Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Subsequent Events

v3.8.0.1
Subsequent Events
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017
Subsequent Events [Abstract]  
Subsequent Events

15. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

 

Evergreen Provision

 

Pursuant to the terms of an annual evergreen provision in the 2014 Plan, the number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the 2014 Plan shall automatically increase on January 1 of each year by at least seven percent (7%) of the total number of shares of common stock outstanding on December 31st of the preceding calendar year, or, pursuant to the terms of the 2014 Plan, in any year, the Board of Directors may determine that such increase will provide for a lesser number of shares. In accordance with the terms of the 2014 Plan, effective as of January 1, 2018, the number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the 2014 Plan increased by 2,500,000 shares, such amount being less than seven percent (7%) of the outstanding shares of common stock on December 31, 2017. As of January 1, 2018, the 2014 Plan had a total reserve of 15,543,739 shares and there were 6,960,334 shares available for future grants.

 

At the Market Offering

 

On January 5, 2018, the Company entered into a sales agreement with Cantor Fitzgerald under which the Company may direct Cantor Fitzgerald as its sales agent to sell common stock up to an aggregate offering of up to $50 million under an “At the Market Offering” (“January 2018 Sales Agreement”). Sales of common stock under the January 2018 Sales Agreement were made pursuant to an effective registration statement for an aggregate offering of up to $50 million. In February 2018, the Company sold 1,500,000 shares of its common stock to an institutional investor under the January 2018 Sales Agreement for which it received net proceeds of $11,349,000.

 

Cystic Fibrosis Program Related Investment Agreement

 

On January 26, 2018, the Company entered into the Cystic Fibrosis Program Related Investment Agreement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (“CFF”) (“Investment Agreement”), a non-profit drug discovery and development corporation, pursuant to which the Company received an award for up to $25 million in funding (the “2018 CFF Award”) to support a Phase 2b Clinical Trial (the “Phase 2b Clinical Trial”) of lenabasum in patients with cystic fibrosis, of which the Company has received $6.25 million to date. The Company expects that the remainder of the 2018 CFF Award will be paid incrementally upon the Company’s achievement of the remaining milestones related to the progress of the Phase 2b Clinical Trial, as set forth in the Investment Agreement.

 

Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Agreement, the Company is obligated to make certain royalty payments to CFF, including a royalty payment of one and one-half times the amount of the 2018 CFF Award, payable in cash within sixty days upon the first receipt of approval of lenabasum in the United States and a second royalty payment of one and one-half times the amount of the 2018 CFF Award upon approval in another major market, as set forth in the Investment Agreement (the “Approval Royalty”). At the Company’s election, the Company may satisfy the first of the two Approval Royalties in registered shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

Additionally, the Company is obligated to make (i) royalty payments to CFF of two and one-half percent of net sales from lenabasum due within sixty days after any quarter in which such net sales occur in the Field, as defined in the Investment Agreement, (ii) royalty payments to CFF of one percent of net sales of Non-Field Products, as defined in the Investment Agreement due within sixty days after any quarter in which such net sales occur, and (iii) royalty payments to CFF of ten percent of any amount the Company and its stockholders receive in connection with the license, sale, or other transfer to a third party of lenabasum, if indicated for the treatment or prevention of CF, or a change of control transaction, except that such payment shall not exceed five times the amount of the 2018 CFF Award, with such payments to be credited against any other net sales royalty payments due. Either CFF or the Company may terminate the Investment Agreement for cause, which includes the Company’s material failure to achieve certain commercialization and development milestones. The Company’s payment obligations survive the termination of the Investment Agreement.

 

Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Agreement, the Company issued a warrant to CFF to purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (the “CFF Warrant”). The CFF Warrant is exercisable at a price equal to $13.20 per share and is immediately exercisable for 500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Upon completion of the final milestone set forth in the Investment Agreement and receipt of the final payment from CFF to the Company pursuant to the Investment Agreement, the CFF Warrant will be exercisable for the remaining 500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The CFF Warrant expires on January 26, 2025. Any shares of the Company’s common stock issued upon exercise of the CFF Warrant will be unregistered and subject to a one-year lock-up.