UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 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): May 10, 2023
HEPION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 001-36856 | 46-2783806 | ||
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) |
(Commission) File Number) |
(IRS Employer Identification No.) |
399 Thornall Street, First Floor, Edison, NJ 08837
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (732) 902-4000
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 (see General Instruction A.2. below):
¨ 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 (17 CFR 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 | HEPA | The NASDAQ Capital Market |
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 ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Item 5.03. Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.
As previously disclosed, Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc (the “Company”) held a special meeting of stockholders on December 15, 2022 (the “Meeting”). At the Meeting, the Company’s stockholders approved a proposal to amend the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), to effect a reverse split of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.0001, within a range of one-for-two (1-for-2) to a maximum of a one-for-twenty (1-for-20) split, with the exact ratio to be determined by the Company’s board of directors in its sole discretion.
Following the Meeting, on May 3, 2023 the board of directors approved a one-for-twenty (1-for-20) reverse split of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”). On May 10, 2023, the Company filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware a certificate of amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Amendment”) to effect the Reverse Stock Split. The Reverse Stock Split became effective as of 4:01 p.m. Eastern Time on May 10, 2023, and the Company’s common stock is expected to begin trading on a split-adjusted basis when the Nasdaq Stock Market opens on May 11, 2023.
When the Reverse Stock Split becomes effective, every 20 shares of the Company’s issued and outstanding common stock will automatically be combined, converted and changed into 1 share of the Company’s common stock, without any change in the number of authorized shares or the par value per share. In addition, a proportionate adjustment will be made to the per share exercise price and the number of shares issuable upon the exercise of all outstanding stock options, restricted stock units and warrants to purchase shares of common stock and the number of shares reserved for issuance pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive compensation plans. Any fraction of a share of common stock that would be created as a result of the Reverse Stock Split will be rounded up to the next whole share. Holders of the Company’s common stock held in book-entry form or through a bank, broker or other nominee do not need to take any action in connection with the Reverse Stock Split. Stockholders of record will be receiving information from the Company’s transfer agent regarding their common stock ownership post-Reverse Stock Split.
The Company’s common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC under the existing symbol “HEPA”, but the security has been assigned a new CUSIP number (426897 3025).
The foregoing description of the Certificate of Amendment does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Certificate of Amendment, which is filed as Exhibit 3.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated by reference herein.
Item 8.01 Other Events.
On May 10, 2023, the Company issued a press release announcing the Reverse Stock Split. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
| (d) | Exhibit No. | Description. |
| 3.1 | Certificate of Amendment to Certificate of Incorporation of Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | |
| 99.1 | Press release dated May 10, 2023 | |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) |
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirement of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
| Date: May 10, 2023 | HEPION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. | |
| By: | /s/ Robert Foster | |
| Robert Foster | ||
| Chief Executive Officer | ||
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Exhibit 3.1
CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT
to the
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
of
HEPION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
HEPION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., a corporation organized and existing under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “Corporation”), does hereby certify as follows:
FIRST: The name of the Corporation is Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The Certificate of Incorporation was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (the “Secretary of State”) on May 15, 2013, as amended on May 25, 2018; May 31, 2019; and July 18, 2019 ( the “Certificate of Incorporation”).
SECOND: ARTICLE IV, SECTION I of the Corporation’s Certificate of Incorporation shall be amended by inserting the following language at the end of such section which shall read as follows:
“Reverse Stock Split. As of 4:01 p.m. Eastern Time on May 10, 2023 (the “Effective Time”) of this Certificate of Amendment pursuant to the Section 242 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, each twenty (20) shares of the Corporation’s Common Stock, issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time (the “Old Common Stock”) shall automatically without further action on the part of the Corporation or any holder of Old Common Stock, be reclassified, combined, converted and changed into one (1) fully paid and nonassessable share of common stock, par value of $0.001 per share (the “New Common Stock”), subject to the treatment of fractional share interests as described below (the “Reverse Stock Split”). The conversion of the Old Common Stock into New Common Stock will be deemed to occur at the Effective Time. From and after the Effective Time, certificates representing the Old Common Stock shall represent the number of shares of New Common Stock into which such Old Common Stock shall have been converted pursuant to this Certificate of Amendment. Holders who otherwise would be entitled to receive fractional share interests of New Common Stock upon the effectiveness of the Reverse Stock Split shall be entitled to receive a whole share of New Common Stock in lieu of any fractional share created as a result of such Reverse Stock Split.”
THIRD: The stockholders of the Corporation have duly approved the foregoing amendment in accordance with the provisions of Section 242 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Corporation has caused this Certificate of Amendment to be duly adopted and executed in its corporate name and on its behalf by its duly authorized officer as of the 10th day of May, 2023.
| HEPION PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. | |
| By: | /s/ Robert Foster |
| Name: | Robert Foster |
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
Exhibit 99.1
Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Reverse Stock Split
EDISON, NJ, / May 10, 2023 / Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:HEPA), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)-driven therapeutic drug development for the treatment of fibrotic diseases, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”), hepatocellular carcinoma (“HCC”), and other chronic diseases, announced that it will effect a reverse stock split of its outstanding shares of common stock at a ratio of 1-for-20, effective as of 4:01 p.m. Eastern Time today, May 10, 2023. Hepion common stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis when the market opens on May 11, 2023 under the existing trading symbol “HEPA.”
As a result of the reverse stock split, the CUSIP number for the Company’s common stock will now be 426897302. The reverse stock split was previously approved by Hepion stockholders at the Special Meeting of Stockholders held on December 15, 2022, with the final ratio determined by the Company’s Board of Directors.
Upon effectiveness of the reverse stock split, every 20 shares of Hepion common stock issued and outstanding as of the effective date will be automatically combined into one share of common stock. Outstanding equity-based awards and other outstanding equity rights will be proportionately adjusted. No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the reverse stock split. Immediately after the reverse stock split becomes effective, the Company will have approximately 3,811,482 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. Stockholders of record otherwise entitled to receive a fractional share as a result of the reverse stock split will automatically be entitled to receive an additional fraction of a share of common stock to round up to the next whole share.
The reverse stock split is primarily intended to bring the Company into compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement.
“The shareholder-approved reverse split comes at an opportune time as we expect to soon be in a position to deliver rencofilstat’s hepatic function and NASH biomarker results from the Phase 2 ALTITUDE-NASH clinical trial. In addition, it may make our stock more attractive to institutional investors and other members of the investing public, thereby providing for a stronger and more diverse investor base,” commented Robert Foster, Chief Executive Officer of Hepion.
Additional information concerning the reverse stock split can be found in Hepion’s definitive proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 21, 2022.
About Hepion Pharmaceuticals
The Company’s lead drug candidate, rencofilstat, is a potent inhibitor of cyclophilins, which are involved in many disease processes. Rencofilstat has been shown to reduce liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma tumor burden in experimental disease models and is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of NASH. In November 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) granted Fast Track designation for rencofilstat for the treatment of NASH. That was followed in June 2022 by the FDA’s granting of Orphan Drug designation to rencofilstat for the treatment of HCC.
Hepion has created a proprietary AI platform, called AI-POWR™, which stands for Artificial Intelligence – Precision Medicine; Omics (including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, and lipidomics); World database access; and Response and clinical outcomes. Hepion intends to use AI-POWR™ to help identify which NASH patients will best respond to rencofilstat, potentially shortening development timelines and increasing the observable differences between placebo and treatment groups. In addition to using AI-POWR™ to drive its ongoing NASH clinical development program, Hepion intends to use the platform to identify additional potential indications for rencofilstat to expand the company’s footprint in the cyclophilin inhibition therapeutic space.
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Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “forecast,” “estimated,” and “intend,” among others. These forward-looking statements are based on Hepion Pharmaceuticals’ current expectations and actual results could differ materially. There are a number of factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, substantial competition; our ability to continue as a going concern; our need for additional financing; uncertainties of patent protection and litigation; risks associated with delays, increased costs and funding shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; uncertainties with respect to lengthy and expensive clinical trials, that results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results; uncertainties of government or third party payer reimbursement; limited sales and marketing efforts and dependence upon third parties; and risks related to failure to obtain FDA clearances or approvals and noncompliance with FDA regulations. As with any drug candidates under development, there are significant risks in the development, regulatory approval, and commercialization of new products. There are no guarantees that future clinical trials discussed in this press release will be completed or successful, or that any product will receive regulatory approval for any indication or prove to be commercially successful. Hepion Pharmaceuticals does not undertake an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Investors should read the risk factors set forth in Hepion Pharmaceuticals’ Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For further information, please contact:
Stephen Kilmer
Hepion Pharmaceuticals Investor Relations
Direct: (646) 274-3580
skilmer@hepionpharma.com
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