Exhibit 5.1
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 | | SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP 555 CALIFORNIA STREET SUITE 2000 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104 +1 415 772 1200 +1 415 772 7400 AMERICA • ASIA PACIFIC • EUROPE | | |
August 5, 2021
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc.
2155 Park Blvd.
Palo Alto, CA 94306
| Re: | 850,000 Shares of Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We refer to the Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) being filed by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), relating to the registration of 850,000 shares of Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Registered Shares”), of the Company which may be issued under the Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. 2021 Inducement Plan (the “Plan”).
This opinion letter is being delivered in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act.
We have examined the Registration Statement, the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and the amendments thereto, the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws, the Plan and the resolutions adopted by the board of directors of the Company relating to the Registration Statement and the Plan. We have also examined originals, or copies of originals certified to our satisfaction, of such agreements, documents, certificates and statements of the Company and other corporate documents and instruments, and have examined such questions of law, as we have considered relevant and necessary as a basis for this opinion letter. We have assumed the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all persons and the conformity with the original documents of any copies thereof submitted to us for examination. As to facts relevant to the opinions expressed herein, we have relied without independent investigation or verification upon, and assumed the accuracy and completeness of, certificates, letters and oral and written statements and representations of public officials and officers and other representatives of the Company.
Based on the foregoing, we are of the opinion that each Registered Share that is newly issued pursuant to the Plan will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable when: (i) the Registration Statement, as finally amended, shall have become effective under the Securities Act; (ii) such Registered Share shall have been duly issued and delivered in accordance with the Plan; and (iii) certificates representing such Registered Share shall have been duly executed, countersigned and registered and duly delivered to the person entitled thereto against payment of the agreed consideration therefor (in an amount not less than the par value thereof) or, if any Registered Share is to be issued in uncertificated form, the Company’s books shall reflect the issuance of such Registered Share to the person entitled thereto against payment of the agreed consideration therefor (in an amount not less than the par value thereof), all in accordance with the Plan.
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