Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We
maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our periodic and
current reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s
rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and
Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure
controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide
only reasonable and not absolute assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In reaching a reasonable level of assurance, management
necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. In addition,
the design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can
be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, controls
may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because
of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
As of April 30, 2022, we carried
out an evaluation, under the supervision of, and with the participation of, our management, including our principal executive officer
and principal financial officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to
Rule 13a-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We have established disclosure
controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange
Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated
to management, including the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, to allow timely decisions regarding required
disclosure.
Based upon that evaluation,
our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, with the assistance of other members of the Company's management, have
evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e)
and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this annual report and has determined that our disclosure
controls and procedures were not effective due to the material weaknesses as described herein.
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Management’s Annual Report on Internal
Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible
for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act).
Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records
that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide
reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations
of management and directors of the company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations,
internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness
to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Our management assessed the
effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of April 30, 2022. In making this assessment, our management used the
criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control-Integrated 2013 Framework.
Our management has concluded that, as of April 30, 2022, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective.
A material weakness is a control
deficiency (within the meaning of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) Auditing Standard No. 2) or combination
of control deficiencies that result in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements
will not be prevented or detected. Management has identified the following material weaknesses:
1. We do not have sufficient resources in our accounting function, which restricts our ability to
perform sufficient reviews and approval of manual journal entries posted to the general ledger and to consistently execute review
procedures over general ledger account reconciliations, financial statement preparation and accounting for non-routine transactions; and
2. Our primary user access controls (i.e., provisioning, de-provisioning, privileged access and user access
reviews) to ensure appropriate authorization and segregation of duties that would adequately restrict user and privileged access to the
financially relevant systems and data to appropriate personnel were not designed and/or implemented effectively. We did not design and/or
implement sufficient controls for program change management to certain financially relevant systems affecting our processes.
Planned Remediation
We are implementing measures
designed to improve our internal control over financial reporting to remediate material weaknesses, including the following:
· Formalizing our internal control documentation
and strengthening supervisory reviews by our management; and
· Adding additional accounting
personnel and segregating duties amongst accounting personnel.
Management continues to work
to improve its controls related to our material weaknesses, specifically relating to user access and change management surrounding our
information technology systems and applications. Management will continue to implement measures to remediate material weaknesses, such
that these controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively. The remediation actions include: (i) enhancing design and documentation
related to both user access and change management processes and control activities; and (ii) developing and communicating additional policies
and procedures to govern the area of information technology change management. In order to achieve the timely implementation of the above,
management has commenced the following actions and will continue to assess additional opportunities for remediation on an ongoing basis:
· Engaging a third-party specialist to assist management
with improving the Company’s overall control environment, focusing on change management and access controls; and
· Implementing new applications and systems that
are aligned with management’s focus on creating strong internal controls.
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We are currently working to
improve and simplify our internal processes and implement enhanced controls, as discussed above, to address the material weaknesses in
our internal control over financial reporting and to remedy the ineffectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. These material
weaknesses will not be considered to be remediated until the applicable remediated controls are operating for a sufficient period of time
and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively.
Despite the existence of these
material weaknesses, we believe that the consolidated financial statements included in the period covered by this Annual Report on Form
10-K fairly present, in all material respects, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented
in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During the fourth fiscal quarter
of 2022, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting which were identified in connection with management’s
evaluation required by paragraph (d) of Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act, that have materially affected, or are reasonably
likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not
applicable.
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PART III
ITEM 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
The following table sets forth
the names and ages of our executive officers, directors and director nominees, and their positions with us, as of the date of this Annual
Report:
Name
Age
Position
Stephan Jackman
46
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Henry C.W. Nisser
53
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Director
Kenneth S. Cragun
61
Senior Vice President of Finance
David J. Katzoff
60
Chief Operating Officer
Lien T. Escalona
53
Chief Financial Officer
William B. Horne
54
Chairman of the Board
Mark Gustafson
62
Director
Lynne Fahey McGrath, M.P.H., Ph.D.
67
Director
Jeffrey Oram
55
Director
Andrew H. Woo, M.D., Ph.D.
59
Director
The following information
provides a brief description of the business experience of each executive officer and director.
Stephan Jackman joined
our company as Chief Executive Officer in November 2018. Mr. Jackman was elected as a director in September 2020. He has
played an intricate role in the development of therapeutic treatments, products and programs from the research stage to market and commercialization.
Mr. Jackman has demonstrated a dedicated dual focus of creating value for internal and external stakeholders while developing strategic
alliances and cross-function teams to meet and exceed goals. Prior to joining our company, from October 2017 to November 2018,
Mr. Jackman was the Chief Operating Officer of Ennaid Therapeutics, an emerging biopharmaceutical company focusing on cures for mosquito
borne infectious diseases such as Zika and Dengue viruses. From October 2015 to October 2017, Mr. Jackman was Chief Operating
Officer of Exit 9 Technologies, a technology startup with a digital platform that connects retailers, publishers and customers. Additionally,
from August 2014 to October 2015, he was an independent project and management consultant assisting startups, Fortune 500 companies
and non-profits with major strategic initiatives. He has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Corporation, L’Oréal USA, SBM Management Services and Family Intervention Services. Mr. Jackman holds a Master of Science
in Management and a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Mr. Jackman’s 15 years
of experience in life sciences and growth companies, day-to-day operational leadership of our company and in-depth knowledge of our drug
candidates make him well qualified as a member of the Board.
Henry C.W. Nisser has
served as our Executive Vice President and General Counsel on a part-time basis since May 2019. Mr. Nisser was appointed as
a director in September 2020. Since May 2019, Mr. Nisser has served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel
of BitNile and as one of its directors since September 2020; he became BitNile’s President on January 12, 2021. Since
February 2021, Mr. Nisser has served as the President, General Counsel and a director of Ault Disruptive Technologies Corporation, a publicly
traded special purpose acquisition company (“Ault Disruptive”). Mr. Nisser is the Executive Vice President and General
Counsel of Avalanche. From October 2011 through April 2019, Mr. Nisser was an associate and subsequently a partner with
Sichenzia Ross Ference LLP, a law firm in New York. While with this law firm, his practice was concentrated on national and international
corporate law, with a particular focus on U.S. securities compliance, public as well as private M&A, equity and debt financings and
corporate governance. Mr. Nisser drafted and negotiated a variety of agreements related to reorganizations, share and asset purchases,
indentures, public and private offerings, tender offers and going private transactions. Mr. Nisser is fluent in French and Swedish,
as well as conversant in Italian. Mr. Nisser received his B.A. degree from Connecticut College, where he majored in International
Relations and Economics. He received his LL.B. from University of Buckingham School of Law in the United Kingdom. We believe that Mr. Nisser’s
extensive legal experience involving complex transactions and comprehensive knowledge of securities laws and corporate governance requirements
applicable to listed companies give him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors.
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Kenneth S. Cragun joined
our company on a part-time basis in December 2018. Since February 2021, Mr. Cragun has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Ault
Disruptive. Since August 2020, Mr. Cragun has served as the Chief Financial Officer of BitNile and between October 2018 and August 2020,
served as its Chief Accounting Officer. Since September 2018, Mr. Cragun has served on the board of directors and Chairman of the Audit
Committee of Verb Technology Company, Inc. He served as a CFO Partner at Hardesty, LLC, a national executive services firm between October 2016
and October 2018. His assignments at Hardesty included serving as Chief Financial Officer of CorVel Corporation, a publicly traded company
and a nationwide leader in technology driven, healthcare-related, risk management programs, and of RISA Tech, Inc., a private structural
design and optimization software company. Mr. Cragun was also Chief Financial Officer of two Nasdaq-traded companies, Local Corporation,
from April 2009 to September 2016, which operated Local.com, a U.S. top 100 website, and Modtech Holdings, Inc., from June 2006
to March 2009, a supplier of modular buildings. Prior thereto, he had financial leadership roles with increasing responsibilities
at MIVA, Inc., ImproveNet, Inc., NetCharge Inc., C-Cube Microsystems, Inc, and 3-Com Corporation. Mr. Cragun began his professional
career at Deloitte. Mr. Cragun holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Colorado State University-Pueblo.
David J. Katzoff joined
our company on a part-time basis in November 2019, serving as our Senior Vice President of Operations from November 2019 to
December 2020, and currently serves as our Chief Operating Officer since December 2020. Mr. Katzoff has served as Senior
Vice President of Finance of BitNile since January 2019. Since December 2021, Mr. Katzoff has served as the Chief Financial Officer
of Imperalis Holding Corp., a publicly listed company. Since February 2021, Mr. Katzoff has served as the Vice President of Finance of
Ault Disruptive. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Katzoff served as Chief Financial Officer of Lumina Media, LLC, a privately-held media company
and publisher of life-style publications. From 2003 to 2017, Mr. Katzoff served a Vice President of Finance of Local Corporation,
a publicly-held local search company. Mr. Katzoff received a B.S. degree in Business Management from the University of California
at Davis.
Lien T. Escalona joined
our company as our full-time Chief Financial Officer in June 2021. She had served as the Director of Reporting on a part-time basis
at BitNile from January to May 2021. Previously, Ms. Escalona was the Director of Financial Reporting for Confie Seguros Holding
Co. from June to December 2020 and Landsea Homes Corporation from January 2019 to June 2020, where she was involved in the companies’
special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, transactions. From February to December 2018, Ms. Escalona served as the acting Director
of Business Acquisitions for Smilebrands, Inc., a healthcare company, working on acquisitions and purchase price accounting matters. From
March 2015 to January 2018, Ms. Escalona served as an independent contractor to Western Digital Corporation in several capacities,
ranging from financial reporting, SEC reporting, systems implementation, purchase price accounting, to training and cross-training. Ms. Escalona
has served as an independent accounting contractor to various public companies in the Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County areas
for more than 25 years in multiple industries, with an emphasis on accounting and finance, system implementation and SEC reporting.
Ms. Escalona received a B.A. degree in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine.
William B. Horne has served
as a director of our company since June 2016 and upon the effectiveness of our initial public offering in June 2021, Mr. Horne become
our Chairman of the Board. Mr. Horne served as our Chief Financial Officer from June 2016 through December 2018. Mr. Horne has been a
member of the board of directors of BitNile since October 2016. In January 2018, Mr. Horne was appointed as BitNile’s Chief Financial
Officer until August 2020, when he resigned as its Chief Financial Officer and was appointed as its President. On January 12, 2021, Mr.
Horne resigned as BitNile’s President and became its Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Horne has served as a director and Chief Executive
Officer of Ault Disruptive Technologies Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, since its inception in February 2021. Mr.
Horne has served as a director and Chief Financial Officer of Avalanche since June 2016. Mr. Horne has served as a director and Chief
Financial Officer of Ault & Co. since October 2017. Mr. Horne previously held the position of Chief Financial Officer in various public
and private companies in the healthcare and high-tech field. Mr. Horne has a Bachelor of Arts Magna Cum Laude in Accounting from Seattle
University. We believe that Mr. Horne's extensive financial and accounting experience in diversified industries and with companies involving
complex transactions give him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors.
Mark Gustafson joined
our Board of Directors and became the Chairman of the Audit Committee in June 2021. Mr. Gustafson is a Chartered Professional Accountant
with over 35 years of corporate, private and public company experience. Since April 2021, Mr. Gustafson has been the Chief Financial Officer,
and since January 2022, a director, for PharmaKure Limited, a private London-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the treatment
of neurodegenerative diseases. Since December 2021, Mr. Gustafson has served as an independent director and Chairman of the Audit Committee
of Ault Disruptive. Since June 2020, Mr. Gustafson has served as the founder and director of Alpha Helium Inc., a private Canadian-based
company helium exploration company. From 2014 to 2020, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Challenger Acquisitions Limited, a London
Stock Exchange listed entertainment company. From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Gustafson was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Euromax
Resources Limited, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed mineral exploration company. From 2005 to 2009, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Triangle Energy Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange listed oil and gas exploration company, from 2004 to 2006, he served
as President and Chief Executive Officer of Torrent Energy Corporation, a private oil and gas company, and from 2001 to 2002, he served
as a financial consultant for Samson Oil & Gas and Peavine Resources, two private oil and gas companies. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Gustafson
served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Total Energy Services Ltd., a Toronto Stock Exchange listed oilfield services company,
from 1993 to 1995, he served as the Chief Financial Officer of Q/media Software Corporation, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed software
company, and from 1987 to 1993, he served initially as the Chief Financial Officer and then as a Vice President in charge of two operating
divisions at EnServ Corporation, a Toronto Stock Exchange listed oilfield services company. From 1981 to 1987, he served as an audit manager
at Price Waterhouse in Calgary Alberta. Mr. Gustafson received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Mr. Gustafson has been a Chartered Accountant since 1983. We believe that Mr. Gustafson’s over 35 years of corporate, private and
public company operational and financial experience gives him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors and as Chairman
of the Audit Committee.
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Lynne Fahey McGrath, M.P.H., Ph.D.
joined our Board of Directors in June 2021. Dr. McGrath has served as a consultant to various companies in the biopharmaceutical
industry, including: to the executive team of Nobias Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology product development company, between May 2020
and December 2021; a regulatory consultant with FoxKiser, LLC, a biotechnology consulting firm, from August 2018 to March 2020;
and a regulatory consultant with Catalyst Healthcare Consulting, a biotechnology consulting firm, from 2020 to 2021. Dr. McGrath
was a senior lead and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Regenxbio, Inc., where she headed global strategy for its portfolio of gene
therapy products, from April 2015 to July 2018. Previously, she held senior positions at Novartis Corporation including Vice President,
Global Head of Regulatory Affairs at Novartis Consumer Health and U.S. Head of Regulatory Affairs at Novartis Oncology from 2003 to April 2015.
Dr. McGrath received a B.S. degree from the University of Connecticut, M.S. in Environmental Science from Rutgers University and
M.P.H. and Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. We believe
that Dr. McGrath’s expertise in regulatory affairs and pharmaceutical product development across a range of therapeutic categories
and her more than 30 years of experience directing worldwide approvals of more than 50 new drugs and indications makes her well qualified
to serve as one of our directors.
Jeffrey Oram joined
our Board of Directors in June 2021. Mr. Oram is a business professional with more than 25 years of corporate, private and institutional
investment experience. Mr. Oram has spent the last 13 years in the institutional real estate capital markets. Since 2016, he
has been a Principal at Godby Realtors, a private real estate investment and brokerage firm. From 2010 to 2018, Mr. Oram served as
an Executive Member of the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the investment of the State of New Jersey’s pension
fund. From 2011 to 2016, he served as Executive Managing Director at Colliers International, from 2009 to 2011 he served as Director at
Marcus and Millichap, and from 2003 to 2009, served as First Vice President at CB Richard Ellis. Mr. Oram received a Bachelor of
Science degree in Biology from Princeton University. We believe that Mr. Oram’s 25 years of corporate, private and institutional
investment experience gives him the qualifications and skills to serve as one of our directors.
Andrew H. Woo, M.D., Ph.D. joined
our Board of Directors in June 2021. Dr. Woo is in private practice at Santa Monica Neurological Consultants and serves as an Assistant
Clinical Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He also serves on the
board for the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America and its Navigating MS International Steering Committee. He has been presented
with UCLA clinical faculty teaching awards in 2006, 2012 and 2019 and is listed in America’s Top Physicians by the Consumer Research
Council of America and Castle Connolly America’s Top Doctors 2006, 2007, 2010-2021, Southern California Super Doctors since 2008,
and Los Angeles Magazine Top Doctors. He is an invited speaker at the Muntada International Symposium in Abu Dhabi. Dr. Woo received his
B.A. from Cornell University and completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neuroimmunology in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at Brown
University. He completed his medicine internship at Weil-Cornell Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell Medical Center in New York, his neurology
residency at UCLA, and his fellowship in neurophysiology at Harbor-UCLA. We believe that Dr. Woo’s extensive medical experience
gives him the qualifications and skills and relevant insight to serve as one of our directors.
Board Leadership Structure and Risk Oversight
Our Board is currently chaired by Mr. Horne.
Mr. Horne has been a director since June 2016 and served as our Chief Financial Officer from June 2016 until December 2018. Given Mr.
Horne’s extensive history with and knowledge of our company, we believe his role as our Chairman facilitates a regular flow of information
between the Board and management and ensures that they both act with a common purpose.
One of the key functions of
our Board is informed oversight of our risk management process. Our Board does not have a standing risk management committee, but rather
administers this oversight function directly through the Board as a whole, as well as through various standing committees of our Board
that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight. In particular, our Board is responsible for monitoring and assessing
strategic risk exposure, including a determination of the nature and level of risk appropriate for us. Our Audit Committee has the responsibility
to consider and discuss our major financial risk exposures and the steps our management has taken to monitor and control these exposures,
including guidelines and policies to govern the process by which risk assessment and management is undertaken. The Audit Committee also
monitors compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, in addition to oversight of the performance of our internal audit function.
Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee monitors the effectiveness of our corporate governance guidelines, including whether
they are successful in preventing illegal or improper liability-creating conduct. Our Compensation Committee assesses and monitors whether
any of our compensation policies and programs has the potential to encourage excessive risk-taking.
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Term of Office
Directors serve until the
next annual meeting of our stockholders and until their successors are elected and qualified. Officers are appointed to serve at the discretion
of our Board of Directors.
Family Relationships
There are no family relationships
among any of our executive officers and directors.
Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings
Except as set forth below,
to the best of our knowledge, during the past 10 years, none of the following occurred with respect to a present or former director,
executive officer or employee:
• been convicted in a criminal proceeding or been subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic
violations and other minor offenses);
• had any bankruptcy petition filed by or against the business or property of the person, or of any partnership,
corporation or business association of which he was a general partner or executive officer, either at the time of the bankruptcy filing
or within two years prior to that time;
• been subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any
court of competent jurisdiction or federal or state authority, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise
limiting, his involvement in any type of business, securities, futures, commodities, investment, banking, savings and loan, or insurance
activities, or to be associated with persons engaged in any such activity;
• been found by a court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action or by the SEC or the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, and the judgment has not been reversed, suspended,
or vacated;
• been the subject of, or a party to, any federal or state judicial or administrative order, judgment, decree,
or finding, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated (not including any settlement of a civil proceeding among private litigants),
relating to an alleged violation of any federal or state securities or commodities law or regulation, any law or regulation respecting
financial institutions or insurance companies including, but not limited to, a temporary or permanent injunction, order of disgorgement
or restitution, civil money penalty or temporary or permanent cease-and-desist order, or removal or prohibition order, or any law or regulation
prohibiting mail or wire fraud or fraud in connection with any business entity; and
• or been the subject of, or a party to, any sanction or order, not subsequently reversed, suspended or
vacated, of any self-regulatory organization (as defined in Section 3(a)(26) of the Exchange Act), any registered entity (as defined
in Section 1(a)(29) of the Commodity Exchange Act), or any equivalent exchange, association, entity or organization that has disciplinary
authority over its members or persons associated with a member.
Mr. Cragun served as Chief
Financial Officer of Local Corporation (April 2009 to September 2016), which, in June 2015, filed a voluntary petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the Central District of California seeking relief under the provisions of Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code.
Except as disclosed in “Certain
Relationships and Related Party Transactions,” none of our directors or executive officers has been involved in any transactions
with us or any of our directors, executive officers, affiliates or associates which are required to be disclosed pursuant to the rules
and regulations of the SEC.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
Our Board has adopted a written code of
business conduct and ethics, revised effective May 25, 2021, that applies to our directors, officers and employees, including our
principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar
functions (the “Code of Conduct and Ethics”). In addition, on May 25, 2021, we adopted Code of Ethics for our Chief Executive
Officer and our Senior Financial Officers (the “Code of Ethics”). We have posted on our website a current copy of both codes
and all disclosures that are required by law in regard to any amendments to, or waivers from, any provision of the Code of Conduct and
Ethics.
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Director Independence
We use the definition of “independence”
of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules to make this determination. Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules provides that an “independent
director” is a person other than an officer or employee of the company or any other individual having a relationship which, in the
opinion of our Board, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Rule 5605(a)(2)
generally provides that a director cannot be considered independent if:
• the director is, or at any time during the past three years was, an employee of
the company;
• the director or a family member of the director accepted any compensation from the
company in excess of $120,000 during any period of 12 consecutive months within the three years preceding the independence determination
(subject to certain exemptions, including, among other things, compensation for board or board committee service);
• the director is an immediate family member of an individual who is, or at any time
during the past three years was, employed by the company as an executive officer;
• the director or a family member of the director is a partner in, controlling stockholder
of, or an executive officer of an entity to which the company made, or from which the company received, payments in the current or any
of the past three fiscal years that exceed 5% of the recipient’s consolidated gross revenue for that year or $200,000, whichever
is greater (subject to certain exemptions);
• the director or a family member of the director is employed as an executive officer
of an entity where, at any time during the past three years, any of the executive officers of the company served on the compensation
committee of such other entity; or
• the director or a family member of the director is a current partner of the company’s
outside auditor, or at any time during the past three years was a partner or employee of the company’s outside auditor, and
who worked on the company’s audit.
Consistent with these considerations,
after review of all relevant identified transactions or relationships between each director, or any of his or her family members, and
us, our senior management and our independent auditors, the Board has affirmatively determined that the following four directors are independent
directors as defined by Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules: Mr. Gustafson, Ms. McGrath, Dr. Woo and Mr. Oram. In making this
determination, the Board found that none of these directors had a material or other disqualifying relationship with us. Messrs. Jackman,
Nisser and Horne are not considered independent because of either their current employment with us or their relationship with our significant
shareholders.
Board Committees
Our Board of Directors has an Audit Committee,
a Compensation Committee and a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The responsibilities of the Audit Committee (which consists
of Mr. Gustafson (Chair), Mr. Oram and Dr. Woo) include recommending to the Board of Directors the firm of independent
accountants to be retained by our company, reviewing with our independent accountants the scope and results of their audits, and reviewing
with the independent accountants and management our accounting and reporting principles, policies and practices, as well as our accounting,
financial and operating controls and staff. The Compensation Committee (which consist of Mr. Oram (Chair), Mr. Gustafson and
Dr. McGrath) has responsibility for establishing and reviewing employee compensation. The Compensation Committee also has responsibility
for administering and interpreting the Alzamend Neuro, Inc. 2021 Stock Incentive Plan, and determining the recipients, amounts and other
terms (subject to the requirements of the Plan) of stock options and other equity-based awards which may be granted under the 2021 Stock
Incentive Plan from time to time. The purpose of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee (which consist of Dr. McGrath
(Chair) and Dr. Woo) is to select, or recommend for our entire Board’s selection, the individuals to stand for election as
directors at the annual meeting of stockholders, as well as to consider the adequacy of our corporate governance and oversee and approve
management continuity planning processes.
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Certain Board Arrangements
In May 2021, the Board of Directors
of our company and Mr. Ault, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, agreed to certain arrangements with regard to our Board composition
and other matters. Contemporaneously with the effectiveness of the initial public offering, and in consideration for (i) the conversion
of 750 shares of our series A convertible preferred stock beneficially owned by Mr. Ault through ALSI into 15,000,000 shares of our
common stock, (ii) the extension of the maturity date of the note in the original principal amount of $15,000,000 issued to us by
ALSF to December 31, 2023, and (iii) the retirement by Mr. Ault as a director and executive officer of our company, the
Board agreed that William B. Horne will become our Chairman of the Board and remain in that position for so long as Mr. Ault beneficially
owns no less than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock (for which Mr. Horne will be paid $50,000 per year for his services),
and Mr. Nisser will remain a member of our Board of Directors for so long as Mr. Ault beneficially owns no less than 5% of the
outstanding shares of our common stock (for no additional remuneration). Additionally, Mr. Ault will hold the position of Founder
and Chairman Emeritus and, as such, have the right to nominate an observer to our Board of Directors for a period of five years after
the closing date of the initial public offering. Following the closing of the initial public offering, we entered into a five-year consulting
agreement with Mr. Ault under which he will provide strategic advisory and consulting services to us in consideration for annual
fees of $50,000.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Summary Compensation Table
The following table sets
forth summary compensation information for the following persons: (i) all persons serving as our principal executive officer during
the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, and (ii) our two other most highly compensated executive officers who received
compensation during the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, who were executive officers on the last day of our fiscal year.
We refer to these persons as our “named executive officers” in this Annual Report. The following table includes all compensation
earned by the named executive officers for the respective period, regardless of whether such amounts were actually paid during the period:
Name and principal position
Year
Salary ($)
Bonus
($)
Stock
award
($)
Option
Awards⁽¹⁾
($)
All Other
Compensation
($)
Total ($)
Stephan S. Jackman
2022
303,125
170,000
—
—
—
473,125
Chief Executive Officer
2021
225,000
—
—
—
—
225,000
Lien Escalona
2022
105,000
—
—
1,077,302
—
1,182,302
Chief Financial Officer
Kenneth S. Cragun
2021
100,000
—
—
—
—
100,000
Senior VP of Finance
(1) The values reported in the “Option Awards” column represents the aggregate
grant date fair value, computed in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 718 Share Based Payments, of
grants of stock options to each of our named executive officers and directors.
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Employment Agreements
Stephan Jackman. On
June 17, 2021, we entered into an employment agreement (the “Agreement”) with Stephan Jackman to continue to serve as our
Chief Executive Officer through July 1, 2024. Pursuant to the Agreement, Mr. Jackman will be paid a base salary of $300,000 per annum
(the “Base Salary”). In addition, Mr. Jackman shall be eligible to earn a cash and/or equity bonus as our Board of Directors
(the “Board”) may determine, from time to time, based on meeting performance objectives and bonus criteria to be identified
by the Board (the “Performance Bonus”), which Performance Bonus may consist of cash or, in the Board’s sole discretion,
our common stock. The determination of whether we have achieved a certain financial performance objective in any year for the purposes
of the Performance Bonus shall be made by our independent registered public accounting firm regularly retained or employed by us within
90 days after the end of each fiscal year.
Further, Mr. Jackman is entitled
to receive equity participation as follows: (A) options to purchase 5,000,000 shares of common stock, which options were previously granted
and are exercisable for a period of 10 years at an exercise price of $1.00 per share (the “$1.00 Options”), and (B) options
to purchase 2,000,000 shares of our common stock, which options shall be exercisable for a period of 10 years at an exercise price of
$1.50 per share (the “$1.50 Options”, and collectively with the $1.00 Options, the “Options”).
Subject to the terms and conditions
set forth in the Agreement, the Options shall vest pursuant to the following schedule: (1) 3,000,000 shares of common stock subject to
the $1.00 Options shall vest ratably over 48 months, commencing on November 16, 2018; (2) 1,000,000 shares of common stock subject to
the $1.00 Options shall vest upon approval of a NDA for AL001 by the FDA, provided that such approval occurs on or prior to November 1,
2022; (3) 1,000,000 shares of common stock subject to the $1.00 Options shall vest upon the approval of an NDA for AL002 by the FDA, provided
that such approval occurs on or prior to November 1, 2022; and (4) the $1.50 Options shall vest upon satisfaction of mutually agreed upon
performance criteria as set forth in Mr. Jackman’s Non-Qualified Stock Option Grant dated November 26, 2019.
Mr. Jackman’s bonuses,
if any, and all stock based compensation shall be subject to “Company Clawback Rights” if during the period that Mr. Jackman
is employed by us and upon the termination of Mr. Jackman’s employment and for a period of two years thereafter, if there is a restatement
of any of our financial results from which any bonuses and stock based compensation to Mr. Jackman shall have been determined.
Upon termination of Mr. Jackman’s
employment (other than upon the expiration of the employment), Mr. Jackman shall be entitled to receive: (A) any earned but unpaid Base
Salary through the termination date; (B) all reasonable expenses paid or incurred; and (C) any accrued but unused vacation time.
Further, unless Mr. Jackman’s
employment is terminated as a result of his death or disability or for cause or he terminates his employment without good reason, then
upon the termination of Mr. Jackman’s employment, the Company shall pay to Mr. Jackman a “Separation Payment” as follows:
(a) an amount equal to 12 months of the Base Salary (as in effect immediately prior to the termination date); and (b) a prorated Performance
Bonus amount calculated in accordance with the Performance Bonus criteria set forth in the Agreement and the actual number of days Mr.
Jackman worked in the calendar year prior to the termination date. In addition, all of Mr. Jackman’s Options shall immediately vest
and shall be exercisable for a period of 12 months after such termination.
Kenneth S. Cragun. In
November 2018, we entered into an offer letter with Kenneth S. Cragun to serve as our Chief Financial Officer for a period of four years.
For his services, Mr. Cragun is paid a base salary of $100,000 per year, which amount would be increased to $120,000 upon the approval
of a listing application submitted on behalf of our company to have our shares of common stock listed on a national securities exchange.
In addition, Mr. Cragun will be eligible to receive an annual cash bonus equal to a percentage of his annual base salary based
on achievement of applicable performance goals determined by the Board. The annual bonus, if any, will in part be determined based upon
the successful attainment of the same milestones as are applicable for Mr. Jackman. In June 2021, Mr. Cragun became our Senior
Vice President of Finance.
Mr. Cragun received a
stock option to purchase 1,500,000 shares of our common stock exercisable for a period of 10 years from December 15, 2018 at
a per share price of $1.00. The option will vest in equal increments over 48 months beginning on December 15, 2018; however,
500,000 shares of our common stock vested immediately upon the approval of a listing application submitted on behalf of our company to
have our shares of common stock listed on a national securities exchange.
In November 2019, the
Board of Directors granted 1,000,000 performance- and market-contingent awards to Mr. Cragun. These awards have an exercise price
of $1.50 per share. These awards have multiple separate market triggers for vesting based upon either (i) the successful achievement
of stepped target closing prices on a national securities exchange for 90 consecutive trading days later than 180 days after our
initial public offering of common stock, or (ii) stepped target prices for a change in control transaction. The target prices range
from $15 per share to $40 per share. In the event any the stock price milestones are not achieved within three years, the unvested
portion of the performance options will be reduced by 25%.
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Henry Nisser. In
May 2019, we entered into a four-year employment agreement with Henry C.W. Nisser to serve as our Executive Vice President and General
Counsel. For his services, Mr. Nisser is paid a base salary of $50,000 per year and is eligible to receive an annual cash bonus equal
to a percentage of his annual base salary based on achievement of applicable performance goals determined by our Board of Directors.
Mr. Nisser received a
stock option to purchase 1,250,000 shares of our common stock exercisable for a period of five years at an exercise price of $1.50
per share. The shares of our common stock underlying the option vest in equal monthly installments over the 48 months beginning on
June 1, 2019.
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year End
The following table provides
information on outstanding equity awards as of April 30, 2022 awarded to our named executive officers:
OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT APRIL 30, 2022
Option Awards
Name
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
Equity Incentive
Plan Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned
Options (#)
Option
Exercise
Price ($)
Option
Expiration Date
Stephan Jackman
-
1,000,000
1,000,000
1.00
11/01/2022
-
1,000,000
1,000,000
1.00
11/01/2022
2,562,500
437,500
-
1.00
11/15/2028
-
2,000,000
2,000,000
1.50
11/18/2029
Lien T. Escalona
83,330
216,670
-
5.00
8/13/2031
Kenneth S. Cragun
1,250,000
250,000
-
1.00
12/15/2028
-
1,000,000
1,000,000
1.50
11/18/2029
Incentive Compensation Plans
2016 Stock Incentive Plan
In April 2016, our stockholders
approved our company’s 2016 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”). The 2016 Plan provides for the issuance of a maximum
of 12,500,000 shares of our common stock to be offered to our directors, officers, employees and consultants. On March 1, 2019, our
stockholders approved an additional 7,500,000 shares to be available for issuance under the 2016 Plan. Options granted under the 2016
Plan have an exercise price equal to or greater than the fair value of the underlying common stock at the date of grant and become exercisable
based on a vesting schedule determined at the date of grant. The options expire between five and 10 years from the date of grant.
Restricted stock awards granted under the 2016 Plan are subject to a vesting period determined at the date of grant.
2021 Stock Incentive Plan
In February 2021, our
Board of Directors adopted, and our stockholders approved, the Alzamend Neuro, Inc. 2021 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”).
The 2021 Plan authorizes the grant to eligible individuals of (1) stock options (incentive and non-statutory), (2) restricted
stock, (3) stock appreciation rights, or SARs, (4) restricted stock units, and (5) other stock-based compensation.
Stock Subject to the 2021
Plan. The maximum number of shares of our common stock that may be issued under the 2021 Plan is 10,000,000 shares,
which number will be increased to the extent that compensation granted under the 2021 Plan is forfeited, expires or is settled for cash
(except as otherwise provided in the 2021 Plan). Substitute awards (awards made or shares issued by us in assumption of, or in substitution
or exchange for, awards previously granted, or the right or obligation to make future awards, in each case by a company that we acquire
or any subsidiary of ours or with which we or any subsidiary combines) will not reduce the shares authorized for grant under the 2021
Plan, nor will shares subject to a substitute award be added to the shares available for issuance or transfer under the 2021 Plan.
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No Liberal Share Recycling. Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary, any and all stock that is (i) withheld or tendered in payment of an option exercise price; (ii) withheld
by us or tendered by the grantee to satisfy any tax withholding obligation with respect to any award; (iii) covered by a SAR that
it is settled in stock, without regard to the number of shares of stock that are actually issued to the grantee upon exercise; or (iv) reacquired
by us on the open market or otherwise using cash proceeds from the exercise of options, will not be added to the maximum number of shares
of stock that may be issued under the 2021 Plan.
Eligibility. Employees
of, and consultants to, our company or our affiliates and members of our Board of Directors are eligible to receive equity awards under
the 2021 Plan. Only our employees, and employees of our parent and subsidiary corporations, if any, are eligible to receive incentive
stock options. Employees, directors (including non-employee directors) and consultants of or for our company and our affiliates are eligible
to receive non-statutory stock options, restricted stock, purchase rights and any other form of award the 2021 Plan authorizes.
Purpose. The
purpose of the 2021 Plan is to promote the interests of our company and our stockholders by providing executive officers, employees, non-employee
directors, and key advisors of our company and our subsidiaries with appropriate incentives and rewards to encourage them to enter into
and remain in their positions with us and to acquire a proprietary interest in our long-term success, as well as to reward the performance
of these individuals in fulfilling their personal responsibilities for long-range and annual achievements.
Administration. Unless
otherwise determined by the Board of Directors, the Compensation Committee administers the 2021 Plan. The Compensation Committee is composed
solely of “non-employee directors” within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 under the Exchange Act, “outside directors”
within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, and “independent directors” within the meaning of
the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules. The Compensation Committee has the power, in its discretion, to grant awards under the 2021 Plan, to select
the individuals to whom awards are granted, to determine the terms of the grants, to interpret the provisions of the 2021 Plan and to
otherwise administer the 2021 Plan. Except as prohibited by applicable law or any rule promulgated by a national securities exchange to
which our company may in the future be subject, the Compensation Committee may delegate all or any of its responsibilities and powers
under the 2021 Plan to one or more of its members, including, without limitation, the power to designate participants and determine the
amount, timing and term of awards under the 2021 Plan. In no event, however, will the Compensation Committee have the power to accelerate
the payment or vesting of any award, other than in the event of death, disability, retirement or a change of control of our company.
The 2021 Plan provides that
members of the Compensation Committee will be indemnified and held harmless by us from any loss or expense resulting from claims and litigation
arising from actions related to the 2021 Plan.
Term. The
2021 Plan was effective as of February 17, 2021, and awards may be granted through February 16, 2031. No awards may be granted
under the 2021 Plan subsequent to that date. The Board of Directors may suspend or terminate the 2021 Plan without stockholder approval
or ratification at any time or from time to time.
Amendments. Subject
to the terms of the 2021 Plan, the Compensation Committee, as administrator, has the sole discretion to interpret the provisions of the
2021 Plan and outstanding awards. Our Board of Directors generally may amend or terminate the 2021 Plan at any time and for any reason,
except that no amendment, suspension or termination may impair the rights of any participant without his or her consent, and except that
approval of our stockholders is required for any amendment which, among provisions, increases the number of shares of common stock subject
to the 2021 Plan, decreases the price at which grants may be granted and reprices existing options.
Repricing Prohibition. Other
than in connection with certain corporate events, the Compensation Committee will not, without the approval of our stockholders, (a) lower
the option price per share of an option or SAR after it is granted, (b) cancel an option or SAR when the exercise price per share
exceeds the fair market value of one share in exchange for cash or another award (other than in connection with a change of control),
or (c) take any other action with respect to an option or SAR that would be treated as a repricing under the rules and regulations
of the principal U.S. national securities exchange on which our shares are then listed.
Minimum Vesting Requirement. Grantees
of full-value awards (i.e., awards other than options and SARs), will be required to continue to provide services to us or an affiliated
company) for not less than one-year following the date of grant in order for any such full-value awards to fully or partially vest (other
than in case of death, disability or a Change of Control). Notwithstanding the foregoing, up to 5% of the available shares of stock authorized
for issuance under the 2021 Plan may provide for vesting of full-value awards, partially or in full, in less than one year.
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Adjustments upon Changes
in Capitalization. In the event of any merger, reorganization, consolidation, recapitalization, dividend or distribution
(whether in cash, shares or other property, other than a regular cash dividend), stock split, reverse stock split, spin-off or similar
transaction or other change in our corporate structure affecting our common stock or the value thereof, appropriate adjustments to the
2021 Plan and awards will be made as the Board of Directors determines to be equitable or appropriate, including adjustments in the number
and class of shares of stock available for issuance under the 2021 Plan, the number, class and exercise or grant price of shares subject
to awards outstanding under the 2021 Plan, and the limits on the number of awards that any person may receive.
Change of Control. Agreements
evidencing awards under the 2021 Plan may provide that upon a Change of Control (as defined in the 2021 Plan), unless otherwise provided
in the agreement evidencing an award), outstanding awards may be cancelled and terminated without payment if the consideration payable
with respect to one share of stock in connection with the Change of Control is less than the exercise price or grant price applicable
to such award, as applicable.
Notwithstanding any other
provisions of the 2021 Plan to the contrary, the vesting, payment, purchase or distribution of an award may not be accelerated by reason
of a Change of Control for any participant unless the Grantee’s employment is involuntarily terminated as a result of the Change
of Control as provided in the Award agreement or in any other written agreement, including an employment agreement, between us and the
participant. If the Change of Control results in the involuntary termination of participant’s employment, outstanding awards will
immediately vest, become fully exercisable and may thereafter be exercised.
Generally, under the 2021
Plan, a Change of Control occurs upon (i) the consummation of a reorganization, merger or consolidation of our company with or into
another entity, pursuant to which our stockholders immediately prior to the transaction do not own more than 50% of the total combined
voting power after the transaction, (ii) the consummation of the sale, transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all
of our assets, (iii) certain changes in the majority of our Board of Directors from those in office on the effective date of the
2021 Plan, (iv) the acquisition of more than 50% of the total combined voting power in our outstanding securities by any person,
or (v) we are dissolved or liquidated.
Types of Awards
Stock Options. Incentive
stock options and non-statutory stock options are granted pursuant to award agreements adopted by our Compensation Committee. Our Compensation
Committee determines the exercise price for a stock option, within the terms and conditions of the 2021 Plan; provided, that the exercise
price of an incentive stock option cannot be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. Options
granted under the 2021 Plan vest at the rate specified by our Compensation Committee.
The Compensation Committee
determines the term of stock options granted under the 2021 Plan, up to a maximum of 10 years, except in the case of certain Incentive
Stock Options, as described below. The Compensation Committee will also determine the length of period during which an optionee may exercise
their options if an optionee’s relationship with us, or any of our affiliates, ceases for any reason; for incentive stock options,
this period is limited by applicable law. The Compensation Committee may extend the exercise period in the event that exercise of the
option following termination of service is prohibited by applicable securities laws. In no event, however, may an option be exercised
beyond the expiration of its term unless the term is extended in accordance with applicable law.
Acceptable consideration for
the purchase of common stock issued upon the exercise of a stock option will be determined by the Compensation Committee and may include
(a) cash or its equivalent, (b) delivering a properly executed notice of exercise of the option to us and a broker, with irrevocable
instructions to the broker promptly to deliver to us the amount necessary to pay the exercise price of the option, (c) any other
form of legal consideration that may be acceptable to the Compensation Committee or (d) any combination of (a), (b) or (c).
Unless the Compensation Committee
provides otherwise, options are generally transferable in accordance with applicable law, provided that any transferee of such options
agrees to become bound by the terms of the 2021 Plan. An optionee may also designate a beneficiary who may exercise the option following
the optionee’s death.
Incentive or Non-statutory
Stock Options. Incentive stock options may be granted only to our employees, and the employees of our parent or subsidiary
corporations, if any. The Compensation Committee may grant awards of incentive or non-statutory stock options that are fully vested on
the date made, to any of our employees, directors or consultants. Option awards are granted pursuant to award agreements adopted by our
Compensation Committee. To the extent required by applicable law, the aggregate fair market value, determined at the time of grant, of
shares of our common stock with respect to incentive stock options that are exercisable for the first time by an optionee during any calendar
year may not exceed $100,000. To the extent required by applicable law, no incentive stock option may be granted to any person who, at
the time of the grant, owns or is deemed to own stock possessing more than 10% of our total combined voting power or that of any of our
affiliates unless (a) the option exercise price is at least 110% of the fair market value of the stock subject to the option on the
date of grant and (b) the term of the incentive stock option does not exceed five years from the date of grant.
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Stock Appreciation Rights . An
SAR is the right to receive stock, cash, or other property equal in value to the difference between the grant price of the SAR and the
market price of our common stock on the exercise date. SARs may be granted independently or in tandem with an option at the time of grant
of the related option. An SAR granted in tandem with an option will be exercisable only to the extent the underlying option is exercisable.
An SAR confers on the grantee a right to receive an amount with respect to each share of common stock subject thereto, upon exercise thereof,
equal to the excess of (A) the fair market value of one share of common stock on the date of exercise over (B) the grant price
of the SAR (which in the case of an SAR granted in tandem with an option will be equal to the exercise price of the underlying option,
and which in the case of any other SAR will be such price as the Compensation Committee may determine but in no event will be less than
the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of grant of such SAR).
Restricted Stock and Restricted
Stock Units . Restricted stock is common stock that we grant subject to transfer restrictions and vesting criteria.
A restricted stock unit is a right to receive stock or cash equal to the value of a share of stock at the end of a specified period that
we grant subject to transfer restrictions and vesting criteria. The grant of these awards under the 2021 Plan are subject to such terms,
conditions and restrictions as the Compensation Committee determines consistent with the terms of the 2021 Plan.
At the time of grant, the
Compensation Committee may place restrictions on restricted stock and restricted stock units that will lapse, in whole or in part,
only upon the attainment of performance goals; provided that such performance goals will relate to periods of performance of at least
one fiscal year, and if the award is granted to a 162(m) officer, the grant of the award and the establishment of the performance goals
will be made during the period required under Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m). Except to the extent restricted under the award
agreement relating to the restricted stock, a grantee granted restricted stock will have all of the rights of a stockholder, including
the right to vote restricted stock and the right to receive dividends.
Unless otherwise provided
in an award agreement, upon the vesting of a restricted stock unit, there will be delivered to the grantee, within 30 days of the
date on which such award (or any portion thereof) vests, the number of shares of common stock equal to the number of restricted stock units
becoming so vested.
Other Stock-Based Awards. The
2021 Plan also allows the Compensation Committee to grant “Other Stock-Based Awards,” which means a right or other interest
that may be denominated or payable in, valued in whole or in part by reference to, or otherwise based on, or related to, common stock.
Subject to the limitations contained in the 2021 Plan, this includes, without limitation, (i) unrestricted stock awarded as a bonus
or upon the attainment of performance goals or otherwise as permitted under the 2021 Plan, and (ii) a right to acquire stock from
us containing terms and conditions prescribed by the Compensation Committee. At the time of the grant of other stock-based awards, the
Compensation Committee may place restrictions on the payout or vesting of other stock-based awards that will lapse, in whole or in part,
only upon the attainment of performance goals; provided that such Performance Goals will relate to periods of performance of at least
one fiscal year, and if the award is granted to a 162(m) Officer, the grant of the Award and the establishment of the performance goals
will be made during the period required under Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m). Other Stock-Based Awards may not be granted with
the right to receive dividend equivalent payments.
Performance Awards . Performance
awards provide participants with the opportunity to receive shares of our common stock, cash or other property based on performance and
other vesting conditions. Performance awards may be granted from time to time as determined at the discretion of the Board, or the Compensation
Committee (as applicable). Subject to the share limit and maximum dollar value set forth above under “ Limits per Participant ,”
the Board, or the Compensation Committee (as applicable), has the discretion to determine (i) the number of shares of common stock
under, or the dollar value of, a performance award and (ii) the conditions that must be satisfied for grant or for vesting, which
typically will be based principally or solely on achievement of performance goals.
Performance Criteria . With
respect to awards intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Code Section 162(m), a committee of “outside
directors” (as defined in Code Section 162(m)) with authority delegated by our Board will determine the terms and conditions
of such awards, including the performance criteria. The performance goals for restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, performance
awards or other share-based awards will be based on the attainment of specified levels of, among other metrics, the attainment of certain
target levels of, or a specified percentage increase in, revenues, earnings, income before taxes and extraordinary items, net income,
operating income, earnings before or after deduction for all or any portion of income tax, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortization or a combination of any or all of the foregoing.
The performance goals may
be based solely by reference to our performance or the performance of one or more of our subsidiaries, parents, divisions, business segments
or business units, or based upon the relative performance of other companies or upon comparisons of any of the indicators of performance
relative to other companies. The authorized committee of outside directors may also exclude under the terms of the performance awards,
the impact of an event or occurrence that the committee determines should appropriately be excluded, including restructurings, discontinued
operations, extraordinary items, and other unusual or non-recurring charges, or changes in generally accepted accounting principles or
practices.
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Director Compensation
The
Company pays each independent director an annual base amount of $25,000. In April 2022, the Board approved a bonus payment of $50,000
for each independent director. Additionally, our Board makes recommendations for adjustments to an independent director’s compensation
when the level of services provided are significantly above what was anticipated.
The table below
sets forth, for each non-employee director, the total amount of compensation related to his or her service during the year ended April
30, 2022:
Name
Fees earned or
paid in cash
($)
Stock awards
($)
Options
awards ($)
All other
compensation ($)
Total ($)
William B. Horne
43,756
—
—
—
43,756
Mark Gustafson
64,583
250,000
530,897
—
845,480
Lynne Fahey McGrath
64,583
250,000
530,897
—
845,480
Andy H. Woo
64,583
250,000
530,897
—
845,480
Jeffrey Oram
64,583
250,000
530,897
—
845,480
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The following table shows the beneficial
ownership of our common stock as of July 19, 2022, held by (i) each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5%
of our outstanding common stock, (ii) each of our directors and director nominees, (iii) each of our executive officers, and
(iv) all of our directors, director nominees and executive officers as a group. As of the date of this Annual Report, there were
95,481,790 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding.
Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance
with the rules of the SEC, and generally includes voting power and/or investment power with respect to the securities held. Shares of
our common stock subject to options and warrants currently exercisable or which may become exercisable within 60 days of the date
of this Annual Report, are deemed outstanding and beneficially owned by the person holding such options or warrants for purposes of computing
the number of shares and percentage beneficially owned by such person but are not deemed outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage
beneficially owned by any other person. Except as indicated in the footnotes to this table, the persons or entities named have sole voting
and investment power with respect to all shares of our common stock shown as beneficially owned by them.
Unless otherwise noted in
the footnotes to the following table, and subject to applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table have sole voting
and investment power with respect to their beneficially owned common stock.
Unless otherwise indicated,
the principal address of each of the persons below is c/o Alzamend Neuro, Inc., 3500 Lenox Rd NE, Suite 1500, Atlanta, GA 30326.
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Greater than 5% Beneficial Owners:
Number of shares of
Common Stock
Beneficially Owned
Percentage of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
Milton C. Ault, III (1) (2) (3) (4)
42,718,318
42.51 %
Ault Life Sciences, Inc. (1)
14,942,984
15.65 %
Ault Life Sciences Fund, LLC (2)
15,000,000
14.93 %
Digital Power Lending, LLC (3)
9,933,667
10.40 %
Directors and Executive Officers
Stephan Jackman (5)
2,875,000
2.92 %
Henry C.W. Nisser (5)
1,041,667
1.08 %
Kenneth S. Cragun (5)
1,406,250
1.45 %
David J. Katzoff (6)
1,159,292
1.20 %
Lien T. Escalona (5)
100,000
*
William B. Horne ( 7 )
2,729,167
2.79 %
Mark Gustafson ( 8 )
210,000
*
Lynne Fahey McGrath, M.P.H., Ph.D. ( 9 )
225,000
*
Jeffrey Oram ( 10 )
250,000
*
Andrew H. Woo, M.D., Ph.D. ( 10 )
250,000
*
All directors and named executive officers as a group (10 persons)
10,246,375
9.77 %
* Less than 1% of outstanding shares.
(1) Milton C. (Todd) Ault III, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, has sole voting and investment power
with respect to the shares held of record by ALSI.
(2) Represents 10,000,000 shares of our common stock and 5,000,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon
the exercise of warrants. Mr. Ault has sole voting and investment power with respect to the securities held of record by ALSF.
(3) Represents 9,926,667 shares of our common stock held by DPL and 7,000 shares of our common stock purchasable upon the
exercise of call options (right to buy). Mr. Ault has voting and investment power with respect
to the securities held by DPL. Excludes 3,333,333 shares of our common stock underlying currently exercisable warrants held by DPL due
to a beneficial ownership blocker limitation provision contained therein.
(4) Includes (i) 2,500,000 shares of our common stock held by Mr. Ault, (ii) 325,000 shares of our common
stock held by Ault Alpha LP, and (iii) 16,667 shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants held by BitNile Holdings,
Inc. Mr. Ault is the Manager of Ault Alpha GP LLC ("Ault GP") and Ault Capital Management LLC ("AC Management"). Ault
GP and AC Management are the general partner and investment manager to Ault Alpha LP, respectively. As such, Mr. Ault is deemed to beneficially
own the shares held by Ault Alpha LP.
(5) Represents shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock
options, which are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Nisser’s address is 100 Park Avenue, Suite
1658, New York, New York 10017.
(6) Consists of 18,000 shares of our common stock, 9,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise
of warrants and 1,132,292 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable
within 60 days.
(7) Consists of 500,000 shares of our common stock and 2,229,167 shares of our common stock issuable upon
the exercise of stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days.
(8) Consists of 60,000 shares of our common stock and 150,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon the
exercise of stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60.
(9) Consists of 75,000 shares of our common stock and 150,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon the
exercise of stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60.
(10) Consists of 100,000 shares of our common stock and 150,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon the
exercise of stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60.
- 74 -
Equity Compensation Information
The following table summarizes information
about our equity compensation plans as of April 30, 2022.
Number of securities
Number of securities
Weighted-
remaining available for
to be issued
average
future issuance under
upon exercise
exercise price
equity compensation plans
of outstanding
of outstanding
(excluding securities
options, warrants and rights
options, warrants and rights
reflected in column (a))
Plan Category
(a)
(b)
(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by
stockholders
15,700,000
1.20
8,800,000
Equity compensation plans not approved by
stockholders
-
-
-
Total
15,700,000
1.20
8,800,000
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Certain Relationships
Our company is controlled by Milton C. (Todd)
Ault III, our Founder and current Chairman Emeritus, directly and through his controlling interests in DPL, ALSI and ALSF. Mr. Ault is
also the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and single largest stockholder (through Ault Alpha LP) of BitNile. The Board of Directors and
executive officers of our company and the board of directors and executive officers of BitNile contain some of the same individuals. William
B. Horne, the Chairman of the Board of our company, is the Chief Executive Officer and a director of BitNile, Henry C.W. Nisser, our Executive
Vice President, General Counsel and a director of our company, is the President, General Counsel and a director of BitNile, and Kenneth
S. Cragun, our Senior Vice President of Finance is the Chief Financial Officer of BitNile. Additionally, Mr. Ault is the Chairman of Avalanche,
of which Mr. Horne is a director and its Chief Financial Officer and Mr. Nisser is its Executive Vice President and General Counsel.
Transactions with Related Persons
To the best of our knowledge, during our
most recent fiscal year end on April 30, 2022, other than as set forth below, there were no material transactions, or series of similar
transactions, or any currently proposed transactions, or series of similar transactions, to which we were or are to be a party, in which
the amount involved exceeds $87,145, or 1% of the average total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years, and in
which any director or executive officer, or any security holder who is known by us to own of record or beneficially more than 5% of any
class of our common stock, or any member of the immediate family of any of the foregoing persons, has an interest (other than compensation
to our officers and directors in the ordinary course of business).
On April 10, 2018, we
entered into a note receivable agreement with Avalanche in the amount of $995,500, subject to the terms and conditions stated in the AVLP
Note. The AVLP Note accrued interest at 10% per annum and included a 10% original issue discount. The balance outstanding on the AVLP
Note as of April 30, 2020 was $100,915. In August 2020, the principal and accrued interest on the AVLP Note was paid in full.
On April 30, 2019, we entered into
a securities purchase agreement with ALSF for the sale of 10,000,000 shares of our common stock, plus 5,000,000 warrants with a five-year
term and an exercise price of $3.00 per share and vesting upon issuance (the “ALSF Warrants”). The total purchase price of
$15,000,000 was in the form of a note from ALSF. The note balance as of April 30, 2020 was reduced by $16,800 reflecting payments
made during the year ended April 30, 2020. The note balance as of April 30, 2021 was reduced by $99,905 reflecting payments
made during the year ended April 30, 2021. As of April 30, 2022, the note balance was $14,883,295. The control person of ALSF is
Mr. Ault, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus. ALSF is wholly owned by ALSI. ALSI is almost entirely wholly owned by Ault & Co.,
Inc., of which MCKEA Holdings, LLC (“MCKEA”), of which Mr. Ault’s spouse is the managing member, is the majority owner.
As such, MCKEA is indirectly the majority owner of ALSF.
The note is secured by a Stock
Pledge Agreement dated June 11, 2019. While the securities purchase agreement provides for ALSF’s ability to pledge the securities
acquired thereby, given that the purchased securities are subject to the securities purchase agreement, we and ALSF agreed that such securities
may not be pledged to any third party until the current pledge agreement has been terminated through full repayment of the note.
- 75 -
Pursuant to the securities
purchase agreement, ALSF is entitled to full ratchet anti-dilution protection, most-favored nation status, denying our company the right
to enter into a variable rate transaction absent its consent, and the right to participate in any future financing we may consummate.
All these rights, other than the right to participate in future financings which will not terminate until ALSF no longer holds any shares
of our common stock or any ALSF Warrants, will terminate on the earlier to occur of such date that we have (i) completed a Qualified
Financing, or (ii) received approval by the FDA for any of our product candidates in Phase III clinical trial. For purposes
of the securities purchase agreement, a “Qualified Financing” means the sale of equity securities by us in a single transaction
or a series of related transactions whether or not registered under the Securities Act, resulting in gross proceeds to us of no less than
$25,000,000.
In March 2021, we entered
into a securities purchase agreement with Digital Power Lending, LLC (“DPL”), a California limited liability company and wholly-owned
subsidiary of BitNile, pursuant to which we agreed to sell 6,666,667 shares of our common stock for an aggregate of $10 million,
or $1.50 per share, which sales will be made in tranches. On March 9, 2021, DPL paid $4 million, less the $1.8 million
in advances and the surrender for cancellation of a $50,000 convertible promissory note for 2,666,667 shares of our common stock. Under
the terms of the securities purchase agreement, DPL purchased an additional (i) 1,333,333 shares of our common stock upon approval
by the FDA of our IND for our opening Phase I clinical trial for a purchase price of $2 million, and (ii) 2,666,667 shares
of our common stock once we completed the opening Phase I clinical trial for a purchase price of $4 million. We met the first
milestone on July 28, 2021 and the second milestone in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2022. In addition, we issued DPL warrants to purchase
an aggregate of 6,666,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share. Finally, we agreed that for a period of 18 months
following the date of the payment of the final tranche of $4 million, DPL will have the right to invest an additional $10 million
on the same terms, except that no specific milestones have been determined with respect to the additional $10 million investment
as of the date of this Annual Report.
In May 2021, the Board of Directors
of our company and Mr. Ault, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, agreed to certain arrangements with regard to our Board composition
and other matters. Contemporaneously with the consummation of the initial public offering, and in consideration for (i) the conversion
of 750 shares of our series A convertible preferred stock beneficially owned by Mr. Ault through ALSI into 15,000,000 shares of our
common stock, (ii) the extension of the maturity date of the note in the original principal amount of $15,000,000 issued to us by
ALSF to December 31, 2023, and (iii) the resignation of Mr. Ault as a director and executive officer of our company, the
Board agreed that William B. Horne be named our Chairman of the Board and remain in that position for so long as Mr. Ault beneficially
owns no less than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock (for which Mr. Horne will be paid $50,000 per year for his services),
and Mr. Nisser remains a member of our Board of Directors for so long as Mr. Ault beneficially owns no less than 5% of the outstanding
shares of our common stock (for no additional remuneration). Additionally, Mr. Ault will hold the position of Founder and Chairman
Emeritus and, as such, have the right to nominate an observer to our Board of Directors for a period of five years after the closing
date of the initial public offering. Immediately following the closing of the initial public offering in June 2021, we entered into a
five-year consulting agreement with Mr. Ault under which he will provide strategic advisory and consulting services to us in consideration
for annual fees of $50,000.
Our accounting and finance
department use shared office space within the Costa Mesa offices of BitNile.
DPL purchased $10.0 million
(2,000,000 shares) of common stock in the initial public offering at $5.00 per share, the same price and on the same terms as other investors
in the initial public offering, except that a reduced underwriting discount was paid to the underwriters for the sale of common stock
to DPL. Milton C. Ault III, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, is an executive officer and director of BitNile, as are several other officers
and board members of our company.
Future Transactions
Our Board of Directors has adopted a policy
whereby any future transactions between our company and any of our subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, principal stockholders
or any affiliates of the foregoing will be on terms no less favorable to us than could reasonably be obtained in “arm’s length”
transactions with independent third parties, and any such transactions will also be approved by a majority of our disinterested outside
directors
Director Independence
The information required by this item regarding director
independence is incorporated by reference to the information set forth in Item 10 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
- 76 -
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
Baker Tilly US, LLP serves
as our independent registered public accounting firm for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021.
Fees and Services
The following table shows
the aggregate fees billed to us for professional services by Baker Tilly US, LLP for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021:
2022
2021
Audit Services
$ 165,400
$ 107,000
Audit Related Services
—
—
Tax Services
18,600
—
All Other Services
—
—
Total
$ 184,000
$ 107,000
Audit Fee. This
category includes the aggregate fees billed for professional services rendered for the audits of our financial statements for the years
ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, for the reviews of the interim financial statements during the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, and
for other services that are normally provided by the independent auditors in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements
for the relevant years.
Audit-Related Fees. This
category includes the aggregate fees billed in each of the last two years for assurance and related services by the independent auditors
that are reasonably related to the performance of the audits or reviews of the financial statements and are not reported above under “Audit
Fees,” and generally consist of fees for other engagements under professional auditing standards, accounting and reporting consultations,
internal control-related matters, and audits of employee benefit plans.
Tax Fees . This category
includes the aggregate fees billed in each of the last two years for professional services rendered by the independent auditors for tax
compliance, tax planning and tax advice.
All Other Fees. This
category includes the aggregate fees billed in each of the last two years for products and services provided by the independent auditors
that are not reported above under “Audit Fees,” “Audit-Related Fees,” or “Tax Fees.”
The Audit Committee’s
policy is to pre-approve all services provided by our independent auditors. These services may include audit services, audit-related services,
tax services and other services. The Audit Committee may also pre-approve particular services on a case-by-case basis. Our independent
auditors are required to report periodically to the Audit Committee regarding the extent of services they provide in accordance with such
pre-approval.
- 77 -
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Exhibit
No.
Exhibit Description
3.1
Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 of Form DOS filed with the SEC on August 19, 2016).
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 of Form S-1 filed with the SEC on May 10, 2021).
3.3
Certificate of Designation of Alzamend Neuro, Inc. Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, dated May 30, 2016 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.3 of Form 1-A/A filed with the SEC on February 4, 2020).
4.1
Promissory Note Due April 30, 2020, issued by Ault Life Sciences Fund, LLC, dated April 30, 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of Form 1-A/A filed with the SEC on February 4, 2020).
4.2
Amendment to Note Due April 30, 2020, by and between Ault Life Sciences Fund, LLC and Alzamend Neuro, Inc., dated June 11, 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 of Form 1-A/A filed with the SEC on February 4, 2020).
4.3
Warrant to Purchase Common Stock issued to Ault Life Sciences Fund, LLC, dated April 30, 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 of Form 1-A/A filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020).
4.4
Warrant to Purchase Common Stock issued to Ault Global Holdings, Inc., dated March 9, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of Form 1-U filed with the SEC on March 12, 2021).
10.1
Standard Exclusive License Agreement with Sublicensing Terms with the University of South Florida Research Foundation, Inc., dated May 1, 2016 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.1 of Form DOS/A filed with the SEC on September 29, 2016).
10.2
Standard Exclusive License Agreement with Sublicensing Terms Number LIC18110 with the University of South Florida Research Foundation, Inc., dated July 2, 2018 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.3 of Form 1-K filed with the SEC on February 21, 2019).
10.3
Standard Exclusive License Agreement with Sublicensing Terms Number LIC18111 with the University of South Florida Research Foundation, Inc., dated July 2, 2018 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.4 of Form 1-K filed with the SEC on February 21, 2019).
10.4
Standard Exclusive License Agreement with Sublicensing Terms Number LIC19050 with the University of South Florida Research Foundation, Inc., dated June 10, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.6 of Form 1-K filed with the SEC on August 28, 2020).
10.5
Standard Exclusive License Agreement with Sublicensing Terms Number LIC19051 with the University of South Florida Research Foundation, Inc., dated June 10, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.7 of Form 1-K filed with the SEC on August 28, 2020).
10.6+
Employment Agreement with Henry Nisser effective May 1, 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.5 of Form 1-K filed with the SEC on August 28, 2019).
10.7+
Employment Agreement with Stephan Jackman, dated June 17, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.01 of Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 22, 2021)
10.8
Stock Pledge Agreement with Ault Life Sciences Fund, LLC, dated June 11, 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.9 of Form 1-A filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020).
10.9
Securities Purchase Agreement with Ault Life Sciences Fund, LLC, dated April 30, 2019 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 of Form 1-A/A filed with the SEC on February 4, 2020).
10.10
Securities Purchase Agreement with Ault Global Holdings, Inc. dated August 31, 2020 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.14 of Form S-1 filed with the SEC on May 10, 2021).
10.11
Securities Purchase Agreement with Digital Power Lending, LLC, dated March 9, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 6.1 of Form 1-U/A filed with the SEC on May 7, 2021).
10.12
Form of Warrant issued to Digital Power Lending, LLC, dated March 9, 2021 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 of Form 1-U filed with the SEC on March 12, 2021).
10.13
Board Letter Agreement, dated May 6, 2021, between Alzamend Neuro, Inc. and Milton C. Ault III (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.17 of Form S-1/A filed with the SEC on May 25, 2021).
10.14+
2016 Amended and Restated Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 of Form S-8 filed with the SEC on July 13, 2021).
10.15+
2021 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.2 of Form S-8 filed with the SEC on July 13, 2021).
- 78 -
23.1*
Consent of Baker Tilly US, LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
24.1*
Power of Attorney. Reference is made to the signature page hereto.
31.1*
Certification of Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
31.2*
Certification of Chief Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a).
32.1**
Certification of Chief Executive and Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
101.INS*
Inline XBRL Instance Document. The instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.
101.SCH*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.CAL*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.DEF*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
101.LAB*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
101.PRE*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
104
Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).
*Filed herewith.
** This certification will not be deemed “filed”
for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to
the liability of that section. Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent specifically incorporated by reference into such filing.
+ Indicates management contract or compensatory
plan.
ITEM 16. FORM 10–K SUMMARY
None.
- 79 -
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements
of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
Date: July 19, 2022
By:
/s/ Stephan Jackman
Stephan Jackman
Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer)
Date: July 19, 2022
By:
/s/ Lien T. Escalona
Lien T. Escalona
Chief Financial Officer (principal financial and accounting officer)
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose
signature appears below constitutes and appoints Stephan Jackman and Henry Nisser, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact
and agents, each with the full power of substitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place or stead, in any and all capacities,
to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and to file the same, with exhibits thereto and other documents in connection
therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power
and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to
all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and
agents, or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on in the capacities and on the dates
indicated.
Name
Title
Date
By: /s/ Stephan
Jackman
Stephan Jackman
Chief Executive Officer and Director
(principal executive officer)
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ Lien T. Escalona
Lien T. Escalona
Chief Financial Officer
(principal financial and accounting officer)
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ William B. Horne
William B. Horne
Chairman of the Board
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ Henry
C.W. Nisser
Henry C.W. Nisser
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
and Director
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ Mark
Gustafson
Mark Gustafson
Director
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ Lynne
Fahey McGrath, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Lynne Fahey McGrath, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Director
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ Andrew
H. Woo, M.D., Ph.D.
Andrew H. Woo, M.D., Ph.D
Director
July 19, 2022
By: /s/ Jeffrey
Oram
Jeffrey Oram
Director
July 19, 2022
- 80 -
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
Report of
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 23 )
F-2
Balance Sheets as of April 30, 2022 and 2021
F-3
Statements of Operations for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021
F-4
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021
F-5
Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021
F-6
Notes to Financial Statements
F-7 – F-18
F- 1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED ACCOUNTING
FIRM
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Alzamend Neuro, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying balance sheets
of Alzamend Neuro, Inc. (the Company) as of April 30, 2022 and 2021, and the related statements of operations, changes in stockholders’
equity and cash flows for the years then ended and the related notes to the financial statements (collectively, the financial statements).
In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of April 30,
2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility
of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We
are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to
be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations
of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the
standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged
to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding
of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal
control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess
the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond
to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.
Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating
the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ BAKER TILLY US, LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor since
2019.
San Diego, California
July 19, 2022
F- 2
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
Balance Sheets
April 30, 2022
April 30, 2021
ASSETS
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash
$ 14,063,811
$ 1,929,270
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
349,723
983,320
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS
14,413,534
2,912,590
Property, plant and equipment, net
102,909
-
TOTAL ASSETS
$ 14,516,443
$ 2,912,590
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
$ 1,162,850
$ 503,591
Related party payable
2,082
60,749
Convertible notes, net
-
335,303
TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES
1,164,932
899,643
TOTAL LIABILITIES
$ 1,164,932
$ 899,643
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Convertible Preferred stock, $ 0.0001 par value: 10,000,000 shares authorized;
Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, $ 0.0001 stated value per share,
1,360,000 shares designated; nil and 750,000 shares issued and outstanding as
of April 30, 2022 and April 30, 2021, respectively
-
75
Common stock, $ 0.0001 par value: 300,000,000 shares authorized; 95,481,790
and 67,429,525 shares issued and outstanding as of April 30, 2022 and April
30, 2021, respectively
9,548
6,743
Additional paid-in capital
57,419,753
33,721,860
Note receivable for common stock – related party
( 14,883,295 )
( 14,883,295 )
Accumulated deficit
( 29,194,495 )
( 16,832,436 )
TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
13,351,511
2,012,947
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
$ 14,516,443
$ 2,912,590
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these financial statements.
F- 3
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
Statements of Operations
For the Year Ended April 30,
2022
2021
OPERATING EXPENSES
Research and development
$ 5,201,314
$ 1,310,716
General and administrative
7,118,221
3,641,172
Total operating expenses
12,319,535
4,951,888
Loss from operations
( 12,319,535 )
( 4,951,888 )
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE), NET
Gain on extinguishment of debt
4,000
62,418
Interest expense
( 46,524 )
( 142,421 )
Interest expense - related party
-
( 16,382 )
Interest income - related party
-
1,706
Total other expense, net
( 42,524 )
( 94,679 )
NET LOSS
$ ( 12,362,059 )
$ ( 5,046,567 )
Basic and diluted net loss per common share
$ ( 0.14 )
$ ( 0.07 )
Basic and diluted weighted average common
shares outstanding
89,095,274
72,650,073
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these financial statements.
F- 4
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
Statements of Changes in Stockholders’
Equity
Years Ended April 30, 2022 and April 30, 2021
Series A Convertible
Additional
Note Receivable
for
Preferred Stock
Common Stock
Paid-In
Common Stock -
Accumulated
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
Capital
Related Party
Deficit
Total
BALANCES, April 30, 2020
750,000
$ 75
64,762,858
$ 6,476
$ 27,584,227
$ ( 14,983,200 )
$ ( 11,785,869 )
$ 821,709
Issuance of common stock, related
party, net
-
-
2,666,667
267
3,999,733
4,000,000
Stock-based compensation to
employees and consultants
-
-
-
-
2,032,359
-
-
2,032,359
Issuance of common stock, note
receivable – related party
-
-
-
-
-
99,905
-
99,905
Fair value of warrants issued in
connection with convertible notes
-
-
-
-
91,241
-
-
91,241
Fair value of warrants issued in
connection with convertible notes-
related party
-
-
-
-
14,300
-
-
14,300
Net loss
-
-
-
-
-
-
( 5,046,567 )
( 5,046,567 )
BALANCES, April 30, 2021
750,000
$ 75
67,429,525
$ 6,743
$ 33,721,860
$ ( 14,883,295 )
$ ( 16,832,436 )
$ 2,012,947
Issuance of common stock for
restricted stock awards
-
-
425,000
42
( 42 )
-
-
-
Stock-based compensation to
employees and consultants
-
-
-
-
4,408,569
-
-
4,408,569
Issuance of common stock &
warrants-related party, net
-
-
4,000,000
400
5,999,600
-
-
6,000,000
Proceeds from stock option exercise
-
-
5,500,000
550
1,650
-
-
2,200
Proceeds from initial public offering,
net of underwriters' discounts and
commissions and issuance costs of
$ 1.5 million
-
-
2,875,000
288
12,911,168
-
-
12,911,456
Issuance of shares of common stock
for conversion of debt
-
252,265
25
378,373
378,398
Conversion of Series A convertible
stock
( 750,000 )
( 75 )
15,000,000
1,500
( 1,425 )
-
-
-
Net loss
-
-
-
-
-
-
( 12,362,059 )
( 12,362,059 )
BALANCES, April 30, 2022
-
$ -
95,481,790
$ 9,548
$ 57,419,753
$ ( 14,883,295 )
$ ( 29,194,495 )
$ 13,351,511
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these financial statements.
F- 5
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
Statements of Cash Flows
For the Year Ended April 30,
2022
2021
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss
$ ( 12,362,059 )
$ ( 5,046,567 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation expense
3,549
-
Interest expense - debt discount
12,770
124,046
Interest expense - debt discount, related party
-
14,300
Gain on extinguishment of debt
( 4,000 )
( 62,418 )
Stock-based compensation to employees and consultants
4,408,569
2,032,359
Non-cash expense from issuance of common stock
-
378,704
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
633,597
260,791
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
693,584
( 413,242 )
Net cash used in operating activities
( 6,613,990 )
( 2,712,027 )
Cash flows from investing activities:
Proceeds from repayments of notes receivable - related party
-
100,915
Purchase of machinery
( 106,458 )
-
Net cash provided by investing activities
( 106,458 )
100,915
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from the issuance of common stock and warrants - related party, net
6,000,000
2,100,000
Proceeds from stock option exercise
2,200
-
Payments of related party payable
( 58,667 )
( 1,918 )
Proceeds from short-term advances, related party
-
1,850,000
Proceeds from note payable
-
62,110
Proceeds from note receivable for common stock – related party
-
99,905
Proceeds from convertible note payable
-
290,000
Proceeds from convertible note payable, related party
-
50,000
Proceeds from initial public offering, net of
underwriters’ discounts and
commissions and issuance costs
12,911,456
-
Net cash provided by financing activities
18,854,989
4,450,097
Net increase in cash
12,134,541
1,838,985
Cash at beginning of period
1,929,270
90,285
Cash at end of period
$ 14,063,811
$ 1,929,270
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
Non-cash financing activities:
Conversion of Series A preferred stock
$ 1,425
$ -
Fair value of warrants issued in connection with initial public offering
$ 194,490
$ -
Fair value of warrants issued in connection with March 2021 securities purchase
agreement, related party
$ 5,374,509
$ -
Fair value of warrants issued in connection with convertible notes payable,
related party
$ -
$ 14,300
Fair value of warrants issued in connection with convertible notes payable
$ -
$ 91,241
Issuance of common stock in payment of short-term advances, related party
$ -
$ 1,850,000
Issuance of common stock on conversion of note
$ 378,398
$ -
Issuance of common stock in payment of convertible notes payable, related party
$ -
$ 50,000
Accrued interest payable for common stock
$ -
$ 12,498
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these financial statements.
F- 6
ALZAMEND NEURO, INC.
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
Alzamend Neuro, Inc. (the
“Company” or “Alzamend”), is an early clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel products
for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders. The Company’s primary focus is Alzheimer’s disease.
With two current and future product candidates, Alzamend aims to bring treatments or cures to market at a reasonable cost as quickly as
possible. The Company’s current pipeline consists of two novel therapeutic drug candidates (collectively, the “Technology”):
(i) a patented ionic cocrystal technology delivering a therapeutic combination of lithium, proline and salicylate, known as AL001, through
two royalty-bearing exclusive worldwide licenses from the University of South Florida Research Foundation, Inc., as licensor (the “Licensor”);
and (ii) a patented method using a mutant peptide sensitized cell as a cell-based therapeutic vaccine that seeks to restore the ability
of a patient’s immunological system to combat Alzheimer’s, known as AL002 or CA022W, through a royalty-bearing exclusive worldwide
license from the same Licensor.
The Company is devoting substantially
all its efforts towards research and development of its Technology and raising capital. The Company has not generated any product revenue
to date. The Company has financed its operations to date primarily through debt financings and through the sale of its common stock, par
value $ 0.0001 per share. The Company expects to continue to incur net losses in the foreseeable future.
2. LIQUIDITY, GOING CONCERN AND MANAGEMENT’S
PLANS
The accompanying financial
statements have been prepared on the basis that the Company will continue as a going concern. As of April 30, 2022, the Company had cash
of $ 14.1 million and an accumulated deficit of $ 29.2 million . The Company had cash for the year ended April 30, 2021, totaling $ 1.9 million
and accumulated deficit of $ 16.8 million . In the past, the Company has financed its operations principally through issuances of promissory
notes and equity securities.
In March of 2021, the
Company entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “SPA”) with DPL, a California limited liability company
(“DPL”) and wholly owned subsidiary of BitNile Holdings, Inc. (“BitNile”), a related party, pursuant to which the Company
agreed to sell an aggregate of 6,666,667
shares of common stock for an aggregate of $ 10
million, or $ 1.50
per share, which sales were made in tranches. On March 9, 2021, DPL paid $ 4
million, less the $ 1.8
million in advances and the surrender for cancellation of the $ 50,000
convertible promissory note, each as described below, for an aggregate of
2,666,667 shares of common stock. Under the terms of the SPA, DPL purchased an additional (i) 1,333,333 shares of common stock
in July 2021, upon U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval of the Company’s Investigational New Drug
(“IND”) application for the phase I clinical trials for a purchase price of $ 2
million; and (ii) 2,666,667 shares of the common stock in July 2022, upon completion of these phase I clinical trials for a purchase
price of $4 million. In addition, the Company issued DPL warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,666,667
shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ 3.00
per share. Finally, the Company agreed that for a period of eighteen (18) months following the date of the payment of the final
tranche of $4 million, DPL will have the right to invest an additional $ 10
million on the same terms, except that no specific milestones have been determined with respect to the additional $10 million as of
the date of this Annual Report.
The Company expects to continue
to incur losses for the foreseeable future and needs to raise additional capital until it is able to generate revenues from operations
sufficient to fund its development and commercial operations. However, based on the Company’s current business plan, management
believes that the Company’s cash and cash equivalents at April 30, 2022 are sufficient to meet the Company’s anticipated cash
requirements during the twelve-month period subsequent to the issuance of the financial statements included in this Annual Report.
3. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Basis of Presentation
The financial statements have
been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and
pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”).
Accounting Estimates
The preparation of
financial statements, in conformity with U.S. 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 amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company’s critical accounting policies that
involve significant judgment and estimates include research and development, share-based compensation, warrant valuation, and
valuation of deferred income taxes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
F- 7
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all
highly liquid investments with a remaining maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. As of April 30, 2022
and 2021, the Company had no cash equivalents.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Financial Accounting
Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, Fair Value Measurement , defines fair value as
the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most
advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date.
Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable
inputs. The fair value hierarchy is based on three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value, of which the first two
are considered observable and the last is considered unobservable:
Level 1: Quoted prices in
active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2: Inputs other than
Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in
markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the
full term of the assets or liabilities.
Level 3 assumptions: Unobservable
inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities including
liabilities resulting from imbedded derivatives associated with certain warrants to purchase common stock.
The fair values of warrants
issued in connection with equity or debt issuance are determined using the Black-Scholes valuation model, a “Level 3” fair
value measurement, based on the estimated fair value of the underlying common stock, volatility based on the historical volatility data
of similar companies, considering the industry, products and market capitalization of such other entities, the expected life based on
the remaining contractual term of the conversion option and warrants and the risk free interest rate based on the implied yield available
on U.S. Treasury Securities with a maturity equivalent to the warrants’ contractual life.
Income Taxes
The Company determines its
income taxes under the asset and liability method. Under the asset and liability approach, deferred income tax assets and liabilities
are calculated and recorded based upon the future tax consequences of temporary differences by applying enacted statutory tax rates applicable
to future periods for differences between the financial statements carrying amounts and the tax basis of existing assets and liabilities.
Generally, deferred income taxes are classified as current or non-current in accordance with the classification of the related asset or
liability. Those not related to an asset or a liability are classified as current or non-current depending on the periods in which the
temporary differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are provided for significant deferred income tax assets when it is
more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. As of April 30, 2022, the Company had fully reserved
the net deferred income tax assets by taking a full valuation allowance against these assets.
The Company recognizes tax
liabilities by prescribing a minimum probability threshold that a tax position must meet before a financial statement benefit is recognized
and also provides guidance on de-recognition, measurement, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure
and transition. The minimum threshold is defined as a tax position that is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination by the
applicable taxing authority, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes, based on the technical merits of the
position. The tax benefit to be recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized
upon ultimate settlement. To the extent that the final tax outcome of these matters is different than the amount recorded, such differences
impact income tax expense in the period in which such determination is made. Interest and penalties, if any, related to accrued liabilities
for potential tax assessments are included in income tax expense. U.S. GAAP also requires management to evaluate tax positions taken by
the Company and recognize a liability if the Company has taken uncertain tax positions that more likely than not would not be sustained
upon examination by applicable taxing authorities. Management of the Company has evaluated tax positions taken by the Company and has
concluded that as of April 30, 2022, there were no uncertain tax positions taken, or expected to be taken, that would require recognition
of a liability that would require disclosure in the financial statements.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development costs
are expensed as incurred. Research and development costs consist of scientific consulting fees and lab supplies, as well as fees paid
to clinical research organizations that conduct certain research and development activities on behalf of the Company.
The Company has acquired and
may continue to acquire the rights to develop and commercialize new product candidates from third parties. The upfront payments to acquire
licenses, products or rights, as well as any future milestone payments, are immediately recognized as research and development expense
provided that there is no alternative future use of the rights in other research and development projects.
F- 8
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company recognizes stock-based
compensation expense for stock options on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period and accounts for forfeitures as they
occur. The Company’s stock-based compensation costs are based upon the grant date fair value of options estimated using the Black-Scholes
option pricing model. To the extent any stock option grants are made subject to the achievement of a performance-based milestone, management
evaluates when the achievement of any such performance-based milestone is probable based on the satisfaction of the performance conditions
as of the reporting date.
The Company recognizes stock-based
compensation expense for restricted stock on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period and accounts for forfeitures as they
occur. The Company’s stock-based compensation for restricted stock is based upon the estimated fair value of the Company’s
common stock.
The Black-Scholes option pricing
model utilizes inputs which are highly subjective assumptions and generally require significant judgment. Certain of such assumptions
involve inherent uncertainties and the application of significant judgment. As a result, if factors or expected outcomes change and the
Company uses significantly different assumptions or estimates, the Company’s stock-based compensation could be materially different.
Warrants
The Company accounts for stock
warrants as either equity instruments, derivative liabilities, or liabilities in accordance with ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities
from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”) , depending
on the specific terms of the warrant agreement.
During the year ended April
30, 2022, based on the terms of the Company’s warrant agreements, the Company accounted for the warrants as equity instruments as
the warrants were indexed to the common stock, required settlement in shares and would be classified as equity under ASC 815.
Loss per Common Share
The Company utilizes FASB
ASC Topic No. 260, Earnings per Share . Basic loss per share is computed by dividing loss available to common stockholders
by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted loss per share is computed similar to basic loss per share except
that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional common shares that would have been outstanding if the potential
common shares had been issued and if the additional common shares were dilutive. Diluted loss per common share reflects the potential
dilution that could occur if convertible preferred stock, options and warrants were to be exercised or converted or otherwise resulted
in the issuance of common stock that then shared in the earnings of the entity.
Since the effects of outstanding
options, warrants and convertible preferred stock are anti-dilutive in the periods presented, shares of common stock underlying these
instruments have been excluded from the computation of loss per common share.
F- 9
The following sets forth the
number of shares of common stock underlying outstanding convertible preferred stock, options, warrants, and convertible notes that have
been excluded from the computation of loss per common share:
For the Year Ended April 30,
2022
2021
Series A convertible preferred stock
-
15,000,000
Stock options (1)
13,700,000
16,300,000
Restricted stock
187,510
-
Warrants
10,149,788
6,769,635
Convertible notes
-
245,999
24,037,298
38,315,634
(1)
The Company has excluded 2,000,000 stock options, with an exercise
price of $ 0.0004 , from its anti-dilutive securities as these shares have been included in our determination of basic loss per share as
they represent shares issuable for little or no cash consideration upon the satisfaction of certain conditions pursuant to ASC 260-10-45-14.
Recent Accounting Standards
From time to time, new accounting
pronouncements are issued by the FASB and adopted by the Company as of the specified effective date. Unless otherwise discussed, the impact
of recently issued standards that are not yet effective are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position
or results of operations upon adoption.
In October 2020, the FASB issued
ASU 2020-10, Codification Improvements to make incremental improvements
to GAAP and address stakeholder suggestions, including, among other things, clarifying that the requirement to provide comparative information
in the financial statements extends to the corresponding disclosures section. The Company adopted the ASU effective May 1, 2021. The
amendments in this update should be applied retrospectively and at the beginning of the period that includes the adoption date. The
impact of adopting the ASU was immaterial to the consolidated results of operations, cash flows, financial position, and disclosures.
In December 2019, the FASB
issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (“ASU 2019-12”),
which is intended to simplify various aspects related to accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 removes certain exceptions to the general
principles in Topic 740 and also clarifies and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. This guidance is effective
for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. The
Company adopted ASU 2018-13 as of May 1, 2021. Adoption of this standard had no material impact on the Company’s financial statements
and related disclosures.
In August 2020, the FASB issued
ASU 2020-06, Debt – Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts
in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40) . This ASU reduces the number of accounting models for convertible debt instruments
and convertible preferred stock. As well as amend the guidance for the derivatives scope exception for contracts in an entity’s
own equity to reduce form-over-substance-based accounting conclusions. In addition, this ASU improves and amends the related EPS guidance.
Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods therein. Adoption
is either a modified retrospective method or a fully retrospective method of transition. The adoption of this standard on May 1, 2021,
did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.
The Company has considered
all other recently issued accounting standards and does not believe the adoption of such standards will have a material impact on its
financial statements.
4. NOTE RECEIVABLE, RELATED PARTY, NET
On April 30, 2019, the Company
and Ault Life Science Fund, LLC (“ALSF”), a related party, entered into a securities purchase agreement for the purchase of 10,000,000 shares of
the Company’s common stock for a total purchase price of $ 15,000,000 , or $1.50 per share with 5,000,000 warrants with a 5 -year life
and an exercise price of $ 3.00 per share and vesting upon issuance. The total purchase price of $15,000,000 was in the form of a non-interest
bearing note receivable with a 12-month term from ALSF. In November 2019, the term of the note receivable was extended
to December 31, 2021, and in May 2021, the term of the note receivable was extended to December 31, 2023. The note is secured by a pledge
of the purchased shares. As the note receivable from ALSF is related to the issuance of common stock, it is recorded as an offset to additional
paid-in capital. At April 30, 2022 and 2021, the outstanding balance of the note receivable was $ 14,883,295 .
5. PREPAID EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT ASSETS
Prepaid expenses and other
current assets are as follows:
April 30, 2022
April 30, 2021
Prepaid consulting fees
$ 186,667
$ 613,758
Prepaid insurance
155,880
-
Other prepaid expenses
7,176
353,352
Other receivables
-
16,210
Total prepaid expenses and other current assets
$ 349,723
$ 983,320
F- 10
On June 14, 2021, the Company
purchased directors and officers insurance for twelve months at an annual premium amount of $ 855,000 . Prepaid insurance at April 30, 2022
represents the unamortized portion of annual premium paid for this policy. At April 30, 2021, prepaid consulting fees represented the
balance of fees paid for consulting services to Spartan Capital Securities, LLC (“Spartan Capital”) that are expected to be
recognized over the remaining term of the agreement that runs through December 31, 2022.
6. INCOME TAXES
The following is a geographical
breakdown of the Company’s loss before the provision for income taxes:
April 30, 2022
April 30, 2021
Pre-tax loss:
Federal
$ ( 12,362,059 )
$ ( 5,046,567 )
Foreign
-
-
Total pre-tax income (loss)
$ ( 12,362,059 )
$ ( 5,046,567 )
Significant components of
the Company’s deferred tax assets are as follows:
April 30, 2022
April 30, 2021
Deferred income tax asset:
Net operating loss carryover
$ 8,376,539
$ 3,360,381
Stock compensation
1,722,003
994,264
Total deferred tax asset
10,098,542
4,354,645
Fixed assets
( 21,611 )
-
Valuation allowance
( 10,076,931 )
( 4,354,645 )
Deferred income tax asset, net of allowance
$ -
$ -
A reconciliation of the federal statutory income
tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, is as follows:
2022
2021
Tax benefit at U.S. Federal statutory tax rate
21.0 %
21.0 %
State income tax, net of federal benefit
12.3 %
18.6 %
Increase (decrease) in tax rate resulting from:
Change in valuation allowance
- 46.3 %
- 34.5 %
Stock compensation
13.0 %
- 2.9 %
Other
0.0 %
- 2.2 %
Effective tax rate
0.0 %
0.0 %
In assessing the realization
of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not the Company’s deferred tax assets will be realized.
Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax assets, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making
such assessment. Given historical generation of and expected future taxable losses, the Company determined it is not more likely than
not to utilize its deferred tax assets. Therefore, a full valuation allowance was maintained, as of the years ended April 30, 2022 and
2021, of $ 10,076,931 and $ 4,354,645 , respectively.
At
April 30, 2022, the Company maintained US Federal and state net operating loss (“NOL”) carryovers of approximately $ 29,110,836
and $ 32,362,154 respectively. Federal and state NOLs begin to expire in various years depending on relevant jurisdiction. In accordance
with Internal Revenue Code § 382 (“IRC § 382”),
the future deductibility of the Company’s NOLs may be subject to an annual limitation in the event of a change in control as defined
by applicable regulations. The Company has yet to complete a formal study to confirm NOLs are not limited in utilization per IRC § 382
and may reduce applicable deferred tax assets upon completion of such a study, in future periods.
F- 11
The impact of an uncertain
income tax position on the income tax return must be recognized at the largest amount that is more likely than not to be sustained upon
audit by the relevant taxing authority. An uncertain income tax position will not be recognized if it has less than a 50% likelihood of
being sustained. The Company had no uncertain tax positions as of April 30, 2022.
The Company’s policy
is to recognize interest and penalties related to income tax matters in the provision for income taxes. As of April 30, 2022, no
interest or penalties have been recorded pertaining to uncertain tax positions.
The Company is subject to
taxation in the United States and various U.S. state jurisdictions. All tax years remain open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service
and relevant state authorities.
On December 27, 2020, the
Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA 2021”) which included a number of provisions including, but not limited to the
extension of numerous employment tax credits, the extension of the Section 179D deduction, enhanced business meals deductions, and the
deductibility of expenses paid with Paycheck Protection Program loan funds that are forgiven, was signed into law. Accordingly, the effects
of the CAA 2021 have been incorporated into the income tax provision for the year ended April 30, 2022. These provisions did not
have a material impact on the income tax provision.
7. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION
2016 Stock Incentive Plan
On April 30, 2016, the Company’s
stockholders approved the Company’s 2016 Stock Incentive Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan provides for the issuance of a
maximum of 12,500,000 shares of common stock to be offered to the Company’s directors, officers, employees, and consultants. On
March 1, 2019, the Company’s stockholders approved an additional 7,500,000 shares to be available for issuance under the Plan. Options
granted under the Plan have an exercise price equal to or greater than the fair value of the underlying common stock at the date of grant
and become exercisable based on a vesting schedule determined at the date of grant. The options expire between five and 10 years from
the date of grant. Restricted stock awards granted under the Plan are subject to a vesting period determined at the date of grant.
2021 Stock Incentive Plan
In February 2021, the Company’s
board of directors (the “Board”) adopted, and the stockholders approved, the Alzamend Neuro, Inc. 2021 Stock Incentive Plan
(the “2021 Plan”). The 2021 Plan authorizes the grant to eligible individuals of (1) stock options (incentive and non-statutory),
(2) restricted stock, (3) stock appreciation rights, or SARs, (4) restricted stock units, and (5) other stock-based compensation.
Stock Subject to the 2021
Plan. The maximum number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the 2021 Plan is 10,000,000 shares, which number
will be increased to the extent that compensation granted under the 2021 Plan is forfeited, expires or is settled for cash (except as
otherwise provided in the 2021 Plan). Substitute awards (awards made or shares issued by the Company in assumption of, or in substitution
or exchange for, awards previously granted, or the right or obligation to make future awards, in each case by a company that the Company
acquires or any subsidiary of the Company or with which the Company or any subsidiary combines) will not reduce the shares authorized
for grant under the 2021 Plan, nor will shares subject to a substitute award be added to the shares available for issuance or transfer
under the 2021 Plan.
Restricted Stock. In
May 2021, the Company issued restricted stock awards pursuant to the 2021 Plan to one employee and four independent Board members. The
restricted stock awards vest over 48 months for the employee and 12 months for the independent Board members. The awards require continued
service to the Company during the vesting period. The vesting provisions of individual awards may vary as approved by the Board. Compensation
expense for restricted stock is generally recorded based on its market value on the date of grant and recognized ratably over the associated
service and performance period.
Stock Options. All options that the Company
grants are granted at the per share fair value on the grant date. Vesting of options differs based on the terms of each option. The Company
has valued the options at their date of grant utilizing the Black Scholes option pricing model. As of the date of issuance of these options,
there was not an active public market for the Company’s shares. Accordingly, the fair value of the underlying options was determined
based on the historical volatility data of similar companies, considering the industry, products and market capitalization of such other
entities. The risk-free interest rate used in the calculations is based on the implied yield available on U.S. Treasury issues with an
equivalent term approximating the expected life of the options as calculated using the simplified method. The expected life of the options
used was based on the contractual life of the option granted. Stock-based compensation is a non-cash expense because the Company settles
these obligations by issuing shares of common stock from its authorized shares instead of settling such obligations with cash payments.
F- 12
A summary of stock option
activity for the period May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2022, is presented below:
Outstanding Options
Shares
Available for
Grant
Number of
Options
Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Life (years)
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
Balance at April 30, 2020
575,000
19,425,000
$ 0.6964
6.89
$ 15,609,500
Increase to plan shares
10,000,000
Options granted
( 125,000 )
125,000
$ 1.5000
Balance at April 30, 2021
10,450,000
19,550,000
$ 0.7195
5.92
$ 35,159,500
Options granted
( 1,950,000 )
1,950,000
$ 2.7195
Options exercised
-
( 5,500,000 )
$ 0.0004
Options cancelled/forfeited
300,000
( 300,000 )
$ 1.5000
Balance at April 30, 2022
8,800,000
15,700,000
$ 1.2017
6.10
$ 2,219,700
Options vested and expected to vest at April 30, 2022
13,700,000
$ 1.2311
6.62
$ 2,179,700
Options exercisable at April 30, 2022
13,460,519
$ 1.0345
6.15
$ 2,155,022
The aggregate intrinsic value
in the table above represents the total pretax intrinsic value (i.e., the difference between the estimated fair value on the respective
date and the exercise price, times the number of shares) that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised
their options.
Stock Options Granted to Employees and Consultants
The estimated fair value of
stock options granted to employees and consultants during the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021 were calculated using the Black-Scholes
option-pricing model using the following assumptions:
For the Year Ended April 30,
2022
2021
Expected term (in years)
6.25
3.50 - 6.25
Volatility
88.94 %
85.53 % - 100.1 %
Risk-free interest rate
2.20 %
0.31 % - 0.51 %
Dividend yield
0.0 %
0.0 %
Expected Term: The
expected term represents the period that the options granted are expected to be outstanding and is determined using the simplified method
(based on the mid-point between the vesting date and the end of the contractual term).
Expected Volatility: The
Company uses an average historical stock price volatility of comparable public companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry
that were deemed to be representative of future stock price trends as the Company only has a limited trading history for its common stock.
The Company will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its own
stock price becomes available.
Risk-Free Interest Rate: The
Company based the risk-free interest rate over the expected term of the options based on the constant maturity rate of U.S. Treasury securities
with similar maturities as of the date of the grant.
Expected Dividend: The
Company has not paid and does not anticipate paying any dividends in the near future. Therefore, the expected dividend yield was zero.
Stock-based compensation related to restricted
stock grants and stock options were $ 1.1 million and $ 2.9 million , respectively, for employees and directors. The Company also granted
$ 383,000 to TammNet, a consulting retained to help manage the Company’s preclinical and clinical efforts. Total stock-based compensation
to employees and consultants from the 2021 Plan for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021 were $ 4.4 million and $ 2.4 million , respectively.
Performance Contingent Stock Options Granted
to Employee
In November 2018, the Board
granted 2,000,000 performance-based options under the Plan to the Chief Executive Officer. These options have an exercise price of $ 1.00
per share.
These options have two separate
performance triggers for vesting based upon the therapies achieving certain FDA approval milestones within a specified timeframe. By definition,
the performance condition in these options can only be achieved after the performance condition of FDA approval has been achieved. As
such, the requisite service period is based on the estimated period over which the market condition can be achieved. When a performance
goal is deemed to be probable of achievement, time-based vesting and recognition of stock-based compensation expense commences. In the
event any of the milestones are not achieved by the specified timelines, such vesting award will terminate and no longer be exercisable
with respect to that portion of the shares. The maximum potential expense associated with the performance-contingent awards is $ 1.2 million
of general and administrative expense if all of the performance conditions are achieved as stated in the option agreement. Due to the
significant risks and uncertainties associated with FDA approvals, as of April 30, 2022, the Company believes that the achievement of
the requisite performance conditions is not probable and, as a result, no compensation cost has been recognized for these awards.
F- 13
On November 26, 2019, the
Board granted 4,250,000 performance- and market-contingent awards to certain key employees and a director. These grants were made outside
of the Plan. These awards have an exercise price of $1.50 per share. These awards have multiple separate market triggers for vesting based
upon either (i) the successful achievement of stepped target closing prices on a national securities exchange for 90 consecutive trading
days later than 180 days after the Company’s initial public offering (“IPO”) for its common stock; or (ii) stepped target
prices for a change in control transaction. The target prices range from $15 per share to $40 per share. In the event any of the stock
price milestones are not achieved within three years, the unvested portion of the performance options will be reduced by 25%. Due to the
significant risks and uncertainties associated with achieving the market-contingent awards, as of April 30, 2022, the Company believed
that the achievement of the requisite performance conditions was not probable and, as a result, no compensation cost has been recognized
for these awards.
Performance Contingent Stock Options Granted
to Consultants - TAMM Net
On March 23, 2021, the Company
issued performance-based stock options to certain team members at TAMM Net, Inc. to purchase an aggregate of 450,000 shares of common
stock at a per share exercise price of $1.50 per share, of which 50% vest upon the completion of Phase I clinical trial for AL001 by March
31, 2022, and the remaining 50% vest upon completion of Phase I clinical trial for AL002 by December 31, 2022. The Company retained TAMM
Net, Inc., a consulting firm based in Georgia for project management experienced with good manufacturing practices to lead, develop and
manage the Company’s preclinical and clinical efforts, extending from the current status of each product candidate through the exit
or commercialization of the technologies that the Company has licensed.
As of April 30, 2022,
the Company has completed the Phase I clinical trial of AL001. The Company recognized stock-based compensation related to the completion
of the Phase I clinical trial of AL001 by March 31, 2022. Due to the significant risks and uncertainties associated with achieving the
completion of Phase I for AL002, as of April 30, 2022, the Company believed that the achievement of the requisite performance conditions
was not probable and, as a result, no compensation cost has been recognized for these awards related to AL002.
Performance Contingent Stock Options Granted
to Consultants - Other Consultants
On October 14, 2021, the Company
issued performance-based stock options to two consultants to purchase an aggregate of 200,000 shares of common stock with an exercise
price of $2.42 per share, of which 50,000 vest upon completion of each of the Phase II clinical trials of AL001 for a bipolar indication,
AL001 for a PTSD indication, AL001 for a MDD indication and AL002 for an Alzheimer’s indication.
As of April 30, 2022, the
Company believed that the achievement of the requisite performance conditions was not probable and, as a result, no compensation cost
has been recognized for these awards related to Phase II of AL001 and AL002.
Stock-Based Compensation Expense
The Company’s results
of operations include expenses relating to stock-based compensation for the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, were comprised as follows:
For the Year Ended April 30,
2022
2021
Research and development
$ 423,167
$ 87,252
General and administrative
3,985,402
2,323,811
Total
$ 4,408,569
$ 2,411,063
As of April 30, 2022, total
unamortized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested employee and non-employee awards that are expected to vest was $ 4.5 million .
The weighted-average period over which such stock-based compensation expense will be recognized is approximately 1.8 years.
8. WARRANTS
Warrant Issuances During 2022
During the year ended April
30, 2022, the Company issued warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ 3.00 per share
and 61,250 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $ 6.25 per share.
(i) On June 17, 2021, the Company issued a warrant to purchase an aggregate of 61,250 shares of common stock
at an exercise price equal to $ 6.25 per share of common stock in connection with the IPO. Based on the terms of the Company’s warrant
agreement, the Company accounted for the warrant as an equity instrument as the warrant is indexed to the common stock, requires settlement
in shares and would be classified as equity under ASC 815.
F- 14
(ii) On July 28, 2021, the Company received from the FDA a “Study May Proceed” letter for a Phase
I study under the Company’s IND application for AL001. Based on the achievement of this milestone, the Company sold an additional
1,333,333 shares of common stock to DPL for $ 2 million, or $ 1.50 per share, and issued to DPL warrants to acquire 666,667 shares of common
stock with an exercise price of $ 3.00 per share (see Note 9). Based on the terms of the Company’s warrant agreement, the Company
accounted for the warrant as an equity instrument as the warrant is indexed to the common stock, requires settlement in shares and would
be classified as equity under ASC 815.
(iii) On March 28, 2022, the Company received the full data set from the Phase I clinical trial for AL001.
Based on the achievement of this milestone, on April 28, 2022, under the SPA, the Company sold an additional 2,666,667 shares
of its common stock to DPL for $ 4 million,
or $ 1.50 per
share, and issued to DPL warrants to acquire 1,333,333 shares of its common stock with an exercise price of $3.00 per share. Based
on the terms of the Company’s warrant agreement, the Company accounted for the warrant as an equity instrument as the warrant
is indexed to the common stock, requires settlement in shares and would be classified as equity under ASC 815.
Warrant Issuances During 2021
During the year ended April 30, 2021, the Company issued warrants to
purchase an aggregate of 123,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share.
(i) On August 11, 2020, the Company issued a warrant to purchase an aggregate
of 91,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $3.00 per share of common stock in connection with the issuance of a convertible
promissory note in the principal amount of $275,000. Based on the terms of the Company’s warrant agreement, the Company accounted
for the warrant as an equity instrument as the warrant is indexed to the Company’s common stock, require settlement in shares and
would be classified as equity under ASC 815.
(ii) On August 31, 2020, the Company issued a warrant to purchase an aggregate
of 16,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $3.00 per share of common stock in connection with the issuance of a convertible
promissory note, related party in the principal amount of $50,000. Based on the terms of the Company’s warrant agreement, the Company
accounted for the warrant as equity instrument as the warrant is indexed to the Company’s common stock, require settlement in shares
and would be classified as equity under ASC 815.
(iii) In December 2020, the Company issued a warrant to purchase an aggregate
of 14,666 shares of common stock at an exercise price equal to $3.00 per share of common stock in connection with the issuance of a convertible
promissory note in the principal amount of $44,000. Based on the terms of the Company’s warrant agreement, the Company accounted
for the warrant as equity instruments as the warrant is indexed to the Company’s common stock, require settlement in shares and
would be classified as equity under ASC 815.
The following table summarizes
information about common stock warrants outstanding at April 30, 2022:
Outstanding
Exercisable
Weighted
Average
Weighted
Weighted
Remaining
Average
Average
Exercise
Number
Contractual
Exercise
Number
Exercise
Price
Outstanding
Life (years)
Price
Exercisable
Price
$ 1.00
500,000
1.8
$ 1.00
500,000
$ 1.00
$ 1.75
161,342
2.5
$ 1.75
161,342
$ 1.75
$ 3.00
9,427,196
2.9
$ 3.00
9,427,196
$ 3.00
$ 6.25
61,250
4.1
$ 6.25
61,250
$ 6.25
$ 1.00
- $ 6.25
10,149,788
2.9
$ 2.90
10,149,788
$ 2.90
The estimated fair value of
warrants granted during the years ended April 30, 2022 and 2021, were calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model using the
following assumptions:
For the Year Ended April 30,
2022
2021
Expected term (in years)
5.00
5.00
Volatility
88.94 %
103.70 %
Risk-free interest rate
2.92%
0.27 % - 0.28 %
Dividend yield
0.0 %
0.0 %
Expected Term: The
expected term represents the period that the warrants granted are expected to be outstanding.
Expected Volatility: The
Company uses an average historical stock price volatility of comparable public companies within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry
that were deemed to be representative of future stock price trends as the Company only has a limited trading history for its common stock.
The Company will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its own
stock price becomes available.
Risk-Free Interest Rate: The
Company based the risk-free interest rate over the expected term of the warrants based on the constant maturity rate of U.S. Treasury
securities with similar maturities as of the date of the grant.
Expected Dividend: The
Company has not paid and does not anticipate paying any dividends in the near future. Therefore, the expected dividend yield was zero.
F- 15
9. OTHER RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
In March 2021, the Company
entered into the SPA with DPL pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell an aggregate of 6,666,667 shares of common stock for an aggregate
of $ 10 million, or $1.50 per share, which sales were made in tranches. On March 9, 2021, DPL paid $4 million, less the $1.8 million
in prior advances and the surrender for cancellation of a $50,000 convertible promissory note held by BitNile, for an aggregate of 2,666,667
shares of common stock. Under the terms of the SPA, DPL (i) purchased an additional 1,333,333 shares of common stock upon approval of
the IND for Phase I clinical trials for AL001 for a purchase price of $2 million; and (ii) purchased 2,666,667 shares of common stock
upon the completion of the Phase I clinical trials for AL001 for a purchase price of $4 million . In addition, the Company issued DPL warrants
to purchase an aggregate of 6,666,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share. Finally, the Company agreed that
for a period of eighteen (18) months following the date of the payment of the final tranche of $4 million, DPL will have the right to
invest an additional $10 million on the same terms, except that no specific milestones have been determined with respect to the additional
$10 million as of the date of this Annual Report .
In May 2021, the Board
and Mr. Ault, the Company’s Founder and Chairman Emeritus, agreed to certain arrangements with regard to Board composition and
other matters. Contemporaneously with the
effectiveness of the IPO, and in consideration for (i) the conversion of 750,000 shares of the Company’s Series A Preferred
Shares beneficially owned by Mr. Ault through Ault Life Sciences, Inc. into 15,000,000 shares of common stock; (ii) the extension of
the maturity date of the note in the original principal amount of $15,000,000 issued to the Company by ALSF, an entity controlled by
Mr. Ault, to December 31, 2023; and (iii) the resignation by Mr. Ault as a director and executive officer of the Company , the
Board agreed that William B. Horne will become Chairman of the Board and remain in that position for so long as Mr. Ault
beneficially owns no less than 5 %
of the outstanding shares of common stock (for which Mr. Horne will be paid $ 50,000
per year), and Henry Nisser will remain a member of the Company’s Board for so long as Mr. Ault beneficially owns no less than
5% of the outstanding shares of common stock (for no additional remuneration). Additionally, Mr. Ault will hold the position of
Founder and Chairman Emeritus and, as such, have the right to nominate an observer to the Board for a period of five years after the
closing date of the IPO. Following the closing of the IPO, the Company entered into a five-year consulting agreement with Mr. Ault
under which he will provide strategic advisory and consulting services to the Company in consideration for annual fees of $ 50,000 .
For the year ended April 30, 2022, total expenses paid to related party consulting
was $ 88,000 .
On June 15, 2021, DPL, a related party,
purchased 2,000,000 of the Company’s IPO shares at the public offering price of $ 5.00 per share.
10. COMMITMENTS
AND CONTINGENCIES
Contractual Obligations
On May 1, 2016, the Company
entered into a Standard Exclusive License Agreement for AL002 with Sublicensing Terms with Licensor, pursuant to which Licensor granted
the Company a royalty bearing exclusive worldwide license limited to the field of Alzheimer’s Immunotherapy and Diagnostics, under
United States Patent No. 8,188,046, entitled “Amyloid Beta Peptides and Methods of Use,” filed April 7, 2009 and granted
May 29, 2012.
There are certain initial
license fees and milestone payments required to be paid by the Company to the Licensor pursuant to the terms of license agreements. The
license agreements for AL002 require the Company to pay royalty payments of 4 % on net sales of products developed from the licensed technology
for AL002 while the license agreements for AL001 require that the Company pay combined royalty payments of 4.5 % on net sales of products
developed from the licensed technology for AL001. The Company has already paid an initial license fee of $200,000 for AL002 and an initial
license fee of $200,000 for AL001. As an additional licensing fee for the license of AL002, the Licensor received 3,601,809 shares of
common stock. As an additional licensing fee for the license of the AL001 technologies, the Licensor received 2,227,923 shares of common
stock. Minimum royalties for AL001 are $25,000 in 2023, $45,000 in 2024 and $70,000 in 2025 and every year thereafter, for the life of
the agreement. Minimum royalties for AL002 are $20,000 in 2022, $40,000 in 2023 and $50,000 in 2024 and every year thereafter, for the
life of the respective agreement. Additionally, the Company is required to pay milestone payments on the due dates to the Licensor for
the license of the AL001 technologies and for the AL002 technology, as follows:
Original AL001 License:
Payment
Due Date
Event
$
50,000
*
Completed September 2019
Pre-IND meeting
$
65,000
*
Completed June 2021
IND application filing
$
190,000
*
Completed December 2021
Upon first dosing of patient in a clinical trial
$
500,000
*
Completed March 2022
Upon Completion of first clinical trial
$
1,250,000
12 months from completion of the first Phase II clinical trial
Upon first patient treated in a Phase III clinical trial
$
10,000,000
8 years from the effective date of the agreement
Upon FDA approval
* Milestone met and completed
F- 16
AL002 License:
Payment
Due Date
Event
$
50,000
*
Completed January 2022
Upon IND application filing
$
50,000
12 months from IND application filing date
Upon first dosing of patient in first Phase I clinical trial
$
175,000
12 months from first patient dosed in Phase I
Upon completion of first Phase I clinical trial
$
500,000
24 months from completion of first Phase I clinical trial
Upon completion of first Phase II clinical trial
$
1,000,000
12 months from completion of the first Phase II clinical trial
Upon first patient treated in a Phase III clinical trial
$
10,000,000
7 years from the effective date of the agreement
Upon FDA BLA approval
The Company has met the pre-IND
meeting, IND application filing, and successfully completed the Phase I clinical trial milestones encompassing AL001. If the Company fails
to meet a milestone by its specified date, the Licensor may terminate the license agreement.
Licensor was also granted
a preemptive right to acquire such shares or other equity securities that may be issued from time to time by the Company while Licensor
remains the owner of any equity securities of the Company.
On June 10, 2020, the
Company obtained two (2) additional royalty-bearing exclusive worldwide licenses from the Licensor to a therapy named AL001. One of the
additional licenses is for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases excluding Alzheimer’s and the other license is for the treatment
of psychiatric diseases and disorders. There are certain license fees and milestone payments required to be paid pursuant to the terms
of the Standard Exclusive License Agreements with Sublicensing Terms, both dated June 10, 2020 and effective as of November 1,
2019, with the Licensor and the University of South Florida (the “June AL001 License Agreements”). Under each of the June
AL001 License Agreements, a royalty payment of 3 % is required on net sales of products developed from the licensed technology. For the
two (2) additional AL001 licenses, in the aggregate, the Company has paid initial license fees of $ 20,000 . Additionally, under each of
the June AL001 License Agreements, the Company is required to pay milestone payments on the due dates to the Licensor for the license
of the technology, as follows:
Additional AL001 Licenses:
Payment
Due Date
Event
$
50,000
Upon IND application filing
IND application filing
$
150,000
12 months from IND filing date
Upon first dosing of patient in a clinical trial
$
400,000
12 months from first patient dosing
Upon Completion of first clinical trial
$
1,000,000
36 months from completion of the first Phase II clinical trial
Upon first patient treated in a Phase III clinical trial
$
8,000,000
8 years from the effective date of the agreement
First commercial sale
11. CONVERTIBLE NOTES
In February 2021, the
Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with an institutional investor to sell a convertible promissory note in the
aggregate principal amount of $ 348,000
for a purchase price of $ 335,000 .
The purchase price of the February 2021 convertible promissory note and equity warrants issued satisfies the principal and accrued interest of the August
2020 and December 2020 convertible promissory notes with the same institutional investor. Since the terms of the February 2021
convertible promissory note were not substantially different from the August 2020 and December 2020 convertible promissory notes, no
gain or loss was recognized as a result of this debt issuance. The convertible promissory note bears interest at 10 %
per annum, which principal and all accrued and unpaid interest were due on December 31, 2021. As of April 30, 2022, the
principal and interest earned on the convertible promissory note have been converted into shares of common stock at $ 1.50
per share, for a total of 252,265 shares.
The fair value of equity
warrants related to the August 2020 and December 2020 convertible promissory note was recorded as a discount to the convertible promissory note with a corresponding increase to additional paid-in
capital. The Company computed the estimated fair value of the warrants using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and, as a result
of this calculation, recorded debt discount in the amount of $ 13,000
based on the estimated fair value of the warrants. The risk-free rate of 0.27 %
was derived from the U.S. Treasury yield curve, matching the term of the warrant, in effect at the measurement date. The volatility
factor of 103.7 %
was determined based on the historical volatility data of similar companies, considering the industry, products and market
capitalization of such other entities. In aggregate, the Company recorded debt discount in the amount of $ 137,000
based on the fair values of the warrants and original issue discount of $ 46,000 .
As of April 30, 2022, the debt discount has been fully amortized.
F- 17
12. EQUITY TRANSACTIONS
The
Company is authorized to issue 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock $ 0.0001 par value. The Board has designated 1,360,000 shares as the
Series A Preferred Shares. The rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions on the remaining authorized 8,640,000 shares of Preferred
Stock have not been determined. The Board is authorized to create a new series of preferred shares and determine the number of shares,
as well as the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to or imposed upon any series of preferred shares.
Series A Preferred Shares
In connection with the closing
of the IPO, all of the outstanding Series A Preferred Shares were converted into 15,000,000 shares of common stock. As of April 30, 2022,
there were no Series A Preferred Shares or other shares of Preferred Stock issued or outstanding.
Common Stock
On April 30, 2019, the
Company and ALSF entered into a securities purchase agreement for the purchase of 10,000,000
shares of common stock for a total purchase price of $ 15,000,000 ,
or $ 1.50
per share with 5,000,000
warrants with a 5 -year
life and an exercise price of $ 3.00
per share and vesting upon issuance. The total purchase price of $ 15,000,000
was in the form of a non-interest bearing note receivable with a 12 -month
term from ALSF, a related party. The note is secured by a pledge of the purchased shares. Pursuant to the securities purchase
agreement, ALSF is entitled to full ratchet anti-dilution protection, most-favored nation status, denying the Company the right to
enter into a variable rate transaction absent its consent, a right to participate in any future financing the Company may consummate
and to have all the shares of common stock to which it is entitled to under the SPA registered under the Securities Act within 180 days of the final closing
of IPO. In May 2021, the term of the note receivable was extended to December 31, 2023. The
note is secured by a pledge of the purchased shares.
In March 2021, the Company
entered into the SPA with DPL pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell an aggregate of 6,666,667 shares of common stock for an aggregate
of $ 10 million, or $ 1.50 per share, which sales were made in tranches. On March 9, 2021, DPL paid $ 4 million, less the $ 1.8 million
in prior advances and the surrender for cancellation of a $ 50,000 convertible promissory note held by BitNile, for an aggregate of 2,666,667
shares of common stock. Under the terms of the SPA, DPL (i) purchased an additional 1,333,333 shares of common stock upon approval by
the FDA of the Company’s IND for its Phase IA clinical trials for AL001 for a purchase price of $2 million; and (ii) purchased 2,666,667
shares of Common Stock upon the completion of these Phase IA clinical trials for AL001 for a purchase price of $4 million. In addition,
the Company issued DPL warrants to purchase an aggregate of 6,666,667 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.00 per share .
Finally, the Company agreed
that for a period of 18 months following the date of the payment of the final tranche of $4 million, DPL will have the right to invest
an additional $ 10 million on the same terms, except that no specific milestones have been determined with respect to the additional $ 10
million as of the date of this Annual Report.
On June 17, 2021, the
Company sold an aggregate of 2,875,000
shares of common stock, including 375,000
shares pursuant to the underwriter’s exercise of its option to purchase additional shares, each at an offering price of $ 5.00
per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $ 14.4
million . The proceeds from the offering to the Company, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, were $ 12.9
million . DPL also purchased 2,000,000 shares of common stock for $ 10.0 million in the initial
public offering at $ 5.00 per share, the same price and on the same terms as other investors in the initial public offering, except that
a reduced underwriting discount was paid to the underwriters for the sale of common stock to DPL.
13. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
The Company has evaluated
subsequent events through the date the financial statements were issued. The Company has determined that there are no such events that
warrant disclosure or recognition in the condensed financial statements presented herein.
F-18
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.