Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5)
Registration No. 333-199274
The information in this preliminary prospectus supplement is not complete and may be changed. This preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are part of an effective registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus are not an offer to sell these securities, and we are not soliciting an offer to buy these securities, in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
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PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT | SUBJECT TO COMPLETION | DATED JULY 21, 2016 |
(To the Prospectus dated October 23, 2014)
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Shares
Common Stock
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We are offering shares of our common stock, par value $0.0002 per share, pursuant to this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus.
Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “HTBX.” The last reported sale price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market on July 20, 2016 was $1.00 per share.
As of July 20, 2016, the aggregate market value of our outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $15,548,907, based on 17,524,641 shares of outstanding common stock, of which approximately 1,975,734 shares are held by affiliates, and a per share price of $1.00 based on the closing sale price of our common stock on July 20, 2016. We have not offered any securities during the past twelve months pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3.
We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”) and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements. See “Prospectus Summary—Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company.”
Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-6 of this prospectus supplement and on page 5 of the accompanying prospectus for a discussion of information that should be considered in connection with an investment in our common stock.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
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Proceeds, before expenses, to us |
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(1) | We have also agreed to reimburse the underwriters for certain expenses. See “Underwriting” beginning on page S- of this prospectus supplement for a description of the compensation payable to the underwriters. |
We have granted a 45-day option to the representative of the underwriters to purchase up to additional shares of common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount. If the underwriters exercise the option in full, the total underwriting discount payable by us will be $ , and the total proceeds to us before expenses, will be $ .
The underwriters expect to deliver shares of common stock to purchasers in the offering on or about July , 2016.
Joseph Gunnar & Co.
July , 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT |
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PROSPECTUS |
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S-i
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUSSUPPLEMENT
This document is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) using a “shelf” registration process and consists of two parts. The first part is this prospectus supplement, including the documents incorporated by reference, which describes the specific terms of this offering. The second part, the accompanying prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference, gives more general information, some of which may not apply to this offering. Generally, when we refer to this “prospectus,” we are referring to both parts of this document combined, together with all documents incorporated by reference. This prospectus supplement may add to, update or change information in the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus.
If information in this prospectus supplement is inconsistent with the accompanying prospectus or with any document incorporated by reference that was filed with the SEC before the date of this prospectus supplement, you should rely on this prospectus supplement. Any statement so modified will be deemed to constitute a part of this prospectus only as so modified, and any statement so superseded will be deemed not to constitute a part of this prospectus.This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents incorporated into each by reference include important information about us, the securities being offered and other information you should know before investing in our securities. You should also read and consider information in the documents we have referred you to in the section of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus entitled “Where You Can Find More Information” and “Incorporation of Certain Documents By Reference.”
You should rely only on the information contained in or incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and any free writing prospectus we may provide to you in connection with this offering and the information incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with information that is in addition to or different from that contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not offering to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus is accurate as of any date other than as of the date of this prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus, as the case may be, or in the case of the documents incorporated by reference, the date of such documents regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus or any sale of our securities. Our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.
We are offering to sell, and are seeking offers to buy, the common stock only in jurisdictions where such offers and sales are permitted. No action has been or will be taken in any jurisdiction by us or the underwriters that would permit a public offering of the common stock or the possession or distribution of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus in any jurisdiction, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the common stock and the distribution of this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus outside the United States. This prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus do not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities offered by this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus by any person in any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful for such person to make such an offer or solicitation.
S-ii
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus and the documents we file with the SEC that are incorporated by reference herein and therein contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), these statements reflect our current views with respect to our ongoing and planned clinical trials, business strategy, business plan, financial performance and other future events, including statements regarding the progress and timing of our product development, the goals of our development activities, estimates of the potential markets for our product candidates, estimates of the capacity of manufacturing and other facilities to support our products, our expected future revenues, operations and expenditures and projected cash needs. These statements include forward-looking statements both with respect to us, specifically, and the biotechnology sector, in general. We make these statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that include the words “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “may,” “should,” “anticipate,” “will” and similar statements of a future or forward-looking nature identify forward-looking statements for purposes of the federal securities laws or otherwise. All forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and there are or will be important factors that could cause actual results.We believe that these factors include, but are not limited to, those factors set forth under the caption “Risk Factors” in this prospectus supplement and in the accompanying prospectus and under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Business,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, all of which you should review carefully, as well as the followingrisks and uncertainties:
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our ability to implement our business plan;
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our ability to raise additional capital to meet our liquidity needs;
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our ability to generate product revenues;
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our ability to achieve profitability;
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our ability to comply with our loan covenants;
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our ability to satisfy U.S. (including FDA) and international regulatory requirements;
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our ability to obtain market acceptance of our technology and products;
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our ability to compete in the market;
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our ability to advance our clinical trials;
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our ability to fund, design and implement clinical trials;
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our ability to demonstrate that our product candidates are safe for human use and effective for indicated uses;
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our ability to gain acceptance of physicians and patients for use of our products;
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our dependency on third-party researchers and manufacturers and licensors;
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our ability to effectively implement cost-cutting measures;
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our ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships, including for the distribution of products;
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our ability to attract and retain sufficient, qualified personnel;
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our ability to obtain or maintain patents or other appropriate protection for the intellectual property;
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our dependency on the intellectual property licensed to us or possessed by third parties;
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our ability to adequately support future growth; and
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potential product liability or intellectual property infringement claims.
Please consider our forward-looking statements in light of those risks as you read this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
S-iii
You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of this prospectus supplement, or that any information incorporated by reference into this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than the date of the document so incorporated by reference. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Thus, you should not assume that our silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.
If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materializes, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we anticipate. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or individuals acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Note. Before purchasing any shares of common stock, you should consider carefully all of the factors set forth or referred to in this prospectus supplement and in the accompanying prospectus that could cause actual results to differ.
We obtained the industry and market data in this prospectus supplement from our own research as well as from industry and general publications, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. These data involve a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. In addition, projections, assumptions and estimates of our future performance and the future performance of the industry in which we operate is necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus supplement. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.
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S-1
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| ComPACT™ On June 15, 2015, we announced the development of a next-generation platform incorporating various T cell costimulatory ligand fusion proteins into the gp96-Ig expression vector.ComPACT™ combines a pan-antigen T cell priming vaccine and T cell co-stimulator in a single product, offering the potential benefits of combination immunotherapy in a single drug without the need for multiple independent biologic products.ComPACT™ has been engineered to incorporate various fusion proteins targeting co-stimulatory receptors (OX40, ICOS, 4-1BB), enabling the combination of two important immunotherapy pathways in a single drug. We have reported preclinical data demonstrating thatComPACT secreting OX40L generated the most potent immune response among otherComPACT co-stimulator variations including TL1A, 4-1BBL and ICOSL, as well as compared to systemic delivery of OX40 agonist antibody and vaccine alone. Corporate Background We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 10, 2008. Our principal offices are located at 801 Capitola Drive, Durham, North Carolina 27713. Our website address iswww.heatbio.com. The information contained in, and that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated into and is not a part of this report. Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. As an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of specified reduced disclosure and other requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include: · allowance to provide only two years of audited financial statements in addition to any required unaudited interim financial statements with correspondingly reduced “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” disclosure; · reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements; · no non-binding advisory votes on executive compensation or golden parachute arrangements; and · exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. We may take advantage of these provisions for up to five years or such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company on the date that is the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1 billion or more; (ii) the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the completion of our initial public offering; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC. We have taken advantage of reduced reporting requirements in this prospectus. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you have beneficial ownership. Recent Events On July 19, 2016, we held our 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders at which our stockholders voted to approve each proposal presented, which included: (i) the election of the following four (4) individuals to serve as directors: Jeff Wolf, John Monahan, Ph.D., Edward B. Smith, III and John Prendergast, Ph.D.; (ii) the appointment of BDO USA, LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016; and (iii) the approval of an amendment to our 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2014 Plan”), to increase by 1,900,000 shares the aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be delivered pursuant to awards granted during the life of the 2014 Plan, which would allow us to grant up to an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares of our common stock as awards under the 2014 Plan. Lastly, our stockholders approved an amendment to our Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of our issued and outstanding common stock with the ratio to be determined by our Board of Directors (the “Board”), within a range of one (1) share of common stock for every two (2) to twenty (20) shares of common stock. If the Board believes that a reverse stock split is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders, the Board will determine the ratio, within the range approved by our stockholders, and implement such reverse stock split. |
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| Common Stock offered by us | shares of common stock (or shares if the representative exercises its option to purchase additional shares in full). |
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| Option to Purchase Additional Shares | We have granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to additional shares from us at the public offering price less underwriting discounts and commissions. |
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| Public Offering Price Per Share | $ |
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| Use of Proceeds | We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, continuing to support and advance our ongoing clinical programs, for licensing or acquisition of assets complementary to our existing programs for which we have no current commitments or obligations, and for working capital purposes. See “Use of Proceeds.” |
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| Risk Factors | Investing in our common stock involves significant risks.See the section entitled “Risk Factors” beginning on page S-6 of this prospectus supplement and page 5 of the accompanying prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before deciding to invest in our securities.
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| NASDAQ Capital Market Trading Symbol | HTBX |
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| Unless we indicate otherwise, all information in this prospectus supplement is based on 17,524,641 shares outstanding as of March 31, 2016, and excludes as of such date: · 1,574,484 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding options under our equity incentive plans at a weighted-average exercise price of $4.34 per share; · 6,967,392 shares of our common stock reserved for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding warrants with a weighted-average exercise price of $1.21 per share; and · 93,499 shares of our common stock that are reserved for equity awards that may be granted under our equity incentive plans. Unless otherwise indicated, all information in this prospectus supplement assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares and does not include the 1,900,000 shares of our common stock that the stockholders approved at the 2016 Annual Meeting of Stockholders for issuance under the 2014 Plan. See “—Recent Events” above. |
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Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk, and you should be able to bear the complete loss of your investment. Investors should carefully consider the risks described below in addition to the other information contained in this prospectus supplement and in the documents incorporated herein, including our financial statements and related notes before deciding whether to invest in our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, consolidated financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements made throughout this prospectus supplement as a result of different factors, including the risks we face described below. Unless we have indicated otherwise or the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or the documents incorporated by reference herein and therein to the “Company,” “Heat Biologics,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Heat Biologics, Inc.
Risks Relating to our Company
We have had limited operations to date.
We are a clinical stage company and have had limited operations to date. We have yet to demonstrate our ability to overcome the risks frequently encountered in our industry and are still subject to many of the risks common to such enterprises, including our ability to implement our business plan, market acceptance of our proposed business and products, under-capitalization, cash shortages, limitations with respect to personnel, financing and other resources, competition from better funded and experienced companies, and uncertainty of our ability to generate revenues. There is no assurance that our activities will be successful or will result in any revenues or profit, and the likelihood of our success must be considered in light of the stage of our development. Even if we generate revenue, there can be no assurance that we will be profitable. In addition, no assurance can be given that we will be able to consummate our business strategy and plans, or that financial, technological, market, or other limitations may force us to modify, alter, significantly delay, or significantly impede the implementation of such plans. We have insufficient results for investors to use to identify historical trends. Investors should consider our prospects in light of the risk, expenses and difficulties we will encounter as an early stage company. Our revenue and income potential is unproven and our business model is continually evolving. We are subject to the risks inherent to the operation of a new business enterprise, and cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully address these risks.
We have a limited operating history upon which to evaluate our ability to commercialize our products.
We are a clinical stage company and our success is dependent upon our ability to obtain regulatory approval for and commercialize our products and we have not demonstrated an ability to perform the functions necessary for the approval or successful commercialization of any product candidates. The successful commercialization of any product candidates will require us to perform a variety of functions, including:
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continuing to undertake preclinical development and successfully enroll patients in clinical trials;
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participating in regulatory approval processes;
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formulating and manufacturing products; and
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conducting sales and marketing activities.
While various members of our management and staff have significant experience in conducting cancer trials, our company, to date, has not successfully completed any clinical trials other than the Phase 1 portion of our Phase 1/2 bladder cancer trial and has limited experience conducting and enrolling patients in clinical trials. Until recently, our operations have been limited primarily to organizing and staffing our company, acquiring, developing and securing our proprietary technology and undertaking preclinical trials and preparing for our early clinical trials of our product candidates. These operations provide a limited basis for you to assess our ability to commercialize our product candidates and the advisability of investing in our securities.
S-6
We will need to raise additional capital to operate our business and our failure to obtain funding when needed may force us to delay, reduce or eliminate our development programs or commercialization efforts.
During the three months ended March 31, 2016, our operating activities used net cash of approximately $4.9 million and as of March 31, 2016 our cash and cash equivalents and short term investments were $11.8 million. During the year ended December 31, 2015, our operating activities used net cash of approximately $17.4 million and as of December 31, 2015 our cash and cash equivalents and short term investments were $11.6 million. We have experienced significant losses since inception and have a significant accumulated deficit. As of March 31, 2016, our accumulated deficit totaled approximately $49.0 million and as of December 31, 2015, our accumulated deficit totaled approximately $44.4 million on a consolidated basis. We expect to incur additional operating losses in the future and therefore expect our cumulative losses to increase. We do not expect to derive revenue from any source in the near future until we or our potential partners successfully commercialize our products. Despite cost saving measures that we implemented, we expect our expenses to increase if and when we initiate and conduct Phase 3 and other clinical trials, and seek marketing approval for our product candidates. Until such time as we receive approval from the FDA and other regulatory authorities for our product candidates, we will not be permitted to sell our products and therefore will not have product revenues from the sale of products. For the foreseeable future we will have to fund all of our operations and capital expenditures from equity and debt offerings, cash on hand, licensing fees and grants.
We expect that our current cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments together with the offering proceeds will allow us to complete the Phase 2 clinical trial for HS-410 and continue to treat the current eight patients enrolled in the Phase 1b clinical trial for HS-110. Our primary focus is to complete the Phase 2 trial of HS-410 for the treatment of NMIBC, making our business and operating results largely dependent on our efforts to complete this Phase 2 trial. As such, if the Phase 2 trial of HS-410 for the treatment of NMIBC was not successful, it would have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
If we do not succeed in raising additional funds on acceptable terms, we may be unable to complete planned preclinical and clinical trials or obtain approval of our product candidates from the FDA and other regulatory authorities. In addition, we could be forced to delay, discontinue or curtail product development, forego sales and marketing efforts, and forego licensing in attractive business opportunities. Any additional sources of financing will likely involve the issuance of our equity or debt securities, which will have a dilutive effect on our stockholders.
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern.
Our operating losses, negative cash flows from operations and limited alternative sources of revenue raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015 do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. If we cannot raise adequate capital on acceptable terms we will need to revise our business plans.
We may continue to generate operating losses and experience negative cash flows and it is uncertain whether we will achieve profitability.
For the three months ended March 31, 2016 and March 31, 2015, we incurred a net loss of $4.7 million and $4.0 million, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, we incurred a net loss of $21.1 million and $12.2 million, respectively. We have an accumulated deficit of $44.4 million through December 31, 2015. We expect to continue to incur operating losses until such time, if ever, as we are able to achieve sufficient levels of revenue from operations. Our ability to achieve profitability will depend on obtaining regulatory approval for our product candidates, market acceptance of our product offerings and our capacity to develop, introduce and sell our products to our targeted markets. There can be no assurance that any of our product candidates will be approved for commercial sale, or even if our product candidates are approved for commercial sale, that we will ever generate significant sales or achieve profitability. Accordingly, the extent of future losses and the time required to achieve profitability, if ever, cannot be predicted at this point.
Even if we succeed in developing and commercializing one or more product candidates, we expect to incur substantial losses for the foreseeable future and may never become profitable. We also expect to continue to incur significant operating expenses and anticipate that notwithstanding our efforts to reduce costs our expenses will increase substantially in the future as we:
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continue to undertake preclinical development and conduct clinical trials for product candidates;
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seek regulatory approvals for product candidates;
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implement additional internal systems and infrastructure; or
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hire additional personnel.
S-7
We also expect to experience negative cash flows for the foreseeable future as we fund our operating losses. As a result, we will need to generate significant revenues or raise additional financing in order to achieve and maintain profitability. We may not be able to generate these revenues or achieve profitability in the future. Our failure to achieve or maintain profitability would likely negatively impact the value of our securities and financing activities.
Our continuing efforts to limit our costs maynegatively impact our ability to implement our business plan
We are continually evaluating various cost savings measures in light of our cash requirements. While we recently took action to reduce our immediate cash expenditures, including reducing our head count (inclusive of senior level employees), offering vendors equity in lieu of cash due to them and otherwise eliminating our other research expenses, we may not be able to limit our costs effectively without causing some damage to our business operations. Our continuing efforts to limit our costs reflects our need to address our current cash shortage and the expectation that we will continue to experience negative cash flows and operating losses for the foreseeable future. If our efforts to limit our costs are unsuccessful or have the undesired effect of exacerbating our existing limitations with respect to personnel, financing and other resources to the benefit of our better funded and experienced competitors, our failure to limit our costs effectively or the occurrence of undesired effects would likely negatively impact our ability to implement our business plan and the value of our securities.
We are substantially dependent on the success of our product candidates, HS-410 and HS-110/HS-120 and we cannot provide any assurance that any of our product candidates will be commercialized.
To date, our main focus and the investment of a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources has been in the development of our product candidates, HS-410 and HS-110, for which we are currently actively conducting Phase 2 and Phase 1b clinical trials, respectively. Our future success depends heavily on our ability to successfully manufacture, develop, obtain regulatory approval, and commercialize these product candidates, which may never occur. Before commercializing either product candidate, we will require additional clinical trials and regulatory approvals for which there can be no guarantee that we will be successful. We currently generate no revenues from our product candidates, and we may never be able to develop or commercialize a marketable drug.
If we experience delays in the enrollment of patients in our clinical trials, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.
Our inability to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients in our clinical trials for any of our current or future clinical trials would result in significant delays or may require us to abandon one or more clinical trials. Our ability to enroll patients in trials is affected by many factors out of our control including the size and nature of the patient population, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the trial, the design of the clinical trial, competing clinical trials and clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages of the drug being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating.
We currently have no product revenues and may not generate revenue at any time in the near future, if at all.
We currently have no products for sale and we cannot guarantee that we will ever have any drug products approved for sale. We and our product candidates are subject to extensive regulation by the FDA, and comparable regulatory authorities in other countries governing, among other things, research, testing, clinical trials, manufacturing, labeling, promotion, marketing, adverse event reporting and recordkeeping of our product candidates. Until, and unless, we receive approval from the FDA and other regulatory authorities for our product candidates, we cannot commercialize our product candidates and will not have product revenues. For the foreseeable future, we will have to fund all of our operations from equity and debt offerings, cash on hand and grants. We believe that due to our current cash position and estimates of expenses, there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. In addition, changes may occur that would consume our available capital at a faster pace than expected, including changes in and progress of our development activities, acquisitions of additional candidates and changes in regulation. Moreover, preclinical studies and clinical trials may not start or be completed as we forecast and may not achieve the desired results. Therefore, we expect that we will seek additional sources of funding, such as additional financing or grant funding, and additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. Our ability to raise capital through the sale of equity may be limited by the various rules of the SEC and the NASDAQ Capital Market which place limits on the number of shares of stock that may be sold. If we do not succeed in raising additional funds on acceptable terms, we may be unable to complete planned preclinical and clinical trials or obtain approval of our product candidates from the FDA and other regulatory authorities. In addition, we could be forced to delay, discontinue or curtail product development, forego sales and marketing efforts, and forego licensing in attractive business opportunities. Any additional sources of financing will likely involve the issuance of our equity or debt securities, which will have a dilutive effect on our stockholders.
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If we do not comply with the covenants under our secured loans with Square 1 Bank, we may be forced to seek other sources of financing and if we default on our secured loan with Square 1 Bank we could be forced to suspend all operations.
We have entered into loans with Square 1 Bank that are secured by substantially all of our assets, excluding our intellectual property. Our loan agreement with Square 1 Bank sets forth various affirmative and negative covenants that we must comply with, including covenants regarding financial reporting, limits on our cash burn, incurrence of indebtedness, restrictions on our ability to pay dividends or make any other distributions or payments on account of or in redemption, retirement or purchase of any capital stock, and liens and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, we are required to continually run two clinical trials. If we fail to comply with these covenants or if we fail to make timely monthly payments under the secured loans when due, Square 1 Bank could declare our loans in default. Additionally, if we do not commercialize a product by the maturity date of the loan, we may be unable to repay the loans to Square 1 Bank. If we default on the loans, Square 1 Bank has the right to seize the collateral secured by the loans, which could result in our licenses reverting back to our licensor and could force us to suspend all operations. In order to comply with the covenants of the loans and to make timely payments to Square 1 Bank under the loans, we may need to raise additional capital, which might not be available to us on favorable terms or at all.
Risks Relating to our Business
If we do not obtain the necessary regulatory approvals in the United States and/or other countries we will not be able to sell our product candidates.
We cannot assure you that we will receive the approvals necessary to commercialize any of our product candidates or any product candidates we acquire or develop in the future. We will need FDA approval to commercialize our product candidates in the United States and approvals from the FDA-equivalent regulatory authorities in foreign jurisdictions to commercialize our product candidates in those jurisdictions. In order to obtain FDA approval of any product candidate, we must submit to the FDA a BLA, demonstrating that the product candidate is safe, pure and potent, or effective for its intended use. This demonstration requires significant research including preclinical studies, as well as clinical trials. Satisfaction of the FDA’s regulatory requirements typically takes many years, depends upon the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidate and requires substantial resources for research, development and testing. We cannot predict whether our clinical trials will demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates or if the results of any clinical trials will be sufficient to advance to the next phase of development or for approval from the FDA. We also cannot predict whether our research and clinical approaches will result in drugs or therapeutics that the FDA considers safe and effective for the proposed indications. The FDA has substantial discretion in the drug approval process. The approval process may be delayed by changes in government regulation, future legislation or administrative action or changes in FDA policy that occur prior to or during our regulatory review. Delays in obtaining regulatory approvals may:
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prevent or delay commercialization of, and our ability to derive product revenues from, our product candidates; and
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diminish any competitive advantages that we may otherwise believe that we hold.
Even if we comply with all FDA requests, the FDA may ultimately reject one or more of our BLAs. We may never obtain regulatory clearance for any of our product candidates. Failure to obtain FDA approval of any of our product candidates will severely undermine our business by leaving us without a saleable product, and therefore without any source of revenues, until another product candidate can be developed. There is no guarantee that we will ever be able to develop or acquire another product candidate.
In addition, the FDA may require us to conduct additional preclinical and clinical testing or to perform post-marketing studies, as a condition to granting marketing approval of a product. Regulatory approval of oncology products often requires that patients in clinical trials be followed for long periods to assess their overall survival. The results generated after approval could result in loss of marketing approval, changes in product labeling, and/or new or increased concerns about the side effects or efficacy of a product. The FDA has significant post-market authority, including the explicit authority to require post-market studies and clinical trials, labeling changes based on new safety information, and compliance with FDA-approved risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. The FDA’s exercise of its authority has in some cases resulted, and in the future could result, in delays or increased costs during product development, clinical trials and regulatory review, increased costs to comply with additional post-approval regulatory requirements and potential restrictions on sales of approved products.
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In foreign jurisdictions, we must also receive approval from the appropriate regulatory authorities before we can commercialize any vaccines. Foreign regulatory approval processes generally include all of the risks associated with the FDA approval procedures described above. There can be no assurance that we will receive the approvals necessary to commercialize our product candidates for sale outside the United States.
Our product candidates are in early stages of development.
Because our product candidates are in early stages of development they will require extensive preclinical and clinical testing. Although certain of our product candidates have commenced Phase 1b and Phase 2 clinical trials, we cannot predict with any certainty if or when we might submit a BLA for regulatory approval for any of our product candidates or whether any such BLA will be accepted for review by the FDA, or whether any BLA will be approved upon review.
Even if our clinical trials are completed as planned, we cannot be certain that their results will support our proposed indications. Success in preclinical testing and early clinical trials does not ensure that later clinical trials will be successful, and we cannot be sure that the results of later clinical trials will replicate the results of prior clinical trials and preclinical testing. For example, the only clinical study of HS-410 completed to date showed evidence of an immune response in NMIBC patients exposed to HS-410. However, our current Phase 2 clinical trial of HS-410 is using doses and dosing regimens which have not previously been tested, and combinations with other immunotherapy agents will be conducted which may result in different responses. In addition, immune response is not an acceptable regulatory endpoint for approval, and the HS-410 Phase 1 trial involved a small sample size and was not randomized or blinded. The clinical trial process may fail to demonstrate that our product candidates are safe and effective for their proposed uses. This failure could cause us to abandon a product candidate and may delay development of other product candidates. Any delay in, or termination of, our clinical trials will delay and possibly preclude the filing of any BLAs with the FDA and, ultimately, our ability to commercialize our product candidates and generate product revenues.
Clinical trials are very expensive, time-consuming and difficult to design and implement.
As part of the regulatory process, we must conduct clinical trials for each product candidate to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA and other regulatory authorities. The number and design of the clinical trials that will be required varies depending upon product candidate, the condition being evaluated and the trial results themselves. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately estimate the cost of the clinical trials. Clinical trials are very expensive and difficult to design and implement, in part because they are subject to rigorous regulatory requirements. The clinical trial process is also time consuming. We estimate that clinical trials of our product candidates will take at least several years to complete. Furthermore, failure can occur at any stage of the trials, and we could encounter problems that cause us to abandon or repeat clinical trials. The commencement and completion of clinical trials may be delayed or prevented by several factors, including:
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unforeseen safety issues;
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failure to determine appropriate dosing;
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greater than anticipated cost of our clinical trials;
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failure to demonstrate effectiveness during clinical trials;
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slower than expected rates of patient recruitment or difficulty obtaining investigators;
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patient drop-out or discontinuation;
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inability to monitor patients adequately during or after treatment;
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third party contractors failing to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner;
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insufficient or inadequate supply or quality of product candidates or other necessary materials to conduct our trials;
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potential additional safety monitoring, or other conditions required by FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials, or other studies requested by regulatory agencies;
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problems engaging IRBs to oversee trials or in obtaining and maintaining IRB approval of studies;
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imposition of clinical hold or suspension of our clinical trials by regulatory authorities; and
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inability or unwillingness of medical investigators to follow our clinical protocols.
In addition, we or the FDA may suspend or terminate our clinical trials or arms of our clinical trials at any time if it appears that we are exposing participants to unacceptable health risks, in response to standard of care and changes in standard of care or if the FDA finds deficiencies in our Investigational New Drug, or IND, submissions or the conduct of these trials. Therefore, we cannot predict with any certainty when, if ever, future clinical trials will commence or be completed.
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On February 25, 2016, we announced that we will no longer enroll new patients in our Phase 2 monotherapy trial arm evaluating HS-410 alone for the treatment of NMIBC. We added the monotherapy trial arm in response to the intermittent global shortage of standard of care BCG in early 2015. The shortage has since then been resolved and as such, we will no longer enroll new patients in this trial arm based on discussions with the U.S. FDA.
We are at risk of a clinical hold at any time based on the evaluation of the data and information submitted to the governing regulatory authorities. On February 2, 2016, we received notice from the FDA of a partial clinical hold on our Phase 2 HS-410 clinical trial despite the fact that we did not have a safety concern. The partial clinical hold came after we concluded that the cell line on which HS-410 is based had been previously misidentified. The partial clinical hold was lifted on February 10, 2016. However, if in the future we are delayed in addressing, or unable to address, any FDA concerns, we could be delayed, or prevented, from conducting our clinical trials.
Misidentification of cell lines could impact our clinical development and intellectual property rights.
Our product candidates are based on human cell lines produced by third parties and licensed by us. Cell line characterization and contamination is a known issue in biomedical research. For example, despite standard procedures to identify the origins and characteristics of our cell lines we recently discovered that the origin of the cell line used in HS-410 was misidentified. The misidentification resulted in the FDA placing our HS-410 Phase 2 clinical trial on partial clinical hold while the FDA reviewed certain updated documentation provided by us related to the misidentification. In the event we were to use a cell line in the future that is also misidentified, the clinical development of the product candidate utilizing the mischaracterized cell line could be materially and adversely affected, we could lose the right to use the cell line and our intellectual property rights relating to our development of product candidates based on that cell line could be materially and adversely affected. Although we have implemented certain additional procedures to properly identify our cell lines, we may not be able to detect that a cell line has been mischaracterized or mislabeled by a third party.
There is uncertainty as to market acceptance of our technology and product candidates.
Even if the FDA approves one or more of our product candidates, the products may not gain broad market acceptance among physicians, healthcare payers, patients, and the medical community. We have conducted our own research into the markets for our product candidates; however, we cannot guarantee market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved, and have somewhat limited information on which to estimate our anticipated level of sales. Our product candidates, if approved, will require patients, healthcare providers and doctors to adopt our technology. Our industry is susceptible to rapid technological developments and there can be no assurance that we will be able to match any new technological advances. If we are unable to match the technological changes in the needs of our customers the demand for our products will be reduced. Acceptance and use of any products we market will depend upon a number of factors including:
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perceptions by members of the health care community, including physicians, about the safety and effectiveness of our products;
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limitation on use or warnings required by FDA in our product labeling;
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cost-effectiveness of our products relative to competing products;
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convenience and ease of administration;
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potential advantages of alternative treatment methods;
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availability of reimbursement for our products from government or other healthcare payers; and
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effectiveness of marketing and distribution efforts by us and our licensees and distributors, if any.
Because we expect virtually all of our product revenues for the foreseeable future to be generated from sales of our current product candidates, if approved, the failure of these therapeutics to find market acceptance would substantially harm our business and would adversely affect our revenue.
Our development program partially depends upon third-party researchers who are outside our control.
We are dependent upon independent investigators and collaborators, such as universities and medical institutions, to conduct our clinical trials under agreements with us. These collaborators are not our employees and we cannot control the amount or timing of resources that they devote to our programs. These investigators may not assign as great a priority to our programs or pursue them as diligently as we would if we were undertaking such programs ourselves. If outside collaborators fail to devote sufficient time and resources to our development programs, or if their performance is substandard, the approval of our FDA applications, if any, and our introduction of new product candidates, if any, will be delayed if obtained at all. These collaborators may also have relationships with other commercial entities, some of whom may compete with us. If our collaborators assist our competitors at our expense, our competitive position would be harmed.
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We will rely significantly on third parties to formulate and manufacture our product candidates.
We have developed certain experience in the formulation, development and/or manufacturing of biologics but do not intend to establish our own manufacturing facilities. To date, the selection and initial replication of our biological cell lines used in our trials has been performed by individuals working at third party laboratories over which we have little process or quality control and therefore the process and replication could be subject to human error. We lack the resources and expertise to formulate or manufacture our own product candidates. The investigational products for our clinical trials are manufactured by our contractors under current good manufacturing practices, (“cGMPs”) and we have entered into agreements with commercial-scale manufacturers for the production and supply of investigational product for additional Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials as well as commercialization. We must also develop and validate a potency assay prior to submission of a license application. Such assays have traditionally proven difficult to develop for cell-based products and must be established prior to initiating any Phase 3 clinical trials. If any of our current product candidates, or any product candidates we may develop or acquire in the future, receive FDA approval, we will rely on one or more third-party contractors for manufacturing. Our anticipated future reliance on a limited number of third-party manufacturers exposes us to the following risks:
We may be unable to identify manufacturers on acceptable terms or at all because the number of potential manufacturers with appropriate expertise and facilities is limited.
If we change manufacturers at any point during the development process or after approval, we will be required to demonstrate comparability between the products made by the old and new manufacturers. If we are unable to do so, we may need to conduct additional clinical trials with product manufactured by the new manufacturer. Accordingly, it may be necessary to evaluate the comparability of the HS-110 produced by the two different manufacturers at some point during the clinical development process.
If we change the manufacturer of a product subsequent to the approval of the product, we will need to obtain approval from the FDA of the change in manufacturer. Any such approval would likely require significant testing and expense, and the new manufacturer may be subject to a cGMP inspection prior to approval.
Our third-party manufacturers might be unable to formulate and manufacture our product candidates in the volume and with the quality required to meet our clinical needs and commercial needs, if any.
Our contract manufacturers may not perform as agreed or may not remain in the contract manufacturing business for the time required to supply our clinical trials or to successfully produce, store and distribute our product candidates.
Drug manufacturers are subject to ongoing periodic unannounced inspection by the FDA, and corresponding state agencies to ensure compliance with cGMPs and other government regulations and corresponding foreign standards. We do not have control over third-party manufacturers’ compliance with these regulations and standards.
If any third-party manufacturer makes improvements in the manufacturing process for our products, we may not own, or may have to share, the intellectual property rights to the innovation.
Our contract manufacturers have in the past and may in the future encounter difficulties in achieving quality control and quality assurance and may experience shortages in qualified personnel. Our contract manufacturers are subject to inspections by the FDA and comparable agencies in other jurisdictions to assess compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Any failure to follow cGMP or other regulatory requirements or delay, interruption or other issues that arise in the manufacture, packaging, or storage of our products as a result of a failure of the facilities or operations of third parties to comply with regulatory requirements or pass any regulatory authority inspection could significantly impair our ability to develop and commercialize our products, including leading to significant delays in the availability of products for our clinical studies or the termination or hold on a clinical study, or the delay or prevention of a filing or approval of marketing applications for our product candidates. Significant noncompliance could also result in the imposition of sanctions, including fines, injunctions, civil penalties, failure of regulatory authorities to grant marketing approvals for our product candidates, delays, suspension or withdrawal of approvals, license revocation, seizures or recalls of products, operating restrictions and criminal prosecutions, any of which could damage our reputation. If we or our contract manufacturers are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may not be permitted to market our products and/or may be subject to product recalls, seizures, injunctions, or criminal prosecution.
Each of these risks could delay our clinical trials, the approval, if any, of our product candidates by the FDA or the commercialization of our product candidates or could also result in higher costs or deprive us of potential product revenues.
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For each of our product candidates, we rely upon a single third party to manufacture and supply our drug substance. Any problems experienced by either our third party manufacturers or their vendors could result in a delay or interruption in the supply of our product candidate to us until the third party manufacturer or its vendor cures the problem or until we locate and qualify an alternative source of manufacturing and supply.
For each of our product candidates we currently rely on third party manufacturers to purchase from their third party vendors the materials necessary to produce our product candidates and manufacture our product candidates for our clinical studies. If either of our third party manufacturers were to experience any prolonged disruption for our manufacturing we could be forced to seek additional third party manufacturing contracts, thereby increasing our development costs and negatively impacting our timeliness and any commercialization costs.
For each of our ongoing clinical trials, we are administering our product candidates, in combination with other immunotherapy agents. Any problems obtaining the other immunotherapy agents could result in a delay or interruption in our clinical trials.
For each of our ongoing clinical trials we administer our product candidate in combination with other immunotherapy agents, such as BCG and nivolumab. If any of the immunotherapy agents that are used in our clinical trials are unavailable while the trials are continuing, our timeliness and commercialization costs could be impacted. The recent shortage of BCG initially negatively impacted our timeliness of our Phase 2 trial of HS-410.
Adverse effects resulting from other immunotherapy drugs or therapies could also negatively affect the perceptions by members of the health care community, including physicians, about the safety and effectiveness of our product candidates.
There are many other companies that have developed or are currently trying to develop immunology vaccines for the treatment of cancer. If adverse effects were to result from any immunotherapy drugs or therapies being developed, manufactured and marketed by others it could be attributed to our products or immunotherapy protocols as a whole. Any such attribution could negatively affect the perceptions by members of the health care community, including physicians, about the safety and effectiveness of our product candidates and the future of immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Our industry is susceptible to rapid technological changes and there can be no assurance that we will be able to match any new technological challenges presented by the adverse effects resulting from immunotherapy drugs or therapies developed, manufactured or marketed by others.
Even if we are able to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates, we will continue to be subject to ongoing and extensive regulatory requirements, and our failure, or the failure of our contract manufacturers, to comply with these requirements could substantially harm our business.
If the FDA approves any of our product candidates, the labeling, manufacturing, packaging, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and record-keeping for our products will be subject to ongoing FDA requirements and continued regulatory oversight and review. We may also be subject to additional FDA post-marketing obligations. If we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may not be permitted to market our product candidates and/or may be subject to product recalls or seizures. The subsequent discovery of previously unknown problems with any marketed product, including AEs of unanticipated severity or frequency, may result in restrictions on the marketing of the product, and could include withdrawal of the product from the market.
A fast track designation by the FDA may not actually lead to a faster development or regulatory review or approval process.
We have been granted fast track designation for HS-410 and may seek fast track designation for future product candidates. The FDA has broad discretion whether to grant this designation, and even if we believe a particular product candidate is eligible for this designation, we cannot assure you that the FDA would decide to grant it. Moreover, we may not experience a faster development process, review or approval compared to conventional FDA procedures for HS-410, and the FDA may withdraw fast track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program.
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We have no experience selling, marketing or distributing products and have no internal capability to do so.
We currently have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities. We do not anticipate having the resources in the foreseeable future to allocate to the sales and marketing of our proposed products, if approved. Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to enter into and maintain collaborative relationships for such capabilities, the collaborator’s strategic interest in the products under development and such collaborator’s ability to successfully market and sell any such products. We intend to pursue collaborative arrangements regarding the sales and marketing of our products, however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to establish or maintain such collaborative arrangements, or if able to do so, that our collaborators will have effective sales forces. To the extent that we decide not to, or are unable to, enter into collaborative arrangements with respect to the sales and marketing of our proposed products, significant capital expenditures, management resources and time will be required to establish and develop an in-house marketing and sales force with technical expertise. There can also be no assurance that we will be able to establish or maintain relationships with third party collaborators or develop in-house sales and distribution capabilities. To the extent that we depend on third parties for marketing and distribution, any revenues we receive will depend upon the efforts of such third parties, and there can be no assurance that such efforts will be successful. In addition, there can also be no assurance that we will be able to successfully market and sell our products in the United States or overseas on our own.
We may not be successful in establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships, which could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize products.
We may seek to enter into strategic partnerships in the future, including alliances with other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, to enhance and accelerate the development and commercialization of our products. We face significant competition in seeking appropriate strategic partners and the negotiation process is time-consuming and complex. Moreover, we may not be successful in our efforts to establish a strategic partnership or other alternative arrangements for any future product candidates and programs because our research and development pipeline may be insufficient, our product candidates and programs may be deemed to be at too early of a stage of development for collaborative effort and/or third parties may not view our product candidates and programs as having the requisite potential to demonstrate safety and efficacy or return on investment. Even if we are successful in our efforts to establish strategic partnerships, the terms that we agree upon may not be favorable to us and we may not be able to maintain such strategic partnerships if, for example, development or approval of a product candidate is delayed or sales of an approved product are disappointing.
If we ultimately determine that entering into strategic partnerships is in our best interest but either fail to enter into, are delayed in entering into or fail to maintain such strategic partnerships:
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the development of certain of our current or future product candidates may be terminated or delayed;
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our cash expenditures related to development of certain of our current or future product candidates may increase significantly and we may need to seek additional financing;
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we may be required to hire additional employees or otherwise develop expertise, such as sales and marketing expertise, for which we have not budgeted;
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we will bear all of the risk related to the development of any such product candidates; and
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the competitiveness of any product candidate that is commercialized could be reduced.
To the extent we elect to enter into licensing or collaboration agreements to partner our product candidates, our dependence on such relationships may adversely affect our business.
Our commercialization strategy for certain of our product candidates may depend on our ability to enter into agreements with collaborators to obtain assistance and funding for the development and potential commercialization of these product candidates. Supporting diligence activities conducted by potential collaborators and negotiating the financial and other terms of a collaboration agreement are long and complex processes with uncertain results. Even if we are successful in entering into one or more collaboration agreements, collaborations may involve greater uncertainty for us, as we have less control over certain aspects of our collaborative programs than we do over our proprietary development and commercialization programs. We may determine that continuing a collaboration under the terms provided is not in our best interest, and we may terminate the collaboration. Our collaborators could delay or terminate their agreements, and our product candidates subject to collaborative arrangements may never be successfully developed or commercialized.
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Further, our future collaborators may develop alternative products or pursue alternative technologies either on their own or in collaboration with others, including our competitors, and the priorities or focus of our collaborators may shift such that our programs receive less attention or fewer resources than we would like, or they may be terminated altogether. Any such actions by our collaborators may adversely affect our business prospects and ability to earn revenues. In addition, we could have disputes with our future collaborators, such as the interpretation of terms in our agreements. Any such disagreements could lead to delays in the development or commercialization of any potential products or could result in time-consuming and expensive litigation or arbitration, which may not be resolved in our favor.
If we cannot compete successfully for market share against other drug companies, we may not achieve sufficient product revenues and our business will suffer.
The market for our product candidates is characterized by intense competition and rapid technological advances. If any of our product candidates receives FDA approval, it will compete with a number of existing and future drugs and therapies developed, manufactured and marketed by others. Existing or future competing products may provide greater therapeutic convenience or clinical or other benefits for a specific indication than our products, or may offer comparable performance at a lower cost. If our products fail to capture and maintain market share, we may not achieve sufficient product revenues and our business will suffer.
We will compete against fully integrated pharmaceutical companies and smaller companies that are collaborating with larger pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations. Many of these competitors have oncology compounds already approved or in development. In addition, many of these competitors, either alone or together with their collaborative partners, operate larger research and development programs or have substantially greater financial resources than we do, as well as significantly greater experience in:
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developing drugs, biologics and other therapies;
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undertaking preclinical testing and clinical trials;
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obtaining FDA and other regulatory approvals of drugs, biologics and other therapies;
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formulating and manufacturing drugs, biologics and other therapies; and
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launching, marketing and selling drugs, biologics and other therapies.
We have limited protection for our intellectual property.
We intend to rely on a combination of common law copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret laws and measures to protect our proprietary information. We have obtained exclusive rights to license the technology for which patent protection has been obtained; however, certain patents expire in 2019 and such protection does not prevent unauthorized use of such technology. In addition, certain cell lines used in our product candidates, including the one used in HS-410, are not protected by patents and our licenses thereto are non-exclusive. Trademark and copyright protections may be limited, and enforcement could be too costly to be effective. It may also be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy aspects of, or otherwise obtain and use, our proprietary information without authorization, including, but not limited to, product design, software, customer and prospective customer lists, trade secrets, copyrights, patents and other proprietary rights and materials. Other parties can use and register confusingly similar business, product and service names, as well as domain names, which could divert customers, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
If we fail to successfully enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitive position could suffer, which could harm our operating results. Competitors may challenge the validity or scope of our patents or future patents we may obtain. In addition, our licensed patents may not provide us with a meaningful competitive advantage. We may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and police our licensed intellectual property rights. We may not be able to detect infringement and our competitive position may be harmed. In addition, competitors may design around our technology or develop competing technologies. Intellectual property rights may also be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market share.
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The technology we license, our products or our development efforts may be found to infringe upon third-party intellectual property rights.
Third parties may in the future assert claims or initiate litigation related to their patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights in technology that is important to us. The asserted claims and/or litigation could include claims against us, our licensors or our suppliers alleging infringement of intellectual property rights with respect to our products or components of those products. Regardless of the merit of the claims, they could be time consuming, result in costly litigation and diversion of technical and management personnel, or require us to develop a non-infringing technology or enter into license agreements. We have not undertaken an exhaustive search to discover any third party intellectual patent rights which might be infringed by commercialization of the product candidates described herein. Although we are not currently aware of any such third party intellectual patent rights, it is possible that such rights currently exist or might be obtained in the future. In the event that a third party controls such rights and we are unable to obtain a license to such rights on commercially reasonable terms, we may not be able to sell or continue to develop our products, and may be liable for damages for such infringement. We cannot assure you that licenses will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. Furthermore, because of the potential for significant damage awards, which are not necessarily predictable, it is not unusual to find even arguably unmeritorious claims resulting in large settlements. If any infringement or other intellectual property claim made against us by any third party is successful, or if we fail to develop non-infringing technology or license the proprietary rights on commercially reasonable terms and conditions, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
If our products, methods, processes and other technologies infringe the proprietary rights of other parties, we could incur substantial costs and we may have to:
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obtain licenses, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all;
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abandon an infringing drug or therapy candidate;
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redesign our products or processes to avoid infringement;
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stop using the subject matter claimed in the patents held by others;
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pay damages; or
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defend litigation or administrative proceedings which may be costly whether we win or lose, and which could result in a substantial diversion of our financial and management resources.
We rely on licenses to use various technologies that are material to our business and if the agreements were to be terminated or if other rights that may be necessary or we deem advisable for commercializing our intended products cannot be obtained, itwould halt our ability to market our products and technology, as well as have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
We have licensing agreements with certain universities granting us the right to use certain critical intellectual property. The terms of the licensing agreements continue until the end of the life of the last patent to expire. If we breach the terms of these licensing agreements, including any failure to make minimum royalty payments required thereunder or failure to reach certain developmental milestones, using best efforts to introduce a licensed product in certain territories by certain dates, the licensor has the right to terminate the license. If we were to lose or otherwise be unable to maintain these licenses on acceptable terms, or find that it is necessary or appropriate to secure new licenses from other third parties, it would halt our ability to market our products and technology, which would have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
We may be unable to generate sufficient revenues to meet the minimum royalties or developmental milestones required under our license agreements.
For the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016, and 2017 our minimum royalty obligations under our licensing agreements, required to be paid with the passage of time, are $33,000, $38,000 and $338,000, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 our minimum royalty obligations under our licensing agreement, required to be paid with the passage of time, are $38,000, $113,000 and $288,000, respectively. No assurance can be given that we will generate sufficient revenue or raise additional financing to make these minimum royalty payments. The license agreements also provide for certain developmental milestones. No assurance can be given that we will meet all of the required developmental milestones. Any failure to make the payments or reach the milestones required by the license agreements would permit the licensor to terminate the license. If we were to lose or otherwise be unable to maintain these licenses, it would halt our ability to market our products and technology, which would have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
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Our ability to generate product revenues will be diminished if our therapies sell for inadequate prices or patients are unable to obtain adequate levels of reimbursement.
Our ability to commercialize our therapies, alone or with collaborators, will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement will be available from:
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government and health administration authorities;
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private health maintenance organizations and health insurers; and
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other healthcare payers.
Significant uncertainty exists as to the reimbursement status of newly approved healthcare products. Healthcare payers, including Medicare, are challenging the prices charged for medical products and services. Cost control initiatives could decrease the price that we would receive for any products in the future, which would limit our revenue and profitability. Government and other healthcare payers increasingly attempt to contain healthcare costs by limiting both coverage and the level of reimbursement for drugs and therapeutics. We might need to conduct post-marketing studies in order to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of any future products to such payers’ satisfaction. Such studies might require us to commit a significant amount of management time and financial and other resources. Our future products might not ultimately be considered cost-effective. Even if one of our product candidates is approved by the FDA, insurance coverage may not be available, and reimbursement levels may be inadequate, to cover such therapies. If government and other healthcare payers do not provide adequate coverage and reimbursement levels for one of our products, once approved, market acceptance of such product could be reduced.
Legislative and regulatory changes affecting the health care industry could adversely affect our business.
Political, economic and regulatory influences are subjecting the health care industry to potential fundamental changes that could substantially affect our results of operations. In many countries, the government controls the pricing and profitability of prescription pharmaceuticals. In the United States, we expect that there will continue to be federal and state proposals to implement similar governmental controls. In addition, recent changes in the Medicare program and increasing emphasis on managed care in the United States will continue to put pressure on pharmaceutical product pricing. It is uncertain whether or when any legislative proposals will be adopted or what actions federal, state, or private payers for health care treatment and services may take in response to any health care reform proposal or legislation. We cannot predict the effect health care reforms may have on our business and we can offer no assurances that any of these reforms will not have a material adverse effect on our business. These actual and potential changes are causing the marketplace to put increased emphasis on the delivery of more cost-effective treatments. In addition, uncertainly remains regarding proposed significant reforms to the U.S. health care system.
We may not successfully effect our intended expansion.
Our success will depend upon the expansion of our operations and the effective management of our growth, which will place a significant strain on our management and on our administrative, operational and financial resources. To manage this growth, we must expand our facilities, augment our operational, financial and management systems and hire and train additional qualified personnel. If we are unable to manage our growth effectively, our business would be harmed.
We may be exposed to liability claims associated with the use of biological and hazardous materials and chemicals.
Our research and development activities may involve the controlled use of biological and hazardous materials and chemicals. Although we believe that our safety procedures for using, storing, handling and disposing of these materials comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of accidental injury or contamination from these materials. In the event of such an accident, we could be held liable for any resulting damages and any liability could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of hazardous or radioactive materials and waste products may require us to incur substantial compliance costs that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We rely on key executive officers and scientific and medical advisors, and their knowledge of our business and technical expertise would be difficult to replace.
We are highly dependent on our principal scientific, regulatory and medical advisors and our chief executive officer. Other than a $2,000,000 insurance policy on the life of Jeffrey Wolf, we do not have “key person” life insurance policies for any of our officers or advisors. The loss of the technical knowledge and management and industry expertise of any of our key personnel could result in delays in product development, loss of customers and sales and diversion of management resources, which could adversely affect our operating results.
If we are unable to hire additional qualified personnel, our ability to grow our business may be harmed.
We will need to hire additional qualified personnel with expertise in preclinical and clinical research, government regulation, formulation and manufacturing, sales and marketing and accounting and financing. In particular, over the next 12 months, we expect to hire additional new employees. We compete for qualified individuals with numerous biopharmaceutical companies, universities and other research institutions. Competition for such individuals is intense, and we cannot be certain that our search for such personnel will be successful. Attracting and retaining qualified personnel will be critical to our success.
Certain of our officers may have a conflict of interest.
Certain of our officers are currently entitled to devote their time to other activities, which may result in a lack of availability when needed due to responsibilities at other jobs.
We may incur substantial liabilities and may be required to limit commercialization of our products in response to product liability lawsuits.
The testing and marketing of drug and biological product candidates entail an inherent risk of product liability. Product liability claims might be brought against us by consumers, health care providers or others selling or otherwise coming into contact with our products. Clinical trial liability claims may be filed against us for damages suffered by clinical trial subjects or their families. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities or be required to limit commercialization of our products which could impact our ability to continue as a going concern. Our inability to obtain sufficient product liability insurance at an acceptable cost to protect against potential product liability claims could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of pharmaceutical products we develop, alone or with collaborators. In addition, regardless of merit or eventual outcome, product liability claims may result in:
·
decreased demand for any approved product candidates;
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impairment of our business reputation;
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withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
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costs of related litigation;
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distraction of management’s attention;
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substantial monetary awards to patients or other claimants;
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loss of revenues; and
·
the inability to successfully commercialize any approved drug candidates.
International expansion of our business exposes us to business, regulatory, political, operational, financial and economic risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.
Our business strategy incorporates international expansion, including establishing and maintaining clinician marketing and education capabilities outside of the United States and expanding our relationships with distributors and manufacturers. Doing business internationally involves a number of risks, including:
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multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations such as tax laws, export and import restrictions, employment laws, regulatory requirements and other governmental approvals, permits and licenses;
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failure by us or our distributors to obtain regulatory approvals for the sale or use of our product candidates in various countries;
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difficulties in managing foreign operations;
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complexities associated with managing multiple payor-reimbursement regimes or self-pay systems;
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limits on our ability to penetrate international markets if our product candidates cannot be processed by a manufacturer appropriately qualified in such markets;
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·
financial risks, such as longer payment cycles, difficulty enforcing contracts and collecting accounts receivable and exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
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reduced protection for intellectual property rights;
·
natural disasters, political and economic instability, including wars, terrorism and political unrest, outbreak of disease, boycotts, curtailment of trade and other business restrictions; and
·
failure to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including its books and records provisions and its anti-bribery provisions, by maintaining accurate information and control over sales and distributors’ activities.
Any of these risks, if encountered, could significantly harm our future international expansion and operations and, consequently, have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
We may acquire other businesses or form joint ventures or make investments in other companies or technologies that could harm our operating results, dilute our stockholders’ ownership, increase our debt or cause us to incur significant expense.
As part of our business strategy, we may pursue acquisitions of businesses and assets. We also may pursue strategic alliances and joint ventures that leverage our core technology and industry experience to expand our offerings or distribution. We have no experience with acquiring other companies and limited experience with forming strategic alliances and joint ventures. We may not be able to find suitable partners or acquisition candidates, and we may not be able to complete such transactions on favorable terms, if at all. If we make any acquisitions, we may not be able to integrate these acquisitions successfully into our existing business, and we could assume unknown or contingent liabilities. Any future acquisitions also could result in significant write-offs or the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Integration of an acquired company also may disrupt ongoing operations and require management resources that would otherwise focus on developing our existing business. We may experience losses related to investments in other companies, which could have a material negative effect on our results of operations. We may not identify or complete these transactions in a timely manner, on a cost-effective basis, or at all, and we may not realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, technology license, strategic alliance or joint venture.
To finance any acquisitions or joint ventures, we may choose to issue shares of our common stock as consideration, which would dilute the ownership of our stockholders. If the price of our common stock is low or volatile, we may not be able to acquire other companies or fund a joint venture project using our stock as consideration. Alternatively, it may be necessary for us to raise additional funds for acquisitions through public or private financings. Additional funds may not be available on terms that are favorable to us, or at all.
Declining general economic or business conditions may have a negative impact on our business.
Continuing concerns over U.S. health care reform legislation and energy costs, geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit and government stimulus programs in the United States and other countries have contributed to increased volatility and diminished expectations for the global economy. These factors, combined with low business and consumer confidence and high unemployment, precipitated an economic slowdown and recession. If the economic climate does not improve or continues to deteriorate, our business, as well as the financial condition of our suppliers and our third-party payors, could be adversely affected, resulting in a negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The U.S. government may have “march-in rights” to certain of our intellectual property.
Because federal grant monies were used in support of the research and development activities that resulted in certain of our issued pending U.S. patent applications, the federal government retains what are referred to as “march-in rights” to patents that are granted on these applications.
In particular, the National Institutes of Health, which administered grant monies to the primary inventor of the technology we license, technically retain the right to require us, under certain specific circumstances, to grant the U.S. government either a nonexclusive, partially exclusive or exclusive license to the patented invention in any field of use, upon terms that are reasonable for a particular situation. Circumstances that trigger march-in rights include, for example, failure to take, within a reasonable time, effective steps to achieve practical application of the invention in a field of use, failure to satisfy the health and safety needs of the public and failure to meet requirements of public use specified by federal regulations. The National Institutes of Health can elect to exercise these march-in rights on their own initiative or at the request of a third-party.
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Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Certain of our officers and directors have sufficient voting power to make corporate governance decisions that could have a significant effect on us and the other stockholders.
As of July 20, 2016, our officers and directors together beneficially own approximately 13.3% of our outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis. Mr. Wolf, our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, alone through his direct and indirect holdings beneficially owns approximately 8.3% of our outstanding common stock on a fully diluted basis. As a result, Mr. Wolf alone will be able to exert a significant degree of influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership may delay or prevent a change in our control and might affect the market price of our common stock, even when a change in control may be in the best interest of all stockholders. Furthermore, the interests of this concentration of ownership may not always coincide with our interests or the interests of other stockholders. Accordingly, these stockholders could cause us to enter into transactions or agreements that we would not otherwise consider.
The possible issuance of common stock subject to options and warrants may dilute the interest of stockholders.
In 2009, we adopted a 2009 Stock Option and Restricted Stock Plan (the “2009 Plan”). In 2014, we adopted the 2014 Plan. In 2015 we increased the number of shares of common stock that we have authority to grant under the 2014 Plan by 600,000 shares and on July 19, 2016, we increased the number of shares of common stock that we have authority to grant under the 2014 Plan by an additional 1,900,000 shares, meaning an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares of our common stock may be granted as awards under the 2014 Plan. As of March 31, 2016, awards for 2,189,512 shares of common stock have been granted under the 2009 Plan and the 2014 Plan and there were 93,499 shares of common stock remaining available for grant under these plans. In addition, as of March 31, 2016, we have 17,392 shares issuable upon exercise of warrants granted to third parties in connection with prior private placements of our equity securities and debt, 6,825,000 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants granted to third parties in connection with our recent public offering which excludes 125,000 shares of common stock issuable at $12.50 per share upon exercise of warrants issued to the underwriters in connection with our initial public offering. To the extent that outstanding stock options and warrants are exercised, or additional securities are issued, dilution to the interests of our stockholders may occur. Moreover, the terms upon which we will be able to obtain additional equity capital may be adversely affected since the holders of the outstanding options can be expected to exercise them at a time when we would, in all likelihood, be able to obtain any needed capital on terms more favorable to us than those provided in such outstanding options.
We have additional securities available for issuance, which, if issued, could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock.
Our Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of 50,000,000 shares of our common stock and 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock. In certain circumstances, the common stock and preferred stock, as well as the awards available for issuance under the 2009 and 2014 Plans, can be issued by our board of directors, without stockholder approval. Any future issuances of such stock would further dilute the percentage ownership of us held by holders of Preferred Stock and common stock. In addition, the issuance of Preferred Stock may be used as an “anti-takeover” device without further action on the part of our stockholders, and may adversely affect the holders of the common stock.
We have never paid dividends and have no plans to pay dividends in the future.
Holders of shares of our common stock are entitled to receive such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors. To date, we have paid no cash dividends on our shares of our preferred or common stock and we do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to provide funds for operations of our business. Therefore, any return investors in our preferred or common stock may have will be in the form of appreciation, if any, in the market value of their shares of common stock.
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We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act enacted in April 2012, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, not being required to comply with any new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor's report in which the auditor would be required to provide additional information about the audit and the financial statements of the issuer, not being required to comply with any new audit rules adopted by the PCAOB after April 5, 2012 unless the SEC determines otherwise, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1 billion or more; (ii) the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of our first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of any choices to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. Further, as a result of these scaled regulatory requirements, our disclosure may be more limited than that of other public companies and you may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of such companies.
Under Section 107(b) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.
As a result of being a public company, we are subject to additional reporting and corporate governance requirements that will require additional management time, resources and expense.
As a public company we are obligated to file with the SEC annual and quarterly information and other reports that are specified in the Exchange Act. We are also subject to other reporting and corporate governance requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, all of which impose significant compliance and reporting obligations upon us and require us to incur additional expense in order to fulfill such obligations.
Future sales of our common stock by our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.
As of July 20, 2016 we had 17,524,641 shares of our common stock outstanding, all of which are currently eligible for sale in the public market, subject, in certain circumstances to the volume, manner of sale and other limitations under Rule 144 or 701 promulgated under the Securities Act. It is conceivable that stockholders may wish to sell some or all of their shares. If our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market at the same time, the market price of our common stock could decrease significantly due to an imbalance in the supply and demand of our common stock. Even if they do not actually sell the stock, the perception in the public market that our stockholders might sell significant shares of our common stock could also depress the market price of our common stock.
A decline in the price of shares of our common stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of our common stock or other equity securities, and may cause stockholders to lose part or all of their investment in our shares of common stock.
S-21
Our shares of common stock are from time to time thinly traded, so stockholders may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all if they need to sell shares to raise money or otherwise desire to liquidate their shares.
Our common stock has from time to time been “thinly-traded,” meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our common stock at or near ask prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company that is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community that generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they tend to be risk-averse and would be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares until such time as we became more seasoned and viable. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when trading activity in our shares is minimal or non-existent, as compared to a seasoned issuer that has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. We cannot give stockholders any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market for our common shares will develop or be sustained, or that current trading levels will be sustained.
Our limited trading market has in the past and may continue to cause volatility in our share price.
Our stock is thinly traded in part due to a limited number of shares available for trading thus causing large swings in price. As such, investors may find it difficult to obtain accurate stock price quotations and holders of our stock may be unable to resell their stock at desirable prices. If an active market develops, our stock price may nevertheless remain volatile. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, or the perception that such sales might occur, could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock and our stock price may decline substantially in a short period of time. As a result, our stockholders could suffer losses or be unable to liquidate holdings.
Certain provisions of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware may have anti-takeover effects which may make an acquisition of our company by another company more difficult.
We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination, including mergers and asset sales, with an interested stockholder (generally, a 15% or greater stockholder) for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. The operation of Section 203 may have anti-takeover effects, which could delay, defer or prevent a takeover attempt that a holder of our common stock might consider in its best interest.
Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of the NASDAQ Capital Market could result in a de-listing of our common stock.
Our shares of common stock are currently listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market. If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of the NASDAQ Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements, minimum bid price requirement or the minimum stockholders’ equity requirement, the NASDAQ Capital Market may take steps to de-list our common stock. Such a de-listing would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair our stockholders’ ability to sell or purchase our common stock when they wish to do so. In the event of a de-listing, we would take actions to restore our compliance with the NASDAQ Capital Market’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any action taken by us would result in our common stock becoming listed again, or that any such action would stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock. On February 22, 2016, we received a deficiency letter from the NASDAQ Capital Market indicating that as of December 31, 2015 our stockholders’ equity of $2,495,000 did not meet the $2,500,000 minimum required to maintain continued listing. Although the proceeds of our March 2016 offering satisfied the continued listing requirements of the NASDAQ Capital Market with respect to stockholders’ equity, there can be no assurance that we will continue to satisfy such requirements, including the minimum bid requirement. For example, although we have not yet completed our review of our second fiscal quarter of 2016 financial statements, it appears likely that we will not meet the $2,500,000 minimum stockholders’ equity required by NASDAQ; however, we believe that sufficient proceeds from this offering should enable us to regain compliance with the stockholders’ equity requirements for continued listing on NASDAQ. In addition, on May 2, 2016 we received a deficiency letter from the NASDAQ Capital Market indicating that for the preceding 30 consecutive business days (March 18, 2016 through April 29, 2016) our common stock did not maintain a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share as required by NASDAQ Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). With the exception of July 20, 2016, since May 2, 2016, our common stock has not maintained the minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share. Although our shareholders have approved an amendment to our Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of our issued and outstanding common stock, there can be no assurance that a reverse stock split will be effective in means of regaining compliance with the minimum bid price requirement.
S-22
Reports published by securities or industry analysts, including projections in those reports that exceed our actual results, could adversely affect our common stock price and trading volume.
Securities research analysts, including those affiliated with our underwriters, establish and publish their own periodic projections for our business. These projections may vary widely from one another and may not accurately predict the results we actually achieve. Our stock price may decline if our actual results do not match securities research analysts’ projections. Similarly, if one or more of the analysts who writes reports on us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business or if one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, our stock price or trading volume could decline. While we expect securities research analyst coverage following this offering, if no securities or industry analysts begin to cover us, the trading price for our stock and the trading volume could be adversely affected.
Holders of our warrants will have no rights as a common stockholder until they acquire our common stock.
Until the holder of our outstanding warrants acquire shares of our common stock upon exercise of the warrants, the warrant holders will have no rights with respect to shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants. Upon exercise of the warrants, the warrant holder will be entitled to exercise the rights of a common stockholder only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise date.
The warrants issued in our March 2016 offering may not have any value.
Each warrant issued in our March 2016 offering has an exercise price of $1.00 per share and expires on the fifth anniversary of the date they first become exercisable. In the event our common stock price does not exceed the exercise price of the warrants during the period when the warrants are exercisable, the warrants may not have any value.
There is no established market for the warrants to purchase shares of our common stock being offered in our prior offering.
There is no established trading market for the warrants that were issued in our prior offering and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply for the listing of the warrants on any national securities exchange or other trading market. Without an active trading market, the liquidity of the warrants will be limited
Risks Related to this Offering
Our management will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering and may not use the proceeds effectively.
Our management will have broad discretion over the use of proceeds from this offering. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, continuing to support and advance our ongoing clinical programs, for licensing or acquisition of assets complementary to our existing programs and for working capital purposes. Our management will have considerable discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and you will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the proceeds are being used appropriately. The net proceeds may be used for corporate purposes that do not improve our operating results or enhance the value of our common stock.The failure of our management to use these funds effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, cause the market price of our common stock to decline and impair the commercialization of our products and/or delay the development of our product candidates. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments and U.S. government securities. These investments may not yield a favorable return to our stockholders.
If you purchase common stock sold in this offering, you will experience immediate dilution in your investment. You will experience further dilution if we issue additional equity securities in future fundraising transactions and if shares of our common stock underlying our significant number of outstanding warrants and options are purchased by the holders thereof.
The portion of the public offering price per share in this offering attributable to our common stock exceeds the net tangible book value per share of our common stock outstanding prior to this offering. Assuming we sell shares of common stock in this offering at the public offering price of $ per share, after deducting the estimated underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by us, you will experience immediate dilution of approximately $ per share, representing the difference between our as adjusted net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2016 after giving effect to this offering and the public offering price. See the section entitled “Dilution” below for a more detailed illustration of the dilution you would incur if you participate in this offering.
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In addition, we have a significant number of outstanding securities convertible into, or allowing the purchase of, our common stock. Investors will be subject to increased dilution upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants. There were 17,524,641 shares of our common stock outstanding as of March 31, 2016. As of that date, stock options and warrants outstanding represented 26,066,517 shares of our common stock that could be issued in the future. Most of the outstanding shares of our common stock, as well as the vast majority of the shares of our common stock that may be issued under our outstanding options and warrants, are not restricted from trading. Also, the issuance of additional shares as a result of such conversion or purchase, or their subsequent sale, could adversely affect the price of our common stock.
Our need for future financing may result in the issuance of additional securities which will cause investors to experience dilution.
Our cash requirements may vary from those now planned depending upon numerous factors, including the result of future research and development activities. We expect our expenses to increase if and when we initiate and conduct Phase 3 and other clinical trials, and seek marketing approval for our product candidates. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. There are no other commitments by any person for future financing. Our securities may be offered to other investors at a price lower than the price per share offered to current stockholders, or upon terms which may be deemed more favorable than those offered to current stockholders. In addition, the issuance of securities in any future financing may dilute an investor's equity ownership and have the effect of depressing the market price for our securities. Moreover, we may issue derivative securities, including options and/or warrants, from time to time, to procure qualified personnel or for other business reasons. The issuance of any such derivative securities, which is at the discretion of our board of directors, may further dilute the equity ownership of our stockholders.
We may sell shares or other securities in any other offering at a price per share that is less than the price per share paid by investors in this offering, and investors purchasing shares or other securities in the future could have rights superior to existing stockholders. The price per share at which we sell additional shares of our common stock, or securities convertible or exchangeable into common stock, in future transactions may be higher or lower than the price per share paid by investors in this offering.No assurance can be given as to our ability to procure additional financing, if required, and on terms deemed favorable to us. To the extent additional capital is required and cannot be raised successfully, we may then have to limit our then current operations and/or may have to curtail certain, if not all, of our business objectives and plans.
Sales of additional shares of common stock, including by us or our directors and officers following expiration or early release of the lock-up periods, could cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the availability of such shares for sale, by us or by others, including the issuance of shares of common stock upon the exercise of outstanding options and warrants, could adversely affect the price of our common stock. In connection with this offering, we and our directors and officers have entered into lock-up agreements for a period of 90 days following this offering. We and our directors and officers may be released from the lock-up prior to its expiration period at the sole discretion of the representatives of the underwriters. See “Underwriting.” Upon expiration or earlier release of the lock-up, we and our directors and officers may sell shares of our common stock into the market, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Because we do not intend to declare cash dividends on our shares of common stock in the foreseeable future, stockholders must rely on appreciation of the value of our common stock for any return on their investment.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the terms of any existing or future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, we expect that only appreciation of the price of our common stock, if any, will provide a return to investors in this offering for the foreseeable future
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We estimate that the net proceeds of this offering will be approximately $ million, or approximately $ million if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares, after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including, but not limited, to continuing to support and advance our ongoing clinical programs, for licensing or acquisition of assets complementary to our existing programs for which we have no current commitments or obligations, and for working capital purposes.
As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received from this offering. The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures will depend on numerous factors, including the progress in, and costs of, our clinical trials and other preclinical development programs and the amount of funding, if any, received from grants. Accordingly, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and investors will be relying on the judgment of management regarding the application of the net proceeds from the offering. Pending such uses set forth above, we plan to invest the net proceeds in government securities and other short-term investment grade, marketable securities.
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We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock and we do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We expect to retain all available funds and future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. Any future determination to pay dividends, if any, on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other factors, our results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements and contractual restrictions, including our secured loans with Square 1 Bank, which, with limited exception, restrict our ability to pay any dividends or make any other distributions or payments on account of or in redemption, retirement or purchase of any capital stock.
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If you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, you will experience dilution to the extent of the difference between the offering price per share and the adjusted net tangible book value per share immediately after this offering. Net tangible book value per share is equal to the amount of our total tangible assets, less total liabilities, divided by the number of outstanding shares of our common stock. As of March 31, 2016, our net tangible book value was approximately $4.0 million, or approximately $0.23 per share.
After giving effect to the sale by us of our common stock in this offering, and after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our as adjusted net tangible book value as of March 31, 2016 would have been approximately $ million, or approximately $ per share. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $ per share to existing stockholders and an immediate dilution of $ per share to new investors purchasing shares of our common stock. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:
Public offering price per share |
|
|
|
|
| $ |
|
|
Net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2016 |
| $ | 0.23 |
|
|
|
|
|
Increase in net tangible book value per share attributable to new investors purchasing common stock in this offering |
| $ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As adjusted net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dilution per share to new investors |
|
|
|
|
| $ |
|
|
The foregoing discussion and table do not take into account further dilution to new investors that could occur upon the exercise of outstanding options or warrants having a per share exercise price less than the per share offering price to the public in this offering. In addition, we may choose to raise additional capital due to market conditions or strategic considerations even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current or future operating plans. To the extent that additional capital is raised through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the issuance of these securities could result in further dilution to our stockholders.
If the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares of common stock the as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering would have been $ per share, representing an increase in net tangible book value of $ per share to existing stockholders and immediate dilution in net tangible book value of $ per share to investors purchasing our common stock in this offering at the public offering price.
The table and discussion above are based on 17,524,641 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2016 and excludes as of that date:
·
1,574,484 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options with a weighted average exercise price of $4.34 per share;
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6,967,392 additional shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants at a weighted average exercise price of $1.21 per share; and
·
93,499 additional shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity incentive plans.
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Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC is acting as representative of the underwriters (the “Representative”). We have entered into an underwriting agreement dated July , 2016 with the Representative. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to each underwriter named below, and each underwriter named below has severally agreed to purchase, at the public offering price less the underwriting discounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the number of shares of common stock listed next to its name in the following table:
Underwriters |
| Number of |
|
Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC |
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Total |
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The underwriters are committed to purchase all the shares of common stock offered by us other than those covered by the option to purchase additional shares described below, if they purchase any shares. The obligations of the underwriters may be terminated upon the occurrence of certain events specified in the underwriting agreement. Furthermore, pursuant to the underwriting agreement, the underwriters’ obligations are subject to customary conditions, representations and warranties contained in the underwriting agreement, such as receipt by the underwriters of officers’ certificates and legal opinions.
We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against specified liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, and to contribute to payments the underwriters may be required to make in respect thereof.
The underwriters are offering the common stock, subject to prior sale, when, as and if issued to and accepted by them, subject to approval of legal matters by their counsel and other conditions specified in the underwriting agreement. The underwriters reserve the right to withdraw, cancel or modify offers to the public and to reject orders in whole or in part.
The underwriters propose to offer the common stock offered by us to the public at the public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus supplement. In addition, the underwriters may offer some of the common stock to other securities dealers at such price less a concession of $ per share. After the initial offering, the public offering price and concession to dealers may be changed.
We have granted the underwriters an over-allotment option. This option, which is exercisable for up to 45 days after the date of this prospectus, permits the underwriters to purchase a maximum of additional shares of common stock from us to cover over-allotments. If the underwriters exercise all or part of this option, they will purchase shares of common stock covered by the option at the public offering price that appears on the cover page of this prospectus supplement, less the underwriting discount. If this option is exercised in full, the total price to the public will be approximately $ million and the total proceeds to us will be $ million.
Discounts and Commissions.The following table shows the public offering price, underwriting discount and proceeds, before expenses, to us. The information assumes either no exercise or full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option.
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We have agreed to pay all expenses relating to the offering, including (a) all filing fees and communication expenses relating to the registration of the shares to be sold in the offering (including shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option) with the SEC; (b) all fees and expenses associated with the review of the offering by FINRA and all fees and expenses relating to the listing of such shares on the NASDAQ Capital Market; (c) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration, qualification or exemption of securities offered under the “blue sky” securities laws designated by the representative; (d) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration, qualification or exemption of securities offered under the securities laws of foreign jurisdictions designated by the representative; (e) the costs of all mailing and printing of the underwriting documents (including, without limitation, the Underwriting Agreement, the registration statement of which this prospectus supplement forms a part, this prospectus supplement and all amendments, supplements and exhibits thereto); (f) the costs and expenses of a public relations firm; (g) the costs of preparing, printing and delivering certificates representing the shares of common stock offered and sold pursuant to this prospectus supplement; (h) fees and expenses of the transfer agent for our common stock; (i) stock transfer and/or stamp taxes, if any, payable upon the transfer of securities from us to Joseph Gunnar; (j) the costs associated with any post-closing advertising this offering in the national editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times; and (k) the fees and expenses of our legal counsel, accountants and other agents and representatives. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any expenses in excess of $25,000 shall require our prior written approval.
We estimate that the total expenses of the offering, excluding underwriting discount, will be approximately $ .
Discretionary Accounts. The underwriters do not intend to confirm sales of the securities offered hereby to any accounts over which they have discretionary authority.
Lock-Up Agreements. Pursuant to certain “lock-up” agreements, (a) our executive officers and directors as of the pricing date of the offering, have agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to offer, issue, sell, contract to sell, encumber, grant any option for the sale of or otherwise dispose of any securities of the company without the prior written consent of the representative, for a period of three months from the date of the offering, and (b) we, and any successor, have agreed, subject to certain exceptions, not to for a period of three months from the date of the pricing of the offering: (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of our capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our capital stock; (2) file or caused to be filed any registration statement with the SEC relating to the offering of any shares of our capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our capital stock; or (3) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of our capital stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1), (2), or (3) above is to be settled by delivery of shares of our capital stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise.
This lock-up provision applies to common stock and to securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for common stock. It also applies to common stock owned now or acquired later by the person executing the agreement or for which the person executing the agreement later acquires the power of disposition. The exceptions permit, among other things and subject to restrictions, (1) the issuance by us of stock options pursuant to our existing stock incentive plans, or (2) the issuance of common stock upon the exercise of outstanding stock options and warrants.
Electronic Offer, Sale and Distribution of Shares. A prospectus supplement in electronic format may be made available on the websites maintained by one or more of the underwriters or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering and one or more of the underwriters participating in this offering may distribute prospectus supplements electronically. The representative may agree to allocate a number of shares to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the underwriters and selling group members that will make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations. Other than the prospectus supplement in electronic format, the information on these websites is not part of this prospectus supplement or the registration statement of which this prospectus supplement forms a part, has not been approved or endorsed by us or any underwriter in its capacity as underwriter, and should not be relied upon by investors.
Other Relationships. Certain of the underwriters and their affiliates have provided, and may in the future provide, various investment banking, commercial banking and other financial services for us and our affiliates for which they have received, and may in the future receive, customary fees; however, except as disclosed in this prospectus supplement, we have no present arrangements with any of the underwriters for any further services.
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Stabilization.In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in stabilizing transactions, over-allotment transactions, syndicate covering transactions, penalty bids and purchases to cover positions created by short sales.
| · | Stabilizing transactions permit bids to purchase shares so long as the stabilizing bids do not exceed a specified maximum, and are engaged in for the purpose of preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of the shares while the offering is in progress. |
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| · | Over-allotment transactions involve sales by the underwriters of shares in excess of the number of shares the underwriters are obligated to purchase. This creates a syndicate short position that may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of shares over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of shares that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of shares involved is greater than the number of shares in the over-allotment option. The underwriters may close out any short position by exercising their over-allotment option and/or purchasing shares in the open market. |
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| · | Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of shares in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions. In determining the source of shares to close out the short position, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the price of shares available for purchase in the open market as compared with the price at which they may purchase shares through exercise of the over-allotment option. If the underwriters sell more shares than could be covered by exercise of the over-allotment option and, therefore, have a naked short position, the position can be closed out only by buying shares in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that after pricing there could be downward pressure on the price of the shares in the open market that could adversely affect investors who purchase in the offering. |
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| · | Penalty bids permit the representative to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the shares originally sold by that syndicate member are purchased in stabilizing or syndicate covering transactions to cover syndicate short positions. |
These stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may have the effect of raising or maintaining the market price of our shares or common stock or preventing or retarding a decline in the market price of our shares or common stock. As a result, the price of our common stock in the open market may be higher than it would otherwise be in the absence of these transactions. Neither we nor the underwriters make any representation or prediction as to the effect that the transactions described above may have on the price of our common stock. These transactions may be effected on the NASDAQ Capital Market.
Passive market making. In connection with this offering, underwriters and selling group members may engage in passive market making transactions in our common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market marketplace in accordance with Rule 103 of Regulation M under the Exchange Act, during a period before the commencement of offers or sales of the shares and extending through the completion of the distribution. A passive market maker must display its bid at a price not in excess of the highest independent bid of that security. However, if all independent bids are lowered below the passive market maker’s bid, that bid must then be lowered when specified purchase limits are exceeded.
Offer restrictions outside the United States
Other than in the United States, no action has been taken by us or the underwriters that would permit a public offering of the securities offered by this prospectus supplement in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. The securities offered by this prospectus supplement may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, nor may this prospectus supplement or any other offering material or advertisements in connection with the offer and sale of any such securities be distributed or published in any jurisdiction, except under circumstances that will result in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of that jurisdiction. Persons into whose possession this prospectus supplement comes are advised to inform themselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to the offering and the distribution of this prospectus supplement. This prospectus supplement does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities offered by this prospectus supplement in any jurisdiction in which such an offer or a solicitation is unlawful.
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Australia
This prospectus is not a disclosure document under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act, has not been lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and does not purport to include the information required of a disclosure document under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act. Accordingly, (i) the offer of the securities under this prospectus is only made to persons to whom it is lawful to offer the securities without disclosure under Chapter 6D of the Australian Corporations Act under one or more exemptions set out in section 708 of the Australian Corporations Act, (ii) this prospectus is made available in Australia only to those persons as set forth in clause (i) above, and (iii) the offeree must be sent a notice stating in substance that by accepting this offer, the offeree represents that the offeree is such a person as set forth in clause (i) above, and, unless permitted under the Australian Corporations Act, agrees not to sell or offer for sale within Australia any of the securities sold to the offeree within 12 months after its transfer to the offeree under this prospectus.
Canada
The securities may be sold in Canada only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the securities must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws. Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor. Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.
China
The information in this document does not constitute a public offer of the securities, whether by way of sale or subscription, in the People’s Republic of China (excluding, for purposes of this paragraph, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macau Special Administrative Region and Taiwan). The securities may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly in the PRC to legal or natural persons other than directly to “qualified domestic institutional investors.”
European Economic Area—Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Netherlands
The information in this document has been prepared on the basis that all offers of securities will be made pursuant to an exemption under the Directive 2003/71/EC (“Prospectus Directive”), as implemented in Member States of the European Economic Area (each, a “Relevant Member State”), from the requirement to produce a prospectus for offers of securities.
An offer to the public of securities has not been made, and may not be made, in a Relevant Member State except pursuant to one of the following exemptions under the Prospectus Directive as implemented in that Relevant Member State:
| (a) | to legal entities that are authorized or regulated to operate in the financial markets or, if not so authorized or regulated, whose corporate purpose is solely to invest in securities; |
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| (b) | to any legal entity that has two or more of (i) an average of at least 250 employees during its last fiscal year; (ii) a total balance sheet of more than €43,000,000 (as shown on its last annual unconsolidated or consolidated financial statements) and (iii) an annual net turnover of more than €50,000,000 (as shown on its last annual unconsolidated or consolidated financial statements); |
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| (c) | to fewer than 100 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors within the meaning of Article 2(1)(e) of the Prospectus Directive) subject to obtaining the prior consent of the Company or any underwriter for any such offer; or |
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| (d) | in any other circumstances falling within Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, provided that no such offer of securities shall result in a requirement for the publication by the Company of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive. |
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France
This document is not being distributed in the context of a public offering of financial securities (offre au public de titres financiers) in France within the meaning of Article L.411-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code (Code monétaire et financier) and Articles 211-1 et seq. of the General Regulation of the French Autorité des marchés financiers (“AMF”). The securities have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in France.
This document and any other offering material relating to the securities have not been, and will not be, submitted to the AMF for approval in France and, accordingly, may not be distributed or caused to distributed, directly or indirectly, to the public in France.
Such offers, sales and distributions have been and shall only be made in France to (i) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) acting for their own account, as defined in and in accordance with Articles L.411-2-II-2° and D.411-1 to D.411-3, D. 744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and any implementing regulation and/or (ii) a restricted number of non-qualified investors (cercle restreint d’investisseurs) acting for their own account, as defined in and in accordance with Articles L.411-2-II-2° and D.411-4, D.744-1, D.754-1 and D.764-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code and any implementing regulation.
Pursuant to Article 211-3 of the General Regulation of the AMF, investors in France are informed that the securities cannot be distributed (directly or indirectly) to the public by the investors otherwise than in accordance with Articles L.411-1, L.411-2, L.412-1 and L.621-8 to L.621-8-3 of the French Monetary and Financial Code.
Ireland
The information in this document does not constitute a prospectus under any Irish laws or regulations and this document has not been filed with or approved by any Irish regulatory authority as the information has not been prepared in the context of a public offering of securities in Ireland within the meaning of the Irish Prospectus (Directive 2003/71/EC) Regulations 2005 (the “Prospectus Regulations”). The securities have not been offered or sold, and will not be offered, sold or delivered directly or indirectly in Ireland by way of a public offering, except to (i) qualified investors as defined in Regulation 2(l) of the Prospectus Regulations and (ii) fewer than 100 natural or legal persons who are not qualified investors.
Israel
The securities offered by this prospectus have not been approved or disapproved by the Israeli Securities Authority (the ISA), or ISA, nor have such securities been registered for sale in Israel. The shares may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in Israel, absent the publication of a prospectus. The ISA has not issued permits, approvals or licenses in connection with the offering or publishing the prospectus; nor has it authenticated the details included herein, confirmed their reliability or completeness, or rendered an opinion as to the quality of the securities being offered. Any resale in Israel, directly or indirectly, to the public of the securities offered by this prospectus is subject to restrictions on transferability and must be effected only in compliance with the Israeli securities laws and regulations.
Italy
The offering of the securities in the Republic of Italy has not been authorized by the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa, “CONSOB” pursuant to the Italian securities legislation and, accordingly, no offering material relating to the securities may be distributed in Italy and such securities may not be offered or sold in Italy in a public offer within the meaning of Article 1.1(t) of Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998 (“Decree No. 58”), other than:
| ● | to Italian qualified investors, as defined in Article 100 of Decree no.58 by reference to Article 34-ter of CONSOB Regulation no. 11971 of 14 May 1999 (“Regulation no. 1197l”) as amended (“Qualified Investors”); and |
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| ● | in other circumstances that are exempt from the rules on public offer pursuant to Article 100 of Decree No. 58 and Article 34-ter of Regulation No. 11971 as amended. |
S-32
Any offer, sale or delivery of the securities or distribution of any offer document relating to the securities in Italy (excluding placements where a Qualified Investor solicits an offer from the issuer) under the paragraphs above must be:
| · | made by investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993 (as amended), Decree No. 58, CONSOB Regulation No. 16190 of 29 October 2007 and any other applicable laws; and |
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| · | in compliance with all relevant Italian securities, tax and exchange controls and any other applicable laws. |
Any subsequent distribution of the securities in Italy must be made in compliance with the public offer and prospectus requirement rules provided under Decree No. 58 and the Regulation No. 11971 as amended, unless an exception from those rules applies. Failure to comply with such rules may result in the sale of such securities being declared null and void and in the liability of the entity transferring the securities for any damages suffered by the investors.
Japan
The securities have not been and will not be registered under Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948), as amended (the “FIEL”) pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements applicable to a private placement of securities to Qualified Institutional Investors (as defined in and in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 3 of the FIEL and the regulations promulgated thereunder). Accordingly, the securities may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan other than Qualified Institutional Investors. Any Qualified Institutional Investor who acquires securities may not resell them to any person in Japan that is not a Qualified Institutional Investor, and acquisition by any such person of securities is conditional upon the execution of an agreement to that effect.
Portugal
This document is not being distributed in the context of a public offer of financial securities (oferta pública de valores mobiliários) in Portugal, within the meaning of Article 109 of the Portuguese Securities Code (Código dos Valores Mobiliários). The securities have not been offered or sold and will not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, to the public in Portugal. This document and any other offering material relating to the securities have not been, and will not be, submitted to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários) for approval in Portugal and, accordingly, may not be distributed or caused to distributed, directly or indirectly, to the public in Portugal, other than under circumstances that are deemed not to qualify as a public offer under the Portuguese Securities Code. Such offers, sales and distributions of securities in Portugal are limited to persons who are “qualified investors” (as defined in the Portuguese Securities Code). Only such investors may receive this document and they may not distribute it or the information contained in it to any other person.
Sweden
This document has not been, and will not be, registered with or approved by Finansinspektionen (the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority). Accordingly, this document may not be made available, nor may the securities be offered for sale in Sweden, other than under circumstances that are deemed not to require a prospectus under the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act (1991:980) (Sw. lag (1991:980) om handel med finansiella instrument). Any offering of securities in Sweden is limited to persons who are “qualified investors” (as defined in the Financial Instruments Trading Act). Only such investors may receive this document and they may not distribute it or the information contained in it to any other person.
Switzerland
The securities may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (“SIX”) or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering material relating to the securities may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.
Neither this document nor any other offering material relating to the securities have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of securities will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
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This document is personal to the recipient only and not for general circulation in Switzerland.
United Arab Emirates
Neither this document nor the securities have been approved, disapproved or passed on in any way by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates or any other governmental authority in the United Arab Emirates, nor has the Company received authorization or licensing from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates or any other governmental authority in the United Arab Emirates to market or sell the securities within the United Arab Emirates. This document does not constitute and may not be used for the purpose of an offer or invitation. No services relating to the securities, including the receipt of applications and/or the allotment or redemption of such shares, may be rendered within the United Arab Emirates by the Company.
No offer or invitation to subscribe for securities is valid or permitted in the Dubai International Financial Centre.
United Kingdom
Neither the information in this document nor any other document relating to the offer has been delivered for approval to the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom and no prospectus (within the meaning of section 85 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended (“FSMA”)) has been published or is intended to be published in respect of the securities. This document is issued on a confidential basis to “qualified investors” (within the meaning of section 86(7) of FSMA) in the United Kingdom, and the securities may not be offered or sold in the United Kingdom by means of this document, any accompanying letter or any other document, except in circumstances which do not require the publication of a prospectus pursuant to section 86(1) FSMA. This document should not be distributed, published or reproduced, in whole or in part, nor may its contents be disclosed by recipients to any other person in the United Kingdom.
Any invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of FSMA) received in connection with the issue or sale of the securities has only been communicated or caused to be communicated and will only be communicated or caused to be communicated in the United Kingdom in circumstances in which section 21(1) of FSMA does not apply to us.
In the United Kingdom, this document is being distributed only to, and is directed at, persons (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) (investment professionals) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotions) Order 2005 (“FPO”), (ii) who fall within the categories of persons referred to in Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) of the FPO or (iii) to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated (together “relevant persons”). The investments to which this document relates are available only to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to purchase will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this document or any of its contents.
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The validity of the shares of common stock offered hereby will be passed upon for us by Gracin & Marlow, LLP, New York, New York. Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP, New York, New York, is acting as counsel to the underwriters in this offering.
The consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 and for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2015 incorporated by reference in this Prospectus and in the Registration Statement have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of BDO USA, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, (the report on the financial statements contains an explanatory paragraph regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern) incorporated herein by reference, given on authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s public reference room located at 100 F Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference room. Our public filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site atwww.sec.gov.
This prospectus supplement is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the SEC under the Securities Act. This prospectus does not contain all of the information in the registration statement. We have omitted certain parts of the registration statement, as permitted by the rules and regulations of the SEC. You may inspect and copy the registration statement, including exhibits, at the SEC’s public reference room or Internet site.
Additional information about Heat Biologics, Inc. is contained at our website,www.heatbiologics.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus supplement. We make available on our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are filed with the SEC. The following Corporate Governance documents are also posted on our website: Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics and the Charters for the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominations Committee of the Board of Directors.
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” the information we file with it which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents instead of having to repeat the information in this prospectus supplement. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus supplement, and later information that we file with the SEC will automatically update and supersede this information. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings made with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act between the date of this prospectus supplement and the termination of the offering, however, we are not incorporating by reference any documents or portions thereof, whether specifically listed below or filed in the future, that are not deemed “filed” with the SEC, or any information furnished pursuant to Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K or related exhibits furnished pursuant to Item 9.01 of Form 8-K:
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Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 (File No. 001-35994) filed with the SEC on February 18, 2016;
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Our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 (File No. 001-35994) filed with the SEC on May 11, 2016;
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Our Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on May 26, 2016;
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Our Current Reports on Form 8-K (File No. 001-35994) filed with the SEC on January 15, 2016, February 23, 2016, March 3, 2016, March 18, 2016, March 24, 2016, April 7, 2016, April 25, 2016, May 3, 2016, July 1, 2016 and July 21, 2016; and
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The description of our common stock set forth in our registration statement on Form 8-A12B, filed with the SEC on July 8, 2013 (File No. 001-35994).
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PROSPECTUS
$50,000,000
Common Stock
Warrants
Units
![[htbx_424b003.jpg]](https://capedge.com/proxy/424B5/0001553350-16-002252/htbx_424b003.jpg)
We may offer and sell up to $50,000,000 in the aggregate of the securities identified above from time to time in one or more offerings. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities.
Each time we offer and sell securities, we will provide a supplement to this prospectus that contains specific information about the offering and the amounts, prices and terms of the securities. The supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to that offering. You should carefully read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement before you invest in any of our securities.
We may offer and sell the securities described in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, or through a combination of these methods. If any underwriters, dealers or agents are involved in the sale of any of the securities, their names and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between or among them will be set forth, or will be calculable from the information set forth, in the applicable prospectus supplement. See the sections of this prospectus entitled “About this Prospectus” and “Plan of Distribution” for more information. No securities may be sold without delivery of this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of such securities.
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This prospectus may not be used to sell securities unless it is accompanied by a prospectus supplement.
INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES INVOLVES RISKS. SEE THE “RISK FACTORS” ON PAGE 5 OF THIS PROSPECTUS AND ANY SIMILAR SECTION CONTAINED IN THE APPLICABLE PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT CONCERNING FACTORS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEFORE INVESTING IN OUR SECURITIES.
Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “HTBX.” On October 9, 2014, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market was $6.25 per share.
As of October 6, 2014, the aggregate market value of our outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates was $32,269,856, based on 6,481,752 shares of outstanding common stock, of which 2,067,271 shares are held by affiliates, and a per share price of $7.31 based on the closing sale price of our common stock on October 6, 2014. We have not offered any securities during the past twelve months pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The date of this prospectus is October 23, 2014
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You should rely only on the information we have provided or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement. This prospectus and any prospectus supplement is an offer to sell only the securities offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. You should assume that the information contained in this prospectus and in any prospectus supplement is accurate only as of their respective dates and that any information we have incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any prospective supplement or any sale of securities. The registration statement, including the exhibits and the documents incorporated herein by reference, can be read on the Securities and Exchange Commission website or at the Securities and Exchange Commission offices mentioned under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”
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This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, using a “shelf” registration process. By using a shelf registration statement, we may sell securities from time to time and in one or more offerings up to a total dollar amount of $50 million of securities as described in this prospectus. Each time that we offer and sell securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement to this prospectus (which term includes, as applicable, the sales agreement prospectus filed with the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part) that contains specific information about the securities being offered and sold and the specific terms of that offering. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to that offering. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, you should rely on the prospectus supplement. Before purchasing any securities, you should carefully read both this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information” and “Incorporation of Certain Information by Reference.”
You should rely only on the information incorporated by reference or provided in this prospectus. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We will not make an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement to this prospectus is accurate as of the date on its respective cover, and that any information incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, unless we indicate otherwise. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.
Unless otherwise stated or the context otherwise requires, references in this prospectus to “Heat,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” refer to Heat Biologics, Inc., a Delaware corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries, unless otherwise specified. When we refer to “you,” we mean the holders of the applicable series of securities.
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| PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
The items in the following summary are described in more detail elsewhere in this prospectus and in the documents incorporated by reference herein. This summary provides an overview of selected information and does not contain all the information you should consider before investing in our common stock. Therefore, you should read the entire prospectus and any free writing prospectus that we have authorized for use in connection with this offering carefully, including the “Risk Factors” section and other documents or information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus before making any investment decision.
Overview We are a development stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of novel allogeneic, “off-the-shelf” cellular therapeutic vaccines to combat a wide range of cancers and infectious diseases. Our proprietaryImPACT™ImmunePanAntigenCytotoxicTherapy is being designed to deliver live, genetically-modified, irradiated human cells which are reprogrammed to “pump out” a broad spectrum of cancer-associated antigens together with a potent immune adjuvant called “gp96” to educate and activate a cancer patient’s immune system to recognize and kill cancerous cells. We intend for ourImPACT cells to secrete an antigen-adjuvant complex that generates anti-cancer immune responses in patients by mobilizing and activating cytotoxic “killer” T cells that target multiple cancer antigens, thus harnessing a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. Unlike autologous or “personalized” therapeutic vaccine approaches which require extraction and processing of cancer or blood from each individual patient, ourImPACT therapeutic vaccine uses a master cell line containing a host of known and unknown tumor associated antigens to mass-produce a single vaccine product applicable to all patients with a particular cancer type. We believe our off-the-shelf, allogeneic immunotherapy offers logistical, manufacturing and cost of goods benefits compared to autologous patient-specific approaches. Our most advanced product candidates are HS-110 and HS-410. HS-110 We have commenced a Phase 2 trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with our therapeutic vaccine candidate HS-110 (viagenpumatucel-L). The Phase 2 trial will evaluate HS-110 in combination with low dose cyclophosphamide versus chemotherapy alone in third- and fourth-line NSCLC patients. The trial will enroll 123 patients at approximately 20-30 investigative centers over 24 months. Recruitment for the trial began in the third quarter of 2014 and we anticipate completion of dosing by the second quarter of 2016. We intend to complete an interim analysis for immune response in the first half of 2015 after 14 patients have been treated for nine weeks with HS-110 in combination with low dose cyclophosphamide. HS-110 is a biologic product which consists of a lung cancer cell line that has been genetically modified using ourImPACT technology platform to secrete a wide range of lung cancer associated antigens bound to a gp96 adjuvant and is designed to activate a T-cell mediated pan-antigen immune response against the patient’s cancer. The inventor of theImPACT technology that we license reported results from a Phase 1 open-label, single center clinical trial of HS-110 in patients with advanced NSCLC. We believe the results provide clinical evidence that HS-110 is capable of generating anti-cancer immune responses. Eighteen patients were vaccinated, and 15 of the 18 vaccinated patients completed the first course of three planned courses of therapy. Two patients completed all three planned courses of therapy (defined as three, six week treatment cycles). |
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| HS-110 showed no overt toxicity. There were no serious adverse events (SAEs) that were considered by the trial investigator to be treatment-related. Most of the adverse events (AEs) were reported as mild or moderate (grade 1 or 2) with the most frequent being skin induration and rash that were transitory and usually resolved in 1 to 2 weeks. HS-110 provides evidence of a CD8-CTL IFN-γ immune response in patients with advanced NSCLC. In 11 of the 15 patients (73%) that completed the first course of therapy with HS-110, there was a twofold or greater increase in CD8 cells secreting interferon gamma (CD8-CTL IFN-γ). These patients also exhibited an estimated median survival of 16.5 months (95% CI: 7.1-20.0). In contrast, 4 patients were immune non-responders and survived 2.1, 2.3, 6.7, and 6.7 months, or a median survival of 4.5 months, which is consistent with the expected survival times in this patient population. The protocol required that we look for such responses, but, as is typical in immunotherapy, no partial or complete tumor responses were observed. The median one-year overall survival rate of patients in the study was 44% (95% CI: 21.6-65.1), comparing favorably to a 5.5% rate based on published data from a 43-patient advanced lung cancer population. One of the late-stage lung cancer patients survived over four years since starting the therapy and another patient survived over three years since starting the therapy. These findings were consistent with multiple pre-clinical published studies onImPACT therapy. HS-410 We have initiated dosing in a Phase 1/2 bladder cancer trial with HS-410. HS-410 is a biologic product which consists of a bladder cancer cell line which has been genetically modified using ourImPACT technology platform to secrete a wide range of bladder cancer antigens bound to a gp96 adjuvant and is designed to activate a T-cell mediated pan-antigen immune response against the patient’s bladder cancer. To date, we have dosed 9 patients in our 84-patient, Phase 1/2 trial to examine safety, tolerability, immune response and preliminary clinical activity of HS-410 in patients with high risk, superficial bladder cancer who have completed surgical resection and 3-6 weekly intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy installations. We anticipate including approximately 12-18 clinical sites with an enrollment period of 18-24 months. Patient recruitment began in December 2013. In September 2014, we completed the required enrollment of the Phase 1 portion of the study to advance to the Phase 2 study. We anticipate that the Phase 2 study will commence in the fourth quarter of 2014 and that dosing will be completed in approximately the third quarter of 2015. Additional Indications We continue to evaluate other indications for ourImPACT therapeutic vaccines and have developed a cell line for ovarian cancer and one for triple negative breast cancer. Our decision to further pursue either of these two product candidates or any additional product candidates other than our two lead product candidates will be based in part upon available funding and partnering opportunities. To date, in excess of $14,000,000 of funding has been awarded to the primary inventor of the technology we license by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and through other research and clinical grants, which has been used to further develop ourImPACT technology platform that we license. We have little control over the direction of the NIH grant funds that have been received by the primary inventor of the technology we license and since payment is made to the inventors as opposed to us we do not recognize any revenue from such grant funds nor do they fund any expenses that we incur. Although earmarked for further development of the technology that we license, any funds awarded to the primary inventor are used in his discretion and we have little control over his use of the funds. The NIH is also currently fully funding the primary inventor’s study of an HS-HIV product candidate in non-human primates with a therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine for the treatment and prevention of HIV utilizing theImPACT approach. The table below summarizes our current product candidates and their stages of development:
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| Product Candidate | Indication | Phase of Development | Upcoming Milestone(s) |
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| HS-110 | Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) | Enrolling patients | 2015 - Interim analysis for immune response |
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| HS-410 | Bladder Cancer Adjuvant | Enrolling patients | 2014 - Report Phase 1 data on safety 2015 – Report Phase 1 data on immune response |
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| ImPACT Therapy—Novel Pan-Antigen Immune Activation OurImPACT therapy is a novel technology platform designed to educate and stimulate the immune system to combat specific disease targets, such as cancer cells.ImPACT utilizes live attenuated, human-derived, genetically-modified cells to generate an array of tumor associated antigens and secrete an essential immunostimulatory protein called “gp96-Ig”. The secreted proteins are designed to generate an immune response against cancer cells by mobilizing and activating a patient’s own killer T cells to target a broad array of different tumor antigens with the goal of eliminating cancer cells. In contrast with other vaccine technologies that target only one antigen,ImPACT’s pan-antigen approach which may enable the body to induce and maintain an immune response against a broad array of tumor-specific proteins, by potentially providing a more robust and sustained immune response and limiting cancer cells’ ability to evade the immune system. We believe the clinical and pre-clinical results suggest thatImPACT generates anti-tumor immune responses capable of targeting and destroying tumors. We believe our novel, off-the-shelf, live cell therapy has the potential to be used to not only combat a wide range of cancers, but also against various infectious diseases, such as hepatitis C, malaria and HIV, for which non-human primate studies, which we believe are encouraging, have been completed. We have leveraged our existing infrastructure by developing additional product candidates in areas where we can use our proprietary technology. Our success will depend on the clinical and regulatory success of our product candidates and our ability to retain, on commercially reasonable terms, financial and managerial resources, which are currently limited. To date, we have not received regulatory approval for any of our product candidates or derived any revenues from their sales. Moreover, there can be no assurance that we will ever receive regulatory approval for any of our product candidates or derive any revenues from their sales. We should have sufficient capital to operate the company for at least 12 months. General Corporate Information We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 10, 2008. Our principal offices are located at 801 Capitola Drive, Durham, North Carolina 27713. Our website address iswww.heatbio.com. The information contained in, and that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated into and is not a part of this report. |
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We may offer shares of our common stock, warrants to purchase any of such securities, either individually or in combination, and/or units consisting of some or all of such securities for total gross proceeds of up to $50 million, from time to time under this prospectus, together with the applicable prospectus supplement and any related free writing prospectus, at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions at the time of any offering. Each time we offer a type or series of securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will describe the specific amounts, prices and other important terms of the securities being offered. Below is a summary of the securities we may offer under this prospectus (together with the applicable prospectus supplement).
We may sell the securities directly to investors or to or through agents, underwriters or dealers. We, and our agents or underwriters, reserve the right to accept or reject all or part of any proposed purchase of securities. Each prospectus supplement will set forth the names of any underwriters, dealers or agents involved in the sale of securities described in that prospectus supplement and any applicable fee, commission or discount arrangements with them. |
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RISK FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT FUTURE RESULTS
You should consider carefully the risks discussed under the section captioned “Risk Factors” contained in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and in our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, each of which is incorporated by reference in this prospectus in its entirety, together with other information in this prospectus, and the information and documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus, and any free writing prospectus that we have authorized for use in connection with this offering before you make a decision to invest in our common stock. If any of these events actually occur, our business, operating results, prospects or financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline and you may lose all or part of your investment.
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus, including the documents incorporated by reference in it, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended, or the Exchange Act. These statements may be made directly in this document or they may be made part of this document by reference to other documents filed with the SEC, which is known as “incorporation by reference.” You can find many (but not all) of these statements by looking for words such as “approximates,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “intends,” “plans,” “would,” “could,” “may” or other similar expressions in this prospectus or the documents incorporated by reference.
We caution investors that any forward-looking statements presented in this prospectus or the documents incorporated by reference, or those which we may make orally or in writing from time to time, are based on our beliefs and assumptions, as well as information currently available to us. Such statements are based on assumptions and the actual outcome will be affected by known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties and factors that are beyond our control or ability to predict. Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, our actual future results can be expected to differ from our expectations, and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on past forward-looking statements, which are based on known results and trends at the time they are made, to anticipate future results or trends.
Some of the risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements include the following:
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our ability to implement our business plan;
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our ability to raise additional capital to meet our liquidity needs;
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our ability to generate product revenues;
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our ability to achieve profitability;
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our ability to comply with our loan covenants;
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our ability to satisfy U.S. (including FDA) and international regulatory requirements;
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our ability to obtain market acceptance of our technology and products;
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our ability to compete in the market;
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our ability to advance our clinical trials;
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our ability to fund, design and implement clinical trials;
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our ability to maintain our present customer base and retain new customers;
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our ability to demonstrate that our product candidates are safe for human use and effective for indicated uses;
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our ability to gain acceptance of physicians and patients for use of our products;
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our dependency on third-party researchers and manufacturers and licensors;
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our ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships, including for the distribution of products;
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our ability to attract and retain a sufficient qualified personnel;
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our ability our ability to obtain or maintain patents or other appropriate protection for the intellectual property;
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our dependency on the intellectual property licensed to us or possessed by third parties;
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our ability to adequately support future growth; and
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our potential product liability or intellectual property infringement claims.
This prospectus and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the dates that such statements are made.
For more information on the uncertainty of forward-looking statements, see “Risk Factors” in our Annual Reports on Form 10-K and our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and any applicable prospectus supplement.
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We intend to use the net proceeds, if any, from the sales of securities offered by this prospectus for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, increasing our working capital, funding research and development (including clinical trials), vendor payables, regulatory submissions, hiring additional personnel and capital expenditures. In addition, we may use a portion of the net proceeds for licensing or acquiring intellectual property to incorporate into our products and product candidates or our research and development programs. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds to in-license, acquire or invest in complementary businesses or products; however, we have no current commitments or obligations to do so.
The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures will depend on numerous factors, including our development and commercialization efforts, as well as the amount of cash used in our operations. We therefore cannot estimate with certainty the amount of net proceeds to be used for the purposes described above. We may find it necessary or advisable to use the net proceeds for other purposes, and we will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds. Pending the uses described above, we plan to invest the net proceeds from this offering in short-term, investment-grade, interest-bearing securities.
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We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock. Moreover, we do not anticipate paying periodic cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We intend to use all available cash and liquid assets in the operation and growth of our business. Any future determination about the payment of dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our earnings, if any, capital requirements, operating and financial conditions and on such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.
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DESCRIPTION OF OUR CAPITAL STOCK
The following is a summary of the rights of our common stock and related provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws. For more detailed information, please see our articles of incorporation and bylaws.
We are authorized to issue 50,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0002 per share, of which 6,464,178 shares are outstanding and 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, par value $.0001 per share, of which 112,500 shares are designated Series 1 Preferred Stock, 2,000,000 shares are designated Series A Preferred Stock, 4,100,000 are designated as Series B-1 Preferred Stock and 2,000,000 are designated Series B-2 Preferred Stock. There are currently no shares of Preferred Stock outstanding.
Common Stock
Reverse Stock Split
On May 29, 2013, we effected a 1-for-2.3 reverse stock split. Upon the effectiveness of the reverse stock split, every 2.3 shares of outstanding common stock decreased to one share of common stock. Similarly, the number of shares of common stock into which each outstanding option and warrant to purchase common stock is exercisable decreased on a 1-for-2.3 basis and the exercise price of each outstanding option and warrant to purchase common stock increased proportionately. In addition, the applicable conversion price of the Preferred Stock was proportionately increased to adjust for the stock split resulting in a proportionate decrease in the number of shares that were issued upon conversion of the Preferred Stock upon the closing of our IPO.
Unless otherwise indicated, all references to share numbers in this prospectus filed as part of this registration statement reflect the effects of this reverse stock split.
The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted on by the stockholders. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding shares of Preferred Stock, holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends as may be declared by the Board out of funds legally available therefore. If we liquidate, dissolve or wind up, holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and the liquidation preferences of any outstanding shares of Preferred Stock. Holders of common stock have no preemptive, conversion or subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the common stock. All outstanding shares of common stock are, and all shares of common stock to be outstanding upon completion of this offering will be, fully paid and nonassessable. Except as otherwise required by Delaware law, all stockholder action, other than the election of directors, is taken by the vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock voting as a single class present at a meeting of stockholders at which a quorum consisting of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock is present in person or proxy. The election of directors by our stockholders, is determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote at any meeting held for such purposes at which a quorum consisting of a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock is present in person or proxy.
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Warrants
We may issue warrants for the purchase of common stock. We may issue warrants independently or in combination with common stock. In this prospectus, we have summarized certain general features of the warrants. We urge you, however, to read the applicable prospectus supplement (and any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be provided to you) related to the particular series of warrants being offered, as well as any warrant agreements and warrant certificates that contain the terms of the warrants. We will file as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from reports that we file with the SEC, the form of warrant and/or the warrant agreement and warrant certificate, as applicable, that contain the terms of the particular series of warrants we are offering, and any supplemental agreements, before the issuance of such warrants.
Any warrants issued under this prospectus may be evidenced by warrant certificates. Warrants also may be issued under an applicable warrant agreement that we enter into with a warrant agent. We will indicate the name and address of the warrant agent, if applicable, in the prospectus supplement relating to the particular series of warrants being offered.
The following description, together with the additional information that we include in any applicable prospectus supplement and in any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be distributed to you, summarizes the material terms and provisions of the warrants that we may offer under this prospectus, which may be issued in one or more series. While the terms we have summarized below will apply generally to any warrants that we may offer under this prospectus, we will describe the particular terms of any series of warrants in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement and in any related free writing prospectus that we may authorize to be distributed to you. The following description of warrants will apply to the warrants offered by this prospectus unless we provide otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement. The applicable prospectus supplement for a particular series of warrants may specify different or additional terms.
We will file as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from reports that we file with the SEC, the form of warrant and/or the warrant agreement and warrant certificate, as applicable, that contain the terms of the particular series of warrants we are offering, and any supplemental agreements, before the issuance of such warrants.
The summary below and that contained in any prospectus supplement is qualified in its entirety by reference to all of the provisions of the warrant and/or the warrant agreement and warrant certificate, as applicable, applicable to a particular series of debt securities. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplements and any related free writing prospectuses related to the warrants that we may offer under this prospectus, as well as the complete warrant and/or the warrant agreement and warrant certificate, as applicable, that contains the terms of the warrants.
General
We will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement the terms of the series of warrants being offered, including:
| · | the offering price and aggregate number of warrants offered; |
| · | the currency for which the warrants may be purchased; |
| · | if applicable, the number of warrants issued with each such security; |
| · | the number of shares of common stock, as the case may be, purchasable upon the exercise of one warrant and the price at which these shares may be purchased upon such exercise; |
| · | the effect of any merger, consolidation, sale or other disposition of our business on the warrant agreements and the warrants; |
| · | the terms of any rights to redeem or call the warrants; |
| · | any provisions for changes to or adjustments in the exercise price or number of securities issuable upon exercise of the warrants; |
| · | the dates on which the right to exercise the warrants will commence and expire; |
| · | the manner in which the warrant agreements and warrants may be modified; |
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| · | a discussion of any material or special U.S. federal income tax considerations of holding or exercising the warrants; |
| · | the terms of the securities issuable upon exercise of the warrants; and |
| · | any other specific terms, preferences, rights or limitations of or restrictions on the warrants. |
Before exercising their warrants, holders of warrants will not have any of the rights of holders of the securities purchasable upon such exercise, including the right to receive dividends, if any, or, payments upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up or to exercise voting rights, if any:
Exercise of Warrants
Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase the securities that we specify in the applicable prospectus supplement at the exercise price that we describe in the applicable prospectus supplement. The warrants may be exercised as set forth in the prospectus supplement relating to the warrants offered. Unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, warrants may be exercised at any time up to the close of business on the expiration date set forth in the prospectus supplement relating to the warrants offered thereby. After the close of business on the expiration date, unexercised warrants will become void.
Upon receipt of payment and the warrant or warrant certificate, as applicable, properly completed and duly executed at the corporate trust office of the warrant agent, if any, or any other office, including ours, indicated in the prospectus supplement, we will, as soon as practicable, issue and deliver the securities purchasable upon such exercise. If less than all of the warrants (or the warrants represented by such warrant certificate) are exercised, a new warrant or a new warrant certificate, as applicable, will be issued for the remaining warrants.
Enforceability of Rights by Holders of Warrants
Each warrant agent, if any, will act solely as our agent under the applicable warrant agreement and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust with any holder of any warrant. A warrant agent may act as warrant agent for more than one issue of warrants. A warrant agent will have no duty or responsibility in case of any default by us under the applicable warrant agreement or warrant, including any duty or responsibility to initiate any proceedings at law or otherwise, or to make any demand upon us. Any holder of a warrant may, without the consent of the related warrant agent or the holder of any other warrant, enforce by appropriate legal action its right to exercise, and receive the securities purchasable upon exercise of, its warrants.
Governing Law
Unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, the warrants and any warrant agreements will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.
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Units
We may issue units consisting of any combination of our common stock and warrants. We will issue each unit so that the holder of the unit is also the holder of each security included in the unit. As a result, the holder of a unit will have the rights and obligations of a holder of each included security. The unit agreement under which a unit is issued may provide that the securities included in the unit may not be held or transferred separately, at any time or at any time before a specified date.
The summary below and that contained in any prospectus supplement is qualified in its entirety by reference to all of the provisions of the unit agreement and/or unit certificate, and depositary arrangements, if applicable. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplements and any related free writing prospectuses related to the units that we may offer under this prospectus, as well as the complete unit agreement and/or unit certificate, and depositary arrangements, as applicable, that contain the terms of the units.
We will file as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from reports that we file with the SEC, the form of unit agreement and/or unit certificate, and depositary arrangements, as applicable, that contain the terms of the particular series of units we are offering, and any supplemental agreements, before the issuance of such units.
The applicable prospectus supplement, information incorporated by reference or free writing prospectus may describe:
| · | the designation and terms of the units and of the securities comprising the units, including whether and under what circumstances those securities may be held or transferred separately; |
| · | any provisions for the issuance, payment, settlement, transfer, or exchange of the units or of the securities composing the units; |
| · | whether the units will be issued in fully registered or global form; and |
| · | any other terms of the units. |
The applicable provisions described in this section, as well as those described under “Common Stock” and “Warrants” above, will apply to each unit and to each security included in each unit, respectively.
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We may sell the securities from time to time pursuant to underwritten public offerings, negotiated transactions, block trades or a combination of these methods or through underwriters or dealers, through agents and/or directly to one or more purchasers. The securities may be distributed from time to time in one or more transactions:
| · | at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed; |
| · | at market prices prevailing at the time of sale; |
| · | at prices related to such prevailing market prices; or |
| · | at negotiated prices. |
Each time that we sell securities covered by this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement or supplements that will describe the method of distribution and set forth the terms and conditions of the offering of such securities, including the offering price of the securities and the proceeds to us, if applicable.
Offers to purchase the securities being offered by this prospectus may be solicited directly. Agents may also be designated to solicit offers to purchase the securities from time to time. Any agent involved in the offer or sale of our securities will be identified in a prospectus supplement.
If a dealer is utilized in the sale of the securities being offered by this prospectus, the securities will be sold to the dealer, as principal. The dealer may then resell the securities to the public at varying prices to be determined by the dealer at the time of resale.
If an underwriter is utilized in the sale of the securities being offered by this prospectus, an underwriting agreement will be executed with the underwriter at the time of sale and the name of any underwriter will be provided in the prospectus supplement that the underwriter will use to make resales of the securities to the public. In connection with the sale of the securities, we, or the purchasers of securities for whom the underwriter may act as agent, may compensate the underwriter in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions. The underwriter may sell the securities to or through dealers, and those dealers may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the underwriters and/or commissions from the purchasers for which they may act as agent. Unless otherwise indicated in a prospectus supplement, an agent will be acting on a best efforts basis and a dealer will purchase securities as a principal, and may then resell the securities at varying prices to be determined by the dealer.
Any compensation paid to underwriters, dealers or agents in connection with the offering of the securities, and any discounts, concessions or commissions allowed by underwriters to participating dealers will be provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. Underwriters, dealers and agents participating in the distribution of the securities may be deemed to be underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act, and any discounts and commissions received by them and any profit realized by them on resale of the securities may be deemed to be underwriting discounts and commissions. We may enter into agreements to indemnify underwriters, dealers and agents against civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to payments they may be required to make in respect thereof and to reimburse those persons for certain expenses.
Any common stock will be listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market, but any other securities may or may not be listed on a national securities exchange. To facilitate the offering of securities, certain persons participating in the offering may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of the securities. This may include over-allotments or short sales of the securities, which involve the sale by persons participating in the offering of more securities than were sold to them. In these circumstances, these persons would cover such over-allotments or short positions by making purchases in the open market or by exercising their over-allotment option, if any. In addition, these persons may stabilize or maintain the price of the securities by bidding for or purchasing securities in the open market or by imposing penalty bids, whereby selling concessions allowed to dealers participating in the offering may be reclaimed if securities sold by them are repurchased in connection with stabilization transactions. The effect of these transactions may be to stabilize or maintain the market price of the securities at a level above that which might otherwise prevail in the open market. These transactions may be discontinued at any time.
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If indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, underwriters or other persons acting as agents may be authorized to solicit offers by institutions or other suitable purchasers to purchase the securities at the public offering price set forth in the prospectus supplement, pursuant to delayed delivery contracts providing for payment and delivery on the date or dates stated in the prospectus supplement. These purchasers may include, among others, commercial and savings banks, insurance companies, pension funds, investment companies and educational and charitable institutions. Delayed delivery contracts will be subject to the condition that the purchase of the securities covered by the delayed delivery contracts will not at the time of delivery be prohibited under the laws of any jurisdiction in the United States to which the purchaser is subject. The underwriters and agents will not have any responsibility with respect to the validity or performance of these contracts.
We may engage in at the market offerings into an existing trading market in accordance with Rule 415(a)(4) under the Securities Act. In addition, we may enter into derivative transactions with third parties, or sell securities not covered by this prospectus to third parties in privately negotiated transactions. If the applicable prospectus supplement so indicates, in connection with those derivatives, the third parties may sell securities covered by this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, including in short sale transactions. If so, the third party may use securities pledged by us or borrowed from us or others to settle those sales or to close out any related open borrowings of stock, and may use securities received from us in settlement of those derivatives to close out any related open borrowings of stock. The third party in such sale transactions will be an underwriter and, if not identified in this prospectus, will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement (or a post-effective amendment). In addition, we may otherwise loan or pledge securities to a financial institution or other third party that in turn may sell the securities short using this prospectus and an applicable prospectus supplement. Such financial institution or other third party may transfer its economic short position to investors in our securities or in connection with a concurrent offering of other securities.
The specific terms of any lock-up provisions in respect of any given offering will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.
The underwriters, dealers and agents may engage in transactions with us, or perform services for us, in the ordinary course of business for which they receive compensation.
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Gracin & Marlow, LLP, New York, New York will pass upon certain legal matters relating to the issuance and sale of the common stock, warrants and units offered hereby on behalf of Heat Biologics, Inc. Additional legal matters may be passed upon for us or any underwriters, dealers or agents, by counsel that we will name in the applicable prospectus supplement.
The financial statements as of December 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012 and for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2013 incorporated by reference in this Prospectus have been so incorporated in reliance on the report of BDO USA, LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, incorporated herein by reference, given on authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s public reference room located at 100 F Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the operation of the public reference room. Our public filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov.
This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we have filed with the SEC under the Securities Act. This prospectus does not contain all of the information in the registration statement. We have omitted certain parts of the registration statement, as permitted by the rules and regulations of the SEC. You may inspect and copy the registration statement, including exhibits, at the SEC’s public reference room or Internet site.
Additional information about Heat Biologics, Inc. is contained at our website,www.heatbiologics.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this report. We make available on our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are filed with the SEC. The following Corporate Governance documents are also posted on our website: Code of Ethics and the Charters for the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board of Directors.
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INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” the information we file with it which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents instead of having to repeat the information in this prospectus. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus, and later information that we file with the SEC will automatically update and supersede this information. We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings made with the SEC under Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act between the date of this prospectus and the termination of the offering, however, we are not incorporating by reference any documents or portions thereof, whether specifically listed below or filed in the future, that are not deemed “filed” with the SEC, or any information furnished pursuant to Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K or related exhibits furnished pursuant to Item 9.01 of Form 8-K:
| · | Our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 filed with the SEC on March 31, 2014; |
| · | Our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2014 filed with the SEC on May 12, 2014; |
| · | Our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 filed with the SEC on August 13, 2014; |
| · | Our annual report on Form 10-K/A Amendment No. 1 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013 filed with the SEC on October 10, 2014; |
| · | Our current reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on January 21, February 3, March 5, March 31, May 7, June 13, August 25, 2014 and October 2, 2014; |
| · | Our Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on May 8, 2014; and |
| · | The description of our common stock set forth in our registration statement on Form 8-A12B, filed with the SEC on July 8, 2013 (File No. 001-35994). |
You may obtain, free of charge, a copy of any of these documents (other than exhibits to these documents unless the exhibits are specifically incorporated by reference into these documents or referred to in this prospectus) by writing or calling us at the following address and telephone number:
![[htbx_424b004.jpg]](https://capedge.com/proxy/424B5/0001553350-16-002252/htbx_424b004.jpg)
801 Capitola Drive
Durham, North Carolina 27713
(919) 240-7133
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Shares of Common Stock
![[htbx_424b006.gif]](https://capedge.com/proxy/424B5/0001553350-16-002252/htbx_424b006.gif)
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PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
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July , 2016