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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

 

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 20, 2021

 

 

 

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   001-36020   22-3627252
(State or Other Jurisdiction
of Incorporation or Organization)
  (Commission
File Number)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

 

12 Penns Trail

Newtown, PA 18940

(267) 759-3680

(Address, Including Zip Code, and Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Registrant’s Principal Executive

Offices)

 

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

¨        Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

¨        Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17CFR 240.14a-12)

 

¨        Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

¨        Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class   Trading Symbol(s)   Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share   ONTX   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company  o

 

 

 

 

 

 

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

 

On August 20, 2021, Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement (the “Equity Distribution Agreement”) with Piper Sandler & Co. (“Piper Sandler”) under which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time at its sole discretion, shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), with aggregate gross sales proceeds of up to $25,000,000 through an “at the market” equity offering program under which Piper Sandler will act as sales agent.

 

Under the Equity Distribution Agreement, the Company will set the parameters for the sale of shares, including the number of shares to be issued, the time period during which sales are requested to be made, limitations on the number of shares that may be sold in any one trading day and any minimum price below which sales may not be made. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Equity Distribution Agreement, Piper Sandler may sell the shares by methods deemed to be an “at the market” offering as defined in Rule 415 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, including sales made through The Nasdaq Capital Market or any other trading market for our common stock.

 

The Equity Distribution Agreement provides that Piper Sandler will be entitled to compensation for its services equal to 3.0% of the gross proceeds of any shares of common stock sold through Piper Sandler under the Equity Distribution Agreement. The Company has no obligation to sell any shares under the Equity Distribution Agreement, and may at any time suspend solicitation and offers under the Equity Distribution Agreement.

 

The shares will be issued pursuant to the Company’s shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-237844). The Company filed a prospectus supplement, dated August 20, 2021 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the offer and sale of the shares pursuant to the Equity Distribution Agreement.

 

The foregoing description of the material terms of the Equity Distribution Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full agreement, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

The legal opinion of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP relating to the shares of Common Stock that may be sold pursuant to Equity Distribution Agreement is filed as Exhibit 5.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

This Current Report on Form 8-K shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state.

 

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
     
Exhibit    
Number   Exhibit Description
   
  1.1   Equity Distribution Agreement, dated as of August 20, 2021, between Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. and Piper Sandler & Co.
   
  5.1   Opinion of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
   
23.1     Consent of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).
     
104   Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURE

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

Date: August 20, 2021

 

  ONCONOVA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
     
  By: /s/ MARK GUERIN
  Name: Mark Guerin
  Title: Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 1.1

 

ONCONOVA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

 

EQUITY DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT

 

August 20, 2021

 

PIPER SANDLER & CO. 

U.S. Bancorp Center 

800 Nicollet Mall 

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

As further set forth in this agreement (this “Agreement”), Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., a company organized under the laws of Delaware (the “Company”), proposes to issue and sell from time to time through Piper Sandler & Co. (the “Agent”), as sales agent, the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”) (such shares of Common Stock to be sold pursuant to this Agreement, the “Shares”) on terms set forth herein. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the parties hereto agree that compliance with the limitation set forth in Section 2 of this Agreement on the number of Shares issued and sold under this Agreement shall be the sole responsibility of the Company, and the Agent shall have no obligation in connection with such compliance.

 

The Company hereby confirms its agreement with the Agent with respect to the sale of the Shares.

 

1.            Representations and Warranties of the Company.

 

(a)            The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, the Agent that as of the date of this Agreement, each Representation Date (as defined in Section 3(o) below), each date on which a Placement Notice (as defined in Section 2(a)(i) below) is given (each, a “Notice Date”), each date on which Shares are sold hereunder (each, an “Applicable Time”), and each Settlement Date (as defined in Section 2(a)(vii) below) as follows:

 

 

 

 

(i)            Registration Statement and Prospectus. The Company has filed, in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Securities Act”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-237844), including a base prospectus, relating to certain securities, including the Common Stock, to be issued from time to time by the Company, and which incorporates by reference documents that the Company has filed or will file in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Exchange Act”). The Company has prepared a prospectus supplement to the base prospectus included as part of such registration statement specifically relating to the Shares (the “Prospectus Supplement”). The Company has furnished to the Agent, for use by Agent, copies of the prospectus included as part of such registration statement, as supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement, relating to the Shares. Except where the context otherwise requires, such registration statement, as amended when it became effective, including all documents filed as part thereof or incorporated by reference therein, and including any information contained in a Prospectus (as defined below) subsequently filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act or deemed to be a part of such registration statement pursuant to Rule 430B or 462(b) of the Securities Act, is herein called the “Registration Statement.” The base prospectus, including all documents incorporated therein by reference, included in the Registration Statement, as it may be supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement, in the form in which such prospectus and/or Prospectus Supplement have most recently been filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, together with any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 of the Securities Act (“Rule 433”), relating to the Shares, if any, that (i) is required to be filed with the Commission by the Company or (ii) is exempt from filing pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i), in each case in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g), is herein called the “Prospectus.” Any reference herein to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein, and any reference herein to the terms “amend,” “amendment” or “supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing after the execution hereof of any document with the Commission deemed to be incorporated by reference therein. For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or to any amendment or supplement thereto shall be deemed to include any copy filed with the Commission pursuant the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”).

 

(ii)            Continuing Effectiveness of Registration Statement. The Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement have been declared effective by the Commission under the Securities Act. The Company has complied, to the Commission’s satisfaction, with all requests of the Commission for additional or supplemental information. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement is in effect and no proceedings for such purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, contemplated or threatened by the Commission. The Company meets the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the Securities Act. The sale of the Shares hereunder meets the requirements of General Instruction I.B.1. of Form S-3.

 

(iii)            No Material Misstatements or Omissions. The Prospectus when filed complied, and as amended or supplemented, if applicable, will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act. Each of the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, the Prospectus and any post-effective amendments or supplements thereto, at the time it became effective or its date, as applicable, and as of each Settlement Date (as defined in Section 2(a)(vii) below), complied in all material respects with the Securities Act, and as of each effective date and each Settlement Date, did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, as of its date, did not and, as of each of the Settlement Date, will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The representations and warranties set forth in the two immediately preceding sentences do not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, or any post-effective amendment thereto, or the Prospectus, or any amendments or supplements thereto, made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to the Agent furnished to the Company in writing by the Agent expressly for use therein. There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Prospectus or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement which have not been described or filed as required.

 

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(iv)            Documents Incorporated by Reference. There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Registration Statement or filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement that are not described and filed as required. The statements made in the Registration Statement and Prospectus, insofar as they purport to constitute summaries of the terms of the contracts and other documents described and filed, constitute accurate summaries of the terms of such contracts and documents in all material respects. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries (“Subsidiaries”) has knowledge that any other party to any such contract or other document has any intention not to render full performance as contemplated by the terms thereof

 

(v)            Auditor Independence. Ernst & Young LLP, who have certified the financial statements and supporting schedules and information of the Company and its Subsidiaries that are included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company and its Subsidiaries as required by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and the rules of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

 

(vi)            No Material Adverse Change. Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, except as disclosed therein, (i) the Company has not declared or paid any dividends, or made any other distribution of any kind, on or in respect of its capital stock, (ii) there has not been any change in the capital stock or long-term or short-term debt of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (iii) there have been no transactions entered into by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, other than in the ordinary course of business, which are material with respect to the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, (iv) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has sustained any material loss or interference with its business or properties from fire, explosion, flood, earthquake, hurricane, accident or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor dispute or dispute or any action or decree of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except in each case as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and (v) there has not been any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the business, management, condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, stockholders’ equity, properties or prospects of the Company and its Subsidiaries, taken as a whole (a “Material Adverse Change”). Since the date of the latest balance sheet included, or incorporated by reference, in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has incurred or undertaken any liabilities or obligations, whether direct or indirect, liquidated or contingent, matured or unmatured, or entered into any transactions, including any acquisition or disposition of any business or asset, which are material to the Company and the Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, except for liabilities, obligations and transactions which are disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.

 

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(vii)            Authorized Capitalization. The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are fully paid and non-assessable and have been duly authorized and validly issued, in compliance with all applicable state, federal and foreign securities laws and not in violation of or subject to any preemptive or similar right that entitles any person to acquire from the Company or any of its Subsidiaries any Common Stock or other security of the Company or any security convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, Common Stock or any other such security of the Company (any “Relevant Security”), except as described in or expressly contemplated by the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, all of the issued shares of capital stock of or other ownership interests in each Subsidiary owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and are owned directly or indirectly by the Company free and clear of any lien, charge, mortgage, pledge, security interest, claim, equity, trust or other encumbrance, preferential arrangement, defect or restriction of any kind whatsoever (any “Lien”).

 

(viii)            Accuracy of Certain Summaries and Statements. The statements set forth or incorporated by reference in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as amended, under the captions “Legal Proceedings” and “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence”, insofar as they purport to summarize the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate summaries in all material respects. The Common Stock and the Shares conform to the descriptions thereof contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company has no outstanding warrants, options to purchase, or any preemptive rights or other rights to subscribe for or to purchase, or any contracts or commitments to issue or sell, any Relevant Security. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, no holder of any Relevant Security has any rights to require registration under the Securities Act of any Relevant Security in connection with the offer and sale of the Shares contemplated hereby, and any such rights so disclosed have either been fully complied with by the Company or effectively waived by the holders thereof.

 

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(ix)            No Material Adverse Effect. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries (a complete list of the Subsidiaries is included as Schedule 4 hereto) has been duly organized and validly exists as a corporation, partnership or limited liability company (as the case may be) in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization and has corporate, partnership or limited liability company power and authority (as the case may be) to own or lease its properties and conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries is qualified to do business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation, partnership or limited liability company (as the case may be) in each jurisdiction in which the character or location of its properties (owned, leased or licensed) or the nature or conduct of its business makes such qualification necessary, except for those failures to be so qualified or in good standing which (individually and in the aggregate) would not reasonably be expected to result in a (i) Material Adverse Change; or (ii) a material adverse effect on the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions to be undertaken by the Company as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus (a “Material Adverse Effect”).

 

(x)            No Violation or Default. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries (i) is in violation of its certificate or articles of incorporation, by-laws, certificate of formation, limited liability company agreement, partnership agreement or other organizational documents, (ii) is in default under, and no event has occurred which, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute a default under or result in the creation or imposition of any Lien upon any property or assets of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries pursuant to, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, note, lease, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it is bound or to which any of its property or assets is subject, or (iii) is in violation of any statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, directive, judgment, writ, decree or order of any court or judicial, regulatory or other legal or governmental agency or body, foreign or domestic, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its Subsidiaries except (in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above) for violations or defaults that would not (individually or in the aggregate) reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(xi)            Consents and Approvals. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries has all requisite power and authority, and all necessary consents, approvals, authorizations, orders, registrations, qualifications, licenses, sub-licenses, certificates, filings and permits of, with and from all judicial, regulatory and other legal or governmental agencies and bodies and all third parties, foreign and domestic (collectively, the “Consents”), to own, lease and operate its properties and conduct its business as it is now being conducted and as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and each such Consent is valid and in full force and effect, except in each case as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has received notice of any investigation or proceedings which, if decided adversely to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, would reasonably be expected to result in the revocation of, or imposition of a materially burdensome restriction on, any such Consent.

 

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(xii)            Equity Distribution Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company. The Company has full right, power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and to perform its obligations hereunder; and all action required to be taken for the due and proper authorization, execution and delivery by it of this Agreement and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby has been duly and validly taken.

 

(xiii)            Due Authorization, Valid Issuance and Nonassessability of Shares. The Shares to be issued and sold by the Company hereunder have been duly authorized by the Company and, when issued and delivered and paid for as provided herein, will be duly and validly issued, will be fully paid and nonassessable and will conform to the descriptions thereof in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus; and the issuance of the Shares is not subject to any preemptive or similar rights that have not been satisfied or waived.

 

(xiv)            Non-Contravention. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Shares and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement do not and will not (i) conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time, or both, would constitute a default) under, result in the termination, modification or acceleration of, or result in the creation or imposition of any Lien upon any property, right or asset of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries pursuant to, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, note, lease, loan agreement or other agreement, instrument, franchise, license or permit to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or their respective properties, operations or assets may be bound, (ii) violate or conflict with any provision of the certificate or articles of incorporation, by-laws, certificate of formation, limited liability company agreement, partnership agreement or other organizational documents (as the case may be) of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or (iii) violate or conflict with any statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, directive, judgment, writ, decree or order of any court or judicial, regulatory, administrative or other legal or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, except (in the case of clauses (i) and (iii) above) as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(xv)            No Consent or Approval Required. No Consent is required for the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby and by the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, except for such consents as have been received by the Company and such consents, approvals, authorizations, registrations or qualifications as may be required under state securities, or Blue Sky, laws or the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in connection with the purchase and distribution of the Shares by the Agent.

 

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(xvi)            Legal Proceedings. Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there is no judicial, regulatory, arbitral or other legal or governmental proceeding or other litigation or arbitration, domestic or foreign (collectively, “Actions”), pending to which the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or may be a party or of which any property, operations or assets of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is or may be the subject which, individually or in the aggregate, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, or which might materially and adversely affect the consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement or the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder; to the Company’s knowledge, no such Action is threatened or contemplated; and the defense of all such Actions against or involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. There are no current or pending Actions that are required under the Securities Act to be described in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus that are not so described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and there are no statutes, regulations or contracts or other documents that are required under the Securities Act to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, that are not so filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.

 

(xvii)            Financial Statements. The financial statements, including the notes thereto, and the supporting schedules included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, and present fairly the consolidated financial position as of the dates indicated and the cash flows and results of operations for the periods specified of the Company and its consolidated Subsidiaries; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved; and the supporting schedules, if any, included in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus present fairly in all material respects in accordance with GAAP the information required to be stated therein. The other financial and statistical information included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus present fairly in all material respects the information included therein and have been prepared on a basis consistent with that of the financial statements that are included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and the books and records of the respective entities presented therein.

 

(xviii)            No Off-Balance Sheet Transactions. There are no transactions, arrangements and other relationships between and/or among the Company, and/or, to the knowledge of the Company, any of its affiliates and any unconsolidated entity, including, but not limited to, any structural finance, special purpose or limited purpose entity (each, an “Off-Balance Sheet Transaction”) that could reasonably be expected to affect materially the Company’s liquidity or the availability of or requirements for its capital resources, including those Off Balance Sheet Transactions described in the Commission’s Statement about Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations (Release Nos. 33-8056; 34-45321; FR-61), and are required to be described in the Prospectus, which have not been described as required.

 

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(xix)            Statistical and Market-Related Data. Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that the statistical and market-related data included or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus is not based on or derived from sources that are reliable and accurate in all material respects.

 

(xx)            Exchange Listing. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company has not received an oral or written notification from The Nasdaq Capital Market LLC (the “Exchange”) or any court or any governmental authority of any inquiry or investigation or other action that would cause the Shares to stop being quoted on the Exchange.

 

(xxi)            Internal Controls. The Company and its Subsidiaries maintain a system of internal accounting and other controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations, (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets, (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization, (iv) the recorded accounting for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences and (v) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto. Based on the Company’s most recent evaluation of its internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Rule 13a-15(c) of the Exchange Act, there are no material weaknesses in the Company’s internal controls. The Company’s auditors and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company have been advised of: (i) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which have adversely affected or are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

 

(xxii)            Disclosure Controls. The Company and its Subsidiaries maintain an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that complies with the requirements of the Exchange Act; such disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company and its Subsidiaries have carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of their disclosure controls and procedures as required by Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act.

 

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(xxiii)            Critical Accounting Policies. The section entitled “Critical Accounting Policies” incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus accurately describes in all material respects (i) the accounting policies that the Company believes are the most important in the portrayal of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations and that require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments (“Critical Accounting Policies”); (ii) the judgments and uncertainties affecting the application of Critical Accounting Policies; and (iii) the likelihood that materially different amounts would be reported under different conditions or using different assumptions, and an explanation thereof.

 

(xxiv)            Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or executive officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications.

 

(xxv)            Related Party Disclosure. No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among any of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and any director, officer, stockholder, customer or supplier of the Company or any affiliate of the Company, on the other hand, which is required by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act to be described in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus that is not so described as required.

 

(xxvi)            Absence of Stabilization or Manipulation. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries or affiliates (within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act) has taken, directly or indirectly, any action which constitutes or is designed to cause or result in, or which would reasonably be expected to constitute, cause or result in, any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Shares pursuant to Regulation M under the Exchange Act.

 

(xxvii)            No Integration. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates (within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act) has, prior to the date hereof, made any offer or sale of any securities which could be “integrated” (within the meaning of the Securities Act) with the sale of the Shares hereunder.

 

(xxviii)            Investment Company Act. The Company is not and, at all times up to and including consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, will not be, required to register as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (collectively, the “Investment Company Act”), and is not and will not be an entity “controlled” by an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act.

 

(xxix)            No Other Broker. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to any contract, agreement or understanding with any person (other than this Agreement) that would give rise to a valid claim against any of them or the Agent for a brokerage commission, finder’s fee or like payment in connection with the sale of the Shares.

 

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(xxx)            Valid Title. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries owns or leases all such properties as are necessary to the conduct of its business as presently operated and as proposed to be operated as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus. The Company and each of its Subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple to all real property and good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them, in each case free and clear of any and all Liens except such as are described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus or such as do not (individually or in the aggregate) materially affect the value of such property or materially interfere with the use made or proposed to be made of such property by the Company and each of its Subsidiaries ; and any real property and buildings held under lease or sublease by the Company and each of its Subsidiaries are held by them under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material to, and do not materially interfere with, the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company and each of its Subsidiaries. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has received any notice of any claim adverse to its ownership of any real or personal property or of any claim against the continued possession of any real property, whether owned or held under lease or sublease by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries.

 

(xxxi)            Intellectual Property.

 

(a)            Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company owns or has valid, binding and enforceable licenses or other rights under the patents, patent applications, licenses, inventions, copyrights, know how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures), trademarks, service marks, trade names or other intellectual property necessary for, or used in the conduct, or the proposed conduct, of the business of the Company in the manner described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus (collectively, the “Intellectual Property”); the patents, trademarks, and copyrights, if any, included within the Intellectual Property are valid, enforceable, and subsisting; other than as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, (A) the Company is not obligated to pay a material royalty, grant a license to, or provide other material consideration to any third party in connection with the Intellectual Property, (B) the Company has not received any notice of any claim of infringement, misappropriation or conflict with any asserted rights of others with respect to any of the Company’s drug candidates, services, conduct of the business, processes or Intellectual Property, (C) to the knowledge of the Company, neither the conduct of the business, sale nor use of any of the discoveries, inventions, drug candidates, services or processes of the Company referred to in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus do or will infringe, misappropriate or violate any right or valid patent claim of any third party, (D) none of the technology employed by the Company has been obtained or is being used by the Company in material violation of any contractual obligation binding on the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, upon any of its officers, directors or employees or otherwise in violation of the rights of any persons, (E) to the knowledge of the Company, no third party has any ownership right in or to any Intellectual Property that is owned by the Company, other than any co-owner of any patent constituting Intellectual Property who is listed on the records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the “USPTO”) and any co-owner of any patent application constituting Intellectual Property who is named in such patent application, and, to the knowledge of the Company, no third party has any ownership right in or to any Intellectual Property in any field of use that is exclusively licensed to the Company, other than any licensor to the Company of such Intellectual Property, (F) there is no infringement by third parties of any Intellectual Property, (G) there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the Company’s rights in or to any Intellectual Property, and (H) there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity or scope of any Intellectual Property. The Company is in material compliance with the terms of each agreement pursuant to which Intellectual Property has been licensed to the Company, and all such agreements are in full force and effect.

 

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(b)            All patents and patent applications owned by or licensed to the Company or under which the Company has rights have, to the knowledge of the Company, been duly and properly filed and maintained; to the knowledge of the Company, the parties prosecuting such patent applications have complied with their duty of candor and disclosure to the USPTO in connection with such applications; and the Company is not aware of any facts required to be disclosed to the USPTO that were not disclosed to the USPTO and which would preclude the grant of a patent in connection with any such application or would reasonably be expected to form the basis of a finding of invalidity with respect to any patents that have issued with respect to such applications. To the Company’s knowledge, all patents and patent applications owned by the Company and filed with the USPTO or any foreign or international patent authority (the “Company Patent Rights”) and all patents and patent applications in-licensed by the Company and filed with the USPTO or any foreign or international patent authority (the “In-licensed Patent Rights”) have been duly and properly filed; the Company believes it has complied with its duty of candor and disclosure to the USPTO for the Company Patent Rights and, to the Company’s knowledge, the licensors of the In-licensed Patent Rights have complied with their duty of candor and disclosure to the USPTO for the In-licensed Patent Rights.

 

(xxxii)            Cybersecurity. The Company and its Subsidiaries’ information technology assets and equipment, computers, systems, networks, hardware, software, websites, applications, and databases (collectively, “IT Systems”) are adequate for, and operate and perform in all material respects as required in connection with the operation of the business of the Company and its Subsidiaries as currently conducted and, except as would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect, to the Company’s knowledge, free and clear of all material bugs, errors, defects, Trojan horses, time bombs, malware and other corruptants. The Company and its Subsidiaries have implemented and maintained commercially reasonable controls, policies, procedures, and safeguards to maintain and protect their material confidential information and the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of all IT Systems and data (including all personal, personally identifiable, sensitive, confidential or regulated data (“Personal Data”)) used in connection with their businesses, and there have been no breaches, violations, outages or unauthorized uses of or accesses to same, except for those that have been remedied without material cost or liability or the duty to notify any other person, nor any incidents under internal review or investigations relating to the same. The Company and its Subsidiaries are presently in material compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Systems and Personal Data and to the protection of such IT Systems and Personal Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification.

 

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(xxxiii)            Insurance. The Company and its Subsidiaries maintain insurance in such amounts and covering such risks as the Company reasonably considers adequate for the conduct of its business and the value of its properties and as is customary for companies engaged in similar businesses in similar industries, all of which insurance is in full force and effect, except where the failure to maintain such insurance would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. There are no material claims by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries under any such policy or instrument as to which any insurance company is denying liability or defending under a reservation of rights clause. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has received notice from any insurer or agent of such insurer that capital improvements or other expenditures are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such insurance. The Company reasonably believes that it will be able to renew its existing insurance as and when such coverage expires or will be able to obtain replacement insurance adequate for the conduct of the business and the value of its properties at a cost that would not have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(xxxiv)          Taxes. Except as would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, each of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries has accurately prepared and timely filed all federal, state, foreign and other tax returns that are required to be filed by it or have been granted extensions thereof and has paid or made provision for the payment of all taxes, including without limitation, all taxes which the Company or any such Subsidiary is obligated to withhold from amounts owing to employees, creditors and third parties, with respect to the periods covered by such tax returns (whether or not such amounts are shown as due on any tax return). Except as would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, no deficiency assessment with respect to a proposed adjustment of the Company’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ federal, state, local or foreign taxes is pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened. The accruals and reserves on the books and records of the Company and its Subsidiaries in respect of tax liabilities for any taxable period not finally determined are adequate to meet any assessments and related liabilities for any such period and, since December 31, 2020, except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its Subsidiaries have not incurred any liability for taxes other than in the ordinary course of its business. There is no tax lien, whether imposed by any federal, state, foreign or other taxing authority, outstanding against the assets, properties or business of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, other than any such tax lien arising automatically under applicable law with respect to taxes not yet due and payable or being contested in good faith.

 

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(xxxv)            No Labor Dispute. No labor disturbance by or dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries exists or, to the Company’s knowledge, is imminent, contemplated or threatened and the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbances by the employees of any of its or any of its Subsidiaries principal suppliers, manufacturers, customers or contractors, which, in either case (individually or in the aggregate), could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(xxxvi)            ERISA. Each employee benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), that is maintained, administered or contributed to by the Company or any Subsidiary for employees or former employees of the Company and its affiliates has been maintained in compliance with its terms and the requirements of any applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations, including but not limited to ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), except to the extent that failure to so comply, individually or in the aggregate, would not have a Material Adverse Effect. No prohibited transaction, within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code has occurred with respect to any such plan excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administrative exemption.

 

(xxxvii)            Environmental Laws. Neither the Company nor any of the Subsidiaries is in violation of any statute or any rule, regulation, decision or order of any governmental agency or body or any court, domestic or foreign, relating to the use, production, disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or relating to the protection or restoration of the environment or human exposure to hazardous or toxic substances (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), owns or operates any real property contaminated with any substance that is subject to any Environmental Laws, is liable for any off-site disposal or contamination pursuant to any Environmental Laws, or is subject to any claim relating to any Environmental Laws, which violation, contamination, liability or claim, individually or in the aggregate, would have a Material Adverse Effect; and the Company is not aware of any pending investigation which would reasonably be expected to lead to such a claim.

 

(xxxviii)            No Unlawful Payments. Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor any director, officer or employee of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries has (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity; (ii) made or taken an act in furtherance of an offer, promise or authorization of any direct or indirect unlawful payment or benefit to any foreign or domestic government official or employee, including of any government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, or any political party or party official or candidate for political office; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or any applicable law or regulation implementing the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, or committed an offence under the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom or any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption law; or (iv) made, offered, agreed, requested or taken an act in furtherance of any unlawful bribe or other unlawful benefit, including, without limitation, any rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful or improper payment or benefit. The Company and its Subsidiaries have instituted, maintain and enforce, and will continue to maintain and enforce policies and procedures designed to promote and ensure compliance with all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws.

 

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(xxxix)         Anti-Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company and each of its Subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all applicable jurisdictions where the Company or any of its Subsidiaries conducts business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened.

 

(xl)           OFAC.

 

(a)            Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries, nor any or their directors, officers or employees, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any agent, affiliate or representative of the Company or its Subsidiaries, is an individual or entity that is, or is owned or controlled by an individual or entity that is: (1) the subject of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), nor (2) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions (including, without limitation, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria).

 

(b)            Neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries will, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other individual or entity: (1) to fund or facilitate any activities or business of or with any individual or entity or in any country or territory that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject of Sanctions; or (2) in any other manner that will result in a violation of Sanctions by any individual or entity (including any individual or entity participating in the offering, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise).

 

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(c)               For the past five years, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has knowingly engaged in, and is not now knowingly engaged in, any dealings or transactions with any individual or entity, or in any country or territory, that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject of Sanctions.

 

(xli)             Not an Ineligible Issuer. At the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defind in Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

(xlii)            No Rated Securities. There are (and prior to any Settlement Date, will be) no debt securities, convertible securities or preferred stock issued or guaranteed by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries that are rated by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act.

 

(xliii)           Forward-Looking Statements. No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) included or incorporated by reference in any of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith.

 

(xliv)          Margin Rules. The sale and delivery of the Shares as described in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will not violate Regulation T, U or X of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any other regulation of such Board of Governors.

 

(xlv)           No Registration Rights. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any securities of the Company owned or to be owned by such person. There are no contracts, agreements or understandings to require the Company to include any such securities in the securities proposed to be offered pursuant to this Agreement.

 

(xlvi)          Offering Materials. The Company has not distributed and prior to any Settlement Date, will not distribute any offering material in connection with any Placement (as defined in Section 2(a)(i) below), other than the Prospectus, and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus to which the Agent has consented.

 

(xlvii)          No Legal, Accounting or Tax Advice. The Company has not relied upon the Agent or legal counsel for the Agent for any legal, tax or accounting advice in connection with the offering and sale of the Shares.

 

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(xlviii)         Compliance with FDA Regulations. Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company: (A) is and at all times has been in material compliance with all statutes, rules and regulations of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) and other comparable governmental authorities applicable to the ownership, testing (including clinical trials and pre-clinical studies), development, manufacture, packaging, processing, use, labeling, storage, import, export or disposal of any product under development, manufactured by the Company (“Applicable Laws”); (B) has not received any FDA Form 483, notice of adverse finding, warning letter, untitled letter or other correspondence or other formal notice from the FDA or any governmental authority alleging or asserting material noncompliance with any Applicable Laws or any licenses, certificates, permits and supplements or amendments thereto required by any such Applicable Laws (“Authorizations”); (C) possesses all material Authorizations and such Authorizations are valid and in full force and effect and the Company is not in material violation of any term of any such Authorizations; (D) has not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from the FDA or any governmental authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in material violation of any Applicable Laws or Authorizations and has no knowledge that the FDA, Health Canada or any governmental authority or third party is considering any such claim, litigation, arbitration, action, suit, investigation or proceeding; (E) has not received any formal notice that the FDA, Health Canada or any governmental authority has taken, is taking or intends to take action to materially limit, suspend, modify or revoke any material Authorizations and has no knowledge that the FDA, Health Canada or any governmental authority is considering such action; and (F) has filed, obtained, maintained or submitted all material reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required by any Applicable Laws or Authorizations and that all such reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments were materially complete and correct on the date filed (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission).

  

(xlix)            Compliance with Health Care Laws. To the extent applicable, the Company has operated and currently is in compliance with all applicable health care laws, rules and regulations (except where such failure to operate or non-compliance would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect), including, without limitation, (i) the Federal, Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. §§ 301 et seq.) and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (collectively, “FFDCA”); (ii) all applicable federal, state, and local and all applicable similar foreign healthcare laws, including, without limitation, the federal Anti-kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)), the U.S. Physician Payments Sunshine Act (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7h), the civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq.), the criminal False Claims Law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(a)), all criminal laws relating to healthcare fraud and abuse, including but not limited to 18 U.S.C. Sections 286 and 287, the healthcare fraud criminal provisions under the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.); (iii) HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic Clinical Health Act (42 U.S.C. Sections 17921 - 17931); (iv) the regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws; and (vii) any other similar local, state, federal, or foreign laws (collectively, the “Health Care Laws”). The Company has not received written notice or other formal communication of any claim, action, suit, audit, survey, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action (“Health Care Law Action”) from any court or arbitrator or governmental authority or regulatory authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Health Care Laws, and, to the Company’s knowledge, no such Health Care Law Action is threatened. The Company is not a party to and does not have any ongoing reporting obligations pursuant to any corporate integrity agreement, deferred prosecution agreement, monitoring agreement, consent decree, settlement order, plan of correction or similar agreement imposed by any governmental or regulatory authority. Additionally, neither the Company, nor to the Company’s actual knowledge, any of its employees, officers or directors, has been excluded, suspended or debarred from participation in any U.S. state or federal health care program or human clinical research pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7, 21 U.S.C. § 335a, or similar laws, or, to the knowledge of the Company, is subject to a governmental inquiry, investigation, proceeding, or other similar action that could reasonably be expected to result in debarment, suspension, or exclusion.

 

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(l)            Clinical Trials. The non-clinical studies and clinical trials conducted by or, to the Company’s knowledge, on behalf of the Company were and, if still ongoing, are being conducted in all material respects in accordance with applicable experimental protocols, procedures and controls pursuant to accepted professional scientific standards, current good clinical practices and current good laboratory practices as required under applicable laws and all Authorizations and Applicable Laws, including, without limitation, the FFDCA, and the International Conference on Harmonization Guidelines; the descriptions of the results of such studies and clinical trials contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus are, to the Company’s knowledge, accurate and complete in all material respects and fairly present the material data derived from such studies and clinical trials; except to the extent disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company is not aware of any studies or clinical trials, the results of which the Company believes reasonably call into question the study or trial results described or referred to in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus when viewed in the context in which such results are described and the clinical state of development; and, except to the extent disclosed in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, the Company has not received any written notices or correspondence from the FDA or any governmental authority requiring the termination or suspension of any studies or clinical trials conducted by or on behalf of the Company, other than ordinary course communications with respect to modifications in connection with the design and implementation of such clinical trials.

 

(b)            Any certificate signed by or on behalf of the Company and delivered to the Agent or to counsel for the Agent shall be deemed to be a representation and warranty by the Company to the Agent as to the matters covered thereby.

 

2.            Purchase, Sale and Delivery of Shares.

 

(a)            At-the-Market Sales. On the basis of the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to issue and sell through the Agent as sales agent, and the Agent agrees to use its commercially reasonable efforts to sell for and on behalf of the Company, the Shares on the following terms and conditions; provided, however, that any obligation of the Agent to use such commercially reasonable efforts shall be subject to the continuing accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company herein, the performance by the Company of its covenants and obligations hereunder and the continuing satisfaction of the additional conditions specified in Section 4 of this Agreement. The Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) there can be no assurance that the Agent will be successful in selling Shares, and (ii) the Agent will incur no liability or obligation to the Company or any other person or entity if it does not sell Shares for any reason other than a failure by the Agent to use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices to sell such Shares as required under this Section 2.

 

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(i)            Each time that the Company wishes to issue and sell the Shares hereunder (each, a “Placement”), it will notify the Agent by email notice (or other method mutually agreed to in writing by the parties) (a “Placement Notice”) containing the parameters in accordance with which it desires the Shares to be sold, which shall at a minimum include the number of Shares to be issued, the time period during which sales are requested to be made, any limitation on the number of Shares that may be sold in any one Trading Day (as defined below) and any minimum price below which sales may not be made, a form of which containing such minimum sales parameters necessary is attached hereto as Schedule 1.  The Placement Notice shall originate from any of the individuals from the Company set forth on Schedule 2 (with a copy to each of the other individuals from the Company listed on such schedule), and shall be addressed to each of the individuals from the Agent set forth on Schedule 2, as such Schedule 2 may be amended from time to time. The Placement Notice shall be effective upon receipt by the Agent unless and until (i) in accordance with the notice requirements set forth in Section 2(a)(iii) of this Agreement, the Agent declines to accept the terms contained therein for any reason, in its sole discretion, (ii) the entire amount of the Shares have been sold, (iii) the Company suspends or terminates the Placement Notice in accordance with the notice requirements set forth in Section 2(a)(iii) below, (iv) the Company issues a subsequent Placement Notice with parameters superseding those on the earlier dated Placement Notice, or (v) this Agreement has been terminated under the provisions of Section 7.  The amount of any commission or other compensation to be paid by the Company to the Agent in connection with the sale of the Shares shall be calculated in accordance with the terms set forth in Section 2(a)(v) below. It is expressly acknowledged and agreed that neither the Company nor the Agent will have any obligation whatsoever with respect to a Placement or any Shares unless and until the Company delivers a Placement Notice to the Agent and the Agent does not decline such Placement Notice pursuant to the terms set forth above, and then only upon the terms specified therein and herein.  In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and the terms of the Placement Notice, the terms of the Placement Notice will control. For the purposes hereof, “Trading Day” means any day on which the Company’s Common Stock is purchased and sold on the principal market on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted.

 

(ii)           The Shares are to be sold by the Agent on a daily basis or otherwise as shall be agreed to by the Company and the Agent on any day that is a trading day for the Exchange (other than a day on which the Exchange is scheduled to close prior to its regular weekday closing time). The gross sales price of the Shares sold under this Section 2(a) shall be the market price for the Company’s Common Stock sold by the Agent under this Section 2(a) at the time of such sale.

 

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(iii)            Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company may instruct the Agent by telephone (confirmed promptly by email) not to sell the Shares if such sales cannot be effected at or above the price designated by the Company in any such instruction. Furthermore, the Company shall not authorize the issuance and sale of, and the Agent shall not be obligated to use its commercially reasonable efforts to sell, any Share at a price lower than the minimum price therefor designated from time to time by the Company’s Board of Directors and notified to the Agent in writing. In addition, the Company or the Agent may, upon notice to the other party hereto by telephone (confirmed promptly by email), suspend the offering of the Shares, whereupon the Agent shall so suspend the offering of Shares until further notice is provided to the other party to the contrary; provided, however, that such suspension or termination shall not affect or impair the parties’ respective obligations with respect to the Shares sold hereunder prior to the giving of such notice. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, during any period in which the Company is in possession of material non-public information, the Company and the Agent agree that (i) no sale of Shares will take place, (ii) the Company shall not request the sale of any Shares, and (iii) the Agent shall not be obligated to sell or offer to sell any Shares.

 

(iv)            Subject to the terms of the Placement Notice, the Agent may sell the Shares by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at the market offering” as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) under the Securities Act, including sales made directly on or through an Exchange. Subject to the terms of any Placement Notice, the Agent may also sell Shares in negotiated transactions at market prices prevailing at the time of sale or at prices related to such prevailing market prices and/or any other method permitted by law, subject to the prior written consent of the Company.

 

(v)            The compensation to the Agent for sales of the Shares, as an agent of the Company, shall be 3.0% of the gross sales price of the Shares sold pursuant to this Section 2(a), payable in cash (the “Sales Commission”); provided that the combined Sales Commission and reimbursement of the Agent for its out-of-pocket expenses pursuant to Section 3(g), including reasonable fees and disbursements of the Agent’s counsel, shall not exceed 8.0% of the gross sales price of the Shares. The remaining proceeds, after further deduction for any transaction fees imposed by any governmental or self-regulatory organization in respect of such sales, and reimbursement of expenses that the Agent may be entitled to pursuant to Section 3(g), shall constitute the net proceeds to the Company for such Shares (the “Net Proceeds”).

 

(vi)            The Agent will provide written confirmation to the Company (including by email correspondence to each of the individuals of the Company set forth on Schedule 2), no later than the opening of the Trading Day immediately following the Trading Day on which it has made sales of Shares hereunder, setting forth the number of Shares sold on such day, the volume-weighted average price of the Shares sold, and the Net Proceeds payable to the Company.

 

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(vii)            All Shares sold pursuant to this Section 2(a) will be delivered by the Company to the Agent for the account of the Agent, against payment of the Net Proceeds therefor, by wire transfer of same-day funds payable to the order of the Company at the offices of Piper Sandler & Co., U.S. Bancorp Center, 800 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, or such other location as may be mutually acceptable, at 9:00 a.m. Central Time on the second full business day following the date on which such Shares are sold, or at such other time and date as the Agent and the Company determine pursuant to Rule 15c6-1(a) under the Exchange Act, each such time and date of delivery being herein referred to as a “Settlement Date.” If the Agent so elects, delivery of the Shares may be made by credit through full fast transfer to an account or accounts at The Depository Trust Company designated by the Agent. On each Settlement Date, the Agent will deliver the Net Proceeds in same day funds to an account designated by the Company on, or prior to, such Settlement Date.  The Company agrees that if the Company, or its transfer agent (if applicable), defaults in its obligation to timely deliver duly authorized Shares on a Settlement Date, the Company agrees that in addition to and in no way limiting the rights and obligations set forth in Section 5 hereto, it will (i) hold the Agent harmless against any loss, claim, damage, or expense (including reasonable legal fees and expenses), as incurred, arising out of or in connection with such default by the Company, (ii) reimburse the Agent for any losses incurred by the Agent attributable, directly or indirectly, to such default and (iii) pay to the Agent any commission or other compensation to which the Agent would otherwise have been entitled absent such default.

 

(b)            Maximum Amount. Under no circumstances shall the aggregate number or aggregate value of the Shares sold pursuant to this Agreement exceed: (i) the aggregate number and aggregate dollar amount of shares of Common Stock available for issuance and sale under the currently effective Registration Statement, (ii) the aggregate number of authorized but unissued shares of Common Stock that are available for issuance under the Company’s certificate of incorporation or certificate of designation or (iii) the aggregate number or aggregate dollar amount of shares of Common Stock for which the Company has filed any Prospectus Supplement in connection with the Shares (the lesser of (i), (ii) and (iii), the Maximum Amount”). Notwithstanding the foregoing or anything expressed or implied to the contrary in this Agreement, the Company may, upon prior notice to the Agent, (i) decrease the Maximum Amount and (ii) if the amount is decreased pursuant to subsection (i), increase the Maximum Amount; provided, however, the Maximum Amount in any increase shall be further reduced by any Shares sold pursuant to Section 2(a). The parties acknowledge and agree to take any and all actions reasonably necessary to effect such actions.

 

(c)            No Association or Partnership. Nothing herein contained shall constitute the Agent as an unincorporated association or partner with the Company.

 

(d)           Duration. Under no circumstances shall any Shares be sold pursuant to this Agreement after the date which is three years after the Registration Statement is first declared effective by the Commission.

 

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(e)            Market Transactions by Agent. The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Agent has informed the Company that the Agent may, to the extent permitted under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act and this Agreement, purchase and sell shares of Common Stock for its own account while this Agreement is in effect, provided, that (i) no sale for its own account shall take place while a Placement Notice is in effect (except to the extent the Agent may engage in sales of Shares purchased or deemed purchased from the Company as a “riskless principal” or in a similar capacity) and (ii) the Company shall not be deemed to have authorized or consented to any such purchases or sales by the Agent. The Company consents to the Agent trading in the Common Stock for the account of any of its clients at the same time as sales of the Shares occur pursuant to this Agreement.

 

3.            Covenants of the Company. The Company covenants and agrees with the Agent as follows:

 

(a)            Amendments to Registration Statement and Prospectus. After the date of this Agreement and during any period in which a Prospectus relating to any Shares is required to be delivered by the Agent under the Securities Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172 under the Securities Act), the Company agrees that it will: (i) notify the Agent promptly of the time when any subsequent amendment to the Registration Statement, other than documents incorporated by reference or amendments not related to the Shares, has been filed with the Commission and/or has become effective or any subsequent supplement to the Prospectus related to the Shares has been filed and of any request by the Commission for any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement (insofar as it relates to the transactions contemplated hereby) or Prospectus or for additional information; (ii) prepare and file with the Commission, promptly upon the Agent’s request, any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or Prospectus that, in the Agent’s reasonable opinion, may be necessary or advisable in connection with the sale of the Shares by the Agent (provided, however, that the failure of the Agent to make such request shall not relieve the Company of any obligation or liability hereunder, or affect the Agent’s right to rely on the representations and warranties made by the Company in this Agreement); (iii) not file any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus, other than documents incorporated by reference, relating to the Shares or a security convertible into the Shares unless a copy thereof has been submitted to the Agent within a reasonable period of time before the filing and the Agent has not reasonably objected thereto (provided, however, that (A) the failure of the Agent to make such objection shall not relieve the Company of any obligation or liability hereunder, or affect the Agent’s right to rely on the representations and warranties made by the Company in this Agreement), (B) the Company has no obligation to provide the Agent any advance copy of such filing or to provide the Agent an opportunity to object to such filing if the filing does not name the Agent or does not relate to a Placement or other transaction contemplated hereunder, and (C) the only remedy that the Agent shall have with respect to the failure by the Company to provide the Agent with such copy or the filing of such amendment or supplement despite the Agent’s objection shall be to cease making sales under this Agreement); (iv) furnish to the Agent at the time of filing thereof a copy of any document that upon filing is deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement or Prospectus, except for those documents available via EDGAR; and (v) cause each amendment or supplement to the Prospectus, other than documents incorporated by reference, to be filed with the Commission as required pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act.

 

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(b)            Stop Order. The Company will advise the Agent, promptly after it receives notice or obtains knowledge thereof, of the issuance or threatened issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, of the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose, and it will promptly use its commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order or to obtain its withdrawal if such a stop order should be issued.

 

(c)            Continuing Amendments. During any period in which a Prospectus relating to the Shares is required to be delivered by the Agent under the Securities Act with respect to any Placement or pending sale of the Shares, (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172 under the Securities Act), the Company will comply with all requirements imposed upon it by the Securities Act, as from time to time in force, and to file on or before their respective due dates all reports (taking into account any extensions available under the Exchange Act) and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, 15(d) or any other provision of or under the Exchange Act. If during such period any event occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then existing, not misleading, or if during such period it is necessary to amend or supplement the Registration Statement or Prospectus to comply with the Securities Act, the Company will promptly notify the Agent to suspend the offering of Shares during such period and the Company will promptly amend or supplement the Registration Statement or Prospectus (at the expense of the Company) so as to correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance.

 

(d)            Qualification of the Shares. The Company shall take or cause to be taken all necessary action to qualify the Shares for sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as the Agent reasonably designates and to continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Shares, except that the Company shall not be required in connection therewith to qualify as a foreign corporation or to execute a general consent to service of process in any state. The Company shall promptly advise the Agent of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification of the Shares for offer or sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose.

 

(e)           Copies of Registration Statement and Prospectus. The Company will furnish to the Agent and counsel for the Agent copies of the Registration Statement (which will include three complete manually signed copies of the Registration Statement and all consents and exhibits filed therewith), the Prospectus and all amendments and supplements to such documents, in each case as soon as available and in such quantities as the Agent may from time to time reasonably request; provided, however, that the Company’s obligations to provide such copies shall not apply to any filing available via EDGAR.

 

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(f)            Section 11(a). The Company will make generally available to its security holders as soon as practicable an earnings statement (which need not be audited) covering a 12-month period that shall satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and Rule 158 promulgated thereunder.

  

(g)           Expenses. The Company, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereunder are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, will pay or cause to be paid (i) all expenses (including stock or transfer taxes and stamp or similar duties allocated to the respective transferees) incurred in connection with the registration, issue, sale and delivery of the Shares, (ii) all expenses and fees (including, without limitation, fees and expenses of the Company’s accountants and counsel) in connection with the preparation, printing, filing, delivery, and shipping of the Registration Statement (including the financial statements therein and all amendments, schedules, and exhibits thereto), the Shares, the Prospectus and any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, and the producing, word-processing, printing, delivery, and shipping of this Agreement and other offering documents or closing documents, including Blue Sky Memoranda (covering the states and other applicable jurisdictions) and including the cost to furnish copies of each thereof to the Agent, (iii) all filing fees, (iv) all reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of the Agent’s counsel incurred in connection with the qualification of the Shares for offering and sale by the Agent or by dealers under the securities or blue sky laws of the states and other jurisdictions which the Agent shall designate, (v) the fees and expenses of any transfer agent or registrar, (vi) the filing fees and reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of the Agent’s counsel incident to determining compliance of sales of the Shares with FINRA’s rules and any required review and approval by FINRA of the terms of the sale of the Shares, (vii) listing fees, if any, (viii) the cost and expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations or any “roadshow” undertaken in connection with marketing of the Shares, and (ix) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder that are not otherwise specifically provided for herein. In addition to (iv) and (vi) above, the Company shall reimburse the Agent for its reasonable and documented out-of-pocket expenses, including reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of the Agent’s counsel, in an amount not to exceed (a) $50,000 in connection with the establishment of this at-the-market offering and (b) thereafter, $3,000 for each quarter in which the Company submits a Placement Notice to the Agent for services in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder.

 

(h)           Use of Proceeds. The Company will apply the net proceeds from the sale of the Shares in the manner disclosed in the Prospectus.

 

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(i)            Restrictions on Future Sales. During the term of this Agreement, the Company will not, offer for sale, sell, contract to sell, pledge, grant any option for the sale of, enter into any transaction which is designed to, or might reasonably be expected to, result in the disposition of Common Stock (whether by actual disposition or effective economic disposition due to cash settlement or otherwise) by the Company or any affiliate, or otherwise issue or dispose of, directly or indirectly (or publicly disclose the intention to make any such offer, sale, pledge, grant, issuance or other disposition), any Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for, or any options or rights to purchase or acquire, Common Stock, or permit the registration under the Securities Act of any Common Stock, such securities, options or rights, during the period beginning on the third Trading Day immediately prior to the date on which any Placement Notice is delivered to the Agent hereunder and ending on the earlier of (x) the third Trading Day immediately following the Settlement Date with respect to Shares sold pursuant to such Placement Notice and (y) the date the Company notifies the Agent of the withdrawal of such Placement Notice, provided, however, that such restrictions will not be required in connection with: (i) the registration of the Shares and the sales through the Agent pursuant to this Agreement, (ii) sales of shares through any dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plan of the Company, (iii) sales of shares of restricted stock, restricted stock units and options granted pursuant to employee benefit plans existing as of the date hereof, and the Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of such outstanding options or vesting of such restricted stock units, (iv) the issuance of shares pursuant to the exercise of warrants, options or other derivative securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock outstanding as of the date hereof and disclosed in the Registration Statement and Prospectus, (v) the issuance of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for, or any options or rights to purchase or acquire, Common Stock as consideration for mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or joint ventures or strategic alliances, including without limitation, in-licensing and out-licensing agreements, occurring after the date of this Agreement which are not for the primary purpose of raising capital and the filing of related registration statements on Form S-3, and (vi) the filing of registration statements on Form S-8, provided, that, in the case of each of (ii) through (vi), the Company provides the Agent at least three business days’ prior written notice specifying the nature of the proposed sale and the date of such proposed sale, so as to permit the Agent to suspend activity under this Agreement for such period of time as requested by the Company.

 

(j)             No Stabilization or Manipulation. The Company has not taken and will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to, or which might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, or which constitutes: (i) the stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Common Stock or any other security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Shares, (ii) a violation of Regulation M. The Company shall notify the Agent of any violation of Regulation M by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers or directors promptly after the Company has received notice or obtained knowledge of any such violation. The Company shall not invest in futures contracts, options on futures contracts or options on commodities, unless the Company is exempt from the registration requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (the “Commodity Act”), or otherwise complies with the Commodity Act. The Company will not engage in any activities bearing on the Commodity Act, unless such activities are exempt from the Commodity Act or otherwise comply with the Commodity Act.

 

(k)            No Other Broker. Except as contemplated by this Agreement, the Company will not incur any liability for any finder’s or broker’s fee or agent’s commission in connection with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

(l)            Timely Securities Act and Exchange Act Reports. During any prospectus delivery period, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to file on a timely basis with the Commission such periodic and special reports as required by the Securities Act and the Exchange Act.

 

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(m)           Internal Controls. The Company and its Subsidiaries will maintain such controls and other procedures, including without limitation, those required by Sections 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the applicable regulations thereunder, that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer and its principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure, to ensure that material information relating to Company, including its Subsidiaries, is made known to them by others within those entities.

 

(n)           Permitted Free Writing Prospectus. The Company represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Agent, and the Agent severally represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Company, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Shares that would constitute an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 under the Securities Act, or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, required to be filed with the Commission. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Company and the Agent is hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus.” The Company represents that it has treated or agrees that it will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely Commission filing where required, legending and record keeping.

 

(o)           Representation Date and Opinions of Counsel. On or prior to the date of the first Placement Notice, and thereafter during the term of this Agreement, each time the Company (A) files an amendment to the Registration Statement or Prospectus (other than relating solely to the offering of securities other than the Shares), (B)  files an annual report on Form 10-K under the Exchange Act or files its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q under the Exchange Act; and (C) files a report on Form 8-K containing amended financial statements (other than an earnings release) under the Exchange Act, (each of the dates in (A), (B) and (C) are referred to herein as a “Representation Date”), the Company shall cause:

 

(i)            Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, counsel for the Company, to furnish to the Agent the opinion and negative assurance letter of such counsel, dated as of such date and addressed to the Agent, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Agent; provided however, only a negative assurance letter of such counsel shall be required for each subsequent Representation Date.

 

(ii)           Khalilian Sira LLC, intellectual property counsel for the Company, to furnish to the Agent the opinion of such counsel, dated as of such date and addressed to the Agent, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Agent; provided however, the opinion of counsel shall only be required for the first Settlement Date.

 

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, the requirement to provide counsel opinions under this Section 3(o) shall be waived for any Representation Date occurring at a time at which no Placement Notice is pending, which waiver shall continue until the date the Company delivers a Placement Notice to the Agent.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company subsequently decides to sell Shares following a Representation Date when the Company relied on such waiver and did not provide the Agent with opinions under this Section 3(o), then before the Agent sells any Shares pursuant to Section 2(a), the Company shall cause the opinions (including the opinion pursuant to Section 3(o) if not delivered on the date of the prior Form 10-K), comfort letter, certificates and documents that would be delivered on a Representation Date to be delivered.

  

(p)           Representation Date and Comfort Letter. Prior to the date of the first Placement Notice and thereafter during the term of this Agreement, on each Representation Date to which a waiver does not apply, the Company shall cause Ernst & Young LLP, or other independent accountants satisfactory to the Agent (the “Accountants”), to deliver to the Agent a letter, dated as of such date and addressed to the Agent, confirming that they are independent public accountants within the meaning of the Securities Act and are in compliance with the applicable requirements relating to the qualifications of accountants under Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X of the Commission, and stating the conclusions and findings of said firm with respect to the financial information and other matters covered by its letter in form and substance satisfactory to the Agent of the same tenor as the first such letter received hereunder.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the requirement to provide a comfort letter from the Accountants under this Section 3(p) shall be waived for any Representation Date occurring at a time at which no Placement Notice is pending, which waiver shall continue until the date the Company delivers a Placement Notice to the Agent.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company subsequently decides to sell Shares following a Representation Date when the Company relied on such waiver and did not provide the Agent with the comfort letter under this Section 3(p), then before the Agent sells any Shares pursuant to Section 2(a), the Company shall cause the comfort letter that would be delivered on a Representation Date to be delivered.

 

(q)           Representation Date and Representation Certificate. Prior to the date of the First Placement Notice and thereafter during the term of this Agreement, on each Representation Date to which a waiver does not apply, the Company shall furnish to the Agent a certificate (the “Representation Certificate”), substantially in the form of Schedule 3 hereto and dated as of such date, addressed to the Agent and signed by the chief executive officer and by the chief financial officer of the Company.

 

(r)            Disclosure of Shares Sold. The Company shall disclose in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in its annual report on Form 10-K the number of the Shares sold through the Agent under this Agreement, the net proceeds to the Company and the compensation paid by the Company with respect to sales of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement during the relevant quarter.

 

(s)            Continued Listing of Shares. The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the listing of the Common Stock on the Exchange.

 

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(t)            Notice of Changes. At any time during the term of this Agreement, as supplemented from time to time, the Company shall advise the Agent immediately after it shall have received notice or obtain knowledge thereof, of any information or fact that would alter or affect any opinion, certificate, letter and other document provided to the Agent pursuant to this Section 3.

 

(u)           Maximum Amount. The Company will not instruct the Agent to sell or otherwise attempt to sell Shares pursuant to this Agreement in excess of the Maximum Amount.

 

(v)           CFO Certificate. Prior to the date of the First Placement Notice and thereafter during the term of this Agreement, on each Representation Date to which a waiver does not apply, the Company shall furnish to the Agent a certificate, dated the date of such Representation Date and addressed to the Agent, of its chief financial officer with respect to certain financial data contained in the Prospectus, providing “management comfort” with respect to such information, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Agent.

 

4.             Conditions of Agent’s Obligations. The obligations of the Agent hereunder are subject to (i) the accuracy, as of the date of this Agreement, each Representation Date, each Notice Date, each Applicable Time, and each Settlement Date (in each case, as if made at such date) of and compliance with all representations, warranties and agreements of the Company contained herein, (ii) the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and (iii) the following additional conditions:

 

(a)            Continuing Amendments; No Stop Order. If filing of the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, is required under the Securities Act, the Company shall have filed the Prospectus (or such amendment or supplement) or such Permitted Free Writing Prospectus with the Commission in the manner and within the time period so required (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8) or Rule 164(b) under the Securities Act); the Registration Statement shall be effective; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof, any registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, or any amendment thereof, nor suspending or preventing the use of the Prospectus shall have been issued; no proceedings for the issuance of such an order shall have been initiated or threatened; and any request of the Commission for additional information (to be included in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or otherwise) shall have been complied with to the Agent's satisfaction.

 

(b)           Absence of Certain Events. None of the following events shall have occurred and be continuing: (i) receipt by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries of any request for additional information from the Commission or any other federal or state governmental authority during the period of effectiveness of the Registration Statement, the response to which would require any post-effective amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus; (ii) the issuance by the Commission or any other federal or state governmental authority of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the initiation of any proceedings for that purpose; (iii) receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification or exemption from qualification of any of the Shares for sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose; (iv) the occurrence of any event that makes any material statement made in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or any material document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated therein by reference untrue in any material respect or that requires the making of any changes in the Registration Statement, related Prospectus or such documents so that, in the case of the Registration Statement, it will not contain any materially untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading and, that in the case of the Prospectus, it will not contain any materially untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading

 

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(c)           No Material Misstatement or Omission. The Agent shall not have advised the Company that the Registration Statement or any the Prospectus, contains an untrue statement of fact which, in the Agent’s opinion, is material, or omits to state a fact which, in the Agent’s opinion, is material and is required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

 

(d)            No Adverse Changes. Except as contemplated in the Prospectus, subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall have incurred any material liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent, or entered into any material transactions, or declared or paid any dividends or made any distribution of any kind with respect to its capital stock; and there shall not have been any change in the capital stock (other than a change in the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock due to the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of outstanding options or warrants), or any material change in the short-term or long-term debt of the Company, or any issuance of options, warrants, convertible securities or other rights to purchase the capital stock of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or any development involving a prospective Material Adverse Effect (whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business), or any loss by strike, fire, flood, earthquake, accident or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, incurred by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, the effect of which, in any such case described above, in the Agent’s judgment, makes it impractical or inadvisable to offer or deliver the Shares on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus.

 

(e)            No Rating Downgrade. On or after each Applicable Time (i) no downgrading shall have occurred in the rating accorded any of the Company’s securities by any “nationally recognized statistical organization,” as that term is defined by the Commission for purposes of Rule 436(g)(2) under the Securities Act, and (ii) no such organization shall have publicly announced that it has under surveillance or review, with possible negative implications, its rating of any of the Company’s securities.

 

(f)            Compliance with Certain Obligations. The Company shall have performed each of its obligations under Section 3(o) – 3(q) and Section 3(v).

 

(g)           Opinion of Agent Counsel. On each Representation Date to which a waiver does not apply, there shall have been furnished to the Agent the opinion and negative assurance letter of White & Case LLP, counsel for the Agent, dated as of such Representation Date and addressed to the Agent, in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Agent, and such counsel shall have received such papers and information as they request to enable them to pass upon such matters; provided however, the opinion of White & Case LLP shall only be required prior to the first Placement Notice, and thereafter, only a negative assurance letter of such counsel shall be required for each subsequent Representation Date.

 

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(h)           Representation Certificate. On or prior to the first Placement Notice, the Agent shall have received the Representation Certificate in form and substance satisfactory to the Agent and its counsel.

 

(i)            No Objection by FINRA. FINRA shall have raised no objection to the fairness and reasonableness of the underwriting terms and arrangements.

 

(j)            Timely Filing of Prospectus and Prospectus Supplement. All filings with the Commission required by Rule 424 under the Securities Act to have been filed by the Settlement Date, as the case may be, shall have been made within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by Rule 424 under the Securities Act.

 

(k)            Additional Documents and Certificates. The Company shall have furnished to the Agent and the Agent’s counsel such additional documents, certificates and evidence as they may have reasonably requested.

 

All opinions, certificates, letters and other documents described in this Section 4 will be in compliance with the provisions hereof only if they are satisfactory in form and substance to the Agent and the Agent’s counsel. The Company will furnish the Agent with such conformed copies of such opinions, certificates, letters and other documents as the Agent shall reasonably request.

 

5.             Indemnification and Contribution.

 

(a)            Company Indemnification. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Agent, its affiliates, directors, officers and employees, and each person, if any, who controls the Agent within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which the Agent may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise (including in settlement of any litigation), insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon, in whole or in part:

 

(i)             an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, including the Rule 430B Information (as defined below) and at any subsequent time pursuant to Rules 430A and 430B promulgated under the Securities Act, and any other information deemed to be part of the Registration Statement at the time of effectiveness, and at any subsequent time pursuant to the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, and the Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto (including any documents filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Prospectus), any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, or any roadshow as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act (a “road show”), or an omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading,

 

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(ii)            any inaccuracy in the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein;

 

(iii)           any investigation or proceeding by any governmental authority, commenced or threatened (whether or not the Agent is a target of or party to such investigation or proceeding);

 

(iv)          any failure of the Company to perform its respective obligations hereunder or under law;

 

and will reimburse the Agent for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by it in connection with investigating or defending against such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case of (i) through (iv) to the extent that any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action arises out of or is based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission made in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, or any such amendment or supplement, in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Agent specifically for use in the preparation thereof. “Rule 430B Information,” as used herein, means information with respect to the Shares and the offering thereof permitted to be omitted from the Registration Statement when it becomes effective pursuant to Rule 430B.

 

In addition to its other obligations under this Section 5(a), the Company agrees that, as an interim measure during the pendency of any claim, action, investigation, inquiry or other proceeding arising out of or based upon any statement or omission, or any alleged statement or omission, described in this Section 5(a), it will reimburse the Agent on a monthly basis for all reasonable and documented legal fees or other expenses incurred in connection with investigating or defending any such claim, action, investigation, inquiry or other proceeding, notwithstanding the absence of a judicial determination as to the propriety and enforceability of the Company’s obligation to reimburse the Agent for such expenses and the possibility that such payments might later be held to have been improper by a court of competent jurisdiction. Any such interim reimbursement payments which are not made to the Agent within 30 days of a request for reimbursement shall bear interest at the WSJ Prime Rate (as published from time to time by the Wall Street Journal).

 

(b)            Agent Indemnification. The Agent will indemnify and hold harmless the Company against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities to which the Company may become subject, under the Securities Act or otherwise (including in settlement of any litigation, if such settlement is effected with the written consent of the Agent), but only insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon an untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, any amendment or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, in each case to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission was made in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by the Agent specifically for use in the preparation thereof, it being understood and agreed that the only information furnished by the Agent for use in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus consists of the statements set forth in the ninth paragraph under the caption “Plan of Distribution” in the Prospectus, and will reimburse the Company for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company in connection with investigating or defending against any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action.

 

30 

 

 

(c)            Notice and Procedures. Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above of notice of the commencement of any action, such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under such subsection, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party shall not relieve the indemnifying party from any liability that it may have to any indemnified party except to the extent such indemnifying party has been materially prejudiced by such failure. In case any such action shall be brought against any indemnified party, and it shall notify the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate in, and, to the extent that it shall wish, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party, and after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of the indemnifying party’s election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party under such subsection for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof other than reasonable costs of investigation; provided, however, that if, in the sole judgment of the Agent, it is advisable for the Agent to be represented by separate counsel, the Agent shall have the right to employ a single counsel to represent the Agent, in which event the reasonable fees and expenses of such separate counsel shall be borne by the indemnifying party or parties and reimbursed to the Agent as incurred (in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph in subsection (a) above).

 

The indemnifying party under this Section 5 shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify the indemnified party against any loss, claim, damage, liability or expense by reason of such settlement or judgment. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by this Section 5, the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least 30 days prior to such settlement being entered into, and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement, compromise or consent to the entry of judgment in any pending or threatened action, suit or proceeding in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity was or could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party, unless such settlement, compromise or consent (a) includes an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such action, suit or proceeding and (b) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

 

31 

 

 

(d)           Contribution; Limitations on Liability; Non-Exclusive Remedy. If the indemnification provided for in this Section 5 is unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under subsection (a) or (b) above, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to in subsection (a) or (b) above, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Agent on the other from the offering of the Shares, or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Agent on the other in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Agent on the other shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the offering (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total commissions received by the Agent (before deducting expenses) from the sale of the Shares. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or the Agent, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission. The Company and the Agent agree that it would not be just and equitable if contributions pursuant to this subsection (d) were to be determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in this subsection (d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to in this subsection (d) shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending against any action or claim which is the subject of this subsection (d). Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (d), the Agent shall not be required to contribute any amount in excess of the commissions received by it under this Agreement. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

 

6.             Representations and Agreements to Survive Delivery. All representations, warranties, and agreements of the Company herein or in certificates delivered pursuant hereto, including but not limited to the agreements of the Agent and the Company contained in Section 5 hereof, shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Agent or any controlling person thereof, or the Company or any of its officers, directors, or controlling persons, and shall survive delivery of, and payment for, the Shares to and by the Agent hereunder.

 

7.             Termination of this Agreement.

 

(a)            The Company shall have the right, by giving ten (10) days’ written notice as hereinafter specified, to terminate the provisions of this Agreement relating to the solicitation of offers to purchase the Shares in its sole discretion at any time. Any such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except that (i) with respect to any pending sale, through the Agent for the Company, the obligations of the Company, including in respect of compensation of the Agent, shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding the termination and (ii) the provisions of Section 3(g), Section 5 and Section 6 of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination.

 

32 

 

  

(b)           The Agent shall have the right, by giving written notice as hereinafter specified, to terminate the provisions of this Agreement relating to the solicitation of offers to purchase the Shares in its sole discretion at any time. Any such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Section 3(g), Section 5 and Section 6 of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination.

 

(c)            Unless earlier terminated pursuant to this Section 7, this Agreement shall automatically terminate upon the earlier to occur of the issuance and sale of all of the Shares through the Agent on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, except that the provisions of Section 3(g), Section 5 and Section 6 of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination.

 

(d)           This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect unless terminated pursuant to Sections 7(a), (b) or (c) above or otherwise by mutual agreement of the parties; provided that any such termination by mutual agreement shall in all cases be deemed to provide that Section 3(g), Section 5 and Section 6 shall remain in full force and effect.

 

(e)            Any termination of this Agreement shall be effective on the date specified in such notice of termination; provided that such termination shall not be effective until the close of business on the date of receipt of such notice by the Agent or the Company, as the case may be. If such termination shall occur prior to the Settlement Date for any sale of the Shares, such sale shall settle in accordance with the provisions of Section 2(a)(vii) of this Agreement.

 

8.             Default by the Company. If the Company shall fail at any Settlement Date to sell and deliver the number of Shares which it is obligated to sell hereunder, then this Agreement shall terminate without any liability on the part of the Agent or, except as provided in Section 3(g) hereof, any non-defaulting party. No action taken pursuant to this Section shall relieve the Company from liability, if any, in respect of such default, and the Company shall (A) hold the Agent harmless against any loss, claim or damage arising from or as a result of such default by the Company and (B) pay the Agent any commission to which it would otherwise be entitled absent such default.

 

9.             Notices. Except as otherwise provided herein, all communications under this Agreement shall be in writing and, if to the Agent, shall be delivered via overnight delivery services to (i) Piper Sandler & Co., U.S. Bancorp Center, 800 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, Attention: Equity Capital Markets, with a copy to Piper Sandler General Counsel at 800 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55402 and LegalCapMarkets@pjc.com; and (ii) the Company at 12 Penns Trail, Newtown, PA 18940, Attention: Mark Guerin, Chief Financial Officer; or in each case to such other address as the person to be notified may have requested in writing. Any party to this Agreement may change such address for notices by sending to the parties to this Agreement written notice of a new address for such purpose.

 

33 

 

 

 

10.            Persons Entitled to Benefit of Agreement. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties hereto and their respective successors and assigns and the controlling persons, officers and directors referred to in Section 5. Nothing in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give to any other person, firm or corporation any legal or equitable remedy or claim under or in respect of this Agreement or any provision herein contained. The term “successors and assigns” as herein used shall not include any purchaser, as such purchaser, of any of the Shares from the Agent.

 

11.            Absence of Fiduciary Relationship. The Company, having been advised by counsel, acknowledges and agrees that: (a) the Agent has been retained solely to act as a sales agent in connection with the sale of the Shares and that no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company (including any of the Company’s affiliates (including directors), equity holders, creditors, employees or agents, hereafter, “Company Representatives”), on the one hand, and the Agent on the other, has been created or will be created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, irrespective of whether the Agent has advised or is advising the Company on other matters and irrespective of the use of the defined term “Agent;” (b) neither the Agent nor any of its affiliates (including directors), equity holders, creditors, employees or agents, hereafter, “Agent Representatives”) shall have any duty or obligation to the Company or any Company Representative except as set forth in this Agreement; (c) the price and other terms of any Placement executed pursuant to this Agreement, as well as the terms of this Agreement, are deemed acceptable to the Company and its counsel, following discussions and arms-length negotiations with the Agent; (d) the Company is capable of evaluating and understanding, and in fact has evaluated, understands and accepts the terms, risks and conditions of any Placement Notice to be executed pursuant to this Agreement, and any other transactions contemplated by this Agreement; (e) the Company has been advised that the Agent and the Agent Representatives are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that the Agent and the Agent Representatives have no obligation to disclose any such interests and transactions to the Company by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship, or otherwise; (f) the Company has been advised that the Agent is acting, in respect of any Placement and the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, solely for the benefit of the Agent, and not on behalf of the Company; and (g) the Company and the Company Representatives waive, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims that they may have against the Agent or any of the Agent Representatives for breach of fiduciary duty or alleged breach of fiduciary duty in respect of any Placement or any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and agree that the Agent and the Agent Representatives shall have no liability (whether direct or indirect, in contract, tort or otherwise) to the Company or any of the Company Representatives in respect of any person asserting any claim of breach of any fiduciary duty on behalf of or in right of the Company or any of the Company Representatives.

 

12.            Governing Law and Waiver of Jury Trial. This Agreement and any transaction contemplated by this Agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related thereto shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without regard to principles of conflict of laws that would results in the application of any other law than the laws of the State of New York. The Company (on its own behalf and on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates) hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any and all right to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

34

 

 

 

13.            Submission to Jurisdiction, Etc. Each party hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. federal and New York state courts sitting in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, in any suit or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby. The parties hereby irrevocably and unconditionally waive any objection to the laying of venue of any lawsuit, action or other proceeding in such courts, and hereby further irrevocably and unconditionally waive and agree not to plead or claim in any such court that any such lawsuit, action or other proceeding brought in any such court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

 

14.            Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. Counterparts may be delivered via facsimile or electronic mail (including, without limitation, “pdf”, “tif” or “jpg”) and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.

 

15.            Construction. The section and exhibit headings herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof. References herein to any law, statute, ordinance, code, regulation, rule or other requirement of any governmental authority shall be deemed to refer to such law, statute, ordinance, code, regulation, rule or other requirement of any governmental authority as amended, reenacted, supplemented or superseded in whole or in part and in effect from time to time and also to all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the parties to this Agreement and supersedes all prior written or oral and all contemporaneous oral agreements, understandings and negotiations with respect to the subject matter hereof. Except as set forth in Section 2(b), this Agreement may not be amended or modified unless in writing by all of the parties hereto, and no condition herein (express or implied) may be waived unless waived in writing by each party whom the condition is meant to benefit.

 

[Signature Pages Follow]

 

35

 

 

 

Please sign and return to the Company the enclosed duplicates of this letter whereupon this letter will become a binding agreement between the Company and the Agent in accordance with its terms.

 

  Very truly yours,
   
  ONCONOVA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
   
  By:  /s/ MARK P. GUERIN 
    Name: Mark P. Guerin 
    Title: Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

 

Confirmed as of the date first above mentioned.  
   
PIPER SANDLER & CO.  
   
By: /s/ NEIL RILEY   
  Name: Neil Riley   
  Title: Managing Director  

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE 1

 

FORM OF PLACEMENT NOTICE

 

No Facsimile and No Voicemail

 

From:

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.

 

To:

 

Piper Sandler & Co.

 

Attention:

 

Neil A. Riley

Neil.Riley@psc.com

 

Michael W. Bassett

Michael.Bassett@psc.com

 

Connor N. Anderson

Connor.Anderson@psc.com

 

Tom Wright

Thomas.Wright@psc.com

 

Jay A. Hershey

Jay.Hershey@psc.com

 

Date:

 

Subject:

[●], 20[●]

 

Equity Distribution Agreement – Placement Notice

   
Gentlemen:  

 

Pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions contained in the Equity Distribution Agreement between Onconova Therapeutics, Inc. (“Company”), and Piper Sandler & Co. (“Agent”) dated August 20, 2021 [(the “Agreement”), the Company hereby requests that Agent sell up to [●] shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a minimum market price of $[¨] per share.  Sales should begin on the date of this Placement Notice and shall continue until [¨] /[all shares are sold].

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE 2

 

 

NOTICE PARTIES

 

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.

 

Steven M. Fruchtman, MD 

sfruchtman@onconova.us

 

Mark Guerin 

mguerin@onconova.us

 

Avi Oler 

aoler@onconova.us

 

Piper Sandler & Co.

 

Neil A. Riley 

Neil.Riley@psc.com

 

Michael W. Bassett 

Michael.Bassett@psc.com

 

Connor N. Anderson

Connor.Anderson@psc.com

 

Tom Wright 

Thomas.Wright@psc.com

 

Jay A. Hershey 

Jay.Hershey@psc.com

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE 3

 

FORM OF REPRESENTATION CERTIFICATE 

PURSUANT TO SECTION 3(q) OF THE AGREEMENT

 

[Date]

 

Piper Sandler & Co. 

800 Nicollet Mall 

Minneapolis, MN 55402

 

Sir:

 

The undersigned, the duly qualified and elected [•], of Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), does hereby certify in such capacity and on behalf of the Company, pursuant to Section 3(q) of the Equity Distribution Agreement, dated August 20, 2021 (the “Equity Distribution Agreement”), between the Company and Piper Sandler & Co., that to the best of the knowledge of the undersigned:

 

(i)            The representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct, in all material respects, as if made at and as of the date of the certificate, and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the date of the certificate;

 

(ii)            No stop order or other order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any part thereof or any amendment thereof or the qualification of the Shares for Registration Statement, nor suspending or preventing the use of the base prospectus, the Prospectus or any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, has been issued, and no proceeding for that purpose has been instituted or, to the best of the Company’s knowledge, is contemplated by the Commission or any state or regulatory body;

 

(iii)            The Shares have been duly and validly authorized by the Company and that all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Shares has been validly and sufficiently taken;

 

(iv)            The signers of this certificate have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the base prospectus, the Prospectus and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, and any amendments thereof or supplements thereto (including any documents filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference into the base prospectus, the Prospectus and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus),

 

 

 

 

(A)            each part of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and any amendments thereof or supplements thereto (including any documents filed under the Exchange Act and deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Prospectus) contain, and contained when such part of the Registration Statement (or such amendment) became effective, all statements and information required to be included therein, each part of the Registration Statement, or any amendment thereof, does not contain, and did not contain, when such part of the Registration Statement (or such amendment) became effective, any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state, and did not omit to state when such part of the Registration Statement (or such amendment) became effective, any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and the Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, does not include and did not include as of its date, or the time of first use within the meaning of the Securities Act, any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state and did not omit to state as of its date, or the time of first use within the meaning of the Securities Act, a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading,

 

(B)            at no time during the period that begins on the earlier of the date of such base prospectus, Prospectus, or Permitted Free Writing Prospectus and the date such base prospectus, Prospectus, or Permitted Free Writing Prospectus was filed with the Commission and ends on the date of this certificate did such base prospectus, Prospectus, or Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, as then amended or supplemented, include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading,

 

(C)            since the date of the Equity Distribution Agreement, there has occurred no event required to be set forth in an amended or supplemented prospectus which has not been so set forth, and there has been no document required to be filed under the Exchange Act that upon such filing would be deemed to be incorporated by reference into the base prospectus, the Prospectus or any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus that has not been so filed,

 

(D)            except as stated in the Prospectus or any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, the Company has not incurred any material liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent, or entered into any material transactions, not in the ordinary course of business, or declared or paid any dividends or made any distribution of any kind with respect to its capital stock, and except as disclosed in the base prospectus, the Prospectus, and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, there has not been any change in the capital stock (other than a change in the number of outstanding Common Stock due to sales of Shares pursuant to the Equity Distribution Agreement and the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of equity awards or warrants), or any material change in the short term or long term debt, or any Material Adverse Effect or any development involving a prospective Material Adverse Effect (whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business), or any loss by strike, fire, flood, earthquake, accident or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, incurred by the Company, and

 

(E)            except as stated in the base prospectus, the Prospectus, and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, there is not pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened or contemplated, any action, suit or proceeding to which the Company is a party before or by any court or governmental agency, authority or body, or any arbitrator, which might result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

Capitalized terms used herein without definition shall have the meanings given to such terms in the Equity Distribution Agreement.

 

 

 

 

 

ONCONOVA THERAPEUTICS, INC.

   
  By:  
     
  Name:  
     
  Title:  

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE 4

 

SUBSIDIARIES

 

Onconova Europe GmbH

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 5.1

 

   

 

August 20, 2021

 

Onconova Therapeutics, Inc.

12 Penns Trail

Newtown, PA 18940

 

RE: Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-237844)

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

We have acted as counsel to Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the filing of the prospectus supplement of the Company dated August 20, 2021, including the accompanying base prospectus dated May 18, 2020 (the “Base Prospectus”), which was filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on August 20, 2021 pursuant to Rule 424(b)(5) promulgated under the Securities Act (the “Prospectus”), relating to the offering and sale by the Company shares (the “Shares”) of common stock of the Company, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Stock”), having an aggregate offering price of up to $25,000,000, pursuant to that certain Equity Distribution Agreement (the “Equity Distribution Agreement”) dated August 20, 2021, between the Company and Piper Sandler & Co.

 

In connection with this opinion letter, we have examined (i) the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3 (Reg. No. 333-237844) (the “Registration Statement”) filed by the Company with the Commission under the Securities Act, which was declared effective on May 18, 2020, (ii) the Base Prospectus, (iii) the Equity Distribution Agreement, (iv) the Prospectus, and (v) originals, or copies certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of the Tenth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, and the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Company and such other documents, records and other instruments as we have deemed appropriate for purposes of the opinion set forth herein.

 

We have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the authenticity of the documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity with the originals of all documents submitted to us as certified, facsimile or photostatic copies and the authenticity of the originals of all documents submitted to us as copies.

 

Based upon the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Shares have been duly authorized by the Company and, when issued and sold by the Company and delivered by the Company against receipt of the purchase price therefor, in the manner contemplated by the Prospectus and the Equity Distribution Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.

 

The opinions expressed herein are limited to the laws of the State of Delaware. We hereby consent to the use of this opinion as Exhibit 5.1 to the Registration Statement and to the reference to us under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus included in the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not hereby admit that we are acting within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules or regulations of the Commission thereunder.

 

Very truly yours,

 

/S/ MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP

 

  Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
   
  1701 Market Street
  Philadelphia, PA 19103-2921  +1.215.963.5000
  United States  +1.215.963.5001