Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis
Item
2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Information
included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (this “Report”) contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange
Act”). Forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations concerning
future events and results. We generally use the words “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,”
“anticipates,” “likely,” “will” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Such
forward-looking statements, including those concerning our expectations, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which
are beyond our control, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties
and factors include, but are not limited to, those factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October
31, 2025. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, we undertake no obligation to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned
not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements when evaluating the information presented in this Report.
GENERAL
We
discuss the description of our business in the Notes to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS
Three
months ended January 31, 2026 compared with three months ended January 31, 2025
Revenue
We
had no revenue during the three-month periods ended January 31, 2026 and 2025.
We
have not generated any revenue to date from our therapeutics or vaccine programs. In addition, while we pursue our therapeutics and vaccine
programs, we may also make investments in and form new companies to develop additional emerging technologies. We do not expect to begin
generating revenue with respect to any of our current therapy or vaccine programs in the near term. We hope to achieve a profitable outcome
by eventually licensing our technologies to large pharmaceutical companies that have the resources and infrastructure in place to manufacture,
market and sell our technologies as therapeutics or vaccines. The eventual licensing of any of our technologies may take several years,
if it is to occur at all, and may depend on positive results from human clinical trials.
Research
and Development Expenses
During
the three months ended January 31, 2026, research and development expenses related to the development of our cancer vaccines and CAR-T
therapeutics consisted of approximately $673,000 and $429,000, respectively. During the three months ended January 31, 2025 research
and development expenses related to the development of our cancer vaccines and CAR-T therapeutics consisted of approximately $975,000
and $577,000, respectively.
Research
and development expenses decreased by approximately $450,000 to approximately $1,102,000 in the three months ended January 31, 2026,
from approximately $1,552,000 in the three months ended January 31, 2025. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily
due to a decrease in research and development expenses related to our breast cancer vaccine program as a result of fluctuations in the
timing of certain materials manufacturing activities of approximately $189,000, a decrease in research and development expenses related
to our CAR-T development program as a result of fluctuations in the timing of clinical trial patient enrollment of approximately $134,000,
a decrease in employee compensation and related costs, other than stock-based compensation expense, of approximately $84,000, and a decrease
in employee stock-based compensation expense of approximately $61,000.
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General
and Administrative Expenses
General
and administrative expenses decreased by approximately $220,000 to approximately $1,614,000 in the three months ended January 31, 2026,
from approximately $1,834,000 in the three months ended January 31, 2025. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was primarily
due to a decrease in employee stock-based compensation expense of approximately $133,000, a decrease in director stock-based compensation
of approximately $68,000, a decrease in patent prosecution costs of approximately $32,000, a decrease in director compensation, other
than stock-based compensation expense, of approximately $29,000, and a decrease in employee compensation and related costs, other than
stock-based compensation expense, of approximately $20,000, offset by an increase in investor and public relations expense of approximately
$76,000.
Interest
Income
Interest
income decreased by approximately $42,000 to approximately $131,000 in the three months ended January 31, 2026, from approximately $173,000
in the three months ended January 31, 2025, primarily due to a decrease in the amount of short-term investments held and a decrease in
interest rates.
Net
Loss Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest
The
net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest, representing Wistar’s ownership interest in Certainty’s net loss, decreased
by approximately $9,000 to approximately $20,000 in the three months ended January 31, 2026 from approximately $29,000 in the three months
ended January 31, 2025, as Certainty’s net loss decreased.
LIQUIDITY
AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our
primary sources of liquidity are cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Based
on currently available information as of March 9, 2026, we believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments
will be sufficient to fund our activities for at least the next twelve months. The Company had approximately $14,202,000 of cash, cash
equivalents and short-term investments at January 31, 2026 compared to approximately $15,174,000 at October 31, 2025 which is a reduction
of approximately $972,000 for the three months ended January 31, 2026. Therefore, the Company believes that it has sufficient cash, cash
equivalents and short-term investments to operate its business, as currently contemplated, for significantly longer than 12 months from
the date of this Report. We have implemented a business model that conserves funds by collaborating with third parties to develop our
technologies. During the three months ended January 31, 2026, we raised approximately $1,625,000, net of expenses, through an at-the-market
equity offering of 429,328 shares of common stock. Under our at-the-market equity program, which is currently effective and may remain
available for us to use in the future, as of January 31, 2026, we may sell approximately $98 million of common stock.
During
the three months ended January 31, 2026, cash used in operating activities was approximately $2,610,000. Cash provided by investing activities
was approximately $1,228,000, resulting from the maturities of short-term investments of approximately $13,760,000, offset by purchases
of short-term investments of approximately $12,532,000. Cash provided by financing activities was approximately $1,685,000, resulting
from the sale of 429,328 shares of common stock in an at-the-market equity offering of approximately $1,625,000, net of expenses, and
proceeds from stock option exercises of approximately $60,000. As a result, our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments at
January 31, 2026 decreased approximately $972,000 to approximately $14,202,000 from approximately $15,174,000 at October 31, 2025.
We
have expected future cash obligations related to the lease of our executive offices through 2029, inclusive of extension periods, estimated
at approximately $240,000.
CRITICAL
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The
Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States of America. In preparing these financial statements, we make assumptions, judgments and estimates that can have
a significant impact on amounts reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements. We base our assumptions, judgments and estimates
on historical experience and various other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ
materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. On a regular basis, we evaluate our assumptions, judgments
and estimates and make changes accordingly.
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We
believe that, of the significant accounting policies discussed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2025, the following accounting policies require our most difficult, subjective or
complex judgments:
●
Revenue
Recognition,
●
Stock-Based
Compensation, and
●
Research
and Development Expenses.
Revenue
Recognition
Our
revenue has been derived solely from technology licensing and the sale of patented technologies. Revenue is recognized upon transfer
of control of intellectual property rights and satisfaction of other contractual performance obligations to licensees in an amount that
reflects the consideration we expect to receive.
Our
revenue recognition policy requires us to make certain judgments and estimates in connection with the accounting for revenue. Such areas
may include determining the existence of a contract and identifying each party’s rights and obligations to transfer goods and services,
identifying the performance obligations in the contract, determining the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to separate
performance obligations, estimating the timing of satisfaction of performance obligations, determining whether a promise to grant a license
is distinct from other promised goods or services and evaluating whether a license transfers to a customer at a point in time or over
time.
Our
revenue arrangements provide for the payment, within 30 days of execution of the agreement, of contractually determined, one-time, paid-up
license fees in settlement of litigation and in consideration for the grant of certain intellectual property rights for patented technologies
owned or controlled by the Company. These arrangements typically include some combination of the following: (i) the grant of a non-exclusive,
retroactive and future license to manufacture and/or sell products covered by patented technologies owned or controlled by the Company,
(ii) a covenant-not-to-sue, (iii) the release of the licensee from certain claims, and (iv) the dismissal of any pending litigation.
In such instances, the intellectual property rights granted have been perpetual in nature, extending until the expiration of the related
patents. Pursuant to the terms of these agreements, we have no further obligations with respect to the granted intellectual property
rights, including no obligation to maintain or upgrade the technology, or provide future support or services. Licensees obtained control
of the intellectual property rights they have acquired upon execution of the agreement. Accordingly, the performance obligations from
these agreements were satisfied and 100% of the revenue was recognized upon the execution of the agreements.
Stock-Based
Compensation
The
compensation cost for service-based stock options granted to employees, directors and consultants is measured at the grant date, based
on the fair value of the award using the Black-Scholes pricing model, and is recognized as an expense on a straight-line basis over the
requisite service period (the vesting period of the stock option) which is one to four years. For employee options vesting if the trading
price of the Company’s common stock exceeds certain price targets, we use a Monte Carlo Simulation in estimating the fair value
at grant date and recognize compensation cost over the implied service period. For stock-based awards that vest upon the achievement
of a performance metric, the Company recognizes the estimated fair value of the award when achievement becomes probable.
For
restricted stock awards granted to employees and directors that vest at date of grant, we recognize expense based on the grant date market
price of the underlying common stock. For restricted stock awards vesting upon achievement of a price target of our common stock, we
use a Monte Carlo Simulation in estimating the fair value at grant date and recognize compensation cost over the implied service period
(median time to vest).
The
Black-Scholes pricing model and the Monte Carlo Simulation we use to estimate fair value requires valuation assumptions of expected term,
expected volatility, risk-free interest rates and expected dividend yield. The expected term of stock options represents the weighted
average period the stock options are expected to remain outstanding. For employees, we use the simplified method, which is a weighted
average of the vesting term and contractual term, to determine expected term. The simplified method was adopted since we do not believe
that we have sufficient historical exercise data on which to base our own estimate. For consultants, we use the contract term for expected
term. Under the Black-Scholes pricing model, we estimated the expected volatility of our shares of common stock based upon the historical
volatility of our share price over a period of time equal to the expected term of the grants. We estimated the risk-free interest rate
based on the implied yield available on the applicable grant date of a U.S. Treasury note with a term equal to the expected term of the
underlying grants. We made the dividend yield assumption based on our history of not paying dividends and our expectation not to pay
dividends in the future.
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We
will reconsider use of the Black-Scholes pricing model and the Monte Carlo Simulation if additional information becomes available in
the future that indicates another model would be more appropriate. If factors change and we employ different assumptions in future periods,
the compensation expense that we record may differ significantly from what we have recorded in the current period.
Research
and Development Expenses
We
recognize research and development expenses as incurred. Advance payments for future research and development activities are deferred
and expensed as the services are performed. We recognize our preclinical studies and clinical trial expenses based on the services performed
pursuant to contracts with research institutions, clinical research organizations (“CROs”), clinical manufacturing organizations
(“CMOs”), and other parties that conduct and manage various stages of research and development activities on our behalf.
Fees for such services are recognized based on management’s estimates after considering the activities and tasks completed by each
service provider in a given period, the time period over which services are expected to be performed, and the level of effort expended
in each reporting period.
At
each balance sheet date, management estimates prepaid and accrued research and development costs by discussing progress or stage of completion
of activities with internal personnel and external service providers, and comparing this information to payments made, invoices received,
and the agreed-upon contractual fee to be paid for such services in the applicable contract or statements of work.
In
addition, we allocate certain internal compensation costs to research and development expenses based on management’s estimates
of each employee’s time and effort expended.
EFFECT
OF RECENTLY ISSUED PRONOUNCEMENTS
We
discuss the effect of recently issued pronouncements in Note 7 of the condensed consolidated financial statements, included elsewhere
in this Report.
Item
3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. Not applicable.
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