August 26, 2006 |
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To: | | Tia Kenkins |
| | Senior Assistant Chief Accountant |
| | United States Securities and Exchange Commission |
| | Office of Emerging Growth Companies |
| | 450 Fifth Street, N.W. |
| | Washington, D.C. 20549 |
|
Re: | | US Biodefense, Inc. |
| | Form 10-KSB filed February 24, 2006 |
| | File No.: 000-31431 |
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Dear Ms. Jenkins: | | |
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The following are the Company’s responses and revisions to its filing pursuant to your letter dated June |
28, 2006: | | |
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10-KSB | | |
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Item 1 – Business, page 3 |
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1. | | We note your disclosure of various agreements that appear to be material to your business. |
| | Please file each agreement as a material contract exhibit in accordance with Item 601 of |
| | Regulation S-B, or tell us why you believe that the agreements are not required to be filed. |
|
| | The following exhibits have been filed with the amended annual report on Form 10-KSB: |
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| | a. | | Consulting Agreement with Shannon S. Eaker, Ph.D. |
| | b. | | Option Agreement with UCL Biomedica |
| | c. | | Option Agreement with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center |
| | d. | | High Technology & Patent Listing Agreement with Diamond I, Inc. |
| | e. | | Option Agreement with The University of British Columbia |
| | f. | | Consulting Agreement with Financialnewsusa.com, Inc. |
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Item 6 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis, page 12 |
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2. | | Please revise your disclosure for each period to describe and quantify underlying material |
| | activities that generate income statement variances between periods (e.g. it is unclear why |
| | research and development expenses increased significantly). Refer to Item 303(b) of |
| | Regulation S-B. |
|
| | The annual report has been amended, as follows: |
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| | Revenues |
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| | Our revenues totaled $159,166 for the current fiscal year ended November 30, 2005, |
| | compared to $29,167 for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2004. The increase in |
Re: US Biodefense, Inc. |
August 26, 2006 |
Page 2 of 6 |
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revenues represent a year-over-year increase of 446%, which was due in part to our |
contracts with Financialnewsusa.com and Diamond I, Inc. Revenues for the year ended |
November 30, 2004 were attributable solely to the May 1, 2004 agreement with |
Financialnewsusa.com, a related party, to provide consulting services to them in |
exchange for $50,000, for which we were paid in advance the entire balance of the |
contract. |
|
Other than our agreement with Financialnewsusa.com and Diamond I, we do not have |
any long-term agreements to provide our services to any single customer or group of |
customers. As a result, we are unable to predict the stability of, and ability to continue to |
generate, ongoing revenues. |
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Expenses |
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Total expenses for the year ended November 30, 2005 were $195,572. In the comparable |
year ago period ended November 30, 2004, we incurred total expenses of $58,131. |
Aggregate expenses increased approximately 236%, or $137,441, due primarily to an |
increase of 2,623%, or $91,796, in research and development costs from $3,500 during |
the year ended November 30, 2004, to $95,296 in the year ended November 30, 2005. |
The significant increase in attributable to the various intellectual property option and |
licensing agreements entered into during the year ended November 30, 2005. We believe |
obtaining and maintaining such licenses for intellectual property is a significant aspect of |
our business plan and will continue for the next at least 12 months. |
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An expenditure we did not have in the prior year ended November 30, 2004 that we |
began recognizing in the most recent year ended November 30, 2005 is occupational |
costs and expenses in the amount of $36,000. These expenses encompass $13,000 in rent |
expense and $23,000 of miscellaneous shared overhead such as a receptionist, various |
office equipment and furniture and utilities expense. We expect occupational costs to |
continue to be incurred over the next at least 12 months. |
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General and administrative expenses increased 199% year over year from $3,535 in 2004 |
to $10,575 in 2005. Or management believes the rise in these expenditures are correlated |
with our increased business activities and pursuit of our business objectives. General and |
administrative expenses mainly consist of office expenditures such as postage and |
delivery fees, supplies and other similar miscellaneous items. We expect to continue to |
incur general and administrative expenses for the foreseeable future, although we cannot |
estimate the extent of these costs. |
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Due to our increased operational activities, we contracted services from outside parties, |
including attorneys, accountants and consultants. As a result, total expenses paid in |
relation to consulting and outside services and professional fees grew 56%, or $26,096, |
from the year ended November 30, 2004 to $33,313 during the year ended November 30, |
2005. Our management believes that the growth of our company is dependent upon the |
services provided by individuals who are not our employees. Additionally, outsourcing is |
important in lowering fixed costs, so we expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable |
future. |
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In spite of the trend of higher overall expenses, our payroll decreased from $25,000 in the |
Re: US Biodefense, Inc. |
August 26, 2006 |
Page 3 of 6 |
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year ended November 30, 2004 to $20,389 for the year ended November 30, 2005. The |
sole reason for the decrease in payroll expenses is the full expense of the remaining |
balance of common stock issued to David Chin, our President, in accordance with his |
employment agreement. We currently do not have any employment agreements |
outstanding with any individual, thus we may not incur payroll expenses in the near |
future. However, we cannot predict with certainty whether or not we will hire personnel |
in the next 12 months. |
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We expect to continue to incur expenditures in the foreseeable future related to ongoing |
research and development and the expansion of our business operations. As we continue |
to pursue research and development efforts, we expect expenses to stabilize over the next |
several years. Unfortunately, we cannot accurately estimate the extent or impact of |
ongoing expenses. |
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Losses |
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Our loss before accounting for income taxes totaled $36,406 for the year ended |
November 30, 2005, compared to a loss before income taxes of $28,964 in the prior |
period. After factoring income taxes of $9,596 in the year ended November 30, 2005, |
our net loss from operations totaled $46,002. In the prior year ended November 30, |
2004, we did not recognize any income taxes, thus our net loss was $28,964. This |
represents a widening deficit of 59%, or $17,038, in a year-to-year comparison. |
Although we anticipate incurring ongoing operating losses, we expect these losses to |
narrow in year-to-year comparison as we generate increased revenues and as expenses |
begin to plateau over the next several years. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy |
of our expectations |
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Consolidated Statement of Operations, page 17 |
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3. Based on the information disclosed on page 13, it appears you had revenue generating |
transactions between related parties. Please revise to present the dollar amount of related |
party transactions on the face of the income statement for each period presented. Also, |
revise your footnote disclosure to provide the information required by paragraph 2 of SFAS |
57 for all material related party transactions. |
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The face of the Consolidated Statements of Operations has been revised to disclose the sums paid |
to related parties. |
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Footnote 10 has been revised to be “Related party sales and concentrations,” to provide disclosure |
of related party transactions in accordance with paragraph 2 of SFAS 57. |
Re: US Biodefense, Inc. |
August 26, 2006 |
Page 4 of 6 |
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Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, page 20 |
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4. | | Please revise to present notes payable as a financing activity and to include all non-cash |
| | transactions as required by paragraph 32 of SFAS 95. We note that marketable securities |
| | of $150,000 were recorded at December 31, 2005, yet there is no disclosure in the cash flow |
| | statement regarding how these investments were acquired. |
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| | The Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows has been revised to present advance from and |
| | repayment to related parties as financing activities. |
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Notes to Financial Statements, page 21 |
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General |
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5. | | We note you held $150,000 in available-for-sale securities at November 30, 2005. Please |
| | revise your footnote disclosure to include the information required by paragraphs 19-21 of |
| | SFAS 115, including the consideration paid to obtain the securities, the fair value of the |
| | securities upon acquisition and the method used to determine the fair value upon |
| | acquisition and at November 30, 2005. |
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| | The Company has added Note 2 “Marketable Securities Available For Sale” and has provided |
| | disclosures required by SFAS 115. |
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6. | | We note you capitalized $20,000 in licenses during the year ended November 30, 2005. |
| | Please revise to disclose the facts and circumstances of the licenses capitalized, including the |
| | amount and form of consideration paid, basis for capitalization and amortization period. |
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| | The Company has added Note 3 “Licenses” and has provided disclosures regarding licenses. |
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Note 1 – Background and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, page 21 |
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7. | | We note that your disclosure regarding the basis of presentation incorrectly states that the |
| | financial statements are for an unaudited interim period, and therefore would not be |
| | required to include all of the disclosures required under generally accepted accounting |
| | principles. Please revise your disclosures accordingly. |
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| | The wrong notes were included with the prior annual report on Form 10-KSB. The correct notes |
| | have been included in the amended Form 10-KSB. |
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8. | | Please revise your revenue recognition policy disclosure to elaborate upon howeachof the |
| | four criteria of SAB 104 specifically applies toeachof your revenue streams (e.g. persuasive |
| | evidence of an arrangement is demonstrated via contracts with purchasers). Describe each |
| | material source of revenue during the financial statement periods, how your revenue |
| | recognition policy complies with each of the criteria of SAB 104, the reasons why deferred |
| | revenue is recorded and the period over which such revenue is expected to be recorded. |
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| | The revenue recognition policy has been expanded to comply with requirement of SEC staff |
| | bulletin SAB 104. |
Re: US Biodefense, Inc. |
August 26, 2006 |
Page 5 of 6 |
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9. | | Please revise your disclosure to include the percentage of revenue attributable to each |
| | customer comprising more than 10% of total revenue as required by paragraph 39 of SFAS |
| | 131. |
| | |
| | See response to comment 3. |
| | |
Item 8A – Controls and Procedures, page 25 |
| | |
10. | | We note your disclosure that your disclosure controls and procedures are ineffective. |
| | Please revise to disclosure the material weaknesses identified that resulted in your |
| | conclusion as well as when the material weaknesses were identified, by whom they were |
| | identified and when the material weaknesses first began. Also, disclose the specific steps |
| | that the company has taken, if any, to remediate the material weaknesses. Further, please |
| | note that the evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures is required to be conducted |
| | as of the end of the period covered by the report, not within 90 days prior to filing as |
| | indicated by your disclosure. |
| | |
| | The disclosure under Item 8A has been revised, as follows: |
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We maintain a set of disclosure controls and procedures designed to ensure that |
information required to be disclosed in our reports filed under the Securities Exchange |
Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by |
the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls are also designed with the objective of |
ensuring that this information is accumulated and communicated to our management, |
including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate, to allow |
timely decisions regarding required disclosure. |
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Based upon their evaluation as of the end of the period covered by this report, David |
Chin, who serves as our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, concluded that |
our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective to ensure that information |
required to be included in our periodic SEC filings is recorded, processed, summarized, |
and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms. |
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Our board of directors was advised by E. Randall Gruber, CPA, PC, our independent |
registered public accounting firm, that during their performance of audit procedures for |
2005 E. Randall Gruber, CPA, PC identified a material weakness as defined in Public |
Company Accounting Oversight Board Standard No. 2 in our internal control over |
financial reporting. |
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This deficiency consisted primarily of inadequate staffing and supervision that could lead |
to the untimely identification and resolution of accounting and disclosure matters and |
failure to perform timely and effective reviews. However, our size prevents us from |
being able to employ sufficient resources to enable us to have adequate segregation of |
duties within our internal control system. Our management is required to apply their |
judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. |
Re: US Biodefense, Inc. |
August 26, 2006 |
Page 6 of 6 |
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11. | | Please revise your disclosure to provide the information required by Item 308(c) of |
| | Regulation S-B. |
| | |
| | The following disclosure has been added: “…no change to our internal control over financial |
| | reporting has been made.” |
| | |
Form 10-QSB for the Period Ended February 28, 2006 |
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12. | | Please amend the filing, as necessary, after considering the comments above with respect to |
| | the Form 10-KSB for the year ended November 30, 2005. |
| | |
| | The Company has amended the Form 10-QSB for the period ended February 28, 2006, taking |
| | into account the comments contained herein. |
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The Company hereby acknowledges that: |
1. | | The Company is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosure in the filing; |
2. | | Staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments do not foreclose the |
| | Commission from taking any action with respect to the filing; and |
3. | | The Company may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the |
| | Commission or any person under the federal securities laws of the United States. |
| | Thank you for your expedient and diligent review of this file. If any further questions or |
| | comments should arise, feel free to contact us at (626) 961-0562. |
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| | Sincerely, |
| | |
| | /s/ David Chin |
| | |
| | David Chin |
| | President |