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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

FORM 10-Q

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended

March 31, 2021

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

2024

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period fromto

from_________to_________

Commission File Number: 001-40034

GRI_ LOGO SELECT_ColorJPG.jpg
GRI BIO, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware

82-4369909

VALLON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware

82-4369909

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.) 

2223 Avenida de la Playa, #208
 La Jolla, CA 92037

100 N. 18th Street, Suite 300,

Philadelphia, PA

19103

(Address of principal executive offices)

offices, including zip code)

(Zip Code)

(619) 400-1170
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (267)-207-3606

code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, par value $0.0001
per share

GRI

VLON

The Nasdaq Capital Market

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x  No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x  No o



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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

o

Accelerated filer

o

Non-accelerated filer

x

Smaller reporting company

x

Emerging growth company

x

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes   No x

As of May 13, 2021, 6,812,8366, 2024, 3,774,488 shares of the Registrant’s Common Stockcommon stock were outstanding.



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Consolidated Item 1.

Financial Statements (Unaudited)

3

Balance Sheets at as of March 31, 20212024 (unaudited) and December 31, 20202023

Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited) for the three months ended March 31, 20212024 and 2020

2023

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) (unaudited) for the three months ended March 31, 20212024 and 2020

2023

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited) for the three months ended March 31, 20212024 and 2020

2023

Notes to Unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements

17

27

25

26

29

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Some of the statements in the sections captioned “Part I—Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report contain forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report include, but are not limited to, statements about:

the likelihood of our clinical trials and non-clinical studies demonstrating safety and efficacy of our product candidates, and other positive results;

the timing of initiation of our future clinical trials, and the reporting of data from our completed, current and future preclinical and clinical trials;

the size of the market opportunity for our product candidates;

our plans relating to commercializing our product candidates, if approved, including the geographic areas of focus and sales strategy;

the success of competing therapies that are or may become available;

our estimates of the number of patients in the United States who suffer from ADHD or narcolepsy and the number of patients that will enroll in our clinical trials;

the beneficial characteristics, safety and efficacy of our product candidates;

the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approval for our product candidates;

our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates;

our plans relating to the further development and manufacturing of our product candidates, including ADMIR;

the expected potential benefits of strategic collaborations with third parties, including MEDICE Arzneimittel Putter GmbH & Co. KG (“Medice”), which is affiliated with one of our principal stockholders, Salmon Pharma, and represented by one member of our board of directors, and our ability to attract collaborators with development, regulatory and commercialization expertise;

existing regulations and regulatory developments in the United States, the European Union, and other geographic territories;

our plans and ability to obtain or protect intellectual property rights, including extensions of existing patent terms where available;

our continued reliance on third parties to conduct additional clinical trials of our product candidates, and for the manufacture of our product candidates for preclinical studies and clinical trials;

the need to hire additional personnel, and our ability to attract and retain such personnel;

the accuracy of our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing;

our financial performance;

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the sufficiency of our existing capital resources to fund our future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements;

the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations;

our expectations regarding the period during which we will qualify as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act; and

our ability to maintain the listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market.

Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this Quarterly Report, we have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about our business, the industry in which we operate and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, and these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or development. You should refer to the “Risk Factors” section of this Quarterly Report for a discussion of other important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. If the forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate; the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward- looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. The forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report represents our views as of the date of this Quarterly Report. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change, however, except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein until after we distribute this Quarterly Report, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this Quarterly Report.

This Quarterly Report includes trademarks and registered trademarks of Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Products or service names of other companies mentioned in this Quarterly Report may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

As used in this Quarterly Report, unless the context requires otherwise, the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. FinancialFinancial Statements.

Vallon Pharmaceuticals,

GRI Bio, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

    

March 31, 2021

    

December 31, 2020

Assets

(unaudited)

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

$

12,980

$

109

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

1,358

 

565

Total current assets

14,338

674

 

 

Finance lease right-of-use asset, net

261

279

Property and equipment, net

1

2

Total assets

$

14,600

$

955

Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity (Deficit)

 

  

 

  

Current liabilities:

Accounts payable

$

1,347

$

1,226

Accrued expenses

985

847

Note payable, current

47

Finance lease liability, current

 

95

 

105

Total current liabilities

 

2,427

 

2,225

Note payable, non-current

14

Finance lease liabilities, non-current

146

170

Total liabilities

 

2,573

 

2,409

 

  

 

  

Commitments and contingencies (Note 10)

 

  

 

  

Stockholders' equity (deficit):

 

  

 

  

Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020; 6,812,836 and 4,506,216 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, which gives retroactive effect to the one-for-40 reverse stock split. See Note 1 to these financial statements.

 

 

Additional paid-in-capital

 

27,264

 

11,145

Accumulated deficit

 

(15,237)

 

(12,599)

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

 

12,027

 

(1,454)

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity (deficit)

$

14,600

$

955

March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
Assets(unaudited)
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$4,091$1,808
Prepaid expenses and other current assets3371,126
Total current assets4,4282,934
Property and equipment, net78
Operating lease right-of-use assets15214
Total assets$4,587 $2,956 
Liabilities and stockholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable$637 $1,410
Accrued expenses9991,270
Warrant liability13
Operating lease liabilities, current4314
Total current liabilities1,6802,697
Operating lease liabilities, non-current109
Total liabilities1,7892,697
Commitments and contingencies (Note 11)
Stockholders' equity:
Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 250,000,000 shares authorized as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023; 3,196,488 and 645,738 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively
Additional paid-in-capital36,21831,792
Accumulated deficit(33,420)(31,533)
Total stockholders’ equity2,798259
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity$4,587 $2,956 
See accompanying notes to theseunaudited interim consolidated financial statements.

3


Vallon Pharmaceuticals,GRI Bio, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

For the Three

For the Three

Months Ended

Months Ended

March 31, 

March 31, 

    

2021

    

2020

License revenue-related party

$

$

100

Operating expenses:

Research and development

1,772

883

General and administrative

830

375

Total operating expenses

2,602

1,258

Loss from operations

(2,602)

(1,158)

Other income

61

Revaluation of derivative liability

(89)

Interest expense, net

(8)

(2)

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

$

(2,638)

$

(1,160)

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

$

(0.46)

$

(0.26)

Weighted-average common shares outstanding basic and diluted

5,710,270

4,506,216

(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31,
20242023
Operating expenses:
Research and development933 116 
General and administrative962 872 
Total operating expenses1,895 988 
Loss from operations(1,895)(988)
Change in fair value of warrant liability— 
Interest income (expense), net(1,162)
Net loss$(1,887)$(2,150)
Net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted$(0.46)$(15.04)
Weighted-average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted4,127,448 142,988 
See accompanying notes to theseunaudited interim consolidated financial statements.

4


Vallon Pharmaceuticals,GRI Bio, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except shares)

Common Stock

Additional Paid-In

Accumulated

Stockholders’

    

Shares (1)

    

Amount

    

Capital

    

Deficit

    

Equity (Deficit)

Balance, December 31, 2019

4,506,216

$

$

10,991

$

(7,777)

$

(3,214)

Stock-based compensation expense

35

0

35

Net loss

0

(1,160)

(1,160)

Balance, March 31, 2020

 

4,506,216

$

$

11,026

$

(8,937)

$

(2,089)

Common Stock

Additional Paid-In

Accumulated

Stockholders’

    

Shares (1)

    

Amount

    

Capital

    

Deficit

    

Equity (Deficit)

Balance, December 31, 2020

4,506,216

$

$

11,145

$

(12,599)

$

(1,454)

Issuance of common stock for convertible notes

54,906

439

439

Issuance of common stock for IPO, net of issuance expenses

2,250,000

15,104

15,104

Issuance of common stock for services

1,714

9

9

Issuance of Underwriters Warrants

399

399

Stock-based compensation

168

168

Net loss

(2,638)

(2,638)

Balance, March 31, 2021

 

6,812,836

$

$

27,264

$

(15,237)

$

12,027

(1)   The number of shares above give retroactive effect to the one-for-40 reverse stock split. See Note 1 to these financial statements.

(Unaudited)
Common StockAdditional Paid-in CapitalAccumulated DeficitStockholders’ Deficit
Shares 
Amount
Balance, December 31, 2022142,820$$16,871$(18,496)$(1,625)
Stock-based compensation1313 
Restricted stock vesting67— — 
Warrant issuance532— 532 
Net loss(2,150)(2,150)
Balance, March 31, 2023142,887 $— $17,416 $(20,646)$(3,230)
Common StockAdditional Paid-in CapitalAccumulated DeficitStockholders’ Equity
Shares 
Amount
Balance, December 31, 2023645,738$$31,792$(31,533)$259 
Stock-based compensation3737 
Fractional share adjustment(250)— — 
Issuance of common stock and prefunded warrants in financing330,4504,389— 4,389 
Prefunded warrant exercise2,220,550— — 
Net loss(1,887)(1,887)
Balance, March 31, 20243,196,488 $— $36,218 $(33,420)$2,798 
See accompanying notes to theseunaudited interim consolidated financial statements.

5


Vallon Pharmaceuticals,GRI Bio, Inc.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

(in thousands)

Three Months Ended

Three Months Ended

March 31,

March 31,

    

2021

    

2020

Cash flows from operating activities:

  

Net loss

$

(2,638)

$

(1,160)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to cash used in operating activities:

 

 

Amortization of finance lease right-of-use asset

18

18

Stock-based compensation expense

168

35

Revaluation of derivative liability

89

Forgiveness of PPP note

(61)

Non-cash interest, depreciation and other expense

 

10

 

Change in operating assets and liabilities:

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

(793)

 

(87)

Accounts payable

121

200

Accrued expenses

138

226

Net cash used in operating activities

 

(2,948)

 

(766)

Cash flows from investing activities:

Purchase of property and equipment

(2)

Net cash used in investing activities

(2)

 

  

 

  

Cash flows from financing activities:

 

  

 

  

Proceeds from common stock, net of offering expenses

 

15,503

 

Proceeds from convertible notes

350

Payment of finance lease liability

(34)

(29)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

 

15,819

 

(29)

 

  

 

  

Net increase (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents

 

12,871

 

(797)

Cash and cash equivalents, at beginning of period

109

3,821

Cash and cash equivalents, at end of period

$

12,980

$

3,024

Supplemental disclosure of cash flows information:

Interest paid

$

$

Noncash financing activities:

Conversion of convertible notes to common stock

$

350

$

(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended March 31,
20242023
Operating activities:
Net loss$(1,887)$(2,150)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to cash used in operating activities:
Depreciation expense11
Amortization of debt discounts and issuance costs1,161
Stock-based compensation expense3713
Change in fair value of warrant liability(2)
Reduction in operating lease right of use assets14 12
Change in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses and other current assets564 28 
Accounts payable(744)408
Accrued expenses(172)(36)
Operating lease liabilities(14)(16)
Cash used in operating activities(2,203)(579)
Financing activities:
Advances from employees190
Repayment of advances from employees(195)
Proceeds from issuance of bridge promissory note1,250
Proceeds from issuance of common stock and prefunded warrants5,500 — 
Payment of stock issuance costs(1,014)(110)
Payment of debt issuance costs— (105)
Cash provided by financing activities4,486 1,030 
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents2,283451 
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period1,8089
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period$4,091$460
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing activities:
  Recognition of debt discount and additional paid-in-capital for issuance of warrants in connection with the
  issuance of promissory notes
$$532
  Recognition of right of use assets and lease liabilities$152$
  Debt and stock issuance costs included in accounts payable$97$45
 Property and equipment purchases included in accounts payable$$8
See accompanying notes to theseunaudited interim consolidated financial statements.

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GRI Bio, Inc.

Notes to Unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Statements
(in thousands, except share and per share data)
1.    ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
GRI Bio, Inc. (GRI or the Company), based in La Jolla, CA, was incorporated in Delaware in May 2009.
GRI is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative therapies that target serious diseases associated with dysregulated immune responses leading to inflammatory, fibrotic, and autoimmune disorders. The Company’s goal is to be an industry leader in developing therapies to treat these diseases and to improve the lives of patients suffering from such diseases. The Company’s lead product candidate, GRI-0621, is an oral inhibitor of type 1 Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells and is being developed for the treatment of severe fibrotic lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The Company’s product candidate portfolio also includes GRI-0803 and a proprietary library of 500+ compounds. GRI-0803, the lead molecule selected from the library, is a novel oral agonist of type 2 Natural Killer T cells and is being developed for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, with much of its preclinical work in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease (SLE) or lupus and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Reverse Merger with Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

NotesInc.

On April 21, 2023, pursuant to Financial Statements

(unaudited)

NOTE 1 – NATURE OF OPERATIONS, BUSINESS, GOING CONCERN AND LIQUIDITY

the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 13, 2022, as amended on February 17, 2023 (the Merger Agreement), by and among the Company, GRI Bio Operations, Inc., formerly known as GRI Bio, Inc. (GRI Operations), and Vallon Pharmaceuticals,Merger Sub, Inc. (“Vallon” or the “Company”), a Delaware corporation is a biopharmaceutical company based in Philadelphia, PA, which is focused on the development and commercializationwholly owned subsidiary of proprietary biopharmaceutical products. The Company’s only clinical-stage product currently under development is ADAIR, a proprietary, abuse-deterrent oral formulation of immediate-release (short-acting) dextroamphetamine for the treatment of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, and Narcolepsy. The Company plans to develop other abuse-deterrent products which have potential for abuse in their current forms, beginning with the development of ADMIR, an abuse deterrent formulation of Ritalin, for which the Company is conducting formulation development work.

Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(Merger Sub), Merger Sub was incorporated in Delaware on January 11, 2018, which ismerged with and into GRI Operations (the Merger), with GRI Operations surviving the dateMerger as a wholly owned subsidiary of inception. The Company’s fiscal-year ends on December 31.

Immediately prior tothe Company (Note 4). In connection with the closing of the initial public offeringMerger (the Closing), the Company amended its certificate of incorporation and amended its bylaws to change its name from “Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.” to “GRI Bio, Inc.”

Recapitalization
In connection with the Merger, and immediately prior to the effective time of the Company’s common stockMerger (the “IPO”) (Note 5)Effective Time), the Company effected a one-for-40 reverse stock split of its common stock. Allstock, par value $0.0001 (Common Stock), at a ratio of 1-for-30 (the April 2023 Reverse Stock Split). On January 29, 2024, the Company effected a reverse stock split of its Common Stock at a ratio of one-for-seven (the January 2024 Reverse Stock Split and together with the April 2023 Reverse Stock Split, the Reverse Stock Splits). Unless otherwise noted, all references to share and per share amounts excludingin these consolidated financial statements reflect the numberReverse Stock Splits.
Basis of authorized sharesPresentation
As discussed in Note 4, the Merger was accounted for as reverse recapitalization under which the historical financial statements of the Company prior to the Merger are the historical financial statements of the accounting acquirer, GRI Operations. All Common Stock, per share and par value, containedrelated information presented in thesethe consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q give retroactive effectprior to the reverse split.

Business Formation:

On November 15, 2017, beforeMerger has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the Company’s formation, Amiservice Development Ltd., a BVI corporation (“Amiservice”) entered into an agreementExchange Ratio (as defined below) and the Reverse Stock Splits for the purchase of the ADAIR product rights for a payment of $250,000. The Asset Purchase Agreement (“the APA”), by and between Amiservice and Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd. (”Arcturus”), was subject to several closing conditions. One of the key terms and conditions of the APA was that the purchasers provide funding of at least $2.75 million towards the development of ADAIR.

On February 11, 2018, Ofir Levi, Chairman of the newly formed Vallon, purchased 196,875 common shares from the Company at par value for $788. On June 7, 2018, Vallon entered into a stock purchase agreement with several investors pursuant to which Vallon issued 1,771,881 common shares for $3.0 million (“Private Placement”). Subsequently, on June 22, 2018, the Company executed the amended APA, by and between Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd. Such APA was amended and restated from the initial agreement discussed above, dated as of November 15, 2017. In exchange for the ADAIR product rights, Vallon issued 843,750 common shares to Arcturus, valued at approximately $1.4 million based upon the price at which the common shares were issued and sold in the Private Placement, which comprised approximately 30% of the then-outstanding common stock of the Company, on a fully diluted basis. In addition, Amiservice signed a consent and release agreement to all rightsperiods presented, to the APA in exchange for approximately $562,000 which represented a reimbursement for expenses Amiservice incurred on Vallon’s behalf in the amount of approximately $310,000, the repayment of 2 promissory notes totaling approximately $192,000 including interest, and approximately $60,000 of other operating expenses incurred. The assets acquired in the ADAIR acquisition are classified as in-process research and development (“IPR&D”). Accounting for IPR&D assets in an asset acquisition follows the guidance in Accounting Standards Codifications (“ASC”) 730, Research and Development, which requires that both tangible and intangible identifiable research and development assets with no alternative future use be allocated a portion of the consideration transferred and charged to expense at the acquisition date. The Company recorded $1.7 million to research and development expense on June 22, 2018, the date of acquisition, which included $1.4 million of common shares issued for the acquisition, as well as, the original $250,000 exclusivity payment and approximately $60,000 in transaction fees.

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2.    LIQUIDITY

Going Concern and Liquidity:

These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the Company is a going concern, which contemplates, among other things, the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company has not generated any significant revenues from operations since inception and does not expect to do so in the foreseeable future. The Company has incurred operating losses since its inception in 2009 and, as a result, has incurred $15.2 million$33,420 in accumulated deficit through March 31, 2021.2024. The Company has financed its working capital requirements to date through the issuance of common stock, convertible notes, short-term promissory notes,equity and a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) promissory note, as described in Note 4.

On January 11, 2021, the Company completed a $350,000 convertible note financing and on February 12, 2021, the Company completed the IPO, raising net proceedsdebt securities. As of $15.5 million, as described in Note 5. On March 31, 2021,2024, the Company had cash of approximately $4,091.


7

In connection with signing the Merger Agreement, the Company, GRI Operations and Altium Growth Fund, LP (Altium) entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated December 13, 2022 (the Equity SPA), pursuant to which Altium agreed to invest $12,250 in cash and cancel any outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes (as defined below) in return for the issuance of shares of GRI Operations common stock (GRI Operations Common Stock) immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger. Pursuant to the Equity SPA, immediately prior to the Closing, GRI Operations issued 969,602 shares of GRI Operations Common Stock (the Initial Shares) to Altium and 3,878,411 shares of GRI Operations Common Stock (the Additional Shares) into escrow with an escrow agent for net proceeds of $11,704, after deducting offering expenses of $546.
At the Closing, pursuant to the Merger, the Initial Shares converted into an aggregate of 36,263 shares of the Company’s Common Stock and the Additional Shares converted into an aggregate of 145,052 shares of the Company’s Common Stock. On May 8, 2023, in accordance with the terms of the Equity SPA, the Company and Altium authorized the escrow agent to, subject to beneficial ownership limitations, disburse to Altium all of the shares of the Company’s Common Stock issued in exchange for the Additional Shares.
On February 1, 2024, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement (the Purchase Agreement), pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue and sell, in a public offering, (i)330,450 shares (the Shares) of Common Stock, (ii) 4,669,550 pre-funded warrants (the Pre-Funded Warrants) exercisable for an aggregate of 4,669,550 shares of Common Stock, (iii) 5,000,000 Series B-1 common warrants (the Series B-1 Common Warrants) exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock, and (iv)5,000,000 Series B-2 common warrants (the Series B-2 Common Warrants, and together with the Series B-1 Common Warrants, the Common Warrants) exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock for net proceeds of $4,389, after deducting offering expenses of $1,110. The Common Warrants together with the Pre-Funded Warrants are referred to in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as the “Warrants.” The securities were offered in combinations of (a) one Share or one Pre-Funded Warrant, together with (b) one Series B-1 Common Warrant and one Series B-2 Common Warrant, for a combined purchase price of $1.10 (less $0.0001 for each Pre-Funded Warrant).
Subject to certain ownership limitations, the Warrants became exercisable upon issuance. Each Pre-Funded Warrant is exercisable for one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $0.0001 and does not expire. Each Series B-1 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for a five-year period after February 6, 2024, the date of issuance. Each Series B-2 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for an 18-month period after February 6, 2024 the date of issuance. In connection with the issuance of the Shares and Warrants pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the exercise price of the Series A-1 Warrants was reduced to par, or $0.0001, per share pursuant to the terms of the Series A-1 Warrants.
Based on the Company’s current operating plan, the Company believes that its existing cash and cash equivalents totaling approximately $13.0 million which management expects will provide funding forbe sufficient to fund its ongoing business activitiesoperating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the third quarter of 2022. However, the Company has based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and it could use capital resources sooner than it expects, therefore, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year of the date that these financial statements are being issued.

2024.

The Company’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on its ability to raise additional capital to fund its business activities, including its research and development program. The Company’s objective isSeries T Warrants issued in connection with the Merger are not presently subject to develop and commercialize biopharmaceutical products that treat central nervous system disorders, but there can be no assurances thatforced exercise by the Company will be successfulas the equity conditions for their forced exercise, which include (among other things) a requirement that shares of Common Stock have a value weighted average price of at least $64.47 per share for the periods specified in this regard. Therefore, the Series T Warrants, are not met. The Company intends to raise capital through additional issuances of common stockequity securities and/or short-term or long-term debt arrangements, but there can be no assurances any such financing will be available when needed, even if the Company’s research and /or short-term notes. Furthermore,development efforts are successful. If the Company mayis not be able to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms and in the amounts necessary to fully fund its future operating requirements. If the Company is unable to obtain sufficient cash resources to fund its operations,requirements, it may be forced to reduce or discontinue its operations entirely. Therefore, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of one year from the issuance of these financial statements. These financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from this uncertainty.

NOTE 2 –

3.    BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in Note B, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 29, 2021. There have been no material changes to the significant accounting policies during the period ended March 31, 2021, except for items mentioned below.

[A]  Unaudited Interim Financial Statements

The accompanying unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”)(GAAP) for interim financial informationperiods and withpursuant to the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 8-03 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include allrules of the informationSecurities and notes required by generally accepted accounting principlesExchange Commission (the SEC). Any reference in the United Statesaccompanying unaudited interim financial statements to “authoritative guidance” is
8

meant to refer to GAAP as found in the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) and Accounting Standards Updates (ASU) of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). The December 31, 2023 balance sheet was derived from the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements.
In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements furnished herein include all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation ofto present fairly the Company’s financial position atas of March 31, 20212024, and the consolidated results of operations and consolidated stockholders’ equity (deficit)for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 and consolidated cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 20212024 and 2020. All such adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. Interim financial statements are prepared on a basis consistent with the Company’s annual financial statements. Results2023. Consolidated results of operations for the three-month periodthree months ended March 31, 2021,2024, are not necessarily indicative of the consolidated operating results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2021.

2024. The balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 has been derived from the auditedunaudited interim consolidated financial statements, at that date but doespresented herein, do not include all ofcontain the information and notes required bydisclosures under GAAP for completeannual consolidated financial statements.

References The accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to “authoritative guidance” is toconjunction with the Accounting Standards Codification issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”).

For further information, refer to theannual audited consolidated financial statements and related notes theretoas of and for the year ended December 31, 2023, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K forfiled with the year ended December 31, 2020.

SEC on March 28, 2024.

8

Principles of Consolidation
The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include the accounts of GRI Bio, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary, GRI Bio Operations, Inc. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

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[B]  Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Estimates and assumptions are primarily made in relation to the valuation of share options, the embedded derivative of convertible notes, warrant issuance and subsequent revaluations, valuation allowances relating to deferred tax assets, revenue recognition, accrued expenses and estimation of the incremental borrowing rate for the financeoperating lease. If actual results differ from the Company’s estimates, or to the extent these estimates are adjusted in future periods, the Company’s consolidated results of operations could either benefit from, or be adversely affected by, any such change in estimate.

[C]  Stock-based Compensation

Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received from selling an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. To increase consistency and comparability in fair value measurements and related disclosures, ASC 820, Fair Value Measurement, (ASC 820) establishes a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. The three levels of fair value hierarchy defined by ASC 820 are described below:
Level 1: Quoted market prices available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date. 
Level 2: Pricing inputs other than quoted prices in active markets included in Level 1, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date. 
Level 3: Pricing inputs that are generally unobservable inputs and not corroborated by market data. 
As of March 31, 2024, the Company’s financial instruments included cash, cash equivalents, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued expenses and certain liability classified warrants. The carrying amounts reported in the balance sheets for cash, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate their fair value based on the short-term maturity of these instruments. The Company recognizes expense for employee and non-employee stock-based compensationtransfers between levels of the fair value hierarchy on the date of the event or change in circumstances that caused the transfer. At March 31, 2024, there were no financial assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis other than the liability classified warrants.
In May 2022, Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Vallon) issued warrants in connection with a securities purchase agreement. Vallon evaluated the warrants in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 718, Stock-Based Compensation. ASC 718 requires815-40, Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (ASC 815-40), and concluded that such transactions bea provision in the warrants related to the reduction of the exercise price in certain circumstances precluded the warrants from being accounted for usingas components of equity. As a fair value-based method. The estimated fair value ofresult, the options is amortized overwarrants were recorded as a liability on the vesting period, based onbalance sheet. Vallon recorded the fair value of the options on the date granted, and is calculatedwarrants upon issuance using thea Black-Scholes option-pricingvaluation model.
9

The Company accounts for forfeitures as incurred. In consideringis required to revalue the warrants at each reporting date with any changes in fair value recorded in its statement of operations. The valuation of the warrants is considered under Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy due to the need to use assumptions in the valuation that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable. The change in the fair value of the underlying stock when the Company granted options, the Company considered several factors including the fair values established by market transactions. Stock option-based compensation includes estimates and judgments of when stock options might be exercised and stock price volatility. The timing of option exercisesLevel 3 warrants liabilities is out of the Company's control and depends upon a number of factors including the Company's market value and the financial objectives of the option holders. These estimates can have a material impact on the stock compensation expense but will have no impact on the cash flows. The estimation of share-based awards that will ultimately vest requires judgment, and to the extent actual results or updated estimates differ from original estimates, such amounts are recorded as a cumulative adjustmentreflected in the period the estimates are revised. The stock options granted, other than the 61,250 granted to Mr. Baker described in Note 10[A], asstatement of March 31, 2021 vest primarily upon specified performance milestones. As Mr. Baker’s stock option grant was pursuant to milestones associated with an underwritten public offering or a listing on a national stock exchange, management determined that no expense should be recognizedoperations for this grant until such time that the milestone becomes probable. The options vested on February 12, 2021, concurrent with the closing of the IPO and thus the expense for such options was recognized in the three months ended March 31, 2021. The2024.
Net Loss Per Common Share
Basic and diluted net loss per common share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each year. Diluted net loss per common share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each year, plus the dilutive effect of options considered to be outstanding during each year, in accordance with ASC 260, Earnings Per Share. As the Company elected to usehad a net loss in each of the expected term, rather thanthree months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, diluted net loss per common share is the contractual term,same as basic net loss per common share for both employee and consultant options issued.

[D]  the period because the effects of potentially dilutive securities are antidilutive.

Common stock equivalents excluded from the diluted net loss per common share calculations are as follows:
March 31,
20242023
Stock options32,642 12,781 
Warrants10,298,553 14,822 
Restricted stock with repurchase rights— 23,433 
10,331,195 51,036 
Recent Accounting Pronouncements

The Company considersconsidered the applicability and impact of all Accounting Standards Updates (“ASUs”). ASUs not discussed below were assessedissued during the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and each was determined to be either not applicable or are expected to have minimal impact on these consolidated financial statements.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes”. ASU 2019-12 simplifies the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions

4.    MERGER WITH VALLON
On April 21, 2023, pursuant to the general principals in Topic 740. The amendments also improve consistent application ofMerger Agreement, Merger Sub was merged with and simplify generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for other areas of Topic 740 by clarifying and amendinginto GRI Operations, with GRI Operations surviving the existing guidance. For public business entities, the guidance is effective for annual periods, and interim periods within those annual periods, beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in any interim period. The adoption of this standard, effective January 1, 2021, did not haveMerger as a material impact on these financial statements.

9

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NOTE 3 – ACCRUED EXPENSES

Accrued expenses consistwholly owned subsidiary of the following (in thousands):

March 31, 

December 31,

    

2021

    

2020

Payroll and related

$

176

$

342

Clinical and preclinical trial and regulatory related

 

490

 

137

Chemistry and manufacturing

154

117

Financing related

97

Licensing related

 

76

 

81

Other

89

73

Total accrued expenses

$

985

$

847

NOTE 4 – PPP NOTE AND CONVERTIBLE NOTES

Company. In May 2020,connection with the Closing, the Company amended its certificate of incorporation and bylaws to change its name from “Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.” to “GRI Bio, Inc.”

At the Effective Time:
(a)Each share of GRI Operations Common Stock outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, including any shares of GRI Operations Common Stock issued pursuant to the Equity SPA automatically converted solely into the right to receive a promissory notenumber of shares of the Company’s Common Stock equal to 0.0374 (the Exchange Ratio).
(b)Each option to purchase shares of GRI Operations Common Stock (each, a GRI Operations Option) outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the Effective Time under the PPP totaling $61,000. AsGRI Bio, Inc. 2015 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the GRI Operations Plan), whether or not vested, converted into and became an option to purchase shares of December 31, 2020,the Company’s Common Stock, and the Company had utilizedassumed the entire proceeds fromGRI Operations Plan and each such note for payroll costs (greater than 75%), costs related to health care benefits and rent payments and in January 2021, the Company was notified that the loan along with accumulated interest had been forgiven. As the PPP note was forgiven, the Company recorded income from the extinguishment of its obligationGRI Operations Option in accordance with ASC 405-20-40-1, disclosedthe terms of the GRI Operations Plan (the Assumed Options). The number of shares of Common Stock subject to each Assumed Option was determined by multiplying (i) the number of shares of GRI Operations Common Stock that were subject to such GRI Operations Option, as in effect immediately prior to the amountEffective Time, by (ii) the Exchange Ratio, and rounding the resulting number down to the nearest whole number of $61,000 includedshares of Common Stock. The per share exercise price for the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of each Assumed Option was determined by dividing (A) the per share exercise price of such Assumed Option, as in other incomeeffect immediately prior to the Effective Time, by (B) the Exchange Ratio and rounding the resulting per share exercise price up to the nearest whole cent. Any restriction on the accompanying Statementsexercise of Operations. any Assumed Option continued in full force and effect and the term, exercisability, vesting schedule, and any other provisions of such Assumed Option otherwise remained unchanged.
10

(c)Each warrant to purchase shares of GRI Operations Common Stock (the GRI Operations Warrants) outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was assumed by the Company and converted into a warrant to purchase shares of Common Stock (the Assumed Warrants) and thereafter (i) each Assumed Warrant became exercisable solely for shares of the Common Stock; (ii) the number of shares of Common Stock subject to each Assumed Warrant was determined by multiplying (A) the number of shares of GRI Operations Common Stock that were subject to such GRI Operations Warrant, as in effect immediately prior to the Effective Time, by (B) the Exchange Ratio, and rounding the resulting number down to the nearest whole number of shares of Common Stock; (iii) the per share exercise price for shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of each Assumed Warrant was determined by dividing (A) the exercise price per share of GRI Operations Common Stock subject to such GRI Operations Warrant, as in effect immediately prior to the Effective Time, by (B) the Exchange Ratio, and rounding the resulting exercise price up to the nearest whole cent.
(d)The Bridge Warrants (Note 8) were exchanged for warrants (the Exchange Warrants) to purchase an aggregate of 60,227 shares of the Company’s Common Stock. The Exchange Warrants contain substantively similar terms to the Bridge Warrants, and have an initial exercise price equal to $103.11 per share.
(e)All rights with respect to GRI Operations restricted stock awards were assumed by the Company hadand converted into Company restricted stock awards with the number of shares subject to each restricted stock award multiplied by the Exchange Ratio and rounding the resulting number down to the nearest whole number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock. The term, exercisability, vesting schedule and other provisions of the GRI Operations restricted stock awards otherwise remained unchanged.
The Merger was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization under GAAP because the note under ASC 470. The note had a stated interest rateprimary assets of 1%Vallon were cash and had a two-year maturity. Payments were required to be made over a 1.5-year period beginning November 1, 2020 unless forgiven. The Company did not impute interest on the note as the ratecash equivalents. For accounting purposes, GRI Operations was determined to be a below-market rate duethe accounting acquirer based upon the terms of the Merger and other factors including: (i) the equity holders of GRI Operations immediately prior to the scope exceptionMerger owned, or held rights to acquire, in ASC 835-30-15-3(e) for government-mandated interest rates. Amounts due under the next twelve months are presented as notes payable – current onaggregate approximately 85% of the Company’s balance sheet as of December 31, 2020.

On January 11, 2021, the Company entered into a Convertible Promissory Note Purchase Agreement with certain existing stockholders, including SALMON Pharma GmbH (“Salmon Pharma”), an affiliate of Medice, and David Baker, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to which the Company issued convertible promissory notes (the “2021 Convertible Notes”), for cash proceeds of $350,000. The 2021 Convertible Notes bore an interest rate of 7.0% per annum, non-compounding, and had a maturity date of September 30, 2021. The 2021 Convertible Notes converted into 54,906outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock upon completionCommon Stock and the Company’s stockholders immediately prior to the Merger owned approximately 15% of the IPO. The Company identified the mandatory conversion intooutstanding shares of the Company’s common stock as a redemption feature, which requires bifurcation fromCommon Stock (ii) GRI Operations holds the 2021 Convertible Notesmajority (4 out of 5) of board seats of the combined company, and treated it as a derivative liability under ASC 815 as(iii) GRI Operations’ management holds the redemption feature was not clearly and closelymajority of key positions in the management of the combined company. Immediately after the Merger, there were 422,333 shares of the Company’s Common Stock outstanding.

The following table shows the net liabilities assumed in the Merger:
April 21, 2023
Cash and cash equivalents$941 
Prepaid and other assets310 
Accounts payable and accrued expenses(4,190)
Total net liabilities assumed(2,939)
Plus: Transaction costs(2,984)
Total net liabilities assumed plus transaction costs$(5,923)
In addition to the transaction costs noted above, at the Effective Time, 4,363 shares of Common Stock were issued to GRI Operations’ financial advisor for services related to the debt. Merger.
5.    FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The Company evaluatedapplies the guidance in ASC 820 to account for financial assets and liabilities measured on a recurring basis. Fair value is measured as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market
11

participants at the measurement date. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that is determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability.
The Company uses a fair value hierarchy, which distinguishes between assumptions based on market data (observable inputs) and an entity's own assumptions (unobservable inputs). The guidance requires that fair value measurements be classified and disclosed in one of the following 3 categories:
Level 1: Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2: Quoted prices in markets that are not active, or inputs which are observable, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liabilities; and
Level 3: Prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable (i.e., supported by little or no market activity).
Determining which category an asset or liability falls within the hierarchy requires significant judgment. The Company evaluates its hierarchy disclosures each reporting period. There were no transfers between Level 1, 2 and 3 during the three months ended March 31, 2024.
The following table presents, for each of the fair value hierarchy levels required under ASC 820, the Company’s liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis at March 31, 2024:
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)Significant Other Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Liabilities:
Warrant liability$— $— $
Total liabilities$— $— $

The following table presents the changes in the fair value of the derivative liability. Upon the conversion of the 2021 Convertible Notes to common stock at the closing of the IPO, the embedded derivative liability was remeasured and removed from the balance sheet.

NOTE 5 – EQUITY FINANCING

On February 12, 2021, the Company completed the IPO of 2,250,000 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $8.00 per share. The gross proceeds from the IPO, before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company, were $18.0 million. Underwriting discounts and expenses totaled $1.6 million and the Company incurred approximately $905,000 of additional expenses related to completing the IPO, of which $494,000 were incurred as of December 31, 2020 and included prepaids and other current assets on the Company’s balance sheet; thus aggregate net proceeds were approximately $15.5 million. Immediately prior to the closing of the IPO, the Company effected a one-for-40 reverse stock split of its common stock.

Level 3 liability:

10

Warrant Liability
Fair value as of December 31, 2023$3
Change in valuation(2)
Fair value as of March 31, 2024$1

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In connection with the IPO, the Company granted the underwriters warrants (the “Underwriters' Warrants”) to purchase an aggregate of 112,500 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $10.00 per share, which is 125% of the initial public offering price. The Underwriters’ Warrants have a five-year term and are not exercisable prior to August 12, 2021. All of the Underwriters’ Warrants were outstanding at March 31, 2021. According to ASC 480-10-25-8 and ASC 480-10-25-14, a warrant is classified as a liability if the warrant obligates the issuer to repurchase its shares by transferring an asset. A warrant can also be classified as a liability if it (conditionally or unconditionally) obligates the issuer to settle the warrant by issuing a variable number of shares if the monetary value of the obligation is based on a predetermined fixed amount, variation in something other than the issuers stock price, or variations inversely related to the issuers stock price. Any other warrant would be classified as equity. Given that these warrants do not meet the criteria of debt classification, these warrants were classified as equity and the fair value of $399,000 is reflected as additional paid-in capital. The Black-Scholes option-pricingvaluation model was used to estimate the fair value of the warrants with the following weighted-average assumptions:

March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
Volatility211.9 %171.0 %
Expected term in years2.52.5
Dividend rate0.0 %0.0 %
Risk-free interest rate4.50 %4.12 %
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6.    PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
Computer equipment$21 $21 
Furniture and fixtures13 13 
34 34 
Accumulated depreciation(27)(26)

$$
Depreciation expense related to property and equipment was $1 for each of the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.
7.    ACCRUED EXPENSES
Accrued expenses consist of the following:
March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
Research and development$191 $93
General and administrative52441
Payroll and related756736
Total accrued expenses$999 $1,270 
8.    PROMISSORY NOTES
Bridge Financing
In connection with signing the Merger Agreement, GRI Operations entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 13, 2022 (the Bridge SPA), with Altium, pursuant to which GRI Operations issued senior secured promissory notes (Bridge Notes) in the aggregate principal amount of $3,333, in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $2,500.
The Bridge Notes were issued in two closings: (i) the first closing for $1,667 in aggregate principal amount (in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250) closed on December 14, 2022; and (ii) the second closing for $1,667 in aggregate principal amount (in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $1,250) closed on March 9, 2023. The Bridge Notes were secured by a lien on all of the Company’s assets.
In addition, upon the funding of each tranche, Altium received warrants to purchase an aggregate of 178,927 shares of Common Stock (the Bridge Warrants). The Bridge Warrants had an exercise price of $9.31 per share, were exercisable at any time on or after the applicable issuance date and had a term of 60 months from the date all shares underlying the Bridge Warrants were freely tradable.
The $1,250 of proceeds from the first closing were allocated to the Bridge Notes and Bridge Warrants based on their relative fair values as of the commitment date, resulting in an allocation of $679 and $571, respectively. The $1,250 of proceeds from the second closing were allocated to the Bridge Notes and Bridge Warrants based on their relative fair values as of the commitment date, resulting in an allocation of $718 and $532, respectively.
In addition to the Bridge SPA, and also in connection with signing the Merger Agreement, the Company, GRI Operations and Altium entered into the Equity SPA (Note 9) pursuant to which Altium agreed to invest $12,250 in cash and cancel any outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes in return for the issuance of shares of GRI Operations’ Common Stock immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger.
On April 21, 2023, the Company completed the Merger and the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes was cancelled and the Bridge Warrants were exchanged for the Exchange Warrants. The Exchange Warrants contain substantively similar terms to the Bridge Warrants, and have an initial exercise price equal to $103.11 per share subject to adjustments for splits and recapitalization events.
13

The Bridge Notes were accounted for as share-settled debt under the accounting guidance in ASC 835-30 and, as such, the initial net carrying amounts were accreted to the redemption amounts using the effective interest method. The Company incurred $295 of debt issuance costs related to its issuance of debt under the Bridge SPA, of which $90 was incurred during the three months ended March 31, 2023. Interest expense stemming from amortization of debt discounts and issuance costs was $1,161 for the three months ended March 31, 2023.
9.    STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
In connection with signing the Merger Agreement, the Company, GRI Operations and Altium entered the Equity SPA pursuant to which Altium agreed to invest $12,250 in cash and cancel any outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes in return for the issuance of shares of GRI Operations’ Common Stock immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger. Pursuant to the Equity SPA, immediately prior to the Closing, GRI Operations issued the Initial Shares to Altium and the Additional Shares into escrow with an escrow agent for net proceeds of $11,704, after deducting offering expenses of $546.
At the Closing, pursuant to the Merger, the Initial Shares converted into an aggregate of 36,263 shares of Common Stock and the Additional Shares converted into an aggregate of 145,052 shares of Common Stock. On May 8, 2023, in accordance with the terms of the Equity SPA, the Company and Altium authorized the escrow agent to, subject to beneficial ownership limitations, disburse to Altium all of the shares of the Common Stock issued in exchange for the Additional Shares.
On February 1, 2024, the Company entered into the Purchase Agreement, pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue and sell, in the Offering, (i) 330,450 Shares of the Common Stock, (ii) 4,669,550 Pre-Funded Warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 4,669,550 shares of Common Stock, (iii) 5,000,000 Series B-1 Common Warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock, and (iv) 5,000,000 Series B-2 Common Warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock for net proceeds of $4,389, after deducting offering expenses of $1,110. The securities were offered in combinations of (a) one Share or one Pre-Funded Warrant, together with (b) one Series B-1 Common Warrant and one Series B-2 Common Warrant, for a combined purchase price of $1.10 (less $0.0001 for each Pre-Funded Warrant).
Subject to certain ownership limitations, the Warrants were exercisable upon issuance. Each Pre-Funded Warrant is exercisable for one Share of Common Stock at a price per share of $0.0001 and does not expire. Each Series B-1 Common Warrant is exercisable into one Share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for a five-year period after February 6, 2024, the date of issuance. Each Series B-2 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for an 18-month period after February 6, 2024, the date of issuance. The Warrants were classified as equity and the allocated fair value of $4,279 is included in additional paid in capital.
The Company determined that the amount paid for the Pre-Funded Warrants approximates their fair value. The Black-Scholes option-pricing model was used to estimate the fair value of the Series B-1 Common and Series B-2 Common Warrants with the following weighted-average assumptions:

Volatility

156.3 %

Volatility

85.0

%

Expected term in years

1.63

2.5

Dividend rate

0.0 %

0.0

%

Risk-free interest rate

4.65 %

0.155

%

14

In connection with the issuance of the securities pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the exercise price of the Series A-1 Warrants issued in connection with the Merger was reduced to par, or $0.0001, per share pursuant to the terms of the Series A-1 Warrants.
As of March 31, 2024, the Company had the following warrants outstanding to purchase Common Stock.
Number of SharesExercise Price per ShareExpiration Date
2,449,000$0.0001Do not expire
5,000,000$1.10August 2025
116,353$85.96December 2025
542$2,100.00February 2026
3,524$197.05May 2027
167$0.01July 2027
343$429.73April 2028
181,316$0.0001December 2028
5,000,000$1.10February 2029
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NOTE 6–

10. STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

The Company has granted

2015 Equity Incentive Plan
GRI Operations adopted the GRI Operations Plan, that provided GRI Operations with the ability to grant stock options, to purchase its commonrestricted stock awards and other equity-based awards to employees, directors, and consultantsconsultants. Upon completion of the Merger, the Company assumed the GRI Operations Plan and 12,781 outstanding and unexercised options issued thereunder, and ceased granting awards under the GRI Operations Plan. As of March 31, 2024, no options remain outstanding under the GRI Operations Plan.
Amended and Restated 2018 Equity Incentive Plan
On April 21, 2023, the stockholders of the Company approved the Amended and Restated GRI Bio, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, formerly the Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the A&R 2018 Plan). The A&R 2018 Plan had previously been approved by the Company’s board of directors, subject to stockholder approval. The A&R 2018 Plan became effective on April 21, 2023, with the stockholders approving the amendment to the A&R 2018 Plan to, among other things, (i) to increase the aggregate number of shares by 24,129 shares to 30,952 shares of the Company’s Common Stock for issuance as awards under whichthe A&R 2018 Plan, (ii) to extend the term of the A&R 2018 Plan through January 1, 2033, (iii) to prohibit any action that would be treated as a “repricing” of an award without further approval by the stockholders of Company, and (iv) to revise the limits on awards to non-employee directors.
The A&R 2018 Plan provides the Company may issuewith the ability to grant stock options, restricted stock and other equity-based awards. Weawards to employees, directors and consultants. Stock options granted by the Company under the A&R 2018 Plan generally have also granted certain stock options outsidea contractual life of the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan.up to 10 years. As of March 31, 2021, all equity2024, awards granted fromunder the A&R 2018 Equity Incentive Plan representing the right to purchase or contingent right to receive up to an aggregate of 32,642 shares of the Company's Common Stock were outstanding and 56,781 shares of the Company’s Common Stock were reserved for issuance under the A&R 2018 Plan. The number of shares reserved for issuance under the A&R 2018 Plan may be increased pursuant to the A&R 2018 Plan’s “evergreen” provision on the first day of each calendar year beginning January 1, 2024 and ending on and including January 1, 2033, by a number of shares not to exceed 4% of the aggregate number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock outstanding on the final day of the immediately preceding calendar year.
The Company recorded stock-based compensation related to equity-based awards issued under the GRI Operations Plan and the A&R 2018 Plan in the formfollowing expense categories of stock options.

its accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023:

For the Three Months Ended March 31,
20242023
Research and development$$
General and administrative3713
Total$37$13
The Company measures equity-based awards granted to employees and nonemployeesnon-employees based on their fair value on the date of the grant and recognizerecognizes compensation expense for those awards over the requisite service period or performance-based period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. The measurement date for service-based equity awards is the date of grant, and
16

equity-based compensation costs are recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period orperiod.The Company records expense for certain performance-based awards if the Company records the expense for these awards if it concludes that it is probable that the performance condition will be achieved. The fair value of each stock option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes stock option-pricing model, which requires inputs based on certain subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility, the expected term of the stock option, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of the stock option, and the Company’s expected dividend yield. Expected volatility is calculated based on reported volatility data for a representative group of publicly traded companies for which historical information is available. The Company selects companies with comparable characteristics to it with historical share price information that approximates the expected term of the equity-based awards. The Company computes the historical volatility data using the daily closing prices for the selected companies’ shares during the equivalent period that approximates the calculated expected term of its stock options. The Company will continue to apply this method until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its stock price becomes available. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant commensurate with the expected term assumption. The Company uses the simplified method, under which the expected term is presumed to be the midpoint between the vesting date and the end of the contractual term. The Company utilizes this method due to lack of historical exercise data. The expected dividend yield is assumed to be zero as the Company has no current plans to pay any dividends on common stock. The fair value of each restricted common stock award is estimated on the date of grant based on the fair value of our common stock on that same date.

The Company’s stock-based compensation expense was recognized in operating expense as follows (in thousands):

For the Three Months Ended March 31,

    

2021

    

2020

Research and development

$

20

$

35

General and administrative

 

148

 

Total

$

168

$

35

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The fair value of the options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 was estimated by utilizing the following assumptions:

For the Three Months Ended March 31,

 

    

2021

    

2020

Volatility

80.0

%

85.0

%

Expected term in years

5.5-5.8

 

5.8

Dividend rate

0.0

%

 

0.0

%

Risk-free interest rate

0.63-0.81

%

2.20

%

Fair value of option on grant date

$

4.08-5.31

$

3.24

The table below represents the activity of stock options granted to employees and consultants:

Period from December 31, 2020 through March 31, 2021

Weighted

average

Aggregate

Weighted

remaining

intrinsic

Number of

average

contractual

value

    

options

    

exercise price

    

terms (years)

    

($ 000) (1)

Outstanding at December 31, 2020

 

266,250

$

2.94

4.109

$

474

Granted during the period

22,750

7.39

Outstanding at March 31, 2021

289,000

$

3.29

4.060

$

460

Exercisable at March 31, 2021

 

135,794

$

2.28

3.770

$

320

(1)The aggregate intrinsic value of options is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the underlying options and the deemed fair value of the Company’s common stock for those shares that had exercise prices lower than the deemed fair value of the Company’s common stock.
non-employees for the three months ended March 31, 2024:
Number of optionsWeighted average exercise priceWeighted average remaining contractual term (years)
Outstanding at December 31, 202332,642$37.41 9.55
Granted
Exercised
Forfeited/cancelled
Outstanding at March 31, 202432,642$37.419.30
Exercisable at March 31, 20245,958$133.348.78
Vested and expected to vest at March 31, 202432,642$37.419.30

As of March 31, 2021, there was approximately $105,0002024, all of totalthe outstanding and exercisable stock options were out of the money and therefore had no intrinsic value. At March 31, 2024, the unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock-basedunvested stock options expected to vest was $350. This unrecognized compensation arrangements granted to employees which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average amortization period of one year. As of March 31, 2021, there was approximately $118,000 of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock-based compensation arrangements2.72 years.
No equity-based awards were granted to non-employees. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 0.7 years.

NOTE 7 – INCOME TAXES

For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, 0 income tax expense or benefit was recognized. The Company’s deferred tax assets are comprised primarily of net operating loss carryforwards. The Company maintains a full valuation allowance on its deferred tax assets since it has not yet achieved sustained profitable operations. As a result, the Company has not recorded any income tax benefit since its inception.

NOTE 8 - RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

On January 6, 2020, the Company entered into a license agreement with Medice which grants Medice an exclusive license, with the right to grant sublicenses, to develop, use, manufacture, market and sell ADAIR throughout Europe. Medice is responsible for obtaining regulatory approval of ADAIR in the licensed territory. Under the license agreement, Medice paid Vallon a $100,000 upfront payment and is required to pay milestone payments upon first obtaining regulatory approval to market and sell ADAIR in any country, territory or region in the licensed territory and upon achieving certain annual net sales thresholds. Medice will also pay tiered royalties on annual net sales of ADAIR at rates in the low double-digits. The initial term of the license agreement will expire five years after the date on which Medice first obtains regulatory approval in any country, territory or region in the licensed territory.

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On January 11, 2021, the Company entered into a Convertible Promissory Note Purchase Agreement with certain existing stockholders, including Salmon Pharma, an affiliate of Medice, and David Baker, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to which the Company issued the 2021 Convertible Notes for cash proceeds of $350,000. The 2021 Convertible Notes bore an interest rate of 7.0% per annum, non-compounding, and had a maturity date of September 30, 2021. The 2021 Convertible Notes converted into 54,906 shares of the Company’s common stock upon completion of the IPO.

NOTE 9 - FINANCE LEASE

The Company entered into a finance lease in October 2019 in relation to equipment utilized in the commercial scale manufacturing of ADAIR ($ in thousands).

    

March 31, 2021

    

December 31, 2020

 

Initial lease right-of-use asset

$

368

$

368

 

Accumulated amortization

$

107

$

89

Weighted-average remaining lease term - finance lease (in years)

 

2.50

 

2.75

Weighted-average discount rate - finance lease

 

13.50

%  

 

13.50

%

Three Months Ended March 31,

    

2021

    

2020

Operating cash flows from finance lease amortization

$

18

$

18

Financing cash flows from finance lease payments

$

34

$

29

The maturities of the finance lease liability as of March 31, 2021 (in thousands):

2021

    

$

95

2022

 

114

2023

 

76

Total lease payments

 

285

Less: Imputed interest

 

44

Present value of lease liability

$

241

NOTE 10 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

(A) Employment Agreements

On January 15, 2019, the Company entered into an employment agreement with David Baker, to serve as its President and Chief Executive Officer, which was subsequently superseded by a new employment agreement, effective as of April 20, 2021 (the “Baker Agreement”). The Baker Agreement provides for a base salary of $400,000 per year, effective as of April 20, 2021.

Under the Baker Agreement, in the event of an involuntary termination by the Company or termination by Mr. Baker for good reason, Mr. Baker will receive:

continued base salary for a period of 12 months, plus a pro-rated bonus for the year of termination, based on actual performance results for the entire year, and provided he was employed for at least six months during that year; and
if he elects to continue receiving group health insurance coverage pursuant to COBRA, subsidized premiums for COBRA continuation coverage for a period of 12 months (or such earlier date that he obtains alternative coverage), such that he will continue to pay the premium cost for active employees who receive the same type of coverage during that period.

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In the event of a termination within 12 months after the occurrence of a change in control transaction, the President and Chief Executive Officer will receive:

continued base salary for a period of 18 months, plus a lump sum payment equal to 150% of his target bonus, without proration, for the fiscal year of termination;
if he elects to continue receiving group health insurance coverage pursuant to COBRA, subsidized premiums for COBRA continuation coverage for a period of 18 months (or such earlier date that he obtains alternative coverage), such that he will continue to pay the premium cost for active employees who receive the same type of coverage during that period; and
accelerated vesting of all outstanding stock-based awards held by the executive as of the date of termination, with any performance awards deemed satisfied at the “target” performance level, and any stock options remaining outstanding for their full term.

In exchange for the severance benefits described above, Mr. Baker must comply with certain confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation provisions, return all company property, and sign a release of claims in favor of the Company. The description of the terms above are qualified in their entirety by reference to the Baker Agreement, a copy of which is filed by the Company as Exhibit 10.1 to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

(B) Clinical Trial Agreements

In January 2020, the Company entered into a service agreement, amended August 2020 and further amended January 2021, with a clinical research organization to provide clinical trial management services to the Company to assist the Company in its pivotal human abuse liability clinical trial of ADAIR, Study VAL-104. The agreement may be terminated by either party upon thirty days prior written notice. The total clinical trial cost is expected to be $3.1 million of which approximately $1.1 million and $49,000 was expensed during the three months ended March 31, 20212024 and 2020, respectively. 2023.

11.    COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Employment Agreements
The Company has expensed $1.9 million cumulative from contract inception through the three months ended March 31, 2021 for Study VAL-104 and expects topline results from the study by the end of 2021.

(C) Consulting Agreements

Effective April 2, 2018, the Company entered into a consulting agreementemployment contracts with a consultant to serve as the Chief Medical Officerits officers that provide for the Company. Pursuant to the consulting agreement, the consultant is paid $10,000 per month for his services. In October 2018severance and May 2020, the Company granted the consultant 15,625 and 6,250 options, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company has incurred consulting feescontinuation of benefits in the amountevent of approximately $30,000 and $30,000, respectively, under the agreement. The agreement may be terminated by either party with 30 days’ notice.

(D) Manufacturing Agreements

In August 2019, the Company entered into an agreement with a contract manufacturer for the commercial scale up and registration batches for ADAIR. The total contract is estimated at $1.6 milliontermination of which approximately $79,000 and $79,000 was expensed under the agreement during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

In October 2019, the Company entered into an agreement with a formulation development company for the formulation and development for an abuse-deterrent formulation of methylphenidate (Ritalin®). The total contract is estimated at $232,000, of which $6,000 and $83,000 was expensed during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

(E) Pre-Clinical Agreement (included in research and development expense)

In November 2019, the Company entered into an agreement with a clinical research organization for pre-clinical services. The total contract currently authorized is estimated at $1.5 million of which $245,000 and $175,000 was expensed during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

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(F) COVID-19 Impact

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to rapidly evolve, and the Company continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely, including the worldwide vaccine rollout and the recent outbreaks of various strains of the virus. the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, operations and clinical development timelines and plans remains uncertain, and will depend on certain developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and its future impact on the Company’s clinical trial enrollment, clinical trial sites, CROs, third-party manufacturers, and other third parties with whom it does business, as well as its impact on regulatory authorities and the Company’s key scientific and management personnel. To the extent possible, the Company is conducting business as usual, with necessary or advisable modifications to employee travel and with many of its employees and consultants working remotely. The Company will continue to actively monitor the rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and may take further actions that alter its operations, including those that may be required by federal, state or local authorities, or that it determines are in the best interests of its employees and other third parties with whom the Company does business.

NOTE 11: FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

The fair value of the embedded derivative liability identified in the 2021 Convertible Notes was a Level 3 fair value measurement. As of February 12, 2021, the embedded derivative was remeasured based upon the conversion price of $8 per share upon closing of the IPO. As such, an expense of $89,000 was recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

The following table presents the activity for the liability measured at estimated fair value using unobservable inputs for the three months ended March 31, 2021 (in thousands):

Beginning balance at January 1, 2021

$

Additions during the quarter ended March 31, 2021

89

Transfer out of Level 3

89

Balance at March 31, 2021

$

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NOTE 12: SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

On May 10, 2021, the Company appointed Leanne M. Kelly to serve as its Chief Financial Officer, and principal financial and accounting officer. In connection with Ms. Kelly’s appointment, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Ms. Kelly (the “Kelly Agreement”), which provides for an initial base annual salary of $275,000 and a target bonus opportunity equal to 35% of her base salary.

The Kelly Agreement also provides that the Company will recommend that the Board approve a stock option grant covering 100,000 common shares of the Company (the “Stock Option”). The Stock Option shall have an exercise price per share equal to the fair market value of a share of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and shall vest in installments and become exercisable as follows: (i) 70% of the shares underlying the Stock Option shall vest as follows: (x) 17,500 option shares on the first anniversary of her start date, and (y) the remaining 52,500 option shares in equal installments on a quarterly basis for the next three years, in each case subject to continued employment, and (ii) 30% of the shares underlying the Stock Option shall vest as follows: (x) 15,000 option shares on the date the Company submits a New Drug Application (“NDA”) filing for ADAIR with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, and (y) 15,000 option shares on the date when the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approves the NDA, provided that she is employed by the Company at the time the applicable performance objective is achieved.

The Kelly Agreement provides that if she is terminatedwithout cause or by the Company other than for cause, or she resignsemployee for good reason,reason. In addition, in either case not in connection withthe event of termination of employment following a change in control, she will receive:

continued base salary for a period of 9 months, plus a pro-rated bonus for the year of termination, based on actual performance results for the entire year, and provided she was employed for at least six months during that year; and

if she elects to continue receiving group health insurance coverage pursuant to COBRA, subsidized premiums for COBRA continuation coverage for a period of 9 months (or such earlier date that she obtains alternative coverage), such that she will continue to pay the premium cost for active employees who receive the same type of coverage during that period.

If she is terminated bythe vesting of certain equity awards may be accelerated.

Separation and Release Agreement
In connection with the resignation of David Baker, the Company’s Former Chief Executive Officer, pursuant to the Merger, the Company other than for cause, or she resigns for good reason, in either case withinand Mr. Baker entered into a Separation and Release Agreement on April 21, 2023 (the Separation Agreement). Pursuant to the one-year period commencing on a change in control, she will receive:

continued base salary for a period of 12 months, plus a lump sum payment equal to 100% of her target bonus, without proration, for the fiscal year of termination;

if she elects to continue receiving group health insurance coverage pursuant to COBRA, subsidized premiums for COBRA continuation coverage for a period of 12 months (or such earlier date that she obtains alternative coverage), such that she will continue to pay the premium cost for active employees who receive the same type of coverage during that period; and

accelerated vesting of all outstanding stock-based awards held by the executive as of the date of termination, with any performance awards deemed satisfied at the “target” performance level, and any stock options remaining outstanding for their full term.

In exchange for the severance benefits described above, Ms. Kelly must comply with certain confidentiality, non-competition and non-solicitation provisions, return all company property, and sign a release of claims in favorterms of the Company. The descriptionSeparation Agreement and his employment agreement, Mr. Baker will receive continuation of his current salary and certain COBRA benefits for 18 months payable in accordance with the terms above are qualified in their entirety by referenceCompany’s payroll practices. Mr. Baker also received a lump sum payment equal to the Kelly Agreement, a copy150% of which is filed by the Company as Exhibit 10.2his target bonus and agreed to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.

See description of the Baker Agreement under Note 10 – Employment Agreements.

reduce amounts payable with respect to certain future milestone payments.

16

17

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with ourthe Company’s financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report andon Form 10-Q, the audited financial statements (andand notes thereto), andthereto, as well as management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K that was2023 filed with the SECSecurities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on March 29, 2021.28, 2024 (the Annual Report). Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis, or set forth elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, including information with respect to ourthe Company’s plans and strategy for ourits business and related financing, includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 12E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors set forthout under the section entitled “Risk Factors” included in the “Risk Factors” section of this QuarterlyAnnual Report, ourthe Company’s actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Except as otherwise indicated, references herein to “GRI Bio,” or the “Company,” refer to GRI Bio, Inc. after the completion of the Merger (as defined below), and references to “GRI Operations” refer to the business of GRI Bio, Inc. prior to the completion of the Merger. References to “Vallon” refer to Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. prior to the completion of the Merger.
Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative therapies that target serious diseases associated with dysregulated immune responses leading to inflammatory, fibrotic, and autoimmune disorders. Our goal is to be an industry leader in developing therapies to treat these diseases and to improve the development and commercializationlives of proprietary biopharmaceutical products. patients suffering from such diseases.
Our only clinical-stagelead product currently under developmentcandidate, GRI-0621, is ADAIR, a proprietary, abuse-deterrentan oral inhibitor of type 1 Natural Killer T (iNKT) cells. GRI-0621 is also an oral formulation of immediate-release (short-acting) dextroamphetaminetazarotene, a synthetic retinoid acid receptor (RAR)-beta and gamma selective agonist, that is approved in the United States for topical treatment of psoriasis and acne. As of March 31, 2024, it has been evaluated in over 1,700 patients as an oral product for up to 52-weeks. We are developing GRI-0621 for the treatment of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”)severe fibrotic lung diseases such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a life-threatening progressive fibrotic disease of the lung that affects approximately 140,000 people in the United States, with up to 40,000 new cases per year in the United States. Some estimate that IPF affects 3 million globally. While there are currently two approved therapies for the treatment of lung fibrosis, neither has been associated with improvements in overall survival, and Narcolepsy.both therapies have been associated with significant side effects leading to poor therapeutic adherence. In preliminary data from our trials to date with GRI-0621, and earlier trials with oral tazarotene, we have observed GRI-0621 to be well-tolerated and to inhibit iNKT cell activity in subjects. We and others have shown that activated iNKT are upregulated in IPF, primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), alcoholic liver disease (ALD), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease (SLE), multiple sclerosis (MS), ulcerative colitis (UC) patients as well as other indications. In these patients activated iNKT cells are correlated with more severe disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared our Investigative New Drug (IND) application for GRI-0621 for the future,treatment of IPF and we plan to develop other abuse-deterrent products that have potential for abuseevaluate GRI-0621 in their current forms, beginning with the development of ADMIR, an abuse deterrent formulation of Ritalin,a randomized, double-blind, multi-center Phase 2a biomarker study, for which we commenced enrollment in December 2023. We expect interim data from this trial to be available in the third quarter of 2024 and topline results to be available in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Our product candidate portfolio also includes GRI-0803 and a proprietary library of 500+ compounds. GRI-0803, the lead molecule selected from the library, is a novel oral agonist of type 2 Natural Killer T cells. We are conducting formulationdeveloping GRI-0803 for the treatment of autoimmune disorders, with much of our preclinical work in SLE or lupus and MS. In lupus, the immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissues, especially joints and skin, but can affect almost every organ and tissue of the body. The condition can be fatal, and often causes debilitating bouts of fatigue and pain that prevent nearly half of adult patients from working. Lupus affects between 160,000 - 200,000 patients in the United States, with around 80,000 – 100,000 patients in the United States suffering from kidney nephritis, one of the most serious manifestations of SLE, typically within five years of diagnosis. There is no cure for lupus, but medical interventions and lifestyle changes can help control it. SLE treatment consists primarily of immunosuppressive drugs that inhibit the activity of the immune system. Only two drugs have been approved for lupus in the past 50 years, and new treatment options are sorely needed. Subject to IND clearance, we intend to evaluate GRI-0803 in a Phase 1a and 1b trial initially targeting SLE. We expect to file an IND with respect to this Phase 1a and 1b trial in the second half of 2024. We will continue to evaluate indications to select the best fit for further development work.

of the program, but our initial focus is on lupus.


18

Recent Developments
Securities Purchase Agreement
On February 1, 2024, we entered into a securities purchase agreement (the Purchase Agreement), pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell, in a public offering, (i) 330,450 shares (the Shares) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (Common Stock), (ii) 4,669,550 pre-funded warrants (the Pre-Funded Warrants) exercisable for an aggregate of 4,669,550 shares of Common Stock, (iii) 5,000,000 Series B-1 common warrants (the Series B-1 Common Warrants) exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock, and (iv) 5,000,000 Series B-2 common warrants (the Series B-2 Common Warrants, together with the Series B-1 Common Warrants, the Common Warrants) exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock for net proceeds of $4.4 million, after deducting offering costs of $1.1 million. The ADAIR assetsCommon Warrants together with the Pre-Funded Warrants are referred to in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q as the “Warrants.”The securities were acquired by us on June 22, 2018offered in combinations of (a) one Share or one Pre-Funded Warrant, together with (b) one Series B-1 Common Warrant and one Series B-2 Common Warrant, for a combined purchase price of $1.10 (less $0.0001 for each Pre-Funded Warrant).
Subject to certain ownership limitations, the Warrants are exercisable upon issuance. Each Pre-Funded Warrant is exercisable for one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $0.0001 and does not expire. Each Series B-1 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for a five-year period after February 6, 2024, the date of issuance. Each Series B-2 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for an 18-month period after February 6, 2024, the date of issuance. In connection with the issuance of the securities pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the exercise price of the Series A-1 Warrants was reduced to par, or $0.0001, per share pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Amended and Restated Asset Purchase Agreement with Arcturus Therapeutics, Inc. (the successor to Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd.), referred to herein collectively as Arcturus, and Amiservice Development Ltd., dated as of June 22, 2018 (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”). In exchange for the ADAIR assets, we issued 843,750 shares of our common stock to Arcturus (valued at approximately $1.4 million based upon the price at which the common stock was issued and sold in the June 2018 private placement of our common stock) which comprised 30% of our then-outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis.

We intend to develop ADAIR for registration through the Section 505(b)(2) approval pathway. We filed our Investigational New Drug (“IND”), application for ADAIR in June 2018 and the IND was cleared in July 2018. Subsequently, we have successfully completed a Phase 1 pivotal bioequivalence study of ADAIR and a Phase 1 food effect study. In 2019, we conducted a Phase 1 proof-of-concept intranasal human abuse potential study designed to compare ADAIR when insufflated (snorted) to the reference comparator, crushed immediate release dextroamphetamine sulfate tablets. We began enrollment of subjects in a pivotal intranasal abuse study during the fourth quarter of 2020 and expect to have topline results for the study by the end of 2021. We are also currently conducting a 13-week preclinical toxicology study on the final formulation of ADAIR and have begun planning additional non-clinical safety studies during 2021. We also plan to conduct additional preclinical studies of unintended routes of administration such as IV and intranasal administration.

We plan to develop other abuse-deterrent products that have potential for abuse in their current forms, beginning with the development of an abuse deterrent formulation of Ritalin (“ADMIR”), for which we are conducting formulation development work.

Series A-1 Warrants.

January 2024 Reverse Stock Split
On January 6, 2020, we entered into19, 2024, our stockholders approved a license agreement with Medice, who is affiliated with one of our principal stockholders, Salmon Pharma, and represented by one member of our board of directors, which grants Medice an exclusive license, with the right to grant sublicenses, to develop, use, manufacture, market and sell ADAIR throughout Europe. Medice currently markets several ADHD products in Europe and is the ADHD market leader in Europe based on branded prescription market share. Medice is responsible for obtaining regulatory approval of ADAIR in the licensed territory. Under the license agreement, Medice paid us a minimal upfront payment and will pay milestone payments of up to $6.3 million in the aggregate upon first obtaining regulatory approval to market and sell ADAIR in any country, territory or region in the licensed territory and upon achieving certain annual net sales thresholds. Medice will also pay tiered royalties on annual net sales of ADAIR at rates in the low double-digits. The initial term of the license agreement will expire five years after the date on which Medice first obtains regulatory approval in any country, territory or region in the licensed territory.

17

Our objective is to develop and commercialize proprietary biopharmaceutical products. To this effect, we intend to develop and seek marketing approvals from the FDA and other worldwide regulatory bodies for ADAIR, and any other products we opt to pursue in the future, such as ADMIR. To achieve these objectives, we plan to:

·

seek the necessary regulatory approvals to complete the clinical development of ADAIR for the treatment of ADHD and, if successful, file for marketing approval in the United States and other territories;

·

prepare to commercialize ADAIR by establishing independent distribution capabilities or in conjunction with other biopharmaceutical companies in the United States and other key markets;

·

commence development of other abuse-deterrent products such as ADMIR; and

·

continue our business development activities and seek partnering, licensing, merger and acquisition opportunities or other transactions to further develop our pipeline and drug-development capabilities and take advantage of our financial resources for the benefit of increasing stockholder value.

Emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. Therefore, we may not be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.” For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we also intend to take advantage of certain other exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies including, but not limited to, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory stockholder vote on executive compensation, and any golden parachute payments not previously approved, exemption from the requirement of auditor attestation in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting and exemption from any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (auditor discussion and analysis). We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the end of the fiscal year in which the market value of our commonreverse stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of the second fiscal quarter, (ii) the end of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year, (iii) the date on which we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three-year period, or (iv) the end of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first salesplit of our Common Stock. Our Board approved the reverse stock split at a ratio of one-for-seven (the January 2024 Reverse Stock pursuant toSplit). Following the Board’s approval, we filed an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to rapidly evolve, and we will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely, including the worldwide vaccine rollout and the recent outbreaks of various strains of the virus. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, operations and clinical development timelines and plans remains uncertain, and will depend on certain developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak and its future impact on our clinical trial enrollment, clinical trial sites, CROs, third-party manufacturers, and other third parties with whom we do business, as well as its impact on regulatory authorities and our key scientific and management personnel. To the extent possible, we are conducting business as usual, with necessary or advisable modifications to employee travel and with most of our employees and consultants working remotely. We will continue to actively monitor the rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and may take further actions that alter our operations, including those that may be required by federal, state or local authorities, or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees and other third parties with whom we do business.

Reverse Split

On February 10, 2021, the Company filed a certificate of amendment to itsour amended and restated certificate of incorporation (Charter) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware which effected a one-for-40 reverse stock split (the “reverse split”)to effect the January 2024 Reverse Stock Split as of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock at 11:59 PM4:01 p.m. Eastern Time on that date.January 29, 2024. Shares of our Common Stock began trading on a post-split basis on January 30, 2024. As a result of the reverse split,January 2024 Reverse Stock Split, every 40seven shares of common stockour Common Stock, either issued or outstanding, immediately prior to the filing and outstanding were reclassifiedeffectiveness of our amendment to our Charter filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, was automatically combined and converted (without any further act) into one share of common stock.fully paid and nonassessable share of Common Stock. No fractional shares were issued in connection with the reverse split and anyJanuary 2024 Reverse Stock Split. Stockholders who otherwise would have received fractional shares were rounded upof Common Stock received cash in lieu thereof at a price equal to the nearest whole share.

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The reverse split did not changereducing the par value of the common stock or the authorizedaggregate number of outstanding shares of common stock. The reverseCommon Stock from 4,520,233 shares on a pre-reverse split affectedbasis to a total of 645,738 shares outstanding on a post-reverse split basis.

Unless otherwise noted, all stockholders uniformlyfinancial information, share numbers, option numbers, warrant numbers, other derivative security numbers and did not alter any stockholder’s percentage interest in equity. All outstanding options and other securities entitling their holders to purchase or otherwise receive shares of common stock have been adjusted as a result of the reverse split, as required by the terms of each security. The number of shares available to be awarded under the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan have also been appropriately adjusted.

All share and per share amounts, excluding the number of authorized shares and par value, containedexercise prices appearing in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have been adjusted to give retroactive effect to the reverse split.

Initial Public Offering (“IPO”); Underwriting Agreement

As previously disclosed,January 2024 Reverse Stock Split.

Nasdaq Compliance - Equity Deficiency
On November 22, 2023, we received a letter (the Notice) from the Listing Qualifications Department (the Staff) of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) notifying us that we were not in compliance with the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement for continued listing on February 12, 2021,The Nasdaq Capital Market based on the information provided in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1) requires that companies listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market with a market value of listed securities of less than $35.0 million and annual net income of less than $0.5 million maintain stockholders’ equity of at least $2.5 million (the Stockholders’ Equity Requirement). In accordance with Nasdaq rules, we consummatedwere provided until January 8, 2024, to submit a plan to regain compliance with the initial publicStockholders’ Equity Requirement (the Compliance Plan). On January 22, 2024, the Staff granted us an extension until May 20, 2024 to regain compliance with the Stockholders’ Equity Requirement. Per the Staff’s January 22, 2024 letter, we must complete an equity offering to raise gross proceeds of at least $6.0 million and furnish to the Staff and Nasdaq evidence of compliance with the Stockholders’ Equity Requirement by filing a publicly available report prior to May 24, 2024. While we completed an equity offering with gross proceeds of $5.5 million and have met the minimum Stockholders’ Equity
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Requirement as of the quarter ended March 31, 2024, the proceeds will likely be insufficient for us to maintain compliance with the Stockholders’ Equity Requirement such that we will need to raise substantial additional funds in the near term. If we fail to evidence compliance with the Stockholders’ Equity Requirement in our common stock through whichQuarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending June 30, 2024 or as otherwise required by Nasdaq, we sold 2,250,000may be delisted.
Nasdaq Compliance - Bid Price Deficiency
The rules of The Nasdaq Capital Market also require that we maintain a closing price for shares of our common stockCommon Stock of at least $1.00 per share (the Minimum Bid Price Rule). On January 5, 2024, we received a letter (the Letter) from the Staff of Nasdaq indicating that we no longer meet the Minimum Bid Price Rule set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) because the closing bid price for total gross proceeds of $18.0 million, resultingour Common Stock was less than $1.00 for the previous 30 consecutive business days. The Letter is in net proceeds of approximately $15.5 million after deducting $1.6 million in underwriter’s discounts, expenses and commissions, and $905,000 of other expenses incurred in connectionaddition to the Notice described above. The Letter has no immediate effect on our continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), we have a 180-calendar day period, or until July 3, 2024 (the Compliance Date), to regain compliance with the offering.

As partMinimum Bid Price Rule. The Minimum Bid Price Rule will be met if our Common Stock has a minimum closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days during the 180-calendar day period, unless Nasdaq exercises its discretion to extend such 10‑day period. If we do not regain compliance by the Compliance Date, we may be eligible for an additional 180-calendar day period, subject to satisfying the conditions in the applicable Nasdaq Listing Rules. If, before the Compliance Date, our Common Stock has a closing bid price of $0.10 per share or less for ten consecutive trading days, the Staff will issue a Staff Delisting Determination under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810 with respect to our Common Stock. On January 29, 2024, we filed an amendment to our Charter to implement the January 2024 Reverse Stock Split to attempt to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Rule, but were not able to regain compliance following the January 2024 Reverse Stock Split. There can be no assurance that the stock price of our Common Stock will remain above the minimum $1.00 bid price required for any post-split Nasdaq monitoring period or otherwise.

Merger with Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
On April 21, 2023, the Company (formerly Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) consummated a merger with GRI Bio Operations, Inc. (formerly GRI Bio, Inc.) (GRI Operations) pursuant to an Agreement and Plan of Merger, as amended (the Merger Agreement), by and among the Company, GRI Operations and Vallon Merger Sub, Inc. (Merger Sub), a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The Merger Agreement provided for the merger of Merger Sub with and into GRI Operations, with GRI Operations continuing as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and the surviving corporation of the merger (the Merger). In connection with the closing of the IPO, we alsoMerger (the Closing), the Company amended its certificate of incorporation and bylaws to change its name from “Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.” to “GRI Bio, Inc.”
In connection with signing the Merger Agreement, GRI Operations entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 13, 2022 (the Bridge SPA), with Altium Growth Fund, LP (Altium), pursuant to which GRI Operations issued senior secured promissory notes (the Bridge Notes) in the aggregate principal amount of $3.3 million, in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $2.5 million. The Bridge Notes were issued in two closings: (i) the first closing for $1.67 million in aggregate principal amount (in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $1.25 million) closed on December 14, 2022; and (ii) the second closing for $1.67 million in aggregate principal amount (in exchange for an aggregate purchase price of $1.25 million) closed on March 9, 2023.
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In addition, upon the funding of each tranche, Altium received warrants to purchase an aggregate of 112,500178,927 shares of GRI Operations’ common stock (the Bridge Warrants).
In addition to certain of the underwriter’s affiliates. Such warrants may be exercised beginning on August 11, 2021 (180 days fromBridge SPA, and also in connection with signing the commencement of sales ofMerger Agreement, the IPO) until February 12, 2026 (five years after the commencement of sales in the IPO).

2021 Convertible Note Financing

On January 11, 2021, weCompany, GRI Operations and Altium entered into a Convertible Promissory NoteSecurities Purchase Agreement with certain existing stockholders, including SALMON Pharma GmbH (“Salmon Pharma”), an affiliate of Medice, and David Baker, our Chief Executive Officer,on December 13, 2022 (the Equity SPA) pursuant to which we issued convertible promissory notes (the “2021 Convertible Notes”)the Investor agreed to invest $12.25 million in cash and cancel any outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes in return for cash proceedsthe issuance of $350,000. The 2021 Convertible Notes bear an interest rate of 7.0% per annum, non-compounding, and had a maturity date of September 30, 2021. The 2021 Convertible Notes were convertible into shares of our capitalGRI Operations’ common stock offered to investors in any subsequent equity financing after the date of their issuance in which we issued any of our equity securities (a “Qualified Financing”), and were convertible at a twenty percent (20%) discount(GRI Operations Common Stock) immediately prior to the price per share offered in such Qualified Financing. Such Qualified Financing includedconsummation of the initial public offeringMerger. Pursuant to the Equity SPA, immediately prior to the Closing, GRI Operations issued 969,602 shares of our common stock, consummated on February 12, 2021; therefore,GRI Operations Common Stock (the Initial Shares) to Altium and 3,878,411 shares of GRI Operations Common Stock (the Additional Shares) into escrow with an escrow agent. At the 2021 Convertible Notesclosing, pursuant to the Merger, the Initial Shares converted into an aggregate of 54,90636,263 shares of our common stock immediately priorthe Company’s Common Stock and the Additional Shares converted into an aggregate of 145,052 shares of the Company’s Common Stock. On May 8, 2023, in accordance with the terms of the Equity SPA, the Company and Altium authorized the escrow agent to, subject to beneficial ownership limitations, disburse to Altium all of the shares of the Company’s Common Stock issued in exchange for the Additional Shares.

Pursuant to the closingEquity SPA, on May 8, 2023, the Company issued to Altium (i) Series A-1 Warrants to purchase 181,316 shares of the IPO, as agreedCompany’s Common Stock with an initial exercise price of $94.57 per share, (ii) Series A-2 Warrants to purchase 163,185 shares of the Company’s Common Stock with an initial exercise price of $103.18 per share, and (iii) Series T Warrants to purchase at an exercise price of $12.28 per share (x) 814,467 shares of the Company’s Common Stock and (y) upon amongexercise of the parties thereto.

Series T Warrants, an additional amount of Series A-1 Warrants and Series A-2 Warrants, each to purchase 116,353 shares of the Company’s Common Stock (collectively, the Equity Warrants).

Upon the completion of the Merger, the outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes was cancelled and the Bridge Warrants were exchanged for warrants (the Exchange Warrants) to purchase an aggregate of 60,227 shares of the Company’s Common Stock.
As of March 31, 2024, all of the A-2 Warrants and the Exchange Warrants had been exercised and all of the A-1 Warrants and the T Warrants were outstanding.
Financial Operations Overview

Revenue

We have not generated any significant revenue, and we do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of any products unless or until we obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize ADAIR. The only revenue we have generated was the $100,000 license fee from the Medice license agreement recognized in the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Research and Development Expenses

Since our incorporation, our operations have primarily been limited to building our management and corporate team, acquiring the ADAIR assets from Arcturus and conducting our clinical program for ADAIR. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred.

Research and development expenses include personnel costs associated with research and development activities, including third party contractors to perform research, conduct clinical trials and manufacture drug supplies and materials. 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.

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Our research and development expenses have consisted primarily of in-processcosts related to our development program for our lead product candidate GRI-0621. These expenses include:

employee-related expenses, such as salaries, bonuses and benefits, consultant-related expenses such as consultant fees and bonuses, stock-based compensation, overhead-related expenses and travel-related expenses for our research and development personnel; and
expenses incurred under agreements with contract research organizations (CROs), contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and research laboratories in connection with our preclinical development, process development, manufacturing and clinical development activities as well as consultants that support the implementation of our clinical and non-clinical studies.
Although our direct research and development expenses which consisted of non-cashare tracked by product candidate, we do not allocate employee costs acquiring the ADAIR assets of $1.7 million,and costs incurred in preparing forassociated with our discovery efforts, laboratory supplies and conducting the development program for ADAIR, working on commercial manufacturing of ADAIR and developing formulations for ADMIR. We expectfacilities, including other indirect costs, to significantly increase our research and development efforts by conducting the remaining studies necessary for the development and approval of ADAIR and for preparing for commercial supplies of the product. Future research and development expenses may include:

·

employee -related expenses, such as salaries, bonuses and benefits, consultant-related expenses such as consultant fees and bonuses, share-based compensation, overhead related expenses and travel related expenses for our research and development personnel;

·

expenses incurred under agreements with contract research organizations (CROs), as well as consultants that support the implementation of the clinical and non-clinical studies described above;

·

manufacturing and packaging costs in connection with conducting clinical trials and for stability and other studies required to support the NDA filing as well as manufacturing drug product for commercial launch;

·

formulation, research and development expenses related to ADMIR; and other products we may choose to develop; and

·

costs for sponsored research.

Research and development activities will continue to be central to our business model. Products in later stages of clinical development generally have higher developmentspecific product candidates as these costs than those in earlier stages of clinical development, primarily due to the increased size and duration of later-stage clinical trials.are deployed across multiple programs. We expect our research and development expenses to be significantincrease over the next several years as we increase personnelconduct our planned clinical and compensation costs and conduct the studies described above, and prepare to seek regulatory approvalpreclinical activities for ADAIR and any other futureour product such as ADMIR.

The duration, costs and timing of clinical trials of ADAIR and any other future product, such as ADMIR, will depend on a variety of factors that include, but are not limited to:

·

the number of trials required for approval;

·

the per patient trial costs;

·

the number of patients that participate in the trials;

·

the number of sites included in the trials;

·

the countries in which the trial is conducted;

·

the length of time required to enroll eligible patients;

·

the number of doses that patients receive;

·

the drop-out or discontinuation rates of patients;

·

the potential additional safety monitoring or other studies requested by regulatory agencies;

·

the duration of patient follow-up;

·

the timing and receipt of regulatory approvals; and

·

the efficacy and safety profile of our product candidates.

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In addition, the probability of success for ADAIR and any other future products, such as ADMIR, will depend on numerous factors, including competition, manufacturing capability and commercial viability.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and consulting related expenses for executives and other administrative personnel, professional fees and other corporate expenses, including legal and accounting fees, travel expenses, facilities-related expenses, and consulting services relating to our formation and corporate matters.

We anticipate thatexpect our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future to support our continued research and development activities and increased costs of operatingsubstantially as a public company. These increases will likely include increased costs related to the hiring of personnel, including compensation and employee-related expenses, including stock-based compensation, and fees to outside consultants, lawyers and accountants, among other expenses. Additionally, we anticipate increasedincur costs associated with being a public company, including expenses related to services associated with maintaining compliance with The Nasdaq Capital Market and SEC requirements, directorsdirectors’ and officersofficers’ insurance, increased legal and accounting costs and investor relations costs. costs, as well as an increase in personnel expenses as we hire additional personnel.
Warrant Liability
In addition, if ADAIR obtains regulatory approval for marketing, we expectMay 2022, Vallon issued warrants (the May 2022 Warrants) in connection with a securities purchase agreement. Vallon evaluated the May 2022 Warrants in accordance with ASC 815-40, Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (ASC 815-40), and concluded that we would incur expenses associated with building a commercialization team if we have not sold or licensedprovision in the rights to commercialize ADAIR to a third party in territories not under the license agreement with Medice.

Interest Expense and Revaluation of Derivative Instruments

In January 2021, we entered into a Convertible Promissory Note Purchase Agreement pursuant to which we issued $350,000 in 2021 Convertible Notes The 2021 Convertible Notes automatically converted into 54,906 shares of our common stock concurrently with the closing of the IPO. We identified the mandatory conversion into shares our common stock as a redemption feature, which requires bifurcation from the 2021 Convertible Notes and treated it as a derivative liability under ASC 815 as the redemption feature was not clearly and closelyMay 2022 Warrants related to the debt. We evaluatedreduction of the exercise price in certain circumstances precludes the May 2022 Warrants from being accounted for as components of equity. As a result, the May 2022 Warrants were measured the fair value upon issuance using a Black-Scholes valuation model and are recorded as a liability on the balance sheet. The fair value of the derivative liabilityMay 2022 Warrants is measured at issuance. Upon the conversion of the 2021 Convertible Notes to common stock at the closing of the IPO, the embedded derivative liability was remeasuredeach reporting date and removed from the balance sheet.

Critical Accounting Policies

The Company’s critical accounting policieschanges in fair value are described in Note B, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,”recognized in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed withconsolidated statements of operations in the U.S. Securitiesperiod of change.

Interest Income (Expense)
Interest expense consists of amortization of debt discounts, debt issuance costs and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 29, 2021. There have been no material changesinterest expense related to the significant accounting policies during the period ended March 31, 2021, except for items mentioned in Note 2Bridge Notes. Interest income consists of the financial statements in this Quarterly Reportinterest earned on Form 10-Q.

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our cash and cash equivalents held with institutional banks.

Table of Contents

Results of Operations

Comparison of the three months endedThree Months Ended March 31, 20212024 and 2020

2023

The following table summarizes the results of our operations for the periods indicated:

Three Months Ended

Three Months Ended

    

March 31, 2021

    

March 31, 2020

    

Change $

(in thousands)

License revenue-from related party

$

$

100

$

(100)

Operating expenses:

 

  

 

  

 

  

Research and development

 

1,772

 

883

 

889

General and administrative

 

830

 

375

 

455

Total operating expenses

 

2,602

 

1,258

 

1,344

Loss from operations

 

(2,602)

 

(1,158)

 

1,444

Other income

 

61

 

 

61

Revaluation of derivative liability

 

(89)

 

 

(89)

Interest expense, net

 

(8)

 

(2)

 

(6)

Net loss

$

(2,638)

$

(1,160)

$

1,478

License Revenue – From Related Party

We determined there is a single performance obligation with respect to our involvement in the joint development committee in regards to the Medice license agreement and thus the entire $100,000 allocable consideration was assigned to that accounting unit and recognized in the first quarter of 2020.

indicated (in thousands):

Three Months Ended March 31,
20242023
Operating expenses:
Research and development$933 $116 
General and administrative962 872 
Total operating expenses1,895988
Loss from operations(1,895)(988)
Change in fair value of warrant liability— 
Interest income (expense)(1,162)
Net loss$(1,887)$(2,150)
Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses increased by approximately $889,000 to $1.8were $0.9 million from $883,000and $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to the three months ended March 31, 2021.2024 and 2023, respectively. The $0.8 million increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to increases of: $1.0of $0.5 million primarilyin expenses related to the registration development program of ADAIR offset by decreases of $77,000 related to the formulation work for ADMIR. In the three months ended March 31, 2020 we had expensed $60,000 for the estimate of costs to complete the services related to the Medice license agreementGRI-0621, $0.1 million in consulting fees and the amortization of that$0.2 million in the first quarter of 2021 was $3,000, thus resulting in a decrease in researchpersonnel expenses.
General and development expense of $57,000Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $1.0 million and $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

General2024 and Administrative Expenses2023, respectively. The $0.1 million increase was primarily related to increased personnel expenses of $0.3 million as a result of increased

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headcount, increases in administrative and administrativeinsurance expenses increasedof $0.2 million, offset by approximately $455,000 to $830,000 from $375,000a $0.4 million decrease in consulting and professional fees, including legal, accounting and investor relations fees.
Change in Fair Value of Warrant Liability
The change in fair value of $2,000 represents a decrease in the fair value of the May 2022 Warrants outstanding during the three months ended March 31, 2020 to2024.
Interest Income (Expense)
Interest income was $6,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase2024. Interest expense was primarily$1.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and related to increased coststhe outstanding Bridge Notes.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since inception, we have incurred losses and expect to continue to incur losses for directorsthe foreseeable future. We incurred net losses of $1.9 million and officers insurance of $200,000, non-cash stock compensation of $148,000, consultant related expenses of $51,000$2.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and brand development of $25,000.

Other Income

In May 2020, the Company issued a promissory note under the PPP totaling $61,000.2023, respectively. As of DecemberMarch 31, 2020,2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $33.4 million.

We have financed our working capital requirements to date through the Companyissuance of Common Stock, warrants, convertible notes and promissory notes. As of March 31, 2024, we had utilized$4.1 million in cash.
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the entire proceedsperiods indicated (in thousands):
Three Months Ended March 31,
20242023
Net cash provided by (used in):
Operating activities$(2,202)$(579)
Financing activities4,485 1,030 
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents$2,283 $451 
Cash Flows from such note for payroll costs (greater than 75%), costs related to health care benefits and rent payments and in January 2021, the Company was notified that the note along with accumulated interest had been forgiven. As the PPP note was forgiven, the Company recorded income from the extinguishment of its obligation in accordance with ASC 405-20-40-1.

Revaluation of Derivative Liability

Operating Activities

For the three months ended March 31, 2021, pursuant2024 and 2023, $2.2 million and $0.6 million were used in operating activities, respectively. The $1.6 million increase was primarily due to ASC-815, we revalueda $1.3 million increase in cash used for accounts payable and accrued expenses and a $1.1 million decrease in non-cash adjustments primarily related to the embedded derivative liability associated with the Convertible Notes, resulting in $89,000 in the fair valueamortization of the derivative liability associated with the Convertible Notes.

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Table of Contents

Income Taxes

For the three months ended March 31, 2021debt discounts and 2020, respectively, no income tax expense or benefit was recognized. Our deferred tax assets are comprised primarily of net operating loss carryforwards. We maintaindebt issuance costs, offset by a full valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets since we have not yet achieved sustained profitable operations. As a result, we have not recorded any income tax benefit since our inception.

Net Loss

We recorded $2.6$0.3 million decrease in net loss and a $0.5 million increase in prepaid and other assets.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $4.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021,2024 as compared to $1.2a result of $5.5 million in net loss duringof proceeds from the Purchase Agreement, offset by $1.0 million of stock issuance costs. Net cash provided by financing activities was $1.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The increase in net loss2023 and was primarily duerelated to increases$1.3 million proceeds from the funding of $889,000the second tranche of the Bridge Notes, offset by the payment of $0.2 million of debt and stock issuance costs.
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Securities Purchase Agreement
On February 1, 2024, we entered into the Purchase Agreement, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell, in researcha public offering (i) 330,450 Shares of Common Stock, (ii) 4,669,550 Pre-Funded Warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 4,669,550 shares of Common Stock, (iii) 5,000,000 Series B-1 Common Warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock, and development(iv) 5,000,000 Series B-2 Common Warrants exercisable for an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of Common Stock for net proceeds of $4.4 million after deducting offering costs of $1.1 million. The securities were offered in combinations of (a) one Share or one Pre-Funded Warrant, together with (b) one Series B-1 Common Warrant and one Series B-2 Common Warrant, for a combined purchase price of $1.10 (less $0.0001 for each Pre-Funded Warrant).
Subject to certain ownership limitations, the Warrants are exercisable upon issuance. Each Pre-Funded Warrant is exercisable for one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $0.0001 and does not expire. Each Series B-1 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for a five-year period after February 6, 2024, the date of issuance. Each Series B-2 Common Warrant is exercisable into one share of Common Stock at a price per share of $1.10 for an 18-month period after February 6,2024, the date of issuance. In connection with the issuance of the securities pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the exercise price of the Series A-1 Warrants issued in connection with the Merger was reduced to par, or $0.0001, per share pursuant to the terms of the Series A-1 Warrants.
Merger with Vallon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
In connection with signing the Merger Agreement, the Company, GRI Operations and Altium entered the Equity SPA pursuant to which Altium agreed to invest $12,250 in cash and cancel any outstanding principal and accrued interest on the Bridge Notes in return for the issuance of shares of GRI Operations’ Common Stock immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger. Pursuant to the Equity SPA, immediately prior to the Closing, GRI Operations issued the Initial Shares to Altium and placed the Additional Shares into escrow with an escrow agent for net proceeds of $11,704, after deducting offering expenses of $546.
At Closing, pursuant to the Merger, the Initial Shares converted into an aggregate of 36,263 shares of our Common Stock and $445,000the Additional Shares converted into an aggregate of 145,052 shares of our Common Stock. On May 8, 2023, in generalaccordance with the terms of the Equity SPA, we, along with Altium, authorized the escrow agent to, subject to beneficial ownership limitations, disburse to Altium all of the shares of our Common Stock issued in exchange for the Additional Shares.
Future Funding Requirements
Our net losses were $1.9 million and administrative expenses and a decrease in licensing revenue of $100,000.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

For$2.2 million for the period from January 11, 2018 (inception) throughthree months ended March 31, 2021,2024 and 2023, respectively. As of March 31, 2024, we havehad $4.1 million in cash and an accumulated deficit of $15.2 million and we do not$33.4 million. We expect to have positive cash flow from operationsdevote substantial financial resources to our planned activities, particularly as we prepare for, the foreseeable future. Asinitiate, and conduct our planned clinical trials of March 31, 2021,GRI-0621 and GRI-0803, advance our discovery programs and continue our product development efforts. In addition, we hadexpect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

Based on our current operating plan, we believe that our existing cash and cash equivalents of $13.0 million which management expects will provide funding forbe sufficient to fund our ongoing business activitiesoperating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the third quarter of 2022; however,2024.
Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. The Series T Warrants issued in connection with the Merger are not presently subject to forced exercise by the Company as the equity conditions for their forced exercise, which include, among other things, a requirement that shares of our Common Stock have based this estimatea value weighted average price of at least $64.47 per share for the periods specified in the Series T Warrants, are not met. We intend to raise capital through additional issuances of equity securities and/or short-term or long-term debt arrangements, but there can be no assurances any such financing will be available when needed, even if our research and development efforts are successful. If we are unable to secure adequate additional funding, we will need to reevaluate our operating plans and may be forced to make reductions in spending, extend payment terms with suppliers, liquidate assets where possible, delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of our development programs, or relinquish rights to our technology on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could use our capital resources soonerless favorable terms than we expect thereforewould otherwise choose or cease operations entirely. These actions could materially impact our business, results of operations and future prospects and the value of shares of our Common Stock. In addition, attempting to secure additional financing may divert the time and attention of management from day-to-day activities and distract from our discovery and product development efforts. As a result, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. We expect to continue to incur significant and increasing operating losses at least for the foreseeable future. We do not
24

expect to generate product revenue unless and until we successfully complete development, obtain regulatory approval for and successfully commercialize ADAIR,our current, or any other future, products, including ADMIR. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year, depending on the timing of planned clinical trials and our expenditures on other research and development activities. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially as we:

·

conduct clinical trials and non-clinical studies;

·

scale up manufacturing capabilities with third-party contract manufacturer(s);

·

conduct ongoing stability studies of ADAIR;

·

seek to identify, acquire, develop and commercialize additional products, such as ADMIR;

·

integrate acquired technologies into a comprehensive regulatory and product development strategy;

·

maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;

·

hire scientific, clinical, quality control and administrative personnel;

·

add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our drug development efforts;

·

seek regulatory approvals for any products that successfully complete clinical trials;

·

ultimately establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure and scale up external manufacturing capabilities to commercialize any drug candidates for which we may obtain regulatory approval, including through the license agreement with Medice; and

·

operate as a public company.

23

product candidates.

Table of Contents

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods indicated:

Three Months Ended

Three Months Ended

    

March 31, 2021

    

March 31, 2020

(in thousands)

Net cash provided by (used in):

Operating activities

$

(2,948)

$

(766)

Investing activities

(2)

Financing activities

15,819

(29)

Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents

$

12,871

$

(797)

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, $2.9 million and $766,000 were used in operating activities, respectively. The $2.2 million increase was primarily due to the $1.5 million increase in our net loss offset by a $793,000 increase in prepaid expenses and increased accounts payable and accrued expenses of $259,000. The net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2021 included non-cash expenses of $168,000 in non-cash stock compensation, $89,000 in revaluation of derivative liability and $18,000 amortization of finance lease right-of-use asset offset by $61,000 of other income from the forgiveness of the PPP note.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $0 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and $2,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $15.8 million during the three months ended March 31, 2021 related to the net proceeds from our IPO and 2021 Convertible Notes financings compared to $29,000 used in financing activities during the three months ended March 31, 2020 related to our finance lease.

Contractual Obligations and Other Commitments

As of March 31, 2021, there have been no changes to our contractual obligations and commitments since December 31, 2020. For a discussion of our contractual obligations, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10K.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We didare not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have,party to any off-balance sheet arrangements, as definedtransactions. We have no guarantees or obligations other than those which arise out of normal business operations.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our management’s discussion and analysis of its financial condition and results of operations is based on its unaudited interim consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the rulesUnited States (GAAP). The preparation of these unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and regulationsassumptions that affect the amounts reported in the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Management evaluates these estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that it believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in Note 3, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies”, in the SEC.

Company’s Annual Report.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 or the(the JOBS Act,Act) and may remain an emerging growth company for up to five years. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not applicable to emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

·

reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements;

·

no non-binding stockholder advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements; and

24

reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements;
no non-binding stockholder advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements; and

Tableexemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of Contentsour internal control over financial reporting.

·

exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting.

We have taken advantage of reduced reporting requirements in this report and may continue to do so until such time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest of (a) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.07$1.235 billion or more, (b) December 31, 2026, the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of the our IPO,Vallon’s initial public offering, (c) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years or (d) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC. Section 107 of the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this extended transition period and, as a result, we will adopt new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for other public companies.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.

Not applicable to a smaller reporting company.

Item 4. Controls and Procedures.

Management’s Evaluation of our Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer evaluated the effectiveness of ourits disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) or 15d-15(e)) of the Exchange Act as of March 31, 2021.2024. We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in ourits periodic and current reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only
25

reasonable and not absolute assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In reaching a reasonable level of assurance, management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. In addition, the design of any system of controls is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2021,2024, our Chief Executive Officer hasand Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined above, are effective.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We are taking actions to remediate the material weaknesses relating to our internal controls over financial reporting as described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Except as otherwise disclosed herein, there have been

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2021covered by this report that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.


26

PART II—OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings.

We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings. From time to time, we may be subject to various legal proceedings, and claimswe are not aware of any pending or threatened legal proceeding against us that arise in the ordinary course of our business activities. Regardless of the outcome, litigation canwe believe could have a materialan adverse effect on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors.

25

our business, operating results or financial condition.

Table of Contents

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Factors.

There have been no material changes from the risk factors previously disclosed in ourthe Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, except as set forth below.

Public health crises such as pandemics or similar outbreaks could materially and adversely affect our preclinical and clinical trials, business, financial condition and results of operations.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and the United States declared a national emergency with respect to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic continues affect the U.S. and global economies and may affect our operations and certain other third parties on which we rely, including by causing disruptions in the supply of our product candidates and the conduct of future clinical trials. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect the operations of the FDA and other health authorities, resulting in delays of reviews and approvals with respect to our product candidates. While the potential economic impact brought by, and the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to assess or predict, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global financial markets may reduce our ability to access capital, which could negatively impact our short-term and long-term liquidity. In addition, the loss of any of our employees as a result of COVID-19, or another pandemic, may adversely affect our operations. The ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is highly uncertain, and we do not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts that COVID-19 may have on our business, financing or clinical trial activities.

Some examples of potential disruptions that may result from the COVID-19 pandemic, include, but are not limited to:

·

delays or difficulties in enrolling patients in our clinical trials;

·

delays or difficulties in initiating or expanding clinical trials, including delays or difficulties with clinical site initiation and recruiting clinical site investigators and clinical site staff;

·

increased rates of patients withdrawing from our clinical trials following enrollment as a result of contracting COVID-19 or other health conditions or being forced to quarantine;

·

interruption of key clinical trial activities, such as clinical trial site data monitoring and efficacy, safety and translational data collection, processing and analyses, due to limitations on travel imposed or recommended by federal, state or local governments, employers and others or interruption of clinical trial subject visits, which may impact the collection and integrity of subject data and clinical study endpoints;

·

delays or disruptions in preclinical experiments and IND-enabling studies due to restrictions of on-site staff and unforeseen circumstances at CROs and vendors, including any delays caused by the COVID-19 outbreak;

·

interruption or delays in the operations of the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory agencies;

·

interruption of, or delays in receiving, supplies of our product candidates from our contract manufacturing organizations due to staffing shortages, production slowdowns or stoppages and disruptions in delivery systems;

·

delays in receiving approval from local regulatory authorities to initiate our planned clinical trials;

·

limitations on employee or other resources that would otherwise be focused on the conduct of our clinical trials and pre-clinical work, including because of sickness of employees or their families, the desire of employees to avoid travel or contact with large groups of people, an increased reliance on working from home, school closures or mass transit disruptions;

·

changes in regulations as part of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic which may require us to change the ways in which our clinical trials are conducted, which may result in unexpected costs, or to discontinue the clinical trials altogether;

·

delays in necessary interactions with regulators, ethics committees and other important agencies and contractors due to limitations in employee resources or forced furlough of government or contractor personnel; and

26

Report.

·

refusal of the FDA to accept data from clinical trials in affected geographies outside the United States.

The COVID-19 global pandemic continues to rapidly evolve. The extent to which the outbreak may affect our clinical trials, business, financial condition and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time, such as the ultimate geographic spread of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, travel restrictions, actions to contain the outbreak or treat its impact, such as social distancing and quarantines or lock-downs in the United States, and other countries, business closures or business disruptions and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease, and the ongoing worldwide vaccine rollout. Future developments in these and other areas present material uncertainty and risk with respect to our clinical trials, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities, Use of Proceeds, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds.

Proceeds

None.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.

Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities.

None.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

None.

Item 5. Other Information.

None.

Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangements

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, none of our directors or officers adopted or terminated “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” or “non Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement,” as each term is defined in Item 408 of Regulation S-K.


27


Item 6. Exhibits.

Exhibit
Number
Description
Filed HerewithFormIncorporated by Reference File No.Date Filed

Exhibit
Number

3.1

Description

10-K001-400343/28/2024

3.2

8-K/A

001-400345/26/2023

10.1#

4.1

8-K001-400342/2/2024
4.2Employment8-K001-400342/2/2024
4.38-K001-400342/2/2024
10.1△8-K001-400342/2/2024
10.28-K001-400342/2/2024

10.3

8-K

001-400342/2/2024

10.2#

Employment Agreement, dated as of May 10, 2021, by and between the Company and Leanne M. Kelly

31.1

31.1

Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

X

31.2

Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

X

32.1*

Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

X

32.2*

Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

X

101.INS

XBRLiXBRL Instance Document

101.SCH

XBRLiXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

101.CAL

XBRLiXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

101.DEF

XBRLiXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

101.LAB

XBRLiXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

101.PRE

XBRLiXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

104

Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)

28

Unless otherwise indicated, exhibits are filed herewith.


#

Indicates a management contract or any compensatory plan, contract or arrangement.

*

This certification will not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section. Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent specifically incorporated by reference into such filing.

Schedules and exhibits have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K. The Company undertakes to furnish supplemental copies of any of the omitted schedules upon request by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

28

29

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

GRI BIO, INC.

Date: May 10, 2024

VALLON PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.

By:
/s/ Leanne M. Kelly

Name: Leanne M. Kelly

Title: Chief Financial Officer

Date: May 13, 2021

By:

/s/ David Baker

Name: David Baker

Title: President(Principal Financial and Chief Executive Officer

Accounting Officer)

29

30