estimate that 67% of our target patient population is Medicare-eligible based on the age demographic of the HFrEF patient population indicated for Barostim. As a result, we have prioritized coverage by the CMS while simultaneously developing processes to engage commercial payors. As of July 2020, all Medicare Administrative Contractors have retired automatic coverage denial policies for our Current Procedural Terminology codes, thereby allowing hospitals to be paid for the Barostim procedure. Our reimbursement strategy involves continuing to broaden our current coverage and build our in-house market access team to assist patients and physicians in obtaining appropriate prior authorization approvals in advance of treatment on a case-by-case basis where positive coverage policies currently do not exist. Outside the U.S., reimbursement levels vary by country and within some countries by region. Barostim is eligible for reimbursement in certain countries in the European Union, such as Germany, where annual healthcare budgets for the hospital generally determine the number of patients to be treated and the prices to be paid for the related devices that may be purchased.

We manage all aspects of manufacturing operations and product supply of Barostim, which include final assembly, testing and packaging of our implantable pulse generator and stimulation lead, at our headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We utilize components or various subassemblies manufactured by third-party suppliers, some of which have significant lead times. Many of these components are from a limited number of suppliers. We believe that our component manufacturers are recognized in their field for their competency to manufacture the respective portions of Barostim and have quality systems established that meet FDA requirements. We seek to maintain higher levels of inventory to protect ourselves from supply interruptions and continue to seek to broaden and strengthen our supply chain through additional sourcing channels.

From our inception until the IPO, we financed our operations primarily through preferred stock financings, and additionally, from sales of our Barostim products and amounts borrowed under our current and past credit facilities. We have devoted substantially all of our resources to research and development activities related to Barostim Therapy, including clinical and regulatory initiatives to obtain marketing approval and sales and marketing activities.

We intend to use a portion of the IPO proceeds to continue funding the expansion of our direct sales force and commercial organization related to Barostim in the U.S. We also intend to continue investing in research and development in the near term to improve clinical outcomes, optimize patient adoption and comfort, increase patient access and enhance the physician and patient experience. Longer term, we plan to explore Barostim’s potential to expand its indications for use to other cardiovascular diseases. As a result of these investments and our commercialization efforts, we expect to continue to incur net losses for the next several years, which may require additional funding and could include future equity and debt financings.

82

Table of Contents

Recent developments

Since it was reported to have surfaced in December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) has spread across the world and has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have been significant and governments around the world, including in the U.S., have implemented severe travel restrictions, social distancing requirements, quarantines, stay-at-home orders and other significant restrictions. As a result, the current COVID-19 pandemic has presented a substantial public health and economic challenge and is affecting hospitals, physicians, patients, communities and business operations, as well as contributing to significant volatility and negative pressure on the U.S. and world economy and in financial markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted our business, financial condition and results of operations by decreasing and delaying procedures performed to implant Barostim and we expect the pandemic will continue to negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Beginning in March 2020, our revenue was negatively impacted by COVID-19 as healthcare facilities and clinics began restricting in-person access to their clinicians, reducing patient consultations and treatments or temporarily closing their facilities. As a result, substantially all of our then-scheduled procedures were postponed, and numerous other cases could not be scheduled. During May 2020, the widespread shutdown resulted in key physician-society conferences being moved to a virtual setting, which directly impacted our planned commercial launch in the U.S.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have implemented a variety of measures intended to help us manage its impact while maintaining business continuity to support our customers and patients. These measures include:

Our hospital customers in the U.S. and Europe began to gradually perform elective procedures again during the fourth quarter of 2020. We believe the recovery of our business in the fourth quarter of 2020 and through most of fiscal year 2021 is an encouraging sign for when remaining shelter-in-place and hospital limitations are lifted. As the pandemic eased throughout 2021, we experienced the following positive trends:

However, procedure volumes were again negatively impacted by the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 in the third and fourth quarters of 2021. We believe the challenges resulting from COVID-19 will likely continue for the duration of the pandemic. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new

83

Table of Contents

information that may emerge concerning the severity and spread of COVID-19 and its variants and the actions to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its variants or treat its impact.

Factors affecting our performance

We believe there are several important factors that have impacted and that we expect will continue to impact our business and results of operations. These factors include:

Components of results of operations

Revenue

Our U.S. sales have increased since the pre-market approval of Barostim by the FDA in August 2019, and the subsequent reimbursement changes in 2020. We expect to continue to drive increases in revenue through our efforts to increase awareness of Barostim among physicians, patients and payors and by the expansion of our U.S. sales force. As a result, we expect that U.S. sales will continue to account for the majority of our revenue going forward.

We derive a portion of our revenue from the sale of Barostim to hospitals in Germany and other select countries in Europe. Revenue from sales of Barostim in Europe fluctuates based on the average selling price of Barostim as determined by location of sale and channel mix, each of which may vary significantly from country to country. Our revenue from international sales can also be significantly impacted by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

Cost of goods sold and gross margin

Cost of goods sold consists primarily of acquisition costs of the components and subassemblies of Barostim, allocated manufacturing overhead and scrap and inventory obsolescence, as well as distribution-related expenses such as logistics and shipping costs. We expect cost of goods sold to increase in absolute dollars primarily as, and to the extent, our revenue grows. Gross margin may also vary based on regional differences in rebates and incentives negotiated with certain customers.

We calculate gross margin as revenue less cost of goods sold divided by revenue. Our gross margin has been and will continue to be affected by a variety of factors, but is primarily driven by the average sale price of our product, the percentage of products sold that include a full system (i.e., an IPG and a stimulation lead), as compared to individual IPG sales, and the allocated manufacturing overhead. Although we sell the majority of our devices directly to hospitals, the impact of the average selling price on gross margin is driven by the percentage of products we sold to distributors as compared to those sold directly to hospitals as our average selling price is typically higher on products we sell directly. The full system sales typically have a lower gross margin as they include the cost of an IPG and a stimulation lead whereas individual IPG sales only include the cost of an IPG. The manufacturing overhead costs of Barostim are directly aligned to our production volume and therefore the cost per product is reduced if production levels increase. While we expect our gross margin to be positively affected over time to the extent we are successful in selling more product through our direct sales force and by increasing our production volumes, it will likely fluctuate from

84

Table of Contents

period to period as we continue to introduce new products and adopt new manufacturing processes and technologies.

Research and development expenses

Research and development (“R&D”) expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, including salaries, bonuses, employee benefits and stock-based compensation expenses for our R&D employees. R&D expenses also include costs associated with product design efforts, development prototypes, testing, clinical trial programs and regulatory activities, contractors and consultants, equipment and software to support our development, facilities and information technology. We expense research and development costs as they are incurred. We expect R&D expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to develop enhancements to Barostim. Our R&D expenses may fluctuate from period to period due to the timing and extent of our product development and clinical trial expenses related to Barostim in HFrEF.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, including base salaries, bonuses, employee benefits and stock-based compensation expense for our sales and marketing personnel, including sales commissions, and for administrative personnel that support our general operations such as executive management, financial accounting, information technology and human resources personnel. SG&A expenses also include costs attributable to marketing, as well as travel, legal fees, financial audit fees, insurance, fees for other consulting services, depreciation and facilities. We expense commissions at the time of the sale.

We expect SG&A expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to expand our direct sales force and commercial organization in the U.S. In addition, we will continue to increase our international presence and to develop and assist our channel partners. We also expect our administrative expenses will increase as we increase our headcount and information technology to support our operations as a public company. Additionally, we anticipate increased expenses related to audit, legal, regulatory and tax-related services associated with maintaining compliance with exchange listing and SEC requirements, director and officer insurance premiums and investor relations costs associated with being a public company. However, we expect our SG&A expenses to decrease as a percentage of revenue as our revenue grows.

Interest expense

Interest expense consists of interest on our debt and amortization of associated debt discount.

Other expense, net

Other expense, net consists primarily of the fair value adjustments related to our formerly outstanding convertible preferred stock warrants, which were accounted for as a liability and marked-to-market at each reporting period. The final fair value adjustment of the warrant liability was recorded upon the closing of the IPO in connection with the conversion of the warrants to common stock warrants. Other items include losses on the extinguishment of debt, interest income earned on our cash and cash equivalents and the effect of exchange rates on our foreign currency-denominated asset and liability balances. Translation adjustments are recorded as foreign currency gains (losses) in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

Provision for income taxes

Provision for income taxes consists primarily of income taxes in foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. We maintain a full valuation allowance for deferred tax assets including NOL carryforwards, R&D credits and other tax credits.

85

Table of Contents

Results of operations

Consolidated results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020

NM – Not meaningful

Revenue

​

Revenue was $13.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $7.0 million, or 115%, over the year ended December 31, 2020.

Revenue generated in the U.S. was $9.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $7.4 million, or 428%, over the year ended December 31, 2020. Total HF revenue units in the U.S. totaled 290 and 32 for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

HF revenue in the U.S. totaled $8.4 million and $1.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The increase was primarily driven by the continued growth following the commercial launch in 2020, which resulted in the expansion into new sales territories and increased physician and patient awareness of Barostim.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company had a total of 46 active implanting centers, as compared to 11 as of December 31, 2020. Active implanting centers are customers that have completed at least one commercial HF implant in the last 12 months. The number of sales territories in the U.S. increased by eight to a total of 14 during the year ended December 31, 2021. A sales territory is an established regional area held by an account manager, typically after six months of employment.

Legacy hypertension revenue in the U.S. totaled $0.7 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

86

Table of Contents

Revenue generated in Europe was $3.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, a decrease of $0.4 million, or 10%, over the year ended December 31, 2020. Total revenue units in Europe decreased to 176 for the year ended December 31, 2021, from 193 for the prior year period. The decrease is due to reduced procedure volumes resulting from the Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19 in 2021. The number of sales territories in Europe remained consistent at six during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Cost of goods sold and gross margin

Cost of goods sold increased $2.2 million, or 153%, to $3.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. This increase was primarily due to higher sales of Barostim.

Gross profit was $9.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $4.8 million, or 104%, over the year ended December 31, 2020. Gross margin decreased to 72% for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to 76% for the year ended December 31, 2020. Gross margin for the year ended December 31, 2021 was lower due to a larger percentage of our revenue units coming from full systems versus battery replacements for existing patients. This was partially offset by an increase in the average selling price.

Research and development expenses

R&D expenses increased $1.1 million, or 17%, to $7.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. This change was primarily driven by a $0.4 million increase in clinical study expenses, a $0.4 million increase in compensation expenses as a result of increased headcount, and a $0.4 million increase in non-cash stock-based compensation expense.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

SG&A expenses increased $18.1 million, or 187%, to $27.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. This change was driven by an increase of $9.0 million in compensation expenses, including salaries and commissions, and other employee-related expenses, mainly as a result of increased headcount, a $3.1 million increase in marketing and advertising expenses, primarily related to the commercialization of Barostim in the U.S., a $1.4 million increase in non-cash stock-based compensation expense, a $1.3 million increase related to D&O insurance costs incurred as a result of becoming a public company, a $1.2 million increase in travel expenses and a $1.0 million increase in consulting expenses.

Interest expense

Interest expense decreased $0.3 million, or 10%, to $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. This was driven by the repayment of the outstanding debt in November 2021 under the Horizon loan agreement.

Other expense, net

Other expense, net was $14.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to other expense, net of $40,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020. The expense in 2021 was primarily driven by a $13.7 million increase in expense related to the increase in fair value of our convertible preferred stock warrants due to the change in the value of our common stock from December 31, 2020 to July 2, 2021, which is the date the warrants converted to common stock warrants. The expense in 2021 was also due to a $1.3 million loss on debt extinguishment in connection with the November 2021, repayment of the outstanding debt under the Horizon loan agreement.

Provision for income taxes

Provision for income taxes was nominal for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

87

Table of Contents

Liquidity, capital resources and plan of operations

We have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations since our inception, and we anticipate that we will incur significant losses for at least the next several years. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had cash and cash equivalents of $142.1 million and $59.1 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, our net losses were $43.1 million and $14.1 million, respectively. Our net cash used in operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, was $27.7 million and $16.1 million, respectively.

Prior to the IPO, our operations were financed primarily by aggregate net proceeds from the sale of our convertible preferred stock of $383.1 million, as well as debt financings. In September 2019, we entered into the Horizon loan agreement to borrow $20.0 million, which was fully repaid on November 3, 2021. In July 2020, we completed an equity financing pursuant to which we issued 62,500,000 shares of Series G Preferred Shares at a price of $0.80 per share, for net proceeds of $49.8 million after deducting offering expenses. On July 2, 2021, we closed our IPO for net proceeds from the offering, after deducting the underwriting discount and other offering expenses payable by us, of $133.2 million.

Our future liquidity and capital funding requirements will depend on numerous factors, including:

We believe that our existing cash resources together with revenue will be sufficient to meet our forecasted requirements for operating liquidity, capital expenditures and debt services for at least the next three years. If these sources are insufficient to satisfy our liquidity requirements, however, we may seek to sell additional equity or enter into a loan agreement. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders would experience dilution. Debt financing, if available, may involve covenants further restricting our operations or our ability to incur additional debt. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders.

Additional financing may not be available at all, or may only be available in amounts or on terms that we do not deem to be favorable. If we are unable to obtain additional financing when needed to satisfy our liquidity requirements, we may be required to delay the commercialization and marketing of Barostim.

88

Table of Contents

Cash flows

The following table sets forth the primary sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented below:

​

Cash used in operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $27.7 million and consisted primarily of a net loss of $43.1 million and a decrease in net operating assets of $1.6 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $13.3 million related to the fair value adjustment to our convertible preferred stock warrants, $1.9 million from non-cash stock-based compensation expense and $1.3 million from the loss on debt extinguishment. Net operating assets consisted primarily of inventory, accounts receivable and accrued expenses to support the growth of our operations.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $16.1 million and consisted primarily of a net loss of $14.1 million and a decrease in net operating assets of $2.9 million. Net operating assets consisted primarily of inventory, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses to support the growth of our operations.

Cash used in investing activities:

Cash used in investing activities was $1.2 million and $0.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and consisted of purchases of property and equipment.

Cash provided by financing activities:

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $111.9 million and consisted primarily of proceeds from the issuance of common stock of $133.2 million, partially offset by the repayment of the outstanding debt balance and related fees of $21.3 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $49.8 million and consisted entirely of proceeds from the issuance of Series G convertible preferred stock.

Indebtedness

In September 2019, we entered into the Horizon loan agreement under which we borrowed $20.0 million, which is the maximum borrowing under the Horizon loan agreement. Amounts outstanding under the Horizon loan agreement bore interest at a floating per annum rate equal to 10% plus the amount by which the 30-day U.S. dollar LIBOR rate on the first business day of the month exceeded 2.2%. The Horizon loan agreement initially required interest only payments through October 2021 and then 36 monthly principal and interest payments beginning in November 2021. In August 2020, we entered into an amended agreement with Horizon to extend the interest only period through April 2022, followed by 30 monthly principal and interest payments beginning May 2022. A final payment of $0.7 million, equal to 3.5% of the original principal, was due to be paid in October 2024. On November 3, 2021, we fully repaid our outstanding principal balance of $20.0 million and incurred an additional $1.3 million related to a loss on debt extinguishment in connection

89

Table of Contents

with the Horizon loan agreement. We were in compliance with all covenants at the time the principal balance was fully repaid.

Critical accounting policies and estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires our management to make estimates and judgments that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable and supportable under the circumstances. The results of this evaluation then form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions, and such differences may be material to our consolidated financial statements.

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe the following discussion addresses our most critical accounting policies, which are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require our most difficult, subjective and complex judgments.

Stock-based compensation

We maintain an equity incentive plan that was adopted in 2001 to provide long-term incentives for employees, consultants and members of the Board of Directors. The plan allows for the issuance of non-statutory and incentive stock options to employees and non-statutory stock options to consultants and non-employee directors. In connection with the IPO, we adopted the 2021 Plan under which we may grant equity incentive awards to eligible employees (including our named executive officers), non-employee directors and consultants in order to enable us to obtain and retain services of these individuals, which we deem as essential to our long-term success.

We recognize equity-based compensation expense for awards of equity instruments to employees and non- employees based on the grant date fair value of those awards in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation—Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”). ASC 718 requires all equity-based compensation awards to employees and nonemployee directors, including grants of restricted shares and stock options, to be recognized as expense in the statements of operations and comprehensive loss based on their grant date fair values. We estimate the grant date fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. We use an estimate of the value of our common stock, with the assistance of an independent appraiser, to determine the fair value of options.

The Black-Scholes option pricing model requires the input of certain subjective assumptions, including (i) the fair value of common stock (ii) the expected share price volatility, (iii) the expected term of the award, (iv) the risk-free interest rate and (v) the expected dividend yield.

90

Table of Contents

We account for forfeitures as they occur. We expense the fair value of our equity-based compensation awards granted to employees on a straight-line basis over the associated service period, which is generally the period in which the related services are received.

JOBS Act accounting election

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”) permits an “emerging growth company” such as us to take advantage of an extended transition period to comply with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period under the JOBS Act until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of issuers who are required to comply with the effective dates for new or revised accounting standards that are applicable to public companies, which may make comparison of our financials to those of other public companies more difficult.

Recent accounting pronouncements

A discussion of recent accounting pronouncements is included in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.