Environment to publish in the Canada Gazette a SNAN with respect to AquAdvantage Salmon. The Canadian Minister of the Environment, the Canadian Minister of Health, and AQUA Bounty Canada Inc., our Canadian subsidiary, were listed as respondents on the application. The plaintiffs alleged that the Canadian Minister of the Environment inappropriately waived a requirement of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (“CEPA”) to provide certain prescribed information for an assessment under CEPA. The plaintiffs sought an order from the court that the minister acted unlawfully and without jurisdiction by publishing notice of the SNAN with respect to AquAdvantage Salmon in theCanada Gazette, that the SNAN was invalid and unlawful, and, in the alternative, that the minister acted unreasonably in exercising her discretion.
In December 2015, the Canadian Federal Court ruled that the decision by the Ministers of Environment and Health to allow production of AquAdvantage Salmon in Canada for commercial use was reasonable and made in the manner prescribed by the CEPA, and accordingly dismissed the entire application brought before it. The petitioners appealed this ruling, and, in October 2016, the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Lawsuit Against the FDA Approval of NADA
On March 30, 2016, a coalition of NGOs filed a complaint against the FDA, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and related individuals for their roles in the FDA approval of the NADA for AquAdvantage Salmon. The coalition, including the Centre for Food Safety and Friends of the Earth, claims that the FDA had no statutory authority to regulate genetically modified animals, and, if it did, that the agency failed to analyze and implement measures to mitigate ecological, environmental, and socioeconomic risks that could impact wild salmon and the environment, including the risk that AquAdvantage Salmon could escape and threaten endangered wild salmon stocks. This lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase of litigation.
Other than as set forth above, we are not party to any legal proceedings the outcome of which, we believe, if determined adversely to us, would individually or in the aggregate have a material adverse effect on our future business, consolidated results of operations, cash flows, or financial position. We may, from time to time, be subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the normal course of business activities.
Recent Events
On February 22, 2016, we executed an unsecured convertible debt facility with Intrexon to provide us with up to $10.0 million (the “Debt Facility”). The debt carried an interest rate of 10%, had a maturity of March 1, 2017, and could be converted into shares of our common stock at a price of 690 U.K. pence per share using the British pound sterling to U.S. dollar exchange rate, as reported on Reuters, as of the business day prior to the conversion. The entire $10.0 million (plus accrued interest) of the Debt Facility was converted into 1,212,908 shares of our common stock on December 16, 2016.
Our common stock was listed on the Alternative Investment Market (“AIM”), the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies, from 2006 through May 31, 2017 initially under the symbol “ABTX” and, commencing in 2014, under the symbol “ABTU”. Effective June 1, 2017, we voluntarily delisted our common stock from AIM. On January 18, 2017, we sold 2,421,073 shares of our common stock to Intrexon, our controlling shareholder, for proceeds of approximately $25 million. Following the closing of this sale, Intrexon distributed 1,776,557 shares of our common stock that it held prior to the closing via a share dividend to its shareholders. On January 19, 2017, our common stock began “regular way” trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
Management is evaluating several paths to revenue generation that follow different timelines, including production of our fish at our existing farm sites in Panama, Indiana, Rollo Bay and additional facilities in North America; sale of AquAdvantage Salmon eggs to Atlantic salmon farmers; and partnerships or licensing agreements. Depending on which path or combination of paths is chosen, we expect only modest revenues during 2018, with more significant revenues once our Indiana and Rollo Bay facilities are in full production.
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