Item 1. Financial Statements
ITEM
1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
ESTRELLA
IMMUNOPHARMA, INC
UNAUDITED
CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
As of
September 30,
2024
As of
June 30,
2024
(Unaudited)
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalent
$ 1,797,503
$ 4,165,428
Prepaid expenses and other receivable
437,642
288,761
Total current assets
2,235,145
4,454,189
Other Assets
Prepaid expenses - related party, non-current
1,500,000
-
Total Assets
$ 3,735,145
$ 4,454,189
Liabilities, Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable - related party
$ 5,000
$ -
Other payables and accrued liabilities
188,981
131,823
Accrued liability - related party
2,750,000
4,000
Franchise tax payables
4,134
4,134
Income tax payables
40,744
40,744
Total current liabilities
2,988,859
180,701
Total Liabilities
2,988,859
180,701
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 8)
Preferred Stock*
Series A Preferred Stock, $ 0.0001 par value, 15,000,000 shares authorized; 0 shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively;
-
-
Series AA Preferred Stock, $ 0.0001 par value, 105,000,000 shares authorized; 0 shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively;
-
-
Stockholders’ Equity:
Common stock, $ 0.0001 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized; 36,610,870 shares issued as of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024
3,661
3,661
Additional paid-in capital
24,124,543
24,124,543
Accumulated deficit
( 22,877,013 )
( 19,500,276 )
Treasury stock, at cost 431,723 and 321,794 shares as of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, respectively
( 504,905 )
( 354,440 )
Total Stockholders’ Equity
746,286
4,273,488
Total Liabilities, Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity
$ 3,735,145
$ 4,454,189
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
1
ESTRELLA
IMMUNOPHARMA, INC
UNAUDITED
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the
Three Months Ended
For the
Three Months Ended
September
30,
September
30,
2024
2023
Operating expenses
Research
and development
$ 2,826,000
$ 483,466
General
and administrative
550,737
1,387,031
Total operating
expenses
3,376,737
1,870,497
Loss
from Operations
( 3,376,737 )
( 1,870,497 )
Loss before
income taxes
( 3,376,737 )
( 1,870,497 )
Income taxes
provision
-
-
Net
loss
$ ( 3,376,737 )
$ ( 1,870,497 )
Net loss applicable
to common stock per share, basic and diluted
$ ( 0.09 )
$ ( 1.78 )
Weighted average
common stock outstanding, basic and diluted
36,208,477
1,052,656
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
2
ESTRELLA
IMMUNOPHARMA, INC
UNAUDITED
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Series
A
Preferred Stock
Series
AA
Preferred Stock
Common
Stock
Treasury
Additional
Paid-in
Accumulated
Total
Stockholders’
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
Stock
Capital
Deficit
Equity
Balance,
July 1, 2024
-
$ -
-
$ -
36,610,870
$ 3,661
$ ( 354,440 )
$ 24,124,543
$ ( 19,500,276 )
4,273,488
Purchase
of treasury stock
-
-
-
-
-
-
( 150,465 )
-
-
( 150,465 )
Net
loss
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
( 3,376,737 )
( 3,376,737 )
Balance,
September 30, 2024 (Unaudited)
-
$ -
-
$ -
36,610,870
$ 3,661
$ ( 504,905 )
$ 24,124,543
$ ( 22,877,013 )
$ 746,286
Series
A
Preferred Stock
Series
AA Preferred Stock
Common
Stock
Treasury
Additional
Paid-in
Accumulated
Total
Stockholders’
Equity
Shares*
Amount
Shares*
Amount
Shares*
Amount
Stock
Capital
Deficit
(Deficit)
Balance,
July 1, 2023
5,000,000
$ 5,000,000
105,000,000
$ -
4,063,500
$ 407
$ -
$ 445,596
$ ( 12,188,553 )
$ ( 11,742,550 )
Recapitalization
( 3,796,305 )
-
( 79,722,409 )
-
( 3,085,257 )
( 309 )
-
309
-
-
Balance,
July 1, 2023
1,203,695
5,000,000
25,277,591
-
978,243
98
-
445,905
( 12,188,553 )
( 11,742,550 )
Issuance
of series A preferred stock
2,407,389
9,750,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Conversion
of series A and series AA preferred stock into common stock
( 3,611,084 )
( 14,750,000 )
( 25,277,591 )
-
28,888,675
2,889
-
14,747,111
-
14,750,000
Vesting
of early exercised stock options
-
-
-
-
2,633,082
263
-
12,462
-
12,725
Stock-based
compensation
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,194,653
-
1,194,653
Issuance
of common stock for PIPE investment
-
-
-
-
1,000,000
100
-
9,999,900
-
10,000,000
Issuance
of common stock upon completion of business combination
-
-
-
-
1,701,232
170
-
( 474,147 )
-
( 473,977 )
Transactions
cost
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
( 1,801,200 )
-
( 1,801,200 )
Net
loss
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
( 1,870,497 )
( 1,870,497 )
Balance,
September 30, 2023 (Unaudited)
-
$ -
-
$ -
35,201,232
$ 3,520
$ -
$ 24,124,684
$ ( 14,059,050 )
$ 10,069,154
* Giving retroactive effect to reverse recapitalization effected on September 29, 2023 to reflect exchange ratio of approximately 0.2407 as described in Note 3
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
3
ESTRELLA
IMMUNOPHARMA, INC
UNAUDITED
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
For the
Three Months
For the
Three Months
Ended
Ended
September
30, 2024
September
30, 2023
Cash
Flows from Operating Activities:
Net
loss
$ ( 3,376,737 )
$ ( 1,870,497 )
Adjustments
to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Stock-based
compensation
-
1,194,653
Changes
in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid
expenses and other receivable
( 148,881 )
-
Prepaid
expenses - related party
( 1,500,000 )
-
Accounts
payable - related party
5,000
4,498
Other
payables and accrued liabilities
57,158
394,766
Accrued
liability - related party
2,746,000
2,000
Franchise
tax payable
-
( 612 )
Net
cash used in operating activities
( 2,217,460 )
( 275,192 )
Cash
Flows from Investing Activities:
Loan
to UPTD as extension note receivable prior to business combination
-
( 112,298 )
Net
cash used in investing activities
-
( 112,298 )
Cash
Flows from Financing Activities:
Net
proceeds from PIPE investment
-
10,000,000
Net
proceeds from issuance of Series A Preferred Stock
-
9,020,000
Net
proceeds from promissory note
-
300,000
Proceeds
from business combination
-
726,339
Purchase
of treasury stock
( 150,465 )
-
Net
cash (used in) provided by financing activities
( 150,465 )
20,046,339
Net
Change in Cash
( 2,367,925 )
19,658,849
Cash
and cash equivalents at beginning of the period
4,165,428
2,479,146
Cash
and cash equivalents at end of the period
$ 1,797,503
$ 22,137,995
Supplemental
Cash Flow Information
Cash
paid for income tax
$ -
$ -
Cash
paid for interest
$ -
$ -
Supplemental
Disclosure of Non-cash Financing Activities
Conversion
of Series A prefer stock into common stock
$ -
$ 5,000,000
Conversion
of deferred underwriting commission payable into Series A preferred stock
$ -
$ 730,000
The
accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
4
ESTRELLA
IMMUNOPHARMA, INC
Notes
to Unaudited Condensed Financial Statements
Note 1
— Organization and Business Operation
Description
of business
Estrella
Immunopharma, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing T-cell therapies with the capacity
to cure patients with blood cancers and solid tumors.
As
further discussed below and in Note 3, on September 29, 2023 (the “ Closing Date ”), Estrella Biopharma, Inc. (“Estrella”)
and TradeUP Acquisition Corp. (“UPTD”) consummated the business combination (the “Business Combination”) pursuant
to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of September 30, 2022 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among UPTD,
Tradeup Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of UPTD (“Merger Sub”), and the Company. Pursuant
to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub merged with and into Estrella, with Estrella surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary
of UPTD. Upon closing of the Business Combination (the “Closing”), UPTD changed its corporate name to Estrella Immunopharma,
Inc. (“New Estrella” or the “Company”).
Estrella
was incorporated in the State of Delaware on March 30, 2022 by Eureka Therapeutics, Inc. (“Eureka”), which was incorporated
in California in February 2006 and reincorporated in Delaware in March 2018 and is the predecessor of Estrella. Estrella’s fiscal
year end is June 30, and the Company’s fiscal year end changed from December 31 to June 30 effective as of the Closing Date.
On
June 28, 2022, pursuant to a Contribution Agreement between Estrella and Eureka (the “Contribution Agreement”), Eureka contributed
certain assets (the “Assets”) related to T-cell therapies targeting CD19 and CD22, proteins expressed on the surface of almost
all B-cell leukemias and lymphomas, in exchange for 105,000,000 shares of Estrella’s Series AA Preferred Stock (the “Separation”).
As
part of the Separation, Estrella entered into a License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) with Eureka and Eureka Therapeutics
(Cayman) Ltd. (“Eureka Cayman”), an affiliate of Eureka, and a Services Agreement (the “Services Agreement”)
with Eureka, and Eureka contributed and assigned the Collaboration Agreement between Eureka and Imugene Limited (“Imugene”)
(the “Collaboration Agreement”) to Estrella. The License Agreement grants the Company an exclusive license to develop CD19
and CD22 targeted T-cell therapies using Eureka’s ARTEMIS ® platform. Under the Services Agreement, Eureka has
agreed to perform certain services for the Company in connection with the development of the Company’s product candidates, EB103
and EB104. EB103, which is a T-cell therapy also called “CD19-Redirected ARTEMIS ® T-Cell Therapy,” utilizes
Eureka’s ARTEMIS ® technology to target CD19. The Company is also developing EB104, a T-cell therapy also called
“CD19/22 Dual-Targeting ARTEMIS ® T-Cell Therapy.” Like EB103, EB104 utilizes Eureka’s ARTEMIS ® technology
to target not only CD19, but also CD22. The Collaboration Agreement establishes the partnership between the Company and Imugene related
to development of solid tumor treatments using Imugene’s product candidate (“CF33-CD19t”) in conjunction with EB103.
On
March 2, 2023, the FDA cleared Estrella’s IND application for EB103, allowing Estrella to proceed with the Phase I/II STARLIGHT-1
Clinical Trial “STARLIGHT-1”. On March 4, 2024, the Company, Estrella and Eureka executed Statement of Work #001 relating
to clinical trial services to be performed by Eureka in connection with the STARLIGHT-1 clinical trial (see Note 9). On May 13, 2024,
the Company and Eureka entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Statement of Work, effective as of March 4, 2024 (see Note 9). As of September
30, 2024, the Company is continuing to enroll patients into the STARLIGHT-1 clinical trial in the U.S.
5
Merger
and reverse recapitalization
As
described above and further discussed in Note 3, the Business Combination was consummated on September 29, 2023.
The
Business Combination was accounted for as a “reverse recapitalization.” Under this method of accounting, UPTD was treated
as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the Business Combination was treated as the equivalent
of Estrella issuing shares for the net assets of UPTD, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of UPTD are stated at historical
costs. No goodwill or other intangible assets are recorded.
On
June 26, 2024, the Company filed a Certificate of Ownership and Merger with the Delaware Secretary of State to effect a merger (the “Merger
1”) with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Estrella BioPharma Inc, pursuant to Section 253 of the Delaware General Corporation Law.
The Merger 1 was approved by resolutions duly adopted by the unanimous written consent of the Company’s board of directors. The
Merger 1 became effective at 11:59 PM Eastern Time on June 30, 2024, at which time the separate existence of Estrella ceased, and the
Company became the surviving corporation.
Liquidity
and Going Concern
The
accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared on a basis which contemplates the realization of assets and
the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had cash of approximately $ 1.8
million, and accumulated deficit of approximately $ 22.9 million. For the three months ended September 30, 2024, loss from operations
was approximately $ 3.4 million. The Company’s ability to fund its operations is dependent on the amount of cash on hand and its
ability to raise debt or additional equity financing. The Company has expended substantial funds on its research and development business,
has experienced losses and negative cash flows from operations since its inception and expects losses and negative cash flows from operations
to continue until its technology receives regulatory approval and the Company generates sufficient revenue and positive cash flow from
operations, if ever.
On
September 29, 2023, the Business Combination and several concurrent financing transactions were consummated, with the Company receiving
net proceeds of approximately $ 20.1 million, after deducting $ 5.1 million payable to redeem 467,122 shares of UPTD Common Stock at $ 10.86
per share in connection with the special meeting of UPTD stockholders related to the Business Combination held on July 31, 2023, $ 1.6
million for UPTD’s transaction expenses and $ 0.7 million for repayment of working capital loans, consisting of: (i) $ 9.75 million
from the issuance of shares of the Company’s Operating Series A Preferred Stock immediately prior to the closing of the Business
Combination ($ 0.7 million of which was comprised of funds in the trust account delivered to the Company at the closing of the Business
Combination that would have otherwise been paid to US Tiger Securities, Inc. as a deferred underwriting fee in connection with UPTD’s
IPO); (ii) $ 0.3 million from the issuance of an unsecured promissory note by us to a third party investor; (iii) $ 0.7 million from the
funds held in UPTD’s trust account; and (iv) $ 10 million from the PIPE investors pursuant to the Subscription Agreements.
On
April 20, 2023, UPTD entered into the Common Stock Purchase Agreement and the White Lion RRA with White Lion. Subsequently, on April
26, 2023, UPTD and White Lion entered into an amendment to the Common Stock Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to the Common Stock Purchase
Agreement, following the Closing, New Estrella will have the right, but not the obligation, to require White Lion to purchase, from time
to time up to $ 50,000,000 in aggregate gross purchase price of newly issued shares of Common Stock (the “Equity Line Shares”),
subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the Common Stock Purchase Agreement as further described in Note 8.
On
October 10, 2023, the Company used a portion of the net proceeds from the Business Combination to pay $ 8.3 million due to Eureka under
the Services Agreement and approximately $ 0.9 million aggregate amount due to Eureka under the License Agreement, comprised of the outstanding
portion of the upfront fee as well as a milestone payment in connection with the submission of the IND application for EB103. The Company
intends to devote the remaining net proceeds from the Business Combination to the preclinical and clinical development of the Company’s
product candidates and the public company compliance costs.
6
On
March 4, 2024, Estrella and Eureka entered into Statement of Work No. 001 (“SOW”) relating to the clinical trial services
to be performed by Eureka in connection with STARLIGHT-1, the Phase I/II clinical trial of Estrella’s product candidate, EB103,
a T-cell therapy targeting CD19 using ARTEMIS ® T cell technology licensed by Estrella from Eureka. Pursuant to the SOW,
Estrella agrees to pay Eureka non-refundable net fees in connection with the achievement of certain milestones set forth in the SOW,
with total fees of $ 33.0 million for achievement of all milestones. As of September 30, 2024, Estrella has paid $ 3.5 million to Eureka
for covering the fees associated with the milestones that have been achieved. In addition, the Company has made a deposit of $ 1.5 million
towards patient treatment expenses, which will be applied to the final invoice, with unused portion of this deposit to be refunded once
all expenses are fully settled.
On
May 13, 2024, the Company and Eureka entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Statement of Work, effective as of March 4, 2024, to clarify
that in the event that Estrella exercises its right to terminate or suspend the engagement with Eureka by providing written notice to
Eureka in accordance with the SOW, Estrella will only be obligated to compensate Eureka for (i) services provided by Eureka pursuant
to the SOW (“Services”) in connection with milestones that were achieved prior to the date and time of such written notice,
(ii) reasonable and documented pass-through costs incurred by Eureka on behalf of Estrella prior to the date and time of such written
notice in connection with providing the Services and (iii) amounts payable to third parties pursuant to commitments reasonably entered
into by Eureka on behalf of Estrella prior to the date and time of such written notice in connection with providing the Services, provided
that Eureka shall make commercially reasonable efforts to cancel or reduce any such amounts.
The
Company’s future operations are highly dependent on a combination of factors, including but not necessarily limited to (1) the
success of our research and development programs; (2) the timely and successful completion of any additional financing; (3) the
development of competitive therapies by other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies; (4) our ability to manage growth of the
organization; (5) our ability to protect our technology and products; and, ultimately (6) regulatory approval and successful
commercialization and market acceptance of our product candidates.
However,
management believes that the Company has sufficient funds on hand and ability to raise funds in the future through the issuance and sale
of Equity Line Shares to White Lion in order to meet its working capital requirements and debt obligations, for at least the next 12
months from the filing date of these unaudited condensed financial statements.
Note 2
— Significant accounting policies
Basis
of Presentation
The
accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements are presented in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(“SEC”). The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial
statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, including normal recurring accruals, necessary to present fairly
the Company’s financial statements. The results for the three ended September 30, 2024 are not necessarily indicative of the results
to be expected for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025 (fiscal year 2025) or for any other interim period or for any future year.
Emerging
Growth Company Status
The
Company is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart The Company’s Business Startups Act of 2012,
(the “JOBS Act”), and it may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable
to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the
auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation
in its periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive
compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.
Further,
Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial
accounting standards until private companies are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS
Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging
growth companies but any such an election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition
period which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies,
the Company, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised
standard. This may make comparison of the Company’s unaudited condensed financial statements with another public company difficult
because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
7
Use
of Estimates
The
preparation of unaudited condensed 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 unaudited
condensed financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods.
Making
estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of
a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the unaudited condensed financial statements, which management
considered in formulating its estimate, could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, the actual
results could differ significantly from those estimates. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include stock-based
compensation, and deferred income tax asset valuation and allowances.
Cash
and cash equivalent
The
Company maintains its operating accounts in a single financial institution. The balance is insured by the United States Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) but only up to specified limits. The Company’s cash is maintained in a checking and
a saving account and Certificates of Deposits. Cash equivalents consist of funds held at the third-party broker’s account for stock
repurchase purpose, and the fund are unrestricted and immediately available for withdrawal and use. The balance held at the third-party
broker’s account is insured by the United States Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) but only up to
specified limits.
Basic
and Diluted Loss per Common Stock
Basic
net loss per Common Stock is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted–average number of Common Stock outstanding for
the period. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the weighted–average number of Common Stock and
dilutive share equivalents outstanding for the period, determined using the treasury stock and if–converted methods. Since the
Company has had net losses for all periods presented, all potentially dilutive securities are anti–dilutive.
As
of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, the Company had the following potential Common Stock outstanding which were not included in
the calculation of diluted net loss per Common Stock because inclusion thereof would be anti-dilutive:
As of
As of
September
30,
June
30,
2024
2024
(Unaudited)
Public warrant
2,214,993
2,214,993
Stock-Based
Compensation
The
Company recognizes compensation costs resulting from the issuance of stock-based awards to employees, non-employees and directors as
an expense in the unaudited condensed statements of operations over the requisite service period based on a measurement of fair value
for each stock-based award. The fair value of each option granted is estimated as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes-Merton
option-pricing model, net of actual forfeitures. The fair value is amortized as compensation cost on a straight-line basis over the requisite
service period of the awards, which is generally the vesting period. The Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model includes various assumptions,
including the fair market value of the Common Stock of the Company, expected life of stock options, the expected volatility and the expected
risk-free interest rate, among others. These assumptions reflect the Company’s best estimates, but they involve inherent uncertainties
based on market conditions generally outside the control of the Company.
8
As
a result, if other assumptions had been used, stock-based compensation expense, as determined in accordance with authoritative guidance,
could have been materially impacted. Furthermore, if the Company uses different assumptions on future grants, stock-based compensation
expense could be materially affected in future periods.
Mezzanine
Equity
Mezzanine
equity represents the Series A Preferred Stock and Series AA Preferred Stock (collectively known as “Preferred Stock”) issued
by the Company. The shares of Preferred Stock were mandatorily redeemable upon the occurrence of Deemed Liquidation Events outside of
the Company’s control. Therefore, the Company classifies the Preferred Stock as mezzanine equity. Refer to Note 11.
Warrants
The
Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s
specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC 480, Distinguishing
Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers
whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480,
and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed
to the Company’s own ordinary shares and whether the warrant holders could potentially require “net cash settlement”
in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires
the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while
the warrants are outstanding.
For
issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, the warrants are required to be recorded as a component
of equity at the time of issuance. The Company determined that upon further review of the warrant agreements, the Company concluded that
its warrants qualify for equity accounting treatment.
Upon
completion of the business combination, all of UPTD’s public warrants that remained outstanding were replaced by the Company’s
public warrants. The Company treated such warrants replacement as a warrant modification and no incremental fair value was recognized.
Concentration
of Credit Risk
Financial
instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of two cash accounts in a financial institution
located in the United States. The Company has not experienced losses on these accounts, and management believes the Company is not exposed
to significant risks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) provides standard insurance coverage of $ 250,000 per insured bank
for each account ownership category. As of September 30, 2024 the Company had not experienced losses on these accounts. As of September
30, 2024, and June 30, 2024, the Company had deposited approximately $ 1.7 million and $ 4.0 million, respectively, with financial institutions
in the United States. Of these balances, approximately $ 1.4 million and $ 3.8 million, respectively, were not covered by deposit insurance.
While management believes that these financial institutions are of high credit quality, it also continually monitors their creditworthiness.
The
Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) provides standard insurance coverage of $ 500,000 per brokerage account, which includes
$ 250,000 for cash balances. As of September 30, 2024, and June 30, 2024, the Company maintained approximately $ 94,000 and $ 146,000 , respectively,
in its brokerage account, with the entire balance covered by SIPC insurance.
Risks
and Uncertainties
Management
continues to evaluate the impact of inflation rates, the continuing military action in Ukraine, and Israel’s war against Hamas
on the industry and has concluded that these factors could have a negative effect on the Company’s financial position and/or results
of its operations. The specific impact of these factors is not readily determinable as of the date of these unaudited condensed financial
statements. The unaudited condensed financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of these uncertainties.
9
The
Company’s future success depends on the Company and Eureka’s ability to retain key employees, directors, and advisors and
to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel. The Company relies on Eureka to provide certain technical assistance to facilitate
the Company’s exploitation of the intellectual property licensed by Eureka, and Eureka will be solely responsible for the manufacture
and supply of clinical quantities of the licensed products and final filled and finished (including packaged) drug product form of the
licensed products. Pursuant to the Services Agreement, Eureka currently performs or supports the Company’s important research and
development activities. The Statement of Work (see Note 9) may be terminated by mutual agreement at any time. Following the termination
of, or the expiration of the term of, the Statement of Work, the Company may not be able to replace the research and development-related
services that Eureka provides or enter into appropriate third-party arrangements on terms and conditions, including cost, comparable
to those that the Company will receive from Eureka. Additionally, after the Statement of Work terminates, the Company may be unable to
sustain the research and development-related services at the same levels or obtain the same benefits as when the Company was receiving
such services and benefits from Eureka. If the Company is required to operate these research and development functions separately in
the future, or are unable to obtain them from other providers, the Company may not be able to operate the Company’s business effectively
and could result in a material adverse effect.
Fair
Value of Financial Instruments
The
fair value of the Company’s assets and liabilities, which qualify as financial instruments under ASC Topic 820, “Fair
Value Measurements and Disclosures,” approximates the carrying amounts represented in the accompanying balance sheet, primarily
due to their short-term nature. The Company measures the fair value of certain of its financial assets and liabilities on a recurring
basis. A fair value hierarchy is used to rank the quality and reliability of the information used to determine fair values. Financial
assets and liabilities carried at fair value which is not equivalent to cost will be classified and disclosed in one of the following
three categories:
Level
1 — Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.
Level
2 — Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as unadjusted quoted prices for similar
assets and liabilities, unadjusted quoted prices in the 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 — Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets
or liabilities.
Income
Taxes
The
Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for both the expected impact of differences between the financial statement and
tax basis of assets and liabilities and for the expected future tax benefit to be derived from tax loss and tax credit carry forwards
and establishes a valuation allowance when it is more likely than not that all or a portion of deferred tax assets will not be realized.
Accounting
for uncertainty in income taxes is recognized based on a recognition threshold and measurement process for the financial statement recognition
and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position
must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. There were no unrecognized tax benefits and no amounts
accrued for interest and penalties as of September 30, 2024, and June 30, 2024. The Company is currently not aware of any issues under
review that could result in significant payments, accruals or material deviation from its position. The Company may be subject to potential
examination by federal and state taxing authorities in the areas of income taxes. These potential examinations may include questioning
the timing and amount of deductions, the nexus of income among various tax jurisdictions and compliance with federal and state tax laws.
The Company’s management does not expect that the total amount of unrecognized tax benefits will materially change over the next
twelve months.
10
The
Company is incorporated in the State of Delaware and is required to pay franchise taxes to the State of Delaware on an annual basis.
Research
and Development Expenses
The
Company charges research and development costs to operations as incurred. The Company accrues for costs incurred by external service
providers, including contract research organizations and clinical investigators, based on its estimates of service performed and costs
incurred. These estimates include the level of services performed by third parties, patient enrollment in clinical trials when applicable,
administrative costs incurred by third parties, and other indicators of the services completed. Based on the timing of amounts invoiced
by service providers, the Company may also record payments made to those providers as prepaid expenses that will be recognized as expense
in future periods as the related services are rendered. Research and development expenses for three months ended September 30, 2024 and
2023 primarily consisted of personnel costs for the design and development of clinical trials, legal and professional fees and, facilities
related fees. Refer to Note 9 for the terms of the License Agreement, the Service Agreement, and the Statement of Work.
Deferred
transaction costs
Deferred
transaction costs consist primarily of expenses paid to attorneys, consultants, underwriters, and others related to the Merger, which
were charged to shareholders’ equity upon the completion of the Merger. The Company completed the Merger on September 29, 2023.
Lease
Effective
July 1, 2022, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02, “Leases” (Topic 842), and elected the practical expedients that does not require
us to reassess: (1) whether any expired or existing contracts are, or contain, leases, (2) lease classification for any expired or existing
leases and (3) initial direct costs for any expired or existing leases. For lease terms of twelve months or fewer, a lessee is permitted
to make an accounting policy election not to recognize lease assets and liabilities.
If
any of the following criteria are met, the Company classifies the lease as a finance lease:
●
The lease transfers ownership
of the underlying asset to the lessee by the end of the lease term;
●
The lease grants the lessee
an option to purchase the underlying asset that the Company is reasonably certain to exercise;
●
The lease term is for a
major part of the remaining economic life of the underlying asset;
●
The present value of the
sum of the lease payments and any residual value guaranteed by the lessee, that is not otherwise included in the lease payments substantially
exceeds all of the fair value of the underlying asset; or
●
The underlying asset is
of such a specialized nature that it is expected to have no alternative use to the lessor at the end of the lease term.
Leases
that do not meet any of the above criteria are accounted for as operating leases.
The
Company combines lease and non-lease components in its contracts under Topic 842, when permissible.
Operating
lease right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and lease liability were recognized at the adoption date of July 1, 2022, based on the present
value of lease payments over the lease term. Since the implicit rate for the Company’s leases is not readily determinable, the
Company uses its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the commencement date in determining the present value
of lease payments. The incremental borrowing rate is the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow, on a collateralized
basis, an amount equal to the lease payments, in a similar economic environment and over a similar term.
11
In
the event of lease modification, the Company followed ASC 842-10-25 through 25-12, “lessee accounting for a modification that is
not accounted for as a separate contract,” to remeasure and reallocate the remaining consideration in the lease agreement and reassess
the classification of the lease at the effective date of the modification.
The
Company reviews the impairment of its ROU asset consistent with the approach applied for its other long-lived assets. The Company reviews
the recoverability of its long-lived assets when events or changes in circumstances occur that indicate that the carrying value of the
asset may not be recoverable. The assessment of possible impairment is based on its ability to recover the carrying value of the asset
from the expected undiscounted future pre-tax cash flows of the related operations. The Company has elected to include the carrying amount
of operating lease liability in any tested asset group and includes the associated operating lease payments in the undiscounted future
pre-tax cash flows.
Segment
reporting
The
Company accounted for segment reporting in accordance with ASC 280, “Segment Reporting”. Based on qualitative and quantitative
criteria established by ASC 280, the Company considers itself to be operating within one reportable segment.
Recent
Accounting Pronouncements
The
Company considers the applicability and impact of all accounting standards updates (“ASUs”). Management periodically reviews
new accounting standards that are issued. Under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, as amended (the “JOBS Act”),
the Company meets the definition of an emerging growth company and has elected the extended transition period for complying with new
or revised accounting standards, which delays the adoption of these accounting standards until they would apply to private companies.
In
October 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-06, Disclosure Improvements — codification amendments in response to SEC’s disclosure
Update and Simplification initiative which amend the disclosure or presentation requirements of codification subtopic 230-10 Statement
of Cash Flows—Overall, 250-10 Accounting Changes and Error Corrections— Overall, 260-10 Earnings Per Share— Overall,
270-10 Interim Reporting— Overall, 440-10 Commitments—Overall, 470-10 Debt—Overall, 505-10 Equity—Overall, 815-10
Derivatives and Hedging—Overall, 860-30 Transfers and Servicing—Secured Borrowing and Collateral, 932-235 Extractive Activities—
Oil and Gas—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, 946-20 Financial Services— Investment Companies— Investment
Company Activities, and 974-10 Real Estate—Real Estate Investment Trusts—Overall. The amendments represent changes to clarify
or improve disclosure and presentation requirements of above subtopics. Many of the amendments allow users to more easily compare entities
subject to the SEC’s existing disclosures with those entities that were not previously subject to the SEC’s requirements.
Also, the amendments align the requirements in the Codification with the SEC’s regulations. For entities subject to existing SEC
disclosure requirements or those that must provide financial statements to the SEC for securities purposes without contractual transfer
restrictions, the effective date aligns with the date when the SEC removes the related disclosure from Regulation S-X or Regulation S-K.
Early adoption is not allowed. For all other entities, the amendments will be effective two years later from the date of the SEC’s
removal. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the update on the Company’s unaudited condensed financial statements
and related disclosures.
In
December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, which is an update to Topic 740, Income Taxes. The amendment in this update enhances
the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures. ASU 2023-09 will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December
15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted for annual financial statements that have not yet been issued or made available for issuance. The
amendments in this Update should be applied on a prospective basis. Retrospective application is permitted. The Company is currently
evaluating the impact the adoption of ASU 2023-07 will have on its annual and interim disclosures.
The
Company does not believe recently issued but not yet effective accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect
on the Company’s unaudited condensed financial statements.
12
Note 3
— Reverse recapitalization
Upon
the consummation of the Business Combination, the following transactions (collectively, the “Transactions”) were completed,
based on the Company’s capitalization as of September 29, 2023:
● each share of common stock, par value $ 0.0001 per share, of Merger Sub issued and outstanding immediately prior to the effective time of the Business Combination (“Effective Time”) was no longer outstanding and thereupon were converted into and become one validly issued fully paid and non-assessable share of Common Stock, par value $ 0.001 per share, of the Company and all such shares constituted the only outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company as of immediately following the Effective Time;
●
The UPTD Units were automatically
separated into underlying Common Stock and UPTD Warrants and are no longer be traded on the open market following the Closing;
● Estrella issued 500,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock to White Lion for $ 500,000 and 250,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock to White Lion as commitment fee pursuant to the Common Stock Purchase Agreement immediately prior to the Effective Time;
● Estrella issued (i) 1,520,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to Lianhe World for $1,520,000, (ii) 1,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to CoFame for $1,000,000, (iii) 730,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to Tiger for $730,000 for deferred commission, (iv) 2,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to Smart Crest for $2,000,000; (v) 2,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to Xiao for $2,000,000 and (vi) 2,000,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were issued to Wang for $2,000,000, immediately prior to the Effective Time ;
● Estrella issued an unsecured 30-day promissory note to Hongbing Zhang in the principal amount of $ 0.3 million with an interest rate of 12 % per annum;
●
Each share of Series A
Preferred Stock and Series AA Preferred Stock that was issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was automatically
converted into a number of shares of Estrella Common Stock (See Note 12);
● Each share of Estrella Common Stock was converted into 0.2407 shares of Company Common Stock; and
● The Company issued 500,000 shares of Common Stock to each of Plentiful Limited and Lianhe World, respectively.
The
following table presents the number of the Company’s Common Stock issued and outstanding immediately following the Reverse Recapitalization:
Common
Stock
UPTD’s Common Stock outstanding
prior to Reverse Recapitalization
2,329,920
Less: redemption of UPTD’s Common Stock
( 628,688 )
Common Stock issued to PIPE investment
1,000,000
Conversion of Estrella’s
Common Stock into UPTD’s Common Stock
32,500,000
Total Common Stock outstanding
35,201,232
Estrella
was determined to be the accounting acquirer given that Estrella effectively controlled the Company upon consummation of the Business
Combination. The transaction is accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, which is equivalent to the issuance of Common Stock by Estrella
for the net monetary assets of UPTD, accompanied by a recapitalization. Estrella was determined as the accounting acquirer and the historical
financial statements of Estrella became the Company’s historical financial statements, with retrospective adjustments to give effect
of the reverse recapitalization. The net assets of UPTD were recognized as of the Closing Date at historical cost, with no goodwill or
other intangible assets recorded. Operations prior to the Closing Date are those of Estrella and Estrella’s operations are the
only ongoing operations of the Company.
13
In
connection with the Reverse Recapitalization, the Company raised approximately $ 726,339 of proceeds, presented as cash flows from financing
activities, which included the contribution of $ 8,138,230 of funds held in UPTD’s trust account, $ 9,782 of cash held in UPTD’s
operating cash account, net of $ 5,072,945 payable to UPTD’s public stockholders to redeem 467,122 public shares of UPTD’s
Common Stock, $ 1,640,128 in transaction costs incurred by UPTD, and $ 708,600 prepayment of working capital loans issued to UPTD’s
related parties.
The
following table reconcile the elements of the Reverse Recapitalization to the statements of cash flows and the changes in shareholders’
equity (deficit):
September 29,
2023
Funds held in UPTD’s trust
account
$ 8,138,230
Funds held in UPTD’s operating cash account
9,782
Less: amount payable to redeem public shares
of UPTD’s Common Stock
( 5,072,945 )
Less: payments of transaction costs incurred
by UPTD
( 1,640,128 )
Less: repayments of
working capital loan – related parties of UPTD
( 708,600 )
Proceeds from the Reverse Recapitalization
726,339
Less: non-cash net deficit
assumed from UPTD
( 1,200,316 )
Net distributions from
issuance of Common Stock upon the Reverse Recapitalization
$ ( 473,977 )
The
shares and corresponding capital amounts and all per share data related to the Company’s outstanding Common Stock prior to the
Reverse Recapitalization have been retroactively adjusted using the Exchange Ratio of 0.2407 .
Note
4 — Cash Held in Trust Account
The
Company had cash held in a trust account, carried over from UPTD upon the consummation of the Business Combination. Such balance held
in trust account was designated to pay UPTD’s shareholders who redeemed public shares of UPTD’s Common Stock before the consummation
of the business combination. On October 3, 2023, the remaining balance of cash held in trust account was disbursed to the UPTD’s
shareholder as mentioned above.
Note 5
— Extension Note Receivable
Pursuant
to Merger Agreement, Estrella agreed to, upon request by UPTD, deposit the agreed reasonable amount to UPTD’s trust account in
order to effectuate extension of UPTD’s deadline to consummate a business combination. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, as of
June 30, 2023, a total of $ 273,066 of six-monthly extension payments, each in the principal amount of $ 45,511 , would be deposited into
the Trust Account of UPTD, all of which were sourced by loans from Estrella (the “Extension Notes”). The Extension
Notes bore no interest and were settled between Estrella and UPTD upon the consummation of the Business Combination on September 29,
2023.
Note 6
— Other payables and accrued liabilities
As
of
September 30,
2024
As
of
June 30,
2024
(Unaudited)
Accrued professional fees (i)
$ 183,989
$ 121,235
Salary and payroll taxes payable
2,167
10,241
Others
2,825
347
Total other payables and
accrued liabilities
$ 188,981
$ 131,823
(i) The balance of accrued professional fees represented amount due to third party service providers which include, legal and consulting fee related to research and development, and others.
14
Note 7
— Stock redemption payable
Stock
redemption payable represents the balance payable to UPTD’s shareholders related to the redemption of public shares of UPTD’s
Common Stock before the consummation of the business combination. On October 3, 2023, such balance was paid in full through the Company’s
investment held in trust account. (see Note 4).
Note
8 — Commitments and contingencies
Manufacturing
Commitment
On
June 28, 2022, Eureka and the Company entered into the License Agreement under which Eureka granted to the Company a license under certain
intellectual property controlled by Eureka for exploitation by the Company in the Company’s territory under the License Agreement
(the “Licensed Territory”). Eureka will be solely responsible for the manufacture and supply of clinical quantities of the
licensed products and final filled and finished (including packaged) drug product form of the licensed products for development and commercialization
purposes in the field both in the Licensed Territory and elsewhere. Refer to Note 9.
Equity
Financing Commitment
On
April 20, 2023, UPTD entered into a Common Stock purchase agreement (as amended on April 26, 2023 and from time to time, the “Common
Stock Purchase Agreement”) and a related registration rights agreement (the “White Lion RRA”) with White Lion. Pursuant
to the Common Stock Purchase Agreement, following the Closing, the Company has the right, but not the obligation to require White Lion
to purchase, from time to time, up to $ 50 million in aggregate gross purchase price of newly issued shares of Common Stock of the Company,
subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the Common Stock Purchase Agreement, including, among others, the initial
and any subsequent registration statement for the Equity Line Shares being declared effective by the SEC and remaining effective during
the term of the Common Stock Purchase Agreement. In addition, under Nasdaq listing rules, the Company is not permitted to issue any Equity
Line Shares under the Common Stock Purchase Agreement if such issuance would equal 20 % or more of the Company’s outstanding common
stock without obtaining majority approval by our stockholders, which had not been obtained as of the date hereof. On December 28, 2023,
the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 related to the Equity Line Shares was declared effective by the SEC. As of the
date hereof, no Equity Line Shares have been issued to White Lion pursuant to the Common Stock Purchase Agreement.
Registration
Rights
The
holders of 312,200 shares of Common Stock that were issued to the initial stockholders of UPTD (the “Founder Shares”) and
of 1,107,500 shares of Common Stock issued to certain investors in a private placement in connection with UPTD’s initial public
offering (the “Private Shares”) are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a Registration Rights Agreement, dated July
14, 2021, among UPTD, TradeUP Acquisition Sponsor LLC and certain security holders named therein. The Company assumed the obligations
of UPTD under such agreement upon consummation of the Business Combination. The holders of the majority of these securities are entitled
to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company registers such securities. In addition, the holders have
certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the completion of the
initial Business Combination and rights to require the Company to register for resale such securities pursuant to Rule 415 under the
Securities Act. The Company is also obligated to file a registration statement for the (i) Equity Line Shares that we may issue to White
Lion pursuant to the Common Stock Purchase Agreement and White Lion RRA, (ii) up to 2,225,000 shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise
of the Warrants and (iii) the shares issued or that will be issued pursuant to the Subscription Agreements. The Company will bear the
expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
15
Contingencies
From
time to time, the Company is or may be party to certain legal proceedings, as well as certain asserted and un-asserted claims. Amounts
accrued, as well as the total amount of reasonably possible losses with respect to such matters, individually and in the aggregate, are
not deemed to be material to the Company’s unaudited condensed financial statements.
In
some instances, the Company may be required to indemnify its licensors for the costs associated with any such adversarial proceedings
or litigation. Third parties may assert infringement claims against the Company, its licensors or its strategic collaborators based on
existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future, regardless of their merit. There is a risk that third parties may choose
to engage in litigation or other adversarial proceedings with the Company, its licensors or its strategic collaborators to enforce or
otherwise assert their patent rights.
Collaboration
Agreement
On
October 29, 2021, Eureka, entered into a Collaboration Agreement with Imugene Ltd, a clinical stage immune-oncology company to evaluate
Imugene’s CF33-CD19t, its oncolytic virus onCARlytics technology in combination with Eureka’s CD19 ARTEMIS ®
T-cell therapy for the treatment of solid tumors.
On
June 28, 2022, as part of the Separation, Eureka contributed and assigned the Collaboration Agreement to Estrella. Pursuant to the Collaboration
Agreement, Estrella and Imugene have each granted to the other a royalty free, non-exclusive, worldwide license, with the right to grant
and authorize sublicenses, to their respective technologies to conduct the research activities each is responsible for performing under
the research plan set forth in the Collaboration Agreement. The research plan is required to be reviewed no less frequently than every
six to eight months by a joint steering committee comprised of participants from each of Estrella and Imugene.
Allocation
of Costs, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties in connection with a given Research Plan and associated Research Budget:
(a)
Eureka Costs: Eureka will
be responsible for all FTE and other internal costs incurred in the performance of all Eureka Research Activities, as defined in
the Collaboration Agreement;
(b)
Imugene Costs: Imugene
will be responsible for all FTE and other internal costs incurred in the performance of all Imugene Research Activities, as defined
in the Collaboration Agreement; and
(c) Joint Costs: Eureka and Imugene will share equally (50:50) the out-of-pocket costs set forth in the applicable Research Budget plus Allowable Overruns, as defined in the Collaboration Agreement. If either Party incurs out-of-pocket costs in excess of the amount budgeted therefor in the applicable Research Budget plus Allowable Overruns, then the other Party will not be responsible for its 50 % share to the extent in excess of such budgeted amount plus Allowable Overruns, unless the joint steering committee (“JSC”) approves such excess costs (either before or after such costs have been incurred).
The
research plan under the Collaboration Agreement was completed as of August 30, 2023. The Company and Eureka recorded the costs associated
with the Collaboration Agreement as research and development expenses in the amount of $ 0 and $ 29,498 , For the three months ended September
30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
On
May 15, 2023, Estrella assigned a cost reimbursement receivable of $ 27,169 from Imugene under the Collaboration Agreement to Eureka.
There was no impact on Estrella’s statements of operations.
Note
9 — Related Party Transactions
License
Agreement
On
June 28, 2022, in connection with the Contribution Agreement, Eureka, Eureka Cayman and Estrella entered a License Agreement under which
Eureka and Eureka Cayman granted to Estrella a license under certain intellectual property controlled by Eureka for exploitation by Estrella
in the Licensed Territory, which primarily includes the United States and the rest of the world, excluding China and the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations.
16
Pursuant
to the License Agreement, (1) Eureka will be solely responsible for the manufacture and supply of clinical quantities of the licensed
products and final filled and finished (including packaged) drug product form of the licensed products (“Drug Product”) for
development and commercialization purposes in the field both in the Licensed Territory and elsewhere, and (2) during the term of the
License Agreement, Eureka will manufacture and supply, either itself or through an affiliate or a third party contract manufacturer,
all of Estrella’s and its related parties’ clinical quantities requirements of Drug Product for Estrella’s and its
related parties’ development activities with respect to the licensed products in the field in the Territory conducted in accordance
with this agreement. Eureka and Estrella will use good faith efforts to negotiate and enter into a clinical supply agreement on reasonable
and customary terms for the supply of Drug Product by Eureka to Estrella at a price equal to the fully burdened cost (the “Clinical
Supply Agreement”), and a related quality agreement, which agreements will govern the terms and conditions of the manufacturing
and clinical supply of Drug Product to Estrella. Furthermore, Eureka and Estrella’s collaboration will be overseen by a JSC. Eureka
and Estrella will initially appoint one representative to the JSC, with each representative having knowledge and expertise in the development
and commercialization of products similar to the licensed products and having sufficient seniority within the applicable party to provide
meaningful input and make decisions arising within the scope of the JSC’s responsibility.
The
License Agreement requires Estrella to make certain payments, including (a) an “upfront” payment of $ 1.0 million, payable
in 12 equal monthly installments, (b) “milestone” payments upon the occurrence of certain events related to development and
sales, with potential aggregate multi-million dollar payments upon FDA approval, and (c) royalty payments of a single digit percentage
on net sales.
As
of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, Estrella had no remaining balance of accounts payable – related party related to the upfront
payment under the License Agreement. As of September 30, 2024, two development milestones related to the IND submission of EB103 to the
FDA (“Milestone 1”) and first patient dosed in the first clinical trial of a licensed product (“Milestone 2”)
was earned by Eureka under the Agreement. Milestone payment related to Milestone 1 was accrued by Estrella and paid on October 10, 2023.
Milestone payment of $ 50,000 related to Milestone 2 was accrued
by Estrella in July 2024, and paid on September 3, 2024.
Services
Agreement
On
June 28, 2022, Estrella entered a Services Agreement with Eureka. Pursuant to the Services Agreement, Eureka will perform certain services
for Estrella related the transfer of certain technology and the provision of certain technical assistance to facilitate Estrella’s
exploitation of the intellectual property licensed by Eureka to Estrella under the License Agreement, and Eureka will perform such services
for Estrella (the “Services”). Under the Services Agreement, Estrella shall pay Eureka (1) $ 10.0 million in connection with
the Services payable in 12 equal monthly installments with the first payment to be made no later than five days after the Effective date
and (2) reimburse Eureka on a monthly basis for reasonable pass-through costs incurred or paid to providers by Eureka in providing the
Services. In addition, Estrella will be charged for other services performed by Eureka outside the scope of the Services per the Service
Agreement, at a flat rate, by time or materials or as mutually agreed upon the parties in writing.
Eureka’s
services commenced on June 28, 2022. As of both September 30, 2024, and June 30, 2024, Estrella had no accounts payable balance –
related party related to the Service Agreement with Eureka.
For
the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, Estrella incurred $ 0 and approximately $ 4,000 pass-through costs related to clinical
trials, respectively.
After
the closing of the business combination on September 29, 2023, on October 10, 2023 Estrella remitted approximately $ 9.3 million to Eureka.
Statement
of Work
On
March 4, 2024, the Company, Estrella and Eureka entered into Statement of Work No. 001 (“SOW”) relating to the clinical trial
services to be performed by Eureka in connection with STARLIGHT-1, the Phase I/II clinical trial of Estrella’s product candidate,
EB103, a T-cell therapy targeting CD19 using ARTEMIS ® T cell technology licensed by Estrella from Eureka. The trial is
designed to assess the safety, tolerability, recommended Phase II dose, and preliminary anti-cancer activity of EB103 for the treatment
of relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients.
17
The
SOW is governed by the terms of the Services Agreement, dated June 28, 2022, between Estrella and Eureka (as amended by Amendment No.
1, effective as of October 1, 2022, and Amendment No. 2, effective as of March 1, 2023), and incorporates all the terms of the Services
Agreement by reference. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the terms and conditions of the SOW govern in the event of any conflict with the
terms and conditions of the Services Agreement.
The
scope of work set forth in the SOW includes study start-up, patient dosing and related activities, study close-out, and reporting. Additionally,
the SOW sets forth the various services Eureka will provide in connection with the clinical trial, including regulatory document development,
site activation, patient enrollment and consent management, data collection, and pharmacovigilance.
Pursuant
to the SOW, Estrella agrees to pay Eureka non-refundable net fees in connection with the achievement of certain milestones set forth
in the SOW, with total fees of $ 33.0 million for achievement of all milestones, excluding additional pass-through costs and expenses
incurred by Eureka and payable by Estrella as further described below. Such amount assumes 20 patients to be dosed and one clinical site
is activated. An additional $ 500,000 will become payable to Eureka if a second site is activated following mutual agreement of Estrella
and Eureka. In addition to the milestone payments, Eureka will invoice Estrella quarterly for additional pass-through costs and expenses
incurred in connection with its services under the SOW. Estrella is required to settle invoices within 30 days, with Eureka reserving
the right to impose monthly interest charges of 1.5 % for undisputed amounts unpaid after 30 days. Estrella will also be responsible for
payment of any taxes, fees, duties or charges imposed by any governmental authority in connection with the services provided by Eureka
under the SOW, other than any taxes on Eureka’s income.
The
first invoice payable to Eureka issuable upon execution of the SOW is for $ 3.5 million, covering the fees associated with the initiation
of the study, the preparation and activation of the first study site, and the First Patient First Visit (FPFV) milestones. Prior to the
commencement of the patient dosing phase, a deposit of $ 1.5 million is required to be delivered to Eureka to ensure the readiness for
patient treatment expenses and will be applied against the final invoice, and any unused portion will be returned to Estrella following
collection of all outstanding fees and costs payable to Eureka under the SOW. Additional invoices will be issued in connection with the
patient dosing milestone, amounting to approximately $ 1.4 million per patient and a total cost $ 27.5 million for 20 patients, excluding
any pass-through costs and additional expenses. The SOW provides an estimated dosing timeline of 6 patients by the end of 2024 and an
additional 14 patients by the end of 2025. Lastly, a $ 2.0 million milestone fee will become due in connection with the study close-out
phase, estimated to be completed by the end of 2025. Services provided in connection with this milestone include finalizing patient data,
trial data cleaning, statistical analysis, and preparing and submitting the final study report.
As
of September 30, 2024, the Company has paid $ 3.5 million to Eureka for covering the fees associated with milestones achieved, and deposited
$ 1.5 million for patient treatment expenses, which will be applied to the final invoice, with any unused portion refunded once all fees
are settled .
As
of September 30, 2024, two patients have been dosed, and the Company has accrued $ 2.75 million in accrued liabilities – related
party, for the corresponding dosing milestones.
On
May 13, 2024, the Company and Eureka entered into Amendment No. 1 to the SOW, effective as of March 4, 2024, to clarify that in the event
that Estrella exercises its right to terminate or suspend the engagement with Eureka by providing written notice to Eureka in accordance
with the SOW, Estrella will only be obligated to compensate Eureka for (i) services provided by Eureka pursuant to the SOW (“Services”)
in connection with milestones that were achieved prior to the date and time of such written notice, (ii) reasonable and documented pass-through
costs incurred by Eureka on behalf of Estrella prior to the date and time of such written notice in connection with providing the Services
and (iii) amounts payable to third parties pursuant to commitments reasonably entered into by Eureka on behalf of Estrella prior to the
date and time of such written notice in connection with providing the Services, provided that Eureka shall make commercially reasonable
efforts to cancel or reduce any such amounts.
18
Series
AA Preferred Stock
On
June 28, 2022, Estrella and Eureka entered into the Contribution Agreement pursuant to which Eureka agreed to contribute and assign to
Estrella all rights, title and interest in and to the Assets in exchange for 105,000,000 shares of Estrella’s Series AA Preferred
Stock (refer to Note 11). As of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, Eureka collectively owned 69.9 % and 69.7 % of Estrella on a fully
diluted basis, respectively.
Lease
On
July 6, 2022, Estrella entered into an office lease contract with Eureka, to lease a 428 square feet office with a $ 2,000 payment. Under
the original lease contract, the sublease agreement commenced on August 1, 2022 and expired on September 30, 2023. In November 2022,
the sublease’s expiration date was amended to July 31, 2023. Therefore, such lease contained a lease term for 12 months and less
after amendment. Further, on July 1, 2024, the Company entered into an office sublease agreement with Eureka. Pursuant to the Sublease
Agreement, the sublease commenced on July 1, 2024 and expires on December 31, 2024 with $ 2,000 sublease fee per month.
Estrella
elected not to apply the ROU and lease liability recognition requirements to above mentioned short-term lease as the modified lease term
was less than twelve months. As a result of the lease amendment, Estrella then reduced the corresponding ROU and lease liability to $ 0
and continued to recognize the lease monthly payments in profit or loss on a straight-line basis over the remaining lease term period.
On
October 1, 2023 Estrella entered into an office lease contract with Eureka, to lease 180 square feet of office space with $ 2,000 monthly
lease payments for nine months without any renewal option.
For
the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company incurred $ 6,000 and $ 2,000 rent expense from Eureka. Refer to Note 14.
As
of September 30, 2024 and 2023, the outstanding balance of lease payments of $ 4,000 was recorded as accrued liability - related party
on the Company’s unaudited condensed balance sheets, respectively.
Note
10 — Promissory note
On
September 29, 2023, Estrella issued an unsecured promissory note to Hongbing Zhang, in the aggregate principal amount of $ 300,000 (the
“Unsecured Note”). Interest began accruing on September 29, 2023 at a rate of 12 % per annum until the outstanding amount
has been paid in full. The Unsecured Note matures on October 30, 2023 and was paid in full on October 27, 2023.
Note
11 — Preferred Stock
Series
AA Preferred Stock
On
June 28, 2022, Estrella and Eureka entered into the Contribution Agreement pursuant to which Eureka contributed and assigned to Estrella
all right, title and interest in and to the Assets in exchange for 105,000,000 shares of Estrella’s Series AA Preferred Stock.
In accordance with ASC 805 “Common control transactions.” The transfer of the Assets was accounted for by Estrella at historical
carrying values.
Series
A Preferred Stock
On
June 28, 2022, Estrella entered into a Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement with an accredited third-party investor to raise gross
proceeds of $ 5,000,000 by issuing 5,000,000 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock. The shares of Series A Preferred Stock were sold
for $ 1.00 per share.
On
each of July 31, 2023 and September 18, 2023, an aggregate of six third party investors executed joinders to Estrella’s Series
A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement. Pursuant to the joinders, such investors agreed to purchase an aggregate of 9,250,000 shares of
Estrella’s Series A Preferred Stock for $ 9,250,000 immediately prior to the effective time of Estrella’s merger with UPTD.
Subsequently and immediately prior to the effective time of the merger with UPTD, such shares of Estrella’s Series A Preferred
Stock converted into Estrella Common Stock and then into Merger Consideration Shares based on an exchange ratio of 0.2407 determined
by the total number of shares of Estrella Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time in accordance with the Merger
Agreement. In addition, immediately prior to the Effective Time, 500,000 shares of Estrella’s Series A Preferred Stock were issued
to White Lion for $ 500,000 and 250,000 shares of Estrella’s Series A Preferred Stock were issued to White Lion in consideration
for its commitments under the Common Stock Purchase Agreement pursuant to the Joinder to the Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement
between Estrella and White Lion, dated April 20, 2023, as further described in Note 8 above.
19
The
significant terms of the Series A, Series AA Preferred Stocks issued by Estrella are as follows:
Dividend
Rights
Each
holder of Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive only when, as and if declared by the board of directors, out of any funds and
assets legally available therefor, dividends on a pari passu basis at the rate of 8 % of the original issue price of $ 1.00 per share.
The dividend shall be non-cumulative and non-compounding.
Liquidation
Rights
Series
A Preferred Stock – In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of Estrella, the
holders of shares of Series A Preferred Stock then outstanding shall be entitled to be paid out of the assets of Estrella available for
distribution to its stockholders or, in the case of a Deemed Liquidation Event (as defined below), out of the consideration payable to
stockholders in such Deemed Liquidation Event or the Available Proceeds, before any payment shall be made to the holders of Series AA
Preferred Stock or Common Stock by reason of their ownership thereof, and amount per share equal to the applicable Original Issue Price,
plus any dividends declared but unpaid thereon.
Series
AA Preferred Stock – After payment of the full liquidation preference of the Series A Preferred Stock, then in the event
of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of Estrella, the holders of shares of Series AA Preferred Stock
then outstanding shall be entitled to be paid out of the assets of Estrella available for distribution to its stockholders or, in the
case of a Deemed Liquidation Event, out of the consideration payable to stockholders in such Deemed Liquidation Event or the Available
Proceeds. Before any payment shall be made to the holders of Common Stock by reason of their ownership, an amount per share equal to
the applicable Original Issue Price, plus any dividends declare but unpaid thereon.
Distribution
of Remaining Assets – If there are any remaining assets of the Estrella, such assets shall be distributed among the holders
of the shares of Series A Preferred Stock and Common Stock, prorated based on the number of shares held by each such holder, treating
for this purpose all such securities as if they had been converted to Common Stock.
Voting
Rights
Each
holder of outstanding shares of Series A Preferred Stock shall be entitled to cast two (2) votes for each share of Series A Preferred
Stock held by such holder and each holder of outstanding shares of Series AA Preferred Stock shall be entitled to cast one (1) vote for
each share of Series AA Preferred Stock held by such holder. Except as provided by law or by the other provisions of the amended and
restated certificate of incorporation, holders of Preferred Stock shall vote together with holders of Common Stock as a single class.
Conversion
Rights
Each
share of Preferred Stock shall be convertible, at the option of the holder at any time and from time to time, and without the payment
of additional consideration by the holder into such number of fully paid and non – assessable shares of Common Stock as is determined
by dividing the Original Issue Price by the Conversion Price in effect at the time of conversion. The Series A Conversion Price applicable
to the Series A Preferred Stock shall initially be equal to $ 1.00 . The Series AA Conversion Price applicable to the Series AA Preferred
Stock shall initially be equal to $ 1.00 . The Series A Conversion Price and the Series AA Conversion Price are referred to as “Conversion
Price.” The initial Conversion Prices and the rate at which shares of applicable Preferred Stock may be converted into shares of
Common Stock, shall be subject to adjustment in connection with certain dilutive issuances, share split, combinations, dividends, distributions,
recapitalizations, mergers, consolidations, reclassifications, exchanges, and substitutions.
Pursuant
to the Estrella’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, holders of the Estrella’s Preferred Stock have the following
methods of conversion: Automatic conversion upon either (a) the closing of the sale of shares of Common Stock to the public at a price
of at least $ 1.00 per share (subject to appropriate adjustment in the event of any stock dividend, stock splits, combination or other
similar recapitalization with respect to the Common Stock), in a firm-commitment underwritten public offering pursuant to an effective
registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, resulting in at least $ 50,000,000 of gross proceeds to Estrella
and in connection with such offering the Common Stock is listed for trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market’s National Market, the New
York Stock Exchange or another exchange or marketplace approved by the board of directors or (b) the date and time, or the occurrence
of an event, specified by vote or written consent of (i) the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of Series A Preferred
Stock and (ii) the holders of at least a majority of the outstanding shares of Series AA Preferred Stock, voting separately, then (x)
all outstanding shares of Preferred Stock shall automatically be converted into shares of Common Stock, at the then effective conversion
rate (y) such shares may not be reissued by Estrella.
20
Redemption
Rights
Both
Series A Preferred Stock and Series AA Preferred Stock were mandatorily redeemable upon the occurrence of a “Deemed Liquidation
Event” which includes the following: (1) a merger or consolidation in which (a) Estrella is a constituent party or (b) a subsidiary
of Estrella is a constituent party and Estrella issues shares of its capital stock pursuant to such merger or consolidation, except any
such merger or consolidation involving the Corporation or a subsidiary in which the shares of capital stock of Estrella outstanding immediately
prior to such merger or consolidation continue to represent, or are converted into or exchanged for shares of capital stock that represent,
immediately following such merger or consolidation, at least a majority, by voting power, of the capital stock of (i) the surviving or
resulting corporation; or (ii) if the surviving or resulting corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of another corporation immediately
following such merger or consolidation, the parent corporation of such surviving or resulting corporation; or (2) (a) the sale, lease,
transfer, exclusive license or other disposition, in a single transaction or series of related transactions, by Estrella or any subsidiary
of Estrella of all or substantially all the assets of Estrella and its subsidiaries taken as a whole, or (b) the sale or disposition
(whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, and whether in a single transaction or a series of related transactions) of one or more
subsidiaries of Estrella if substantially all of the assets of Estrella and its subsidiaries taken as a whole are held by such subsidiary
or subsidiaries, except where such sale, lease, transfer, exclusive license or other disposition is to a wholly owned subsidiary of Estrella.
Estrella
shall use the consideration received by Estrella for such Deemed Liquidation Events mentioned above (net of any retained liabilities
associated with the assets sold or technology licensed, as determined in good faith by the board of directors of Estrella) , together
with any other assets of Estrella available for distribution to its stockholders, all to the extent permitted by Delaware law governing
distributions to stockholders (the “Available Proceeds”), to redeem all outstanding shares of Preferred Stock at a price
per share equal to the applicable liquidation amount, which is equal to the original issue price of the Preferred Stock plus any declared
but unpaid dividends. The Series A Preferred Stock must receive its liquidation amount prior to the Series AA Preferred Stock receives
any payment.
The
Series A Preferred Stock and the Series AA Preferred Stock were accounted for under Section 480-10-S99 — Distinguishing Liabilities
from Equity (FASB Accounting Standards Codification 480) as amended by ASU 2009-04 — for Redeemable Equity Instruments (“ASU
2009-04”). Under ASU 2009-04, a redeemable equity security is to be classified as temporary equity if it is conditionally redeemable
upon the occurrence of an event that is not solely within the control of the issuer. Therefore, the Company classified the Series A Preferred
Stock and Series AA Preferred Stock as temporary equity in the consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2023.
Immediately
prior to the consummation of the business combination on September 29, 2023, all shares of Estrella Series A and Series AA Preferred
Stock were converted into Estrella Common Stock and each share of Estrella Common Stock was exchanged for shares of Common Stock at an
exchange ratio of 0.2407 .
Note 12
— Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)
Before
reverse recapitalization
Given
the consideration of retroactive adjustments, upon incorporation on March 20, 2022, the Company’s authorized shares were 145,000,000
shares of Common Stock with a par value of $ 0.0001 per share.
After
reverse recapitalization
Upon
consummation of the business combination on September 29, 2023, each share of Estrella’s Common Stock was converted into 0.2407
shares of the Company’s Common Stock.
The
Company’s authorized shares of Common Stock is 250,000,000 with a par value of $ 0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”).
Given the retroactive effect of the reverse recapitalization, as of June 30, 2023, there were 978,243 shares of Common Stock issued and
outstanding.
21
Issuance
of Common Stock upon the reverse recapitalization (see Note 3)
On
September 29, 2023, upon the consummation of the Business Combination, the Company issued an aggregate total of 1,701,232 Common
Stock to UPTD’s shareholders.
The
following table presents the number of the Company’s ordinary shares issued upon the Reverse Recapitalization:
Ordinary
Shares
UPTD’s Common Stock outstanding
prior to Reverse Recapitalization
2,329,920
Less: redemption of UPTD’s
Common Stock
( 628,688 )
Total shares issued upon
the Reverse Recapitalization
1,701,232
Conversion
of Series A Preferred Stock and the Series AA Preferred Stock
Immediately
prior to the consummation of the business combination on September 29, 2023, all shares of Estrella Series A and Series AA Preferred
Stock were converted into Estrella Common Stock and then into Merger Consideration Shares which is amounted to 28,888,675 shares of Common
Stock based on an exchange ratio of 0.2407 determined by the total number of shares of Estrella Common Stock outstanding at the Effective
Time in accordance with the Merger Agreement.
PIPE
investment shares
In
connection with the Merger, on September 14, 2023, UPTD entered into subscription agreements (the “Subscription Agreements”)
with each of Plentiful Limited, a Samoan limited company (“Plentiful Limited”) and Lianhe World Limited (“Lianhe World,”
together with Plentiful Limited, collectively, the “PIPE Investors”). Concurrently with the closing of the Business Combination,
the Company issued 500,000 shares of Common Stock to each of Plentiful Limited and Lianhe World, respectively, for aggregate proceeds
of $ 10,000,000 .
Within
thirty days following the date of the Closing, each PIPE Investor will also be entitled to receive 704,819 shares of Common Stock. Within
five days following the date that is 24 months following the Closing (the “24-Month Date”), if the VWAP of Common Stock for
the fifteen trading days prior to the 24-Month Date (the “24-Month Date VWAP”) is less than $ 8.30 , then each of them will
be entitled to a number of shares of Common Stock equal to (i) (A) 8.30 minus (B) the 24-Month Date VWAP multiplied by (ii) (A) the number
of Shares held by the Investor on the 24-Month Date minus (B) the number of Shares acquired by the Investor following the Closing divided
by 10.00 .
On
January 22, 2024, the Company completed the issuance of an additional 704,819 shares of Common Stock to each of the two PIPE Investors.
The shares were issued as part of the consideration that each PIPE Investor was entitled to receive thirty days following the date of
the closing of the Business Combination.
Warrants
In
connection with the reverse recapitalization, the Company has assumed 2,214,993 Public Warrants outstanding. Public Warrants
met the criteria for equity classification.
Each
whole Warrant entitles the registered holder to purchase one whole share of the Company’s Common Stock at a price of $ 11.50 per
share. Pursuant to the warrant agreement, a warrant holder may exercise its Warrants only for a whole number of shares of Common Stock.
This means that only a whole Warrant may be exercised at any given time by a warrant holder. No fractional Warrants will be issued upon
separation of the Units and only whole Warrants will trade. The Warrants will expire five years after the completion of the
Company’s initial Business Combination, at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.
22
The
Company has agreed that as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 30 business days, after the closing of the initial Business
Combination, it will use its reasonable commercially reasonable efforts to file, and within 60 business days following its initial
Business Combination to have declared effective, a registration statement for the registration, under the Securities Act, of the shares
of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the effectiveness
of such registration statement, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the Warrants in accordance with the
provisions of the warrant agreement. No Warrants will be exercisable for cash unless the Company has an effective and current registration
statement covering the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants and a current prospectus relating to such shares of Common
Stock. Notwithstanding the above, if the Company’s Common Stock is at the time of any exercise of a Warrant not listed on a national
securities exchange such that it satisfies the definition of a “covered security” under Section 18(b)(1) of the Securities
Act, the Company may, at its option, require holders of Warrants who exercise their Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis”
in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act and, in the event it so elect, it will not be required to file or maintain in
effect a registration statement, but it will be required to use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify the shares
under applicable blue sky laws to the extent an exemption is not available.
Once
the Warrants become exercisable, the Company may call the Warrants for redemption:
●
in whole and not in part;
● at a price of $ 0.01 per Warrant;
● upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (the “ 30 -day redemption period”) to each warrant holder; and
● if, and only if, the reported last sale price of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $ 16.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within a 30 -trading day period ending on third business day before the Company send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders.
The
Company accounted for the 2,214,993 public Warrants assumed from the merger as equity instruments in accordance with ASC 480,
“Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity” and ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging: Contracts in Entity’s Own
Equity”.
Stock
Repurchase Program
On
January 30, 2024, the Company issued a press release announcing that its board of directors has authorized share repurchases of up to
$ 1.0 million of its common stock. The authorization does not constitute a formal or binding commitment to make any share repurchases
and the timing, amount and method of any share repurchases made pursuant to the authorization will be determined at a future date depending
on market conditions and other factors. As of September 30, 2024, approximately $ 0.5 million remained available for repurchases.
As
of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, the Company has repurchased 431,723 and 321,724 shares of its common stock. For the three months
ended September 30, 2024, the Company repurchased 109,929 shares of its common stock in open market transactions for $ 150,465 at a weighted
average price per share of $ 1.37 . The Company did not repurchase any shares of its Common stock during the same period in 2023.
Note
13 — Stock Based Compensation
At
the special meeting of UPTD stockholders related to the Business Combination held on July 31, 2023, UPTD’s shareholders approved
the adoption of the Company’s 2023 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2023 Plan”), which became effective on the Closing
Date. Upon the closing of the Business Combination, 3,520,123 shares of Common Stock became authorized for issuance under the 2023 Plan.
As of the date hereof, no shares of Common Stock have been issued under the Incentive Plan.
23
On
May 27, 2022, Estrella’s board of directors approved its 2022 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2022 Plan”). The 2022 Plan
provides for the grant of (i) options, (ii) share appreciation rights, (iii) restricted share awards, (iv) restricted share unit awards,
and (v) other share awards. The aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to the 2022 Plan will not exceed
15,000,000 shares of Common Stock. On May 27, 2022, the Company granted options under the 2022 Plan to purchase 15,000,000 shares of
its Common Stock to its employees, board of directors, and other consultants. The total fair value of these stock options was approximately
$ 1,638,381 .
The
stock-based compensation expense recorded in the Company’s results of operations. For the three months ended September 30, 2024
and 2023 were $ 0 and $ 1,194,653 , respectively.
The
breakdown of stock-based compensation by categories for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 are summarized below:
For
the
Three months ended
September
30,
2024
For
the
Three months ended
September 30,
2023
(Unaudited)
(Unaudited)
Research and development
$ -
$ 453,968
General and administrative
-
740,685
Total stock-based compensation
$ -
$ 1,194,653
The
intrinsic value of the granted options was approximately $ 1.6 million. Upon completion of the business combination on September 29, 2023,
the unvested options were vested upon consummation of the merger, under which the Company recognized the remaining unrecognized fair
value as expense.
The
Company estimated the fair value of the stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The fair value of employee stock
options issued was estimated using the following assumptions:
Grant date May 27,
2022
Exercise price $ 0.001
Estimated stock price $ 0.11
Expected volatility 120.0 %
Expected term (in years) 4.00
Risk-free interest rate 3.00 %
The
risk-free interest rate was obtained from U.S. Treasury rates for the applicable periods. The Company’s expected volatility was
based upon the implied volatility of a portfolio of comparable companies. The expected life of the Company’s options was determined
using the actual remaining life of the stock option. The fair value of the Common Stock input was determined by the board of directors
based on a variety of factors, including valuation prepared by a third party, the Company’s financial position, the status of development
efforts within the Company, the current climate in the marketplace and the prospects of a liquidity event, among others.
For
the three months ended September 30, 2024, no additional stock options were granted.
On
May 27, 2022, all employees, the board of directors, and other consultants elected to exercise the stock options granted by the Company
early. The total proceeds received by the Company amounted to $ 15,000 and was recorded as other liability due to the terms of the early
exercised shares, which are subject to repurchase until such shares are vested and are required to be returned to the Company if the
vesting conditions are not satisfied. Such other liability account should be cleared at the time the exercised shares are vested or repurchased.
As of September 30, 2024 and June 30, 2024, the unamortized balance of the above mentioned other liability amounted to $ 0 , based on the
vesting period.
A
summary of early-exercised stock option’s vesting activity are as follows:
Number
of
Shares*
Weighted-Average
Grant Date
Fair Value
per share
Balance of unvested early-exercised
stock option at June 30, 2023
2,633,082
$ 0.46
Vested early-exercised
stock option
( 2,633,082 )
$ 0.46
Balance of unvested early-exercised stock option
at June 30, 2024
-
$ -
Vested early-exercised
stock option
-
$ -
Balance of unvested early-exercised
stock option at September 30, 2024
-
$ -
* Giving retroactive effect to reverse recapitalization effected on September 29, 2023 to reflect exchange ratio of approximately 0.2407 as described in Note 3
24
Note
14 — Leases
On
July 6, 2022, the Company entered into an office lease contract with Eureka, a related party (“Lease 1”). Under the original
lease contract, the sublease agreement commenced on August 1, 2022 and expires on September 30, 2023. In November 2022, the sublease’s
expiration date was amended to July 31, 2023.
On
October 1, 2023 Estrella entered into an office lease contract with Eureka, a related party (“Lease 2”) for nine months without
any renewal option.
On
July 1, 2024, the Company entered into an office sublease agreement with Eureka (“Lease 3”) for six months without any renewal
option.
The
Company’s office lease was classified as an operating lease. The Company’s lease agreement does not contain any material
residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.
The
Company elected not to apply the ROU and lease liability recognition requirements to above mentioned short-term lease in accordance with
ASC 842-20-25-2. As a result of the lease amendment, the Company then reduced the corresponding ROU and lease liability to $ 0 from Lease
1 and continued to recognize the lease monthly payments in profit or loss on a straight–line basis over the remaining lease term
period.
Rent
expense for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 was $ 6,000 and $ 2,000 , respectively.
Note 15
— Subsequent Events
The
Company evaluated subsequent events and transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date through the issuance date. Except as
described below, there were no material subsequent events that required recognition or disclosure in the Company’s unaudited condensed
financial statements.
Consulting Agreement with Times Investment
Holdings Limited
On October 1, 2024, the Company entered into a
consulting agreement with Times Investment Holdings Limited (“Times”) to provide financing advice and service in connection
with the sale of equity interests in the Company of no less than $ 10,000,000 on terms acceptable to the Company. Under this agreement,
Times is eligible for a success fee and warrants if a financing transaction equal to or exceeding the threshold is completed during the
term of the agreement. As of the issuance date of these financial statements, these conditions have not been met, and therefore no warrants
have been issued. If the milestones are achieved in future reporting periods, the Company may recognize stock-based compensation expense
related to the issuance of these warrants, which could impact future financial results. Management will continue to monitor the status
of the milestones and will provide additional disclosures in subsequent filings if warranted.
Consulting Agreement with One Nine Limited
On October 30, 2024, the Company’s Board
of Directors approved the issuance of warrants to One Nine Limited (“One Nine”) as part of a consulting agreement dated July
3, 2024 contingent upon the achievement of certain milestones. Specifically, One Nine is eligible for a success fee and warrants if a
financing transaction meeting or exceeding a specified threshold is completed during the term of the agreement. As of the issuance date
of these financial statements, these conditions have not been met, and therefore no warrants have been issued. If the milestones are achieved
in future reporting periods, the Company may recognize stock-based compensation expense related to the issuance of these warrants, which
could impact future financial results. Management will continue to monitor the status of the milestones and will provide additional disclosures
in subsequent filings if warranted.
Stock option grants
On October 31, 2024, the Board of Directors approved
3.6 million stock options, representing approximately 10 % of the Company’s outstanding shares, to the Company’s executives
and certain consultants. These options have an exercise price of $ 0.815 and will vest over three to four years. The grants are expected
to result in additional stock-based compensation expense in future periods.
Consulting Agreement with CoFame Investment
Management Co. Ltd.
On November 1, 2024, the Company entered into
a consulting agreement with CoFame Investment Management Co. Ltd. (“CoFame”) to provide financing advice and service in Asia.
The Company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Hong Zhang, is the beneficial owner of CoFame. Under the agreement, CoFame will
receive an upfront fee of $ 55,000 and a consulting fee at an annual rate of $ 220,000 . In addition, Hong Zhang will be granted options,
vested over 45 months, to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $ 0.815 . The terms
of this agreement were approved by the Audit Committee and the Board of Directors and were deemed to be at fair market value. The option
grant is expected to result in additional stock-based compensation expense in future periods.
25
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.