Passage Bio (PASG) S-8 Registration of securities for employees

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER THE

SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Passage Bio, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	82-2729751
(State or other jurisdiction of	(I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)	Identification Number)

Passage Bio, Inc.

One Commerce Square

2005 Market Street, 39^th Floor

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103

(267) 866-0311

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

Passage Bio, Inc. 2021 Equity Inducement Plan

(Full title of the plans)

Bruce Goldsmith, Ph.D.

Passage Bio, Inc.

One Commerce Square

2005 Market Street, 39^th Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19103

(267) 866-0311

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Please send copies of all communications to:

Effie Toshav, Esq.

Robert A. Freedman, Esq.

Ryan Mitteness, Esq.

Fenwick & West LLP

1191 Second Avenue

Seattle, Washington 98101

(206) 389-4510

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act):

Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☒
		Emerging growth company	☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. o

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered	Amount to be Registered(1)	Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Unit	Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price	Amount of Registration Fee
Common Stock, $0.0001 par value	1,000,000(2)	$12.64(3)	$12,640,000	$1,379.02

(1)Pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), this Registration Statement shall also cover any additional shares of the Registrant’s common stock that become issuable under the Registrant’s 2021 Equity Inducement Plan by reason of any stock dividend, stock split, recapitalization or other similar transaction effected without the receipt of consideration that increases the number of the Registrant’s outstanding shares of common stock.

(2) The number of shares of common stock registered hereby consists of shares authorized to be issued under the 2021 Equity Inducement Plan.

(3) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee in accordance with Rules 457(c) and 457(h) under the Securities Act and based upon the average of the high and low prices of the Registrant’s common stock as reported on The Nasdaq Global Market on July 14, 2021.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

The information called for by Part I of Form S-8 is omitted from this Registration Statement in accordance with Rule 428 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and the instructions to Form S-8. In accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and the instructions to Form S-8, such documents are not being filed with the Commission either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to Rule 424.

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PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The following documents filed by Passage Bio, Inc. (the “Registrant”) with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are incorporated herein by reference:

(a) the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the Commission on March 3, 2021 pursuant to Section 13 of the Exchange Act;

(b) all other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K referred to in (a) above; and

(c) the description of the Registrant’s common stock contained in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-39231) filed with the Commission on February 18, 2020 under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All documents and definitive proxy or information statements filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the filing of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment, which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing such documents, except as to documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with the rules of the Commission. Unless expressly incorporated into this Registration Statement, a report deemed to be furnished but not filed on Form 8-K prior or subsequent to the date hereof shall not be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained in any subsequently filed document which also is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not applicable.

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Not applicable.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizes a court to award, or a corporation’s board of directors to grant, indemnity to its directors and officers under certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations. The terms of Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law are sufficiently broad to permit indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities, including reimbursement of expenses incurred, arising under the Securities Act.

As permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Registrant’s restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that eliminate the personal liability of its directors for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duties as a director, except liability for the following:

● any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the Registrant or its stockholders;

● acts or omissions not in good faith or that involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;

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● under Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (regarding unlawful dividends and stock purchases); or

● any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.

As permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Registrant’s restated bylaws provide that:

● the Registrant is required to indemnify its directors and executive officers to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, subject to very limited exceptions;

● the Registrant may enter into indemnification contracts with any director, officer, employee or agent of the Registrant;

● the Registrant is required to advance expenses, as incurred, to its directors and executive officers in connection with a legal proceeding to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, subject to very limited exceptions; and

● the rights conferred in the restated bylaws are not exclusive.

In addition, the Registrant has entered into indemnity agreements with each of its current directors and executive officers to provide these directors and executive officers with additional contractual assurances regarding the scope of the indemnification set forth in the Registrant’s restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws and to provide additional procedural protections. The indemnification provisions in the Registrant’s restated certificate of incorporation and restated bylaws and the indemnity agreements entered into between the Registrant and each of its directors and executive officers may be sufficiently broad to permit indemnification of the Registrant’s directors and executive officers for liabilities arising under the Securities Act.

The Registrant currently carries liability insurance for its directors and officers.

See also the undertakings set out in response to Item 9 hereof.

Item 7. Exemption From Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

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Item 8. Exhibits.

The following exhibits are filed herewith:

Exhibit		Incorporated by Reference				Filed
Number	Exhibit Description	Form	File No.	Exhibit	Filing Date	Herewith
4.1	Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant, dated March 3, 2020	10-Q	001-39231	3.1	May 11, 2020
4.2	Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Registrant	8-K	001-39231	3.1	March 27, 2020
5.1	Opinion of Fenwick & West LLP					X
23.1	Consent of Fenwick & West LLP (contained in Exhibit 5.1)					X
23.2	Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm					X
24.1	Power of Attorney (included on the signature page to this Registration Statement)					X
99.1	2021 Equity Inducement Plan and forms of award agreements					X

Item 9. Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made pursuant to this Registration Statement, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

(i)To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii)To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective Registration Statement;

(iii)To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

Provided however, that: paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the 1934 Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein,

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and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the 1934 Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the 1934 Act) that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Philadelphia, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on this 19th day of July, 2021.

PASSAGE BIO, INC.
By:	/s/ BRUCE GOLDSMITH
	Bruce Goldsmith, Ph.D.
	Chief Executive Officer, President and Principal Financial Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Bruce Goldsmith and Edgar B. Cale, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully for all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated.

Signature	Title	Date
/s/ BRUCE GOLDSMITH	President, Chief Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Director	July 19, 2021
Bruce Goldsmith, Ph.D.
/s/ TADATAKA YAMADA	Chair of the Board of Directors	July 19, 2021
Tadataka Yamada, M.D.
/s/ ATHENA COUNTOURIOTIS	Director	July 19, 2021
Athena Countouriotis, M.D.
/s/ MAXINE GOWEN	Director	July 19, 2021
Maxine Gowen, Ph.D.
/s/ SAQIB ISLAM	Director	July 19, 2021
Saqib Islam
/s/ SANDIP KAPADIA	Director	July 19, 2021
Sandip Kapadia
/s/ DERRELL PORTER	Director	July 19, 2021
Derrell Porter, M.
/s/ LIAM RATCLIFFE	Director	July 19, 2021
Liam Ratcliffe M.D., Ph.D.
/s/ TOM WOIWODE	Director	July 19, 2021
Tom Woiwode, Ph.D.

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