As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 18, 2018

Registration No. 333 -224622

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

DERMADOCTOR, LLC

(to be converted as described herein to a corporation named)

 

DERMADOCTOR, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   8071  

81-0919478

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

 

DERMAdoctor, Inc.

1901 McGee Street

Kansas City, Missouri 64108

(816) 472-5700

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

 

Jeff Kunin, M.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

DERMAdoctor, Inc.

1901 McGee Street

Kansas City, Missouri 64108

(816) 472-5700

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

 

Copies to:

 

Leslie Marlow, Esq.

Hank Gracin, Esq.

Patrick J. Egan, Esq.

Gracin & Marlow, LLP

The Chrysler Building

405 Lexington Avenue, 26th Floor

New York, NY 10174

Telephone: (212) 907-6457

Facsimile: (212) 208-4657

 

Aron Izower, Esq.

Reed Smith, LLP

599 Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10022

Telephone: (212) 521-5400

Facsimile: (212) 521-54504

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this Registration Statement is declared effective.

 

If any of the Securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, check the following box: ☒

 

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act Registration Statement number of the earlier effective Registration Statement for the same offering: ☐

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act Registration Statement number of the earlier effective Registration Statement for the same offering: ☐

 

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act Registration Statement number of the earlier effective Registration Statement for the same offering: ☐ 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. 

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

  

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of each class of securities to be registered  

Proposed maximum aggregate offering

price (1)

    Amount of registration fee  
Common Stock, $0.001 par value (2)(3)   $ 17,250,000     $ 2,147.63  
Representative’s Warrants (4)            
Shares of Common Stock underlying Representative’s Warrants (2)(5)   $ 937,500     $ 116.72  
Total   $ 18,187,500     $ 2,264.35 (6)

   

 

 

(1) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the amount of the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
   
(2) Pursuant to Rule 416, the securities being registered hereunder include such indeterminate number of additional securities as may be issued after the date hereof as a result of stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions.
   
(3) Includes shares of common stock the underwriters have the option to purchase to cover over-allotments, if any.
   
(4) No fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act.
   
(5) Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act. The representative’s warrants are exercisable at a per share exercise price equal to 125% of the public offering price per share. As estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(g) under the Securities Act, the proposed maximum aggregate offering price of the representative’s warrants is $937,500, which is equal to 125% of $750,000 (5% of $15,000,000).
   
(6) Previously paid.

   

The Registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment that specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting offers to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS SUBJECT TO COMPLETION DATED MAY 18, 2018

 

1,875,000 Shares

Common Stock

 

 

 

DERMAdoctor, Inc.


 

 

This is a firm commitment initial public offering of 1,875,000 shares of common stock of DERMAdoctor, Inc. No public market currently exists for our shares. We anticipate that the initial public offering price will be between $7.00 and $9.00 per share.

 

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. We have applied to list our shares of common stock for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbol “DDOC.” No assurance can be given that our application will be approved.

 

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 of this prospectus for a discussion of information that you should consider before investing in our securities.

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable SEC rules and will be eligible for reduced public company disclosure requirements. See “Summary — Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company.”

 

Following the completion of this offering, we will also qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a “controlled company” may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements.

 

    Per Share     Total  
Public offering price   $              $           
Underwriting discounts and commissions (1)   $       $    
Proceeds, before expenses, to us   $       $    

   

(1) The underwriters will receive compensation in addition to the discounts and commissions. The registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, also registers for sale warrants to purchase 93,750 shares of our common stock to be issued to the representative of the underwriters. We have agreed to issue the warrants to the representative of the underwriters as a portion of the underwriting compensation payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. See “Underwriting” for a description of compensation payable to the underwriters.

 

We have granted the representative of the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 281,250 shares of common stock from us at the public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions, within 45 days from the date of this prospectus to cover over-allotments, if any. If the representative of the underwriters exercises the option in full, the total underwriting discounts and commissions payable will be $          , and the total proceeds to us, before expenses, will be $          .

 

The underwriters expect to deliver our shares to purchasers in the offering on or about                 , 2018.

 

ThinkEquity

a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc.

 

The date of this prospectus is                 , 2018

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY 1
THE OFFERING 7
SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION 9
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 11
RISK FACTORS 12
USE OF PROCEEDS 39
DIVIDEND POLICY 40
THE CORPORATE REORGANIZATION 41
CAPITALIZATION 42
DILUTION 43
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS 45
BUSINESS 58
MANAGEMENT 74
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 79
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT 81
CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS 82
SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE 83
MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO NON-U.S. HOLDERS OF OUR COMMON STOCK 84
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES 88
UNDERWRITING 93
LEGAL MATTERS 99
EXPERTS 99
WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 99
INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS F-1

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus that we may specifically authorize to be delivered or made available to you. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized anyone to provide you with any information other than that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus we may authorize to be delivered or made available to you. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus may only be used where it is legal to offer and sell our securities. The information in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale of our securities. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted.

 

For investors outside the United States: We have not and the underwriters have not done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of securities and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

 

This prospectus includes statistical and other industry and market data that we obtained from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. Industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. While we believe that each of these studies and publications is reliable, we have not independently verified market and industry data from third-party sources. We believe that the data obtained from these industry publications and third-party research, surveys and studies are reliable. We are ultimately responsible for all disclosure included in this prospectus.

 

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

 

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our securities, you should carefully read this entire prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes and the information set forth under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in each case included elsewhere in this prospectus. In this prospectus, unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “DERMAdoctor” and the “Company” refer to DERMAdoctor, LLC for the periods prior to the consummation of the corporate reorganization (as described below), and such terms refer to DERMAdoctor, Inc. for the periods after the consummation of the corporate reorganization. Except as disclosed in the prospectus, the financial statements and selected historical financial data and other financial information included in this registration statement are (i) those of DERMAdoctor, LLC and an affiliated company, 1901 McGee, LLC, a variable interest entity for which DERMAdoctor, LLC is the primary beneficiary; and (ii) do not give effect to the corporate reorganization.

 

Prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, we will complete a number of transactions pursuant to which DERMAdoctor, Inc. will succeed to the business of DERMAdoctor, LLC and the members of DERMAdoctor, LLC will become stockholders of DERMAdoctor, Inc. In this prospectus, we refer to such transactions as the “corporate reorganization.” 

 

Overview

 

We are an omni-channel, innovative, skincare company primarily focused on the creation of products that are designed to target common skin concerns, ranging from aging and blemishes to dry skin, perspiration and keratosis pilaris. We develop, market, distribute and sell skincare products under our DERMAdoctor ® brand worldwide. All of our DERMAdoctor ® products are conceived by our product design team headed by our Chief Creative Officer and founder, Dr. Audrey Kunin, who is a board-certified dermatologist. Dr. Kunin adds her unique perspective, which is incorporated in our packaging, that skincare can be both elegant and powerful. Our philosophy is to mix science and technology synergistically to provide non-irritating, effective and pleasing skincare products aimed at targeting overlooked or unfulfilled common skin concerns. All of our products are fragrance and dye free. Since 2003, we have been developing, marketing, distributing and selling an extensive array of our proprietary skincare products. Today, we produce and sell over 30 DERMAdoctor ® products that account for 39 stock keeping units, or skus, at prices ranging from $22 for an antiperspirant to $95 for a Kakadu vitamin C skin product. Our products are typically grouped into families of products and include those such as Wrinkle Revenge, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Calm Cool and Corrected and KP Duty designed to improve the skin’s appearance for aging, acne, redness and keratosis pilaris, respectively. Within each family, products are typically further broken down to face, eyes, and body. The ingredients are then uniquely formulated for the resulting product subcategory. Each family of products creates opportunities for the customer to expand into different product types aimed at addressing their particular skincare problems. For example, within our KP Duty family we offer both a lotion and a scrub. Often these products are purchased together. We recently launched a third KP Duty product, the KP Duty Body Peel, providing an innovative product delivery system which should expand this family of products to a large group of current customer users.

 

We initially began operations in 1998 as an e-commerce company selling third-party beauty products and skincare products on the internet and providing skincare advice and information on our website. Through our online sales we developed significant market knowledge of the industry, specifically what consumers desired and disliked, product packaging successes and failures, new technology and product opportunities and market voids, which led to our decision to create our own proprietary products to leverage our customer base and daily internet traffic and eventually to discontinue sales of third-party products to focus on sales of our own proprietary products. We named our proprietary skincare line DERMAdoctor ® .

 

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We utilize an omni-channel distribution model which includes traditional domestic retail distribution outlets, online shopping and international distributors. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, domestic, e-commerce and international sales were 42%, 32%, and 26% of our net sales, respectively, as compared to 46%, 35%, and 19%, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2017, domestic, e-commerce and international sales were 44%, 26% and 30% of our net sales, respectively, as compared to 68%, 26% and 6%, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2016. The traditional domestic retail distribution outlets consist mainly of specialty and department stores, including their company websites. To date, specialty retailers Ulta Beauty and Sephora have accounted for a majority of our U.S. sales. Other U.S. retailers include Belk, Macy’s online, Von Maur, Nordstrom online, Dermstore.com, and Skinstore.com. Other retail outlets include “flash” websites such as Gilt, HauteLook and Rue La La and in the past have included Home Shopping Network, or HSN, and QVC. In 2017, we began initial sales to Costco Wholesale Corporation (“Costco”) for select products, as well as Evine, a home shopping television channel. As of March 31, 2018, our products are distributed to over 700 Ulta Beauty stores located in 49 states and the District of Columbia as well as other department stores. Our direct to consumer distribution channel is comprised of internet sales through our website ( www.dermadoctor.com ) and through Amazon.com. Our primary source of revenue historically has been from the sale of our products in the United States. In 2017, however, we saw significant growth in our international distribution channel. The majority of the growth during 2017 was driven by the signing of our China distributor in October 2016, their significant advance purchase in 2017 of one of our products due to a price that reflected a one-time special manufacturing discount and growth in sales to our Kuwait distributor. We experienced continued growth in our international channel during the three months ended March 31, 2018 due to sales of our products by our China and Kuwait distributors as well as sales by our Hong Kong distributor who was signed in July 2017. The majority of our international sales have occurred through these distributors that sell our products via the internet in China, Hong Kong and Kuwait. In April 2017, we were granted the approval for European Union registration of some of our products and we expect to expand shipments of our approved products in Europe in 2018. In August 2017, we began shipping to our distributor in Guatemala who has the rights to begin shipping to other countries in Central America, namely, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. In January 2018, we began shipping to our distributor in The United Arab Emirates (UAE) who has the rights to ship our products to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain.

 

We believe that a core element of our success is our distinctive marketing strategy. We focus on educating our target customers, women between the ages of 18 to 65 who have a college education with above average household income, about the unique attributes of our products, developing intimate relationships with these consumers and capitalizing on our omni-channel distribution strategy to effectively reach and engage these consumers. We believe educational media such as appearances on television shows, information on our website and physical presence at specialty retailers such as Ulta Beauty, as well as at certain department stores, has helped us to further strengthen our brand image and provide additional points of contact to educate consumers about our products. We have received multiple awards from respected publications such as Health and Fitness magazine and have been a finalist in the CEW Beauty Awards, the “Academy Awards” of the beauty industry. In addition, Dr. Audrey Kunin has been a guest on The Dr. Oz show several times. Dr. Kunin and her products have graced numerous publications including InStyle, W, More, Redbook, Brides, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Family Circle, O The Oprah Magazine, Shape, Self, Fitness, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Health, Allure, Elle, RealSimple, Lucky, Ladies Home Journal, People and People en Espanol, Prevention, Men’s Health, New York Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, WebMD, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report, The Today Show, E! and the Tyra Banks Show.

 

Strengths and Competitive Advantages

 

The skincare products market is large and attractive

 

We believe that the skincare products market is highly attractive given its scale, growth dynamics and consumer demand trends. The Cosmetic Skin Care Market: Global Industry Analysis, Trends, Market Size and Forecasts to 2023 reports that the global cosmetic skincare market was $130.7 billion in 2016. It predicts the global skincare market to grow with a compound annual growth rate of between 4.7% and 5.3% from 2017 to 2023. The report predicts that Asia Pacific, which includes China, will dominate the world market with the Middle East and Africa growing at the highest compounded annual growth rate over the forecasted period. Lucitel, a market research firm, in its December 12, 2016 report, forecasts the global skincare market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% from 2016 to 2021, with opportunities in the areas of anti-aging, sun protection, body care lotion and multi-functional skin cream.

 

Our strategic differentiation: DERMAdoctor, a prestige, problem solving, skincare company

 

We are driven by what we believe today’s consumer wants—an assortment of high-quality, prestige-inspired skincare products at extraordinary value. Through our modern consumer engagement and responsiveness, we interact with our consumers instead of broadcasting at them. We focus a significant portion of our product development efforts on creating new and improving existing products that fulfill unmet skincare needs. We believe that our business model has multiple areas of competitive advantage, including the following:

 

Authentic brand that attracts a wide range of consumers in the category. Since 1998, we have prioritized getting to know our consumers, and they in turn have provided us with valuable feedback, enabling us to build DERMAdoctor ® into an authentic and trusted brand. Our differentiated marketing approach focuses on educating consumers as to the unique attributes of our products; communicating product efficacy through product demonstrations; featuring our consumers instead of celebrities on our website and developing direct connections with our consumers. By providing a comprehensive experience—from integrated engagement online, through social media and in retail stores to our differentiated product offerings—we target new users as well as sophisticated buyers of skincare products.

 

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Innovation and customer feedback model . We believe innovation is a major key to our success. We have built an innovation capability that has led to breakthrough new product introductions. We introduced five new products over the past three years and 28% of our 2017 net sales came from products launched in the last three years. With just over one-half million visitors per year and online reviews, dermadoctor.com has been a useful vehicle for aiding in refinement of products and determining customer preferences. We are able to analyze sales results, reviews and feedback through social media to provide a quick indication of a product’s performance, which allows us to quickly allocate appropriate marketing and other resources.

 

True omni-channel brand. We are a true omni-channel brand with a presence across national retailers, e-commerce and international distributors, which allows us to leverage insights gained from each channel to drive performance across the business.

 

  National retailers . We currently sell our products to retailers, some of which sell our products in brick-and-mortar stores and through their websites and others who sell our products solely through their websites. Ulta Beauty, a leading national retail customer and key beauty destination for many consumers, currently sells our products in over 700 of their stores. We have also continued to expand our sales through other retailers, including Von Maur, Nordstrom, Gilt, Sephora, Costco and Macy’s. We believe that our presence across many touch points within the beauty industry further strengthens our brand image.

 

  e-commerce . Our e-commerce business, which includes sales on our website and on Amazon.com, serves as a strong source of sales and an important component of our engagement and innovation model. We have nurtured a loyal, highly active online community for almost two decades through our own website and more recently through Amazon’s Luxury Beauty page. In 2017, we had just over one-half million total visitors to our website and over two million page views. During 2017, we focused on driving more customers to our website through on-line marketing and social media. Sales through our website and Amazon.com contribute the highest gross margin of any of our sales channels.

 

  International Distributors . We currently sell our products to international distributors who sell into China, Hong Kong, Central America and Kuwait and the UAE. This is the fastest growing segment of our business with a growth rate of 539% between 2016 and 2017 and a growth rate of 66% between the first quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. Although we have experienced significant growth in this segment during the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 and the three months ended March 31, 2018 when compared to prior periods, we do not expect a similar percentage increase for the rest of 2018, as 2017 sales included the impact of the signing of our China distributor in October 2016, their significant advance purchase of one of our products due to a price that reflected a one-time special manufacturing discount, and growth in sales to our Kuwait distributor. We are actively pursuing additional distribution partners and other opportunities to sell our products internationally.

 

Experienced management team. Our Chief Creative Officer, Audrey Kunin, M.D., is a board-certified dermatologist, author, clinician, educator, and television personality. Dr. Kunin founded our company in 1998 with her husband, Jeff Kunin, M.D., who currently serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer. Jeff Kunin also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Under the leadership of Audrey and Jeff Kunin we have assembled an experienced management team that possesses complementary experiences managing prestige cosmetic brands within retail and wholesale distribution channels and overseeing operations in the branded consumer products industry. Our team has demonstrated skills in building brands, leading innovation, expanding distribution, and supply chain management. We operate with a high-performance team culture. The combination of an experienced team, strong culture and values and disciplined execution forms the foundation of our success.

 

Our Growth Strategy

 

DERMAdoctor ® is a prestige skincare brand. We are in the early stages of development, with significant room to grow by developing innovative new products, converting more consumers to the brand while increasing sales to existing consumers, and making DERMAdoctor ® products more widely available both domestically and internationally. We expect international markets to be the largest source of our growth over the next few years and also see an opportunity to expand in the United States. We also believe we have an opportunity to improve our profitability through greater operating leverage and efficiency.

 

We believe we are well positioned for continued growth driven by three main strategies.

 

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Develop new products

 

We have a track record of bringing prestige-inspired innovative and effective skincare products to markets. As stated above, from 2015 through 2017, we introduced five new products including our Kakadu C line of products and KP Duty Peel Pads and 28% of our net sales during the year ended December 31, 2017 came from products launched in the last three years. We focus a significant portion of our product development efforts on creating new products and improving existing products based on feedback from our consumer community. We seek to create packaging that is unique to our brand, while being approachable and effective. We believe there are significant additional opportunities within the skincare space. We expect to continue to leverage our product development expertise to introduce new products into related market segments.

 

Expand domestic market penetration

 

Draw new consumers to the brand . Increasing brand awareness is a major growth driver for our company. We believe we can significantly grow our following of passionate consumers to the brand from current levels with assistance from a public relations firm focused on beauty and through a greater focus on social media and other on-line marketing tools. While we introduced DERMAdoctor ® 14 years ago, we are still relatively unknown to many women.

 

Encourage current consumers to use more DERMAdoctor ® products . Our consumers’ loyalty to the DERMAdoctor® brand drives growth through increased usage of our products across categories and advocacy of our brand to other potential consumers. We have a loyalty program where customers receive reward points for each purchase that may be applied to payment for future purchases made through our website within 90 days. We also allow customers on our website to select up to three free samples of other products with each purchase to encourage future purchases of those additional products. In 2016, we started a subscription service for our products which allows customers to sign up for periodic delivery of our products. While still in its infancy, we are seeing increased participation by our consumers resulting in increased monthly subscription sales. We believe that through sustained innovation and efficient marketing, we will increase the number of DERMAdoctor ® items our consumers purchase.

 

Grow our retail relationships . We intend to continue to increase net sales through key premium retail accounts, such as Ulta Beauty, Costco, and Sephora. Within Ulta Beauty and other physical retail locations, we will seek to improve our in-store product positioning and collaborative marketing efforts. We believe we have significant potential upside in deepening distribution with our existing domestic retailers by continuing to leverage our productivity, innovation and growth to win more shelf space. In addition, we expect our domestic retail sales will grow as Ulta Beauty opens new stores and we are able to develop additional opportunities to sell our products in upscale department stores and on their websites.

 

Drive additional traffic to our website . We intend to grow our direct-to-consumer sales by driving additional traffic to our website and the Amazon website as well as improving customer conversion metrics. By focusing on affiliate marketing, paid search, search engine optimization (SEO) and other media spending, enhanced content and social media referrals including user generated content and paid influencers, through Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest, we expect to increase sales both in stores and online. The higher product margins and relatively fixed expenses of our website sales creates a leveraged business environment for higher profits.

 

Expand our global presence

 

We operate in a number of countries outside the United States, which accounted for 26% of our net sales during the three months ended March 31, 2018, up from 19% of our net sales during the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 30% of our net sales during the year ended December 31, 2017, up from 6% of our net sales during the year ended December 31, 2016. Given that the skin conditions we target are universal, we believe that the DERMAdoctor ® brand is highly portable, which will provide us with a significant opportunity in international markets over the long term. We believe our market penetration in the Middle East (Kuwait and UAE), China and Hong Kong represents the most significant opportunities for increasing our existing global sales. The United Kingdom, Canada, Western Europe, Asia, India and Australia are markets we plan to enter or expand in over the next three years, which would significantly expand our global presence.

 

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Recent Developments 

  

Costco Purchase Orders

 

In the first quarter of 2018, we received an order from Costco for the purchase of one of our products for a special promotion. This order was fulfilled in early April 2018. We expect this order to contribute approximately $1.5 million to net sales when recorded in the second quarter of 2018.

 

Risks

 

Our business and our ability to execute our business strategy are subject to a number of risks of which you should be aware before you decide to buy our common stock. In particular, you should carefully consider the following risks, which are discussed more fully in “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 of this prospectus:

 

  historically we have incurred significant net losses and anticipate that we will continue to incur net losses in the future;
     
  our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern;

 

  we are currently dependent upon a small number of customers for a significant percentage of our revenue and a decrease or interruption in their business with us would reduce our sales and profitability;

 

  we do not have long-term contracts with any of our retailers, and the loss of orders of our products from our retailers or a retailer’s refusal to accept products may have a material adverse effect on our operating results;

 

  the skincare business is highly competitive, and if we are unable to compete effectively our results will suffer;

 

  our success depends, in part, on the quality, performance and safety of our products and our ability to introduce new products that appeal to consumers or offer new benefits or otherwise successfully compete with our competitors in the skincare industry;

 

  there can be no assurance that we will be able to execute on our business strategy, successfully market our products, drive customers to our distribution channels and increase sales;

 

  we rely on third-party suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and other vendors, and their ability to produce products or provide services that are consistent with our standards or applicable regulatory requirements could be disrupted, which could harm our brand, cause consumer dissatisfaction, and require us to find alternative suppliers of our products or services;

 

  we are increasingly dependent on information technology, and we may experience service interruptions, data corruption, cyber-based attacks or network security breaches which result in the disruption of our operating systems or the loss of confidential information of our customers;

 

  our success depends, in part, on our retention of key members of our senior management team and ability to attract and retain qualified personnel;

 

  our products may be the subject of regulatory actions, including but not limited to actions by the Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or the CPSC, in the United States;

 

  our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations; and

 

  if we are unable to protect our intellectual property the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be adversely affected.

 

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Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of certain exemptions from various public company reporting requirements, including not being required to have our internal controls over financial reporting audited by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and any golden parachute payments. We may take advantage of these exemptions until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards under the JOBS Act, which election is irrevocable. We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earlier of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which the fifth anniversary of the closing of this offering occurs; (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; (iii) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means we (1) have an aggregate worldwide market value of common equity securities held by non-affiliates of $700 million or more as of the last business day of our most recently completed second quarter, (2) have been required to file annual and quarterly reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, for a period of at least 12 months and (3) have filed at least one annual report pursuant to the Exchange Act, and (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” have the meaning associated with associated with that term in the JOBS Act.

 

Implications of Being a Controlled Company

 

Following the completion of this offering, we will qualify as a “Controlled Company” within the meaning of the rules of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a “Controlled Company” may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements.

 

Corporate Information

 

DERMAdoctor, LLC was formed as a Missouri limited liability company in December 2015. Initially, our company was formed as a Missouri corporation in 1998 under the name DERMAdoctor, Inc. In December 2015, DERMAdoctor, Inc. contributed all of its assets to D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC, a Missouri limited liability company and received membership interests in D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC. On December 31, 2015, D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC filed an amendment to its articles of organization changing its name to DERMAdoctor, LLC and DERMAdoctor, Inc. filed an amendment to its articles of organization changing its name to Papillon Partners, Inc., or Papillon. Papillon is owned 51% by the Audrey G. Kunin Trust and 49% by the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust.

 

Prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, DERMAdoctor, LLC will merge directly with and into a Delaware corporation. We refer to this as the “corporate reorganization.” In connection with the corporate reorganization, all outstanding membership units, or Units, of DERMAdoctor, LLC will be converted into 3,000,000 shares of common stock of DERMAdoctor, Inc., the members of DERMAdoctor, LLC will become stockholders of DERMAdoctor, Inc. and DERMAdoctor, Inc. will succeed to the business of DERMAdoctor, LLC. See “The Corporate Reorganization” for further information regarding the transactions to be effected in the corporate reorganization.

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 1901 McGee St, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, and our telephone number is (816) 472-5700. Our website address is www.dermadoctor.com . Information contained in our website does not form part of the prospectus and is intended for informational purposes only.

 

This prospectus contains references to our trademarks and to trademarks belonging to other entities. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus, including logos, artwork and other visual displays, may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names or trademarks to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.

 

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THE OFFERING

 

Issuer DERMAdoctor, Inc.
   
Common stock offered by us 1,875,000 shares (or 2,156,250 shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full).
   
Over-allotment option The underwriters have an option for a period of 45 days to purchase up to 281,250 additional shares of our common stock to cover over-allotments, if any.
   
Common stock to be outstanding immediately after this offering 4,875,000 shares. If the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised in full, the total number of shares of common stock outstanding immediately after this offering would be 5,156,250.
   
Use of Proceeds We estimate the net proceeds from this offering will be $13,200,000 assuming an initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.
   
  We currently intend to use $190,000 of the net proceeds from this offering to repay the outstanding balance owed by us under two bridge notes that we issued to Papillon. The balance of the proceeds will be used to pay approximately $500,000 of our accounts payable, purchase approximately $1,000,000 in additional inventory, allocate approximately $1,500,000 to expand product development and increase marketing activities, invest approximately $300,000 to improve our infrastructure by upgrading our computer systems and information technology and acquiring additional equipment for our warehouse, and retaining the remaining proceeds for other working capital and general corporate purposes. Pending our use of the net proceeds from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation investments, including short-term, investment grade, interest bearing instruments and U.S. government securities. See “Use of Proceeds.”
   
Representative’s Warrants The registration statement of which this prospectus is a part also registers for sale warrants to purchase 93,750 shares of our common stock to the representative of the underwriters as a portion of the underwriting compensation payable to the underwriters in connection with this offering. The warrants will be exercisable for a four-year period commencing one year following the closing of this offering at an exercise price equal to 125% of the initial public offering price of the common stock. Please see “Underwriting—Representative’s Warrants” for a description of these warrants.
   
Risk Factors See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 12 and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before investing in our securities.
   
Proposed symbol and listing We have applied to list our shares of common stock for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “DDOC.”

 

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Unless we indicate otherwise, the number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering is based on the following:

 

 

the consummation of the corporate reorganization, pursuant to which all of the outstanding Units of DERMAdoctor, LLC (described in the “Description of Securities” section of this prospectus) will be automatically converted into an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares of our common stock; and

 

  excludes 731,250 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under the new equity incentive plan (the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan) that we intend to adopt prior to the closing of this initial public offering; however, we do not intend to issue any awards under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan in connection with this offering.

 

Unless specifically stated otherwise, the information in this prospectus:

 

  assumes completion of the corporate reorganization;
     
  assumes no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to an additional 281,250 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any;
     
  assumes no exercise of the representative’s warrants granted to the representative of the underwriters upon completion of this offering; and
     
  assumes an initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the front cover page of this prospectus.

 

Assuming an initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, the maximum number of shares of our common stock which will be issued pursuant to the corporate reorganization and which will be reserved for future issuance under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan will in no event exceed 3,731,250 total shares. 

 

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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

The following table sets forth our summary consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 which are derived from our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus and the summary consolidated statements of operations data for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, and selected balance sheet data as of March 31, 2018 which are derived from our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. In our opinion, such condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments consisting of only normal recurring adjustments that we consider necessary for a fair presentation of the financial information set forth in those statements. Our financial statements are prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The results indicated below are not necessarily indicative of our future performance. You should read this information together with the sections entitled “Capitalization,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. We do not own or have any claim to any of the assets of 1901 McGee, LLC, nor are we liable for the mortgage on the property owned by 1901 McGee, LLC.

 

    Three months ended     Years ended  
    March 31, (unaudited)     December 31,  
    2018     2017     2017     2016  
Statement of Operations Data:                        
Net sales   $ 1,711,291     $ 1,474,059     $ 8,808,674     $ 6,474,861  
Cost of sales (1)     707,376       787,849       4,062,563       2,902,349  
Gross profit     1,003,915       686,210       4,746,111       3,572,512  
Total expenses (1)     1,190,795       1,116,862       5,014,986       5,430,936  
Loss from operations     (186,880 )     (430,652 )     (268,875 )     (1,858,424 )
Net loss     (249,036 )     (476,950 )     (456,356 )     (2,023,233 )
Net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC     (233,395 )     (459,433 )     (345,083 )     (1,897,264 )
                                 
Per Shares Data:                                
Net loss per unit (2)                                
Basic and diluted   $ (0.23 )   $ (0.46 )   $ (0.35 )   $ (1.90 )
Weighted average units outstanding (2)                                
Basic and diluted     1,000,000       1,000,000       1,000,000       1,000,000  
Pro forma net loss per share of common stock (2)                                
Basic and diluted (unaudited)   $ (0.08 )   $ (0.15 )   $ (0.11 )   $ (0.63 )
Pro forma weighted average shares outstanding (2)                                
Basic and diluted (unaudited)     3,000,000       3,000,000       3,000,000       3,000,000  

 

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    As of March 31, 2018  
    Actual     Pro Forma (3)    

Pro Forma, As

Adjusted (4)(5)

 
Balance Sheet Data:                  
Cash and cash equivalents (1)   $ 105,785     $ 105,785     $ 12,615,785  
Total assets (1)     6,084,383       6,084,383       18,594,383  
Total liabilities (1)     6,764,641       6,764,641       6,074,641  
Redeemable membership interest     1,270,000              
Total equity (deficiency)     (1,950,258 )     ( 680,258 )       12,519,742  

 

 

 

(1) Includes cost of sales of $18,665, $18,170, $89,905, and $89,785 and operating expenses of $27,315, $27,818, $133,707, and $114,820 attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, and the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Total expenses including rent expense of $51,984, $50,470, $201,902, and $198,952 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, and the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, paid from DERMAdoctor, LLC to 1901 McGee, LLC is eliminated upon consolidation. Includes cash and cash equivalents of $27,172, total assets of $2,980,106 and total liabilities of $2,668,469 attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC as of March 31, 2018.
   
(2) The unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 gives effect to the assumed conversion of all membership units upon an initial public offering by treating all membership units as if they had been converted to common stock in all periods in which such shares were outstanding. Shares to be sold in the offering are excluded from the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stock holders calculations. In addition, the $2,850 and $0 of interest expense incurred during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 and the $3,250 and $0 of interest expense incurred during the twelve month ended December 2017 and 2016 on the $190,000 related party notes to be repaid at the closing of the offering has been excluded from the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share; however, the net loss attributable to common stockholders has not been adjusted for this interest expense. Weighted average shares are calculated by multiplying the weighted average units by the ratio of units to shares in the corporate reorganization.
   
(3) The pro forma balance sheet data gives effect to the corporate reorganization. The pro forma balance sheet also gives effect to the elimination of the redeemable membership interest in the amount of $1,270,000 as well as the reclassification of the redeemable membership interest into permanent equity.
   
(4) The pro forma, as adjusted balance sheet data reflects the items described in footnote (2) above and gives effect to our receipt of estimated net proceeds of $12,510,000 from the sale of 1,875,000 shares of common stock that we are offering at an assumed initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, a payment of $190,000 to Papillon, which is the outstanding balance owed by us to Papillon under two bridge notes that we issued to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $190,000, which accrues interest at the rate of 6% per annum, as well as payments of $500,000 to certain vendors to reduce our accounts payable balance.
   
(5) The pro forma, as adjusted data is illustrative only and will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing.

 

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase (decrease) each of cash and cash equivalents, total assets and total stockholders’ equity by $1,725,000 assuming the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable.

 

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include those that express plans, anticipation, intent, contingency, goals, targets or future development and/or otherwise are not statements of historical fact. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and projections about future events and they are subject to risks and uncertainties known and unknown that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, among others:

 

  our ability to implement our business plan;
     
  our ability to raise additional capital to meet our liquidity needs;
     
  our ability to generate product revenues;
     
  our ability to achieve profitability;
     
  our ability to obtain market acceptance;
     
  our ability to compete in the market;
     
  our ability to gain acceptance of customers for use of our products;
     
  our ability to rely on third-party researchers, manufacturers and payors;
     
  our ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships, including for the distribution of products;
     
  our ability to attract and retain sufficient qualified personnel;
     
  our ability to obtain or maintain patents or other appropriate protection for our intellectual property; and
     
  our ability to adequately support future growth.

 

In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology, such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “will” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions.

 

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference herein and therein and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus only. Because the risks and uncertainties describe in this prospectus could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New risks may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict what new risks will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of any particular risk on our business or the extent to which any risk, or combination of risks, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of the information presented in this prospectus, and particularly our forward-looking statements, by these cautionary statements.

 

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RISK FACTORS

 

Investors should carefully consider the risks described below before deciding whether to invest in our securities. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements made throughout this prospectus as a result of different factors, including the risks we face described below.

 

Risks Relating to our Company

 

We have a history of losses and there can be no assurance that we will be able to generate a profit in the future.

 

Historically, we have incurred net losses, including a net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC of $233,395 and $459,433 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017, respectively, and $345,083 and $1,897,264 for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. We expect to continue to incur substantial expenditures to develop, manufacture and market our products and could continue to incur losses and negative operating cash flow. We may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. Our ability to generate profits will depend, in part, on our expenses and our ability to generate revenue. Our prior losses and any future losses have had and will have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital.

 

Our independent registered public accounting firm has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

 

As described in Note 2 of our accompanying consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 and the years then ended, our auditors have issued a going concern opinion on our financial statements, expressing substantial doubt that we can continue as a going concern for the next twelve months after the issuance of their report based upon our recurring losses and negative cash flows from operations. While the net loss was significantly reduced in 2017 compared to 2016, cash from operations will not be sufficient to fund our operations for the twelve-month period from the date the 2017 financial statements were issued. In addition, we incurred a net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and management has determined that a substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern continues to exist and that cash from operations will not be sufficient to fund operations for the twelve-month period from the date of the issuance of the condensed consolidated financial statements. We have entered into a receivables financing facility and we are actively pursuing additional sources of financing to fund our operations, including this offering. Our majority member, Papillon, has provided short-term loans to us and may continue to do so, but there is no assurance that additional financing from any source will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. These factors raise substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern.

 

We are currently dependent upon a small number of customers for a significant percentage of our business and do not have long-term purchase commitments from these customers. A decrease or interruption in their business with us would reduce our sales and profitability.

 

We currently depend on four customers for a significant portion of our business. Sales to these customers each accounted for 10% or more of our revenues and combined accounted for an aggregate of approximately 66% (29%, 17%, 10%, and 10%, respectively) of our revenue from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018. Sales to three customers each accounted for 10% or more of our revenues and combined accounted for an aggregate of approximately 58% (26%, 17% and 15%, respectively) of our revenue from operations for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. At March 31, 2018, two significant customers accounted for 100% (71% and 29%) of our accounts receivable. At December 31, 2017 two significant customers accounted for approximately 83% (45% and 38%) of our accounts receivable. Our arrangements with these retailers are by purchase order and are terminable at will at the option of either party. A substantial decrease or interruption in business from these three customers could result in inventory write-offs or in the loss of future business and would likely reduce our liquidity and profitability.

 

In the future, our significant customers may undergo restructurings or reorganizations, or realign their affiliations, any of which could decrease their orders for our products. Any severe adverse impact on the business operations of our significant customers may have a corresponding negative effect on us. One or more of these customers could decide to exclusively feature a competitor’s skincare products, develop their own store-brand skincare products or reduce the number of brands of skincare products they sell, any of which could affect our ability to sell our products to them on favorable terms, if at all. Our loss of significant customers would impair our sales and profitability and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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We do not have long-term contracts with any of our retailers, and the loss of orders of our products from our retailers or a retailer’s refusal to accept products may have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

 

We do not maintain long-term contracts with any of our retailers, and retailers generally purchase products from us on a purchase order basis. As a result, our retailers generally may, with little or no notice or penalty, decide to cease ordering and selling our products, could materially reduce their orders in any period or refuse to accept products that they have ordered. If certain significant retailers, individually or in the aggregate, refuse to accept our products, particularly if an order is of significant size, choose to return our products to us, or elect to no longer sell our products, we may be unable to change our distribution to other retailers in a timely manner, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

 

The skincare business is highly competitive, and if we are unable to compete effectively our results will suffer.

 

We face vigorous competition from companies throughout the world, including large multinational consumer products companies that have many skincare brands under ownership and standalone skincare brands, including those that may target the latest trends or specific distribution channels. The skincare industry is highly competitive and subject to rapid changes due to consumer preferences and industry trends. Competition in the skincare industry is generally based on the introduction of new products, pricing of products, quality of products and packaging, brand awareness, perceived value and quality, innovation, in-store presence and visibility, promotional activities, advertising, editorials, e-commerce and mobile-commerce initiatives and other activities. We must compete with a high volume of new product introductions and existing products by diverse companies across several different distribution channels.

 

Our products face, and will continue to face, competition for consumer recognition and market share with products that have achieved significant national and international brand name recognition and consumer loyalty, such as those offered by global prestige beauty companies like Avon Products, Inc., Elizabeth Arden, Inc., The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Inc., L’Oréal Group, Shiseido, Coty, Mary Kay, Inc. and The Proctor & Gamble Company, each of which have launched skincare brands. In addition, we compete with brands including Dr. Dennis Gross, Kate Somerville, Murad, Perricone M.D., Dr. Brandt, Clarins, Clinique, Dermalogica, Exuviance, La Roche Posay and Vichey. We also compete with numerous other companies that market skincare products. These companies may have substantially greater financial, technical and marketing resources, longer operating histories, greater brand recognition and larger customer bases than we do and may be able to respond more effectively to changing business and economic conditions than we can. These competitors typically devote substantial resources to promoting their brands through traditional forms of advertising, such as print media and television commercials. Because of such mass marketing methods, these competitors’ products may achieve higher visibility and recognition than our products. We compete with prestige cosmetics companies primarily in online retailing, department stores and specialty beauty retail channels, but prestige cosmetics companies also recently have increased their sales through infomercial and home shopping television channels. Mass cosmetics brands are sold primarily though channels in which we do not sell our products, such as mass merchants, but mass cosmetics companies are increasingly making efforts to acquire market share in the higher-margin prestige cosmetics category by introducing brands and products that address this market. Many of these competitors’ products are sold in a wider selection or greater number of retail stores and possess a larger presence in these stores, typically having significantly more inline shelf space than we do. Given the finite space allocated to skincare products by retail stores, our ability to grow the number of retail stores in which our products are sold, and expand our space allocation once in these retail stores, may require the removal or reduction of the shelf space of these competitors. We may be unsuccessful in our growth strategy in the event retailers do not reallocate shelf space from our competitors to us. Our competitors may attempt to gain market share by offering products at prices at or below the prices at which our products are typically offered, including through the use of large percentage discounts and “buy one and get one free” offers. Competitive pricing may require us to reduce our prices, which would decrease our profitability or result in lost sales. Our competitors, many of whom have greater resources than we do, may be better able to withstand these price reductions and lost sales.

 

It is difficult for us to predict the timing and scale of our competitors’ activities in these areas or whether new competitors will emerge in the skincare business. In addition, further technological breakthroughs, including new and enhanced technologies which increase competition in the online retail market, new product offerings by competitors and the strength and success of our competitors’ marketing programs may impede our growth and the implementation of our business strategy.

 

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Our ability to compete depends on the continued strength of our brand and products, the success of our marketing, innovation and execution strategies, the continued diversity of our product offerings, the successful management of new product introductions and innovations, strong operational execution, including in order fulfillment, and our success in entering new markets and expanding our business in existing geographies. If we are unable to continue to compete effectively, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

 

Our new product introductions may not be as successful as we anticipate.

 

The skincare industry is driven in part by beauty trends, which may shift quickly. Our continued success depends on our ability to anticipate, gauge and react in a timely and cost-effective manner to changes in consumer preferences for skincare products, consumer attitudes toward our industry and brand and where and how consumers shop for those products. We must continually work to develop, produce and market new products, maintain and enhance the recognition of our brand, maintain a favorable mix of products and develop our approach as to how and where we market and sell our products.

 

Despite our process for new product development, there can be no assurance that our new product launches will be successful or even if initially successful that we will be able to maintain customer demand. The acceptance of new product launches and sales to our retail customers may not be as high as we anticipate, due to a variety of reasons including lack of acceptance of the products themselves or their price, or limited effectiveness of our marketing strategies. In addition, our ability to launch new products may be limited by delays or difficulties affecting the ability of our suppliers or manufacturers to timely manufacture, distribute and ship new products or displays for new products. Sales of new products may be affected by inventory management by our retail customers, and we may experience product shortages or limitations in retail display space by our retail customers. We may also experience a decrease in sales of certain existing products as a result of newly-launched products, the impact of which could be exacerbated by shelf space limitations or any shelf space loss. Any of these occurrences could delay or impede our ability to achieve our sales objectives, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If our new products fail to maintain our distinctive brand identity, our brand image may be diminished and our net sales may decrease. In addition, the development and launch of new products may place a strain on management, diverting resources from other areas of business, which could negatively affect profitability.

 

Our success depends, in part, on the quality, performance and safety of our products.

 

Any loss of confidence on the part of consumers in the ingredients used in our products, whether related to product contamination or product safety or quality failures, actual or perceived, or inclusion of prohibited ingredients, could tarnish the image of our brand and could cause consumers to choose other products. We believe that our customer appeal is based in large part upon the trust our customers place in our products to be effective. If our products are found to be, or perceived to be, defective or unsafe, or if they otherwise fail to meet our consumers’ expectations, our relationships with consumers could suffer, the appeal of our brand could be diminished, we may need to recall some of our products and/or become subject to regulatory action, and we could lose sales or market share or become subject to boycotts or liability claims. In addition, safety or other defects found in our competitors’ products could reduce consumer demand for our own products if consumers view them to be similar. Any of these outcomes could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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Any damage to our reputation or brand may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We believe that developing and maintaining our brand is critical and that our financial success is directly dependent on consumer perception of our brand. Furthermore, the importance of our brand recognition may become even greater as competitors offer more products similar to ours. We believe that our customers view our brand as one that is trusted, respected and effective. Many factors, some of which are beyond our control, are important to maintaining our reputation and brand. These factors include our ability to comply with ethical, social, product, labor and environmental standards. Any actual or perceived failure in compliance with such standards could damage our reputation and brand.

 

The growth of our brand depends largely on our ability to provide a high-quality consumer experience, which in turn depends on our ability to bring innovative products to the market at competitive prices that respond to consumer demands and preferences. Additional factors affecting our consumer experience include our ability to provide appealing store displays in retail stores, the maintenance and stocking of those displays by our retail customers, the overall shopping experience provided by our retail customers, a reliable and user-friendly website interface and mobile applications for our consumers to browse and purchase products over the Internet. If we are unable to preserve our reputation, enhance our brand recognition or increase positive awareness of our products and in-store and Internet platforms, it may be difficult for us to maintain and grow our consumer base, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

 

The success of our brand may also suffer if our marketing strategy or product initiatives do not have the desired impact on our brand’s image or its ability to attract consumers. Further, our brand value could diminish significantly due to a number of factors, including consumer perception that we have acted in an irresponsible manner, adverse publicity about our products, our failure to maintain the quality of our products, product contamination, the failure of our products to deliver consistently positive consumer experiences, or the products becoming unavailable to consumers.

 

The success of our brand internationally relies on our international distribution partners and their business and marketing strategies. They maintain independence from our company and actions on their part could not have the desired impact on our brand’s image or its ability to attract customers. Further, our brand value could diminish significantly due to a number of factors, including consumer perception that we or our distribution partners have acted in an irresponsible manner, adverse publicity about our products, our failure to maintain the quality of our products, product contamination, the failure of our products to deliver consistently positive consumer experiences, or the products becoming unavailable to consumers.

 

Our future success depends upon our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy.

 

Our future revenues and profitability depend upon our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy. There can be no assurance given that we will be successful in executing our growth strategy, and even if we achieve our strategic plan, that we will realize, in full or in part, the anticipated benefits we expect our strategy will achieve. The failure to realize those benefits could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, achieving our objectives will require investments in product development, marketing initiatives, distribution channels, information technology, operating infrastructure and the hiring and training of additional employees which may result in short-term costs without generating any current net sales and therefore may be dilutive to our earnings.

 

In future periods, our revenue could decline or grow more slowly than we expect. We also may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the following risks and the other risks described in this prospectus, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors:

 

 

 

we may lose one or more significant retail customers, or sales of our products through these retail customers may decrease;

 

 

 

 

we may be unable to attract new customers, grow our space allocation with our existing national retail customers, grow our direct-to-consumer business, develop successful distribution partners in current international markets or encourage current customers to use more of our products;

 

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  ●  the ability of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers to produce our products and of our distributors to distribute our products could be disrupted;
     
  ●  because few of our product components are sourced and manufactured internationally, our operations are susceptible to risks inherent in doing business in foreign countries;
     
  ●  our products may be the subject of regulatory actions, including but not limited to actions by the Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission, or the FTC, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or the CPSC, in the United States;
     
  ●  we may be unable to introduce new products that appeal to consumers or offer new benefits or otherwise successfully compete with our competitors in the skincare industry;
     
  we may be unsuccessful in maintaining or enhancing the recognition and reputation of our brand, and our brand may be damaged as a result of, among other reasons, our failure, or alleged failure, to comply with applicable ethical, social, product, labor or environmental standards;
     
  we may experience service interruptions, data corruption, cyber-based attacks or network security breaches which result in the disruption of our operating systems or the loss of confidential information of our consumers;
     
   ● we may be unable to successfully market our products, drive customers to our distribution channels and increase sales.
     
  we may be unable to retain key members of our senior management team or attract and retain other qualified personnel; and
     
  we may be affected by any adverse economic conditions in the United States or internationally.

 

Our growth has placed, and is expected to continue to place, a strain on our management team, financial and information systems, supply chain and distribution capacity and other resources. To manage growth effectively, we must continue to enhance our operational, financial and management systems, including our warehouse management, and inventory control; maintain and improve our internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures; maintain and improve our information technology systems and procedures; and expand, train and manage our employee base. We may not be able to effectively manage this expansion in any one or more of these areas, and any failure to do so could significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We rely on a small number of third-party suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and other vendors, and our inability to obtain products from third-party suppliers or from our manufacturers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

 

The management and oversight of the engagement and activities of our third-party suppliers, manufacturers and distributors requires substantial time, effort and expense of our employees, and we may be unable to successfully manage and oversee the activities of our third-party manufacturers, suppliers and distributors. If we experience any supply chain disruptions caused by our manufacturing process or by our inability to locate suitable third-party manufacturers or suppliers, or if our manufacturers or suppliers experience problems with product quality or disruptions or delays in the manufacturing process or delivery of the finished products or the raw materials or components used to make such products, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

 

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We do not manufacture any of our products and instead rely primarily on third-party manufacturers, located in the United States, for the manufacture of most of our products with a few components manufactured in China and Spain. We also have two suppliers who accounted for approximately 64% (43% and 21%) of our purchases for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and one vendor who accounted for approximately 39% and 31% of our purchases for the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively. We do not have long-term contracts with any of our suppliers or manufacturers and instead engage our third-party suppliers and manufacturers on a purchase order basis. These third-party suppliers and manufacturers produce and package our products according to formulations that have been developed by the manufacturer’s chemists, based on the concept, ingredient list, and application method proscribed by our in-house product development team. The fact that we do not have long-term contracts with any of our third-party suppliers or manufacturers means that they could cease supplying or manufacturing these products for us suddenly and unpredictably. Our third-party manufacturers are not restricted from manufacturing our competitors’ products. There can also be no assurance that suppliers will provide the raw materials or manufactured products that are needed by us in the quantities that we request or at the prices that we are willing to pay. Furthermore, because we do not control the actual production of certain raw materials and products, we are also subject to delays caused by any interruption in the production of these materials, based on conditions not within our control, including weather, crop conditions, transportation interruptions, strikes by supplier employees, and natural disasters or other catastrophic events. The ability of these third parties to supply and manufacture our products may be affected by competing orders placed by other customers and the demands of those customers. If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of suitable products or ingredients because of the loss of one or more key vendors or manufacturers or our supplier agent or otherwise, our business and results of operations would suffer because we would be missing products from our merchandise mix unless and until we could make alternative supply arrangements. Any of our manufacturers may also increase the cost of the products we purchase from them. If our manufacturers increase our costs, our margins would suffer unless we were able to pass along these increased costs to our customers. If we experience significant increases in demand, or need to replace a significant number of existing suppliers or our primary manufacturer, there can be no assurance that additional supply and manufacturing capacity will be available when required on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, or that any supplier or manufacturer will allocate sufficient capacity to us in order to meet our requirements. New suppliers and manufacturers might not allocate sufficient capacity to us to meet our requirements and products from alternative sources, if any, may be of a lesser quality or more expensive than those we currently purchase. To the extent we fail to obtain additional products from our manufacturers, we may not be able to meet customer demand, which could harm our net sales and profitability. Our inability to secure adequate and timely supplies of merchandise would harm inventory levels, net sales and gross profit, and ultimately our results of operations.

 

We also contract with third-party delivery service providers to deliver our products to a single distribution facility located in Kansas City, Missouri, and from there to our retail customers. Further, we rely on postal and parcel carriers for the delivery of products sold directly to consumers over the Internet. Interruptions to or failures in these delivery services could prevent the timely or successful delivery of our products. These interruptions or failures may be due to unforeseen events that are beyond our control or the control of our third-party delivery service providers, such as inclement weather, natural disasters, increased fuel expense, export or import controls, increased airport and shipping port congestion or labor unrest or shortages. Disruptions in our container shipments may result in increased costs, including the additional use of airfreight to meet demand. Congestion to ports can affect previously negotiated contracts with shipping companies, resulting in unexpected increases in shipping costs and reduction in our profitability. Although international distributors are responsible for shipping from our distribution facility, we record revenue when orders are shipped, so any delay in shipping to our international distributors could affect our results. Furthermore, the delivery personnel of contracted third-party delivery service providers act on our behalf and interact with our consumers personally. Any failure to provide high-quality delivery services to our consumers may negatively affect the shopping experience of our consumers, damage our reputation and cause us to lose consumers.

 

Our ability to meet the needs of our consumers and retail customers depends on the proper operation of our Kansas City, Missouri distribution facility, where most of our inventory that is not in transit is housed. Although we currently insure our inventory, our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover the full extent of any loss or damage to our inventory or distribution facility, and any loss, damage or disruption of this facility, or loss or damage of the inventory and contents stored there, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. A natural disaster or other catastrophic event, such as a fire, flood, severe storm, break-in, terrorist attack or other comparable event would cause interruptions or delays in our business and loss of inventory and could render us unable to accept or fulfill customer orders in a timely manner, or at all. Kansas City has been subject to severe storms and tornados increasing our susceptibility to the risk that severe weather conditions could harm the operations of our distribution facility. In the event that a storm, tornado, fire, natural disaster or other catastrophic event were to destroy a significant part of the facility or interrupt our operations for an extended period of time, our net sales would be reduced and our results of operations would be harmed.

 

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Changes in production costs, including raw material prices, could erode our profit margins and negatively impact operating results.

 

Pricing and availability of raw materials needed for our business, such as plastic, glass bottles, and cardboard, as well as pricing and availability of energy, shipping and other services needed for our business, can be volatile due to general economic conditions, labor costs, production levels, import duties and tariffs and other factors beyond our control. There is no certainty that we will be able to offset future cost increases. This volatility can significantly affect our production cost, and may, therefore, have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition

 

If we fail to properly estimate product demand and manage our inventory effectively, our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity may be materially and adversely affected.

 

Our business requires us to estimate demand for our products and therefore estimate the amount of inventory we require. We depend on our forecasts of demand for and popularity of various products to make purchase decisions and to manage our inventory of skus. Demand for products, however, can change significantly between the time inventory or components are ordered and the date of sale, which can be as long as four months. Demand may be affected by seasonality, new product launches, rapid changes in product cycles and pricing, product defects, promotions, changes in consumer spending patterns, changes in consumer tastes with respect to our products and other factors, and our consumers may not purchase products in the quantities that we expect. It may be difficult to accurately forecast demand and determine appropriate levels of product or componentry. We do not have the right to return unsold products to our suppliers. If we fail to manage our inventory effectively or negotiate favorable credit terms with third-party suppliers, we may be subject to a heightened risk of inventory obsolescence, a decline in inventory values, and significant inventory write-downs or write-offs. In addition, if we are required to lower sale prices in order to reduce inventory level or to pay higher prices to our suppliers, our profit margins might be negatively affected. Any of the above may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We are increasingly dependent on information technology, and if we are unable to protect against service interruptions, data corruption, cyber-based attacks or network security breaches, our operations could be disrupted.

 

The global nature of our business requires the development and implementation of robust and efficiently functioning information technology systems. We rely on information technology networks and systems to market and sell our products, to process, transmit and store electronic and financial information, to manage a variety of business processes and activities and to comply with regulatory, legal and tax requirements. We are increasingly dependent on a variety of information systems to effectively process retail customer orders and fulfill consumer orders from our e-commerce business. Our ability to receive and fulfill orders successfully is critical to our success and largely depends upon the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our computer and communications hardware and software systems. Our primary computer systems and operations are located at our facility in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

In addition, we depend on our information technology infrastructure for digital marketing activities, personnel, retail customers, consumers, manufacturers and suppliers around the world. Our e-commerce operations are important to our business. Our website serves as an effective extension of our marketing strategies by exposing potential new consumers to our brand, product offerings and enhanced content. Due to the importance of our website and e-commerce operations, we are vulnerable to website downtime and other technical failures. Our failure to successfully respond to these risks could reduce e-commerce sales and damage our brand’s reputation.

 

We provide emails and “push” communications to inform consumers of new products, shipping specials and other promotions. We believe these messages are an important part of our consumer experience. If we are unable to successfully deliver emails or other messages to our subscribers, or if subscribers decline to open or read our messages, our net revenue and profitability would be materially adversely affected. Changes in how web and mail services block, organize and prioritize email may reduce the number of subscribers who receive or open our emails. For example, Google’s Gmail service has a feature that organizes incoming emails into categories (for example, primary, social and promotions). Such categorization or similar inbox organizational features may result in our emails being delivered in a less prominent location in a subscriber’s inbox or viewed as “spam” by our subscribers and may reduce the likelihood of that subscriber reading our emails.

 

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These information technology systems, some of which are managed by third parties, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches, catastrophic events and errors in usage by our employees and customers. Actions by third parties to block, impose restrictions on or charge for the delivery of emails or other messages could also adversely impact our business. From time to time, Internet service providers or other third parties may block bulk email transmissions or otherwise experience technical difficulties that result in our inability to successfully deliver emails or other messages to consumers. Any material disruption of our systems, or the systems of our third-party service providers, could disrupt our ability to track, record and analyze the products that we sell and could negatively impact our operations, shipment of goods, ability to process financial information and transactions, and our ability to receive and process retail customers and e-commerce orders or engage in normal business activities. If our information technology systems suffer damage, disruption or shutdown and we do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected, and we could experience delays in reporting our financial results.

 

Changes in the laws or regulations that limit our ability to send communications to consumers or impose additional requirements upon us in connection with sending such communications would also materially adversely impact our business. Our use of email and other messaging services to send communications to consumers may also result in legal claims against us, which may cause us increased expenses, and if successful might result in fines and orders with costly reporting and compliance obligations or might limit or prohibit our ability to send emails or other messages. We also rely on social networking messaging services to send communications and to encourage consumers to send communications. Changes to the terms of these social networking services to limit promotional communications, any restrictions that would limit our ability or our consumers’ ability to send communications through their services, disruptions or downtime experienced by these social networking services or decline in the use of or engagement with social networking services by consumers could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

 

If we fail to adopt new technologies or adapt our website and systems to changing consumer requirements or emerging industry standards, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

 

To remain competitive, we must continue to enhance and improve the responsiveness, functionality and features of our Internet platform, including our e-commerce website and mobile applications. Our competitors are continually developing innovations and introducing new products to increase their consumer base and enhance user experience. As a result, in order to attract and retain consumers and compete against our competitors, we must continue to invest resources to enhance our information technology and improve our existing products and services for our consumers. The Internet and the online retail industry are characterized by rapid technological evolution, changes in consumer requirements and preferences, frequent introductions of new products and services embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices, any of which could render our existing technologies and systems obsolete. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to identify, develop, acquire or license leading technologies useful in our business, and respond to technological advances and emerging industry standards and practices in a cost-effective and timely way. The development of our website and other proprietary technology entails significant technical and business risks. There can be no assurance that we will be able to properly implement or use new technologies effectively or adapt our website and systems to meet consumer requirements or emerging industry standards. If we are unable to adapt in a cost-effective and timely manner in response to changing market conditions or consumer requirements, whether for technical, legal, financial or other reasons, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

 

Failure to protect sensitive information of our consumers and information technology systems against security breaches could damage our reputation and brand and substantially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We collect, maintain, transmit and store data about our consumers, suppliers and others, including personally identifiable and financial information, as well as other confidential and proprietary information. We also employ third-party service providers that collect, store, process and transmit proprietary, personal and confidential information, including credit card information, on our behalf.

 

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Advances in technology, the expertise of criminals, new discoveries in the field of cryptography, acts or omissions by our employees, contractors or service providers or other events or developments could result in a compromise or breach in the security of confidential or sensitive information. We and our service providers may not be able to prevent third parties, including criminals, competitors or others, from breaking into or altering our systems, conducting denial-of-service attacks, attempting to gain access to our systems, information or monetary funds through phishing or social engineering campaigns, installing viruses or malicious software on our website or devices used by our employees or contractors, or carrying out other activity intended to disrupt our systems or gain access to confidential or sensitive information in our or our service providers’ systems. Furthermore, such third parties may further engage in various other illegal activities using such information, including credit card fraud, which may cause additional harm to us, our consumers and our brand. We also may be vulnerable to error or malfeasance by our own employees or other insiders. Third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce our or our service providers’ employees to misdirect funds or to disclose information in order to gain access to personal data we maintain about our consumers or website users. In addition, we have limited control or influence over the security policies or measures adopted by third-party providers of online payment services through which some of our consumers may elect to make payment for purchases at our website. Contracted third-party delivery service providers may also violate their confidentiality obligations and disclose or use information about our consumers inadvertently or illegally.

 

If any breach of information security were to occur, our reputation and brand could be damaged, our business may suffer, we could be required to expend significant capital and other resources to alleviate problems caused by such breaches, and we could be exposed to a risk of loss, litigation or regulatory action and possible liability. Actual or anticipated attacks may cause us to incur increasing costs, including costs to deploy additional personnel and protection technologies, train employees and engage third-party experts and consultants. In addition, any party who is able to illicitly obtain a subscriber’s password could access the subscriber’s financial, transaction or personal information. Any compromise or breach of our security measures, or those of our third-party service providers, may violate applicable privacy, data security and other laws, and cause significant legal and financial exposure, adverse publicity and a loss of confidence in our security measures, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we maintain privacy, data breach and network security liability insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all. We may need to devote significant resources to protect against security breaches or to address problems caused by breaches, diverting resources from the growth and expansion of our business.

 

Payment methods used on our Internet platform subject us to third-party payment processing-related risks.

 

We accept payments from our consumers using a variety of methods, including online payments with credit cards, and debit cards issued by major banks in the United States, and payment through third-party online payment platforms such as PayPal. We also rely on third parties to provide payment processing services. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs and lower our profit margins. We may also be subject to fraud and other illegal activities in connection with the various payment methods we offer, including online payment options. For online consumers, these are card-not-present transactions, so they present a greater risk of fraud. Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities such as unauthorized use of credit or debit cards and bank account information. To the extent we are an online seller, requirements relating to consumer authentication and fraud detection are more complex. If we fail to follow payment card industry security standards, even if there is no compromise of customer information, we could incur significant fines or lose our ability to give customers the option of using payment cards to fund their payments or pay their fees. If we were unable to accept payment cards, our business would be seriously damaged. In addition, we may be subject to additional fraud risk if third-party service providers or our employees fraudulently use consumer information for their own gain or facilitate the fraudulent use of such information. Overall, we may have little recourse if we process a criminally fraudulent transaction.

 

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If our cash from operations is not sufficient to meet our current or future operating needs, expenditures and debt service obligations, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

 

We may require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other future developments, including any marketing initiatives, investments or acquisitions we may decide to pursue. To the extent we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow, we may be forced to cancel, reduce or delay these activities. Alternatively, if our sources of funding are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to obtain a credit facility or sell additional equity or debt securities. The sale of additional equity securities would result in dilution of our existing stockholders. The incurrence of additional indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and operating and financing covenants that could restrict our operations.

 

Our ability to generate cash to meet our operating needs, expenditures and debt service obligations will depend on our future performance and financial condition, which will be affected by financial, business, economic, legislative, regulatory and other factors, including potential changes in costs, pricing, the success of product innovation and marketing, competitive pressure and consumer preferences. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations and other cash needs, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures or to dispose of material assets or operations, seek additional debt or equity capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. Any future credit facilities may restrict our ability to take these actions, and we may not be able to affect any such alternative measures on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.

 

Our ability to raise capital through the sale of equity may be limited by the various rules of SEC, and the national securities exchange on which we intend to apply to list our shares of common stock, which place limits on the number of shares of stock that may be sold. If we should require additional capital and we do not succeed in raising additional funds on acceptable terms, we could be forced to delay, discontinue or curtail product development, forego sales and marketing efforts, and forego attractive business opportunities. Furthermore, it is uncertain whether financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. For further discussion of our liquidity requirements as they relate to our long-term plans, see the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

 

The failure to comply with the terms of our accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp Credit Advisors, LLC, or CircleUp, could potentially result in action against our pledged assets, which would likely have a disruptive effect on our business operations.

 

On October 19, 2017, we entered into an accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp. CircleUp funds us based on a percentage of our outstanding accounts receivable from customers. Our customers pay CircleUp directly up to the amount funded to us by CircleUp in addition to any incurred interest. The accounts receivable financing facility requires us, among other things, to provide a security interest in all of our assets and meet various negative and affirmative covenants. If we fail to comply with the terms of the accounts receivable financing facility, CircleUp could declare a default and if the default were to remain uncured, CircleUp would have the right to proceed against any or all of the collateral securing the facility. Any action by our secured or unsecured creditors to proceed against our assets would likely have a disruptive effect on our business operations. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, CircleUp agreed to lend amounts to us, in addition to the outstanding accounts receivable facility, to fund payments owed to vendors for large inventory purchases made in conjunction with a substantial customer sale completed in the second of quarter of 2018.

 

Our success depends, in part, on our retention of key members of our senior management team and ability to attract and retain qualified personnel.

 

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to retain our key employees, including our executive officers (in particular, our Chief Creative Officer, Audrey Kunin, M.D., and our President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Kunin, M.D.), our senior management team and development, supply chain, operations, finance, sales and marketing personnel. We are a small company that relies on a few key employees, any one of whom would be difficult to replace, and because we are a small company, we believe that the loss of key employees may be more disruptive to us than it would be to a large, international company. Our success also depends, in part, on our continuing ability to identify, hire, train and retain other highly qualified personnel. In addition, we may be unable to effectively plan for the succession of senior management, including our chief executive officer. The loss of key personnel or the failure to attract and retain qualified personnel may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Adverse U.S. or international economic conditions could negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Consumer spending on skincare products is influenced by general economic conditions and the availability of discretionary income. Adverse U.S. or international economic conditions or periods of inflation or high energy prices may contribute to higher unemployment levels, decreased consumer spending, reduced credit availability and declining consumer confidence and demand, each of which poses a risk to our business. A decrease in consumer spending or in retailer and consumer confidence and demand for our products could have a significant negative impact on our net sales and profitability, including our operating margins and return on invested capital. These economic conditions could cause some of our retail customers or suppliers to experience cash flow or credit problems and impair their financial condition, which could disrupt our business and adversely affect product orders, payment patterns and default rates and increase our bad debt expense. In addition, deterioration in global financial markets could make future financing difficult or more expensive, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to finance the acquisition of inventory for sale to our customers.

 

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Our ability to conduct business in international markets may be affected by political, legal, tax and regulatory risks.

 

Net sales from outside the United States comprised 26% and 19% of our net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Net sales from outside the United States comprised 30% and 6% of our net sales for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Further, certain of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers are located in China and European countries. Our ability to capitalize on growth in new international markets and to maintain the current level of operations in our existing international markets is exposed to the risks associated with international operations, including:

 

  ●  burdens of complying with a wide variety of laws and regulations, including more stringent regulations relating to data privacy and security, particularly in the European Union;
     
  political and economic instability;

 

  natural disasters;

 

  trade restrictions;
     
  the imposition of government controls;
     
  an inability to use or to obtain adequate intellectual property protection for our key brands and products;

 

  tariffs and customs duties and the classifications of our goods by applicable governmental bodies;

 

  the lack of well-established or reliable legal systems in certain areas or a legal system subject to undue influence or corruption;

 

  a business culture in which illegal sales practices may be prevalent;

 

 

logistics and sourcing;

 

 

the presence of high inflation in the economies of international markets;

 

  military conflicts; and

 

  acts of terrorism.

 

The occurrence of any of these risks could negatively affect our international business and consequently our overall business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Currency exchange rate fluctuations could reduce our overall profits.

 

Currently all of our international sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, so we don’t currently have foreign exchange risk from our sales transactions, but could in the future. Any translation from foreign currencies to the U.S. dollar resulting from materials purchased from foreign suppliers is done using the spot exchange rate and is recorded as an expense in the period in which payment is made. If the U.S. dollar changes relative to applicable local currencies, there is a risk our reported operating expenses, and net income could fluctuate. We are not able to predict the degree of exchange rate fluctuations, nor can we estimate the effect any future fluctuations may have upon our future operations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging contracts or participated in any hedging or derivative activities as our foreign currency transactions are not currently material.

 

New laws, regulations, enforcement trends or changes in existing regulations governing the introduction, marketing and sale of our products to consumers could harm our business.

 

Our business is subject to strict government regulations. The processing, formulation, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, advertising, and distribution of our products are subject to federal laws and regulation by one or more federal agencies, including the FDA, the FTC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These activities are also regulated by various state, local, and international laws and agencies of the states and localities in which our products are sold. If we or our manufacturers fail to comply with those regulations, we could become subject to significant penalties or claims, which could harm our results of operations or our ability to conduct our business. In addition, the adoption of new regulations or changes in the interpretations of existing regulations may result in significant compliance costs or discontinuation of product sales and may impair the marketing of our products, resulting in significant loss of net sales. Government regulations may prevent or delay the introduction, or require the reformulation, of our products, which could result in lost revenues and increased costs to us.

 

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Our failure to comply with federal or state regulations, or with regulations in foreign markets that cover our product claims and advertising, including direct claims and advertising by us, may result in enforcement actions and imposition of penalties or otherwise harm the distribution and sale of our products. Further, our business is subject to laws governing our accounting, tax, and import and export activities. Failure to comply with these requirements could result in legal and/or financial consequences that might adversely affect our sales and profitability. In addition, changes in the laws, regulations and policies that affect our business, or the interpretations thereof, and actions we may take in response to such changes, could have an adverse effect on our financial results. Any of these actions could prevent us from marketing particular products or making certain claims or statements of support for them. The FDA could also require us to remove a particular product from the market. Any future recall or removal would result in additional costs to us, including lost revenues from any additional products that we are required to remove from the market, any of which could be material. Any product recalls or removals could also lead to liability, substantial costs, and reduced growth prospects.

 

We face lengthy timelines with respect to product registrations in certain countries such as the United Arab Emirates, European Union member countries, and Latin American countries. The process for obtaining product permits and licenses may require extended periods of time that may prevent us from launching new product initiatives in the aforementioned countries on the same timelines as other markets around the world.

 

Additional or more stringent regulations of our products have been considered from time to time. These developments could require reformulation of some products to meet new standards, recalls or discontinuance of some products not able to be reformulated, additional record-keeping requirements, increased documentation of the properties of some products, additional or different labeling, additional scientific substantiation, adverse event reporting, or other new requirements. Any of these developments could result in, among other things, increased costs, delays in product launches, product returns or recalls and lower net sales, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Additionally, our third-party suppliers or vendors may not be able to comply with these rules without incurring substantial expenses. If our third-party suppliers or vendors are not able to timely comply with these new rules, we may experience increased cost or delays in obtaining certain raw materials and third-party products.

 

In the United States, the FDA does not currently require pre-market approval for products intended to be sold as non-prescription skincare products so long as they are not marketed for the treatment or prevention of a disease, or as affecting the structure or function of the human body. However, the FDA may in the future require pre-market approval, clearance or registration/notification of skincare products, establishments or manufacturing facilities. Moreover, such products could also be regulated as both drugs and skincare simultaneously, as the categories are not mutually exclusive. The statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to drugs are extensive and require significant resources and time to ensure compliance. For example, if any of our products intended to be sold as skincare were to be regulated as drugs, we might be required to conduct, among other things, clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of these products. We may not have sufficient resources to conduct any required clinical trials or to ensure compliance with the manufacturing requirements applicable to drugs. If the FDA determines that any of our products intended to be sold as skincare should be classified and regulated as drug products and we are unable to comply with applicable drug requirements, we may be unable to continue to market those products. Any inquiry into the regulatory status of our skincare and any related interruption in the marketing and sale of these products could damage our reputation and image in the marketplace.

 

The facilities of our third-party manufacturers are subject to regulation under the FDCA, and FDA implementing regulations.

 

The facilities of our third-party manufacturers are subject to regulation under the FDCA and FDA implementing regulations. In accordance with the FDCA and FDA regulations, our products may not be sold if they are deemed to be adulterated or misbranded. Our third-party manufacturers may deviate from good manufacturing practices or, through their action or inaction, otherwise render our products misbranded. Labeling and claims made for products must follow specific requirements to avoid being deemed misbranded. The FDA may inspect our third-party manufacturers periodically to determine if they are complying with the FDCA. Certain claims may subject our products to being deemed an illegal new drug. A history of past compliance is not a guarantee that future FDA regulatory manufacturing requirements will not mandate other compliance steps with associated expense. Our operations could be harmed if regulatory authorities make determinations that our vendors, are not in compliance with these regulations. If the FDA finds a violation of Good Manufacturing Practices, or GMPs, it may enjoin our manufacturer’s operations, seize product, and impose administrative, civil or criminal penalties. If our third-party manufacturers fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, we could be required to take costly corrective actions, including suspending manufacturing operations, changing product formulations, suspending sales of nonconforming products, or initiating product recalls, change product labelling, packaging or advertising or take other corrective action. In addition, sanctions under the FDCA may include seizure of products, injunctions against future shipment of products, restitution and disgorgement of profits, operating restrictions and criminal prosecution. If any of the above events occurs, we would be required to expend significant resources on compliance, fines and/or legal fees and we might need to seek the services of alternative third-party manufacturers. A prolonged interruption in the manufacturing of one or more of our products as a result of non-compliance could decrease our supply of products available for sale, which could reduce our net sales, gross profits and market share, as well as harm our overall business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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Government regulations and private party actions relating to the marketing and advertising of our products and services may restrict, inhibit or delay our ability to sell our products and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Government authorities regulate advertising and product claims regarding the performance and benefits of our products. These regulatory authorities typically require a reasonable basis to support any marketing claims. What constitutes a reasonable basis for substantiation can vary widely from market to market, and there is no assurance that the efforts that we undertake to support our claims will be deemed adequate for any particular product or claim. The most significant area of risk for such activities relates to improper or unsubstantiated claims about our products and their use or safety. If we are unable to show adequate substantiation for our product claims, or our promotional materials make claims that exceed the scope of allowed claims for the classification of the specific product, whether skincare, OTC drug products or other consumer products that we offer, the FDA, the FTC, other regulatory authorities a private plaintiff, or a class of private plaintiffs, could initiate an investigation, initiate enforcement action, initiate litigation, and/or seek to impose penalties, such as monetary consumer redress, requiring us to revise our marketing materials, amend our claims or stop selling certain products, all of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any regulatory action or penalty could lead to private party actions, which could further harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

In 2012, the FDA issued warning letters to several cosmetic companies alleging improper structure/function claims regarding their cosmetic products, including, for example, product claims regarding gene activity, cellular rejuvenation, and rebuilding collagen. There is a degree of subjectivity in determining whether a claim is an improper structure/function claim. Given this subjectivity, there is a risk that we could receive a warning letter, be required to modify our product claims or take other actions to satisfy the FDA if the FDA determines any of our marketing materials include improper structure/function claims for our cosmetic products. In addition, plaintiffs’ lawyers have filed class action lawsuits against some of our competitors after our competitors received these FDA warning letters. There can be no assurance that we will not be subject to government actions or class action lawsuits, which could harm our business.

 

In 2009 in the United States, the FTC approved revisions to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, or Guides, that require disclosure of material connections between an endorser and the company they are endorsing and generally do not allow marketing using atypical results. Our sales force has used testimonials and “before and after” photos to market and sell some of our popular products. We intend to continue to use testimonials for our popular products, including our anti-aging products. In highly regulated and scrutinized product categories if we or our sales force fails to comply with the Guides or makes improper product claims, the FTC could bring an enforcement action against us and we could be fined and/or forced to alter our marketing materials.

 

In December 2014, a complaint was filed by the FTC against us and Audrey Kunin alleging unsubstantiated product claims made by us with respect to the effects of photodynamic therapy used in certain of our antiaging products and with respect to claims made in our Shrinking Beauty product. A consent order with the FTC was approved later in December 2014 and a judgment in the amount of $843,996 was entered against us, of which we were required to pay $12,675. Payment of the balance of the judgment was indefinitely suspended.

 

If the FTC has reason to believe the law or a consent order is being violated (e.g. failure to possess adequate substantiation for product claims), it can initiate an enforcement action. The FTC has a variety of processes and remedies available to it for enforcement, both administratively and judicially, including compulsory process authority, cease and desist orders, and injunctions. FTC enforcement could result in civil penalties or orders requiring, among other things, limits on advertising, consumer redress, and divestiture of assets, rescission of contracts, or such other relief as may be deemed necessary. Violation of these orders could result in substantial financial or other penalties. Any action against us by the FTC could materially and adversely affect our ability to successfully market our products.

 

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Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to our business practices, monetary penalties, increased costs of operations or otherwise harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and abroad that involve matters central to our business, including privacy and data protection, intellectual property, advertising, marketing, distribution, consumer protection and online payment services. The sale of products outside the U.S., the introduction of new products or expansion of our activities in certain jurisdictions may subject us to additional laws and regulations. These U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations, which can be enforced by private parties or government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. For example, the European Union significantly amended its data protection laws in May of 2016 through the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which goes into full force in May of 2018. The GDPR may limit our ability to collect or use information about consumers that are located in the European Union or increase our potential liability for misuse, loss or a breach of security in data of European Union residents. The application, interpretation and enforcement of the GDPR may be uncertain, and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. Moreover, consumer data privacy remains a matter of interest to lawmakers and regulators, and a number of other proposals are pending before federal, state and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies that could significantly affect our business. These existing and proposed laws and regulations can be costly to comply with and can delay or impede our ability to market and sell our products, result in negative publicity, increase our operating costs, require significant management time and attention, and subject us to inquiries or investigations, claims or other remedies, including fines or demands that we modify or cease existing business practices.

 

Furthermore, foreign data protection, privacy and other laws and regulations are often more restrictive than those in the United States. The GDPR, for example, imposes stricter obligations under its laws and regulations relating to privacy than the United States. European Union member countries have discretion with respect to their interpretation and implementation of the GDPR and have their own regulators with differing attitudes towards enforcement, which results in varying privacy standards and enforcement risks from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Legislation and regulation in the European Union and some European Union member states require companies to give specific types of notice and in some cases seek consent from consumers before using their data for certain purposes, including some marketing activities. In the majority of European Union member countries, consent must be obtained prior to setting cookies or other tracking technologies. Outside of the European Union, there are many countries with data protections laws, and new countries are adopting data protection legislation with increasing frequency. Many of these laws also require consent from consumers for the collection and use of data for various purposes, including marketing, which may reduce the ability to market our products. In particular, these laws may have an impact on our ability to conduct business through websites we and our partners may operate outside the U.S. There is no harmonized approach to these laws and regulations globally although several frameworks exist. Consequently, the potential risk of non-compliance with applicable foreign data protection laws and regulations will increase as we continue our international expansion. We may need to change and limit the way we use consumer information in operating our business and may have difficulty maintaining a single operating model that is compliant. Compliance with such laws and regulations will result in additional costs and may necessitate changes to our business practices and divergent operating models, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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We may, from time to time, become party to litigation, regulatory proceedings or other disputes that, if adversely decided or settled, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We may, from time to time, become party to litigation, regulatory proceedings or other disputes. In general, claims made by or against us in disputes and other legal or regulatory proceedings can be expensive and time consuming to bring or defend against, requiring us to expend significant resources and divert the efforts and attention of our management and other personnel from our business operations. These potential claims include but are not limited to personal injury and investigations relating to the advertising and promotional claims about our products. Plaintiffs in the past have received substantial damage awards from other cosmetics companies based upon claims for injuries allegedly caused by the use of their products. Any adverse determination against us in these proceedings, or even the allegations contained in the claims, regardless of whether they are ultimately found to be without merit, may also result in settlements, injunctions or damages that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We currently maintain general liability insurance with an annual aggregate coverage limit of two million dollars. Some allegations of regulatory non-compliance are also exempt from coverage under general liability insurance.

 

We may be required to recall products and may face product liability claims, either of which could result in unexpected costs and damage our reputation.

 

We may need to recall some of our products if they become contaminated, are tampered with or are mislabeled. A widespread product recall could result in adverse publicity, damage to our reputation, and a loss of consumer confidence in our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business results and the value of our brands. We also may incur significant liability if our products or operations violate applicable laws or regulations, or in the event our products cause injury, illness or death. In addition, we could be the target of claims that our advertising is false or deceptive under U.S. federal and state laws as well as foreign laws, including consumer protection statutes of some states. Even if a product liability or consumer fraud claim is unsuccessful or without merit, the negative publicity surrounding such assertions regarding our products could adversely affect our reputation and brand image.

 

We sell products for human use. Our products intended for use as skincare are not generally subject to pre-market approval or registration processes, so we cannot rely upon a government safety panel to qualify or approve our products for use. A product may be safe for the general population when used as directed but could cause an adverse reaction for a person who has a health condition or allergies, or who is taking a prescription medication. While we include what we believe are adequate instructions and warnings and we have historically had low numbers of reported adverse reactions, previously unknown adverse reactions could occur. If we discover that any of our products are causing adverse reactions, we could suffer further adverse publicity or regulatory/government sanctions.

 

Potential product liability risks may arise from the testing, manufacture and sale of our products, including that the products fail to meet quality or manufacturing specifications, contain contaminants, include inadequate instructions as to their proper use, include inadequate warnings concerning side effects and interactions with other substances or for persons with health conditions or allergies, or cause adverse reactions or side effects. Product liability claims could increase our costs, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. As we continue to offer an increasing number of new products, our product liability risk may increase. It may be necessary for us to recall products that do not meet approved specifications or because of the side effects resulting from the use of our products, which would result in adverse publicity, potentially significant costs in connection with the recall and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

In addition, plaintiffs in the past have received substantial damage awards from other skincare and drug companies based upon claims for injuries allegedly caused by the use of their products. Although we currently maintain general liability insurance, any claims brought against us may exceed our existing or future insurance policy coverage or limits. Any judgment against us that is in excess of our policy coverage or limits would have to be paid from our cash reserves, which would reduce our capital resources. In addition, we may be required to pay higher premiums and accept higher deductibles in order to secure adequate insurance coverage in the future. Further, we may not have sufficient capital resources to pay a judgment, in which case our creditors could levy against our assets. Any product liability claim or series of claims brought against us could harm our business significantly, particularly if a claim were to result in adverse publicity or damage awards outside or in excess of our insurance policy limits.

 

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If we are unable to protect our intellectual property the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be adversely affected.

 

We regard our trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, trade secrets, know-how and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. Our principal intellectual property rights include registered trademarks, “DERMAdoctor”, “KP Duty”, “AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’” and “POETRY IN LOTION” among others, copyrights, as well as trade secrets, know-how, and patents relating to our product formulations, sales and marketing and other business practices. We also rely in part on confidentiality agreements to protect our proprietary rights, including know-how, such as but not limited to processes and technologies. Our trademarks are valuable assets that support our brand, consumers’ perception of our products and the resultant goodwill. Although we have registered trademarks and pending trademark applications for our brands in the United States and in many foreign countries in which we operate, we may not be successful in asserting an action for trademark infringement in all jurisdictions. We also have not applied for trademark protection in all relevant foreign jurisdictions in which we operate, and cannot ensure that our pending trademark applications will be approved. Third parties may also oppose our trademark applications domestically or abroad, or otherwise challenge our use of the trademarks. In the event that our trademarks are successfully challenged, we could be forced to rebrand our products in some parts of the world, which could result in the loss of brand recognition and could require us to devote resources to advertising and marketing new brands.

 

Our products have limited patent protection. We have issued patents relating to four of our products. We may pursue additional patent protection in the future. Limited patent protection for our products limits our ability to protect our products from competition. As such, we primarily rely on know-how to protect our products and it is possible that others may independently develop the same or similar know-how, allowing them to become direct competitors by marketing the same or similar products. The efforts we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective. For example, our confidentiality agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of our proprietary information, technologies and processes, and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use of such information, technologies and processes, which could harm our competitive position.

 

In addition, effective trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret protection may be unavailable or limited for certain of our intellectual property. Other parties may infringe our intellectual property rights and may dilute our brands in the marketplace. We may need to engage in litigation or other activities to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets, and defend against third-party challenges to the validity and scope of our intellectual property and other proprietary rights, which could be expensive, time-consuming and unsuccessful. In addition, initiating a patent infringement litigation will place our patents at risk for invalidation through competitors counter claims of invalidity in court and/or initiation of a challenge to our patents in inter partes review or other opposition proceedings before the patent office. Such challenge, if successful, may render our patents invalid or unenforceable. An adverse result with respect to infringement could put one or more of our patents at risk for being interpreted narrowly, thereby limiting the scope of protection afforded by said patents. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. Further, we may not be able to prevent, alone or with our licensors, misappropriation of our trade secrets or confidential information, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect those rights as fully as in the United States. If we fail to protect our intellectual property or other proprietary rights, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

 

Interference proceedings provoked by third parties may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions with respect to some of our patents or patent applications subject to pre-AIA or those of our licensors (i.e., those filed before March 16, 2013). An unfavorable outcome could result in a loss of our current patent rights and could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Litigation or interference proceedings may result in a decision adverse to our interests and, even if we are successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees.

 

Derivation proceedings may be provoked by third parties for our patents or patent applications subject to AIA or those of our licensors filed after March 16, 2013. Derivation proceedings provide a means to establish that a patent applicant (or patentee) was not an inventor, but rather that he derived the invention from someone else. An unfavorable result of any such derivation proceeding could require us to cease using the related technology or license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms or does not agree to license the technology. Thus, the derivation proceedings may result in a decision adverse to our interests and, even if we are successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees.

 

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Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation despite the existence of protective orders in this type of litigation. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments during the course of litigation. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our shares of common stock.

 

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.

 

Periodic maintenance fees on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which non-compliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include, but are not limited to, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter the market, which would have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

Our success depends on our ability to operate our business without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the trademarks, patents, copyrights and other proprietary rights of third parties.

 

Our commercial success depends in part on our ability to operate without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the trademarks, patents, copyrights, trade secrets and other proprietary rights of others. We cannot be certain that the conduct of our business, and in particular, the marketing of our products do not and will not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate such third-party rights. In addition, third parties may involve us in intellectual property disputes as part of a business model or strategy to gain competitive advantage. While we are not involved in any currently active intellectual property litigation, from time to time we receive allegations of trademark or patent infringement and in the past, third parties have filed claims against us with allegations of intellectual property infringement.

 

To the extent we gain greater visibility and market exposure as a public company or otherwise, we may also face a greater risk of being the subject of such claims and litigation. Third-parties in the industry in which we operate are presently developing pipeline product candidates and own large patent portfolios. These third-party patent portfolios include numerous U.S. and Foreign issued patents and pending patent applications. As our industry expands, the large patent portfolios owned by third-parties increases the risk that our product candidates may launch with a higher risk of infringement. Our use of our trademarks may also be the subject of allegations of infringement and such use may be limited. For these and other reasons, third parties may allege that our products or activities infringe, misappropriate, dilute or otherwise violate their trademark, patent, copyright or other proprietary rights. Defending against such allegations and litigation could be expensive, occupy significant amounts of time, divert management’s attention from other business concerns and have an adverse impact on our ability to bring products to market. In addition, if we are found to infringe, misappropriate, dilute or otherwise violate third-party trademark, patent, copyright or other proprietary rights, our ability to use brands to the fullest extent we plan may be limited and our marketing of products may be enjoined. We may need to obtain a license to use our brand or sell our products, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Additionally, or alternatively, we may need to redesign or rebrand our marketing strategies or products, which may not be possible. We may also be required to pay substantial damages or be subject to an order prohibiting us and our retail customers from importing or selling certain products or engaging in certain activities. Our inability to operate our business without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the trademarks, patents, copyrights and proprietary rights of others could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

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In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, obtain one or more licenses from third parties, pay royalties or redesign our infringing products, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure. We cannot predict whether any such license would be available at all or whether it would be available on commercially reasonable terms. Furthermore, even in the absence of litigation, we may need to obtain licenses from third parties to advance our research or allow commercialization of product candidates. We may fail to obtain any of these licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In that event, we would be unable to further develop and commercialize product candidates, which could harm our business significantly.

 

We may be subject to claims that our employees, consultants or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties.

 

We possess confidential and proprietary information of third parties. In addition, we employ individuals who were previously employed at other beauty, cosmetic or skincare companies, and therefore, may be privy to the confidential and proprietary information of their former employers. As such, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed third party confidential or proprietary information without authorization. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial cost and be a distraction to our management and employees.

 

Use of social media may materially and adversely affect our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties.

 

We rely to a large extent on our online presence to reach consumers. Negative commentary regarding us or our products may be posted on our website or social media platforms and may be adverse to our reputation or business. Our target consumers often value readily available information and often act on such information without further investigation and without regard to its accuracy. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. In addition, we may face claims relating to information that is published or made available through the interactive features of our website. For example, we may receive third-party complaints that the comments or other content posted by users on our platforms infringe third-party intellectual property rights or otherwise infringe the legal rights of others. While the Communications Decency Act, or the CDA, and Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or the DMCA, generally protect online service providers from claims of copyright infringement or other legal liability for the self-directed activities of its users, if it were determined that we did not meet the relevant safe harbor requirements under either law, we could be exposed to claims related to advertising practices, defamation, intellectual property rights, rights of publicity and privacy, and personal injury torts. We could incur significant costs investigating and defending such claims and, if we are found liable, significant damages. If any of these events occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

 

We also use third-party social media platforms as marketing tools. For example, we maintain Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Google+ accounts. As e-commerce and social media platforms continue to rapidly evolve, we must continue to maintain a presence on these platforms and establish presences on new or emerging popular social media platforms. If we are unable to cost-effectively use social media platforms as marketing tools, our ability to acquire new consumers and our financial condition may suffer. Furthermore, as laws and regulations rapidly evolve to govern the use of these platforms and devices, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these platforms and devices could subject us to regulatory investigations, class action lawsuits, liability, fines or other penalties and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and result of operations.

 

In addition, an increase in the use of social media for product promotion and marketing may cause an increase in the burden on us to monitor compliance of such materials, and increase the risk that such materials could contain problematic product or marketing claims in violation of applicable regulations.

 

Failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, other applicable anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, and applicable trade control laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.

 

We currently sell our products in several countries outside of the United States through distributors. Our operations are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, as well as the anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in the countries where we do business. The FCPA prohibits covered parties from offering, promising, authorizing or giving anything of value, directly or indirectly, to a “foreign government official” with the intent of improperly influencing the official’s act or decision, inducing the official to act or refrain from acting in violation of lawful duty, or obtaining or retaining an improper business advantage. The FCPA also requires publicly traded companies to maintain records that accurately and fairly represent their transactions, and to have an adequate system of internal accounting controls. In addition, other applicable anti-corruption laws prohibit bribery of domestic government officials, and some laws that may apply to our operations prohibit commercial bribery, including giving or receiving improper payments to or from non-government parties, as well as so-called “facilitation” payments. In addition, we are subject to U.S. and other applicable trade control regulations that restrict with whom we may transact business, including the trade sanctions enforced by the U.S. Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC.

 

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While we have implemented certain safeguards designed to ensure compliance with U.S. trade control laws, our employees, agents, or distributors may engage in improper conduct for which we might be held responsible. Any violations of these anti-corruption or trade controls laws, or even allegations of such violations, can lead to an investigation and/or enforcement action, which could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction, and lead to significant costs and expenses, including legal fees. If we, or our employees, distributors or agents acting on our behalf, are found to have engaged in practices that violate these laws and regulations, we could suffer severe fines and penalties, profit disgorgement, injunctions on future conduct, securities litigation, bans on transacting government business, delisting from securities exchanges and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our brand and reputation, our sales activities or our stock price could be adversely affected if we become the subject of any negative publicity related to actual or potential violations of anti-corruption, anti-bribery or trade control laws and regulations.

 

Government regulation of the Internet and e-commerce is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these regulations could substantially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We are subject to general business regulations and laws as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the Internet and e-commerce. Existing and future regulations and laws could impede the growth of the Internet, e-commerce or mobile commerce. These regulations and laws may involve taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, content protection, electronic contracts and communications, consumer protection, social media marketing and gift cards. It is not clear how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes and consumer privacy apply to the Internet as the vast majority of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the Internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the Internet or e-commerce. It is possible that general business regulations and laws, or those specifically governing the Internet or e-commerce, may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot be sure that our practices have complied, comply or will comply fully with all such laws and regulations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any of these laws or regulations could result in damage to our reputation, a loss in business and proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others. Any such proceeding or action could hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant amounts in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business and decrease the use of our sites by consumers and suppliers and may result in the imposition of monetary liability. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any such laws or regulations. In addition, it is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on our sites or may even attempt to completely block access to our sites. Adverse legal or regulatory developments could substantially harm our business. In particular, in the event that we are restricted, in whole or in part, from operating in one or more countries, our ability to retain or increase our consumer base may be adversely affected, and we may not be able to maintain or grow our net sales and expand our business as anticipated.

 

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Risks Related to this Offering

 

Following this offering, Papillon will have sufficient voting power to make corporate governance decisions that could have a significant effect on us and our other stockholders.

 

As of the date of this prospectus, Papillon owns 82.23% of our outstanding Units. Following the consummation of this offering, Papillon, will control approximately 50.6% of our outstanding voting power on a fully diluted basis, assuming the issuance of all 1,875,000 shares of common stock being offered in this offering. As a result, Papillon will be able to exert a significant degree of influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. In addition, this concentration of ownership may delay or prevent a change in our control and might affect the market price of our common stock, even when a change in control may be in the best interest of all stockholders. Furthermore, the interests of Papillon may not always coincide with our interests or the interests of our other stockholders.

 

Following the completion of this offering, we will qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules and will qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. We do not currently intend to rely on these exemptions; however, if we do elect to rely on these exemptions in the future, holders of our common stock will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

 

Following the completion of this offering, we will qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, because in excess of 50% of our voting power will be held by Papillon, an entity that Audrey and Jeff Kunin indirectly control. Under these rules, a “controlled company” may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including:

 

  the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consists of independent directors;
     
  the requirement that we have a nominating and corporate governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities;
     
  the requirement that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee’s purpose and responsibilities; and
     
  the requirement for an annual performance evaluation of the nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees.

 

Although we will qualify as a “controlled company” following the completion of this offering, we will nevertheless have a majority of independent directors, our nominating and corporate governance committee, and our compensation committee will both consist entirely of independent directors, and such committees will be subject to annual performance evaluations. However, there can be no assurance that in the future we will not elect to rely on the exemptions available to controlled companies, in which case holders of our common stock will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of              .

 

Stockholders purchasing shares of common stock in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution, causing their investment to immediately be worth less than their purchase price.

 

If you purchase shares of common stock in this offering, you will experience an immediate and substantial dilution in the projected book value of the common stock from the price you pay in this offering.

 

After consummation of this offering and assuming the consummation of this offering exclusive of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, you will have an immediate dilution of $5.53 per common share and an immediate increase in net tangible book value from $(0.39) to $2.47 per share will occur.

 

Future sales and issuances of our common stock or rights to purchase our common stock, including pursuant to the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan we plan to adopt prior to the closing of this offering, could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our stock price to fall.

 

As part of the corporate reorganization, which we will effect prior to the effective date of this registration statement, we will file a certificate of incorporation with the State of Delaware that will authorize the issuance of 50,000,000 shares of common stock and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The common stock and preferred stock, as well as the awards available for issuance under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, may be issued by our board of directors, without stockholder approval. Any future issuances of such stock would further dilute the percentage ownership in us held by holders of our common stock. In addition, the issuance of preferred stock may be used as an “anti-takeover” device without further action on the part of our stockholders, and may adversely affect the holders of the common stock.

 

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We expect that significant additional capital may be needed in the future to continue our planned operations, including inventory, marketing and costs associated with operating as a public company. To raise capital, we may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. Such sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights, preferences and privileges senior to the holders of our common stock, including shares of common stock sold in this offering.

 

In addition, our management will be authorized to grant equity incentive awards to our employees, directors and consultants under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, which will become effective on the business day prior to the public trading date of our common stock; however, we do not intend to issue any awards under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan in connection with this offering, but do intend to grant equity awards after this offering is consummated. “See Executive Compensation - Employment Agreements”. Initially, the aggregate number of shares of our common stock that may be issued pursuant to stock awards under our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan is 731,250 shares. Increases in the number of shares available for future grant or purchase may result in additional dilution, which could cause our stock price to decline.

 

If we issue preferred stock with superior rights than the common stock offered in this offering, it could result in a decrease in the value of our common stock and delay or prevent a change in control of us.

 

Our board of directors will be authorized to issue 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock pursuant to the certificate of incorporation we intend to adopt as part of the corporate reorganization. The issuance of any preferred stock having rights superior to those of the common stock may result in a decrease in the value or market price of the common stock. Holders of preferred stock may have the right to receive dividends, certain preferences in liquidation and conversion rights. The issuance of preferred stock could, under certain circumstances, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us without further vote or action by the stockholders and may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of common stock.

 

We have no plans to pay dividends in the future.

 

Holders of our common stock will be entitled to receive such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors. We do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. Therefore, any returns investors in common stock may have will be in the form of appreciation, if any, in the market value of their common stock. See “Dividend Policy.”

 

Nasdaq may not list our securities for quotation on its exchange which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

 

We anticipate that our securities will be listed on the Nasdaq, a national securities exchange, upon consummation of this offering. Although, after giving effect to this offering, we expect to meet, on a pro forma basis, the Nasdaq’s minimum initial listing standards, which generally mandate that we meet certain requirements relating to stockholders’ equity, market capitalization, aggregate market value of publicly held shares and distribution requirements, we cannot assure you that we will be able to meet those initial listing requirements. If the does not list our securities for trading on its exchange, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

 

  a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;

 

  reduced liquidity with respect to our securities;

 

  a determination that our shares of common stock are “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our shares of common stock to adhere to more stringent rules, possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our shares of common stock;

 

  a limited amount of news and analyst coverage for our company; and

 

  a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.

 

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The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because we expect that our common stock will be listed on the Nasdaq, our common stock will be covered securities. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. Further, if we were to be delisted from the, our common stock would cease to be recognized as covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

 

Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq could result in a de-listing of our common stock.

 

If after listing we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq such as the corporate governance requirements, the stockholder’s equity requirement or the minimum closing bid price requirement, the may take steps to de-list our common stock. Such a de-listing or even notification of failure to comply with such requirements would likely have a negative effect on the price of our common stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our common stock when you wish to do so. In the event of a de-listing, we would take actions to restore our compliance with the Nasdaq’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action taken by us would allow our common stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price or improve the liquidity of our common stock, prevent our common stock from dropping below the Nasdaq minimum bid price requirement or prevent future non-compliance with the Nasdaq’s listing requirements.

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

 

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, not being required to comply with any new requirements adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, requiring a supplement to the auditor’s report in which the auditor would be required to provide additional information about the audit and the financial statements of the issuer, not being required to comply with any new audit rules adopted by the PCAOB after April 5, 2012 unless the SEC determines otherwise, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We could remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.07 billion or more; (ii) the last day of our fiscal year in which the fifth anniversary of this offering occurs; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of any choices to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. Further, as a result of these scaled regulatory requirements, our disclosure may be more limited than that of other public companies and you may not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of such companies.

 

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Under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards, which election is irrevocable, and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

 

As a result of our becoming a public company, we will become subject to additional reporting and corporate governance requirements that will require additional management time, resources and expense.

 

As a public company, and particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the listing requirements of the national securities exchange on which we intend to apply to list our shares of common stock and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies, including the obligation to file with the SEC annual and quarterly information and other reports that are specified in the Exchange Act, and to establish and maintain effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.

 

We are evaluating these rules and regulations, and cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. These rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

 

We have not performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting, such as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, nor have we engaged our independent registered public accounting firm to perform an audit of our internal control over financial reporting as of any balance sheet date or for any period reported in our financial statements. Had we performed such an evaluation or had our independent registered public accounting firm performed an audit of our internal control over financial reporting, material weaknesses may have been identified.

 

As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time consuming and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources.

 

We have not performed an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting, such as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, nor have we engaged our independent registered public accounting firm to perform an audit of our internal control over financial reporting as of any balance sheet date or for any period reported in our financial statements. Had we performed such an evaluation or had our independent registered public accounting firm performed an audit of our internal control over financial reporting, material weaknesses may have been identified. For so long as we qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act, which may be up to five years following this offering, we will not have to provide an auditor’s attestation report on our internal controls in future annual reports on Form 10-K as otherwise required by Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. During the course of the evaluation, documentation or attestation, we or our independent registered public accounting firm may identify weaknesses and deficiencies that we may not otherwise identify in a timely manner or at all as a result of the deferred implementation of this additional level of review.

 

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business, including increased complexity resulting from our international expansion. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of management reports and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock.

 

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We are not currently required to comply with the SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. As a public company, we will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 10-K. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to audit the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating.

 

Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business and operating results, and cause a decline in the market price of our common stock.

 

Future sales of a substantial number of our common stock by our existing stockholders could cause our stock price to decline.

 

We will have a significant number of shares of restricted common stock that will become eligible for sale shortly after this registration statement is declared effective. We currently have shares of our common stock outstanding. All of the shares sold in this offering will be eligible for sale immediately upon effectiveness of this registration statement. All of the remaining shares will be eligible for sale in the public market upon expiration of lock-up agreements, which will expire 180 days after the date of this prospectus, subject, in some cases to the volume, manner of sale and other limitations of Rule 144 or 701 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. It is conceivable that following the holding period, many stockholders may wish to sell some or all of their shares. If our stockholders sell substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market at the same time, the market price of our common stock could decrease significantly due to an imbalance in the supply and demand of our common stock. Even if they do not actually sell the common stock, the perception in the public market that our stockholders might sell significant common stock could also depress the market price of our common stock.

 

A decline in the price of our common stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional common stock or other equity securities, and may cause you to lose part or all of your investment in our common stock.

 

Our common stock may be thinly traded, so you may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all if you need to sell your shares to raise money or otherwise desire to liquidate your shares.

 

Prior to this offering, you could not buy or sell our common stock publicly. We cannot predict the extent to which investors’ interests will lead to an active trading market for our common stock or whether the market price of our common stock will be volatile following this offering. If an active trading market does not develop, investors may have difficulty selling any of our common stock that they buy. There may be limited market activity in our stock and we are likely to be too small to attract the interest of many brokerage firms and analysts. We cannot give you any assurance that a public trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained. The market price of our common stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to quarterly variations in our revenues and operating expenses, announcements of new products or services by us, significant sales of our common stock, including “short” sales, the operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors may deem comparable to us, and news reports relating to trends in our markets or general economic conditions.

 

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The price of our common stock may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

 

The trading price of our common stock following this offering is likely to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control, including limited trading volume. In addition to the factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this prospectus, these factors include:

 

  our decision to initiate or not initiate a product launch to delay a product launch, or to terminate a product;
     
  changes in laws or regulations applicable to our products;
     
  adverse developments concerning our manufacturers;
     
  our inability to obtain adequate product supply for any product or inability to do so at acceptable prices;
     
  additions or departures of key management personnel;
     
  unanticipated safety concerns related to the use of our products;
     
  introduction of new products offered by our competitors;
     
  announcements of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments by us or our competitors;
     
  our ability to effectively manage our growth;
     
  the size and growth of our target markets;
     
  actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
     
  our cash position;

 

  our failure to meet the estimates and projections of the investment community or that we may otherwise provide to the public;
     
  publication of research reports about us or our industry, or positive or negative recommendations or withdrawal of research coverage by securities analysts;
     
  changes in the market valuations of similar companies;
     
  overall performance of the equity markets;
     
  sales of our common stock by us or our stockholders in the future;
     
  trading volume of our common stock;
     
  changes in accounting practices;
     
  ineffectiveness of our internal controls;
     
  disputes or other developments relating to proprietary rights, including patents, litigation matters and our ability to obtain patent protection for our products;
     
  significant lawsuits, including patent or stockholder litigation;
     
  general political and economic conditions; and
     
  other events or factors, many of which are beyond our control.

 

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In addition, the stock market in general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of these companies. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. If the market price of our common stock after this offering does not exceed the initial public offering price, you may not realize any return on your investment in us and may lose some or all of your investment. In the past, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities. This type of litigation, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which would harm our business, operating results or financial condition.

 

The offering price of the common stock may not be indicative of the value of our assets or the price at which shares can be resold.

 

The offering price of the common stock may not be an indication of our actual value. Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our securities. The offering price of $8.00 per share (the midpoint of the range on the cover page of this prospectus) was determined based upon negotiations between the underwriters and us. Factors considered in determining such price in addition to prevailing market conditions include an assessment of our future prospects, an increase in value of our stock due to becoming a public company and prior valuations of our shares prepared for us. Such price does not have any relationship to any established criteria of value, such as book value or earnings per share. Such price may not be indicative of the current market value of our assets. No assurance can be given that the shares can be resold at the public offering price.

 

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the proceeds we receive in this offering, and may not apply the proceeds in ways that increase the value of your investment.

 

If the representative of the underwriter exercises their option to purchase additional shares in this offering in full, we estimate that net proceeds of the sale of the common stock that we are offering will be $15,292,500. Our management will have broad discretion to use the net proceeds from this offering, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of these proceeds. Although we intend to use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering for payment of accounts payable, product development, improvement of our infrastructure, marketing and advertising and the purchase of additional inventory, because of the number and variability of factors that will determine our use of the net proceeds from this offering, we cannot specify with certainty the particular use of the net proceeds that we will receive from this offering, and we cannot assure you that we will use the proceeds in a manner that will increase the value of your investment or of which you would approve. Moreover, you will not have the opportunity to influence our decision on how to use the proceeds from this offering. We may use the proceeds for corporate purposes that do not immediately enhance our prospects for the future or increase the value of your investment. See the section entitled “Use of Proceeds.”

 

The application of the “penny stock” rules to our common stock could limit the trading and liquidity of the common stock, adversely affect the market price of our common stock and increase your transaction costs to sell those shares.

 

If our common stock becomes traded on a securities market or exchange, as long as the trading price of our common stock is below $5.00 per share, the open-market trading of our common stock will be subject to the “penny stock” rules, unless we otherwise qualify for an exemption from the “penny stock” definition. The “penny stock” rules impose additional sales practice requirements on certain broker-dealers who sell securities to persons other than established customers and accredited investors (generally those with assets in excess of $1.0 million or annual income exceeding $200,000 or $300,000 together with their spouse). These regulations, if they apply, require the delivery, prior to any transaction involving a penny stock, of a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the associated risks. Under these regulations, certain brokers who recommend such securities to persons other than established customers or certain accredited investors must make a special written suitability determination regarding such a purchaser and receive such purchaser’s written agreement to a transaction prior to sale. These regulations may have the effect of limiting the trading activity of our common stock, reducing the liquidity of an investment in our common stock and increasing the transaction costs for sales and purchases of our common stock as compared to other securities. The stock market in general and the market prices for penny stock companies in particular, have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the operating performance of such companies. These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the price of our stock, regardless of our operating performance. Stockholders should be aware that, according to SEC Release No. 34-29093, the market for penny stocks has suffered in recent years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include: (i) control of the market for the security by one or a few broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer; (ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii) boiler room practices involving high-pressure sales tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differential and markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices have been manipulated to a desired level, along with the resulting inevitable collapse of those prices and with consequent investor losses. The occurrence of these patterns or practices could increase the volatility of our share price.

 

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Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

 

Provisions in our corporate charter and our bylaws that will become effective upon the closing of this offering may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions:

 

  the authorized number of directors can be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;

 

  our bylaws may be amended or repealed by our board of directors or our stockholders;

 

  stockholders may not call special meetings of the stockholders or fill vacancies on the board of directors;
     
  our board of directors will be authorized to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock, the rights of which will be determined at the discretion of the board of directors and that, if issued, could operate as a “poison pill” to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer to prevent an acquisition that our board of directors does not approve;

 

  our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, and therefore our stockholders holding a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors; and

 

  our stockholders must comply with advance notice provisions to bring business before or nominate directors for election at a stockholder meeting.

 

Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

 

Our Bylaws have an exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes provision that limits the forum to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware for certain actions against us.

 

Article XIV, Section 48 of our bylaws dictates that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions including any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, an action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our officers, directors, employees or to our stockholders; any claim arising under Delaware corporate law, including under the Delaware General Corporation Law; and any action asserting a claim against us or any of our officers, directors or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine. While management believes limiting the forum for resolution of disputes to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is in the best interests of our company and our stockholders in that it will provide the most appropriate outcomes by avoiding the risk of another forum misapplying Delaware law and Delaware courts have a well-developed body of case law, our stockholders could be inconvenienced by not being able to bring an action in another forum they find more convenient. In addition, this exclusive forum provision may discourage stockholder lawsuits, or limit stockholders’ ability to obtain a more favorable judicial forum for disputes with us, our officers and/or directors.

 

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

 

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on us. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our stock would likely be negatively impacted. In the event securities or industry analysts initiate coverage, if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price may decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price and trading volume.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

 

We estimate that the net proceeds from our issuance and sale of 1,875,000 shares of our common stock in this offering will be $13,200,000 (or $15,292,500 if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full), assuming an initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, would increase (decrease) the net proceeds from this offering by $1,725,000, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

 

We currently intend to use $190,000 of the net proceeds to repay the outstanding balance owed by us under two bridge notes that we issued to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $190,000, which accrue interest at the rate of 6% per annum. One bridge note is in the principal amount of $100,000 and matures on July 29, 2018 and the other bridge note is in the principal amount of $90,000 and matures on July 29, 2018. The proceeds from the bridge notes were used for working capital purposes.

 

The balance of the proceeds will be used to pay approximately $500,000 of our accounts payable, purchase approximately $1,000,000 in additional inventory, allocate approximately $1,500,000 to expand product development and increase marketing activities, invest approximately $300,000 to improve our infrastructure by upgrading our computer systems and information technology and acquiring additional equipment for our warehouse, and retaining the remaining proceeds for other working capital and general corporate purposes. This expected use of the net proceeds from this offering represents our intentions based upon our current plans and business conditions. As of the date of this prospectus, we cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received from this offering. The amounts and timing of our actual expenditures will depend on numerous factors including the progress in, and costs of, our product development activities. Accordingly, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, and investors will be relying on the judgment of management regarding the application of the net proceeds from the offering.

 

Pending our use of the net proceeds from this offering, we intend to invest the net proceeds in a variety of capital preservation investments, including short-term, investment grade, interest bearing instruments and U.S. government securities.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

 

We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. We are not subject to any legal restrictions respecting the payment of dividends, except that we may not pay dividends if the payment would render us insolvent. Any future determination as to the payment of cash dividends on our common stock will be at our board of directors’ discretion and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements and other factors that our board of directors considers to be relevant.

 

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THE CORPORATE REORGANIZATION

 

Prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, DERMAdoctor, LLC will merge directly with and into a Delaware corporation. We refer to this as the “corporate reorganization.” In order to consummate the corporate reorganization, a certificate of merger will be filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and articles of merger will be filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Missouri prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. In connection with the corporate reorganization, all outstanding Units of DERMAdoctor, LLC will be converted into 3,000,000 shares of common stock of DERMAdoctor, Inc., the members of DERMAdoctor, LLC will become stockholders of DERMAdoctor, Inc. and DERMAdoctor, Inc. will succeed to the business of DERMAdoctor, LLC. In addition, the redeemable membership interest of $1,270,000 will be reclassified to permanent equity because the put option will be eliminated.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

 

The following table sets forth the capitalization of DERMAdoctor, LLC, excluding the amounts attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC, as of March 31, 2018.

 

  on an actual basis;
     
  on a pro forma basis to give effect to the corporate reorganization and the conversion of all of the units immediately outstanding prior to this offering into 3,000,000 shares of common stock, which includes the redeemable membership interest of $1,270,000 which will be reclassified to permanent equity due to the elimination of the put option.
     
  on a pro forma, as adjusted basis after giving effect to the corporate reorganization, as adjusted for the sale of 1,875,000 shares of our common stock in this offering at the assumed public offering price of $8.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses payable by us the cash repayment of the outstanding principal amount of $190,000 under two of our loans, and payments totaling $500,000 to reduce our accounts payable balance.

 

You should consider this table in conjunction with “Use of Proceeds,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our audited financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.

    As of March 31, 2018  
    (unaudited)  
    DERMAdoctor, LLC Actual     DERMAdoctor, Inc. Pro Forma    

DERMAdoctor, Inc.

Pro Forma,

As Adjusted (1)

 
Cash   $ 78,613       78,613       12,588,613  
Total Indebtedness   $ 2,424,748       2,424,748     $ 2,234,748  
Redeemable membership interest     1,270,000              
Members’ / stockholders’ equity                        
Common Stock, $0.001 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, pro forma and pro forma, as adjusted; 3,000,000 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; 4,875,000 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma, as adjusted             3,000       4,875  
Additional paid in capital             (994,895 )     12,203,230  
Accumulated deficit                   — 
Total members’ deficiency/stockholders’ equity     (2,261,895 )     (991,895 )     12,208,105  
Total capitalization   $ 1,432,853       1,432,853       14,442,853  

 

 

 

(1) A $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $8.00 per share would increase or decrease total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization on a pro forma as adjusted basis by approximately $1,725,000, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions.

 

The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding immediately after this offering is based on shares of common stock outstanding immediately prior to this offering after giving effect to the corporate reorganization, which will be effected prior to the effective date of this registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, and excludes:

 

  731,250 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan we intend to adopt immediately prior to this offering; and
     
  93,750 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the representative’s warrants to be granted to the representative of the underwriters upon completion of this offering.

 

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DILUTION

 

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your interest will be immediately and substantially diluted to the extent of the difference between the public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock after giving effect to this offering. 

 

Our historical net tangible book value, excluding the amounts attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC, as of March 31, 2018 was $(2,436,533). Historical net tangible book value excludes the redeemable membership interest. Historical net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2018 has not been provided due to the fact that at March 31, 2018 we were a limited liability company and did not have shares of common stock outstanding.

 

Our pro forma net tangible book value, excluding the amounts attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC, as of March 31, 2018 was $ (1,166,533), or $(0.39) per share of our common stock. Pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total tangible assets less our total liabilities, divided by the pro forma number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of March 31, 2018, which includes shares after giving effect to the corporate reorganization. The pro forma net tangible book value also accounts for the reclassification of the redeemable membership interest in the amount of $1,270,000 to permanent equity due to the elimination of the put option.

 

After giving effect to the sale of 1,875,000 shares in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses payable by us as well as the repayment of $190,000 related party notes and $500,000 of accounts payable, our pro forma, as adjusted net tangible book value, excluding the amounts attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC, at March 31, 2018 would have been $12,033,467, or $2.47 per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of approximately $2.86 per share to our existing stockholders, and an immediate dilution of $5.53 per share to investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering.

 

Dilution in pro forma net tangible book value per share represents the difference between the amount per share paid by purchasers of our common stock in this offering and the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering. 

 

The following table illustrates the per share dilution to investors purchasing shares in the offering:

 

Assumed initial public offering price per share   $ 8.00  
Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of March 31, 2018     (0.39 )
Increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share attributable to new investors     2.86  
Pro forma, as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering     2.47  
Dilution per share to new investors   $ 5.53  

 

If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value will increase to $2.74  per share, representing an immediate dilution of $5.26 per share to new investors, assuming that the initial public offering price will be $8.00 per share, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. 

 

A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $8.00 per share (which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus) would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by approximately $1,725,000, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share by $0.36  per share, and the dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to investors in this offering by $0.64 per share, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. 

 

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The following table summarizes, on a pro forma as adjusted basis as of March 31, 2018 the differences between the number of shares of common stock purchased from us, the total consideration and the average price per share paid by existing stockholders and by investors participating in this offering, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, at an assumed public offering price of $8.00 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

 

    Shares Purchased     Total Consideration     Average Price Per  
    Number     %     Amount     %     Share  
Existing stockholders     3,000,000       61.5       7,015,431       31.9 %     2.34  
New investors     1,875,000       38.5       15,000,000       68.1 %     8.00  
Total     4,875,000       100.0 %     22,015,431       100.0 %     4.52  

 

The number of shares of common stock that will be outstanding immediately after this offering is based on 3,000,000 shares of common stock outstanding immediately prior to this offering after giving effect to the corporate reorganization, which will be effected prior to the effective date of this registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and excludes:

 

  731,250 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan we intend to adopt immediately prior to this offering; and
     
   93,750 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the representative’s warrants to be granted to the representative of the underwriters upon completion of this offering.

 

If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full, the number of shares held by new investors will increase to 2,156,250, or 41.8 % of the total number of shares of common stock outstanding after this offering and the shares held by existing stockholders will be 3,000,000, but the percentage of shares held by existing stockholders will decrease to 58.2% of the total shares outstanding. 

 

To the extent that the underwriters’ over-allotment option is exercised or any warrants or options are exercised, there will be further dilution to new investors.

 

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

The following discussion and analysis should be read together with our audited financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion contains forward-looking statements reflecting our current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks and assumptions associated with these statements. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those discussed in our forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

Overview

 

We are an omni-channel, innovative, skincare company primarily focused on the creation of products that are designed to target common skin concerns, ranging from aging and blemishes to dry skin, perspiration and keratosis pilaris. We develop, market, distribute and sell skincare products under our DERMAdoctor ® brand worldwide. All of our DERMAdoctor ® products are conceived by our product design team headed by our Chief Creative Officer and founder, Dr. Audrey Kunin, who is a board-certified dermatologist. Dr. Kunin adds her unique perspective, which is incorporated in our packaging, that skincare can be both elegant and powerful. Our philosophy is to mix science and technology synergistically to provide non-irritating, effective and pleasing skincare products aimed at targeting overlooked or unfulfilled common skin concerns. All of our products are fragrance and dye free. Since 2003, we have been developing, marketing, distributing and selling an extensive array of our proprietary skincare products. Today, we produce and sell over 30 DERMAdoctor ® products that account for 39 skus at prices ranging from $22 for an antiperspirant to $95 for a Kakadu vitamin C skin product. Our products are typically grouped into families of products and include those such as Wrinkle Revenge, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Calm Cool and Corrected and KP Duty designed to improve the skin’s appearance for aging, acne, redness and keratosis pilaris, respectively. Within each family, products are typically further broken down to face, eyes, and body. The ingredients are then uniquely formulated for the resulting product subcategory. Each family of products creates opportunities for the customer to expand into different product types aimed at addressing their particular skincare problems. For example, within our KP Duty family we offer both a lotion and a scrub. Often these products are purchased together. We recently launched a third KP Duty product, the KP Duty Body Peel, providing an innovative product delivery system which should expand this family of products to a large group of current customer users.

 

Historically, we have incurred net losses, including a net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC of $233,395 and $459,433 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and net losses attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC of $345,083 and $1,897,264 for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Cash from operations is not expected to be sufficient to fund our operations over the next twelve months.

 

Our financial statements described in the prospectus include the results of 1901 McGee, LLC, an entity owned by Dr. Audrey Kunin and Dr. Jeff Kunin. Its sole asset is a building which is the leased corporate headquarters of DERMAdoctor, LLC. Since a related party owns 100% of 1901 McGee, LLC and we have the power to direct the activities of 1901 McGee, LLC, we have determined that 1901 McGee, LLC qualifies as a variable interest entity and we consolidate the 1901 McGee, LLC financial statements with our financial statements. We do not own or have any claim to any of the assets of 1901 McGee, LLC, nor are we liable for the mortgage or other liabilities related to the property owned by 1901 McGee, LLC. In the following discussion, 2017 refers to the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, and 2016 refers to the twelve months ended December 31, 2016.

 

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

 

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

 

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this filing, we believe that the following accounting policies are critical to the process of making significant judgments and estimates in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements and understanding and evaluating our reported financial results. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in the notes to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus, we believe that the following accounting policies and estimates are critical to our business operations and understanding of our financial results.

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

Accounts receivables consist of customer obligations from transactions with domestic retail customers, reduced by an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses based on the aging of accounts receivable and historical collection experience. We write off accounts receivable against the allowance when a balance is determined to be uncollectible. Recoveries of receivables previously written off are recorded when received. Based on historical trends and review of the account balances, we did not record an allowance for doubtful accounts in either 2018 or 2017. As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, $62,362 and $181,778, respectively, of the sales allowances (as discussed further under “Revenue Recognition” below) were netted against accounts receivable. We grant credit terms in the normal course of business to our domestic retail customers. The risk with respect to trade receivables is mitigated by the thirty to sixty-day duration of customer payment terms and the good credit quality type of customer we sell to. Credit is not currently extended to e-commerce customers or international distributors who pay for goods prior to them being shipped.

 

Inventory, net

 

Inventories consist of components and finished goods and are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the first in, first out method. Cost components include direct materials, assembly, and freight. We review our inventory for excess, obsolescence, or expiration and write down inventory that has no alternative uses to its net realizable value. We recorded a $128,000, $142,000, and $95,841 reserve for obsolete inventory as of March 31, 2018, December 31, 2017, and December 31, 2016, respectively.

 

Cost of sales includes all the costs to manufacture our products by third-party contractors, which are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations when the product is sold. Cost of sales also includes the cost of inventory write-downs associated with adjustments of held inventories to their net realizable value. These costs are reflected in our consolidated statements of operations and when the product is sold, and net sales revenues are recognized or, in the case of inventory write-downs, when circumstances indicate that the carrying value of inventories is in excess of their recoverable value. Cost of sales also includes warehouse costs including depreciation, wages, utilities, real estate taxes, and property insurance.

  

Property and equipment, net

 

Repairs and maintenance expenditures are expensed as incurred. The Property and Equipment, net balance as of March 31, 2018 was $2,958,884 with $2,952,934 of the balance attributable to the property of 1901 McGee, LLC. The Property and Equipment, net balance as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 was $2,982,227 and $3,077,671, respectively, with $2,974,830 and $3,062,415, respectively, of the balance attributable to the property of 1901 McGee, LLC. Fixed assets include items of property and equipment such as buildings, leasehold improvements, office furniture, fixtures, computers and other related technology equipment. All capitalized assets are depreciated using the straight-line depreciation method. We evaluate events and changes in circumstances that could indicate carrying amounts of long-lived assets, including property and equipment, may not be recoverable. When such events or changes in circumstances occur, we assess the recoverability of long-lived assets by determining whether the carrying value of such assets will be recovered through undiscounted future cash flows derived from their use and eventual disposition. If the sum of the undiscounted future cash flows is less than the carrying amount of an asset, we record an impairment loss for the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds its fair value. There was no impairment charge recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2018 or the years ended December 31, 2017 or 2016.

 

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Revenue recognition

 

Revenue consists of sales of our products through domestic retail customers, international distributors and retail customers, and e-commerce channels and shipping fees charged to our e-commerce customers. Through December 31, 2017, sales were recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, services have been rendered (the product has shipped or when delivered, based on the shipping terms), the price is fixed and determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. Revenue recognized through e-commerce sales is recognized net of any taxes that are collected from consumers and subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.

 

In May 2014 the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 606), which replaced existing revenue recognition standards and expand the disclosure requirements for revenue arrangements. It may be adopted either retrospectively or on a modified retrospective basis to new contracts and existing contracts with remaining performance obligations as of the effective date. We adopted ASU 2015-14 effective January 1, 2018 on a modified retrospective basis. We reviewed all terms and conditions with customers to determine any potential effects of ASU 2014-09 and determined that the adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

Sales through all channels are recognized when the related goods have been transferred to customers for an amount that reflects the consideration for which we expect to be entitled in exchange for said goods. Revenue recognized through e-commerce sales is recognized net of any taxes that are collected from consumers and subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.

 

E-commerce customers can return unused product within 30 days for any reason for full credit. Our domestic retail customers can return product or take credits for damaged product and returns from their customers. In certain circumstances they are also allowed to return product that they decide to no longer carry in their stores or sell on their websites. Some agreements with domestic retail customers allow them to use a portion of the products they purchase as testers.

 

Provision for sales discounts, product returns, markdowns, shortages, damages and testers are recorded as reductions to revenue when the related revenue from customers is recognized. The estimated reserves for these items are established by us based upon management’s best estimates at the time of sale based upon historical trends.

 

We regularly review and revise, when deemed necessary, our estimates of sales returns and other required reserves based primarily upon the historical rate of actual product returns, the duration of time between the original sale and return, new product launches and any communicated changes in sales plans by our retail customers. Customers will take credits for discounts, returns, markdowns, damages, shortages, and testers which will reduce future amounts owed to us. These revenue reductions are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as an allowance against revenue. We recorded an estimated reserve of $198,000 and $390,000 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. At March 31, 2018, $62,362 of the reserve was netted against accounts receivable, while $135,638 was included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities. At December 31, 2017, $181,778 of the reserve was netted against accounts receivable, while $208,222 was included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities. We recorded $243,917 and $328,098 of revenue reductions during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Certain international customers pay for products in advance. In these instances, when cash is received in advance of a shipment of goods to customers, deferred revenue is recorded. We recorded deferred revenue of $0 and $45,077 as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively

 

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Concentrations of risk

 

Four significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for an aggregate of 66% (29%, 17%, 10% and 10%, respectively) of our revenue from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018. At March 31, 2018, two significant customers accounted for 100% (71% and 29%, respectively) of accounts receivable. We had two vendors that accounted for approximately 64% (43% and 21%, respectively) of purchases for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

 

Two significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for an aggregate of 55% (35% and 20%, respectively) of revenue from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2017. We had two vendors that accounted for approximately 50% (39% and 11%) of purchases for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

 

Three significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for an aggregate of 58% (26%, 17% and 15%, respectively) of our revenue from operations for the year ended December 31 , 2017. At December 31, 2017, two significant customers accounted for approximately 83% (45% and 38%) of our accounts receivable. We had one vendor that accounted for approximately 39% of purchases for the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

Three significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for an aggregate of 71% (40%, 21% and 10%, respectively) of revenue from operations for the year ended December 31, 2016. At December 31, 2016, three significant customers accounted for an aggregate of approximately of 85% (48%, 22% and 15%, respectively) of accounts receivable. We had one vendor that accounted for approximately 31% of purchases for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

Fair value of financial instruments

 

We adopted the provisions of the accounting pronouncement which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and enhances fair value measurement disclosure. Under the provisions of the pronouncement, fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.

 

U.S. GAAP establishes a hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use on unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available. Observable inputs are inputs that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on market data obtained from independent sources. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect our assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. The hierarchy is described below:

 

Level 1: Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for assets or liabilities. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to Level 1 inputs.

 

Level 2: Observable prices that are based on inputs not quoted on active markets but corroborated by market data.

 

Level 3: Unobservable inputs are used when little or no market data is available. The fair value hierarchy gives the lowest priority to Level 3 inputs.

 

It is our policy to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when developing fair value measurements. When available, we use quoted market prices to measure fair value. If market prices are not available, the fair value measurement is based on models that use primarily market-based parameters including interest rate yield curves, option volatilities and currency rates. In certain cases where market rate assumptions are not available, we are required to make judgments about assumptions market participants would use to estimate the fair value of a financial instrument. Changes in the underlying assumptions used, including discount rates and estimates of future cash flows could significantly affect the results of current or future values. The results may not be realized in an actual sale or immediate settlement of an asset or liability.

 

Income taxes  

 

We are a limited liability company which is not a tax paying entity at the corporate level. Each member is instead individually responsible for their share of our income or loss for income tax reporting purposes.

 

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Recent accounting pronouncements

 

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 606), which will replace existing revenue recognition standards and significantly expand the disclosure requirements for revenue arrangements. It may be adopted either retrospectively or on a modified retrospective basis to new contracts and existing contracts with remaining performance obligations as of the effective date. We adopted ASU 2015-14 effective January 1, 2018 on a modified retrospective basis. Adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures (see “Revenue recognition” note above for further information regarding revenue recognition).

 

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-02, “Consolidations (Topic 810): Amendments to the consolidation analysis”. The amendment places more emphasis in the consolidation evaluation on variable interests other than fee arrangements such as principal investment risk. Additionally, the amendments in this update reduce the extent to which related party arrangements cause an entity to be considered a primary beneficiary. The Company adopted ASU No. 2015-02 beginning as of January 1, 2016, and notes that this adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, “Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs,” which requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the financial statements as a deduction from the corresponding debt liability, consistent with the presentation of debt discounts.

 

This guidance became effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted, and is applied retrospectively. We adopted ASU No. 2015-03 beginning as of January 1, 2015 and the adoption did not have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition and/or our financial statement disclosures.

 

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-11, “Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory,” which simplifies the subsequent measurement of inventories by requiring inventory to be measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value, rather than at the lower of cost or market. Net realizable value is defined as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. We adopted ASU No. 2015-11 beginning as of January 1, 2015 and did not have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition and/or our financial statement disclosures

 

In 2016, the FASB issued ASU2016-02 “Leases” (Topic 842), which will require lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). The liability will be equal to the present value of lease payments. The asset will be based on the liability, subject to adjustment, such as for initial direct costs. Lessor accounting is similar to the current model, but updated to align with certain changes to the lessee model (e.g., certain definitions, such as initial direct costs, have been updated) and the new revenue recognition standard. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. We expect to adopt ASU No. 2016-02 beginning as of January 1, 2019. Due to the fact that 1901 McGee, LLC is consolidated, we do not expect this adoption to have an impact.

 

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-17, “Consolidations (Topic 810): Interests held through related parties under common control”, which amends the consolidation guidance on how a reporting entity that is the single decision maker of a VIE should treat indirect interests in the entity held through related parties that are under common control, with the reporting entity when determining whether it is the primary beneficiary of that VIE. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is a reporting entity that has a controlling financial interest in a VIE, and, therefore, consolidates the VIE. A reporting entity has an indirect interest in a VIE if it has a direct interest in a related party that, in turn, has a direct interest in the VIE. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-17 beginning as of January 1, 2017, and notes that the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

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JOBS Act

 

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” pursuant to the provisions of the JOBS Act. For as long as we are an “emerging growth company,” we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, reduced disclosure obligations relating to the presentation of financial statements in management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations and exemptions from the requirements of holding advisory “say-on-pay” votes on executive compensation and shareholder advisory votes on golden parachute compensation. We have availed ourselves of the reduced reporting obligations and executive compensation disclosure in this prospectus, and expect to continue to avail ourselves of the reduced reporting obligations available to emerging growth companies in future filings.

 

In addition, an emerging growth company can delay its adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We are choosing not to take advantage of such extended transition period, and as a result, we will comply with any new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which non-emerging growth companies must adopt such standards. This election is irrevocable.

 

We will continue to qualify as an emerging growth company until the earliest of:

 

  the last day of our fiscal year in which the fifth anniversary of this offering occurs;

 

  ●  the last day of our fiscal year in which have annual gross revenues of $1.07 billion or more;

 

  the date on which we have, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt;

 

  the date on which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer.”

 

Results of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017

 

The following information summarizes our results of operations included in our consolidated financial statements as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017.

 

Net Sales

 

For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, net sales by sales channel as a percentage of total sales were as follows:

 

    Three months ended     Three months ended  
    March 31, 2018     March 31, 2017  
Domestic     42 %     46 %
E-Commerce     32 %     35 %
International     26 %     19 %

 

Our net sales are derived from sales of products, net of provisions for sales discounts and allowances, product returns, markdowns and price adjustments. Net sales increased 16%, from $1,474,059 for the three months ended March 31, 2017 to $1,711,291 for the three months ended March 31, 2018. This increase was driven by an increase in international sales of $174,943, an increase in online sales of $24,339, and an increase in domestic sales of $37,950. Our international sales comprised 26% of net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018, up from 19% for the three months ended March 31, 2017 due to sales of our products by our China and Kuwait distributors and the signing of our Hong Kong distributor in July 2017. Sales to domestic retail customers increased 6% for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2017, positively impacted by an approximately $90,000 reduction in the reserve for testers and returns for the three months ended March 31, 2018. We fulfilled a large purchase order from Costco in the second quarter of 2018. As such, we expect sales to domestic retail customers to increase and to continue to be the largest component of our sales in fiscal year 2018.

 

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Cost of sales and gross margin

 

Cost of sales reflects the aggregate costs to procure our products, including the amounts invoiced by our third-party contractors for components and finished goods as well as costs related to transportation to and from our manufacturers and distribution centers. Cost of sales also includes the effect of changes in the balance of reserves for excess and obsolete inventory and write-off of inventory not previously reserved. In addition, cost of sales includes warehouse costs including depreciation, wages, utilities, real estate taxes, and property insurance. Cost of sales were $707,376 (of which $18,665 are attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC) and $787,849 (of which $18,170 are attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC) for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, representing a decrease of 10%, despite a 16% increase in revenue. This decrease was the result of a difference in the mix of products sold during the period, and the impact of an approximately $46,000 inventory reserve for the three months ended March 31, 2017 for obsolete products. All of our products are manufactured by third-parties, so we must schedule the production of our products when there is availability. While we have good relations with our manufacturers, the current size of our orders does not give us scheduling priority or the lowest possible cost. We continue to work with our manufacturers to look for ways to reduce overall costs as a percentage of sales. If we can increase sales and order sizes in the future, we believe we will be able to reduce our cost of sales as a percentage of sales.

 

Gross profit is our net sales less cost of sales. Gross profit increased $317,705, or 46%, to $1,003,915 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 as compared to the gross profit of $686,210 for the three months ended March 31, 2017. Our gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 58.7% and 46.5% for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Gross profit was impacted by the changes in Net Sales and Cost of sales described above.

 

Total expenses

 

Total expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were $1,190,795, an increase of $73,933, or 6.6%, from $1,116,862 for the three months ended March 31, 2017. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, approximately 62% of our total expenses were selling expenses and 38% were general and administrative expenses. For the three months ended March 31, 2017, approximately 72% were selling expenses and 28% were general and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses include $27,315 and $27,818 attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Rent expense of $51,984 and $50,470 paid from DERMAdoctor, LLC to 1901 McGee, LLC for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, is eliminated upon consolidation.

 

Selling expenses

 

Selling expenses totaled $735,680 and $802,944 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Selling expenses primarily consisted of advertising and marketing expenses of $392,294 and $394,407 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and sales and marketing team payroll of $241,328 and $295,337 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The decrease in selling expenses in 2018 when compared to 2017 is mainly related to the reduction of our sales payroll. To the extent sales to our retail channel grows at a smaller or larger rate than our online website or international distributor channels, this expense may become a smaller or larger part of total expenses.

 

General and administrative expenses

 

General and administrative expenses were $455,115 for the three months ended 2018, an increase of $141,197, or 45.0%, over the $313,918 expense for the three months ended March 31, 2017. The increase is primarily due to higher payroll costs associated with additional accounting personnel and higher professional fees related to the financial statement audit. Research and development expenses were $21,660 and $7,855 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

As we expand our product sales we expect that both selling expenses and general and administrative expenses will increase.

 

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Losses from operations

 

We had operating losses of $186,880 and $430,652 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The main reasons for the significant reduction in losses from operations is related to the increased sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2017, and the reduction of cost of sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2017. A significant portion of the loss for the three months ended March 31, 2017 is attributable to a material reduction in sales to one of our larger domestic specialty retailers who stopped selling our products in their stores and began selling our products only on their website. It took us time to adjust inventory and expenses to be more in line with lower sales and to diversify our business to international distributors.

 

Interest expense

 

Interest expense was $61,483 and $45,670 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Interest expense on our related party notes was $26,503 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 ($1,790,000 balance at March 31, 2018) and $23,671 for the three months ended in March 31, 2017 ($1,600,000 balance at March 31, 2017). The remaining increase in interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2018 is primarily attributable to the accounts receivable financing facility put in place in October 2017 of $12,688.

 

Cash flows 

 

Cash used in operating activities

 

Net cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $368,886 (of which cash provided of $5,256 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). Net loss before deducting depreciation, and other non-cash items used $229,193 of cash.

 

Cash from operations was negatively impacted by a $139,693 increase in working capital primarily attributed to an increase in inventory of $776,709 due to inventory acquired for the large Costco order that was placed in the first quarter of 2018 and a decrease in accrued expenses of $157,206, partially offset by a decrease in accounts receivable of $208,661 and an increase in accounts payable of $643,648. The increase in accounts payable is primarily related to inventory purchased to satisfy the Costco orders, which sales occurred at the beginning of the second quarter.

 

Net cash used in operating activities for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was $178,798 (of which cash provided of $10,554 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). Net loss before deducting depreciation, and other non-cash items used $397,452 of cash. Cash from operations was positively impacted by a $218,654 decrease in working capital primarily attributed to an increase in accounts payable of $258,259 and an increase in accrued expenses of $264,352, partially offset by an increase in inventory of $280,506.

 

Cash used in investing activities

 

No equipment was purchased during the three months ended March 31, 2018 or 2017.

 

Cash provided by financing activities .

 

Net Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2018 was $394,042 (of which $1,920 was attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). In 2018, we continued an accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp. The accounts receivable financing facility balance increased $454,432 during the three months ended March 31, 2018. Finally, in 2018, we also incurred $62,310 in deferred offering costs related to the potential initial public offering.

 

Net Cash used by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was $4,387 (of which $4,387 was attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC).

 

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Results of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016

 

The following information summarizes our results of operations included in our consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. References to 2017 are references to the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 and references to 2016 are references to the twelve months ended December 31, 2016.

 

Net Sales

 

During 2017 and 2016, net sales by sales channel were as follows:

 

    Twelve months ended     Twelve months ended  
    December 31, 2017     December 31, 2016  
Domestic     44 %     68 %
E-Commerce     26 %     26 %
International     30 %     6 %

 

Our net sales are derived from sales of products, net of provisions for sales discounts and allowances, product returns, markdowns and price adjustments. Net sales increased 36%, from $6,474,861 in 2016 to $8,808,674 in 2017. This increase was mainly driven by an increase in international sales of $2,190,017, an increase in online sales of $733,131, partially offset by a decrease in domestic sales of $589,335. Our international sales comprised 30% of net sales and was the fastest growing segment of our business with a growth rate of 539% between 2016 and 2017. This growth was driven by the signing of our China distributor in October 2016, their advance purchase in 2017 of approximately $816,000 of one of our products due to a price that reflected a one-time special manufacturing discount, and growth in sales to our Kuwait distributor. We expect this growth to continue in 2018, albeit at a slower a rate, due in part to our recent receipt of approval to sell certain products in the European Union, our recent entry into the Central American, Hong Kong and UAE markets, and as we continue to increase our international sales territory. Sales to domestic retail customer declined from 2016 to 2017 mainly due to the fact that two of our larger specialty retailers reduced the number of locations at which they sell our products, and one of these retailers is now only selling our products on their website. We received a large order from Costco we delivered at the beginning of the second quarter of 2018. As such we expect sales to domestic retail customers to increase and to continue to be the largest component of our sales in 2018.

 

Cost of sales and gross margin

 

Cost of sales reflects the aggregate costs to procure our products, including the amounts invoiced by our third-party contractors for components and finished goods as well as costs related to transportation to and from our manufacturers and distribution centers. Cost of sales also includes the effect of changes in the balance of reserves for excess and obsolete inventory and write-off of inventory not previously reserved. In addition, cost of sales includes warehouse costs including depreciation, wages, utilities, real estate taxes, and property insurance. Cost of sales were $4,062,563 and $2,902,349 in 2017 and 2016, respectively, representing an increase of 40%. All of our products are manufactured by third-parties, so we must schedule the production of our products when there is availability. While we have good relations with our manufacturers, the current size of our orders does not give us scheduling priority or the lowest possible cost. We continue to work with our manufacturers to look for ways to reduce overall costs as a percentage of sales. If we can increase sales and order sizes in the future, we believe we will be able to reduce our cost of sales as a percentage of sales.

 

Gross profit is our net sales less cost of sales. Gross profit increased $1,173,599, or 33%, to $4,746,111 for 2017 as compared to the gross profit of $3,572,512 in 2016. Our gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 53.9% and 55.2% for 2017 and 2016, respectively. This number was impacted by the mix of products sold during the period as well as the mix of sales between distribution channels. Our e-commerce sales are the highest margin contributors followed by our domestic retail sales. Sales to our international distributors have the lowest gross margin. Since sales to our international distributors increased in 2017, our gross margin declined in 2017 when compared to 2016.

 

Total expenses

 

Total expenses in 2017 were $5,014,986, a decrease of $415,950, or 7.7%, from $5,430,936 in 2016. In 2017, approximately 67% of our total expenses were selling expenses and 33% were general and administrative expenses. In 2016, approximately 73% were selling expenses and 27% were general and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses include $133,707 and $114,820 attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC in 2017 and 2016, respectively. Rent expense of $201,902 and $198,952 paid from DERMAdoctor, LLC to 1901 McGee, LLC for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, is eliminated upon consolidation.

 

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Selling expenses

 

Selling expenses totaled $3,371,570 and $3,955,468 in 2017 and 2016, respectively. Selling expenses primarily consisted of advertising and marketing expenses of $1,793,846 and $2,114,847 in 2017 and 2016, respectively, and sales and marketing team payroll of $1,148,376 and $1,425,012 in 2017 and 2016, respectively. A significant portion of our current selling expense is related to sales in retail outlets. The decrease in advertising and marketing expenses in 2017 when compared to 2016 is mainly because we were no longer selling products in certain physical locations of some specialty retailers in 2017. This allowed us to lower our costs related to product testers, payroll, and travel expenses. To the extent sales to our retail channel grows at a smaller or larger rate than our online website or international distributor channels, this expense may become a smaller or larger part of total expenses.

 

General and administrative expenses

 

General and administrative expenses were $1,643,416 in 2017, an increase of $167,948, or 11.4%, over the $1,475,468 expense in 2016. The increase is primarily due to higher payroll costs associated with additional accounting personnel and higher professional fees related to the financial statement audit. Research and development expenses were $83,845 and $79,385 in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

As we expand our product sales we expect that both selling expenses and general and administrative expenses will increase.

 

Losses from operations

 

We had operating losses of $268,875 and $1,858,424 in 2017 and 2016, respectively. The main reasons for the significant reduction in losses from operations is related to the increased sales in 2017 compared to 2016, and the reduction of marketing and advertising expenses in 2017 compared to 2016. A significant portion of the loss in 2016 is attributable to a material reduction in sales to one of our larger specialty retailers who stopped selling our products in their store and began selling our products only on their website. It took us time to adjust inventory and expenses to be more in line with lower sales and to diversify our business to international distributors.

 

Interest expense

 

Interest expense was $199,321 and $175,545 in 2017 and 2016, respectively. Interest expense on our related party notes was $99,250 in 2017 ($1,790,000 balance at year-end) and $14,203 in 2016 ($1,600,000 balance at year-end) in 2016. The remaining interest expense for 2017 is attributable to the accounts receivable financing facility put in place in 2017 of $10,508 and the mortgage payables of 1901 McGee, LLC of $89,563. The remaining interest expense for 2016 was attributable to a bank line of credit of $30,290 and the mortgage payables of 1901 McGee, LLC of $131,052.

 

Net income (loss)

 

For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we reported a net loss of $345,083 and $1,897,264, respectively, attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC.

 

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Cash flows 

 

Cash used in operating activities

 

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $469,283 (of which $14,006 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). Net loss before deducting depreciation, and other non-cash items used $303,751 of cash. Cash from operations was negatively impacted by a $165,532 increase in working capital primarily attributed to an increase in accounts receivable of $178,364, an increase in inventory of $368,762 to support higher sales, partially offset by an increase in accrued expenses of $228,566. The increase in accrued expenses is primarily related to inventory in transit and an increase in our outstanding credit card balance.

 

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $2,803,362 (of which $37,951 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). Net cash used in operating activities consisted of a net loss of $2,023,233 (of which $125,969 is related to 1901 McGee, LLC), $1,061,217 in changes in operating assets and liabilities, offset in part by $281,088 of non-cash operating activity (of which $87,585 is depreciation attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). Net non-cash operating expenses included $95,841 to record an obsolete inventory reserve. Changes in operating assets and liabilities were attributable to decreases in working capital, primarily related to a decrease in accounts receivable of $349,377, an increase in inventory of $492,797, a decrease in prepaid expenses of $27,644, a decrease in accounts payable of $1,085,777 (of which $18,705 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC), and an increase in accrued expenses of $88,460. The decrease in accounts payable of $1,085,777 and the increase in inventory of $492,797 was attributable to using the proceeds of the cash infusion from the issuance of equity as described below. Inventory was increased as a result of an effort to lower the cost of goods sold by increasing order sizes.

 

Cash used in investing activities

 

No equipment was purchased during 2017. The Company purchased $6,492 of equipment during 2016.

 

Cash provided by financing activities .

 

Net Cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $297,905 (of which $22,589 was attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). In 2017, we entered into two additional notes payable with Papillon for a total principal amount of $190,000. Also in 2017, we entered into an accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp. An outstanding balance of $180,316 still remains as of December 31, 2017. Finally, in 2017, we also incurred $95,000 in deferred operating costs related to the potential initial public offering.

 

Net Cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $2,942,422 (of which $32,472 was attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC). In 2016, we sold Units representing 47.5% of our outstanding equity to two investors for aggregate proceeds of $3,500,000. A portion of those proceeds were used to repay $353,000 of related party long-term debt. We also entered into a bank line of credit with Banker’s Trust in 2016. The proceeds of that line of credit were used to pay off a bank line of credit with ANB Bank and to provide working capital during 2016. In November 2016, the Banker’s Trust bank line of credit was paid off by Papillon in exchange for a note payable from by us in the amount of $1,600,000. Proceeds related to the re-financing of 1901 McGee, LLC mortgage payables totaled $1,624,211. Total payments made related to the outstanding mortgage payables of 1901 McGee, LLC totaled $1,720,160. In addition, 1901 McGee, LLC received capital contributions of $128,421 during 2016.

 

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

We have a history of recurring losses from operations and negative cash flows from operations. We have funded our operations from revenue derived from sales of our products as well as from the sale of equity, account receivable financings, and short-term loans from related parties. We used $368,886 and $178,798 of cash in our operating activities during the three months ended March 31, 2018 (of which cash provided of $5,256 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC) and 2017 (of which cash provided of $10,554 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC), respectively. We used $469,283 and $2,803,302 of cash in our operating activities during the years ended December 31, 2017 (of which $14,006 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC) and 2016 (of which $37,951 is attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC), respectively. We have a lengthy manufacturing process that requires us to pay for product ingredients and components up to four months before we get paid for the product from our customers. Therefore, as long as sales and related required inventory are growing we will likely require external working capital to finance the timing difference between when we must pay for inventory and when we get paid by our customers.

 

As a result, management concluded that there was a substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern as current cash balances and projected cash flows from operations will not be sufficient to fund operations for the next twelve months from the date that the condensed consolidated financial statements are issued. We anticipate completing an initial public offering for gross proceeds of approximately $15,000,000; however there can be no certainty that the financing will be consummated. If we continue to experience losses and do not achieve breakeven cash flow, we may need to raise additional funds in the future, in addition to those anticipated in contemplation of this initial public offering, to meet our working capital requirements and pursue our business strategy.

 

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, we had cash and cash equivalents totaling $105,785 and $80,629, respectively, total current assets of $3,125,499 and $2,442,975, respectively, and total assets of $6,084,383 and $5,425,202, respectively. We had total current liabilities of $2,635,739 and $1,739,062, respectively, and a net working capital of $489,760 and $703,913, respectively. Our primary working capital requirements are for product and product-related costs, the payment of payroll, and advertising and marketing costs. Fluctuations in working capital are primarily driven by the time lag between when we must pay for inventory and when our customers pay us for the product we sell them.

 

The total numbers in the paragraph above include the following attributable to 1901 McGee, LLC: cash and cash equivalents of $27,172 and $19,996, respectively, total current assets of $27,172 and $19,996, respectively, and total assets of $2,980,106 and $2,994,826, respectively. 1901 McGee, LLC had total current liabilities of $122,239 and $123,358, respectively, and a net working capital deficit of ($95,067) and ($103,362), respectively.

 

Description of Indebtedness

 

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, our total indebtedness was $5,089,222 and $4,663,440, respectively, which includes: (i) a promissory note issued by 1901 McGee, LLC to EDC Loan Corporation in the outstanding principal amount of $1,132,376 as of March 31, 2018; and (ii) a promissory note issued by 1901 McGee, LLC to Alterra Bank in the outstanding principal amount of $1,532,098 as of March 31, 2018, which promissory notes is secured by the real property of 1901 McGee, LLC (which includes the office and warehouse we lease from 1901 McGee, LLC) and are guaranteed by Audrey Kunin, Jeff Kunin and other entities affiliated with each of them; (iii) outstanding promissory notes issued by us to Papillon in the principal amount of $1,790,000; and (iv) an outstanding financing facility in the amount of $634,748 to CircleUp as of March 31, 2018.

 

On November 6, 2016, we issued a promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $1,600,000 to Papillon, which accrues interest at a rate of 6% per annum. The note matures of November 8, 2019, unless earlier repaid. All or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind.

 

On July 17, 2017, we issued a promissory note in the principal amount of $90,000 to Papillon. Interest is paid at a rate of 6% per annum, payable monthly. On October 9, 2017, the maturity of the note was extended for a three (3) month period to January 13, 2018. On January 13, 2018, the note was amended to extend the maturity date to March 15, 2018. On March 15, 2018, the note was amended to extend the maturity date to May 14, 2018. On April 30, 2018, the note was amended to extend the maturity date to July 29, 2018. All or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind.

 

On November 9, 2017, we issued an additional promissory note in the principal amount of $100,000 to Papillon, which accrues interest at a rate of 6% per annum, payable monthly. The note was originally scheduled to mature on February 7, 2018. On February 6, 2018 the note was amended to extend the maturity date to May 8, 2018. On April 30, 2018, the note was amended to extend the maturity date to July 29, 2018. All or any portion of this note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind.

 

On October 19, 2017, we entered into an accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp. CircleUp lends to us based on a percentage of outstanding accounts receivable from customers. Our customers pay CircleUp directly up to the amount funded to us by CircleUp in addition to any incurred interest. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, CircleUp agreed to lend amounts to the Company, above the outstanding accounts receivable balance, to fund payments owed to vendors for large inventory purchases made in conjunction with a material sale to Costco in the second of quarter of 2018. Interest is paid at a rate of 17% per annum. To the extent payments from our customers are not sufficient to repay any funds advanced to us by CircleUp, we are obligated to repay any outstanding loan amounts. We may prepay any amounts outstanding at any time without penalty. In addition, to secure payment of all funds to CircleUp, we have granted it a security interest in all of our assets.

 

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Sale of Membership Interests

 

In 2016, we sold Units representing 47.5% of our outstanding equity to two investors for aggregate proceeds of $3,500,000. In November 2016, the investors sold 50% of the Units they had acquired to Papillon in consideration for Papillon loaning us $1,600,000 that was used to repay our bank debt. In December 2017, Papillon purchased 25% of the remaining Units owned by the PE firm in consideration for Papillon paying the PE firm $480,000.

 

Contractual obligations and commitments

 

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2018:

 

    Payments due by period  
    Total     Less than
one year
    1-3 Years     3-5 Years     More than
5 years
 
Notes (1)   $ 2,664,474     $ 117,239     $ 245,281     $ 1,507,618     $ 794,336  
Indebtedness to related parties (2)     1,790,000       190,000       1,600,000                  
Accounts receivable financing (3)     634,748       634,748                          
                                         
Total contractual obligations (4)   $ 5,089,222     $ 941,987     $ 1,845,281     $ 1,507,618     $ 794,336  

 

 

 

(1) 1901 McGee, LLC promissory notes (mortgage payables) to EDC Loan Corporation and Alterra Bank, excluding financing fees.

 

(2) Promissory notes issued to Papillon.
   
(3) Accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp.
   
(4) Lease payments on our headquarters are not reflected in the table since they are eliminated in consolidation with 1901 McGee, LLC.

 

Off-balance sheet arrangements

 

We did not have during the period presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined under SEC rules.

 

Commitments and contingencies

 

Except as otherwise disclosed elsewhere in this prospectus, we have no material commitments or contingent liabilities. We have an employment agreement with each of our President/Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer that would require a one-year severance payment in the event that we terminate his or her services under certain circumstances. We have an employment agreement with our Chief Financial Officer that would require a three-month severance payment in the event that we terminate her services under certain circumstances.

 

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BUSINESS

 

Overview

 

We are an omni-channel, innovative, skincare company primarily focused on the creation of products that are designed to target common skin concerns, ranging from aging and blemishes to dry skin, perspiration and keratosis pilaris. We develop, market, distribute and sell skincare products under our DERMAdoctor ® brand worldwide. All of our DERMAdoctor ® products are conceived by our product design team headed by our Chief Creative Officer and founder, Dr. Audrey Kunin, who is a board-certified dermatologist. Dr. Kunin adds her unique perspective, which is incorporated in our packaging, that skincare can be both elegant and powerful. Our philosophy is to mix science and technology synergistically to provide non-irritating, effective and pleasing skincare products aimed at targeting overlooked or unfulfilled common skin concerns. All of our products are fragrance and dye free. Since 2003, we have been developing, marketing, distributing and selling an extensive array of our proprietary skincare products. Today, we produce and sell over 30 DERMAdoctor ® products that account for 39 stock keeping units, or skus, at prices ranging from $22 for an antiperspirant to $95 for a Kakadu vitamin C skin product. Our products are typically grouped into families of products and include those such as Wrinkle Revenge, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Calm Cool and Corrected and KP Duty designed to improve the skin’s appearance for aging, acne, redness and keratosis pilaris, respectively. Within each family, products are typically further broken down to face, eyes, and body. The ingredients are then uniquely formulated for the resulting product subcategory. Each family of products creates opportunities for the customer to expand into different product types aimed at addressing their particular skincare problems. For example, within our KP Duty family we offer both a lotion and a scrub. Often these products are purchased together. We recently launched a third KP Duty product, the KP Duty Body Peel, providing an innovative product delivery system which should expand this family of products to a large group of current customer users.

 

We initially began operations in 1998 as an e-commerce company selling third-party beauty products and skincare products on the internet and providing skincare advice and information on our website. Through our online sales we developed significant market knowledge of the industry, specifically what consumers desired and disliked, product packaging successes and failures, new technology and product opportunities and market voids, which led to our decision to create our own proprietary products to leverage our customer base and daily internet traffic and eventually to discontinue sales of third-party products to focus on sales of our own proprietary products. We named our proprietary skincare line DERMAdoctor ® .

 

We utilize an omni-channel distribution model which includes traditional domestic retail distribution outlets, online shopping and international distributors. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, domestic, e-commerce and international sales were 42%, 32% and 26% of our net sales, respectively, as compared to 46%, 35% and 19%, respectively, for the three months ended March 31, 2017. For the year ended December 31, 2017, domestic, e-commerce and international sales were 44%, 26% and 30% of our net sales, respectively, as compared to 68%, 26% and 6%, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2016. The traditional domestic retail distribution outlets consist mainly of specialty and department stores, including their company websites. To date, specialty retailers Ulta Beauty and Sephora have accounted for a majority of our U.S. sales. Other U.S. retailers include Belk, Macy’s online, Von Maur, Nordstrom online, Dermstore.com, and Skinstore.com. Other retail outlets include “flash” websites such as Gilt, HauteLook and Rue La La and in the past have included HSN and QVC. In 2017, we began initial sales to Costco for select products, as well as Evine, a home shopping television channel. As of March 1, 2018, our products are distributed to over 700 Ulta Beauty stores located in 49 states and the District of Columbia as well as other department stores. Our direct to consumer distribution channel is comprised of internet sales through our website ( www.dermadoctor.com ) and through Amazon.com. Our primary source of revenue historically has been from the sale of our products in the United States. In 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, however, we saw significant growth in our international distribution channel. The majority of the growth during 2017 was driven by the signing of our China distributor in October 2016, their significant advance purchase in 2017 of one of our products due to a price that reflected a one-time special manufacturing discount, and growth in sales to our Kuwait distributor. We experienced continued growth in our international channel during the three months ended March 31, 2018 due to sales of our products by our China and Kuwait distributors as well as sales by our Hong Kong distributor signed in July 2017. The majority of our international sales have occurred through these distributors that sell our products via the internet in China, Hong Kong, and Kuwait. In April 2017, we were granted the approval for European Union registration of some of our products and we expect to expand shipments of our approved products in Europe in 2018. In August 2017, we began shipping to our distributor in Guatemala who has the rights to begin shipping to other countries in Central America, namely, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. In January 2018, we began shipping to our distributor in the UAE who has the rights to begin shipping to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain.

 

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We believe that a core element of our success is our distinctive marketing strategy. We focus on educating our target customers, women between the ages of 18 to 65 who have a college education with above average household income, about the unique attributes of our products, developing intimate relationships with these consumers and capitalizing on our omni-channel distribution strategy to effectively reach and engage these consumers. We believe educational media such as appearances on television shows, information on our website and physical presence at specialty retailers such as Ulta Beauty, as well as at certain department stores, has helped us to further strengthen our brand image and provide additional points of contact to educate consumers about our products. We have received multiple awards from respected publications such as Health and Fitness magazine and have been a finalist in the CEW Beauty Awards, the “Academy Awards” of the beauty industry. In addition, Dr. Audrey Kunin has been a guest on The Dr. Oz show several times. Dr. Kunin and her products have graced numerous publications including InStyle, W, More, Redbook, Glamour, Brides, Teen Vogue, Family Circle, O The Oprah Magazine, Shape, Self, Fitness, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Health, Allure, Elle, RealSimple, Lucky, Ladies Home Journal, People and People en Espanol, Prevention, Men’s Health, New York Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, WebMD, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report, The Today Show, E! and the Tyra Banks Show.

 

Our Market

 

We operate within the large and steadily growing skincare category of the beauty industry. According to Forbes, the skincare market is the biggest segment of the beauty industry. The skincare market is divided into facial care, hand and body care and sun care. Skincare products can also be subdivided into prestige and mass segments. Prestige products are characterized by higher price points and are typically sold in high-end specialty stores, such as Ulta Beauty stores and department stores. Within the skincare market, we sell and compete across all major product categories with our prestige products.

 

Strengths and Competitive Advantages

 

The skincare products market is large and attractive

 

We believe that the skincare products market is highly attractive given its scale, growth dynamics and consumer demand trends. The Cosmetic Skin Care Market: Global Industry Analysis, Trends, Market Size and Forecasts to 2023 reports that the global cosmetic skincare market was $130.7 billion in 2016. It predicts the global skincare market to grow with a compound annual growth rate of between 4.7% and 5.3% from 2017 to 2023. The report predicts that Asia Pacific, which includes China, will dominate the world market with the Middle East and Africa growing at the highest compounded annual growth rate over the forecasted period. Lucitel, a market research firm, in its December 12, 2016 report, forecasts the global skincare market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% from 2016 to 2021, with opportunities in the areas of anti-aging, sun protection, body care lotion and multi-functional skin cream.

 

Our strategic differentiation: DERMAdoctor, a prestige, problem solving, skincare company

 

We are driven by what we believe today’s consumer wants—an assortment of high-quality, prestige-inspired skincare products at extraordinary value. Through our modern consumer engagement and responsiveness, we interact with our consumers instead of broadcasting at them. We focus a significant portion of our product development efforts on creating new and improving existing products that fulfill unmet skincare needs. We believe that our business model has multiple areas of competitive advantage, including the following:

 

Authentic brand that attracts a wide range of consumers in the category. Since 1998, we have prioritized getting to know our consumers, and they in turn have provided us with valuable feedback, enabling us to build DERMAdoctor ® into an authentic and trusted brand. Our differentiated marketing approach focuses on educating consumers as to the unique attributes of our products; communicating product efficacy through product demonstrations; featuring our consumers instead of celebrities on our website and developing direct connections with our consumers. By providing a comprehensive experience—from integrated engagement online, through social media and in retail stores to our differentiated product offerings—we target new users as well as sophisticated buyers of skincare products.

 

Innovation and customer feedback model . We believe innovation is a major key to our success. We have built an innovation capability that has led to breakthrough new product introductions. We introduced five new products over the past three years and 28% of our 2017 net sales came from products launched in the last three years. With just over one-half million visitors per year and online reviews, dermadoctor.com has been a useful vehicle for aiding in refinement of products and determining customer preferences. We are able to analyze sales results, reviews and feedback through social media to provide a quick indication of a product’s performance, which allows us to quickly allocate appropriate marketing and other resources.

 

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True omni-channel brand. We are a true omni-channel brand with a presence across national retailers, e-commerce and international distributors, which allows us to leverage insights gained from each channel to drive performance across the business.

 

  National retailers . We currently sell our products to retailers, some of which sell our products in brick-and-mortar stores and through their websites and others who sell our products solely through their websites. Ulta Beauty, a leading national retail customer and key beauty destination for many consumers, currently sells our products in over 700 of their stores. We have also continued to expand our sales through other retailers, including Von Maur, Nordstrom, Gilt, Sephora, Costco and Macy’s. We believe that our presence across many touch points within the beauty industry further strengthens our brand image.

 

  e-commerce. Our e-commerce business, which includes sales on our website and on Amazon.com, serves as a strong source of sales and an important component of our engagement and innovation model. We have nurtured a loyal, highly active online community for almost two decades through our own website and more recently through Amazon’s Luxury Beauty page. In 2017, we had just over one-half million total visitors to our website and over two million page views. During 2017, we focused on driving more customers to our website through on-line marketing and social media. Sales through our website and Amazon.com contribute the highest gross margin of any of our sales channels.

 

  International Distributors . We currently sell our products to international distributors who sell into China, Hong Kong, Central America, Kuwait and the UAE. This is the fastest growing segment of our business with a growth rate of 539% between 2016 and 2017 and a growth rate of 66% between the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2017.  Although we have experienced significant growth in this segment during the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 and the three months ended March 31, 2018 when compared to the prior periods, we do not expect a similar percentage increase for the rest of 2018, as 2017 sales included the impact of the signing of our China distributor in October 2016, their significant advance purchase of one of our products to take advantage of a one-time special manufacturing discount, and the signing of our Hong Kong distributor in July 2017. We are actively pursuing additional distribution partners and other opportunities to sell our products internationally.

 

Experienced management team. Our Chief Creative Officer and President, Audrey Kunin, M.D., is a board-certified dermatologist, author, clinician, educator, and television personality. Dr. Kunin founded our company in 1998 with her husband, Jeff Kunin, M.D., who currently serves as our President and Chief Executive Officer. Jeff Kunin also holds a Masters of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Under the leadership of Audrey and Jeff Kunin we have assembled an experienced management team that possesses complementary experiences managing prestige cosmetic brands within retail and wholesale distribution channels and overseeing operations in the branded consumer products industry. Our team has demonstrated skills in building brands, leading innovation, expanding distribution, and supply chain management. We operate with a high-performance team culture. The combination of an experienced team, strong culture and values and disciplined execution forms the foundation of our success.

 

Our Growth Strategy

 

DERMAdoctor ® is a prestige skincare brand. We are in the early stages of development, with significant room to grow by developing innovative new products, converting more consumers to the brand while increasing sales to existing consumers, and making DERMAdoctor ® products more widely available both domestically and internationally. We expect international markets to be the largest source of our growth over the next few years and also see an opportunity to expand in the United States. We also believe we have an opportunity to improve our profitability through greater operating leverage and efficiency.

 

We believe we are well positioned for continued growth driven by three main strategies.

 

Develop new products

 

We have a track record of bringing prestige-inspired innovative and effective skincare products to markets. As stated above, from 2015 through 2017, we introduced five new products including our Kakadu C line of products and KP Duty Peel Pads and 28% of our net sales during the year ended December 31, 2017 came from products launched in the last three years. We focus a significant portion of our product development efforts on creating new products and improving existing products based on feedback from our consumer community. We seek to create packaging that is unique to our brand, while being approachable and effective. We believe there are significant additional opportunities within the skincare space. We expect to continue to leverage our product development expertise to introduce new products into related market segments.

 

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Expand domestic market penetration

 

Draw new consumers to the brand . Increasing brand awareness is a major growth driver for our company. We believe we can significantly grow our following of passionate consumers to the brand from current levels through a greater focus on social media and other on-line marketing tools. While we introduced DERMAdoctor ® 14 years ago, we are still relatively unknown to many women.

 

Encourage current consumers to use more DERMAdoctor ® products . Our consumers’ loyalty to the DERMAdoctor® brand drives growth through increased usage of our products across categories and advocacy of our brand to other potential consumers. We have a loyalty program where customers receive reward points for each purchase that may be applied to payment for future purchases made through our website within 90 days. We also allow customers on our website to select up to three free samples of other products with each purchase to encourage future purchases of those additional products. In 2016, we started a subscription service for our products which allows customers to sign up for periodic delivery of our products. While still in its infancy, we are seeing increased participation by our consumers resulting in increased monthly subscription sales. We believe that through sustained innovation and efficient marketing, we will increase the number of DERMAdoctor ® items our consumers purchase.

 

Grow our retail relationships . We intend to continue to increase net sales through key premium retail accounts, such as Ulta Beauty, Costco, and Sephora. Within Ulta Beauty and other physical retail locations, we will seek to improve our in-store product positioning and collaborative marketing efforts. We believe we have significant potential upside in deepening distribution with our existing domestic retailers by continuing to leverage our productivity, innovation and growth to win more shelf space. In addition, we expect our domestic retail sales will grow as Ulta Beauty opens new stores and we are able to develop additional opportunities to sell our products in upscale department stores and on their websites.

 

Drive additional traffic to our website . We intend to grow our direct-to-consumer sales by driving additional traffic to our website and the Amazon website as well as improving customer conversion metrics. By focusing on affiliate marketing, paid search, SEO and other media spending, enhanced content and social media referrals, including user generated content and paid influencers through Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest, we expect to increase sales both in stores and online. The higher product margins and relatively fixed expenses of our website sales creates a leveraged business environment for higher profits.

 

Expand our global presence

 

We operate in a number of countries outside the United States, which accounted for 26% of our net sales during the three months ended March 31, 2018, up from 19% of our net sales during the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 30% of our net sales in 2017, up from 6% of our net sales in 2016. Given that the skin conditions we target are universal, we believe that the DERMAdoctor ® brand is highly portable, which will provide us with a significant opportunity in international markets over the long term. We believe our market penetration in the Middle East and Asia represents the most significant opportunities for increasing our existing global sales. The United Kingdom, Canada, Western Europe, Asia, India and Australia are markets we plan to enter or expand in over the next three years, which would significantly expand our global presence.

 

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Brands and Products

 

We market and sell our products under the DERMAdoctor ® brand. Our products are grouped into 13 families of products based upon their formulations and the skincare problems they address. A detailed table of our products is set forth below:

 

Family   Skincare Use   Products
         
Ain’t Misbehavin’   Acne and Blemishes   Acne Cleanser 
Healthy Toner 
Acne Mask & Spot Treatment 
Acne Control Serum
         
Calm Cool & Corrected   Redness 
Sensitive Skin
  Tranquility Cleanser 
Tranquility Cream
         
DD Cream   Sunscreen 
Dry Skin 
Concealer
  DD Cream
         
Kakadu C   Wrinkles 
Anti-Aging
  Brightening Daily Cleanser 
Vitamin C Serum 
Face Crème 
Eye Soufflé 
Detox Mask 
Intensive Vitamin C Peel Pad 
Evening Oil
         
KP Duty   Keratosis Pliaris 
Dry Skin
  Moisturizing Therapy 
Body Scrub 
Body Peel Pads
         
MED e Tate   Sweating 
Hyperhidrosis
  Antiperspirant Wipes
         
Photodynamic Therapy   Sun Protection 
Wrinkles
  3 in 1 Facial Lotion 
Energizing Eye Renewal Cream
         
Physical Chemistry   Wrinkles 
Discoloration 
Enlarged Pores
  Facial Microdermabrasion + Multiacid Peel
         
Picture Porefect   Enlarged Pores 
Oily Skin
  Pore Minimizer
         
Poetry in Lotion   Discoloration 
Wrinkles
  Intensive 1% Retinol
         
Shrinking Beauty   Dry Skin   Shrinking Beauty Lotion
         
Total NonScents   Sweating   Ultra-Gentle Antiperspirant 
Ultra-Gentle Brightening Antiperspirant
         
Wrinkle Revenge   Wrinkles 
Sensitive Skin
  Antioxidant Enhanced Glycolic Acid Facial Cleanser 
Rescue & Protect Eye Balm 
Rescue & Protect Facial Crème 
Ultimate Hyaluronic Serum

 

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Merchandising and Product Packaging

 

Our product formulations and branding are consistent across our distribution channels. However, we tailor product offerings to our distribution channels by creating unique sizes and differentiated “kits” or assortments of products which help us to:

 

  introduce new consumers to our brand;

 

  create specialized offerings for our channel partners;

 

  merchandise products according to channel demographics;

 

  increase the average consumer purchase;

 

  generate and renew excitement among our consumers; and

 

  reinforce our brand.

 

For example, our DERMAdoctor ® Wrinkle Revenge Anti-Aging Essentials Intro Kit, which we market across our various distribution channels, includes an assortment of our Wrinkle Revenge products, including a facial cleanser, facial serum and eye balm. The products are uniquely packaged and priced to offer the consumer a trial of multiple products that they otherwise may not have purchased at a special value. We also offer promotional kits which are typically “themed” to address specific end uses, targeted consumer segments or seasonal offerings.

 

Distribution Channels

 

We believe that a core element of our success is our distinctive omni-channel distribution model including a strong internet presence, traditional retail channel and an international distributor channel. The internet portion of our business consists of online shopping through our website ( www.dermadoctor.com ) as well as through Amazon.com . Our retail channel consists of select department stores, select specialty boutiques, primarily Ulta Beauty, physician offices, spas and salons, Macys.com, Nordstrom.com, Sephora.com, and Ulta.com. Special pricing and offerings are also promoted on Costco.com, Ipsy.com, HauteLook.com, Gilt.com and other flash sale websites as well as periodically through home shopping and other television appearances. We believe that this distribution model, through which each channel reinforces the others, provides:

 

  greater brand awareness across channels;

 

  cost-effective consumer acquisition and education;

 

  premium brand positioning without the large expenditures on print-based advertising and marketing common in our industry; and

 

  improved convenience for consumers.

 

We use the Internet to increase brand awareness and educate consumers on product differentiation, proper application and resulting benefits. We believe this increased brand awareness drives consumers to shop across all retail distribution points. In turn, we believe that our physical presence at specialty retailers such as Ulta Beauty further enhances our brand image and validates the premium positioning of our products.

 

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Our distribution channels are summarized as follows:

 

 

National Retailers

 

The domestic retail channel accounted for approximately 42% and 46% of our net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The domestic retail channel accounted for approximately 44% and 68% of our net sales for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Our retail channel enables us to provide additional points of contact to educate consumers about our products, expand our traditional retail location penetration with limited capital investment, and further strengthen our brand image. The brick-and-mortar portion of this channel allows us to target a consumer who may be less inclined to shop at home and provides an inviting venue to experience the products personally and discuss product features with experienced sales personnel. As of March 31, 2018, our products were distributed in over 700 locations of these specialty beauty retailers with Ulta Beauty being the largest retail presence. The retailers’ websites offer an additional point of contact with our customer and facilitates subsequent purchases. Television appearances on such shows as Good Morning America, HSN and The View and flash sale sites such as Ipsy and Rue La La allow us to reach a wide audience, many of whom may not yet be familiar with our brand. In 2017, we began doing business with Costco for select products, as well as Evine, a home shopping television channel. In the first quarter of 2018, we received an order from Costco for the purchase of one of our products for a special promotion. This order was fulfilled in April 2018. We expect this order to contribute approximately $1.5 million to net sales when recorded in the second quarter of 2018.

 

Online Shopping

 

We sell our products via our existing website, www.dermadoctor.com and on Amazon.com . On-line sales through these websites accounted for 32% and 35% of our net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively and 26% for both the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. In addition to allowing consumers to purchase the core items in our product assortment, our website also educates consumers as to the attributes as well as proper usage and application techniques for each of the products offered. We fulfill and ship all Amazon.com orders and this allows us to control the distribution of our product while allowing our customers the convenience of purchasing our products through their Amazon account.

 

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International Distributors

 

We market our DERMAdoctor ® products internationally through a network of distributors. We sell to a limited number of distributors who distribute product through websites, retail channels and spas and salons in certain international markets. Our international distributor channel accounted for 26% and 19% of our net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our international distributor channel accounted for 30% and 6% of our net sales for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and was our fastest growing channel. The majority of our international sales have occurred through distributors in China and Kuwait.

 

In April 2017, we received approval for European Union registration of some our products and we expect to expand shipments of our approved products in Europe in 2018. In August 2017, we began shipping to our distributor in Guatemala who has the rights to begin shipping to other countries in Central America, namely, Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. We also commenced shipments to our Hong Kong distributor in the fourth quarter of 2017. In January 2018, we began shipping to our distributor in The United Arab Emirates (UAE) who has the rights to ship to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain.

 

Marketing and Promotion

 

We have an innovative, media-driven marketing strategy which focuses on educating consumers about the attributes of our products, developing intimate relationships with those consumers, and leveraging our omni-channel distribution approach to effectively reach and engage those consumers.

 

We employ the following marketing techniques:

 

Social Media . A primary method of building brand awareness is through social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. These channels provide a unique opportunity for us to communicate the attributes of our products to a broad audience as well as build brand awareness. We also contract with various internet marketing services that allow us to target customers who research various skincare issues or shop for or purchase other brands’ skincare products. During the past year we have put greater human and financial resources into this initiative and anticipate continued future growth in our audience which should translate to increasing sales.

 

Consumer Testimonials . We believe that one of the keys to the success of the DERMAdoctor ® brands has been testimonials from our consumers regarding the attributes of our products. Unlike other skincare companies that rely on image-based marketing, we have used consumer testimonials in our marketing which allow us to demonstrate both the efficacy of our products and the increased self-confidence that our products have given many women. We believe that consumer testimonials both through user generated content and paid influencers on social media and our website are a particularly powerful component of our educational media marketing. These actual consumer comments are often unsolicited and may be available across all marketing channels.

 

Public Relations . We have benefited from a broad range of media coverage that has highlighted our innovative products and success. Our products have been profiled in:

 

  magazines such as InStyle, W, More, Redbook, Brides, Teen Vogue, Glamour, Family Circle, O The Oprah Magazine, Shape, Self, Fitness, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Health, Allure, Elle, RealSimple, Lucky, Ladies Home Journal, People and People en Espanol, Prevention, Men’s Health;

 

  newspapers and publications such as The New York Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, WebMD, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report; and

 

  television shows such as Dr. Oz, The Today Show, E!, The Tyra Banks Show and Good Morning America.

 

Word of Mouth . We believe that our company benefits from strong consumer loyalty as well as the emotional connection formed between our consumers and our brand. In turn, we believe that our consumers are strong advocates for our brand and have displayed a willingness to convert others to our brand. Our nearly 20 year business history has provided us a competitive advantage of long term customer acquisition, with the resulting customer loyalty, brand awareness and trustworthiness which is difficult for others to replicate

 

Our Website . We utilize our website as a method for us to communicate the attributes of our products to a broad audience as well as build brand awareness. Since our founding in 1998, our website has become a trusted source of skincare information besides a destination for consumers to purchase our unique problem-solving prestige line of skincare products.

 

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Sales Force . We have a robust sales team throughout the United States. Territories are managed by six Account Executives who are our employees. In addition, we use a third-party for outside additional marketing people or freelancers who we do not employ but who work independently to assist in marketing our products within retail stores. Currently, our total freelancers amount to approximately 80 to 100 individuals throughout the United States who work in any one week’s time. We have proprietary data analytics developed by us to analyze individual, and team performance in order to rapidly deploy marketing individuals and to simultaneously maximize sales and profit potential in the store.

 

Retail Partner Marketing . We participate in our retail partners’ periodic promotions, catalogues and various other marketing campaigns. These partner promotions allow us to introduce our products to a broad, focused audience.

 

Product Development

 

We focus a significant portion of our product development efforts on creating new products and improving existing products based on feedback and suggestions from our consumers. Many of these suggestions are the catalyst for new product development as well as product extensions. For example, in August 2017, we launched KP Duty Body Peels, which was developed based on feedback from our consumers who were searching for additional products related to their purchases of our top selling KP Duty product franchise. We believe that a novel application system will expand our KP Duty products, allowing us to increase sales and profits related to the consumer’s needs.

 

Our product development department continually meets in creative sessions to develop ideas for new products. Once we have a concept of what type of skin concern we want to address or product we want to develop, we work with third-party laboratory teams to develop unique formulations with different purposes for our prospective products, and to determine the ideal delivery systems, opacity, texture and viscosity of such products. Formulas go through many rounds of lab samples and changes prior to us approving them for testing. Extensive clinical and safety testing by outside labs is done on the formula samples we approve including sensitivity, allergy, stability and compatibility testing. If a formulation doesn’t pass a particular test, we work with our labs to reformulate the formulation until it does. All of our products are fragrance and dye free and we do not test on animals. Finally, the finished product including packaging must meet adequate quality control, and performance tests before it can be marketed. We continue to create new products and improve existing products in our core product lines by incorporating consumer feedback into our product development efforts.

 

Sourcing

 

We use third-party contract manufacturers and suppliers to obtain substantially all raw materials, components and packaging products and to manufacture finished products relating to our DERMAdoctor ® brand. We utilize a total of approximately six different product fillers and numerous ingredient and packaging suppliers from which we source and contract manufacture our products. Currently, each product we sell is manufactured by a single filler. Manufacturers directly purchase some and we supply a portion of the raw materials needed to manufacture our products. While we source these raw materials, such as plastic, glass bottles, and cardboard through a limited number of suppliers in order to take advantage of volume discounts, we do not believe we are materially dependent upon any one supplier of our raw materials as we have sufficient other suppliers across our broad range of products that we are able to mitigate most of our supply chain risk within a reasonable time frame. Each supplier manufactures products that meet our established guidelines.

 

With respect to our other third-party manufacturers, we make purchases through purchase orders. We believe that we have good relationships with our manufacturers and that there are alternative sources available to us in the event that one or more of these manufacturers is not available; however, the products manufactured by alternative manufacturers may not be identical to the current products because product formulations are often owned by the manufacturer. We continually review our manufacturing needs against the capacity of our contract manufacturers to ensure that we are able to meet our production goals, reduce costs, and operate more efficiently.

 

The majority of our raw materials are purchased from U.S.-based suppliers, although the materials may have originated in other countries. We directly purchase some raw materials such as jars, pumps, caps and droppers from suppliers in China and Spain.

 

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We work closely with our suppliers on new product innovation and quality. Our team members source our component and design secondary packaging specifications based on the supplier’s ability to provide competitive pricing, meet our design and packaging specifications and maintain a high quality.

 

Quality Control

 

We have a comprehensive quality assurance program that gives us visibility into the quality of our products during the sourcing and production cycle. Our quality team approves product samples prior to any initial production runs, analyzing formula ingredients and testing for compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and/or International Standard for Organization (ISO) quality team provides oversight of our third-party manufacturers as well as component and packaging suppliers. We also validate our manufacturers’ finished product with both internal and external stability and microbiological testing to monitor compliance with industry and country-specific regulations and standards.

 

Management Information Systems

 

We use our information systems to manage our national retailers, e-commerce and corporate operations. These management information systems provide business process support and intelligence across our omni-channel operations.

 

Our order management process is automated via electronic data interchange with the vast majority of our retail customers. We have an integrated inventory system, which allows us to manage our inventory and interfaces with our accounting systems.

 

Trademarks and other Intellectual Property

 

We believe that our intellectual property has substantial value and has contributed significantly to the success of our business. Our primary trademarks include “DERMAdoctor ® ,” and KP Duty,” both of which are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for our goods and services of primary interest. “DERMAdoctor ® and depictions of Dr. Audrey are also registered or have registrations pending in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, and Philippines. We also have numerous other trademark registrations and pending applications for product trade names and tag lines. Our trademarks are valuable assets that reinforce the distinctiveness of our brand and our consumers’ favorable perception of our products, and goodwill. The current registered trademarks in the United States and foreign countries are in use, and registration renewals are due at various times between 2017 and 2028, provided that we comply with all applicable renewal requirements including, where necessary, the continued use of the trademarks in connection with similar goods the trademarks will continue to be in force. In addition to trademark protection, we own numerous URL designations, including www.dermadoctor.com . We also rely on and use reasonable business activities to protect our trade secrets, such as proprietary expertise and product formulations, continuing innovation efforts and techniques, and other know-how to develop and maintain our competitive position.

 

We currently own the following four patents:

  

Patent Title   Related Product   Country   Patent No.   Issue Date   Expiration Date
Composition For Treatment of Hyperhidrosis   Med e Tate antiperspirant
wipes
  U.S.   8,337,821 B2   December 25, 2012   March 24, 2031
                     
Moisturizing Retinol Composition   Poetry in Lotion   U.S.   9,155,915 B2   October 13, 2015   August 31, 2031
                     
Topical Skin Care Composition   Topical skincare formulation (product is discontinued)   U.S.   8,784,852 B2   July 22, 2014   May 10, 2030
                     
Composition and Method for Treating Keratosis Pilaris   KP Duty lotion   U.S.   8,647,682 B2   February 11, 2014   April 5, 2028

 

While KP Duty lotion is a top selling product and we believe the patent is valuable for this product, we have determined that the benefits of seeking patents for many of our other products may not exceed the time and expense in doing so. For example, the Kakadu C family of products are material to our business and we do not hold a patent on those compositions. We intend to review any future decision on whether to obtain a patent on a particular new product or method on a case by case basis. To the extent we believe in seeking, obtaining, and protecting a patent on a particular composition or method would be beneficial and make a material difference in our ability to sell the product, we plan to pursue a patent.

 

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Competition

 

The skincare industry is highly competitive and subject to rapid changes due to consumer preferences and industry trends. Competition in the skincare industry is generally based on the introduction of new products, pricing of products, quality of products and packaging, brand awareness, perceived value and quality, innovation, in-store presence and visibility, promotional activities, advertising, editorials, e-commerce and mobile-commerce initiatives and other activities. We must compete with a high volume of new product introductions and existing products by diverse companies across several different distribution channels.

 

We face vigorous competition from companies throughout the world, including large multinational consumer products companies that have many skincare brands under ownership and standalone skincare brands, including those that may target the latest trends or specific distribution channels. Our products face, and will continue to face, competition for consumer recognition and market share with products that have achieved significant national and international brand name recognition and consumer loyalty, such as those offered by global prestige beauty companies like Avon Products, Inc., Elizabeth Arden, Inc., The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Inc., L’Oréal Group, Shiseido, Coty, Mary Kay, Inc. and The Proctor & Gamble Company, each of which have launched skincare brands. In addition, we compete with brands including Dr. Dennis Gross, Kate Somerville, Murad, Perricone M.D., Dr. Brandt, Clarins, Clinique, Dermalogica, Exuviance, La Roche Posay and Vichey. We also compete with numerous other companies that market skincare products.

 

These companies may have substantially greater financial, technical and marketing resources, longer operating histories, greater brand recognition and larger customer bases than we do and may be able to respond more effectively to changing business and economic conditions than we can. These competitors typically devote substantial resources to promoting their brands through traditional forms of advertising, such as print media and television commercials. Because of such mass marketing methods, these competitors’ products may achieve higher visibility and recognition than our products. We compete with prestige cosmetics companies primarily in online retailing, department stores and specialty beauty retail channels, but prestige cosmetics companies also recently have increased their sales through infomercial and home shopping television channels. Mass cosmetics brands are sold primarily though channels in which we do not sell our products, such as mass merchants, but mass cosmetics companies are increasingly making efforts to acquire market share in the higher-margin prestige cosmetics category by introducing brands and products that address this market. Many of these competitors’ products are sold in a wider selection or greater number of retail stores and possess a larger presence in these stores, typically having significantly more inline shelf space than we do. Given the finite space allocated to skincare products by retail stores, our ability to grow the number of retail stores in which our products are sold, and expand our space allocation once in these retail stores, may require the removal or reduction of the shelf space of these competitors. We may be unsuccessful in our growth strategy in the event retailers do not reallocate shelf space from our competitors to us. Our competitors may attempt to gain market share by offering products at prices at or below the prices at which our products are typically offered, including through the use of large percentage discounts and “buy one and get one free” offers. Competitive pricing may require us to reduce our prices, which would decrease our profitability or result in lost sales. Our competitors, many of whom have greater resources than we do, may be better able to withstand these price reductions and lost sales.

 

We believe that we compete primarily on the basis of product differentiation, sales and marketing strategy and distribution model. In addition to the significant resources we have devoted over time to developing our innovative product formulation and differentiated product concepts, we believe that our expertise within the skincare category, brand authenticity and loyal consumer base, and omni-channel marketing and distribution expertise provide us with competitive advantages in the market for prestige skincare products.

  

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Seasonality

 

Sales of our products that contain sunscreen and our antiperspirants are higher in the summer than the winter and sales of our products that contain moisturizers are higher in the fall and winter months. The overall effects of the seasonality of our various products that have higher sales in the warm weather months is offset by the seasonality of the sale of products that have higher sales in the colder weather months, with the net effect of seasonality being minimal on overall net revenue.

 

Government Regulation

 

We and our products are subject to regulation by the FDA, the CPSC and the FTC as well as various other federal, state, local and foreign regulatory authorities. These laws and regulations principally relate to the ingredients, proper labeling, advertising, packaging, marketing, manufacture, safety, shipment and disposal of our products.

 

Under the FDCA cosmetic skincare products are defined as articles or components of articles that are applied to the human body and intended to cleanse, beautify or alter its appearance, with the exception of soap. The labeling of cosmetic products is also subject to the requirements of the FDCA, the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act and other FDA regulations. Cosmetics are not subject to pre-market approval by the FDA, however certain ingredients, such as color additives, must be pre-authorized. If safety of the products or ingredients has not been adequately substantiated, a specific warning label is required. Other warnings may also be mandated pursuant to FDA regulations. The FDA monitors compliance of cosmetic products through market surveillance and inspection of cosmetic manufacturers and distributors to ensure that the products neither contain false nor misleading labeling and that they are not manufactured under unsanitary conditions. Inspections also may arise from consumer or competitor complaints filed with the FDA. In the event the FDA identifies false or misleading labeling or unsanitary conditions or otherwise a failure to comply with FDA requirements, we may be required by a regulatory authority or we may independently decide to conduct a recall or market withdrawal of our product or to make changes to our manufacturing processes or product formulations or labels which could result in an insufficient amount of our products in the market and harm our reputation.

 

The FDA evaluates the “intended use” of a product to determine whether it is a drug, cosmetic product, or both. If a product is intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of a disease condition or to affect the structure or function of the human body, the FDA will regulate the product as a drug. Drug products will then be subject to applicable requirements under the FDCA. The FDA may also consider labeling claims in determining the intended use of a product. If the FDA considers label claims for our cosmetic products to be claims affecting the structure or function of the human body, or intended for a disease condition, those products may be regulated as “new” drugs. If such products were regulated as “new” drugs by the FDA, it would be necessary to obtain pre-market approval, which includes, among other things, conducting clinical trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy of our products in order to continue marketing those products. However, we may not have sufficient resources to conduct any required clinical studies and because clinical trial outcomes are uncertain we may not be able to demonstrate sufficient efficacy or safety data to resume future marketing of those products.

 

Our current products that are intended to treat acne and used as sunscreen are considered OTC drug products by the FDA. Our OTC products are subject to regulation through the FDA’s “monograph” system which specifies, among other things, permitted active drug ingredients and their concentrations. The FDA’s monograph system also provides the permissible product claims and certain product labeling requirements, based on the intended use of the product. Our OTC drug products must be manufactured consistent with the FDA’s current GMP requirements, and the failure to maintain compliance with these requirements could require us to conduct recalls, market withdrawals, or make changes to our manufacturing practices. Any of these actions could result in harm to our reputation or affect our ability to provide sufficient product to the market.

 

The FDA may change the regulations as to any product category, requiring a change in labeling, product formulation or analytical testing. However, we may not have sufficient resources to conduct any required analytical testing, reformulate the product or make required label changes, possibly resulting in an inability to continue or resume marketing these products. Any inquiries or investigations from the FDA, FTC or other foreign regulatory authorities into the regulatory status of our cosmetic products and any subsequent interruption in the marketing and sale of those products could severely damage our brand and company reputation in the marketplace.

 

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We may be subject to regulation by the CPSC under the Consumer Product Safety Act, as amended by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. These statutes and the related regulations ban from the market consumer products and packaging that fail to comply with applicable product safety laws, regulations, and standards. The CPSC has the authority to require the recall, repair, replacement or refund of any such banned products or products that otherwise create a substantial risk of injury and may seek penalties for regulatory noncompliance under certain circumstances. CPSC regulations also require manufacturers of consumer products to report to the CPSC certain types of information regarding products that fail to comply with applicable regulations. Certain state laws also address the safety of consumer products, and mandate reporting requirements, and noncompliance may result in penalties or other regulatory action.

 

The FTC, FDA and other government authorities also regulate advertising and product claims regarding the safety, performance and attributes of our products. These regulatory authorities typically require a safety assessment of the product and reasonable basis to support any marketing claims. What constitutes a reasonable basis for substantiation can vary widely from market to market, and there is no assurance that our efforts to support our claims will be considered sufficient. The most significant area of risk for such activities relates to improper or unsubstantiated claims about the use and safety of our products. If we cannot adequately support safety or substantiate our product claims, or if our promotional materials make claims that exceed the scope of allowed claims for the classification of the specific product, the FDA, FTC or other regulatory authority could take enforcement action or impose penalties, such as monetary consumer redress, requiring us to revise our marketing materials, amend our claims or stop selling certain products, all of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

In December of 2014 the FTC filed a complaint against us and Audrey Kunin alleging unsubstantiated product claims made by us with respect to the effects of photodynamic therapy used in certain of our antiaging products and with respect to claims made in our Shrinking Beauty product. Although we had conducted several consumer perception studies with respect to such products, the FTC did not agree that the studies provided enough support for the claims that were made with respect to the products. In December 2014, a judgment in the amount of $843,996 was entered into of which we were required to pay $12,675 and payment of the balance of the judgment was indefinitely suspended based truthfulness, accuracy, and completeness of the information that we provided at that time to the FTC, which included information about our financial condition. If the court finds that we provided inaccurate information to the FTC, including, for example, an inaccurate representation of our material assets at the time, the suspension will be lifted.

 

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

 

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, prohibits any U.S. individual or business from paying, offering, or authorizing payment or offering of anything of value, directly or indirectly, to any foreign official, political party or candidate for the purpose of influencing any act or decision of such foreign official in her or her official capacity or to secure any other improper advantage in order to obtain or retain business. In addition to the antibribery provisions, the FCPA also obligates “issuers,” companies whose securities are registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act or is required to file periodic and other reports with SEC under Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act to comply with the FCPA’s record keeping and internal controls provisions; the accounting provisions require a listed company to maintain books and records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect all transactions of the corporation, including international affiliates, and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls to assure management’s control authority, and responsibility over our assets.

 

Export Controls and Economic Sanctions

 

Several U.S. statutes and regulations regulate the export from the United States of pharmaceutical products. Pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations, or the EAR, the export (including re-exports and “deemed exports”) of commercial and “dual-use” products may require a license or be prohibited. A listing of the types of goods and services controlled for export by the EAR is on the Commerce Control List, or the CCL, which includes essentially all civilian science, technology, and engineering dual use items. For products listed on the CCL, a license will be required as a condition to export, unless an exclusion or license exception applies. The DERMAdoctor ® products do not fall under EAR but are included in a broad category known as “EAR99.” Although a license may not generally be required for EAR99 designated items, a license will be required if the item will be shipped or otherwise transferred to a comprehensively embargoed country or for a potentially prohibited purpose.

 

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The Commerce Department’s Office of Antiboycott Compliance and the Treasury Department’s Internal Revenue Service enforce anti-boycott compliance regulations that prohibit U.S. persons such as us from participating directly or indirectly with an economic boycott that is not recognized by the United States. The regulations include reporting requirements, prohibitions, and tax liabilities that may be incurred if we support, even inadvertently, an economic boycott in which the U.S. does not participate.

 

Pursuant to the Trading With the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and other related statutes, regulations, and Executive Orders, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions that prohibit or restrict certain activities with embargoed countries, sanctioned entities, and sanctioned individuals for particular foreign policy and national security reasons. The scope of the sanctions varies significantly, but may include comprehensive restrictions on imports, exports, investment, and facilitation of foreign transactions involving a sanctioned jurisdiction, entity or person, as well as non-sanctioned persons and entities acting on behalf of sanctioned jurisdictions, entities or people. OFAC’s programs also prohibit U.S. persons, such as us, from transacting with any person or entity that is deemed to be a Foreign Sanctions Evader (foreign individuals and entities determined to have violated, attempted to violate, conspired to violate, or caused a violation of U.S. sanctions).

 

Other U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Department of State, may maintain regulations that impact our ability to export pharmaceutical products from the United States. These broad range of U.S. export control laws and regulations obligate U.S. businesses to develop, maintain, and enforce an adequate system of internal controls to ensure compliance with such laws and regulations.

 

Business Over the Internet

 

In addition, there are an increasing number of laws and regulations being promulgated by the U.S. government, governments of individual states and governments overseas that pertain to the Internet and doing business online. In addition, a number of legislative and regulatory proposals are under consideration by federal, state, local, and foreign governments and agencies. Laws or regulations have been or may be adopted with respect to the Internet relating to:

 

  liability for information retrieved from or transmitted over the Internet;
     
  online content regulation;
     
  commercial e-mail;
     
  visitor privacy; and
     
  taxation and quality of products and services.

 

Moreover, the applicability to the Internet of existing laws governing issues such as:

 

  intellectual property ownership and infringement;
     
  consumer protection;
     
  obscenity;
     
  defamation;
     
  employment and labor;
     
  the protection of minors;
     
  health information; and
     
  personal privacy and the use of personally identifiable information.

 

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This area is uncertain and developing. Any new legislation or regulation or the application or interpretation of existing laws may have an adverse effect on our business. Even if our activities are not restricted by any new legislation, the cost of compliance may become burdensome, especially as different jurisdictions adopt different approaches to regulation. For example, we are subject to federal, state and foreign laws regarding privacy and protection of people’s data. Foreign data protection, privacy and other laws and regulations can be more restrictive than those in the United States. U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. In addition, the application, interpretation and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from country to country and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. There are also a number of legislative proposals pending before the U.S. Congress, various state legislative bodies and foreign governments concerning privacy and data protection which could affect us. For example, in 2016 the European Commission recently enacted a new data protection regulation that includes operational requirements for companies that offer goods or services to people that are located in the European Union. The new regulation is significantly different than the one previously in place in the European Union, and also includes significant penalties for non-compliance.

 

Environmental, Health and Safety

 

We are subject to numerous foreign, federal, provincial, state, municipal and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations relating to, among other matters, safe working conditions, product stewardship and environmental protection, including those relating to, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous substances and waste materials, and the registration and evaluation of chemicals. We maintain policies and procedures to monitor and control environmental, health and safety risks, and to monitor compliance with applicable environmental, health and safety requirements. Compliance with such laws and regulations pertaining to the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment, has not had a material effect upon our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position. However, environmental laws and regulations have tended to become increasingly stringent and, to the extent regulatory changes occur in the future, they could result in, among other things, increased costs to our company. For example, certain states such as California and the U.S. Congress have proposed legislation relating to chemical disclosure and other requirements related to the content of our products.

 

Description of Facilities

 

We lease approximately 3,000 square feet of office space for our principal executive office and 11,000 square feet of warehouse space in Kansas City, Missouri from 1901 McGee, LLC. From this warehouse we distribute wholesale and bulk orders of product to our domestic retail customers, international distributors and direct-to-consumer orders, including distribution of product to our website and Amazon.com customers. Our lease commenced on January 1, 2016 and is for a term of one year, which we have the right to extend for ten additional one year terms. We did not extend the lease at the end of its initial one-year term and are therefore renting the facility on a month to month basis. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017, monthly base rent was $17,328 and $16,823, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, monthly base rent was $16,823 and $16,333, respectively. Rental income and rent expense is eliminated upon consolidation. Base rent is subject to an annual increase of 3% per year. We consider our properties to be generally in good condition and believe that our existing facilities are currently adequate to support our existing operations. However, we do expect to outgrow our current warehouse space due to increasing sales and anticipate relocation to a new facility will be necessary. There is no assurance that new space may not increase our overall monthly rent which is currently at market rates.

 

Employees

 

As of March 31, 2018, we had approximately 21 full-time employees and one part-time employee. None of our employees are currently covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and we have experienced no work stoppages. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

We are from time to time subject to, and are presently involved in, litigation and other proceedings. We believe that there are no pending lawsuits or claims that may, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

 

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Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company

 

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of certain exemptions from various public company reporting requirements, including not being required to have our internal controls over financial reporting audited by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and any golden parachute payments. We may take advantage of these exemptions until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards under the JOBS Act, which election is irrevocable. We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earlier of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which the fifth anniversary of the closing of this offering occurs; (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; (iii) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means we (1) have an aggregate worldwide market value of common equity securities held by non-affiliates of $700 million or more as of the last business day of our most recently completed second quarter, (2) have been required to file annual and quarterly reports under the Exchange Act for a period of at least 12 months and (3) have filed at least one annual report pursuant to the Exchange Act, and (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” have the meaning associated with associated with that term in the JOBS Act.

 

Corporate Information

 

DERMAdoctor, LLC was formed as a Missouri limited liability company in December 2015. Initially, our company was formed as a Missouri corporation in 1998 under the name DERMAdoctor, Inc. In December 2015, DERMAdoctor, Inc. contributed all of its assets to D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC, a Missouri limited liability company and received membership interests in D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC. On December 31, 2015, D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC filed an amendment to its articles of organization changing its name to DERMAdoctor, LLC and DERMAdoctor, Inc. filed an amendment to its articles of organization changing its name to Papillon Partners, Inc. Papillon is owned 51% by the Audrey G. Kunin Trust and 49% by the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust.

 

Prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, DERMAdoctor, LLC will merge directly with and into a Delaware corporation. We refer to this as the “corporate reorganization.” In connection with the corporate reorganization, all outstanding membership units of DERMAdoctor, LLC will be converted into 3,000,000 shares of common stock of DERMAdoctor, Inc., the members of DERMAdoctor, LLC will become stockholders of DERMAdoctor, Inc., and DERMAdoctor, Inc. will succeed to the business of DERMAdoctor, LLC. See “The Corporate Reorganization” for further information regarding the transactions effected in the corporate reorganization.

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 1901 McGee St, Kansas City, Missouri 64108, and our telephone number is (816) 472-5700. Our website address is www.dermadoctor.com . Information contained in our website does not form part of the prospectus and is intended for informational purposes only.

 

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MANAGEMENT

 

Board of Directors and Executive Officers

 

Our business and affairs are organized under the direction of our board of directors, which currently consists of three members. Set forth below are our directors and executive officers and their respective ages and positions as of the date of this prospectus:

  

Executive Officers and Directors   Age   Position(s) Held
         
Jeff Kunin, M.D.   56   President and Chief Executive Officer and Director
(Chairman of the Board of Directors)
         
Audrey Kunin, M.D.   59   Chief Creative Officer and Director
         
Andrea Bielsker   59   Chief Financial Officer
         
William Kunin   46   Director

 

Jeff Kunin, M.D. President and Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors

 

Jeff Kunin, M.D. co-founded our company in 1998. He currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of our company and has served as our Chief Operating Officer since November 2016 until his appointment as our President and Chief Executive Officer and from November 2016 until May 2017 served as our Chief Financial Officer.

 

Dr. Kunin served as the Chairman of the Department of Radiology at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City from 2007 to 2017. He graduated college with a B.S. degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Jeff then graduated medical school and earned his M.D. degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. Then he completed a residency in diagnostic radiology at the Medical College of Virginia and Henry Ford Hospital. Subsequently, he completed a fellowship in body imaging at the University of Michigan Hospitals. Jeff received his MBA degree from Washington University in St. Louis Olin School of Business. Dr. Kunin is also a co-owner of 1901 McGee, LLC, our landlord.

 

We selected Dr. Kunin to serve on our board of directors because he brings to the board extensive knowledge of the medical industry as well as his business background. Dr. Kunin has a vast knowledge of the industry and brings to the board significant executive leadership and operational experience. His business experience provides him with a broad understanding of the operational, financial and strategic issues facing similar companies.

 

Audrey Kunin, M.D. – Chief Creative Officer Co-founder and Member of the Board of Directors

 

Audrey Kunin, M.D. is one of our founders, currently serves as the Chief Creative Officer of our company since March 1, 2018 and the Chief Executive Officer of our company and its predecessor since 1998. Dr. Kunin graduated from Ohio State University in December 1980 and received her M.D. at the Medical College of Ohio in July 1985. She became a clinical researcher at Tulane Medical School and received her postgraduate training in Dermatology at the Medical College of Virginia after serving as Chief Resident in July 1989. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and formerly served as an Assistant Clinical Instructor of Dermatology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dr. Kunin is also a co-owner of 1901 McGee, LLC, our landlord.

 

We selected Dr. Kunin to serve on our board of directors because she brings to the board extensive knowledge of the dermatology industry and vast knowledge about our company. As a leader in the field of dermatology and her product development experience, she is invaluable to our company.

 

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Dr. Audrey Kunin is the wife of Dr. Jeff Kunin, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors, and the sister-in-law of William Kunin, a member of our board of directors.

 

Dr. Jeff Kunin, our President and Chief Executive Officer, is the husband of Dr. Audrey Kunin, our Chief Creative Officer and a member of our board of directors, and the brother of William Kunin, a member of our board of directors.

 

Andrea Bielsker - Chief Financial Officer

 

Andrea Bielsker joined DERMAdoctor in May 2017. She spent the majority of her career at Kansas City Power & Light Company, or KCPL, and its parent company, Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP), or GXP. Ms. Bielsker joined KCPL/GXP in 1984 as a financial analyst, was named Supervisor Financial Planning in 1989 and promoted to Assistant Treasurer in 1995, Treasurer in 1996, and Vice President-Finance in January 2000. She was promoted to Senior Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer in January 2001, the position she held until leaving KCPL and GXP in 2005. While at KCPL and GXP she was responsible for Corporate Finance and Analysis, Accounting and Tax, Cash Management, Risk Management, and Budgeting and Financial Forecasting and Investor Relations. Ms. Bielsker has a master of business administration from the University of Kansas where she also earned an undergraduate degree in business administration. She has had several officer positions in the Kansas City Treasury Management Association and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Kansas City Fountains Foundation, the Kansas City Tomorrow Alumni Association, and Marillac. Ms. Bielsker was elected a Director of UMB Scout mutual funds in 2006 and was named Chairperson of the Board in 2014. From 2005 to May 2017, Ms. Bielsker worked as a consultant advising on primarily finance-related matters. She also held senior financial positions at Liberty Power and Aleritas Capital during 2007 and 2008.

 

William Kunin, Director

 

William Kunin is a visual effects (VFX) supervisor for Hydraulx, a VFX company based in Santa Monica, California. He has worked on numerous films and productions in all aspects of visual effects including inferno artist and digital compositor. He currently supervises a team of artists based in Los Angeles, Vancouver, and New Orleans. Mr. Kunin graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with B.A. in Political Science. Mr. Kunin was elected as a member of our board of directors because of his technological expertise.

 

William Kunin is the brother of Dr. Jeff Kunin, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors, and the brother-in-law of Dr. Audrey Kunin, our Chief Creative Officer and a member of our board of directors.

 

Board of Directors as of the Effective Date 

 

Effective immediately upon the effective date of this offering, it is intended that William Kunin will resign from the Board and that the following three independent directors will join the Board.

 

Name   Age   Positions
Victoria Barnard   61   Director, Nominee
Brad Hampton   51   Director, Nominee
James Hyde   53   Director, Nominee

  

Victoria Barnard, Director Nominee

 

Victoria Barnard is the President of Foot Traffic USA, LLC, a privately held brand leader in fashion legwear and novelty socks with national distribution in 1,300 boutiques, specialty retailers and online retailers, and has held such position since 2012. From 1984 to 2012, she held various leadership positions at Hallmark Cards, Inc., a family held, industry leader in global greetings, specialty retail and the parent company of Crayola and the Hallmark Cable Television Channel. In 1995, she was named General Manager, Hallmark Season Greeting Cards, and served in that capacity until 1999 when she was promoted to Vice President, Acquisitions Strategy and Integration and served in that capacity until 2002. From 2002 to 2012, she served as Vice President, Strategic Planning responsible for strategic decisions within and across all divisions. Since March 2017, she has served as an independent director and the Compensation Committee Chair of Just Born Quality Confections (“Just Born”). A family held company, Just Born is the 9 th largest candy company in the United States and is known for several iconic brands, including Peeps Marshmallow candies, Mike and Ike fruity, chewy candies and Hot Tamales, the number one selling cinnamon candy. Ms. Barnard holds an MBA from the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, and a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from Marquette University. Ms. Barnard serves as a Commissioner on the Kansas City Crime Commission, is co-founder and former Board Chair of the Women’s Capital Connection, an all women angel-investing group, former Board Chair of the Kansas Women’s Business Center and former Board Member of the Kansas City Ballet.

 

Ms. Barnard was elected as a member of our board of directors because of her over thirty years of consumer goods experience in senior executive positions.

 

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Brad Hampton, Director Nominee

 

Brad Hampton is the Chief Financial Officer of Helzberg Diamonds, a nationwide and online fine jewelry retailer, and subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Company. Prior to joining Helzberg Diamonds in June 2017, he held numerous senior financial executive positions with Sprint Corporation. Mr. Hampton joined Sprint Corporation in October 1996 as a financial analyst, was named a Director, Product Finance in January 2004, a Director, Marketing Finance in January 2005, and a Director, Financial Planning and Analysis in January 2006. In 2009, he was promoted to Vice President-Finance; in 2012, he was promoted to Vice President and Investor Relations Officer; and in 2014, he was promoted to Vice President and Business Unit Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Hampton holds an Executive Leadership Certificate from Duke University, an Executive Education Certificate from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and an MBA from LeTourneau University. He also holds Bachelor degrees in Economics and Latin American studies from the University of New Mexico. Brad serves as a director on the board of Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City, and is a long-time volunteer leader for the Boy Scouts of America and his local church.

 

Mr. Hampton was elected as a member of our board of directors because of his over twenty years of finance experience in senior executive positions. 

 

James Hyde, Director Nominee

 

James A. Hyde has served in various senior capacities in the telecommunication industry. Currently, Mr. Hyde is Chief Executive Officer and Director of Hyde Investments, LLC. From April 2016 to December 2017, he was the President - Wholesale, Affiliates and Strategic Partnerships at Sprint Corporation. From October 2015 through December 2016, he served as a board member and Executive Chairman of Fastback Networks, a wireless telecommunications company. From April 2009 to August 2014, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of nTelos Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed telecommunications company. From October 2011 to September 2014, he served as a director of Lumos Networks, a Nasdaq-listed telecommunications company, and served as its Chief Executive Officer from October 2011 to April 2012. From January 2006 to March 2009, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of T-Mobile, United Kingdom. From July 1997 to January 2006, he was Vice President, Sales and Operations at T-Mobile. Mr. Hyde holds a Bachelor degree in Business/Finance from Arizona State University.

 

Mr. Hyde was elected as a member of our board of directors because of his significant experience in serving as a board member and senior executive of Nasdaq-listed public companies.

 

Board Composition and Election of Directors

 

Our board of directors currently consists of three members: Audrey Kunin, Jeff Kunin and William Kunin. Our board of directors has undertaken a review of its composition and its committees and the independence of each director. Based upon information requested from and provided by each director concerning his or her background, employment and affiliations, including family relationships, our board of directors has determined that none of our current directors are “independent” under the applicable rules of the SEC and Nasdaq. Audrey and Jeff Kunin are not independent directors under these rules because Jeff is our President and Chief Executive Officer and Audrey is our Chief Creative Officer. William is not an independent director under these rules because of his family relationship to Audrey and Jeff. Upon the effective date of this offering, we intend for Victoria Barnard, James Hyde and Brad Hampton to be elected to serve as directors on our board of directors. We have determined that each of Ms. Barnard and Messrs. Hyde and Hampton will be independent directors under the applicable Nasdaq rules.

 

Corporate Governance

 

Our Status as a Controlled Company

 

After completion of this offering, we will qualify as a “controlled company” within the meaning of the applicable Nasdaq corporate governance standards because in excess of 50% of our voting power will be held by Papillon, an entity that Audrey and Jeff Kunin indirectly control. As such, we will qualify for certain exemptions to the Nasdaq listing requirements, including the requirement that a majority of our directors be independent, and the requirements to have a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee, each composed of entirely independent directors.

 

Board Committees

 

Prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, our board of directors will establish an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee and a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

 

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Audit Committee

 

The members of our Audit Committee will be Victoria Barnard, James A. Hyde, and Brad Hampton, each of whom has been determined by our board of directors to be independent under applicable Nasdaq and SEC rules and regulations. Mr. Hampton  will be the chair of the Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee’s responsibilities will include, among others:

 

  appointing, approving the compensation of, and assessing the independence of our registered public accounting firm;
     
  overseeing the work of our independent registered public accounting firm, including through the receipt and consideration of reports from that firm;
     
  reviewing and discussing with management and our independent registered public accounting firm our annual and quarterly financial statements and related disclosures;
     
  monitoring our internal control over financial reporting, disclosure controls and procedures;
     
  overseeing our internal audit function;
     
  discussing our risk management policies;

 

  establishing policies regarding hiring employees from our independent registered public accounting firm and procedures for the receipt and retention of accounting related complaints and concerns;
     
  meeting independently with our internal auditing staff, if any, our independent registered public accounting firm and management;
     
  reviewing and approving or ratifying any related person transactions; and
     
  preparing the Audit Committee report required by SEC rules.

 

All audit and non-audit services, other than de minimis non-audit services, to be provided to us by our independent registered public accounting firm must be approved in advance by our Audit Committee.

 

Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Hampton is an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in applicable SEC rules.

 

Compensation Committee

 

The members of our Compensation Committee will be Victoria Barnard, James A. Hyde and Brad Hampton, each of whom has been determined by our board of directors to be independent under applicable Nasdaq and SEC rules and regulations. Ms. Barnard will be the chair of the Compensation Committee. Our Compensation Committee’s responsibilities will include, among others:

 

  reviewing and approving annually the corporate goals and objectives applicable to the compensation of the Chief Executive Officer, evaluating at least annually the Chief Executive Officer’s performance in light of those goals and objectives, and determining and approving the Chief Executive Officer’s compensation level based on this evaluation;

 

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  reviewing and approving the compensation of all other executive officers;
     
  reviewing and approving and, when appropriate, recommending to the board of directors for approval, incentive compensation plans and equity-based plans, and where appropriate or required, recommending for approval by our stockholders, the adoption, amendment or termination of such plans; and administering such plans;
     
  reviewing and approving the executive compensation information included in our annual report on Form 10-K and proxy statement;
     
  reviewing and approving or providing recommendations with respect to any employment agreements or severance arrangements or plans; and
     
  reviewing director compensation and recommending any changes to the board of directors.

 

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

 

The members of our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will be Victoria Barnard, James A. Hyde, and Brad Hampton, each of whom has been determined by our board of directors to be independent under current Nasdaq rules.  Mr. Hyde will be the chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s responsibilities include, among others:

 

  identifying and recommending candidates to fill vacancies on the board of directors and for election by the stockholders;
     
  recommending committee and chairperson assignments for directors to the board of directors;
     
  developing, subject to the board of directors’ approval, a process for an annual evaluation of the board of directors and its committees and to oversee the conduct of this annual evaluation;
     
  overseeing our corporate governance practices, including reviewing and recommending to the board of directors for approval any changes to the documents and policies in our corporate governance framework, including its certificate of incorporation and bylaws; and
     
  monitoring compliance with our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, investigating alleged breaches or violations thereof and enforcing its provisions.

 

Board of Directors Leadership Structure

 

Our board of directors does not have a lead independent director. Our board of directors has determined its leadership structure is appropriate and effective for us, given our stage of development.

  

Risk Oversight

 

Our board of directors will monitor our exposure to a variety of risks through our Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee charter will give the Audit Committee responsibilities and duties that include discussing with management, the internal audit department and the independent auditors our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including our risk assessment and risk management policies.

 

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

 

We will adopt a code of business conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers, and directors, including those officers responsible for financial reporting. These standards are designed to deter wrongdoing and to promote honest and ethical conduct. We will disclose any amendment or waiver of our code of business conduct and ethics via a Form 8-K or our website.

 

The code of business conduct and ethics and the written charter for each of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will be available on our website. The information that appears on our website is not part of, and is not incorporated into, this prospectus.

 

None of our directors, director nominees or executive officers, nor any associate of such individual, is involved in a legal proceeding adverse to us.

 

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

Summary Compensation Table (2017 and 2016)

 

The following table sets forth the information as to compensation paid to or earned by, our principal executive officer for such year and our two other executive officers whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 for each of the fiscal years presented below. The persons listed in the following table are referred to herein as the “named executive officers.”

   

Name and Principal Position   Fiscal
Year
  Salary     All Other
Compensation (4)
    Total  
Jeff Kunin (1)                            
President and Chief Executive Officer and   2017                  
Former Chief Financial Officer   2016                  
                             
Audrey Kunin (1)(2)   2017   $ 150,000     $ 6,000     $ 156,000  
Chief Creative Officer and former Chief Executive Officer   2016   $ 150,000     $ 5,917     $ 155,917  
                             
Andrea Bielsker (3)   2017   $ 76,000           $ 76,000  
Chief Financial Officer   2016                        

 

 

 

(1) Does not include any distribution that Drs. Kunin has received from 1901 McGee, LLC, the lessor of our corporate headquarters and warehouse.
   
(2) Dr. Audrey Kunin served as our Chief Executive Officer until March 1, 2018 when Dr. Jeff Kunin was appointed to serve as our Chief Executive Officer.
   
(3) Ms. Bielsker joined our company as our Chief Financial Officer in May 2017.
   
(4) Represents 401(k) benefits.

 

Employment Agreements

 

On March 10, 2018, we entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Jeff Kunin to act as our President and Chief Executive Officer, or the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement. The initial term of the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement is from March 10, 2018 through March 10, 2022; however, this agreement will be automatically renewed for successive one year periods, each a renewal term, unless, at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the initial term or any renewal term, either party gives written notice to the other party specifically electing to terminate the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement at the end of the applicable term. The Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement provides for Dr. Kunin to receive an annual base salary of $150,000 per year, which will increase to $200,000 per year upon consummation of this offering. Pursuant to the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement, Dr. Kunin may receive a cash bonus equal to 150% of his base salary and an equity bonus as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. In addition, at the first meeting of the board of directors held after the consummation of this offering, Dr. Kunin will be issued options to purchase a number of shares of our common stock, to be determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, at an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the grant date, vesting monthly on a pro rata basis over four years with accelerated vesting upon a Change of Control (as defined in the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan). If Dr. Kunin’s employment is terminated by us for Just Cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, he (or his estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by him through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Dr. Kunin’s employment is terminated by us Without Just Cause (as defined in the agreement) or by Dr. Kunin for Good Reason (as defined in the agreement), he will also receive an amount equal to one year’s base salary as severance; provided that he executes and does not revoke a release and settlement agreement releasing us from all claims arising from his employment. The Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement includes customary non-competition provisions.

 

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On March 10, 2018, we entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Audrey Kunin to act as our Chief Creative Officer, or the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement. The initial term of the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement from March 10, 2018 through March 10, 2022; however, this agreement will be automatically renewed for successive one year periods, each a renewal term, unless, at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the initial term or any renewal term, either party gives written notice to the other party specifically electing to terminate the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement at the end of the applicable term. The Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement provides for Dr. Kunin to receive an annual base salary of $150,000 per year, which will increase to $200,000 per year upon consummation of this offering. Pursuant to the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement, Dr. Kunin may receive a cash bonus equal to 150% of her base salary and an equity bonus as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. In addition, at the first meeting of the board of directors held after the consummation of this offering, Dr. Kunin will be issued options to purchase a number of shares of our common stock, to be determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, at an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the grant date, vesting monthly on a pro rata basis over four years with accelerated vesting upon a Change of Control (as defined in the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan). If Dr. Kunin’s employment is terminated by us for Just Cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, she (or her estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by her through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Dr. Kunin’s employment is terminated by us Without Just Cause (as defined in the agreement) or by Dr. Kunin for Good Reason (as defined in the agreement), she will also receive an amount equal to one year’s base salary as severance; provided that she executes and does not revoke a release and settlement agreement releasing us from all claims arising from her employment. The Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement includes customary non-competition provisions.

 

The Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement will replace the employment agreement that we entered into on January 1, 2016, with Dr. Audrey Kunin to act as our Chief Executive Officer, or the AK Employment Agreement. Effective January 1, 2017, the AK Employment Agreement was automatically renewed for a successive one year period. Pursuant to the AK Employment Agreement, Dr. Kunin received an annual base salary of $150,000 per year and was entitled to a bonus equal to two percent (2%) of actual measurable sales that were the direct result of her personal media appearances on our behalf, as determined by us.

 

On May 22, 2017, we entered into an employment agreement with Andrea Bielsker to act as our Chief Financial Officer, or the Bielsker Employment Agreement. The initial term of the Bielsker Employment Agreement is May 22, 2017 through December 31, 2018; however, this agreement will be automatically renewed for successive one year periods, each a renewal term, unless, at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the initial term or any renewal term, either party gives written notice to the other party specifically electing to terminate the Bielsker Employment Agreement at the end of the applicable term. Ms. Bielsker receives an annual base salary of $130,000 per year and has agreed to devote at least sixty percent (60%) of her professional time attending to our business. Pursuant to the Bielsker Employment Agreement, Ms. Bielsker may receive a bonus equal to a percentage of her base salary as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. If Ms. Bielsker’s employment is terminated by us for Just Cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, she (or her estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by her through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Ms. Bielsker’s employment is terminated by us Without Just Cause (as defined in the agreement) or by Ms. Bielsker for Good Reason (as defined in the agreement), she will also receive an amount equal to three months base salary as severance; provided that she executes and does not revoke a release and settlement agreement releasing us from all claims arising from her employment. The Bielsker Employment Agreement includes customary non-competition provisions.

 

Non-Employee Director Compensation

 

2016 Compensation of Directors

  

Since 2014, our directors have not received any compensation for their service as directors. Commencing after this offering, directors who are not employees will receive compensation for their service as directors, including service as members of each committee on which they serve. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not yet determined a formal policy regarding the amount and type of compensation to be paid to our non-employee directors. We anticipate that we will adopt a formal compensation policy for non-employee directors upon consummation of the offering.

 

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SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

 

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock immediately prior to and immediately following the offering:

  

  each person who is known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding common stock;
     
  each of our directors and director nominees;
     
  each of our named executive officers; and
     
  all of our directors and executive officers as a group.

 

The pre-offering percentage ownership information shown in the table is based upon 3,000,000  shares of common stock outstanding immediately prior to the offering (assuming that the 1,000,000 Units that are outstanding convert to 3,000,000 shares of common stock). The post-offering percentage is based upon 4,875,000  shares of common stock outstanding after completion of this offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

  

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC. These rules generally attribute beneficial ownership of securities to persons who possess sole or shared voting power or investment power with respect to those securities. In addition, the rules would include shares of common stock issuable pursuant to the exercise of stock options, warrants or other rights that are either immediately exercisable or exercisable on or before May 1, 2018, which is 60 days after the date of this prospectus. These shares are deemed to be outstanding and beneficially owned by the person holding those options or warrants for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person, but they are not treated as outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person. Unless otherwise indicated, the persons or entities identified in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares shown as beneficially owned by them, subject to applicable community property laws.

 

Except as otherwise noted below, the address for each of the individuals and entities listed in this table is c/o DERMAdoctor, Inc., 1901 McGee, Kansas City, Missouri 64108.

    

Name of Beneficial Owner   Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
    Percentage
Ownership
(Pre-Offering)
    Percentage
Ownership
(Post-Offering)
 
Executive Officers & Directors                  
Jeff Kunin, M.D. (1)     2,466,900       82.23 %     50.6 %
Audrey Kunin, M.D. (1)     2,466,900       82.23 %     50.6 %
Andrea Bielsker                    
William Kunin                    
Victoria Barnard                  
Brad Hampton                  
James Hyde                  
All Executive Officers & Directors, & Director Nominees as a group (seven (7) persons)     2,466,900       82.23 %     50.6 %
                         
5% Stockholders                        
Papillon Partners, Inc. (1)     2,466,900       82.23 %     50.6 %
Midwest Growth Partners LLLP (2)     533,100       17.77 %     10.9 %

 

 

 

(1) Jeff Kunin, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and a member of our board of directors, and Audrey Kunin, M.D., our Chief Creative Officer a member of our board of directors, share voting and dispositive power over the shares. Audrey Kunin is the trustee of the Audrey G. Kunin Trust which owns 51% of the outstanding equity Papillon. Jeff Kunin is the trustee of the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust, which owns 49% of the outstanding equity of Papillon.
   
(2) John Mickelson and Mike Taylor have voting control of Midwest Growth Partners LLLP.  The address of Midwest Growth Partners LLLP is 7049 Vista Drive, West Des Moines, Iowa 50266.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

 

The following is a summary of transactions since January 1, 2016 to which we have been a party in which the amount involved exceeded the lesser of $120,000 or one percent of the average of our total assets at the end of the last two recent fiscal years and in which any of our executive officers, directors, director nominees or beneficial holders of more than five percent of our capital stock had or will have a direct or indirect material interest, other than compensation arrangements which are described under the section of this prospectus entitled “Executive Compensation.”

 

Promissory Notes

 

On November 8, 2016, we issued a promissory note to Papillon, our largest stockholder, in the aggregate principal amount of $1,600,000, or the November 2016 Note. The November 2016 Note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum and matures on November 8, 2019 unless earlier prepaid. All principal under the November 2016 Note is paid at maturity, therefore, the principal amount outstanding on the November 2016 Note as of the date of this prospectus remains $1,600,000. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, we recognized $96,000 and $14,203, respectively, in interest expense as reflected in our Statement of Operations and paid those same amounts, respectively, in interest on the November 2016 Note. From January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018, we have paid an aggregate of $23,653 in interest related to the November 2016. The November 2016 Note is a general unsecured obligation of our company and is not guaranteed by any other person or entity or secured by any of our assets. The proceeds of the November 2016 Note were used by us to repurchase half of the outstanding Units of our other members at that time.

 

On July 17, 2017, we issued a short-term promissory note to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $90,000, or the July 2017 Bridge Note. All principal under the July 2017 Bridge Note is paid at maturity, therefore, the principal amount outstanding on the July 2017 Bridge Note as of the date of this prospectus remains $90,000. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we paid interest on the July 2017 Bridge Note and recognized $2,250 in interest expense as reflected in our Statement of Operations. From January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018, we have paid an aggregate of $1,350 in interest related to the July 2017 Bridge Note. The July 2017 Bridge Note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum and was to mature 90 days after its issuance, unless earlier prepaid. On October 9, 2017, the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to January 13, 2018. On January 13, 2018 the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to March 15, 2018. On March 15, 2018 the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to May 14, 2018. On April 30, 2018 the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to July 29, 2018. The July 2017 Bridge Note is a general unsecured obligation of our company and is not guaranteed by any other person or entity or secured by any of our assets.

 

On November 9, 2017, we issued a short-term promissory note to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $100,000, or the November 2017 Bridge Note. The November 2017 Bridge Note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum and is scheduled to mature on February 7, 2018, unless earlier prepaid. All principal under the November 2017 Bridge Note is paid at maturity, therefore, the principal amount outstanding on the November 2017 Bridge Note as of the date of this prospectus remains $100,000. For the year ended December 31, 2017, we did not pay any interest on the November 2017 Bridge Note and recognized $1,000 in interest expense as reflected in our Statement of Operations. From January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018, we have paid an aggregate of $1,500 in interest related to the November 2017 Bridge Note. On February 6, 2018, the November 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to May 8, 2018. On April 30, 2018 the November 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to July 29, 2018.The November 2017 Bridge Note is a general unsecured obligation of our company and is not guaranteed by any other person or entity or secured by any of our assets. The proceeds of the November 2017 Bridge Note were used by us for working capital purposes.

 

Lease

 

The lessor of the building in which our corporate headquarters and warehouse are located, 1901 McGee, LLC, is an entity owned 50.1% by Audrey Kunin and 49.9 % by Jeff Kunin. During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, we paid rent of $51,984 and $50,470, respectively, to 1901 McGee, LLC. During the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 we paid rent of $201,902 and $198,952, respectively, to 1901 McGee, LLC. The associated rental income and rent expense is eliminated upon consolidation.

 

Sale Proceeds Sharing Agreements

 

On January 1, 2016, we and Papillon entered into sale proceeds sharing agreements with certain of our employees to (i) encourage and reward our employees upon the occurrence of a Change of Control (as defined below); and (ii) to provide for certain restrictive covenants binding upon the employee. In the event of a Change of Control affecting us, Papillon will pay and/or transfer to the employee that is a party to the sale proceeds sharing agreement on the date that is ninety (90) days following the closing of the Change of Control, or the Closing Date, an award, or the Award, equal to 0.25% of the liquidation proceeds from the Change of Control. The Award will only be payable if the employee fully complies with the terms of the sale proceeds sharing agreement and is employed by us on the Closing Date. As of the date of this prospectus, there are two employees eligible for a Change of Control payment.

 

For purposes of the sale proceeds sharing agreements, “Change of Control” means (i) the sale, lease, transfer, in one or a series of related transactions, of all or substantially all of our assets to any person or group; or (ii) the acquisition by any person or group (other than our current members or their affiliates or family members) of a direct or indirect interest in 100% of our voting interests by way of merger, consolidation or otherwise. This offering does not trigger a payment under these sale proceeds sharing agreements. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and March 31, 2017, and the years ended December 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, we recognized $9,500, $8,000, $32,000 and $64,000, respectively, in compensation expense related to the sale proceeds sharing agreements, as reflected in our Statement of Operations.

 

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SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE 

 

Before this offering, there was no public market for our securities and a significant public market for our securities may not develop or be sustained after this offering. As described below, the approximately 3,000,000 shares outstanding immediately prior to the offering will not be available for sale immediately after this offering due to certain contractual and securities law restrictions on resale. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market after these restrictions lapse could cause the prevailing market price of our common stock to decline and limit our ability to raise equity capital in the future.

  

Upon completion of this offering, we will have outstanding an aggregate of 4,875,000  shares of common stock (5,156,250   shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full). In addition, we have reserved shares for future issuance under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan we intend to adopt immediately prior to this offering.

  

Of these shares, the 1,875,000  shares sold in this offering (2,156,250   shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be freely transferable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act; provided that any shares that are acquired by affiliates as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act, or Rule 144, will be subject to the volume, manner of sale and other limitations of Rule 144.

  

As a result of contractual restrictions described below and the provisions of Rule 144 and/or Rule 701, the 4,875,000  shares sold in this offering and the restricted securities will be available for sale in the public market as follows:

  

  the 1,875,000  shares sold in this offering (2,156,250  shares if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full) will be eligible for immediate sale upon the completion of this offering; and
     
  approximately 3,000,000 restricted shares will be eligible for sale in the public market upon expiration of the lock-up agreements (described below), which will occur 180 days after the date of this prospectus, which date may be extended in specified circumstances, subject to the volume, manner of sale and other limitations applicable to affiliates under Rule 144.

 

Rule 144

 

In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, once we have been subject to the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act for at least 90 days a person (or persons whose shares are aggregated) who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of ours at any time during the three months preceding a sale, and who has beneficially owned restricted securities within the meaning of Rule 144 for at least six months, would be entitled to sell those shares, subject only to the availability of current public information about us. A non-affiliated person who has beneficially owned restricted securities within the meaning of Rule 144 for at least one year would be entitled to sell those shares without regard to the availability of current public information about us.

 

An affiliate of ours who has beneficially owned restricted shares of our common stock for at least twelve months (or six months, provided that such sale occurs after we have been subject to the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act for at least 90 days) would be entitled to sell, within any three-month period, a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of (i) 1% of shares of our common stock then outstanding and (ii) the average weekly trading volume of our common stock on the Nasdaq during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to such sale.

 

Sales under Rule 144 by our affiliates or persons selling shares on behalf of our affiliates are also subject to manner of sale provisions, notice requirements and the availability of current public information about us.

 

Rule 701

 

Under Rule 701, common stock acquired pursuant to other awards granted under a written compensatory benefit plan (or written compensation contract) established by the issuer may be resold, to the extent not subject to lock-up agreements, (a) by persons other than affiliates, beginning 90 days after the effective date of this offering, and (b) by affiliates, subject to the manner-of-sale, volume limitations, current public information and filing requirements of Rule 144, in each case, without compliance with the holding period requirement of Rule 144.

 

2018 Equity Incentive Plan

 

At the first meeting of our Board of Directors that is held after completion of this offering, we intend to issue awards under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan to each of Dr. Jeff Kunin and Dr. Audrey Kunin and other employees and to file a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act covering all shares of common stock issuable pursuant to our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan. The number and type of awards have not yet been determined and will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors. Subject to Rule 144 volume limitations applicable to affiliates, shares registered under this registration statement will be available for sale in the open market, subject to any vesting restrictions or the contractual restrictions described below.  

 

Lock-Up Agreements

  

In connection with this offering, our directors and officers and all other holders of our outstanding equity securities, on an as converted basis, will agree not to sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, without the prior written consent of ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, subject to certain exceptions. See the section entitled “Underwriting.” The underwriters may release all or any portion of the securities subject to lock-up agreements.

 

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES
TO NON-U.S. HOLDERS OF OUR COMMON STOCK

  

The following discussion describes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences to non-U.S. holders (as defined below) of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our common stock issued pursuant to the initial public offering. This discussion is not a complete analysis of all potential U.S. federal income tax consequences and does not address any tax consequences arising under any state, local or foreign tax laws, any income tax treaties, or any other U.S. federal tax laws, including U.S. federal estate and gift tax laws (except as specifically addressed herein with respect to U.S. federal estate taxes). This discussion is based on the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, U.S. Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial decisions and published rulings and administrative pronouncements of the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, all as in effect on the date of the initial public offering. These authorities may change, possibly retroactively, resulting in tax consequences different from those discussed below. No rulings have been or will be sought from the IRS with respect to the matters discussed below, and there can be no assurance that the IRS will not take a different position regarding the tax consequences of a non-U.S. holder’s acquisition, ownership or disposition of our common stock or that any such position would not be sustained by a court.

   

This discussion is limited to non-U.S. holders who purchase our common stock pursuant to this offering and who hold our common stock as “capital assets” within the meaning of Code Section 1221 (generally, property held for investment). This discussion does not address all U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to a non-U.S. holder in light of the holder’s particular circumstances. It also does not consider any specific facts or circumstances that may be relevant to non-U.S. holders subject to special rules under the U.S. federal income tax laws, including, without limitation, certain former citizens or long-term residents of the United States, banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, “controlled foreign corporations” (as defined in Code Section 957), “passive foreign investment companies” (as defined in Code Section 1297), corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid U.S. federal income tax, brokers, dealers or traders in securities, commodities or currencies, partnerships or other pass-through entities (or investors in such entities), tax-exempt organizations, governmental organizations, tax-qualified retirement plans, persons subject to the alternative minimum tax or the unearned income Medicare contribution tax, persons who hold or receive our common stock pursuant to the exercise of any employee stock or option or otherwise as compensation, persons who have elected to mark securities to market, and persons holding our common stock as part of a straddle, hedge or other risk reduction strategy or as part of a conversion transaction or other integrated investment.

  

WE RECOMMEND THAT PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE PARTICULAR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF THE ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK, AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES ARISING UNDER ANY STATE, LOCAL OR FOREIGN TAX LAWS, ANY APPLICABLE INCOME TAX TREATIES, OR ANY OTHER U.S. FEDERAL TAX LAWS (INCLUDING ESTATE AND GIFT TAX LAWS).

  

Definition of Non-U.S. Holder

  

As used in this discussion, a non-U.S. holder is any beneficial owner of our common stock who is not treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is not:

 

  an individual citizen or resident of the United States;
     
  a corporation (or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia;
     
  an estate, the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or
     
  a trust if (i) a U.S. court is able to exercise primary supervision over its administration and one or more U.S. persons have authority to control all its substantial decisions or (ii) the trust was in existence on August 20, 1996, was treated as a U.S. person prior to that date and validly elected to continue to be so treated, or (iii) that has a valid election in effect under applicable Treasury Regulations to be treated as a U.S. person.

  

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If any entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner generally will depend on the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. Partnerships and their partners should consult their tax advisors as to the tax consequences to them of the acquisition, ownership and disposition of our common stock.

 

Distributions on Our Common Stock

  

As described in the section entitled, “Dividend Policy,” we do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. If we make a distribution of cash or other property with respect to our common stock, the distribution generally will constitute a dividend for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. Amounts not treated as dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes will constitute a return of capital and will first be applied against and reduce a holder’s adjusted tax basis in its common stock, but not below zero. Any remaining excess will be treated as capital gain from the sale of property.

  

Dividends paid to a non-U.S. holder of our common stock that are not effectively connected to the holder’s conduct of a U.S. trade or business generally will be subject to U.S. federal withholding tax at a rate of 30% of the gross amount of the dividends, or a lower rate specified by an applicable tax treaty. To receive the benefit of a reduced treaty rate, a non-U.S. holder must furnish to us or our paying agent a valid IRS Form W-8BEN (or applicable successor form) certifying the holder’s qualification for the reduced rate. A non-U.S. holder may be required to obtain a U.S. taxpayer identification number to claim treaty benefits. This certification must be provided to us or our paying agent prior to the payment of dividends and may be required to be updated periodically. Non-U.S. holders that do not timely provide us or our paying agent with the required certification, but which qualify for a reduced treaty rate, may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld by timely filing an appropriate claim for refund with the IRS. Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding their entitlement to benefits under a relevant income tax treaty.

 

If a non-U.S. holder holds our common stock in connection with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States, and dividends paid on the common stock are effectively connected with the holder’s U.S. trade or business and, if an income tax treaty applies, the non-U.S. holder maintains a “permanent establishment” in the United States to which the dividends are attributable, the non-U.S. holder will be exempt from U.S. federal withholding tax, if the appropriate certification is provided. To claim the exemption for effectively connected income, the non-U.S. holder must furnish to us or our paying agent a properly executed IRS Form W-8ECI (or applicable successor form) prior to the payment of the dividends. Any dividends paid on our common stock that are effectively connected with a non-U.S. holder’s U.S. trade or business generally will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular graduated U.S. federal income tax rates in the same manner as if the holder were a resident of the United States, unless the holder is entitled to the benefits of a tax treaty that provides otherwise. A non-U.S. holder that is a foreign corporation also may be subject to a branch profits tax equal to 30% (or a lower rate specified by an applicable tax treaty) of its effectively connected earnings and profits for the taxable year that are attributable to such dividends, as adjusted for certain items. Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding any applicable tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

  

Gain on Disposition of Our Common Stock

 

Subject to the discussions below regarding backup withholding and foreign accounts, a non-U.S. holder generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other disposition of our common stock unless:

 

  the gain is effectively connected with the non-U.S. holder’s conduct of a trade or business in the United States and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, is attributable to a permanent establishment maintained by the non-U.S. holder in the United States;
     
  the non-U.S. holder is a nonresident alien individual present in the United States for 183 days or more during the taxable year of the disposition and certain other requirements are met; or
     
  our common stock constitutes a U.S. real property interest by reason of our status as a U.S. real property holding corporation at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or the non-U.S. holder’s holding period for our common stock and certain other requirements are met.

 

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Unless an applicable tax treaty provides otherwise, gain described in the first bullet point above will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis at the regular graduated U.S. federal income tax rates in the same manner as if the holder were a resident of the United States. Non-U.S. holders that are foreign corporations also may be subject to a branch profits tax equal to 30% (or a lower rate specified by an applicable tax treaty) of its effectively connected earnings and profits for the taxable year that are attributable to such gain, as adjusted for certain items. Non-U.S. holders should consult their tax advisors regarding any applicable tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

 

Gains described in the second bullet point above will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at a flat 30% rate (or a lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty), but may be offset by U.S. source capital losses.

 

With respect to the third bullet point above, we believe we currently are not and will not become a U.S. real property holding corporation. However, because the determination of whether we are a U.S. real property holding corporation generally depends on whether the fair market value of our U.S. real property interests equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of our other trade or business assets and our worldwide real property interests, there can be no assurance that we will not become a U.S. real property holding corporation in the future. In the event we do become a U.S. real property holding corporation, as long as our common stock is regularly traded on an established securities market, our common stock will constitute a U.S. real property interest only with respect to a non-U.S. holder that actually or constructively holds more than five percent of our common stock at some time during the shorter of the five-year period preceding the disposition or the non-U.S. holder’s holding period for our common stock. Any taxable gain generally will be taxed in the same manner as gain that is effectively connected with the conduct of a U.S. trade or business, except that the branch profits tax will not apply.

 

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

 

Annual reports are required to be filed with the IRS and provided to each non-U.S. holder indicating the amount of dividends on our common stock paid to such holder and the amount of any tax withheld with respect to those dividends. These information reporting requirements apply even if no withholding was required because the dividends were effectively connected with the holder’s conduct of a U.S. trade or business, or withholding was reduced or eliminated by an applicable tax treaty. This information also may be made available under a specific treaty or agreement with the tax authorities in the country in which the non-U.S. holder resides or is established.

  

Backup withholding, currently at a rate of 24%, generally will not apply to payments of dividends to a non-U.S. holder of our common stock provided the non-U.S. holder furnishes to us or our paying agent the required certification as to its non-U.S. status (typically, by providing a valid IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8ECI) or an exemption is otherwise established. Backup withholding may apply if the payor has actual knowledge, or reason to know, that the holder is a U.S. person who is not an exempt recipient.

  

Payment of the proceeds from a non-U.S. holder’s disposition of our common stock made by or through a foreign office of a broker will not be subject to information reporting or backup withholding, except that information reporting (but generally not backup withholding) may apply to those payments if the broker does not have documentary evidence that the beneficial owner is a non-U.S. holder, an exemption is not otherwise established and the broker is:

  

  a U.S. person, as defined in the Code;
     
  a controlled foreign corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes;
     
  a foreign person 50% or more of whose gross income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business for a specified three-year period; or
     
  a foreign partnership if at any time during its tax year (1) one or more of its partners are U.S. persons who hold in the aggregate more than 50% of the income or capital interest in the partnership or (2) it is engaged in the conduct of a U.S. trade or business.

 

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Payment of the proceeds from a non-U.S. holder’s disposition of our common stock made by or through the U.S. office of a broker generally will be subject to information reporting and backup withholding unless the non-U.S. holder certifies as to its non-U.S. status (such as by providing a valid IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8ECI) or otherwise establishes an exemption from information reporting and backup withholding.

  

Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Taxpayers may use amounts withheld as a credit against their U.S. federal income tax liability or may claim a refund if they timely provide certain information to the IRS.

  

U.S. Federal Estate Tax

  

Shares of common stock held (or deemed held) by an individual who is a non-U.S. holder at the time of his or her death will be included in such non-U.S. holder’s gross estate for U.S. federal estate tax purposes, unless an applicable estate tax treaty provides otherwise, and thus may be subject to U.S. federal estate tax.

  

Additional Withholding Tax Relating to Foreign Accounts

  

Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code (commonly referred to as FATCA) will generally impose a U.S. federal withholding tax of 30% on dividends and the gross proceeds of a disposition of our common stock paid after December 31, 2012 to a foreign financial institution (whether holding stock for its own account or on behalf of its account holders/investors) unless such institution enters into an agreement with the U.S. government to withhold on certain payments and to collect and provide to the U.S. tax authorities substantial information regarding U.S. account holders of such institution (which includes certain equity and debt holders of such institution, as well as certain account holders that are foreign entities with U.S. owners). FATCA will also generally impose a U.S. federal withholding tax of 30% on dividends and the gross proceeds of a disposition of our common stock paid after December 31, 2012 to any other foreign entity unless such entity provides the withholding agent with a certification identifying the direct and indirect U.S. owners of the entity. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and an applicable foreign country may modify these requirements.

  

FATCA currently applies to dividends paid on our common stock. FATCA will also apply to gross proceeds from sales or other dispositions of our common stock after December 31, 2018. Under certain circumstances, a holder might be eligible for refunds or credits of such taxes. Prospective investors are encouraged to consult with their own tax advisors regarding the possible impact of these rules on their investment in our common stock.

  

WE RECOMMEND THAT PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS CONSULT THEIR TAX ADVISORS REGARDING THE PARTICULAR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES TO THEM OF THE PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP AND DISPOSITION OF OUR COMMON STOCK, AS WELL AS ANY TAX CONSEQUENCES ARISING UNDER ANY STATE, LOCAL OR FOREIGN TAX LAWS, ANY APPLICABLE INCOME TAX TREATIES, OR ANY OTHER U.S. FEDERAL TAX LAWS (INCLUDING ESTATE AND GIFT TAX LAWS).

 

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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

 

The following description of our capital stock and the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws are summaries and are qualified by reference to the certificate of incorporation and the bylaws that will be in effect upon the closing of this offering. We have filed copies of these documents with the SEC as exhibits to our registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. The descriptions of the common stock and preferred stock reflect changes to our capital structure that will occur prior to and upon the closing of this offering.

  

General

  

Upon the closing of this offering, our authorized capital stock will consist of 50,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share.

  

As of the date of this prospectus, we have issued and outstanding 1,000,000 Units held by two holders of record. As part of the corporate reorganization, the outstanding Units will be automatically converted into an aggregate of  3,000,000 shares of our common stock prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

  

Membership Units

  

The Units are designed to largely mimic shares in a C corporation with the class and characteristics of the Units determining the voting rights and share of cash distributions to be received by holders of the Units, all as defined in the LLC Operating Agreement.

 

Under the LLC Operating Agreement, we are authorized to issue 1,000,000 Units. At March 31, 2018, there were 1,000,000 Units outstanding.

 

Capital Stock

 

The following description summarizes the terms of our capital stock following the corporate reorganization. Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a complete description, you should refer to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as in effect immediately following the closing of this offering, copies of which have been filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

 

Common Stock

  

Common stock outstanding. Assuming the corporate reorganization is consummated, and assuming an initial public offering price of $8.00 per share, the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, there will be no more than 4,875,000  shares of our common stock outstanding, immediately following the consummation of this offering, but assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option and no exercise of outstanding options or warrants.

  

Voting rights. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders, except on matters relating solely to terms of preferred stock.

  

Dividend rights. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding preferred stock, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. See “Dividend Policy.”

  

Rights upon liquidation. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of preferred stock, if any, then outstanding.

  

Other rights. The holders of our common stock have no preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock.

 

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Preferred Stock

  

Our board of directors has the authority to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more classes or series and to fix the designations, powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion right, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation preferences and the number of shares constituting any class or series, without further vote or action by the stockholders. Although we have no present plans to issue any other shares of preferred stock (other than the preferred stock that may be issued pursuant to the Exchange Agreement), the issuance of shares of preferred stock, or the issuance of rights to purchase such shares, could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to the holders of common stock, could adversely affect the rights and powers, including voting rights, of the common stock, and could have the effect of delaying, deterring or preventing a change of control of us or an unsolicited acquisition proposal.

 

Representative’s Warrants

  

Please see “Underwriting—Representative’s Warrants” for a description of the warrants we have agreed to issue to the representative of the underwriters in this offering, subject to the completion of the offering. We expect to enter into a warrant agreement in respect of the Representative’s Warrants prior to the closing of this offering.

 

Promissory Notes

 

On November 8, 2016, we issued a promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $1,600,000, or the Note, to Papillon. The Note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum and matures on November 8, 2019 unless earlier prepaid. The Note is a general unsecured obligation and is not guaranteed by any other person or entity or secured by any of our assets. The proceeds of the Note were used by us to repurchase half of the outstanding Units of our other members at that time.

 

On July 17, 2017, we issued a short-term promissory note to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $90,000, or the July 2017 Bridge Note. The July 2017 Bridge Note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum and was to mature 90 days after its issuance, unless earlier prepaid. On October 9, 2017, the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to January 13, 2018. On January 13, 2018, the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to March 15, 2018. On March 15, 2018 the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to May 14, 2018. On April 30, 2018 the July 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to July 29, 2018. The July 2017 Bridge Note is a general unsecured obligation and is not guaranteed by any other person or entity or secured by any of our assets. The proceeds of the July 2017 Bridge Note were used by us for working capital purposes.

 

On November 9, 2017, we issued a short-term promissory note to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $100,000, or the November 2017 Bridge Note. The November 2017 Bridge Note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum and was scheduled to mature on February 7, 2018, unless earlier prepaid. On February 6, 2018 the November Bridge Note was amended to extent its maturity date to May 8, 2018. On April 30, 2018 the November 2017 Bridge Note was amended to extend its maturity date to July 29, 2018. The November 2017 Bridge Note is a general unsecured obligation of ours and is not guaranteed by any other person or entity or secured by any of our assets. The proceeds of the November 2017 Bridge Note were used by us for working capital purposes.

  

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law

   

The provisions of Delaware law, our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws described below may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another party from acquiring control of us.

  

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Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law

  

We are subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date that such stockholder became an interested stockholder, with the following exceptions:

 

  before such date, the board of directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
     
  upon completion of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction began, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding (but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder) those shares owned (i) by persons who are directors and also officers and (ii) employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or
     
  on or after such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.

  

In general, Section 203 defines business combination to include the following:

  

  any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;
     
  any sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation involving the interested stockholder;
     
  subject to certain exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;
     
  any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock or any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or
     
  the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loss, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits by or through the corporation.

  

Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

 

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that:

 

  the authorized number of directors can be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;
     
  our bylaws may be amended or repealed by our board of directors or our stockholders;
     
  stockholders may not call special meetings of the stockholders or fill vacancies on the board of directors;
     
  our board of directors will be authorized to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock, the rights of which will be determined at the discretion of the board of directors and that, if issued, could operate as a “poison pill” to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer to prevent an acquisition that our board of directors does not approve;
     
  our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, and therefore our stockholders holding a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors; and
     
  our stockholders must comply with advance notice provisions to bring business before or nominate directors for election at a stockholder meeting.

 

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Exclusive forum for adjudication of disputes provision which limits the forum to the Delaware Court of Chancery for certain actions against the Company.

 

Article XIV, Section 48 of our bylaws dictates that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions including any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, an action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our officers, directors, employees or to our stockholders; any claim arising under Delaware corporate law, including under the Delaware General Corporation Law; and any action asserting a claim against us or any of our officers, directors or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine. While management believes limiting the forum for resolution of disputes to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is in the best interests of our company and our stockholders, our stockholders could be inconvenienced by not being able to bring an action in another forum they find more convenient. In addition, this exclusive forum provision may discourage stockholder lawsuits, or limit stockholders’ ability to obtain a more favorable judicial forum for disputes with us, our officers and/or directors.

 

A Delaware corporation is allowed to mandate in its corporate governance documents a chosen forum for the resolution of state law-based stockholder class actions, derivative suits and other intra-corporate disputes. Our management believes limiting state law-based claims to Delaware will provide the most appropriate outcomes as the risk of another forum misapplying Delaware law is avoided, Delaware courts have a well-developed body of case law and limiting the forum will preclude costly and duplicative litigation and avoids the risk of inconsistent outcomes. Additionally, Chancery Courts of the State of Delaware can typically resolve disputes on an accelerated schedule when compared to other forums.

 

Potential Effects of Authorized but Unissued Stock

 

We have shares of common stock and preferred stock available for future issuance without stockholder approval. We may utilize these additional shares for a variety of corporate purposes, including future public offerings to raise additional capital, to facilitate corporate acquisitions or payment as a dividend on the capital stock.

  

The existence of unissued and unreserved common stock and preferred stock may enable our board of directors to issue shares to persons friendly to current management or to issue preferred stock with terms that could render more difficult or discourage a third-party attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise, thereby protecting the continuity of our management. In addition, the board of directors has the discretion to determine designations, rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions, including voting rights, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges and liquidation preferences of each series of preferred stock, all to the fullest extent permissible under the Delaware General Corporation Law and subject to any limitations set forth in our certificate of incorporation. The purpose of authorizing the board of directors to issue preferred stock and to determine the rights and preferences applicable to such preferred stock is to eliminate delays associated with a stockholder vote on specific issuances. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing desirable flexibility in connection with possible financings, acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third-party to acquire, or could discourage a third-party from acquiring, a majority of our outstanding voting stock.

  

Limitations of Director Liability and Indemnification of Directors, Officers and Employees

  

Our certificate of incorporation, which will become effective upon the closing of this offering, limits the liability of directors to the maximum extent permitted by Delaware law. Delaware law provides that directors of a corporation will not be personally liable for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors, except for liability for any:

  

  breach of their duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders;
     
  act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
     
  unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or
     
  transaction from which the directors derived an improper personal benefit.

 

These limitations of liability do not apply to liabilities arising under the federal or state securities laws and do not affect the availability of equitable remedies such as injunctive relief or rescission.

  

Our bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by law, and may indemnify employees and other agents. Our bylaws also provide that we are obligated to advance expenses incurred by a director or officer in advance of the final disposition of any action or proceeding.

  

We have obtained a policy of directors’ and officers’ liability insurance.

 

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We plan to enter into separate indemnification agreements with our directors and officers. These agreements, among other things, require us to indemnify our directors and officers for any and all expenses (including attorneys’ fees) judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such directors or officers or on his or her behalf in connection with any action or proceeding arising out of their services as one of our directors or officers, or any of our subsidiaries or any other company or enterprise to which the person provides services at our request provided that such person follows the procedures for determining entitlement to indemnification and advancement of expenses set forth in the indemnification agreement. We believe that these bylaw provisions and indemnification agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified persons as directors and officers.

  

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though an action, if successful, might provide a benefit to us and our stockholders. Our results of operations and financial condition may be harmed to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

 

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

  

At present, there is no pending litigation or proceeding involving any of our directors or officers as to which indemnification is required or permitted, and we are not aware of any threatened litigation or proceeding that may result in a claim for indemnification.

 

Requirements for Advance Notification of Stockholder Nominations and Proposals

  

Our Bylaws establish advance notice procedures with respect to stockholder proposals and nomination of candidates for election as directors.

  

Limits on Special Meetings

  

Special meetings of the stockholders may be called at any time only by the board of directors, the Chairman of the board of directors or our Chief Executive Officer, subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock.

  

Election and Removal of Directors

  

Our stockholders may only remove directors for cause and out board of directors may remove a director for cause with the vote of 2/3rds of the directors then appointed to the board. Our board of directors may elect a director to fill a vacancy, including vacancies created by the expansion of the board of directors. This system of electing and removing directors may discourage a third-party from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us, because it generally makes it more difficult for stockholders to replace a majority of our directors. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws will not provide for cumulative voting in the election of directors.

  

Amendments to Our Governing Documents

  

Generally, the amendment of our certificate of incorporation requires approval by our board of directors and a majority vote of stockholders. Any amendment to our bylaws requires the approval of either a majority of our board of directors or approval of at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the holders of our outstanding capital stock in elections of our board of directors.

 

Listing

  

We have applied to list our common stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol “DDOC.”

  

Transfer Agent and Registrar

 

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is VStock Transfer, LLC.

 

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UNDERWRITING

 

ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., is acting as the representative of the underwriters of the offering, or the Representative. We have entered into an underwriting agreement dated                      , 2018 with the Representative. Subject to the terms and conditions of the underwriting agreement, we have agreed to sell to each underwriter named below and each underwriter named below has severally and not jointly agreed to purchase from us, at the public offering price per share less the underwriting discounts set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the number of shares of common stock listed next to its name in the following table:

  

Underwriters   Number of
Shares
 
ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc.            
Total        

 

All of the shares to be purchased by the underwriters will be purchased from us.

 

The underwriting agreement provides that the obligations of the underwriters to pay for and accept delivery of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus are subject to various conditions and representations and warranties, including the approval of certain legal matters by their counsel and other conditions specified in the underwriting agreement. The shares of common stock are offered by the underwriters, subject to prior sale, when, as and if issued to and accepted by them. The underwriters reserve the right to withdraw, cancel or modify the offer to the public and to reject orders in whole or in part. The underwriters are obligated to take and pay for all of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus if any such shares of common stock are taken, other than those shares of common stock covered by the over-allotment option described below.

 

Over-Allotment Option

 

We have granted to the underwriters an option, exercisable no later than 45 calendar days after the closing of this offering, to purchase up to an additional  281,250 shares of common stock (15% of the shares of common stock sold in this offering) from us to cover over-allotments, if any, at a price per share of common stock equal to the public offering price, less the underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters may exercise this option only to cover over-allotments made in connection with this offering. If the underwriters exercise this option in whole or in part, then the underwriters will be severally committed, subject to the conditions described in the underwriting agreement, to purchase these additional shares of common stock. If any additional shares of common stock are purchased, the underwriters will offer the additional shares of common stock on the same terms as those on which the shares of common stock are being offered hereby.

 

Discounts and Commissions

 

The Representative has advised us that the underwriters propose to offer the shares of common stock to the public at the initial public offering price per share set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. The underwriters may offer shares to securities dealers at that price less a concession of not more than $         per share, of which up to $           per share may be re-allowed to other dealers. After the initial offering to the public, the public offering price and other selling terms may be changed by the Representative.

 

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The following table summarizes the public offering price, underwriting discounts and commissions and proceeds before expenses to us assuming both no exercise and full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option:

 

    Per Share     Total Without
Over-allotment
Option
    Total With
Over-allotment
Option
 
Public offering price   $            $                $           
Underwriting discounts and commissions (7%)   $       $       $    
Non-accountable expense allowance (1%) (1)   $       $       $    
Proceeds, before expenses, to us   $       $       $    

 

 

 

(1) The non-accountable expense allowance of 1% is not payable with respect to the shares sold upon exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.

 

We will pay an expense deposit of $18,000 to the Representative, which will be applied against the out-of-pocket accountable expenses that will be paid by us to the underwriters in connection with this offering, and will be reimbursed to us to the extent not incurred.

 

In addition, we have also agreed to pay the following expenses of the underwriters relating to the offering: (a) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to background checks of our officers and directors in an amount not to exceed $2,000 per individual and $10,000 in the aggregate; (b) all filing fees and communication expenses associated with the review of this offering by FINRA; (c) up to $5,000 for “blue sky” counsel; (d) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration, qualification or exemption of securities offered under the securities laws of foreign jurisdictions designated by the Representative; (e) $29,500 for the underwriters’ use of Ipreo’s book-building, prospectus tracking and compliance software for this offering; (f) the underwriters’ legal fees incurred in connection with this offering in an amount up to $75,000; (g) up to $20,000 of the Representatives’ actual accountable road show expenses for the offering; and (h) the costs associated with bound volumes of the public offering materials as well as commemorative mementos and Lucite tombstones in an amount not to exceed $2,500 in the aggregate.

 

We estimate the expenses of this offering payable by us, not including underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $750,000.                      .

 

Representatives’ Warrants

 

Upon closing of this offering, we have agreed to issue to the Representative as compensation warrants to purchase a number of shares of common stock equal to 5% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock sold in this initial public offering, or the Representative’s Warrants. The Representative’s Warrants will be exercisable at a per share exercise price equal to 125% of the public offering price per share of the shares of common stock sold in this offering. The Representative’s Warrants are exercisable at any time and from time to time, in whole or in part, during the four-year period commencing one year from the effective date of the registration statement related to this offering. We have registered the shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Representative’s Warrants in the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part.

 

The Representative’s Warrants have been deemed compensation by FINRA and are therefore subject to a 180-day lock-up pursuant to Rule 5110(g)(1) of FINRA. The Representative (or permitted assignees under Rule 5110(g)(1)) will not sell, transfer, assign, pledge, or hypothecate these warrants or the securities underlying these warrants, nor will they engage in any hedging, short sale, derivative, put, or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of the warrants or the underlying securities for a period of 180 days from the effective date of the registration statement. In addition, the warrants provide for registration rights upon request, in certain cases. The demand registration right provided will not be greater than five years from the effective date of the offering in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(iv). The piggyback registration right provided will not be greater than seven years from the effective date of the offering in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(v). We will bear all fees and expenses attendant to registering the securities issuable on exercise of the warrants other than underwriting commissions incurred and payable by the holders. The exercise price and number of shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend or our recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrant exercise price or underlying shares will not be adjusted for issuances of shares of common stock at a price below the warrant exercise price.

 

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Right of First Refusal

 

Until 15 months from the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, the Representative will have, subject to certain exceptions, an irrevocable right of first refusal to act as sole investment banker, sole book-runner and/or sole placement agent, at the Representative’s discretion, for each and every future public and private equity and debt offerings for us, or any successor to or any subsidiary of us, including all equity linked financings, on terms customary for the Representative. The Representative will have the sole right to determine whether or not any other broker-dealer shall have the right to participate in any such offering and the economic terms of any such participation. The Representative will not have more than one opportunity to waive or terminate the right of first refusal in consideration of any payment or fee.

 

Determination of Initial Public Offering Price

 

Prior to the offering, there has been no public market for shares of our common stock. The initial public offering price has been negotiated by and between us and the Representative. Among the factors considered in determining the initial public offering price of the shares of common stock, in addition to prevailing market conditions, were the information set forth in this prospectus and otherwise available to the Representative; our history and prospects and the history and prospects for the industry in which we compete; estimates of our business potential and earnings prospects; an assessment of our management; recent market prices of, and demand for, publicly traded common stock of generally comparable companies; and other factors deemed relevant by the underwriters and us.

 

Neither we nor the underwriters can assure investors that an active trading market will develop for our common stock, or that the shares will trade in the public market at or above the initial public offering price.

 

We have applied to list the shares of our common stock on the Nasdaq under the symbol “DDOC.”

 

The Representative has advised us that the underwriters propose to offer the shares directly to the public at the public offering price set forth on the cover of this prospectus. After the offering to the public, the offering price and other selling terms may be changed by the representatives without changing our proceeds from the underwriters’ purchase of the shares.

 

The underwriters and their affiliates may in the future provide various investment banking and other financial services for us, for which they may receive, in the future, customary fees.

 

Lock-Up Agreements

 

We, and each of our directors, officers and stockholders have agreed, for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, without the prior written consent of the Representative, not to directly or indirectly (subject to limited exceptions):

 

  issue (in the case of us), offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of our capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our capital stock; or

  

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  file or cause the filing of any registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any shares of our capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of our capital stock; or
     
  in the case of us, complete any offering of our debt securities, other than entering into a line of credit with a traditional bank; or
     
  enter into any swap or other agreement, arrangement, hedge or transaction that transfers to another, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, any of the economic consequences of ownership of our common stock or other capital stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock or other capital stock, whether any transaction described in any of the foregoing bullet points is to be settled by delivery of our common stock or other capital stock, other securities, in cash or otherwise, or publicly announce an intention to do any of the foregoing.

 

Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids

 

In connection with this offering, the underwriters may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of our common stock. Specifically, the underwriters may over-allot in connection with this offering by selling more shares than are set forth on the cover page of this prospectus. This creates a short position in our common stock for its own account. The short position may be either a covered short position or a naked short position. In a covered short position, the number of shares of common stock over-allotted by the underwriters is not greater than the number of shares of common stock that they may purchase in the over-allotment option. In a naked short position, the number of shares of common stock involved is greater than the number of shares common stock in the over-allotment option. To close out a short position, the underwriters may elect to exercise all or part of the over-allotment option. The underwriters may also elect to stabilize the price of our common stock or reduce any short position by bidding for, and purchasing, common stock in the open market.

 

The underwriters may also impose a penalty bid. This occurs when a particular underwriter or dealer repays selling concessions allowed to it for distributing shares of common stock in this offering because the underwriter repurchases the shares of common stock in stabilizing or short covering transactions.

 

Finally, the underwriters may bid for, and purchase, shares of our common stock in market making transactions, including “passive” market making transactions as described below.

 

These activities may stabilize or maintain the market price of our common stock at a price that is higher than the price that might otherwise exist in the absence of these activities. The underwriters are not required to engage in these activities, and may discontinue any of these activities at any time without notice. These transactions may be effected on the national securities exchange on which our shares of common stock are traded, in the over-the-counter market, or otherwise.

  

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Indemnification

 

We have agreed to indemnify the underwriters against liabilities relating to the offering arising under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, liabilities arising from breaches of some or all of the representations and warranties contained in the underwriting agreement, and to contribute to payments that the underwriters may be required to make for these liabilities.

 

Electronic Distribution

 

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on a website maintained by one or more underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering. The underwriters may agree to allocate a number of shares to underwriters and selling group members for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the representative of the underwriters to underwriters and selling group members that may make internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations. In connection with the offering, the underwriters or syndicate members may distribute prospectuses electronically.

 

The underwriters have informed us that they do not intend to confirm sales to accounts over which they exercise discretionary authority in excess of five percent of the total number of shares of common stock offered by them.

 

Other than the prospectus in electronic format, the information on any underwriter’s website and any information contained in any other website maintained by an underwriter is not part of the prospectus or the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, has not been approved and/or endorsed by us or any underwriter in its capacity as underwriter and should not be relied upon by investors.

 

Selling Restrictions

 

No action has been taken in any jurisdiction (except in the United States) that would permit a public offering of our common stock, or the possession, circulation or distribution of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any other material relating to us or our common stock in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Accordingly, our common stock may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, and none of this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any other offering material or advertisements in connection with our common stock may be distributed or published, in or from any country or jurisdiction, except in compliance with any applicable rules and regulations of any such country or jurisdiction.

 

European Economic Area

 

In relation to each Member State of the European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus Directive, each a “Relevant Member State”, with effect from and including the date on which the Prospectus Directive is implemented in that Relevant Member State, or the “Relevant Implementation Date”, our securities will not be offered to the public in that Relevant Member State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to our securities that has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant Member State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant Member State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Directive, except that, with effect from and including the Relevant Implementation Date, an offer of our securities may be made to the public in that Relevant Member State at any time:

 

  to any legal entity that is a qualified investor as defined in the Prospectus Directive;
     
  to fewer than 100 or, if the Relevant Member State has implemented the relevant provision of the 2010 PD Amending Directive, 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in the Prospectus Directive), as permitted under the Prospectus Directive, subject to obtaining the prior consent of the manager for any such offer; or
     
  in any other circumstances which do not require the publication by the issuer of a prospectus pursuant to Article 3(2) of the Prospectus Directive, provided that no such offer of the securities shall require the issuer or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Directive.  

 

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For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer of securities to the public” in relation to any securities in any Relevant Member State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and securities to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe securities, as the same may be varied in that Relevant Member State by any measure implementing the Prospectus Directive in that Relevant Member State and the expression “Prospectus Directive” means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including the 2010 PD Amending Directive, to the extent implemented in the Relevant Member State), and includes any relevant implementing measure in each Relevant Member State and the expression “2010 PD Amending Directive” means Directive 2010/73/EU.

 

United Kingdom

 

In the United Kingdom, this document is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, and any offer subsequently made may only be directed at persons who are “qualified investors” (as defined in the Prospectus Directive) (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19 (5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the Order), and/or (ii) who are high net worth companies (or persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated) falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together, the relevant persons). This document must not be acted on or relied on in the United Kingdom by persons who are not relevant persons. In the United Kingdom, any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is only available to, and will be engaged in with, relevant persons.

 

Canada

 

The offering of our common stock in Canada is being made on a private placement basis in reliance on exemptions from the prospectus requirements under the securities laws of each applicable Canadian province and territory where our common stock may be offered and sold, and therein may only be made with investors that are purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal and that qualify as both an “accredited investor” as such term is defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario) and as a “permitted client” as such term is defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any offer and sale of our common stock in any province or territory of Canada may only be made through a dealer that is properly registered under the securities legislation of the applicable province or territory wherein our common stock is offered and/or sold or, alternatively, where such registration is not required.

 

Any resale of our common stock by an investor resident in Canada must be made in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws, which require resales to be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, prospectus requirements under applicable Canadian securities laws. These resale restrictions may under certain circumstances apply to resales of the common stock outside of Canada.

 

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

 

Pursuant to section 3A.3 (or, in the case of securities issued or guaranteed by the government of a non-Canadian jurisdiction, section 3A.4) of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (“NI 33-105”), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

 

Upon receipt of this prospectus, each Québec investor hereby confirms that it has expressly requested that all documents evidencing or relating in any way to the sale of the securities described herein (including for greater certainty any purchase confirmation or any notice) be drawn up in the English language only. Par la réception de ce document, chaque investisseur québecois confirme par les présentes qu’il a expressément exigé que tous les documents faisant foi ou se rapportant de quelque manière que ce soit à la vente des valeurs mobilières décrites aux présentes (incluant, pour plus de certitude, toute confirmation d’achat ou tout avis) soient rédigés en anglais seulement .

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

 

The validity of the securities being offered by this prospectus have been passed upon for us by Gracin & Marlow, LLP, New York, New York. Certain legal matters in connection with this offering will be passed upon for the underwriters by Reed Smith LLP, New York, New York.

 

EXPERTS

 

The consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 included in the Registration Statement have been audited by Friedman LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, to the extent and for the periods set forth in their report, which included an explanatory paragraph regarding our ability to continue as a going concern, appearing elsewhere herein, and are included in reliance on such report given upon the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

We have filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of common stock we are offering to sell. This prospectus, which constitutes part of the registration statement, does not include all of the information contained in the registration statement and the exhibits, schedules and amendments to the registration statement. For further information with respect to us and our common stock, we refer you to the registration statement and to the exhibits and schedules to the registration statement. Statements contained in this prospectus about the contents of any contract, agreement or other document are not necessarily complete, and, in each instance, we refer you to the copy of the contract, agreement or other document filed as an exhibit to the registration statement. Each of these statements is qualified in all respects by this reference.

 

You may read and copy the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part at the SEC’s public reference room, which is located at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. You can request copies of the registration statement by writing to the SEC and paying a fee for the copying cost. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for more information about the operation of the SEC’s public reference room. In addition, the SEC maintains an Internet website, which is located at www.sec.gov , that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. You may access the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part at the SEC’s Internet website. Upon completion of this offering, we will be subject to the information reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and we will file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

Page
Financial Statements (unaudited)  
Condensed consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 F-2
   

Condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017

F-3
   
Condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the periods ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 F-4
   
Notes to condensed consolidated financial statements F-5

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)

 

    March 31, 2018     December 31, 2017  
Assets            
Cash and cash equivalents (a)   $ 105,785     $ 80,629  
Accounts receivable, net     18,882       227,543  
Inventory, net     2,818,909       2,028,200  
Deferred offering costs     157,310       95,000  
Prepaid expenses     24,613       11,603  
Total current assets     3,125,499       2,442,975  
Property and equipment, net (a)     2,958,884       2,982,227  
Total assets   $ 6,084,383     $ 5,425,202  
                 
Liabilities, Redeemable Membership Interest and Deficiency                
Current portion of mortgage payables (a)   $ 117,239     $ 116,360  
Current portion of related party notes payable     190,000       190,000  
Accounts receivables financing payable     634,748       180,316  
Accounts payable (a)     1,148,503       504,854  
Related party accounts payable     45,000       45,000  
Deferred revenue     -       45,077  
Accrued expense and other current liabilities     500,249       657,455  
Total current liabilities     2,635,739       1,739,062  
Mortgage payables, net of current portion (a)     2,528,902       2,557,431  
Related party note payable     1,600,000       1,600,000  
Total liabilities     6,764,641       5,896,493  
                 
Commitments and contingencies                
                 
Redeemable membership interest     1,270,000       1,270,000  
                 
Members' deficiency     (2,261,895 )     (2,038,000 )
Noncontrolling interests     311,637       296,709  
Total deficiency     (1,950,258 )     (1,741,291 )
Total liabilities, redeemable membership interest  and deficiency   $ 6,084,383     $ 5,425,202  

 

(a) At March 31, 2018, $27,172 of cash and cash equivalents, $2,952,934 of property and equipment, net, $117,239 of current portion of mortgage payables, $5,000 of accounts payable, $2,528,902 of mortgage payables, net of current portion, from consolidated variable interest entities are included in the respective balance sheets captions above. See Note 11-Variable Interest Entity.
   
  At December 31, 2017, $19,996 of cash and cash equivalents, $2,974,830 of property and equipment, net, $116,360 of current portion of mortgage payables, $6,998 of accounts payable, $2,557,431 of mortgage payables, net of current portion, from consolidated variable interest entities are included in the respective balance sheets captions above. See Note 11-Variable Interest Entity.

  

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited)

 

    For the three months ended  
    March 31, 2018     March 31, 2017  
             
Net sales   $ 1,711,291     $ 1,474,059  
Cost of sales     707,376       787,849  
Gross profit     1,003,915       686,210  
                 
Operating expenses                
  Selling expenses     735,680       802,944  
  General and administrative expenses     455,115       313,918  
Total expenses     1,190,795       1,116,862  
                 
Loss from operations     (186,880 )     (430,652 )
                 
Other income and expenses                
  Other expense     (673 )     (628 )
  Interest expense     (61,483 )     (45,670 )
Net loss     (249,036 )     (476,950 )
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest     (15,641 )     (17,517 )
Net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC   $ (233,395 )   $ (459,433 )
               
Net loss per unit, basic and diluted   $ (0.23 )   $ (0.46 )
               
Weighted average units outstanding - basic and diluted     1,000,000       1,000,000  
                 
Pro forma income tax effect   $ -     $ -  
               
Pro forma net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted (note 3)   $ (0.08 )   $ (0.15 )
                 
Pro forma weighted average common shares outstanding - basic and diluted (note 3)     3,000,000       3,000,000  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited)

 

    For the three months ended  
    March 31, 2018     March 31, 2017  
Cash flows from operating activities:            
             
Net Loss   $ (249,036 )   $ (476,950 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities                
Depreciation of property and equipment     23,343       24,338  
Amortization of deferred financing fees     1,000       1,000  
Obsolete inventory reserve     (14,000 )     46,159  
Non-cash compensation     9,500       8,000  
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:                
Accounts receivable     208,661       (41,155 )
Inventory     (776,709 )     (280,506 )
Prepaid Expenses     (13,010 )     17,705  
Accounts payable     643,648       258,259  
Deferred revenue     (45,077 )     -  
Accrued expenses     (157,206 )     264,352  
Net cash used in operating activities     (368,886 )     (178,798 )
                 
Cash flows from investing activities:                
                 
Net cash used in investing activities     -       -  
                 
Cash flows from financing activities:                
                 
Proceeds from accounts receivable financing     1,162,000       -  
Repayment of mortgage payables     (28,650 )     (28,311 )
Repayments of accounts receivable financing     (707,568 )     -  
Capital contributions, 1901 McGee LLC     30,570       23,924  
Deferred offering costs     (62,310 )     -  
Net cash (used) provided by financing activities     394,042       (4,387 )
                 
Net increase (decrease) in cash     25,156       (183,185 )
Cash - Beginning of period     80,629       252,008  
Cash - End of period   $ 105,785     $ 68,823  
                 
Supplemental disclosure of cash and non-cash investing and financing transactions                
                 
Cash paid for interest   $ 61,483     $ 45,670  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements

 

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Note 1 - Nature of operations

 

DERMAdoctor, LLC was initially formed as a Missouri corporation under the name DERMAdoctor, Inc. At the end of 2015, D. Doctor Acquisition LLC was formed and a Contribution Agreement, Bill of Sale and Assignment and Assumption Agreement was entered into between DERMAdoctor, Inc. and D. Doctor Acquisition LLC. DERMAdoctor, Inc. contributed assets to D. Doctor Acquisition LLC for consideration of 525,000 Units of the Company. At the same time, D. Doctor Acquisition LLC changed its name to DERMAdoctor, LLC and DERMAdoctor, Inc., changed its name to Papillon Partners Inc. (“Papillon”) which owns the majority of DERMAdoctor, LLC. Jeff and Audrey Kunin own 100% of 1901 McGee LLC, which owns the building that is being leased by DERMAdoctor, LLC and is therefore consolidated within DERMAdoctor, LLC under United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Papillon is jointly owned by Audrey Kunin, Chief Creative Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC and Jeff Kunin, President and Chief Executive Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC. DERMAdoctor, LLC was founded by board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Audrey Kunin and the company headquarters is located in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

The Company is an innovative, prestige skin care company focused on the creation and sale of products designed to target common skin concerns. The Company’s product portfolio includes cleansers, serums, masks, moisturizers, and antiperspirants. The Company utilizes a multi-channel distribution model which includes traditional domestic retail outlets, direct to consumer internet sales through our website ( www.dermadoctor.com ) and Amazon.com, and international distributors who resell the products in their exclusive territories. The Company currently sells to distributors in China, Hong Kong, the Middle East, and Central America. The Company believes that a core element of its success is its distinctive marketing strategy. The Company focuses on educating its target customers, women between the age of 18-65 who have a college education with above average household income, about the unique benefits of its products, developing intimate relationships with those consumers and capitalizing on its multi-channel distribution strategy to effectively reach and engage those consumers.

 

Note 2 - Going concern

 

The Company has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception. Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2018 and cash flows from operations will not be sufficient to fund the operations of the Company over the twelve month period from the date these condensed consolidated financial statements are issued. The Company has entered into a financing facility and the Company’s majority member, Papillon, has provided short-term loans to the Company and may continue to do so (see Note 9-Related party transactions). The Company is actively pursuing additional sources of financing to fund its operations. These sources could include an initial public offering of the Company’s equity, or additional issuances of debt or equity. There is no assurance that additional financing from any source will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. These factors raise substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

 

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared with the assumption that the Company will continue as a going concern and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the inability of the Company to continue as a going concern.

 

Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies

 

Principles of consolidation

 

The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company include all the accounts of DERMAdoctor, LLC and its affiliated company, 1901 McGee LLC, a variable interest entity for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All significant intercompany balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

 

Basis of presentation

 

Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted. However, the Company believes that the disclosures in these financial statements are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included in this document have been prepared on the same basis as the annual consolidated financial statements, and in our opinion reflect all adjustments, which include normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair presentation in accordance with GAAP and SEC regulations for interim financial statements. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that the Company will have for any subsequent period. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes to those statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the notes to those statements for the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Use of estimates

 

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

Cash and cash equivalents include all cash balances and highly liquid investments purchased with maturities of three months or less. The Company’s cash is currently comprised of cash on hand, deposits in banks, and cash balances held at third-party e-commerce marketplaces.

 

The Company places its cash with high credit quality financial institutions. At times such investments may be in excess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance limit. Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash deposits. Accounts at each institution are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000.

 

The Company utilizes multiple third-party e-commerce marketplaces to sell goods. Typically, cash generated from sales, via the marketplaces, is transferred within one week of the sale. Cash generated from these sales is held in a non-FDIC insured account and then transferred to the Company’s bank account at the earliest possible instance.

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

Accounts receivables consist of customer obligations arising from transactions with domestic retail customers, reduced by an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses based on the aging of accounts receivable and historical collection experience. The Company writes off accounts receivable against the allowance when a balance is determined to be uncollectible. Recoveries of receivables previously written off are recorded when received. At March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, $62,362 and $181,778, respectively, of the sales allowances (as discussed below under “Revenue recognition”) were netted against accounts receivable. The Company grants credit terms in the normal course of business to its domestic retail customers. The risk with respect to trade receivables is mitigated by the thirty to sixty-day duration of customer payment terms and the good credit quality type of the Company’s customer. Credit is not currently extended to e-commerce customers or international distributors who pay for goods prior to them being shipped.

 

Inventory, net

 

Inventories consist of components and finished goods and are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined on the first in, first out method. Cost components include direct materials, assembly, and freight. The Company reviews its inventory for excess, obsolescence, or expiration and writes down inventory that has no alternative uses to its net realizable value.

 

Cost of sales includes all the costs to manufacture the Company's products by third-party contractors, which are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations when the product is sold. Cost of sales also includes the cost of inventory write-downs associated with adjustments of held inventories to their net realizable value. These costs are reflected in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations when the product is sold, and net sales revenues are recognized or, in the case of inventory write-downs, when circumstances indicate that the carrying value of inventories is more than their recoverable value. In addition, cost of sales includes warehouse costs including depreciation, wages, utilities, real estate taxes, and property insurance.

 

Property and equipment, net

 

A fixed asset is any tangible asset purchased for use in the day-to-day operations of the Company from which an economic benefit will be derived over a period greater than one year. Fixed assets include items of property and equipment such as buildings, leasehold improvements, office furniture, fixtures, computers and other related technology equipment. All capitalized assets are depreciated using the straight-line depreciation method. Repairs and maintenance expenditures are expensed as incurred. The Company evaluates events and changes in circumstances that could indicate carrying amounts of long-lived assets, including property and equipment, may not be recoverable. When such events or changes in circumstances occur, the Company assesses the recoverability of long-lived assets by determining whether the carrying value of such assets will be recovered through undiscounted future cash flows derived from their use and eventual disposition. If the sum of the undiscounted future cash flows is less than the carrying amount of an asset, the Company records an impairment loss for the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds its fair value. There was no impairment recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2018 or 2017.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Deferred offering costs

 

Deferred offering costs, which primarily consist of direct incremental legal and accounting fees relating to the IPO, have been capitalized. The deferred offering costs will be offset against IPO proceeds upon the consummation of the offering. In the event the offering is terminated, deferred offering costs will be expensed.

 

Segment Reporting

 

Operating segments are components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is available that is evaluated by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. Utilizing these criteria, the Company manages its business based on one operating segment and one reportable segment.

 

Revenue recognition

 

In May 2014 the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 606), which will replace existing revenue recognition standards and significantly expand the disclosure requirements for revenue arrangements. It may be adopted either retrospectively or on a modified retrospective basis to new contracts and existing contracts with remaining performance obligations as of the effective date. The Company adopted ASU 2015-14 effective January 1, 2018 on a modified retrospective basis. The Company reviewed all terms and conditions with customers to determine any potential effects of ASU 2014-09 and determined that the adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

Revenue consists of sales of our products through domestic retail customers, international distributors, international retail customers, and e-commerce channels and shipping fees charged to our e-commerce customers. Sales through all channels are recognized when the related goods have been transferred to customers for an amount that reflects the consideration for which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for said goods. Revenue recognized through e-commerce sales is recognized net of any taxes that are collected from consumers and subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.

 

E-commerce customers can return unused product within 30 days for any reason for full credit. Our domestic retail customers can return product or take credits for damaged product and returns from their customers. They are also allowed to return product that they decide to no longer carry in their stores or sell on their websites. Some agreements with domestic retail customers allow them to use a portion of the products they purchase as testers.

 

Provision for sales discounts, product returns, markdowns, shortages, damages and testers are recorded as reductions to revenue when the related revenue from customers is recognized. The estimated reserves for these items is established by the Company based upon management’s best estimates at the time of sale based upon historical trends.

 

The Company regularly reviews and revises, when deemed necessary, its estimates of sales returns and other required reserves based primarily upon the historical rate of actual product returns, the duration of time between the original sale and return, new product launches and any communicated changes in sales plans by our retail customers. Customers will take credits for discounts, returns, markdowns, damages, shortages, and testers which will reduce future amounts owed to the Company. These revenue reductions are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as an allowance against revenue.

 

The Company recorded an estimated reserve of $198,000 and $390,000 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. At March 31, 2018, $62,362 of the reserve was netted against accounts receivable, while $135,638 was included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities. At December 31, 2017, $181,778 of the reserve was netted against accounts receivable, while $208,222 was included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities. The Company recorded $243,917 and $328,098 of revenue reductions during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Certain international customers pay for products in advance. In these instances, when cash is received in advance of a shipment of goods to customers, deferred revenue is recorded. The Company recorded deferred revenue of $0 and $45,077 as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Concentrations of risk

 

For the three months ended March 31, 2018, four significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for 66% (29%, 17%, 10%, and 10%) of net sales. As of March 31, 2018, two significant customers accounted for approximately 100% of (71% and 29%) of accounts receivable. Two vendors accounted for approximately 64% (43% and 21%) of purchases for the three months ended March 31, 2018.

 

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, two significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for 55% (35% and 20%) of net sales. As of March 31, 2017, two significant customers accounted for approximately 80% (61% and 19%) of accounts receivable. Two vendors accounted for approximately 50% (39% and 11%) of purchases for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

 

During the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, net sales by sales channel were as follows:

 

    Three months ended     Three months ended  
    March 31,
2018
    March 31,
2017
 
             
Domestic     42 %     46 %
E-commerce     32 %     35 %
International     26 %     19 %

 

Selling expenses

 

Selling expenses include expenses to advertise and market the Company's products, such as, print advertising costs, digital marketing costs, freelance sales representatives, selling fees and expenses, promotional displays, samples and consumer promotions. Advertising and marketing within Selling Expenses, including promotions and digital marketing costs are expensed as incurred or distributed. Advertising and marketing expenses were $392,294 and $394,407 for the three months ending March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

General and administrative expenses

 

General and administrative (“G&A”) expenses include depreciation and amortization of certain fixed assets, non-sales overhead (principally personnel and related expenses), insurance and professional service fees.

 

Research and development expenses

 

Research and development (“R&D”) costs are expensed as incurred. R&D costs include costs of all basic research activities required to develop a new product or make significant changes to an existing product. R&D costs also include the cost of laboratory testing and registering of new products. R&D costs, included in General and Administrative expenses, totaled $21,660 and $7,855 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Income taxes

 

The Company is a limited liability company which is not a tax paying entity at the corporate level. Each member is instead individually responsible for their share of the Company’s income or loss for income tax reporting purposes.

 

Recent accounting pronouncements

 

In 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02 “Leases” (Topic 842), which will require lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). The liability will be equal to the present value of lease payments. The asset will be based on the liability, subject to adjustment, such as for initial direct costs. Lessor accounting is similar to the current model, but updated to align with certain changes to the lessee model (e.g., certain definitions, such as initial direct costs, have been updated) and the new revenue recognition standard. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company expects to adopt ASU No. 2016-02 beginning as of January 1, 2019. Due to the fact that 1901 McGee, LLC is consolidated, the Company does not expect this adoption to have a material impact.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Loss per membership unit

 

Basic loss per membership unit is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC by the weighted-average number of membership units outstanding for the period. Diluted loss per membership unit is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC by the weighted-average number of membership units and dilutive membership units equivalents outstanding for the period.

 

Proforma EPS

 

The unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 give effect to the assumed conversion of all 1,000,000 membership units upon an initial public offering by treating all membership units as if they had been converted to 3,000,000 shares of common stock in all periods in which such shares were outstanding. Shares to be sold in the offering are excluded from the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stock holders calculations. In addition, $2,850 of interest expense incurred in the three months ended March 31, 2018 and $0 of interest expense incurred during three months ended March 31, 2017, on the $190,000 related party notes to be repaid with anticipated proceeds from the IPO has been excluded from the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share.

 

Note 4 - Inventory, net

 

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, total net inventory values represented by finished goods and components were as follows:

 

    March 31, 2018     December 31, 2017  
             
Finished Goods   $ 1,893,377     $ 1,114,208  
Components     925,532       913,992  
Total   $ 2,818,909     $ 2,028,200  

 

Based on historical trends as well as review of the products on hand, the Company recorded a reserve for obsolete inventory of $128,000 and $142,000 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

 

Note 5 - Property and equipment, net

 

Property and equipment, net as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 consists of the following:

 

    Useful Life     March 31, 2018     December 31, 2017  
                   
Buildings     39     $ 2,890,299     $ 2,890,299  
Land     Indefinite       395,350       395,350  
Equipment     5       36,727       36,727  
Furniture & Fixtures     5       11,130       11,130  
Property and Equipment, Gross             3,333,506       3,333,506  
Less:  Accumulated Depreciation             (374,622 )     (351,279 )
Property and Equipment, Net           $ 2,958,884     $ 2,982,227  

 

Depreciation expense was $23,343 and $24,338 for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Depreciation expense attributable to the Company’s warehouse is recorded within cost of goods sold, while depreciation expense attributable to the Company’s general office workspace is recorded within general and administrative expenses. For each of the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, $10,948 of depreciation expense was recorded in cost of goods sold

 

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Note 6 - Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

 

The Company’s accrued expenses and other current liabilities at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 consisted of the following:

 

    March 31, 2018     December 31, 2017  
             
Reserve for sales returns   $ 135,638     $ 208,222  
Inventory in transit     110,164       155,248  
Credit card payable     173,000       153,420  
Compensation     25,862       65,036  
Marketing     20,056       40,000  
Other accruals     35,529       35,529  
Total   $ 500,249     $ 657,455  

 

Note 7 - Debt

 

The Company’s outstanding debt as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 consists of the following:

 

    March 31, 2018     December 31, 2017  
Mortgage payables:            
Term loan - EDCKC   $ 1,132,376     $ 1,147,983  
Term loan - Alterra Bank     1,532,098       1,545,141  
Less: debt issuance costs     (18,333 )     (19,333 )
Less:  current portion     (117,239 )     (116,360 )
               
Total long-term portion of mortgage payables:     2,528,902       2,557,431  
Related Party notes payable:                
Promissory notes - Papillon Partners     1,790,000     $ 1,790,000  
Less:  current portion     (190,000 )     (190,000 )
               
Total long-term portion of related notes payable:     1,600,000       1,600,000  
                 
Current portion of accounts receivable financing payable   $ 634,748     $ 180,316  

 

Mortgage payables

 

On December 21, 2012 1901 McGee, LLC entered into a 20-year $1,440,000 loan with EDC Loan Corporation (“EDCKC”) which was funded on February 13, 2013 and matures on February 1, 2033. The loan is secured by all the real property of 1901 McGee, LLC, including the assignment of rents and income, and is subordinate to the deed of trust in favor of Alterra Bank. The loan is guaranteed by Audrey Kunin, Jeff Kunin, Audrey G. Kunin Trust, Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust, and Papillon (See Note 9-Related Party Transactions). The interest rate on the loan is 2.21% with an all-in rate of 2.25% including servicing and other fees. The note may be prepaid in full with 45 days’ notice. The monthly payment is $9,644, including principal and interest payments of $7,451. A prepayment penalty applies if the loan is repaid prior to the tenth year of the loan based on a prepayment schedule. At March 31, 2018, the prepayment penalty was equal to 1.55% of the remaining principal balance.

 

The Company capitalized $40,000 in deferred financing fees related to this note. 1901 McGee, LLC is also subject to certain events of default including cross default and adverse financial condition provisions.

 

On May 31, 2016, 1901 McGee, LLC entered into a loan with Alterra Bank for $1,624,211. The loan will mature on October 26, 2022. Interest is paid at a fixed rate of 3.95%. 1901 McGee, LLC is also subject to certain reporting and other covenants to remain in good standing under the loan. The term loan will be repaid in 76 monthly installments of $9,421 each and one last payment estimated at $1,268,821, with the first payment due June 26, 2016. The loan is secured by all the real property of 1901 McGee, LLC, including the assignment of rents and the security interest in the rents and personal property up to a maximum amount of $1,624,211. The loan is guaranteed by Jeff and Audrey Kunin and the Audrey G. Kunin Trust and the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust (see note 9-Related party transactions). The term loan can be prepaid in part or in whole without premium or penalty.

 

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Note 7 - Debt (continued)

 

Related party debt

 

On November 8, 2016 the Company entered into a three (3) year $1,600,000 promissory note with Papillon. Interest is paid monthly at a rate of 6% per annum and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind. The principal amount is due in one balloon payment at the maturity date of November 8, 2019. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company recognized $23,653 and $23,671, respectively, in interest expense related to this note.

 

On July 17, 2017, the Company entered into a three (3) month $90,000 promissory note with Papillon. Interest is paid at a rate of 6% per annum, payable monthly. The note was extended for a three month period on October 9, 2017. The note was extended on January 15, 2018 for a two month period. The note was extended on March 15, 2018. The note matures on May 14, 2018 and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company has recognized $1,350 in interest expense related to this note.

 

On November 9, 2017, the Company entered into a three (3) month $100,000 promissory note with Papillon. Interest is paid at a rate of 6% per annum, payable monthly. The note was extended for a three month period on February 6, 2018. The note matures on May 8, 2018 and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company has recognized $1,500 in interest expense related to this note.

 

Accounts receivable financing payable

 

On October 19, 2017, the Company entered into an accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp Credit Advisors, LLC (“CircleUp”). CircleUp issues individual loans under the facility based on a percentage of outstanding accounts receivable from certain customers less the current total loan amounts outstanding. The customers pay CircleUp directly up to the amount funded to the Company by CircleUp in addition to any incurred interest. Interest is paid at a rate of 17% per annum. To the extent payments from our customers are not sufficient to repay any funds advanced to us by CircleUp, we are obligated to repay any outstanding loan amounts. During the three months ended March 31, 2018, CircleUp agreed to lend amounts to the Company, in addition to the outstanding accounts receivable facility, to fund payments owed to vendors for large inventory purchases made in conjunction with a material sale to Costco in the second of quarter of 2018. As of March 31, 2018, and December 31, 2017, the outstanding balance on the facility was $634,748 and $180,316.

 

Aggregate future minimum principal payments on the outstanding debt are as follows:

 

Twelve months ending March 31,      
2019     941,987  
2020     1,720,697  
2021     124,584  
2022     128,446  
2023     1,379,172  
Thereafter     794,336  
Total outstanding debt     5,089,222  

 

Note 8 - Commitments and contingencies

 

From time to time, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings, claims, and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. Management is not currently aware of any matters that it expects will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

  

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Note 8 - Commitments and contingencies (continued)

 

On March 10, 2018 the Company entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Jeff Kunin to act as our President and Chief Executive Officer, or the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement The initial term of the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement is four years, through March 10, 2022; however, this agreement will be automatically renewed for successive one year periods, each a renewal term, unless, at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the initial term or any renewal term, either party gives written notice to the other party specifically electing to terminate the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement at the end of the applicable term. The Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement provides for Dr. Kunin to receive an annual base salary of $150,000 per year, which will increase to $200,000 per year upon consummation of an initial public offering. Pursuant to the Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement, Dr. Kunin may receive a cash bonus equal to 150% of his base salary and an equity bonus as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. In addition, at the first meeting of the board of directors held after our Initial Public Offering, Dr. Kunin will be issued options to purchase a number of shares of our common stock, to be determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, at an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the grant date, vesting monthly on a pro rata basis over four years with accelerated vesting upon a Change of Control (as defined in the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan). If Dr. Kunin's employment is terminated by us for Just Cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, he (or his estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by him through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Dr. Kunin's employment is terminated by us Without Just Cause (as defined in the agreement) or by Dr. Kunin for Good Reason (as defined in the agreement), he will also receive an amount equal to one year's base salary as severance. The Jeff Kunin Employment Agreement includes customary non-competition provisions.

 

On March 10, 2018 the Company entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Audrey Kunin to act as our Chief Creative Officer, or the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement. This Agreement replaces the employment agreement that we entered into on January 1, 2016 with Dr. Audrey Kunin to act as our Chief Executive Officer. The initial term of the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement is four years, through March 10, 2022; however, this agreement will be automatically renewed for successive one year periods, each a renewal term, unless, at least ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the initial term or any renewal term, either party gives written notice to the other party specifically electing to terminate the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement at the end of the applicable term. The Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement provides for Dr. Kunin to receive an annual base salary of $150,000 per year, which will increase to $200,000 per year upon consummation of this offering. Pursuant to the Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement, Dr. Kunin may receive a cash bonus equal to 150% of her base salary and an equity bonus as determined by our board of directors in its sole discretion. In addition, at the first meeting of the board of directors held after the consummation of this offering, Dr. Kunin will be issued options to purchase a number of shares of our common stock, to be determined by the board of directors in its sole discretion, at an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the grant date, vesting monthly on a pro rata basis over four years with accelerated vesting upon a Change of Control (as defined in the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan.) If Dr. Kunin's employment is terminated by us for Just Cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, she (or her estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by her through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Dr. Kunin's employment is terminated by us Without Just Cause (as defined in the agreement) or by Dr. Kunin for Good Reason (as defined in the agreement), she will also receive an amount equal to one year's base salary as severance. The Audrey Kunin Employment Agreement includes customary non-competition provisions.

 

 

On May 22, 2017, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Andrea Bielsker to act as our Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Bielsker receives an annual base salary of $130,000 per year. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Ms. Bielsker will devote 60% of her professional time to the Company. Ms. Bielsker is eligible for an annual bonus equal to a percentage of her base salary. Any bonus that may be awarded will be in the sole and absolute discretion of both the Compensation Committee and the Board of Directors of the Company. If Ms. Bielsker’s employment contract is terminated for cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, she (or her estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by her through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Ms. Bielsker’s employment is terminated without cause, she will also receive an amount equal to three months base salary as severance. Under her employment agreement, Ms. Bielsker has also agreed to non-competition provisions. The initial term of this Agreement shall end on December 31, 2018.

 

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Note 9 - Related party transactions

 

Audrey and Jeff Kunin, through their wholly-owned company, Papillon, are 82.23% owners of DERMAdoctor, LLC. Audrey Kunin is the Chief Executive Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC and Jeff Kunin is the Chief Operating Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC. They are 100% owners of 1901 McGee, LLC which owns the building where DERMAdoctor, LLC leases office and warehouse space. Audrey and Jeff Kunin have entered into direct loan agreements with the Company and have guaranteed unrelated third-party principal and interest repayments for the Company including individually, though Papillon, and through the Audrey G. Kunin Trust and the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust.

 

Papillon, at March 31, 2018, had extended a total of $1,790,000 in promissory notes to the Company (see Note 7 - Debt).

 

Effective January 1, 2016, the Company entered into sales proceeds agreements with multiple employees of the Company and Papillon. As of March 31, 2018, only two of these employees remain with the Company. Pursuant to these agreements, on the event of a sale of the Company, these two employees are eligible to receive .25% of Papillon’s portion of the excess sales proceeds after reductions for (a) all debts and liabilities of the Company, (b) the unreturned capital contributions, and (c) the establishment of any reserves which the Board deems reasonably necessary for any contingent or unforeseen liabilities or obligations of the Company. To estimate the value of these potential sales proceeds, the Company first developed an estimate of the potential valuation of the Company as of March 31, 2018 and 2017. The estimated value was then reduced by the necessary capital contributions and outstanding debt as of March 31, 2018 and 2017. The remaining value was then multiplied by .25% to determine the potential sales proceeds liability. The Company estimated a value of for these potentials proceeds payments of $105,500 and $96,000 as of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively. Of these amounts, $9,500 and $8,000 were recorded as compensation expense and as contributed equity during the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

As of March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, the Company owed $45,000 to related parties to cover costs related to the capital raise discussed in Note 10 – Capital Raise.

 

Note 10 - Capital raise

 

January 1, 2016 securities purchase agreement

 

On January 1, 2016, the Company sold 475,000 of the 1,000,000 outstanding Units to a private equity firm and an employee of the same private equity firm (hereafter both parties will be referred to as “PE Firm”), constituting 47.5% of the issued and outstanding Units of the Company for a purchase price of $3,500,000 under a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”). The proceeds were used to repay outstanding promissory notes to Jeff and Audrey Kunin in the amount of $353,000 and for working capital and general corporate purposes as disclosed in Note 7-Debt. In conjunction with the investment, an Operating Agreement was entered into by the members of the Company. The Operating Agreement limited the Company from taking certain actions such as incurring additional indebtedness, issuing additional Units, and hiring certain employees without a supermajority of Units in favor of such action. The Operating Agreement provides for five managers, consisting of two managers designated by Papillon, two designated by the PE Firm, and one jointly designated by Papillon and the PE Firm, who are authorized to make the day to day decisions for the Company. The Operating Agreement designates how profits and losses are to be allocated. Distributions upon dissolution of the Company under certain circumstances go first, to the payment of debts and liabilities of the Company; second to the establishment of any reserve for an contingent, conditional or unasserted claims or obligations of the Company; third, to the PE Firm in an amount equal to its Unreturned Capital Contributions (as such term is defined in the Operating Agreement); fourth to Papillon in an amount equal to its Unreturned Capital Contributions; and finally, to the members pro rata in proportion to their respective Percentage Interests (as such term is defined in the Operating Agreement). The Company incurred costs related to the equity transaction in the amount of $209,384 which were recorded as a reduction of the proceeds received in the sale of the membership interests.

 

In conjunction with the Purchase Agreement, a put right was granted to the PE firm. The put right allowed the PE Firm to sell their 475,000 Units to the Company at any time after January 1, 2019, in their absolute discretion, by delivering a 12-month prior notice to the Company and Papillon. Upon delivery of the put notice, Papillon could elect to initiate a process for an approved sale of the Company to a third party during the 12-month period. If Papillon did not elect to exercise its rights with respect to such an approved sale by the expiration of the 12-month period, the Company would be required to purchase all of the Units put to the Company within 120 days. The put price for the 475,000 units was the greater of two times the PE Firm’s capital contribution ($3,500,000) or the Fair Market Value of such Units as of the date of the notice.

 

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Note 10 - Capital raise (continued)

 

The Company evaluated the put right and considered the put right a redemption provision on the membership interests, which was outside of the control of the Company and required mezzanine equity classification on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.

 

November 8, 2016 reorganization

 

On November 8, 2016, pursuant to the terms of a Unit Purchase Agreement, the PE Firm sold one-half of their Units to Papillon in exchange for Papillon repaying the Company’s $1,590,942 outstanding balance on Banker’s Trust Line of Credit through a $1,600,000 term loan to the Company. The transaction resulted in Papillon owning 762,500 Units or 76.25% of the outstanding Units of the Company, and the PE firm owning 237,500 of the outstanding Units of the Company. In connection with the transaction, the Operating Agreement was amended (the “Amended Operating Agreement”) to change the supermajority requirement for the actions described above to a simple majority requirement, giving Papillon the authority to authorize the specified Company actions without agreement from the PE Firm. The Amended Operating Agreement also limits related party transactions and requires that any additional loans made by Papillon to the Company must be made at a maximum interest rate of 6% per annum. The number of managers was reduced from five to three and Papillon was given the authority to designate all three members. The Amended Operating Agreement also provides for a right of first refusal and drag along and tag along rights to both Papillon and the PE Firm. In conjunction with entering into the Amended Operating Agreement, the put right previously granted to the PE Firm was modified (the “Modified Put Option”), and the PE firm’s put right associated with the 237,500 Units purchased by Papillon was terminated, which resulted in the reclassification of $1,750,000 being reclassified from mezzanine financing to permanent equity. The Modified Put Option permits the PE Firm to sell their 237,500 Units to the Company at any time after November 8, 2020, in their absolute discretion, by delivering a 12-month prior notice to the Company and Papillon. Upon delivery of the put notice, Papillon may elect to initiate a process for an approved sale of the Company to a third party during the 12-month period. If Papillon does not elect to exercise its rights with respect to such an approved sale by the expiration of the 12-month period, the Company will be required to purchase all of the Units put to the Company within 120 days. The put price for the 237,500 Units is the greater of the PE Firm’s capital contribution ($1,750,000) or the fair market value of such Units as of the date of the notice. At the discretion of the Company, payment for the Units may be with a promissory note to be paid in equal monthly installments over three years. The interest rate for such a note will be the Prime Rate in effect on the first banking day of each year. The promissory note will be secured by a joint and several personal guarantees by Jeff and Audrey Kunin.

 

December 28, 2017 amendment

 

On December 28, 2017, the PE firm and Papillon entered into an agreement pursuant to which the PE firm sold Papillon 59,884 Units of the Company (representing approximately 25% of the PE firm’s total ownership of the Company). In consideration of the Units received, Papillon paid the PE firm $480,000. This transaction reduced the put price (discussed in “November 8, 2016 Reorganization” note above) to $1,270,000 or the fair market value of the PE firms’ remaining Units as of the date of the put notice. As a result, $480,000 was reclassified from mezzanine financing to permanent equity. In the event of a successful initial public offering, the remaining put right will be cancelled.

 

Note 11 - Variable interest entity

 

We have determined that 1901 McGee, LLC qualifies as a Variable Interest Entity (VIE) because: it was formed with the sole intent of leasing office and warehouse space to DERMAdoctor, LLC; is 100% owned by Audrey and Jeff Kunin who also own 100% of Papillon which owns 82.23% of DERMAdoctor, LLC; and the Company has significant control over the financial performance of 1901 McGee, LLC. We consolidate the 1901 McGee, LLC financial statements because we have the power to direct the activities that significantly affect their economic performance due to implicit interests of our common majority owner. DERMAdoctor, LLC does not have any rights of the assets or obligations of the liabilities of 1901 McGee, LLC.

 

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Note 11 - Variable interest entity (continued)

 

The classification and carrying amounts of assets and liabilities of 1901 McGee, LLC in the consolidated balance sheet are as follows for the periods ending March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017:

 

    March 31, 2018     December 31, 2017  
             
Current assets   $ 27,172     $ 19,996  
Property and equipment     2,952,934       2,974,830  
      2,980,106       2,994,826  
                 
Current liabilities (a)     139,567       140,686  
Mortgage payable, net of current portion     2,528,902       2,557,431  
Equity - Non-controlling interest     311,637       296,709  
    $ 2,980,106     $ 2,994,826  

 

(a) $17,328 at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 of deferred revenue related to prepaid rent of the building is included within the consolidated balance sheets of 1901 McGee, LLC above. The deferred revenue of 1901 McGee, LLC and prepaid rent of DERMAdoctor, LLC are not included on the consolidated balance sheets as the amounts are eliminated upon consolidation.

 

Note 12 - Subsequent events

 

On April 30, 2018, The Company extended the $90,000 promissory note with Papillon for a 90-day period. The note matures on July 29, 2018 and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind.

 

On April 30, 2018, The Company extended the $100,000 promissory note with Papillon for a 90-day period. The note matures on July 29, 2018 and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2017 AND 2016

 

AND

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

    Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm   F-18
Financial Statements    
Consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2017 and 2016   F-19
Consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016   F-20
Consolidated statements of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016   F-21
Consolidated statements of members’ deficiency for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016   F-22
Notes to consolidated financial statements   F-23

 

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Board of Directors and
Members of DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of DERMAdoctor, LLC and affiliate (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the related consolidated statements of operations, members’ deficiency, and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2017, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the consolidated financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2017, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Basis for Opinion

 

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

Change in Accounting Principle

 

As discussed in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company changed the manner in which it accounts for the valuation of its inventory in 2017.

 

Going Concern

 

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has recurring losses and negative cash flows from operations. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 2. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. If the Company is unable to obtain additional sources of financing and achieve profitability there could be a material adverse effect on the Company.

 

/s/ Friedman LLP

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2017.

East Hanover, New Jersey

March 2, 2018

 

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Table of Contents

 

DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

Consolidated Balance Sheets

 

    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
Assets            
Cash and cash equivalents (a)   $ 80,629     $ 252,008  
Accounts receivable, net     227,543       49,179  
Inventory, net     2,028,200       1,705,597  
Deferred offering costs     95,000       -  
Prepaid expenses (a)     11,603       43,416  
Total current assets     2,442,975       2,050,200  
Property and equipment, net (a)     2,982,227       3,077,671  
Total assets   $ 5,425,202     $ 5,127,871  
                 
Liabilities and Members' Deficiency                
Current portion of mortgage payables (a)   $ 116,360     $ 111,770  
Current portion of related party notes payable     190,000       -  
Accounts receivables financing payable     180,316       -  
Accounts payable (a)     504,854       446,841  
Related party accounts payable     45,000       51,876  
Deferred revenue     45,077       -  
Accrued expense and other current liabilities     657,455       428,889  
Total current liabilities     1,739,062       1,039,376  
Mortgage payables, net of current portion (a)     2,557,431       2,671,103  
Related party note payable     1,600,000       1,600,000  
Total liabilities     5,896,493       5,310,479  
                 
Commitments and contingencies                
                 
Redeemable membership interest     1,270,000       1,750,000  
                 
Members' deficiency     (2,038,000 )     (2,204,917 )
Noncontrolling interests     296,709       272,309  
Total deficiency     (1,741,291 )     (1,932,608 )
Total liabilities, redeemable membership interest  and deficiency   $ 5,425,202     $ 5,127,871  

 

(a) At December 31, 2017, $19,996 of cash and cash equivalents, $2,974,830 of property and equipment, net, $116,360 of current portion of mortgage payables, $6,998 of accounts payable, $2,557,431 of mortgage payables, net of current portion, from consolidated variable interest entities are included in the respective balance sheets captions above. See Note 12-Variable Interest Entity.

 

At December 31, 2016, $11,413 of cash and cash equivalents, $6,052 of prepaid expenses, $3,062,415 of property and equipment, net, $111,770 of current portion of mortgage payables, $7,875 of accounts payable, $2,671,103 of mortgage payables, net of current portion, from consolidated variable interest entities are included in the respective balance sheets captions above. See Note 12-Variable Interest Entity.

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

Consolidated Statements of Operations

 

   

For the

year ended

   

For the

year ended

 
    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
             
Net sales   $ 8,808,674     $ 6,474,861  
Cost of sales     4,062,563       2,902,349  
Gross profit     4,746,111       3,572,512  
                 
Operating expenses                
Selling expenses     3,371,570       3,955,468  
General and administrative expenses     1,643,416       1,475,468  
Total Expenses     5,014,986       5,430,936  
                 
Loss from operations     (268,875 )     (1,858,424 )
                 
Other income and expenses                
Other income     11,840       10,736  
Interest expense     (199,321 )     (175,545 )
Net loss     (456,356 )     (2,023,233 )
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest     (111,273 )     (125,969 )
Net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC   $ (345,083 )   $ (1,897,264 )
                 
Net loss per unit, basic and diluted   $ (0.35 )   $ (1.90 )
                 
Weighted average units outstanding - basic and diluted     1,000,000       1,000,000  
                 
Pro forma income tax effect (unaudited)   $ -     $ -  
                 
Pro forma net loss per share of common stock, basic and diluted (note 3) (unaudited)   $ (0.11 )   $ (0.63 )
                 
Pro forma weighted average common shares outstanding - basic and diluted (note 3) (unaudited)     3,000,000       3,000,000  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

 

    For the year Ended     For the year Ended  
    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
Cash flows from operating activities:            
             
Net Loss   $ (456,356 )   $ (2,023,233 )
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities                
Depreciation of property and equipment     95,446       101,915  
Amortization of deferred financing fees     4,000       19,332  
Obsolete inventory reserve     46,159       95,841  
Non-cash compensation     32,000       64,000  
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:                
Accounts receivable     (178,364 )     349,377  
Inventory     (368,762 )     (492,797 )
Prepaid Expenses     31,813       27,644  
Related party accounts payable     (6,876 )     51,876  
Accounts payable     58,014       (1,085,777 )
Deferred revenue     45,077       -  
Accrued expenses     228,566       88,460  
Net cash used in operating activities     (469,283 )     (2,803,362 )
                 
Cash flows from investing activities:                
                 
Purchases of property and equipment     -       (6,492 )
Net cash used in investing activities     -       (6,492 )
                 
Cash flows from financing activities:                
                 
Proceeds from mortgage payables     -       1,624,211  
Proceeds from line of credit     -       4,643,099  
Proceeds from related party notes payable     190,000       1,600,000  
Proceeds from accounts receivable financing     1,057,000       -  
Repayment of mortgage payables     (113,084 )     (1,720,160 )
Repayment of related party notes payable     -       (353,000 )
Repayment of line of credit     -       (6,375,149 )
Repayments of accounts receivable financing     (876,684 )     -  
Capital contributions, 1901 McGee LLC     135,673       128,421  
Capital contributions, DERMAdoctor, LLC     -       3,500,000  
Deferred offering costs     (95,000 )     -  
Financing fees     -       (105,000 )
Net cash provided by financing activities     297,905       2,942,422  
                 
Net increase (decrease) in cash     (171,379 )     132,568  
Cash - Beginning of period     252,008       119,440  
Cash - End of period   $ 80,629     $ 252,008  
                 
Supplemental disclosure of cash and non-cash investing and financing transactions                
                 
Cash paid for interest   $ 199,321     $ 175,544  
Financing costs included in accounts payable   $ -     $ 104,384  
Reclassification of mezzanine financing to permanent equity   $ 480,000     $ 1,750,000  

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

 

Consolidated Statements of Members’ Deficiency

 

    Members' Deficiency     Non-Controlling Interests     Total Deficiency  
                   
Balance as of January 1, 2016   $ (1,912,269 )   $ 269,857     $ (1,642,412 )
                         
Net loss     (1,897,264 )     (125,969 )     (2,023,233 )
Capital contributions     64,000       128,421       192,421  
Reclassification of mezzanine financing to permanent equity     1,750,000       -       1,750,000  
Fees associated with sale of membership interest     (209,384 )     -       (209,384 )
                         
Balance as of December 31, 2016   $ (2,204,917 )   $ 272,309     $ (1,932,608 )
                         
Net loss     (345,083 )     (111,273 )     (456,356 )
Capital contributions     32,000       135,673       167,673  
Reclassification of mezzanine financing to permanent equity     480,000       -       480,000  
                         
Balance as of December 31, 2017   $ (2,038,000 )   $ 296,709     $ (1,741,291 )

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

 

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DERMAdoctor, LLC

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

 

Note 1 - Nature of operations

 

DERMAdoctor LLC was initially formed as a Missouri corporation under the name DERMAdoctor, Inc. At the end of 2015, D. Doctor Acquisition LLC was formed and a Contribution Agreement, Bill of Sale and Assignment and Assumption Agreement was entered into between DERMAdoctor Inc. and D. Doctor Acquisition LLC. DERMAdoctor Inc. contributed assets to D. Doctor Acquisition LLC for consideration of 525,000 Units of the Company. At the same time, D. Doctor Acquisition LLC changed its name to DERMAdoctor LLC and DERMAdoctor Inc., changed its name to Papillon Partners Inc. (“Papillon”) which owns the majority of DERMAdoctor, LLC. Jeff and Audrey Kunin own 100% of 1901 McGee LLC, which owns the building that is being leased by DERMAdoctor, LLC and is therefore consolidated within DERMAdoctor, LLC under United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Papillon is jointly owned by Audrey Kunin, Chief Creative Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC (formerly Chief Executive Officer) and Jeff Kunin, President and Chief Executive Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC (formerly Chief Operating Officer). DERMAdoctor, LLC was founded by board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Audrey Kunin and the company headquarters is located in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

The Company is an innovative, prestige skin care company focused on the creation and sale of products designed to target common skin concerns. The Company’s product portfolio includes cleansers, serums, masks, moisturizers, and antiperspirants. The Company utilizes a multi-channel distribution model which includes traditional domestic retail outlets, direct to consumer internet sales through our website (www.dermadoctor.com) and Amazon.com., and international distributors who resell the products in their exclusive territories. The Company currently sells to distributors in China, Hong Kong, Kuwait, the UAE and Central America. The Company believes that a core element of its success is its distinctive marketing strategy. The Company focuses on educating its target customers, women between the age of 18 to 65 who have a college education with above average household income, about the unique benefits of its products, developing intimate relationships with those consumers and capitalizing on its multi-channel distribution strategy to effectively reach and engage those consumers.

 

Note 2 - Going concern

 

The Company has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception. Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2017 and cash flows from operations will not be sufficient to fund the operations of the Company over the twelve month period from the date these consolidated financial statements are issued. The Company has entered into a receivables financing facility and the Company’s majority member, Papillon, has provided short-term loans to the Company and may continue to do so (see Note 10-Related party transactions). The Company is actively pursuing additional sources of financing to fund its operations. These sources could include an initial public offering of the Company’s equity, or additional issuances of debt or equity. There is no assurance that additional financing from any source will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. These factors raise substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

 

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared with the assumption that the Company will continue as a going concern and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the inability of the Company to continue as a going concern.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies

 

Principles of consolidation

 

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company include all the accounts of DERMAdoctor LLC and its affiliated company, 1901 McGee LLC, a variable interest entity for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All significant intercompany balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

 

Use of estimates

 

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make judgments, assumptions and estimates that affect the amounts reported in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

 

Reclassifications

 

Certain reclassifications have been made to prior year financial statements to conform to classifications used in the current year. These reclassifications had no impact on net loss, shareholders’ equity or cash flows as previously reported.

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

Cash and cash equivalents include all cash balances and highly liquid investments purchased with maturities of three months or less. The Company’s cash is currently comprised of cash on hand, deposits in banks, and cash balances held at third-party e-commerce marketplaces.

 

The Company places its cash with high credit quality financial institutions. At times such investments may be in excess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance limit. Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash deposits. Accounts at each institution are insured by the FDIC up to $250,000.

 

The Company utilizes multiple third-party e-commerce marketplaces to sell goods. Typically, cash generated from sales, via the marketplaces, is transferred within one week of the sale. Cash generated from these sales is held in a non-FDIC insured account and then transferred to the Company’s bank account at the earliest possible instance.

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

Accounts receivables consist of customer obligations arising from transactions with domestic retail customers, reduced by an allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses based on the aging of accounts receivable and historical collection experience. The Company writes off accounts receivable against the allowance when a balance is determined to be uncollectible. Recoveries of receivables previously written off are recorded when received. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, $181,778 and $0, respectively, of the sales allowances (as discussed below under “Revenue recognition”) were netted against accounts receivable.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

The Company grants credit terms in the normal course of business to its domestic retail customers. The risk with respect to trade receivables is mitigated by the thirty to sixty-day duration of customer payment terms and the good credit quality type of the Company’s customer. Credit is not currently extended to e-commerce customers or international distributors who pay for goods prior to them being shipped.

 

Inventory, net

 

Inventories consist of components and finished goods and are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined on the first in, first out method. Cost components include direct materials, assembly, and freight. The Company reviews its inventory for excess, obsolescence, or expiration and writes down inventory that has no alternative uses to its net realizable value.

 

Cost of sales includes all the costs to manufacture the Company's products by third-party contractors, which are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations when the product is sold. Cost of sales also includes the cost of inventory write-downs associated with adjustments of held inventories to their net realizable value. These costs are reflected in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations when the product is sold, and net sales revenues are recognized or, in the case of inventory write-downs, when circumstances indicate that the carrying value of inventories is more than their recoverable value. In addition, cost of sales includes warehouse costs including depreciation, wages, utilities, real estate taxes, and property insurance.

 

Effective January 1, 2017, the Company elected to change its method of valuing its inventory to the FIFO method, where as in all prior years’ inventory was valued using the average cost method. The Company believes that the FIFO method of inventory valuation is preferable because the FIFO method results in the valuation of inventories at more current costs on the consolidated balance sheet, as well as the fact that the FIFO method is commonly used in the beauty industry. The Company determined that this change was not material to the financial statements in the current year or prior years. As such, no retrospective changes were made to the consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of operations, consolidated statements of cash flows, or consolidated statements of member’s deficiency.

 

Property and equipment, net

 

A fixed asset is any tangible asset purchased for use in the day-to-day operations of the Company from which an economic benefit will be derived over a period greater than one year. Fixed assets include items of property and equipment such as buildings, leasehold improvements, office furniture, fixtures, computers and other related technology equipment. All capitalized assets are depreciated using the straight-line depreciation method. Repairs and maintenance expenditures are expensed as incurred. The Company evaluates events and changes in circumstances that could indicate carrying amounts of long-lived assets, including property and equipment, may not be recoverable. When such events or changes in circumstances occur, the Company assesses the recoverability of long-lived assets by determining whether the carrying value of such assets will be recovered through undiscounted future cash flows derived from their use and eventual disposition. If the sum of the undiscounted future cash flows is less than the carrying amount of an asset, the Company records an impairment loss for the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds its fair value. There was no impairment recorded in 2017 or 2016.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Debt issuance costs

 

Debt issuance costs were incurred for arranging credit facilities from various financial institutions. These costs were presented as a discount to the related liability on the consolidated balance sheets and accreted over the term of the related liability using the effective interest rate method. Accretion expense is included in interest expense on the consolidated statements of operations in the amounts of $4,000 and $19,332 for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.

 

Deferred offering costs

 

Deferred offering costs, which primarily consist of direct incremental legal and accounting fees relating to the IPO, have been capitalized. The deferred offering costs will be offset against IPO proceeds upon the consummation of the offering. In the event the offering is terminated, deferred offering costs will be expensed.

 

Segment Reporting

 

Operating segments are components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is available that is evaluated by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. Utilizing these criteria, the Company manages its business based on one operating segment and one reportable segment.

 

Revenue recognition

 

Revenue consists of sales of our products through domestic retail customers, international distributors, international retail customers, and e-commerce channels and shipping fees charged to our e-commerce customers. Sales through all channels are recognized when persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, services have been rendered (the product has shipped or when delivered, based on the shipping terms), the price is fixed and determinable and collectability is reasonably assured. Revenue recognized through e-commerce sales is recognized net of any taxes that are collected from consumers and subsequently remitted to governmental authorities.

 

E-commerce customers can return unused product within 30 days for any reason for full credit. Our domestic retail customers can return product or take credits for damaged product and returns from their customers. They are also allowed to return product that they decide to no longer carry in their stores or sell on their websites. Some agreements with domestic retail customers allow them to use a portion of the products they purchase as testers.

 

Provision for sales discounts, product returns, markdowns, shortages, damages and testers are recorded as reductions to revenue. The reserve for these items is established by the Company based upon management’s best estimates at the time of sale based upon historical trends.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

The Company regularly reviews and revises, when deemed necessary, its estimates of sales returns and other required reserves based primarily upon the historical rate of actual product returns, the duration of time between the original sale and return, new product launches and any communicated changes in sales plans by our retail customers. Customers will take credits for discounts, returns, markdowns, damages, shortages, and testers which will reduce future amounts owed to the Company. These revenue reductions are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as an allowance against revenue. The Company recorded an estimated reserve of $390,000 and $298,000 at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. At December 31, 2017, $181,778 of the reserve was netted against accounts receivable, while $208,222 was included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities. At December 31, 2016, the reserve of $298,000 was included in accrued expenses and other liabilities. These reserves were related to known and potential domestic retail customer returns, testers, and damages. The Company recorded $958,542 and $1,283,261 of revenue reductions during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Certain international customers pay for products in advance. In these instances, when cash is received in advance of a shipment of goods to customers, deferred revenue is recorded. The Company recorded $45,077 and $0 of deferred revenue at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Concentrations of risk

 

For the year ended December 31, 2017, three significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for 58% (26%, 17% and 15%) of net sales. As of December 31, 2017, two significant customer accounted for approximately 83% of (45% and 38%) of accounts receivable. During 2017, one vendor accounted for approximately 39% of purchases for the year ended December 31, 2017.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2016, three significant customers (defined as contributing at least 10%) accounted for 71% (40%, 21% and 10%) of net sales. As of December 31, 2016, three significant customers accounted for approximately 85% (48%, 22% and 15%) of accounts receivable. During 2016, one vendor accounted for approximately 31% of purchases for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

During 2017 and 2016, net sales by sales channel were as follows:

 

   

Twelve months

ended

   

Twelve months

ended

 
    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
             
Domestic     44 %     68 %
E-commerce     26 %     26 %
International     30 %     6 %

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Fair value of financial instruments

 

The Company adopted the provisions of the accounting pronouncement which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value and enhances fair value measurement disclosure. Under the provisions of the pronouncement, fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.

 

U.S. GAAP establishes a hierarchy for inputs used in measuring fair value that maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use on unobservable inputs by requiring that the most observable inputs be used when available. Observable inputs are inputs that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect the Company’s assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. The hierarchy is described below:

 

Level 1: Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for assets or liabilities. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to Level 1 inputs.

 

Level 2: Observable prices that are based on inputs not quoted on active markets, but corroborated by market data.

 

Level 3: Unobservable inputs are used when little or no market data is available. The fair value hierarchy gives the lowest priority to Level 3 inputs.

 

It is the Company’s policy to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when developing fair value measurements. When available, the Company uses quoted market prices to measure fair value. If market prices are not available, the fair value measurement is based on models that use primarily market based parameters including interest rate yield curves, option volatilities and currency rates. In certain cases where market rate assumptions are not available, the Company is required to make judgments about assumptions market participants would use to estimate the fair value of a financial instrument. Changes in the underlying assumptions used, including discount rates and estimates of future cash flows could significantly affect the results of current or future values. The results may not be realized in an actual sale or immediate settlement of an asset or liability. For certain instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and accrued expenses, it was determined that the carrying amount approximated fair value because of the short maturities of these instruments. All debt is based on current rates at which the Company could borrow funds with similar remaining maturities and approximate fair value.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

Selling expenses

 

Selling expenses include expenses to advertise and market the Company's products, such as, print advertising costs, digital marketing costs, freelance sales representatives, selling fees and expenses, promotional displays, samples and consumer promotions. Advertising and marketing within Selling Expenses, including promotions and digital marketing costs are expensed as incurred or distributed. Advertising and marketing expenses were $1,793,846 and $2,114,847 in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

General and administrative expenses

 

General and administrative (“G&A”) expenses include depreciation and amortization of certain fixed assets, non-sales overhead (principally personnel and related expenses), insurance and professional service fees.

 

Research and development expenses

 

Research and development (“R&D”) costs are expensed as incurred. R&D costs include costs of all basic research activities required to develop a new product or make significant changes to an existing product. R&D costs also include the cost of laboratory testing and registering of new products. R&D costs, included in General and Administrative expenses, totaled $83,845 and $79,385 in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Income taxes

 

The Company is a limited liability company which is not a tax paying entity at the corporate level. Each member is instead individually responsible for their share of the Company’s income or loss for income tax reporting purposes.

 

Recent accounting pronouncements

 

In May 2014 the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 606), which will replace existing revenue recognition standards and significantly expand the disclosure requirements for revenue arrangements. It may be adopted either retrospectively or on a modified retrospective basis to new contracts and existing contracts with remaining performance obligations as of the effective date.

 

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-02, “Consolidations (Topic 810): Amendments to the consolidation analysis”. The amendment places more emphasis in the consolidation evaluation on variable interests other than fee arrangements such as principal investment risk. Additionally, the amendments in this update reduce the extent to which related party arrangements cause an entity to be considered a primary beneficiary. The Company adopted ASU No. 2015-02 beginning as of January 1, 2016, and notes that this adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers: Deferral of the Effective Date,” which allows for a deferral of the adoption date for ASU No. 2014-09 until January 1, 2018 and permits early adoption of ASU No. 2014-09, but not before the effective date of January 1, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the alternative methods of adoption and the effect on its financial statements and related disclosures.

 

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, "Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs," which requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the financial statements as a deduction from the corresponding debt liability, consistent with the presentation of debt discounts.

 

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Note 3 - Summary of significant accounting policies (continued)

 

This guidance became effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, with early adoption permitted, and is applied retrospectively. The Company adopted ASU No. 2015-03 beginning as of January 1, 2015 and the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

In July 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-11, "Inventory (Topic 330): Simplifying the Measurement of Inventory," which simplifies the subsequent measurement of inventories by requiring inventory to be measured at the lower of cost or net realizable value, rather than at the lower of cost or market. Net realizable value is defined as the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted ASU No. 2015-11 beginning as of January 1, 2015 and did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

In 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02 “Leases” (Topic 842), which will require lessees to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). The liability will be equal to the present value of lease payments. The asset will be based on the liability, subject to adjustment, such as for initial direct costs. Lessor accounting is similar to the current model, but updated to align with certain changes to the lessee model (e.g., certain definitions, such as initial direct costs, have been updated) and the new revenue recognition standard. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company expects to adopt ASU No. 2016-02 beginning as of January 1, 2019. Due to the fact that 1901 McGee, LLC is consolidated, the Company does not expect this adoption to have an impact.

 

In October 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-17, “Consolidations (Topic 810): Interests held through related parties under common control”, which amends the consolidation guidance on how a reporting entity that is the single decision maker of a VIE should treat indirect interests in the entity held through related parties that are under common control, with the reporting entity when determining whether it is the primary beneficiary of that VIE. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is a reporting entity that has a controlling financial interest in a VIE, and, therefore, consolidates the VIE. A reporting entity has an indirect interest in a VIE if it has a direct interest in a related party that, in turn, has a direct interest in the VIE. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-17 beginning as of January 1, 2017, and notes that the adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition and/or financial statement disclosures.

 

Loss per membership unit

 

Basic loss per membership unit is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC by the weighted-average number of membership units outstanding for the period. Diluted loss per membership unit is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to DERMAdoctor, LLC by the weighted-average number of membership units and dilutive membership units equivalents outstanding for the period.

 

Proforma EPS

 

The unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 give effect to the assumed conversion of all 1,000,000 membership units upon an initial public offering by treating all membership units as if they had been converted to 3,000,000 shares common stock in all periods in which such shares were outstanding. Shares to be sold in the offering are excluded from the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share attributable to common stock holders calculations. In addition, the $3,250 of interest expense incurred during 2017 on the $190,000 related party notes to be repaid has been excluded form the unaudited pro forma basic and diluted loss per share.

 

Note 4 - Inventory, net

 

As of December 31, 2017 and 2016, total net inventory values represented by finished goods and components were as follows:

 

    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
             
Finished Goods   $ 1,114,208     $ 541,598  
Components     913,992       1,163,999  
Total   $ 2,028,200     $ 1,705,597  

 

Based on historical trends as well as review of the products on hand, the Company recorded a reserve for obsolete inventory of $142,000 and $95,841 at December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

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Note 5 - Property and equipment, net

 

Property and equipment, net as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 consists of the following:

 

    Useful
Life
    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
                   
Buildings   39     $ 2,890,299     $ 2,890,299  
Land   Indefinite       395,350       395,350  
Equipment   5       36,727       36,727  
Furniture & Fixtures   5       11,130       11,130  
Property and Equipment, Gross           3,333,506       3,333,506  
Less:  Accumulated Depreciation           (351,279 )     (255,835 )
Property and Equipment, Net         $ 2,982,227     $ 3,077,671  

 

Depreciation expense was $95,446 and $101,915 for 2017 and 2016, respectively. Depreciation expense attributable to the Company’s warehouse is recorded within cost of goods sold, while depreciation expense attributable to the Company’s general office workspace is recorded within general and administrative expenses. For each of the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, $43,792 of depreciation expense was recorded in cost of goods sold.

 

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Note 6 - Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

 

The Company’s accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of the following:

 

    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
             
Reserve for sales returns   $ 208,222     $ 298,000  
Inventory in transit     155,248       -  
Credit card payable     153,420       -  
Compensation     65,036       61,888  
Marketing     40,000       34,553  
Other accruals     35,529       34,448  
Total   $ 657,455     $ 428,889  

 

Note 7 - Debt

 

The Company’s outstanding debt as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 consists of the following:

 

    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
Mortgage payables:            
Term loan - EDCKC   $ 1,147,983     $ 1,210,797  
Term loan - Alterra Bank     1,545,141       1,595,409  
Less: debt issuance costs     (19,333 )     (23,333 )
Less:current portion     (116,360 )     (111,770 )
Total long-term portion of mortgage payables:     2,557,431       2,671,103  
Related Party notes payable:                
Promissory notes - Papillon Partners     1,790,000     $ 1,600,000  
Less:  current portion     (190,000 )     -  
Total long-term portion of related notes payable:     1,600,000       1,600,000  
Current portion of accounts receivable financing payable   $ 180,316     $ -  

 

Mortgage payables

 

On December 21, 2012 1901 McGee, LLC entered into a 20-year $1,440,000 loan with EDC Loan Corporation (“EDCKC”) which was funded on February 13, 2013 and matures on February 1, 2033. The loan is secured by all the real property of 1901 McGee, LLC, including the assignment of rents and income, and is subordinate to the deed of trust in favor of Alterra Bank. The loan is guaranteed by Audrey Kunin, Jeff Kunin, Audrey G. Kunin Trust, Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust, and Papillon (See Note 10-Related Party Transactions). The interest rate on the loan is 2.21% with an all-in rate of 2.25% including servicing and other fees. The note may be prepaid in full with 45 days’ notice. The monthly payment is $9,644, including principal and interest payments of $7,451. A prepayment penalty applies if the loan is repaid prior to the tenth year of the loan based on a prepayment schedule. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, the prepayment penalty was equal to 1.55% of the remaining principal balance. The Company capitalized $40,000 in deferred financing fees related to this note. 1901 McGee, LLC is also subject to certain events of default including cross default and adverse financial condition provisions.

 

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Note 7 - Debt (continued)

 

On October 26, 2012, 1901 McGee, LLC entered into a 10-year, $1,750,000 term loan with ANB Bank. 1901 McGee, LLC repaid the remaining balance of the ANB loan in full on May 31, 2016 with the proceeds from the term loan with Alterra Bank discussed below.

 

On May 31, 2016, 1901 McGee, LLC entered into a loan with Alterra Bank for $1,624,211. The proceeds of the loan were used to pay off the ANB Bank term loan. The loan will mature on October 26, 2022. Interest is paid at a fixed rate of 3.95%. 1901 McGee, LLC is also subject to certain reporting and other covenants to remain in good standing under the loan. The term loan will be repaid in 76 monthly installments of $9,421 each and one last payment estimated at $1,268,821, with the first payment due June 26, 2016.

 

The loan is secured by all the real property of 1901 McGee, LLC, including the assignment of rents and the security interest in the rents and personal property up to a maximum amount of $1,624,211. The loan is guaranteed by Jeff and Audrey Kunin and the Audrey G. Kunin Trust and the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust (see note 10-Related party transactions). The term loan can be prepaid in part or in whole without premium or penalty.

 

Line of credit

 

On October 26, 2012, the Company entered into a revolving credit facility with ANB Bank with a maturity date of October 26, 2015. The credit limit on the Facility was $1,900,000. The facility was collateralized with the Audrey G. Kunin Trust UA dated February 21, 1999. Audrey Kunin is the Chief Creative Officer and has an ownership position in the Company (see Note 10-Related party transactions). The PE firm investment proceeds (see Note11-Capital Raise) were used to pay off the credit facility in full. The facility was closed on January 7, 2016.

 

On February 22, 2016, the Company entered into a one (1) year, $2,000,000 line of credit with Banker’s Trust Company. All amounts under the line of credit were available for draw until the maturity date on February 22, 2017. The line of credit was collateralized by substantially all of the Company’s assets. The interest rate on the line of credit was subject to change from time to time and is charged at a rate of 0.58 percentage points over the Wall Street Journal U.S. Prime Rate. The Company was also subject to certain reporting and financial covenants to remain in good standing under the line of credit. All or a portion of the line of credit may be paid without penalty earlier than it is due. The line was paid in full with proceeds from the Papillon loan discussed below. The line was closed on November 8, 2016.

 

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Note 7 - Debt (continued)

 

Related party debt

 

On September 30, 2014, the Company entered into a $250,000 demand loan agreement with Jeff and Audrey Kunin. There was no interest rate associated with the loan and all or any portion of the note could be prepaid without premium or penalty. The note was repaid in full on January 11, 2016.

 

On December 1, 2015, the Company entered into a $150,000 demand loan agreement with Jeff and Audrey Kunin of which $103,000 was drawn. There was no interest rate associated with the loan and all or any portion of the note could be prepaid without premium or penalty. The note was repaid in full on January 11, 2016.

 

On November 8, 2016 the Company entered into a three (3) year $1,600,000 promissory note with Papillon. Interest is paid monthly at a rate of 6% per annum and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind. The principal amount is due in one balloon payment at the maturity date of November 8, 2019. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, the Company has recognized $96,000 and $14,203, respectively, in interest expense related to this note.

 

On July 17, 2017, the Company entered into a three month $90,000 promissory note with Papillon. Interest is paid at a rate of 6% per annum, payable monthly. The note was extended for a three month period on October 15, 2017. The note was extended again on January 13, 2018 for a two month period. The note matures on March 15, 2018 and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company has recognized $2,250 in interest expense related to this note.

 

On November 9, 2017, the Company entered into a three month $100,000 promissory note with Papillon. Interest is paid at a rate of 6% per annum, payable monthly. The note was extended for a three-month period on February 6, 2018. The note matures on May 8, 2018 and all or any portion of the note may be prepaid without premium or penalty of any kind. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company has recognized $1,000 in interest expense related to this note.

 

Accounts receivable financing payable

 

On October 19, 2017, the Company entered into an accounts receivable financing facility with CircleUp Credit Advisors, LLC (“CircleUp”). CircleUp issues individual loans under the facility based on a percentage of outstanding accounts receivable from certain customers less the current total loan amounts outstanding. The customers pay CircleUp directly up to the amount funded to the Company by CircleUp in addition to any incurred interest. Interest is paid at a rate of 17% per annum. To the extent payments from our customers are not sufficient to repay any funds advanced to us by CircleUp, we are obligated to repay any outstanding loan amounts. As of December 31, 2017, the outstanding balance on the facility was $180,316.

 

Aggregate future minimum principal payments on the outstanding debt are as follows:

 

Year ending December 31,      
2018     486,676  
2019     1,719,947  
2020     123,491  
2021     127,476  
Thereafter     2,205,850  
Total outstanding debt     4,663,440  

 

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Note 8 - Commitments and contingencies

 

From time to time, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings, claims, and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. Management is not currently aware of any matters that it expects will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

 

Employment Agreements

 

On January 1, 2016, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Dr. Audrey Kunin to act as our Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Kunin receives an annual base salary of $150,000 per year. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Dr. Kunin will be entitled to a bonus equal to two percent of actual measurable sales that are the direct result of her personal media appearances on behalf of the Company, as determined by the Company. No bonus was paid to Dr. Kunin for the year ended December 31, 2017 or 2016. If Dr. Kunin’s employment contract is terminated for cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, she (or her estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by her through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Dr. Kunin’s employment is terminated without cause, she will also receive an amount equal to two months base salary as severance. Under her employment agreement, Dr. Kunin has also agreed to non-competition provisions. The Company has negotiated a new employment agreement with Dr. Kunin with respect to her position as Chief Creative Officer.

 

On May 22, 2017, the Company entered into an employment agreement with Andrea Bielsker to act as our Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Bielsker receives an annual base salary of $130,000 per year. Pursuant to the employment agreement, Ms. Bielsker will devote 60% of her professional time to the Company. Ms. Bielsker is eligible for an annual bonus equal to a percentage of her base salary. Any bonus that may be awarded will be in the sole and absolute discretion of both the Compensation Committee and the Board of Directors of the Company. If Ms. Bielsker’s employment contract is terminated for cause (as defined in the agreement), death or disability, she (or her estate in the event of death) will receive the accrued base salary, vacation pay, expense reimbursement and any other entitlements accrued by her through the date of termination to the extent not previously paid. If Ms. Bielsker’s employment is terminated without cause, she will also receive an amount equal to three months base salary as severance. Under her employment agreement, Ms. Bielsker has also agreed to non-competition provisions. The initial term of this Agreement shall end on December 31, 2018.

 

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Note 9 - Employee benefit plan

 

The Company maintains a defined contribution 401(k) plan (the “401(k) Plan”) for eligible employees. Participants may make voluntary contributions up to the maximum amount allowable by law. The Company may make contributions to the 401(k) Plan on a discretionary basis which vest to the participants 100%. The Company made contributions of $35,307 and $33,625 for 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Note 10 - Related party transactions

 

Audrey and Jeff Kunin, through their wholly-owned company, Papillon, are 82.23% owners of DERMAdoctor, LLC. Audrey Kunin is the Chief Executive Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC and Jeff Kunin is the Chief Operating Officer of DERMAdoctor, LLC. They are 100% owners of 1901 McGee, LLC which owns the building where DERMAdoctor, LLC leases office and warehouse space.

 

Audrey and Jeff Kunin have entered into direct loan agreements with the Company and have guaranteed unrelated third-party principal and interest repayments for the Company including individually, though Papillon, and through the Audrey G. Kunin Trust and the Jeffrey R. Kunin Trust.

 

Papillon, at December 31, 2017, had extended a total of $1,790,000 in promissory notes to the Company (see Note 7 - Debt).

 

Effective January 1, 2016, the Company entered into sales proceeds agreements with multiple employees of the Company and Papillon. As of December 31, 2017, only two of these employees remain with the Company. Pursuant to these agreements, on the event of a sale of the Company, these two employees are eligible to receive .25% of Papillon’s portion of the excess sales proceeds after reductions for (a) all debts and liabilities of the Company, (b) the unreturned capital contributions, and (c) the establishment of any reserves which the Board deems reasonably necessary for any contingent or unforeseen liabilities or obligations of the Company. To estimate the value of these potential sales proceeds, the Company first developed an estimate of the potential valuation of the Company as of December 31, 2017 and 2016. The estimated value was then reduced by the necessary capital contributions and outstanding debt as of December 31, 2017 and 2016. The remaining value was then multiplied by .25% to determine the potential sales proceeds liability. The Company estimated a value for these potential sales proceeds payments of $96,000 and $64,000 as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Of these amounts, $32,000 and $64,000 were recorded as compensation expense and as contributed equity during 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

As of December 31, 2017, the Company owed $45,000 to related parties to cover costs related to the capital raise discussed in Note 11 – Capital Raise.

 

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Note 11 - Capital raise

 

January 1, 2016 securities purchase agreement

 

On January 1, 2016, the Company sold 475,000 of the 1,000,000 outstanding Units to a private equity firm and an employee of the same private equity firm (hereafter both parties will be referred to as “PE Firm”), constituting 47.5% of the issued and outstanding Units of the Company for a purchase price of $3,500,000 under a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”). The proceeds were used to repay outstanding promissory notes to Jeff and Audrey Kunin in the amount of $353,000 and for working capital and general corporate purposes as disclosed in Note 7-Debt.

 

In conjunction with the investment, an Operating Agreement was entered into by the members of the Company. The Operating Agreement limited the Company from taking certain actions such as incurring additional indebtedness, issuing additional Units, and hiring certain employees without a supermajority of Units in favor of such action. The Operating Agreement provides for five managers, consisting of two managers designated by Papillon, two designated by the PE Firm, and one jointly designated by Papillon and the PE Firm, who are authorized to make the day to day decisions for the Company. The Operating Agreement designates how profits and losses are to be allocated.

 

Distributions upon dissolution of the Company under certain circumstances go first, to the payment of debts and liabilities of the Company; second to the establishment of any reserve for an contingent, conditional or unasserted claims or obligations of the Company; third, to the PE Firm in an amount equal to its Unreturned Capital Contributions (as such term is defined in the Operating Agreement); fourth to Papillon in an amount equal to its Unreturned Capital Contributions; and finally, to the members pro rata in proportion to their respective Percentage Interests (as such term is defined in the Operating Agreement). The Company incurred costs related to the equity transaction in the amount of $209,384 which were recorded as a reduction of the proceeds received in the sale of the membership interests. In conjunction with the Purchase Agreement, a put right was granted to the PE firm. The put right allowed the PE Firm to sell their 475,000 Units to the Company at any time after January 1, 2019, in their absolute discretion, by delivering a 12-month prior notice to the Company and Papillon. Upon delivery of the put notice, Papillon could elect to initiate a process for an approved sale of the Company to a third party during the 12-month period. If Papillon did not elect to exercise its rights with respect to such an approved sale by the expiration of the 12-month period, the Company would be required to purchase all of the Units put to the Company within 120 days. The put price for the 475,000 units was the greater of two times the PE Firm’s capital contribution ($3,500,000) or the Fair Market Value of such Units as of the date of the notice. The Company evaluated the put right and considered the put right a redemption provision on the membership interests, which was outside of the control of the Company and required mezzanine equity classification on the consolidated balance sheet.

 

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Note 11 - Capital Raise (continued)

 

November 8, 2016 reorganization

 

On November 8, 2016, pursuant to the terms of a Unit Purchase Agreement, the PE Firm sold one-half of their Units to Papillon in exchange for Papillon repaying the Company’s $1,590,942 outstanding balance on Banker’s Trust Line of Credit through a $1,600,000 term loan to the Company. The transaction resulted in Papillon owning 762,500 Units or 76.25% of the outstanding Units of the Company, and the PE firm owning 237,500 of the outstanding Units of the Company. In connection with the transaction, the Operating Agreement was amended (the “Amended Operating Agreement”) to change the supermajority requirement for the actions described above to a simple majority requirement, giving Papillon the authority to authorize the specified Company actions without agreement from the PE Firm. The Amended Operating Agreement also limits related party transactions and requires that any additional loans made by Papillon to the Company must be made at a maximum interest rate of 6% per annum. The number of managers was reduced from five to three and Papillon was given the authority to designate all three members. The Amended Operating Agreement also provides for a right of first refusal and drag along and tag along rights to both Papillon and the PE Firm.

 

In conjunction with entering into the Amended Operating Agreement, the put right previously granted to the PE Firm was modified (the “Modified Put Option”), and the PE firm’s put right associated with the 237,500 Units purchased by Papillon was terminated, which resulted in the reclassification of $1,750,000 being reclassified from mezzanine financing to permanent equity. The Modified Put Option permits the PE Firm to sell their 237,500 Units to the Company at any time after November 8, 2020, in their absolute discretion, by delivering a 12-month prior notice to the Company and Papillon. Upon delivery of the put notice, Papillon may elect to initiate a process for an approved sale of the Company to a third party during the 12-month period.

 

If Papillon does not elect to exercise its rights with respect to such an approved sale by the expiration of the 12-month period, the Company will be required to purchase all of the Units put to the Company within 120 days. The put price for the 237,500 Units is the greater of the PE Firm’s capital contribution ($1,750,000) or the fair market value of such Units as of the date of the notice. At the discretion of the Company, payment for the Units may be with a promissory note to be paid in equal monthly installments over three years. The interest rate for such a note will be the Prime Rate in effect on the first banking day of each year. The promissory note will be secured by a joint and several personal guarantees by Jeff and Audrey Kunin.

 

December 28, 2017 amendment

 

On December 28, 2017, the PE firm and Papillon entered into an agreement pursuant to which the PE firm sold Papillon 59,884 Units of the Company (representing approximately 25% of the PE firm’s total ownership of the Company). In consideration of the Units received, Papillon paid the PE firm $480,000. This transaction reduced the put price (discussed in “November 8, 2016 Reorganization” note above) to $1,270,000 or the fair market value of the PE firms’ remaining Units as of the date of the put notice. As a result, $480,000 was reclassified from mezzanine financing to permanent equity. In the event of a successful initial public offering, the remaining put right will be cancelled.

 

Note 12 - Variable interest entity

 

We have determined that 1901 McGee, LLC qualifies as a Variable Interest Entity (VIE) because: it was formed with the sole intent of leasing office and warehouse space to DERMAdoctor, LLC; is 100% owned by Audrey and Jeff Kunin who also own 100% of Papillon which owns 82.23% of DERMAdoctor, LLC; and the Company has significant control over the financial performance of 1901 McGee, LLC. We consolidate the 1901 McGee, LLC financial statements because we have the power to direct the activities that significantly affect their economic performance due to implicit interests of our common majority owner. DERMAdoctor, LLC does not have any rights of the assets or obligations of the liabilities of 1901 McGee, LLC.

 

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Note 12 - Variable interest entity (continued)

 

The classification and carrying amounts of assets and liabilities of 1901 McGee, LLC in the consolidated balance sheet are as follows for the periods ending December 31, 2017 and 2016:

 

    December 31,
2017
    December 31,
2016
 
             
Current assets   $ 19,996     $ 17,465  
Property and equipment     2,974,830       3,062,415  
      2,994,826       3,079,880  
                 
Current liabilities (a)     140,686       136,468  
Mortgage payable, net of current portion     2,557,431       2,671,103  
Equity - Non-controlling interest     296,709       272,309  
    $ 2,994,826     $ 3,079,880  

 

(a) $17,328 at December 31, 2017 and $16,823 at December 31, 2016 of deferred revenue related to prepaid rent of the building is included within the consolidated balance sheets of 1901 McGee, LLC above. The deferred revenue of 1901 McGee, LLC and prepaid rent of DERMAdoctor, LLC are not included on the consolidated balance sheets as the amounts are eliminated upon consolidation.

 

Note 13 - Subsequent events

 

The Company has performed an evaluation of subsequent events through the date of the independent auditors’ report on consolidated financial statements.

 

On March 1, 2018, Jeff Kunin was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer, and Audrey Kunin was appointed as Chief Creative Officer.

 

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1,875,000 Shares
Common Stock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROSPECTUS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ThinkEquity

a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc.

 

 

 

 

Through and including                      , 2018 (25 days after commencement of this offering), all dealers that effect transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to the dealers’ obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as underwriters and with respect to their unsold allotments or subscriptions.

 

 

 

Table of Contents

 

PART II

 

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

 

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

 

The following table sets forth all expenses to be paid by the registrant, other than estimated underwriting discounts and commissions, in connection with our public offering. All amounts shown are estimates except for the SEC registration fee, the FINRA filing fee and the Nasdaq listing fee:

 

SEC registration fee   $ 2,265  
FINRA filing fee     3,229  
Nasdaq listing fee     50,000  
Legal fees and expenses     395,311  
Accounting fees and expenses     28,998  
Transfer agent and registrar’s fees and expenses     1,000  
Printing and engraving expenses     10,000  
Non-accountable expenses to Representative     150,000  
Miscellaneous expenses     109,197  
Total   $ 750,000  

 

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

 

The Registrant is incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware. Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides that a Delaware corporation may indemnify any persons who were, are, or are threatened to be made, parties to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by reason of the fact that such person is or was an officer, director, employee or agent of such corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as an officer, director, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, provided that such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was illegal. A Delaware corporation may indemnify any persons who were, are, or are threatened to be made, a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit provided such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests except that no indemnification is permitted without judicial approval if the officer or director is adjudged to be liable to the corporation. Where an officer or director is successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him or her against the expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred.

 

The Registrant’s certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, each of which will become effective prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, provide for the indemnification of its directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

 

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Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation shall not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duties as a director, except for liability for any:

 

  transaction from which the director derives an improper personal benefit;
     
  act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;
     
  unlawful payment of dividends or redemption of shares; or
     
  breach of a director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders.

 

The Registrant’s certificate of incorporation includes such a provision. Expenses incurred by any officer or director in defending any such action, suit or proceeding in advance of its final disposition shall be paid by the Registrant upon delivery to it of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such director or officer, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that such director or officer is not entitled to be indemnified by the Registrant.

 

Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides, among other things, that a director who willfully or negligently approves of an unlawful payment of dividends or an unlawful stock purchase or redemption, may be held liable for such actions. A director who was either absent when the unlawful actions were approved or dissented at the time may avoid liability by causing his or her dissent to such actions to be entered in the books containing minutes of the meetings of the board of directors at the time such action occurred or immediately after such absent director receives notice of the unlawful acts.

 

As permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Registrant has entered into indemnity agreements with each of its directors and executive officers, that require the Registrant to indemnify such persons against any and all costs and expenses (including attorneys’, witness or other professional fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such persons in connection with any action, suit or proceeding (including derivative actions), whether actual or threatened, to which any such person may be made a party by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director or officer or is or was acting or serving as an officer, director, employee or agent of the Registrant or any of its affiliated enterprises. Under these agreements, the Registrant is not required to provide indemnification for certain matters, including:

 

  indemnification beyond that permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law;
     
  indemnification for any proceeding with respect to the unlawful payment of remuneration to the director or officer;
     
  indemnification for certain proceedings involving a final judgment that the director or officer is required to disgorge profits from the purchase or sale of the Registrant’s stock;
     
  indemnification for proceedings involving a final judgment that the director’s or officer’s conduct was in bad faith, knowingly fraudulent or deliberately dishonest or constituted willful misconduct or a breach of his or her duty of loyalty, but only to the extent of such specific determination;
     
  indemnification for proceedings or claims brought by an officer or director against us or any of the Registrant’s directors, officers, employees or agents, except for claims to establish a right of indemnification or proceedings or claims approved by the Registrant’s board of directors or required by law;
     
  indemnification for settlements the director or officer enters into without the Registrant’s consent; or
     
  indemnification in violation of any undertaking required by the Securities Act or in any registration statement filed by the Registrant.

 

The indemnification agreements also set forth certain procedures that will apply in the event of a claim for indemnification thereunder.

 

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Except as otherwise disclosed under the heading “Legal Proceedings” in the “Business” section of this registration statement, there is at present no pending litigation or proceeding involving any of the Registrant’s directors or executive officers as to which indemnification is required or permitted, and the Registrant is not aware of any threatened litigation or proceeding that may result in a claim for indemnification.

 

The Registrant has an insurance policy in place that covers its officers and directors with respect to certain liabilities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act or otherwise.

 

The Registrant plans to enter into an underwriting agreement which provides that the underwriters are obligated, under some circumstances, to indemnify the Registrant’s directors, officers and controlling persons against specified liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

 

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

 

During the last three years, we have issued unregistered securities to the persons described below. None of these transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering. We believe that each transaction was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering. The recipients both had access, through their relationship with us, to information about us.

 

On December 31, 2015, we issued 525,000 Units to DERMAdoctor, Inc. (now known as Papillon Partners, Inc., or Papillon) in consideration of the contribution by DERMAdoctor, Inc. of assets.

 

On January 1, 2016, we issued 475,000 Units to Midwest Growth Partners LLLP for cash proceeds of $3,500,000.

 

On November 8, 2016, we issued a promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $1,600,000 to Papillon, which note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum.

 

On July 17, 2017, we issued a short-term promissory note to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of $90,000, which note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum.

 

On November 9, 2017, we issued a short-term promissory note to Papillon in the aggregate principal amount of 100,000, which note bears interest at a rate of 6% per annum.

 

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

 

The exhibits listed in the accompanying Exhibit Index are filed or incorporated by reference as part of this registration statement.

 

Item 17. Undertakings.

 

(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

 

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

 

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

 

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

 

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

 

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

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

 

(4) That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:

 

(i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424 (§230.424 of this chapter);

 

(ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;

 

(iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and

 

(iv) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.

 

(f) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriter at the closing specified in the underwriting agreements certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriter to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

 

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

 

(i) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

 

(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared

effective.

 

(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

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SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this Amendment No. 1 to Registration Statement on Form S-1 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the City of Kansas City, State of Missouri, on 18 th of May, 2018.

 

  DERMADOCTOR, INC.
     
  By: /s/ Jeff Kunin, M.D.
  Name: Jeff Kunin, M.D.
  Title: President and Chief Executive Officer

 

POWER OF ATTORNEY

  

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature   Title   Date
         
/s/ Jeff Kunin, M.D.   President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) and   May 18, 2018
Jeff Kunin, M.D.   Member of the Board of Directors    
         
/s/ Andrea Bielsker   Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)   May 18, 2018
Andrea Bielsker        
         
/s/ Audrey Kunin, M.D.   Chief Creative Officer and Member of the Board of Directors   May 18, 2018
Audrey Kunin, M.D.        
         
*   Member of the Board of Directors   May 18, 2018
William Kunin        

 

*By:  /s/ Jeff Kunin, M.D.   
  Jeff Kunin, M.D.  
  Attorney-in-Fact  

 

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EXHIBIT INDEX

  

Exhibit Number   Description of Exhibit
1.1*   Form of Underwriting Agreement
3.1#   Articles of Organization of D. Doctor Acquisition, LLC (the predecessor of DERMAdoctor, LLC)
3.2#   Amended and Restated Operating Agreement of DERMAdoctor, LLC
3.3#   Amendment of Articles of Organization of DERMAdoctor, LLC
3.4#   Certificate of Incorporation of DERMAdoctor, Inc. filed with Delaware Secretary of State on April 30, 2018.
3.5#   Bylaws of DERMAdoctor, Inc.
3.6#   Form of Certificate of Merger to be filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware
3.7#   Form of Articles of Merger to be filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Missouri
3.8#   Form of Agreement and Plan of Merger
4.1*   Specimen Common Stock Certificate
4.2*   Form of Representative’s Warrant
4.3#   Promissory Note, dated November 8, 2016
4.4#   Promissory Note, dated July 17, 2017
4.5#   Promissory Note, dated November 9, 2017
4.6#   Promissory Note Extension Agreement dated October 9, 2017 (to July 2017 Note)
4.7#   Promissory Note Second Extension Agreement dated January 13, 2018 (to July 2017 Note)
4.8#   Promissory Note Extension Agreement dated February 6, 2018 (to November 2017 Note)
4.9#   Promissory Note Third Extension Agreement dated March 15, 2018 (to November 2017 Note)
4.10#   Promissory Note Extension Agreement dated April 30, 2018 (to July 2017 Note)
4.11#   Promissory Note Extension Agreement dated April 30, 2018 (to November 2017 Note)
5.1#   Opinion of Gracin & Marlow, LLP
10.1#   Form of Indemnification Agreement by and between the Registrant and its directors and officers
10.2#   DERMAdoctor, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan
10.3#   Form of Stock Option Agreement, Notice of Exercise and Stock Option Grant Notice under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan
10.4#   Form of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement and Notice of Award of Restricted Stock Units under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan
10.5#   Form of Restricted Stock Agreement and Notice of Award of Restricted Stock under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan
10.6#   Non-Competition Agreement with Jeffery R. Kunin, dated January 1, 2016
10.7#   Employment Agreement with Andrea Bielsker, dated May 22, 2017
10.8#   Employment Agreement with Audrey Kunin, dated March 10, 2018
10.9#   Employment Agreement with Jeffrey R. Kunin, dated March 10, 2018
10.10#   Building Lease dated January 1, 2016 between 1901 McGee, LLC and DERMAdoctor, LLC
10.11#   Form of Commercial Loan Agreement between DERMAdoctor, LLC and CircleUp Credit Advisors, LLC
10.12*   Form of Sale Proceeds Sharing Agreement
21.1*   Subsidiaries of DERMAdoctor, Inc.
23.1*   Consent of Friedman, LLP
23.2#   Consent of Gracin & Marlow, LLP (See Exhibit 5.1 above)
24.1#   Power of Attorney (Included in the signature page of the initial Registration Statement)
99.1#   Consent of Victoria Barnard, Director Nominee
99.2#   Consent of Brad Hampton, Director Nominee
99.3#   Consent of James Hyde, Director Nominee

 

+ Indicates management contract or compensatory plan.
   
* Filed herewith
   
#

Previously filed

 

 

II-7

 

Exhibit 1.1

 

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

 

between

 

DERMADOCTOR, INC.

 

and

 

THINKEQUITY,

 

a division of

 

Fordham Financial Management Inc.,

 

as Representative of the Several Underwriters

 

 

 

 

DERMADOCTOR, INC.

 

UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

 

New York, New York
[●], 2018

 

ThinkEquity,

a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc.

As Representative of the several Underwriters named on Schedule 1 attached hereto
17 State Street, 22 nd Floor

New York, New York 10004

 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

The undersigned, DERMAdoctor, Inc., a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Delaware (collectively with its subsidiaries and affiliates, including, without limitation, all entities disclosed or described in the Registration Statement (as hereinafter defined) as being subsidiaries or affiliates of DERMAdoctor, Inc., the “ Company ”), hereby confirms its agreement (this “ Agreement ”) with ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “you” (including its correlatives) or the “ Representative ”) and with the other underwriters named on Schedule 1 hereto for which the Representative is acting as representative (the Representative and such other underwriters being collectively called the “ Underwriters ” or, individually, an “ Underwriter ”) as follows:

 

1. Purchase and Sale of Shares .

 

1.1  Firm Shares .

 

1.1.1.  Nature and Purchase of Firm Shares .

 

(i)  On the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to issue and sell to the several Underwriters, an aggregate of [●] shares (“ Firm Shares ”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “ Common Stock ”).

 

(ii)  The Underwriters, severally and not jointly, agree to purchase from the Company the number of Firm Shares set forth opposite their respective names on Schedule 1 attached hereto and made a part hereof at a purchase price of $[•] per share (93% of the per Firm Share offering price). The Firm Shares are to be offered initially to the public at the offering price set forth on the cover page of the Prospectus (as defined in Section 2.1.1 hereof).

 

1.1.2.  Firm Shares Payment and Delivery .

 

(i)  Delivery and payment for the Firm Shares shall be made at 10:00 a.m., Eastern time, on [•], 2018, or at such earlier time as shall be agreed upon by the Representative and the Company, at the offices of Reed Smith LLP (“ Representative Counsel ”), or at such other place (or remotely by facsimile or other electronic transmission) as shall be agreed upon by the Representative and the Company. The hour and date of delivery and payment for the Firm Shares is called the “ Closing Date .”

 

 

 

 

(ii)  Payment for the Firm Shares shall be made on the Closing Date by wire transfer in Federal (same day) funds, payable to the order of the Company upon delivery of the certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriters) representing the Firm Shares (or through the facilities of the Depository Trust Company (“ DTC ”)) for the account of the Underwriters. The Firm Shares shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representative may request in writing at least two (2) full Business Days prior to the Closing Date. The Company shall not be obligated to sell or deliver the Firm Shares except upon tender of payment by the Representative for all of the Firm Shares. The term “ Business Day ” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday or a day on which banking institutions are authorized or obligated by law to close in New York, New York.

 

1.2  Over-allotment Option .

 

1.2.1.  Option Shares . For the purposes of covering any over-allotments in connection with the distribution and sale of the Firm Shares, the Company hereby grants to the Underwriters an option to purchase up to [●] additional shares of Common Stock, representing fifteen percent (15%) of the Firm Shares sold in the offering, from the Company (the “ Over-allotment Option ”). Such [●] additional shares of Common Stock, the net proceeds of which will be deposited with the Company’s account, are hereinafter referred to as “ Option Shares .” The purchase price to be paid per Option Share shall be equal to the price per Firm Share set forth in Section 1.1.1 hereof. The Firm Shares and the Option Shares are hereinafter referred to together as the “ Public Securities .” The offering and sale of the Public Securities is hereinafter referred to as the “ Offering .”

 

1.2.2.  Exercise of Option . The Over-allotment Option granted pursuant to Section 1.2.1 hereof may be exercised by the Representative as to all (at any time) or any part (from time to time) of the Option Shares within 45 days after the effective date (the “ Effective Date ”) of the Registration Statement (as defined in Section 2.1.1 below). The Underwriters shall not be under any obligation to purchase any Option Shares prior to the exercise of the Over-allotment Option. The Over-allotment Option granted hereby may be exercised by the giving of oral notice to the Company from the Representative, which must be confirmed in writing by overnight mail or facsimile or other electronic transmission (including e-mail) setting forth the number of Option Shares to be purchased and the date and time for delivery of and payment for the Option Shares (the “ Option Closing Date ”), which shall not be later than two (2) full Business Days after the date of the notice or such other time as shall be agreed upon by the Company and the Representative, at the offices of Representative Counsel or at such other place (including remotely by facsimile or other electronic transmission) as shall be agreed upon by the Company and the Representative. If such delivery and payment for the Option Shares does not occur on the Closing Date, the Option Closing Date will be as set forth in the notice. Upon exercise of the Over-allotment Option with respect to all or any portion of the Option Shares, subject to the terms and conditions set forth herein, (i) the Company shall become obligated to sell to the Underwriters the number of Option Shares specified in such notice and (ii) each of the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, shall purchase the number of Option Shares that bears the same proportion to the total number of Option Shares to be purchased as the number of Firm Shares set forth on Schedule 1 opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of Firms Shares (except as otherwise agreed to by the Underwriters).

 

1.2.3.  Option Shares Payment and Delivery . Payment for the Option Shares shall be made on the Option Closing Date by wire transfer in Federal (same day) funds, payable to the order of the Company upon delivery to you of certificates (in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriters) representing the Option Shares (or through the facilities of DTC) for the account of the Underwriters. The Option Shares shall be registered in such name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representative may request in writing at least one (1) full Business Day prior to the Option Closing Date. The Company shall not be obligated to sell or deliver the Option Shares except upon tender of payment by the Representative for applicable Option Shares.

 

  - 2 -  

 

 

1.3  Representative’s Warrants .

 

1.3.1.  Purchase Warrants . The Company hereby agrees to issue and sell to the Representative (and/or its designees) on the Closing Date an option (“ Representative’s Warrant ”) for the purchase of an aggregate of [●] shares of Common Stock, representing 5% of the Firm Shares, for an aggregate purchase price of $100.00. The Representative’s Warrant agreement, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “ Representative’s Warrant Agreement ”), shall be exercisable, in whole or in part, commencing on a date which is one (1) year after the Effective Date and expiring on the five-year anniversary of the Effective Date at an initial exercise price per share of Common Stock of $[●], which is equal to 125% of the initial public offering price of the Firm Shares. The Representative’s Warrant Agreement and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise thereof are hereinafter referred to together as the “ Representative’s Securities .” The Representative understands and agrees that there are significant restrictions pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110 against transferring the Representative’s Warrant Agreement and the underlying shares of Common Stock during the one hundred eighty (180) day period after the Effective Date and by its acceptance thereof shall agree that it will not sell, transfer, assign, pledge or hypothecate the Representative’s Warrant Agreement, or any portion thereof, or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of such securities for a period of one hundred eighty (180) days following the Effective Date to anyone other than (i) an Underwriter or a selected dealer in connection with the Offering, or (ii) a bona fide officer or partner of the Representative or of any such Underwriter or selected dealer; and only if any such transferee agrees to the foregoing lock-up restrictions.

 

1.3.2.  Delivery . Delivery of the Representative’s Warrant Agreement shall be made on the Closing Date and shall be issued in the name or names and in such authorized denominations as the Representative may request.

 

2.  Representations and Warranties of the Company . The Company represents and warrants to the Underwriters as of the Applicable Time (as defined below), as of the Closing Date and as of the Option Closing Date, if any, as follows:

 

2.1  Filing of Registration Statement .

 

2.1.1.  Pursuant to the Securities Act . The Company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “ Commission ”) a registration statement, and an amendment or amendments thereto, on Form S-1 (File No. 333-224622), including any related prospectus or prospectuses, for the registration of the Public Securities and the Representative’s Securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”), which registration statement and amendment or amendments have been prepared by the Company in all material respects in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Securities Act (the “ Securities Act Regulations ”) and will contain all material statements that are required to be stated therein in accordance with the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations. Except as the context may otherwise require, such registration statement, as amended, on file with the Commission at the time the registration statement became effective (including the Preliminary Prospectus included in the registration statement, financial statements, schedules, exhibits and all other documents filed as a part thereof or incorporated therein and all information deemed to be a part thereof as of the Effective Date pursuant to paragraph (b) of Rule 430A of the Securities Act Regulations (the “ Rule 430A Information ”)), is referred to herein as the “ Registration Statement .” If the Company files any registration statement pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the Securities Act Regulations, then after such filing, the term “Registration Statement” shall include such registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b). The Registration Statement has been declared effective by the Commission on the date hereof.

 

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Each prospectus used prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and each prospectus that omitted the Rule 430A Information that was used after such effectiveness and prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, is herein called a “ Preliminary Prospectus .” The Preliminary Prospectus, subject to completion, dated [●], 2018, that was included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to the Applicable Time is hereinafter called the “ Pricing Prospectus .” The final prospectus in the form first furnished to the Underwriters for use in the Offering is hereinafter called the “ Prospectus .” Any reference to the “most recent Preliminary Prospectus” shall be deemed to refer to the latest Preliminary Prospectus included in the Registration Statement.

 

Applicable Time ” means [TIME] [a.m./p.m.], Eastern time, on the date of this Agreement.

 

Issuer Free Writing Prospectus ” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 of the Securities Act Regulations (“ Rule 433 ”), including without limitation any “free writing prospectus” (as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act Regulations) relating to the Public Securities that is (i) required to be filed with the Commission by the Company, (ii) a “road show that is a written communication” within the meaning of Rule 433(d)(8)(i), whether or not required to be filed with the Commission, or (iii) exempt from filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i) because it contains a description of the Public Securities or of the Offering that does not reflect the final terms, 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).

 

Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus ” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors (other than a “ bona fide electronic road show,” as defined in Rule 433 (the “ Bona Fide Electronic Road Show ”)), as evidenced by its being specified in Schedule 2-B hereto.

 

Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus ” means any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus that is not an Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus.

 

Pricing Disclosure Package ” means any Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus issued at or prior to the Applicable Time, the Pricing Prospectus and the information included on Schedule 2-A hereto, all considered together.

 

2.1.2.  Pursuant to the Exchange Act . The Company has filed with the Commission a Form 8-A (File Number 000-[•]) providing for the registration pursuant to Section 12(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ”), of the shares of Common Stock. The registration of the shares of Common Stock under the Exchange Act has been declared effective by the Commission on or prior to the date hereof. The Company has taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the shares of Common Stock under the Exchange Act, nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission is contemplating terminating such registration.

 

2.2  Stock Exchange Listing . The shares of Common Stock have been approved for listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market (the “ Exchange ”), and the Company has taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of, delisting the shares of Common Stock from the Exchange, nor has the Company received any notification that the Exchange is contemplating terminating such listing except as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

2.3  No Stop Orders, etc . Neither the Commission nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any state regulatory authority has issued any order preventing or suspending the use of the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus or has instituted or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened to institute, any proceedings with respect to such an order. The Company has complied with each request (if any) from the Commission for additional information.

 

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2.4  Disclosures in Registration Statement .

 

2.4.1.  Compliance with Securities Act and 10b-5 Representation .

 

(i)  Each of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time it became effective, complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations. Each Preliminary Prospectus, including the prospectus filed as part of the Registration Statement as originally filed or as part of any amendment or supplement thereto, and the Prospectus, at the time each was filed with the Commission, complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations. Each Preliminary Prospectus delivered to the Underwriters for use in connection with this Offering and the Prospectus was or will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.

 

(ii)  Neither the Registration Statement nor any amendment thereto, at its effective time, as of the Applicable Time, at the Closing Date or at any Option Closing Date (if any), contained, contains or will contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

 

(iii)  The Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time, at the Closing Date and at any Option Closing Date (if any), did not, does not and will not include an 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; and each Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus hereto does not conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus, and each such Issuer Limited Use Free Writing Prospectus, as supplemented by and taken together with the Pricing Prospectus as of the Applicable Time, did not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to statements made or statements omitted in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company with respect to the Underwriters by the Representative expressly for use in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Prospectus or the Prospectus or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto. The parties acknowledge and agree that such information provided by or on behalf of any Underwriter consists solely of the following disclosure contained in the “Underwriting” section of the Prospectus: (a) the second and third sentences under the heading “Discounts and Commissions”, (b) the heading “Price Stabilization, Short Positions and Penalty Bids” and (c) the heading “Electronic Distribution” (collectively, the “ Underwriters’ Information ”); and

 

(iv)  Neither the Prospectus nor any amendment or supplement thereto , as of its issue date, at the time of any filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b), or at the Closing Date or at any Option Closing Date, included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will 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; provided, however, that this representation and warranty shall not apply to the Underwriters’ Information.

 

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2.4.2.  Disclosure of Agreements . The agreements and documents described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof contained therein and there are no agreements or other documents required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or to be filed with the Commission as exhibits to the Registration Statement, that have not been so described or filed. Each agreement or other instrument (however characterized or described) to which the Company is a party or by which it is or may be bound or affected and (i) that is referred to in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, or (ii) is material to the Company’s business, has been duly authorized and validly executed by the Company, is in full force and effect in all material respects and is enforceable against the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, the other parties thereto, in accordance with its terms, except (x) as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally, (y) as enforceability of any indemnification or contribution provision may be limited under the federal and state securities laws, and (z) that the remedy of specific performance and injunctive and other forms of equitable relief may be subject to the equitable defenses and to the discretion of the court before which any proceeding therefor may be brought. None of such agreements or instruments has been assigned by the Company, and neither the Company nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any other party is in default thereunder and, to the Company’s knowledge, no event has occurred that, with the lapse of time or the giving of notice, or both, would constitute a default thereunder. To the best of the Company’s knowledge, performance by the Company of the material provisions of such agreements or instruments will not result in a violation of any existing applicable law, rule, regulation, judgment, order or decree of any governmental agency or court, domestic or foreign, having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its assets or businesses (each, a “ Governmental Entity ”), including, without limitation, those relating to environmental laws and regulations.

 

2.4.3.  Prior Securities Transactions . Since inception, no securities of the Company have been sold by the Company or by or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any person or persons controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Company, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Preliminary Prospectus.

 

2.4.4.  Summaries of Law and Documents . The statements set forth in the Registration Statement, Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus under the caption “Description of Securities”, insofar as it purports to constitute a summary of the terms of the Common Stock, and under the captions “Shares Eligible for Future Sale,” “Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences to Non-U.S. Holders of Our Common Stock,” “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions,” “Business—Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company”, “Business—Government Regulation,” “Business—Legal Proceedings,” “Business—Trademarks and other Intellectual Property,” “Underwriting,” “Risk Factors, and the statements in the Registration Statement under Item 14 thereof, insofar as they purport to describe the provisions of the laws and documents referred to therein, are accurate, complete and fair in all material respects.

 

2.4.5.  No Other Distribution of Offering Materials . The Company has not, directly or indirectly, distributed and will not distribute any offering material in connection with the Offering other than any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus and other materials, if any, permitted under the Securities Act and consistent with Section 3.2 below.

 

2.5  Changes After Dates in Registration Statement .

 

2.5.1.  No Material Adverse Change . Since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except as otherwise specifically stated therein; (i) there has been no material adverse change in the financial position or results of operations of the Company, nor any change or development that, singularly or in the aggregate, would involve a material adverse change or a prospective material adverse change, in or affecting the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, assets or prospects of the Company (a “ Material Adverse Change ”); (ii) there have been no material transactions entered into by the Company, other than as contemplated pursuant to this Agreement; and (iii) no officer or director of the Company has resigned from any position with the Company.

 

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2.5.2.  Recent Securities Transactions, etc . Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, other than loans from CircleUp Credit Advisors, LLC made in accordance with the terms of the Company’s current financing facility with CircleUp Credit Advisors, LLC and except as may otherwise be indicated or contemplated herein or disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has not: (i) issued any securities or incurred any material liability or obligation, direct or contingent, for borrowed money; or (ii) declared or paid any dividend or made any other distribution on or in respect to its capital stock.

 

2.6  Independent Accountants . To the knowledge of the Company, Friedman LLP (the “ Auditor ”), whose report is filed with the Commission as part of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The Auditor has not, during the periods covered by the financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, provided to the Company any non-audit services, as such term is used in Section 10A(g) of the Exchange Act.

 

2.7  Financial Statements, etc . The financial statements, including the notes thereto and supporting schedules included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, fairly present in all material respects the financial position and the results of operations of the Company at the dates and for the periods to which they apply; and such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“ GAAP ”), consistently applied throughout the periods involved (provided that unaudited interim financial statements are subject to year-end audit adjustments that are not expected to be material in the aggregate and do not contain all footnotes required by GAAP); and the supporting schedules included in the Registration Statement present fairly in all material respects the information required to be stated therein. Except as included therein, no historical or pro forma financial statements are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus under the Securities Act or the Securities Act Regulations. The pro forma and pro forma as adjusted financial information and the related notes, if any, included in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus have been properly compiled and prepared in accordance with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations and present fairly in all material respects the information shown therein, and the assumptions used in the preparation thereof are reasonable and the adjustments used therein are appropriate to give effect to the transactions and circumstances referred to therein. All disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term is defined by the rules and regulations of the Commission), if any, comply with Regulation G of the Exchange Act and Item 10 of Regulation S-K of the Securities Act, to the extent applicable. Each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus discloses all material off-balance sheet transactions, arrangements, obligations (including contingent obligations), and other relationships of the Company with unconsolidated entities or other persons that may have a material current or future effect on the Company’s financial condition, changes in financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures, capital resources, or significant components of revenues or expenses. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, (a) the Company has not incurred any material liabilities or obligations, direct or contingent, or entered into any material transactions other than in the ordinary course of business, (b) the Company has not declared or paid any dividends or made any distribution of any kind with respect to its capital stock, (c) there has not been any change in the capital stock of the Company, or, other than in the course of business, any grants under any stock compensation plan, and (d) there has not been any material adverse change in the Company’s long-term or short-term debt.

 

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2.8  Authorized Capital; Options, etc . The Company had, at the date or dates indicated in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the duly authorized, issued and outstanding capitalization as set forth therein. Based on the assumptions stated in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company will have on the Closing Date the adjusted stock capitalization set forth therein. Except as set forth in, or contemplated by, the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, on the Effective Date, as of the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date and any Option Closing Date, there will be no stock options, warrants, or other rights to purchase or otherwise acquire any authorized, but unissued shares of Common Stock of the Company or any security convertible or exercisable into shares of Common Stock of the Company, or any contracts or commitments to issue or sell shares of Common Stock or any such options, warrants, rights or convertible securities.

 

2.9  Valid Issuance of Securities, etc.

 

2.9.1.  Outstanding Securities . All issued and outstanding securities of the Company issued prior to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement have been duly authorized and validly issued and are fully paid and non-assessable; the holders thereof have no rights of rescission or similar rights with respect thereto, and are not subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; and none of such securities were issued in violation of the preemptive rights of any holders of any security of the Company or similar contractual rights granted by the Company. The authorized shares of Common Stock conform in all material respects to all statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The offers and sales of the outstanding shares of Common Stock were at all relevant times either registered under the Securities Act and the applicable state securities or “blue sky” laws or, based in part on the representations and warranties of the purchasers of such shares of Common Stock, exempt from such registration requirements.

 

2.9.2.  Securities Sold Pursuant to this Agreement . The Public Securities and Representative’s Securities have been duly authorized for issuance and sale and, when issued and paid for, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; the holders thereof are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; the Public Securities and Representative’s Securities are not and will not be subject to the preemptive rights of any holders of any security of the Company or similar contractual rights granted by the Company; and all corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Public Securities and Representative’s Securities has been duly and validly taken. The Public Securities and Representative’s Securities conform in all material respects to all statements with respect thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. All corporate action required to be taken for the authorization, issuance and sale of the Representative’s Warrant Agreement has been duly and validly taken; the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Representative’s Warrant have been duly authorized and reserved for issuance by all necessary corporate action on the part of the Company and when paid for and issued in accordance with the Representative’s Warrant and the Representative’s Warrant Agreement, such underlying shares of Common Stock will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable; the holders thereof are not and will not be subject to personal liability by reason of being such holders; and such shares of Common Stock are not and will not be subject to the preemptive rights of any holders of any security of the Company or similar contractual rights granted by the Company.

 

2.10  Registration Rights of Third Parties . Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no holders of any securities of the Company or any rights exercisable for or convertible or exchangeable into securities of the Company have the right to require the Company to register any such securities of the Company under the Securities Act or to include any such securities in a registration statement to be filed by the Company.

 

2.11  Validity and Binding Effect of Agreements . This Agreement and the Representative’s Warrant Agreement have been duly and validly authorized by the Company, and, when executed and delivered, will constitute, the valid and binding agreements of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their respective terms, except: (i) as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally; (ii) as enforceability of any indemnification or contribution provision may be limited under the federal and state securities laws; and (iii) that the remedy of specific performance and injunctive and other forms of equitable relief may be subject to the equitable defenses and to the discretion of the court before which any proceeding therefor may be brought.

 

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2.12  No Conflicts, etc . The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement, the Representative’s Warrant Agreement and all ancillary documents, the consummation by the Company of the transactions herein and therein contemplated and the compliance by the Company with the terms hereof and thereof do not and will not, with or without the giving of notice or the lapse of time or both: (i) result in a material breach of, or conflict with any of the material terms and provisions of, or constitute a material default under, or result in the creation, modification, termination or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property or assets of the Company pursuant to the terms of any agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party; (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation (as the same may be amended or restated from time to time, the “ Charter ”) or the bylaws (the “ Bylaws ”) of the Company; or (iii) violate any existing applicable law, rule, regulation, judgment, order or decree of any Governmental Entity as of the date hereof.

 

2.13  No Defaults; Violations . No material default exists in the due performance and observance of any term, covenant or condition of any material license, contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, note, loan or credit agreement, or any other agreement or instrument evidencing an obligation for borrowed money, or any other material agreement or instrument to which the Company is a party or by which the Company may be bound or to which any of the properties or assets of the Company is subject. The Company is not in violation of any term or provision of its Charter or Bylaws, or in violation of any franchise, license, permit, applicable law, rule, regulation, judgment or decree of any Governmental Entity, except for defaults or violations in this Section 2.13 (other than with respect the Charter or Bylaws) that would not (individually or in the aggregate) reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

2.14  Corporate Power; Licenses; Consents .

 

2.14.1.  Conduct of Business . Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has all requisite corporate power and authority, and has all necessary authorizations, approvals, orders, licenses, certificates and permits of and from all governmental regulatory officials and bodies that it needs as of the date hereof to conduct its business purpose as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except in each case as would not (individually or in the aggregate) reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

2.14.2.  Transactions Contemplated Herein . The Company has all corporate power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to carry out the provisions and conditions hereof, and all consents, authorizations, approvals and orders required in connection therewith have been obtained. No consent, authorization or order of, and no filing with, any court, government agency or other body is required for the valid issuance, sale and delivery of the Public Securities and the consummation of the transactions and agreements contemplated by this Agreement and the Representative’s Warrant Agreement and as contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except with respect to applicable federal and state securities or blue-sky laws and the rules and regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“ FINRA ”).

 

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2.15  D&O Questionnaires . To the Company’s knowledge, all information contained in the questionnaires (the “ Questionnaires ”) provided to the Company that were completed by each of the Company’s directors and officers immediately prior to the Offering (the “ Insiders ”) as supplemented by all information concerning the Company’s directors, officers and principal shareholders as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, as well as in the Lock-Up Agreement (as defined in Section 2.24 below), provided to the Underwriters, is true and correct in all material respects and the Company has not become aware of any information which would cause the information disclosed in the Questionnaires to become materially inaccurate and incorrect.

 

2.16  Litigation; Governmental Proceedings . There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry, arbitration, investigation, litigation or governmental proceeding pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened against, or involving the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any executive officer or director, which has not been disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, or in connection with the Company’s listing application for the listing of the Public Securities on the Exchange, and is required to be disclosed.

 

2.17  Good Standing . The Company has been duly incorporated and is validly existing as a corporation and is in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware as of the date hereof, and is duly qualified to do business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation in each other jurisdiction in which its ownership or lease of property or the conduct of business requires such qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, singularly or in the aggregate, would not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

2.18  Insurance . The Company carries or is entitled to the benefits of insurance, with reputable insurers, in such amounts and covering such risks which the Company believes are adequate, including, but not limited to, directors and officers insurance coverage at least equal to $3,000,000, which covers this Offering and any claims related to it. The Company has no reason to believe that it will not be able (i) to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such policies expire or (ii) to obtain comparable coverage from similar institutions as may be necessary or appropriate to conduct its business as now conducted and at a cost that would not result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

2.19  Transactions Affecting Disclosure to FINRA .

 

2.19.1.  Finder’s Fees . Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no claims, payments, arrangements, agreements or understandings relating to the payment of a finder’s, consulting or origination fee by the Company or any Insider with respect to the sale of the Public Securities hereunder or any other arrangements, agreements or understandings of the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its shareholders that may affect the Underwriters’ compensation, as determined by FINRA.

 

2.19.2.  Payments Within Six (6) Months . Except for fees paid to Joseph Gunnar & Co., LLC (“ Joseph Gunnar ”) and except as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has not made any direct or indirect payments (in cash, securities or otherwise) to: (i) any person, as a finder’s fee, consulting fee or otherwise, in consideration of such person raising capital for the Company or introducing to the Company persons who raised or provided capital to the Company; (ii) any FINRA member; or (iii)  any person or entity that has any direct or indirect affiliation or association with any FINRA member, within the six (6) months prior to the Effective Date, other than the payment to the Underwriters as provided hereunder in connection with the Offering.

 

2.19.3.  Use of Proceeds . None of the net proceeds of the Offering will be paid by the Company to any participating FINRA member or its affiliates, except as specifically authorized herein.

 

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2.19.4.  FINRA Affiliation . There is no officer, director or director nominee of the Company, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any (i) beneficial owner of 5% or more of any class of the Company's securities or (ii) beneficial owner of the Company’s unregistered equity securities which were acquired during the 180-day period immediately preceding the filing of the Registration Statement that is an affiliate or associated person of a FINRA member participating in the Offering (as determined in accordance with the rules and regulations of FINRA).

 

2.19.5.  Information . All information provided by the Company in its FINRA questionnaire to Representative Counsel specifically for use by Representative Counsel in connection with its Public Offering System filings (and related disclosure) with FINRA is true, correct and complete in all material respects.

 

2.20  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act . Neither the Company nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any other person acting on behalf of the Company, has, directly or indirectly, given or agreed to give any money, gift or similar benefit (other than legal price concessions to customers in the ordinary course of business) to any customer, supplier, employee or agent of a customer or supplier, or official or employee of any governmental agency or instrumentality of any government (domestic or foreign) or any political party or candidate for office (domestic or foreign) or other person who was, is, or may be in a position to help or hinder the business of the Company (or assist it in connection with any actual or proposed transaction) that (i) might subject the Company to any damage or penalty in any civil, criminal or governmental litigation or proceeding, (ii) if not given in the past, might have had a Material Adverse Change or (iii) if not continued in the future, might adversely affect the assets, business, operations or prospects of the Company. The Company has taken reasonable steps to ensure that its accounting controls and procedures are sufficient to cause the Company to comply in all material respects with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended.

 

2.21  Compliance with OFAC . Neither the Company nor, to the Company’s knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any other person acting on behalf of the Company, is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“ OFAC ”), and the Company will not, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of the Offering hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by OFAC.

 

2.22  Money Laundering Laws . The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any Governmental Entity (collectively, the “ Money Laundering Laws ”); and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any Governmental Entity involving the Company with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened.

 

2.23  Officers’ Certificate . Any certificate signed by any duly authorized officer of the Company and delivered to you or to Representative Counsel shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to the Underwriters as to the matters covered thereby.

 

2.24  Lock-Up Agreements. Schedule 3 hereto contains a complete and accurate list of the Company’s officers, directors and each owner of the Company’s outstanding shares of Common Stock (or securities convertible or exercisable into shares of Common Stock) (collectively, the “ Lock-Up Parties ”). The Company has caused each of the Lock-Up Parties to deliver to the Representative an executed Lock-Up Agreement, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B (the “ Lock-Up Agreement ”), prior to the execution of this Agreement.

 

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2.25  Subsidiaries . The Company has no subsidiaries.

 

2.26  Related Party Transactions .

 

2.26.1.  Business Relationships . There are no business relationships or related party transactions involving the Company or any of its Subsidiaries or any other person required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus that have not been described as required.

 

2.26.2.  No Relationships with Customers and Suppliers . No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company, on the one hand, and the directors, officers, stockholders, customers or suppliers of the Company or any of the Company’s affiliates, on the other hand, which is required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or a document incorporated by reference therein and which is not so described.

 

2.26.3.  No Unconsolidated Entities . There are no transactions, arrangements or other relationships between and/or among the Company or affiliates (as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act) and any unconsolidated entity, including, but not limited to, any structured finance, special purpose or limited purpose entity that could reasonably be expected to materially affect the Company’s liquidity or the availability of or requirements for its capital resources required to be described in the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or a document incorporated by reference therein which have not been described as required.

 

2.26.4.  No Loans or Advances to Affiliates . There are no outstanding loans, advances (except normal advances for business expenses in the ordinary course of business) or guarantees or indebtedness by the Company to or for the benefit of any of the officers or directors of the Company or any of their respective family members, except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

2.27  Board of Directors . The Board of Directors of the Company is comprised of the persons set forth under the heading of the Pricing Prospectus and the Prospectus captioned “Management.” The qualifications of the persons serving as board members and the overall composition of the board comply with the Exchange Act, the rules and regulations of the Commission under the Exchange Act (the “ Exchange Act Regulations ”), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules promulgated thereunder (the “ Sarbanes-Oxley Act ”) applicable to the Company and the listing rules of the Exchange. At least one member of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as such term is defined under Regulation S-K and the listing rules of the Exchange. In addition, at least a majority of the persons serving on the Board of Directors qualify as “independent,” as defined under the listing rules of the Exchange.

 

2.28  Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance .

 

2.28.1.  Disclosure Controls . The Company has developed and currently maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act to ensure that all material information concerning the Company will be made known on a timely basis to the individuals responsible for the preparation of the Company’s Exchange Act filings and other public disclosure documents.

 

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2.28.2.  Compliance . The Company at the Applicable Time and on the Closing Date will be, in material compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act applicable to it, and has implemented or will implement such programs and taken reasonable steps to ensure the Company’s future compliance (not later than the relevant statutory and regulatory deadlines therefor) with all of the material provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

 

2.29  Accounting Controls . To the extent required by applicable law or rule, the Company maintains systems of “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined under Rules 13a-15 and 15d-15 under the Exchange Act Regulations) that are designed to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act and have been designed by, or under the supervision of, their respective principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP, including, but not limited to, internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance 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 asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences (it being understood that this subsection shall not require the Company to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as of an earlier date than it would otherwise be required to so comply under applicable law). Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company is not aware of any material weaknesses in its internal controls. The Company’s auditors and 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 are known to the Company’s management and that have adversely affected or are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’ ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (ii) any fraud known to the Company’s management, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

 

2.30  No Investment Company Status . The Company is not and, after giving effect to the Offering and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, will not be, required to register as an “investment company,” as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

 

2.31  No Labor Disputes . No labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent.

 

2.32  Intellectual Property Rights . The Company and each of its Subsidiaries owns or possesses or has valid rights in all patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, trade names, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, copyrights, licenses, inventions, trade secrets and similar rights (“ Intellectual Property Rights ”) described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and necessary for the conduct of the business of the Company and its Subsidiaries as currently carried on and as described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. To the knowledge of the Company, no action or use by the Company necessary for the conduct of its business as currently carried on and as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus will involve or give rise to any infringement of, or license or similar fees for, any Intellectual Property Rights of others. The Company has not received any notice alleging any such infringement, fee or conflict with asserted Intellectual Property Rights of others. Except as would not reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Material Adverse Change (A) to the knowledge of the Company, there is no infringement, misappropriation or violation by third parties of any of the Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company; (B) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the rights of the Company in or to any such Intellectual Property Rights, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim, that would, individually or in the aggregate, together with any other claims in this Section 2.32, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change; (C) the Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company and, to the knowledge of the Company, the Intellectual Property Rights licensed to the Company have not been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and 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 such Intellectual Property Rights, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim that would, individually or in the aggregate, together with any other claims in this Section 2.32, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change; (D) there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates any Intellectual Property Rights or other proprietary rights of others, the Company has not received any written notice of such claim and the Company is unaware of any other facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim that would, individually or in the aggregate, together with any other claims in this Section 2.32, reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change; and (E) to the Company’s knowledge, no employee of the Company is in or has ever been in violation in any material respect of any term of any employment contract, patent disclosure agreement, invention assignment agreement, non-competition agreement, non-solicitation agreement, nondisclosure agreement or any restrictive covenant to or with a former employer where the basis of such violation relates to such employee’s employment with the Company, or actions undertaken by the employee while employed with the Company and could reasonably be expected to result, individually or in the aggregate, in a Material Adverse Change. To the Company’s knowledge, all material technical information developed by and belonging to the Company which has not been patented has been kept confidential. The Company is not a party to or bound by any options, licenses or agreements with respect to the Intellectual Property Rights of any other person or entity that are required to be set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and are not described therein. The Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus contain in all material respects the same description of the matters set forth in the preceding sentence. None of the technology employed by the Company has been obtained or is being used by the Company in violation of any contractual obligation binding on the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any of its officers, directors or employees, or otherwise in violation of the rights of any persons.

 

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2.33  Taxes . Except as otherwise specifically disclosed in writing to the Representative, the Company has filed all returns (as hereinafter defined) required to be filed with taxing authorities prior to the date hereof or has duly obtained extensions of time for the filing thereof. Except as otherwise specifically disclosed in writing to the Representative, the Company has paid all taxes (as hereinafter defined) shown as due on such returns that were filed and has paid all taxes imposed on or assessed against the Company. The provisions for taxes payable, if any, shown on the financial statements filed with or as part of the Registration Statement are sufficient for all accrued and unpaid taxes, whether or not disputed, and for all periods to and including the dates of such consolidated financial statements. Except as otherwise specifically disclosed in writing to the Representative, (i) no issues have been raised (and are currently pending) by any taxing authority in connection with any of the returns or taxes asserted as due from the Company, and (ii) no waivers of statutes of limitation with respect to the returns or collection of taxes have been given by or requested from the Company. The term “taxes” means all federal, state, local, foreign and other net income, gross income, gross receipts, sales, use, ad valorem, transfer, franchise, profits, license, lease, service, service use, withholding, payroll, employment, excise, severance, stamp, occupation, premium, property, windfall profits, customs, duties or other taxes, fees, assessments or charges of any kind whatever, together with any interest and any penalties, additions to tax or additional amounts with respect thereto. The term “returns” means all returns, declarations, reports, statements and other documents required to be filed in respect to taxes.

 

2.34  ERISA Compliance . The Company and any “employee benefit plan” (as defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (collectively, “ ERISA ”)) established or maintained by the Company or its “ERISA Affiliates” (as defined below) are in compliance in all material respects with ERISA. “ ERISA Affiliate ” means, with respect to the Company, any member of any group of organizations described in Sections 414(b),(c),(m) or (o) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (the “ Code ”) of which the Company is a member. No “reportable event” (as defined under ERISA) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur with respect to any “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates. No “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates, if such “employee benefit plan” were terminated, would have any “amount of unfunded benefit liabilities” (as defined under ERISA). Neither the Company nor any of its ERISA Affiliates has incurred or reasonably expects to incur any material liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any “employee benefit plan” or (ii) Sections 412, 4971, 4975 or 4980B of the Code. Each “employee benefit plan” established or maintained by the Company or any of its ERISA Affiliates that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified and, to the knowledge of the Company, nothing has occurred, whether by action or failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification.

 

2.35  Compliance with Laws . The Company: (A) is and at all times has been in compliance with all statutes, rules, or regulations applicable to the ownership, testing, development, manufacture, packaging, processing, use, distribution, marketing, labeling, promotion, advertising, sale, offer for sale, storage, import, export or disposal of any product manufactured or distributed by the Company, including but not limited to the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.), the U.S. Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq.), and the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 41-58) (“ Applicable Laws ”), except as could not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Change; (B) has not received any warning letter, untitled letter or other correspondence or notice from any other governmental authority alleging or asserting noncompliance with any Applicable Laws or any licenses, certificates, approvals, clearances, authorizations, permits, registrations 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 are not in material violation of any term of any such Authorizations; (D) has not received notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any governmental authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in violation of any Applicable Laws or Authorizations and has no knowledge that any such governmental authority or third party is considering any such claim, litigation, arbitration, action, suit, investigation or proceeding; (E) has not received notice that any governmental authority has taken, is taking or intends to take action to limit, suspend, modify or revoke any Authorizations and has no knowledge that any such governmental authority is considering such action; (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 complete and correct on the date filed (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission); and (G) has not, either voluntarily or involuntarily, initiated, conducted, or issued or caused to be initiated, conducted or issued, any recall, market withdrawal or replacement, safety alert, post-sale warning, “dear doctor” letter, or other notice or action relating to the alleged lack of safety or efficacy of any product or any alleged product defect or violation and, to the Company’s knowledge, no third party has initiated, conducted or intends to initiate any such notice or action.

 

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2.36  Ineligible Issuer .  At the time of filing the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, at the time of effectiveness of the Registration Statement and any amendment thereto, at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) of the Securities Act Regulations) of the Public Securities and at the date hereof, the Company was not and is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405, without taking account of any determination by the Commission pursuant to Rule 405 that it is not necessary that the Company be considered an ineligible issuer.

 

2.37  Real Property . Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has good and marketable title in fee simple to, or have valid rights to lease or otherwise use, all items of real or personal property which are material to the business of the Company, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, security interests, claims and defects that do not, singly or in the aggregate, materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company; and all of the leases and subleases material to the business of the Company, and under which the Company holds properties described in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, are in full force and effect, and the Company has not received any notice of any material claim of any sort that has been asserted by anyone adverse to the rights of the Company under any of the leases or subleases mentioned above, or affecting or questioning the rights of the Company to the continued possession of the leased or subleased premises under any such lease or sublease.

 

2.38  Contracts Affecting Capital . Except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, there are no transactions, arrangements or other relationships between and/or among the Company, any of its affiliates (as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act Regulations) and any unconsolidated entity, including, but not limited to, any structured finance, special purpose or limited purpose entity that could reasonably be expected to materially affect the Company’s liquidity or the availability of or requirements for its capital resources required to be described or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus which have not been described or incorporated by reference as required.

 

2.39  [ Intentionally omitted ]

 

2.40  Smaller Reporting Company .  As of the time of filing of the Registration Statement, the Company was a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act Regulations.

 

2.41  Industry Data .  The statistical and market-related data included in each of the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources that the Company reasonably and in good faith believes are reliable and accurate or represent the Company’s good faith estimates that are made on the basis of data derived from such sources.

 

2.42  Forward-Looking Statements . No forward-looking statement (within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act) contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus has been made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or has been disclosed other than in good faith.

 

2.43  Integration . Neither the Company, nor any of its affiliates, nor any person acting on its or their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would cause the Offering to be integrated with prior offerings by the Company for purposes of the Securities Act that would require the registration of any such securities under the Securities Act.

 

2.44  Confidentiality and Non-Competitions . To the Company’s knowledge, no director, officer, key employee or consultant of the Company is subject to any confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-competition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer that could reasonably be expected to materially affect his ability to be and act in his respective capacity of the Company or be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change.

 

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2.45  Minute Books . The minute books of the Company have been made available to the Underwriters and Representative Counsel, and such books from and after the date of the Company’s incorporation in the State of Delaware (i) contain a complete summary of all meetings and actions of the board of directors (including each board committee) and stockholders of the Company (or analogous governing bodies and interest holders, as applicable), and each of its Subsidiaries since the time of its respective incorporation or organization through the date of the latest meeting and action, and (ii) accurately in all material respects reflect all transactions referred to in such minutes. There are no material transactions, agreements, dispositions or other actions of the Company that are not properly approved and/or from and after the date of its incorporation in the State of Delaware accurately and fairly recorded in the minute books of the Company, as applicable.

 

2.46  No Stabilization . Neither the Company nor, to its knowledge, any of its employees, directors or stockholders (without the consent of the Representative) has taken or shall take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that has constituted or that might reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under Regulation M of the Exchange Act, or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Public Securities.

 

2.47  Emerging Growth Company . From the time of the initial confidential submission of the Registration Statement to the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged directly in or through any Person authorized to act on its behalf in any Testing-the Waters Communication) through the date hereof, the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an “ Emerging Growth Company ”). “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) of the Securities Act.

 

2.48  Testing-the-Waters Communications . The Company has not (i) alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communications, other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the written consent of the Representative and with entities that are qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Securities Act and (ii) authorized anyone other than the Representative to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company confirms that the Representative has been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communications other than those listed on Schedule 2-C hereto. “ Written Testing-the-Waters Communication ” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

2.49  Margin Securities . The Company owns no “margin securities” as that term is defined in Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “ Federal Reserve Board ”), and none of the proceeds of Offering will be used, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of purchasing or carrying any margin security, for the purpose of reducing or retiring any indebtedness which was originally incurred to purchase or carry any margin security or for any other purpose which might cause any of the shares of Common Stock to be considered a “purpose credit” within the meanings of Regulation T, U or X of the Federal Reserve Board.

 

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

 

3.1  Amendments to Registration Statement . The Company shall deliver to the Representative, prior to filing, any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus proposed to be filed after the Effective Date and not file any such amendment or supplement to which the Representative shall reasonably object in writing.

 

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3.2  Federal Securities Laws .

 

3.2.1.  Compliance . The Company, subject to Section 3.2.2, shall comply with the requirements of Rule 430A of the Securities Act Regulations, and will notify the Representative promptly, and confirm the notice in writing, (i) when any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement shall become effective or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus shall have been filed; (ii) of the receipt of any comments from the Commission; (iii) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to the Prospectus or for additional information; (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus, or of the suspension of the qualification of the Public Securities and Representative’s Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes or of any examination pursuant to Section 8(d) or 8(e) of the Securities Act concerning the Registration Statement and (v) if the Company becomes the subject of a proceeding under Section 8A of the Securities Act in connection with the Offering of the Public Securities and Representative’s Securities. The Company shall effect all filings required under Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act Regulations, in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8)), and shall take such steps as it deems necessary to ascertain promptly whether the form of prospectus transmitted for filing under Rule 424(b) was received for filing by the Commission and, in the event that it was not, it will promptly file such prospectus. The Company shall use its best efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order, prevention or suspension and, if any such order is issued, to obtain the lifting thereof at the earliest possible moment.

 

3.2.2.  Continued Compliance . The Company shall comply with the Securities Act, the Securities Act Regulations, the Exchange Act and the Exchange Act Regulations so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the Public Securities as contemplated in this Agreement and in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. If at any time when a prospectus relating to the Public Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172 of the Securities Act Regulations (“ Rule 172 ”), would be) required by the Securities Act to be delivered in connection with sales of the Public Securities, any event shall occur or condition shall exist as a result of which it is necessary, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters or for the Company, to (i) amend the Registration Statement in order that the Registration Statement will not include an 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; (ii) amend or supplement the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus in order that the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, as the case may be, will not include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein not misleading in the light of the circumstances existing at the time it is delivered to a purchaser or (iii) amend the Registration Statement or amend or supplement the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, as the case may be, in order to comply with the requirements of the Securities Act or the Securities Act Regulations, the Company will promptly (A) give the Representative notice of such event; (B) prepare any amendment or supplement as may be necessary to correct such statement or omission or to make the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus comply with such requirements and, a reasonable amount of time prior to any proposed filing or use, furnish the Representative with copies of any such amendment or supplement and (C) file with the Commission any such amendment or supplement; provided that the Company shall not file or use any such amendment or supplement to which the Representative or counsel for the Underwriters shall reasonably object. The Company will furnish to the Underwriters such number of copies of such amendment or supplement as the Underwriters may reasonably request. The Company has given the Representative notice of any filings made pursuant to the Exchange Act or the Exchange Act Regulations within 48 hours prior to the Applicable Time. The Company shall give the Representative notice of its intention to make any such filing from the Applicable Time until the later of the Closing Date and the exercise in full or expiration of the Over-allotment Option specified in Section 1.2 hereof and will furnish the Representative with copies of the related document(s) a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing, as the case may be, and will not file or use any such document to which the Representative or counsel for the Underwriters shall reasonably object.

 

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3.2.3.  Exchange Act Registration . For a period of three (3) years after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to maintain the registration of the shares of Common Stock under the Exchange Act. The Company shall not deregister any of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act without the prior written consent of the Representative.

 

3.2.4.  Free Writing Prospectuses . The Company agrees that, unless it obtains the prior written consent of the Representative, it shall not make any offer relating to the Public Securities that would constitute an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” or a portion thereof, required to be filed by the Company with the Commission or retained by the Company under Rule 433; provided that the Representative shall be deemed to have consented to each Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectus hereto and any “road show that is a written communication” within the meaning of Rule 433(d)(8)(i) that has been reviewed by the Representative. The Company represents that it has treated or agrees that it will treat each such free writing prospectus consented to, or deemed consented to, by the Underwriters as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and that it has complied and will comply with the applicable requirements of Rule 433 with respect thereto, including timely filing with the Commission where required, legending and record keeping. If at any time following issuance of an Issuer Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement or included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriters and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Issuer Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission.

 

3.2.5.  Testing-the-Waters Communications . If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company shall promptly notify the Representative and shall promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission.

 

3.3  Delivery to the Underwriters of Registration Statements . The Company has delivered or made available or shall deliver or make available to the Representative and counsel for the Representative, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto (including exhibits filed therewith) and signed copies of all consents and certificates of experts, and will also deliver to the Underwriters, without charge, a conformed copy of the Registration Statement as originally filed and each amendment thereto (without exhibits) for each of the Underwriters. The copies of the Registration Statement and each amendment thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.

 

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3.4  Delivery to the Underwriters of Prospectuses . The Company has delivered or made available or will deliver or make available to each Underwriter, without charge, as many copies of each Preliminary Prospectus as such Underwriter reasonably requested, and the Company hereby consents to the use of such copies for purposes permitted by the Securities Act. The Company will furnish to each Underwriter, without charge, during the period when a prospectus relating to the Public Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172, would be) required to be delivered under the Securities Act, such number of copies of the Prospectus (as amended or supplemented) as such Underwriter may reasonably request. The Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.

 

3.5  Effectiveness and Events Requiring Notice to the Representative . The Company shall use its best efforts to cause the Registration Statement to remain effective with a current prospectus for at least nine (9) months after the Applicable Time, and shall notify the Representative immediately and confirm the notice in writing: (i) of the effectiveness of the Registration Statement and any amendment thereto; (ii) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order or of the initiation, or the threatening, of any proceeding for that purpose; (iii) of the issuance by any state securities commission of any proceedings for the suspension of the qualification of the Public Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction or of the initiation, or the threatening, of any proceeding for that purpose; (iv) of the mailing and delivery to the Commission for filing of any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus; (v) of the receipt of any comments or request for any additional information from the Commission; and (vi) of the happening of any event during the period described in this Section 3.5 that, in the judgment of the Company, makes any statement of a material fact made in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus untrue or that requires the making of any changes in (a) the Registration Statement in order to make the statements therein not misleading, or (b) in the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. If the Commission or any state securities commission shall enter a stop order or suspend such qualification at any time, the Company shall make every reasonable effort to obtain promptly the lifting of such order.

 

3.6  Review of Financial Statements. For a period of five (5) years after the date of this Agreement, the Company, at its expense, shall cause its regularly engaged independent registered public accounting firm to review (but not audit) the Company’s financial statements for each of the three (3) fiscal quarters immediately preceding the announcement of any quarterly financial information.

 

3.7  Listing . The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to maintain the listing of the shares of Common Stock (including the Public Securities) on the Exchange for at least three (3) years from the date of this Agreement.

 

3.8  Financial Public Relations Firm . As of the Effective Date, the Company shall have retained a financial public relations firm reasonably acceptable to the Representative and the Company, which shall initially be [•], which firm shall be experienced in assisting issuers in initial public offerings of securities and in their relations with their security holders, and shall retain such firm or another firm reasonably acceptable to the Representative for a period of not less than one (1) year after the Effective Date.

 

3.9  Reports to the Representative .

 

3.9.1.  Periodic Reports, etc . For a period of three (3) years after the date of this Agreement, at the Representative’s request, the Company shall furnish or make available to the Representative copies of such financial statements and other periodic and special reports as the Company from time to time furnishes generally to holders of any class of its securities and also promptly furnish to the Representative: (i) a copy of each periodic report the Company shall be required to file with the Commission under the Exchange Act and the Exchange Act Regulations; (ii) a copy of every press release and every news item and article with respect to the Company or its affairs which was released by the Company; (iii) a copy of each Form 8-K prepared and filed by the Company; (iv) five copies of each registration statement filed by the Company under the Securities Act; and (v) such additional documents and information with respect to the Company and the affairs of any future subsidiaries of the Company as the Representative may from time to time reasonably request; provided the Representative shall sign, if requested by the Company, a Regulation FD compliant confidentiality agreement which is reasonably acceptable to the Representative and Representative Counsel in connection with the Representative’s receipt of such information. Documents filed with the Commission pursuant to its EDGAR system or otherwise publicly available shall be deemed to have been delivered to the Representative pursuant to this Section 3.9.1.

 

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3.9.2.  Transfer Agent; Transfer Sheets . For a period of three (3) years after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall retain a transfer agent and registrar acceptable to the Representative (the “ Transfer Agent ”) and, for a period of one (1) year after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall furnish to the Representative at the Company’s sole cost and expense such transfer sheets of the Company’s securities as the Representative may reasonably request, including the daily and monthly consolidated transfer sheets of the Transfer Agent and DTC. VStock Transfer, LLC is acceptable to the Representative to act as Transfer Agent for the shares of Common Stock.

 

3.9.3.  Trading Reports . During such time as the Public Securities are listed on the Exchange or for a period of one (1) year from the date of this Agreement (whichever is earlier), the Company shall provide to the Representative such reports as in its possession as published by Exchange relating to price trading of the Public Securities, as the Representative shall reasonably request.

 

3.10  Payment of Expenses

 

3.10.1.  General Expenses Related to the Offering . The Company hereby agrees to pay on each of the Closing Date and the Option Closing Date, if any, to the extent not paid at the Closing Date, all expenses incident to the performance of the obligations of the Company under this Agreement, including, but not limited to: (a) all filing fees and communication expenses relating to the registration of the Public Securities with the Commission; (b) all Public Filing System filing fees associated with the review of the Offering by FINRA; (c) all fees and expenses relating to the listing of such Public Securities on the Exchange and such other stock exchanges as the Company and the Representative together determine; (d) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to background checks of the Company’s officers and directors in an amount not to exceed $2,000 per individual and $10,000 in the aggregate; (e) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration or qualification of the Public Securities under the “blue sky” securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions as the Representative may reasonably designate (including, without limitation, all filing and registration fees, it being agreed that if the Offering is commenced on the Exchange, the Company shall make a payment of $2,500 to such counsel at Closing, or if the Offering is commenced on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board, the Company shall make a payment of $5,000 to such counsel upon the commencement of “blue sky” work by such counsel); (f) all fees, expenses and disbursements relating to the registration, qualification or exemption of the Public Securities under the securities laws of such foreign jurisdictions as the Representative may reasonably designate; (g) the costs of all mailing and printing of the underwriting documents (including, without limitation, the Underwriting Agreement, any Blue Sky Surveys and, if appropriate, any Agreement Among Underwriters, Selected Dealers’ Agreement, Underwriters’ Questionnaire and Power of Attorney), Registration Statements, Prospectuses and all amendments, supplements and exhibits thereto and as many preliminary and final Prospectuses as the Representative may reasonably deem necessary; (h) the costs and expenses of a public relations firm; (i) the costs of preparing, printing and delivering certificates representing the Public Securities; (j) fees and expenses of the transfer agent for the shares of Common Stock; (k) stock transfer and/or stamp taxes, if any, payable upon the transfer of securities from the Company to the Underwriters; (l) the costs associated with post-Closing advertising the Offering in the national editions of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times; (m) the costs associated with bound volumes of the public offering materials as well as commemorative mementos and lucite tombstones, each of which the Company or its designee shall provide within a reasonable time after the Closing Date in such quantities as the Representative may reasonably request in an amount not to exceed $2,500 in the aggregate; (n) the fees and expenses of the Company’s accountants; (o) the fees and expenses of the Company’s legal counsel and other agents and representatives; (p) fees and expenses of the Representative’s legal counsel not to exceed $75,000; (q) the $29,500 cost associated with the Underwriter’s use of Ipreo’s book-building, prospectus tracking and compliance software for the Offering; and (r) up to $20,000 of the Underwriters’ actual accountable “road show” expenses for the Offering. The Representative may deduct from the net proceeds of the Offering payable to the Company on the Closing Date, or the Option Closing Date, if any, the expenses set forth herein to be paid by the Company to the Underwriters. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein and for the avoidance of doubt, any unreimbursed expenses or other amounts previously paid by the Company to Joseph Gunnar in connection with its initial public offering, including those described in this Section 3.10.1, shall be offset against any future expenses or amounts payable by the Company to the Representative.

 

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3.10.2.  Non-accountable Expenses . The Company further agrees that, in addition to the expenses payable pursuant to Section 3.10.1, on the Closing Date it shall pay to the Representative, by deduction from the net proceeds of the Offering contemplated herein, a non-accountable expense allowance equal to one percent (1%) of the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Firm Shares (excluding the Option Shares), less the Advance (as such term is defined in Section 8.3 hereof), provided, however, that in the event that the Offering is terminated, the Company agrees to reimburse the Underwriters pursuant to Section 8.3 hereof.

 

3.11  Application of Net Proceeds . The Company shall apply the net proceeds from the Offering received by it in a manner consistent with the application thereof described under the caption “Use of Proceeds” in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

 

3.12  Delivery of Earnings Statements to Security Holders . The Company shall make generally available to its security holders as soon as practicable, but not later than the first day of the fifteenth (15 th ) full calendar month following the date of this Agreement, an earnings statement (which need not be certified by independent registered public accounting firm unless required by the Securities Act or the Securities Act Regulations, but which shall satisfy the provisions of Rule 158(a) under Section 11(a) of the Securities Act) covering a period of at least twelve (12) consecutive months beginning after the date of this Agreement.

 

3.13  Stabilization . Neither the Company nor, to its knowledge, any of its employees, directors or shareholders (without the consent of the Representative) shall take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that would reasonably be expected to cause or result in, under Regulation M of the Exchange Act, or otherwise, stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Public Securities.

 

3.14  Internal Controls . The Company shall maintain a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurances that: (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary in order to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences.

 

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3.15  Accountants . As of the date of this Agreement, the Company shall have retained an independent registered public accounting firm reasonably acceptable to the Representative, and the Company shall continue to retain a nationally recognized independent registered public accounting firm for a period of at least three (3) years after the date of this Agreement. The Representative acknowledges that the Auditor is acceptable to the Representative.

 

3.16  FINRA . The Company shall advise the Representative (who shall make an appropriate filing with FINRA) if it is or becomes aware that (i) any officer or director of the Company, (ii) any beneficial owner of 5% or more of any class of the Company's securities or (iii) any beneficial owner of the Company's unregistered equity securities which were acquired during the 180 days immediately preceding the filing of the Registration Statement is or becomes an affiliate or associated person of a FINRA member participating in the Offering (as determined in accordance with the rules and regulations of FINRA).

 

3.17  No Fiduciary Duties . The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Underwriters’ responsibility to the Company is solely contractual in nature and that none of the Underwriters or their affiliates or any selling agent shall be deemed to be acting in a fiduciary capacity, or otherwise owes any fiduciary duty to the Company or any of its affiliates in connection with the Offering and the other transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

 

3.18  Company Lock-Up Agreements .

 

3.18.1.  Restriction on Sales of Capital Stock . The Company, on behalf of itself and any successor entity, agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representative, it will not, for a period of 180 days after the date of this Agreement (the “ Lock-Up Period ”), (i) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of capital stock of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of capital stock of the Company; (ii) file or caused to be filed any registration statement with the Commission relating to the offering of any shares of capital stock of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of capital stock of the Company (other than a registration statement on Form S-8 or S-4); (iii) complete any offering of debt securities of the Company, other than entering into a line of credit with a traditional bank or (iv) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of capital stock of the Company, whether any such transaction described in clause (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) above is to be settled by delivery of shares of capital stock of the Company or such other securities, in cash or otherwise.

 

The restrictions contained in this Section 3.18.1 shall not apply to (i) the Public Securities to be sold hereunder, (ii) the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of a stock option or warrant or the conversion of a security outstanding on the date hereof that has been disclosed in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, (iii) the issuance by the Company of stock options or shares of capital stock or other security of the Company under any equity compensation plan of the Company, (iv) the issuance by the Company of the Company’s securities in connection with any merger, acquisition, joint venture or similar transaction that is not for capital raising purposes and (v) the issuance by the Company of the Company’s securities to consultants or advisors in the Company’s ordinary course of business and not for capital raising purposes, provided that in each of (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above, the underlying shares of Common Stock shall be restricted from sale during the entire Lock-Up Period.

 

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3.18.2.  Restriction on Continuous Offerings . Notwithstanding the restrictions contained in Section 3.18.1, the Company, on behalf of itself and any successor entity, agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representative, it will not, for a period of 12 months after the date of this Agreement, directly or indirectly in any “at-the-market” or continuous equity transaction, offer to sell, sell, contract to sell, grant any option to sell or otherwise dispose of shares of capital stock of the Company or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of capital stock of the Company.

 

3.19  Release of D&O Lock-up Period . If the Representative, in its sole discretion, agrees to release or waive the restrictions set forth in the Lock-Up Agreements described in Section 2.24 hereof for an officer or director of the Company and provide the Company with notice of the impending release or waiver at least three (3) Business Days before the effective date of the release or waiver, the Company agrees to announce the impending release or waiver by a press release substantially in the form of Exhibit C hereto through a major news service at least two (2) Business Days before the effective date of the release or waiver.

 

3.20  Blue Sky Qualifications . The Company shall use its best efforts, in cooperation with the Underwriters, if necessary, to qualify the Public Securities for offering and sale under the applicable securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions (domestic or foreign) as the Representative may designate and to maintain such qualifications in effect so long as required to complete the distribution of the Public Securities; provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated to file any general consent to service of process or to qualify as a foreign corporation or as a dealer in securities in any jurisdiction in which it is not so qualified or to subject itself to taxation in respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise so subject.

 

3.21  Reporting Requirements . The Company, during the period when a prospectus relating to the Public Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172, would be) required to be delivered under the Securities Act, will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the Exchange Act within the time periods required by the Exchange Act and Exchange Act Regulations. Additionally, the Company shall report the use of proceeds from the issuance of the Public Securities as may be required under Rule 463 under the Securities Act Regulations.

 

3.22  Emerging Growth Company Status . The Company shall promptly notify the Representative if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Public Securities within the meaning of the Securities Act and (ii) fifteen (15) days following the completion of the Lock-Up Period.

 

4.  Conditions of Underwriters’ Obligations . The obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and pay for the Public Securities, as provided herein, shall be subject to (i) the continuing accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company as of the date hereof and as of each of the Closing Date and the Option Closing Date, if any; (ii) the accuracy of the statements of officers of the Company made pursuant to the provisions hereof; (iii) the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder; and (iv) the following conditions:

 

4.1  Regulatory Matters .

 

4.1.1.  Effectiveness of Registration Statement; Rule 430A Information . The Registration Statement has become effective not later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the date of this Agreement or such later date and time as shall be consented to in writing by you, and, at each of the Closing Date and any Option Closing Date, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment thereto has been issued under the Securities Act, no order preventing or suspending the use of any Preliminary Prospectus or the Prospectus has been issued and no proceedings for any of those purposes have been instituted or are pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, contemplated by the Commission. The Company has complied with each request (if any) from the Commission for additional information. The Prospectus containing the Rule 430A Information shall have been filed with the Commission in the manner and within the time frame required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8)) or a post-effective amendment providing such information shall have been filed with, and declared effective by, the Commission in accordance with the requirements of Rule 430A.

 

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4.1.2.  FINRA Clearance . On or before the date of this Agreement, the Representative shall have received clearance from FINRA as to the amount of compensation allowable or payable to the Underwriters as described in the Registration Statement.

 

4.1.3.  Exchange Stock Market Clearance . On the Closing Date, the Company’s shares of Common Stock, including the Firm Shares, shall have been approved for listing on the Exchange, subject only to official notice of issuance. On the first Option Closing Date (if any), the Company’s shares of Common Stock, including the Option Shares, shall have been approved for listing on the Exchange, subject only to official notice of issuance.

 

4.2  Company Counsel Matters .

 

4.2.1.  Closing Date Opinion of Counsel . On the Closing Date, the Representative shall have received (i) the favorable opinion and written statement providing certain “10b-5” negative assurances of Gracin & Marlow, LLP, counsel to the Company (“ Company Counsel ”), dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representative, substantially in the form of Exhibit D attached hereto, (ii) the favorable opinion and written statement providing certain “10b-5” negative assurances of special Missouri counsel to the Company, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representative, substantially in the form acceptable to the Representative, (iii) the favorable opinion and written statement providing certain “10b-5” negative assurances of special FTC counsel to the Company, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representative, substantially in the form acceptable to the Representative; and (iv) the favorable opinion and written statement providing certain “10b-5” negative assurances of special intellectual property counsel to the Company, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the Representative, substantially in the form acceptable to the Representative.

 

4.2.2.  Option Closing Date Opinions of Counsel . On the Option Closing Date, if any, the Representative shall have received the favorable opinions of counsel listed in Sections 4.2.1, dated the Option Closing Date, addressed to the Representative and in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative, confirming as of the Option Closing Date, the statements made by such counsels in their respective opinions delivered on the Closing Date.

 

4.2.3.  Reliance . In rendering such opinions, such counsel may rely: (i) as to matters involving the application of laws other than the laws of the United States and jurisdictions in which they are admitted, to the extent such counsel deems proper and to the extent specified in such opinion, if at all, upon an opinion or opinions (in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative) of other counsel reasonably acceptable to the Representative, familiar with the applicable laws; and (ii) as to matters of fact, to the extent they deem proper, on certificates or other written statements of officers of the Company and officers of departments of various jurisdictions having custody of documents respecting the corporate existence or good standing of the Company, provided that copies of any such statements or certificates shall be delivered to Representative Counsel if requested. The opinion of Company Counsel and any opinion relied upon by Company Counsel shall include a statement to the effect that it may be relied upon by Representative Counsel in its opinion delivered to the Underwriters.

 

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4.3  Comfort Letters .

 

4.3.1.  Cold Comfort Letter . At the time this Agreement is executed you shall have received a cold comfort letter containing statements and information of the type customarily included in accountants’ comfort letters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, addressed to the Representative and in form and substance satisfactory in all respects to you and to the Auditor, dated as of the date of this Agreement.

 

4.3.2.  Bring-down Comfort Letter . At each of the Closing Date and the Option Closing Date, if any, the Representative shall have received from the Auditor a letter, dated as of the Closing Date or the Option Closing Date, as applicable, to the effect that the Auditor reaffirms the statements made in the letter furnished pursuant to Section 4.3.1, except that the specified date referred to shall be a date not more than three (3) business days prior to the Closing Date or the Option Closing Date, as applicable.

 

4.4  Officers’ Certificates .

 

4.4.1.  Officers’ Certificate . The Company shall have furnished to the Representative a certificate, dated the Closing Date and any Option Closing Date (if such date is other than the Closing Date), of its President and Chief Executive Officer and its Chief Financial Officer stating that (i) such officers have carefully examined the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package, any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus and the Prospectus and, in their opinion, the Registration Statement and each amendment thereto, as of the Applicable Time and as of the Closing Date (or any Option Closing Date if such date is other than the Closing Date) did not include any untrue statement of a material fact and did not omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, and the Pricing Disclosure Package, as of the Applicable Time and as of the Closing Date (or any Option Closing Date if such date is other than the Closing Date), any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus as of its date and as of the Closing Date (or any Option Closing Date if such date is other than the Closing Date), the Prospectus and each amendment or supplement thereto, as of the respective date thereof and as of the Closing Date, did not include any untrue statement of a material fact and did not omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances in which they were made, not misleading, (ii) since the effective date of the Registration Statement, no event has occurred which should have been set forth in a supplement or amendment to the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, (iii) to the best of their knowledge after reasonable investigation, as of the Closing Date (or any Option Closing Date if such date is other than the Closing Date), the representations and warranties of the Company in this Agreement are true and correct in all material respects (except for those representations and warranties qualified as to materiality, which shall be true and correct in all respects and except for those representations and warranties which refer to facts existing at a specific date, which shall be true and correct as of such date) and the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder at or prior to the Closing Date (or any Option Closing Date if such date is other than the Closing Date), and (iv) there has not been, subsequent to the date of the most recent audited financial statements included or incorporated by reference in the Pricing Disclosure Package, any material adverse change in the financial position or results of operations of the Company, or any change or development that, singularly or in the aggregate, would involve a material adverse change, in or affecting the condition (financial or otherwise), results of operations, business, assets or prospects of the Company, except as set forth in the Prospectus.

 

4.4.2.  Secretary’s Certificate . At each of the Closing Date and the Option Closing Date, if any, the Representative shall have received a certificate of the Company signed by the Secretary of the Company, dated the Closing Date or the Option Date, as the case may be, respectively, certifying: (i) that each of the Charter and Bylaws is true and complete, has not been modified and is in full force and effect; (ii) that the resolutions of the Company’s Board of Directors relating to the Offering are in full force and effect and have not been modified; (iii) as to the accuracy and completeness of all correspondence between the Company or its counsel and the Commission; and (iv) as to the incumbency of the officers of the Company. The documents referred to in such certificate shall be attached to such certificate.

 

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4.5  No Material Changes . Prior to and on each of the Closing Date and each Option Closing Date, if any: (i) there shall have been no material adverse change or development involving a prospective material adverse change in the condition or prospects or the business activities, financial or otherwise, of the Company from the latest dates as of which such condition is set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; (ii) no action, suit or proceeding, at law or in equity, shall have been pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened against the Company or any Insider before or by any court or federal or state commission, board or other administrative agency wherein an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding may materially adversely affect the business, operations, prospects or financial condition or income of the Company, except as set forth in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus; (iii) no stop order shall have been issued under the Securities Act and no proceedings therefor shall have been initiated or threatened by the Commission; and (iv) the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto shall contain all material statements which are required to be stated therein in accordance with the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations and shall conform in all material respects to the requirements of the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations, and neither the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package nor the Prospectus nor any amendment or supplement thereto shall contain any 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 light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

 

4.6  Delivery of Agreements .

 

4.6.1.  Lock-Up Agreements . On or before the date of this Agreement, the Company shall have delivered to the Representative executed copies of the Lock-Up Agreements from each of the persons listed in Schedule 3 hereto.

 

4.6.2.  Representative’s Warrant Agreement . On the Closing Date, the Company shall have delivered to the Representative an executed copy of the Representative’s Warrant Agreement.

 

4.7  Additional Documents . At the Closing Date and at each Option Closing Date (if any) Representative Counsel shall have been furnished with such documents and opinions as they may require for the purpose of enabling Representative Counsel to deliver an opinion to the Underwriters, or in order to evidence the accuracy of any of the representations or warranties, or the fulfillment of any of the conditions, herein contained; and all proceedings taken by the Company in connection with the issuance and sale of the Public Securities and the Representative’s Securities as herein contemplated shall be satisfactory in form and substance to the Representative and Representative Counsel.

 

5. Indemnification .

 

5.1  Indemnification of the Underwriters .

 

5.1.1.  General . Subject to the conditions set forth below, the Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates and each of its and their respective directors, officers, members, employees, representatives and agents and each person, if any, who controls any such Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act (collectively the “ Underwriter Indemnified Parties ,” and each an “ Underwriter Indemnified Party ”), against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever (including but not limited to any and all legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever, whether arising out of any action between any of the Underwriter Indemnified Parties and the Company or between any of the Underwriter Indemnified Parties and any third party, or otherwise) to which they or any of them may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any other statute or at common law or otherwise or under the laws of foreign countries (a “ Claim ”), (i) arising out of or based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in (A) the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Prospectus, or in any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or in any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication (as from time to time each may be amended and supplemented); (B) any materials or information provided to investors by, or with the approval of, the Company in connection with the marketing of the Offering, including any “road show” or investor presentations made to investors by the Company (whether in person or electronically); or (C) any application or other document or written communication (in this Section 5, collectively called “application”) executed by the Company or based upon written information furnished by the Company in any jurisdiction in order to qualify the Public Securities and Representative’s Securities under the securities laws thereof or filed with the Commission, any state securities commission or agency, the Exchange or any other national securities exchange; or the omission or alleged omission therefrom of a 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, unless such statement or omission was made in reliance upon, and in conformity with, the Underwriters’ Information or (ii) otherwise arising in connection with or allegedly in connection with the Offering. The Company also agrees that it will reimburse each Underwriter Indemnified Party for all fees and expenses (including but not limited to any and all legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever, whether arising out of any action between any of the Underwriter Indemnified Parties and the Company or between any of the Underwriter Indemnified Parties and any third party, or otherwise) (collectively, the “ Expenses ”), and further agrees wherever and whenever possible to advance payment of Expenses as they are incurred by an Underwriter Indemnified Party in investigating, preparing, pursuing or defending any Claim. With respect to any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in the Pricing Disclosure Package, the indemnity agreement contained in this Section 5.1.1 shall not inure to the benefit of any Underwriter Indemnified Party to the extent that any loss, liability, claim, damage or expense of such Underwriter Indemnified Party results from the fact that a copy of the Prospectus was not given or sent to the person asserting any such loss, liability, claim or damage at or prior to the written confirmation of sale of the Public Securities to such person as required by the Securities Act and the Securities Act Regulations, and if the untrue statement or omission has been corrected in the Prospectus, unless such failure to deliver the Prospectus was a result of non-compliance by the Company with its obligations under Section 3.4 hereof.

 

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5.1.2.  Procedure . If any action is brought against an Underwriter Indemnified Party in respect of which indemnity may be sought against the Company pursuant to Section 5.1.1, such Underwriter Indemnified Party shall promptly notify the Company in writing of the institution of such action and the Company shall assume the defense of such action, including the employment and fees of counsel (subject to the reasonable approval of such Underwriter Indemnified Party) and payment of actual expenses if an Underwriter Indemnified Party requests that the Company do so. Such Underwriter Indemnified Party shall have the right to employ its or their own counsel in any such case, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such Underwriter Indemnified Party unless (i) the employment of such counsel at the expense of the Company shall have been authorized in writing by the Company in connection with the defense of such action, (ii) the Company shall not have employed counsel to have charge of the defense of such action, or (iii) such Underwriter Indemnified Party shall have reasonably concluded that there may be defenses available to it or them which are different from or additional to those available to the Company (in which case the Company shall not have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the Underwriter Indemnified Party or parties), in any of which events the reasonable fees and expenses of not more than one additional firm of attorneys selected by the Underwriter Indemnified Party (in addition to local counsel) shall be borne by the Company. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if any Underwriter Indemnified Party shall assume the defense of such action as provided above, the Company shall have the right to approve the terms of any settlement of such action, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld. In addition, the Company shall not, without the prior written consent of the Underwriters, settle, compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment in or otherwise seek to terminate any pending or threatened action in respect of which advancement, reimbursement, indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not such Underwriter Indemnified Party is a party thereto) unless such settlement, compromise, consent or termination (i) includes an unconditional release of each Underwriter Indemnified Party, acceptable to such Underwriter Indemnified Party, from all liabilities, expenses and claims arising out of such action for which indemnification or contribution may be sought and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act, by or on behalf of any Underwriter Indemnified Party.

 

5.2  Indemnification of the Company . Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, its officers who signed the Registration Statement and persons who control the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense described in the foregoing indemnity from the Company to the several Underwriters, as incurred, but only with respect to untrue statements or omissions, or alleged untrue statements or omissions made in the Registration Statement, any Preliminary Prospectus, the Pricing Disclosure Package or Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto or in any application, in reliance upon, and in strict conformity with, the Underwriters’ Information. In case any action shall be brought against the Company or any other person so indemnified based on any Preliminary Prospectus, the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto or any application, and in respect of which indemnity may be sought against any Underwriter, such Underwriter shall have the rights and duties given to the Company, and the Company and each other person so indemnified shall have the rights and duties given to the several Underwriters by the provisions of Section 5.1.2. The Company agrees promptly to notify the Representative of the commencement of any litigation or proceedings against the Company or any of its officers, directors or any person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, in connection with the issuance and sale of the Public Securities or in connection with the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package, the Prospectus, or any Issuer Free Writing Prospectus or any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication.

 

  - 27 -  

 

 

5.3  Contribution .

 

5.3.1.  Contribution Rights . If the indemnification provided for in this Section 5 shall for any reason be unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party under Section 5.1 or 5.2 in respect of any loss, claim, damage or liability, or any action in respect thereof, referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party, contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such loss, claim, damage or liability, or action in respect thereof, (i) in such proportion as shall be appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, from the Offering of the Public Securities, 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 Underwriters, on the other, with respect to the statements or omissions that resulted in such loss, claim, damage or liability, or action in respect thereof, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other, with respect to such Offering shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total net proceeds from the Offering of the Public Securities purchased under this Agreement (before deducting expenses) received by the Company, as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus, on the one hand, and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters with respect to the shares of the Common Stock purchased under this Agreement, as set forth in the table on the cover page of the Prospectus, on the other hand. The relative fault shall be determined by reference to whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or the Underwriters, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contributions pursuant to this Section 5.3.1 were to be determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take into account the equitable considerations referred to herein. The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the loss, claim, damage or liability, or action in respect thereof, referred to above in this Section 5.3.1 shall be deemed to include, for purposes of this Section 5.3.1, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 5.3.1 in no event shall an Underwriter be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by such Underwriter with respect to the Offering of the Public Securities exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. 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.

 

5.3.2.  Contribution Procedure . Within fifteen (15) days after receipt by any party to this Agreement (or its representative) of notice of the commencement of any action, suit or proceeding, such party will, if a claim for contribution in respect thereof is to be made against another party (“ contributing party ”), notify the contributing party of the commencement thereof, but the failure to so notify the contributing party will not relieve it from any liability which it may have to any other party other than for contribution hereunder. In case any such action, suit or proceeding is brought against any party, and such party notifies a contributing party or its representative of the commencement thereof within the aforesaid 15 days, the contributing party will be entitled to participate therein with the notifying party and any other contributing party similarly notified. Any such contributing party shall not be liable to any party seeking contribution on account of any settlement of any claim, action or proceeding affected by such party seeking contribution on account of any settlement of any claim, action or proceeding affected by such party seeking contribution without the written consent of such contributing party. The contribution provisions contained in this Section 5.3.2 are intended to supersede, to the extent permitted by law, any right to contribution under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or otherwise available. Each Underwriter’s obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 5.3 are several and not joint.

 

6. Default by an Underwriter .

 

6.1  Default Not Exceeding 10% of Firm Shares or Option Shares . If any Underwriter or Underwriters shall default in its or their obligations to purchase the Firm Shares or the Option Shares, if the Over-allotment Option is exercised hereunder, and if the number of the Firm Shares or Option Shares with respect to which such default relates does not exceed in the aggregate 10% of the number of Firm Shares or Option Shares that all Underwriters have agreed to purchase hereunder, then such Firm Shares or Option Shares to which the default relates shall be purchased by the non-defaulting Underwriters in proportion to their respective commitments hereunder.

 

  - 28 -  

 

 

6.2  Default Exceeding 10% of Firm Shares or Option Shares . In the event that the default addressed in Section 6.1 relates to more than 10% of the Firm Shares or Option Shares, you may in your discretion arrange for yourself or for another party or parties to purchase such Firm Shares or Option Shares to which such default relates on the terms contained herein. If, within one (1) Business Day after such default relating to more than 10% of the Firm Shares or Option Shares, you do not arrange for the purchase of such Firm Shares or Option Shares, then the Company shall be entitled to a further period of one (1) Business Day within which to procure another party or parties satisfactory to you to purchase said Firm Shares or Option Shares on such terms. In the event that neither you nor the Company arrange for the purchase of the Firm Shares or Option Shares to which a default relates as provided in this Section 6, this Agreement will automatically be terminated by you or the Company without liability on the part of the Company (except as provided in Sections 3.9 and 5 hereof) or the several Underwriters (except as provided in Section 5 hereof); provided, however, that if such default occurs with respect to the Option Shares, this Agreement will not terminate as to the Firm Shares; and provided, further, that nothing herein shall relieve a defaulting Underwriter of its liability, if any, to the other Underwriters and to the Company for damages occasioned by its default hereunder.

 

6.3  Postponement of Closing Date . In the event that the Firm Shares or Option Shares to which the default relates are to be purchased by the non-defaulting Underwriters, or are to be purchased by another party or parties as aforesaid, you or the Company shall have the right to postpone the Closing Date or Option Closing Date for a reasonable period, but not in any event exceeding five (5) Business Days, in order to effect whatever changes may thereby be made necessary in the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or in any other documents and arrangements, and the Company agrees to file promptly any amendment to the Registration Statement, the Pricing Disclosure Package or the Prospectus that in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriter may thereby be made necessary. The term “Underwriter” as used in this Agreement shall include any party substituted under this Section 6 with like effect as if it had originally been a party to this Agreement with respect to such shares of Common Stock.

 

7. Additional Covenants .

 

7.1  Board Composition and Board Designations . The Company shall ensure that: (i) the qualifications of the persons serving as members of the Board of Directors and the overall composition of the Board comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, with the Exchange Act and with the listing rules of the Exchange or any other national securities exchange, as the case may be, in the event the Company seeks to have its Public Securities listed on another exchange or quoted on an automated quotation system, and (ii) if applicable, at least one member of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as such term is defined under Regulation S-K and the listing rules of the Exchange.

 

7.2  Prohibition on Press Releases and Public Announcements . The Company shall not issue press releases or engage in any other publicity, without the Representative’s prior written consent, for a period ending at 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the first (1 st ) Business Day following the forty-fifth (45 th ) day after the Closing Date, other than normal and customary releases issued in the ordinary course of the Company’s business.

 

7.3  Right of First Refusal . Provided that the Firm Shares are sold in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the Representative shall have an irrevocable right of first refusal (the “ Right of First Refusal ”) for a period of fifteen (15) months after the date the Offering is completed, to act as sole investment banker, sole book-runner and/or sole placement agent, at the Representative’s sole and exclusive discretion, for each and every future public and private equity and debt offerings by the Company, including all equity linked financings (each, a “ Subject Transaction ”), during such fifteen (15) month period, of the Company, or any successor to or subsidiary of the Company, on terms and conditions customary to the Representative for such Subject Transactions. For the avoidance of any doubt, the Company shall not retain, engage or solicit any additional investment banker, book-runner, financial advisor, underwriter and/or placement agent in a Subject Transaction without the express written consent of the Representative.

 

  - 29 -  

 

 

The Company shall notify the Representative of its intention to pursue a Subject Transaction, including the material terms thereof, by providing written notice thereof by registered mail or overnight courier service addressed to the Representative.  If the Representative fails to exercise its Right of First Refusal with respect to any Subject Transaction within ten (10) Business Days after the mailing of such written notice, then the Representative shall have no further claim or right with respect to the Subject Transaction. The Representative may elect, in its sole and absolute discretion, not to exercise its Right of First Refusal with respect to any Subject Transaction; provided that any such election by the Representative shall not adversely affect the Representative’s Right of First Refusal with respect to any other Subject Transaction during the fifteen (15) month period agreed to above.  

 

8. Effective Date of this Agreement and Termination Thereof .

 

8.1  Effective Date . This Agreement shall become effective when both the Company and the Representative have executed the same and delivered counterparts of such signatures to the other party.

 

8.2  Termination . The Representative shall have the right to terminate this Agreement at any time prior to any Closing Date, (i) if any domestic or international event or act or occurrence has materially disrupted, or in your opinion will in the immediate future materially disrupt, general securities markets in the United States; or (ii) if trading on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC shall have been suspended or materially limited, or minimum or maximum prices for trading shall have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices for securities shall have been required by FINRA or by order of the Commission or any other government authority having jurisdiction; or (iii) if the United States shall have become involved in a new war or an increase in major hostilities; or (iv) if a banking moratorium has been declared by a New York State or federal authority; or (v) if a moratorium on foreign exchange trading has been declared which materially adversely impacts the United States securities markets; or (vi) if the Company shall have sustained a material loss by fire, flood, accident, hurricane, earthquake, theft, sabotage or other calamity or malicious act which, whether or not such loss shall have been insured, will, in your opinion, make it inadvisable to proceed with the delivery of the Firm Shares or Option Shares; or (vii) if the Company is in material breach of any of its representations, warranties or covenants hereunder; or (viii) if the Representative shall have become aware after the date hereof of such a material adverse change in the conditions or prospects of the Company, or such adverse material change in general market conditions as in the Representative’s judgment would make it impracticable to proceed with the offering, sale and/or delivery of the Public Securities or to enforce contracts made by the Underwriters for the sale of the Public Securities.

 

8.3  Expenses . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, except in the case of a default by the Underwriters, pursuant to Section 6.2 above, in the event that this Agreement shall not be carried out for any reason whatsoever, within the time specified herein or any extensions thereof pursuant to the terms herein, the Company shall be obligated to pay to the Underwriters their actual and accountable out-of-pocket expenses related to the transactions contemplated herein then due and payable (including the fees and disbursements of Representative Counsel) up to $50,000, inclusive of any advance paid to the Underwriters for actual out-of-pocket accountable expenses previously paid by the Company to the Representative (the “ Advance ”) and upon demand the Company shall pay the full amount thereof to the Representative on behalf of the Underwriters; provided, however, that such expense cap in no way limits or impairs the indemnification and contribution provisions of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any advance received by the Representative will be reimbursed to the Company to the extent not actually incurred in compliance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(C). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the maximum payment to be made by the Company upon any termination shall be $50,000 less all amounts paid as Advances and less any expenses or other amounts previously paid by the Company to Joseph Gunnar in connection with the Company’s initial public offering to the extent that any such amounts are not reimbursed to the Company.

 

  - 30 -  

 

 

8.4  Survival of Indemnification . Notwithstanding any contrary provision contained in this Agreement, any election hereunder or any termination of this Agreement, and whether or not this Agreement is otherwise carried out, the provisions of Section 5 shall remain in full force and effect and shall not be in any way affected by, such election or termination or failure to carry out the terms of this Agreement or any part hereof.

 

8.5  Representations, Warranties, Agreements to Survive . All representations, warranties and agreements contained in this Agreement or in certificates of officers of the Company submitted pursuant hereto, shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of (i) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or its Affiliates or selling agents, any person controlling any Underwriter, its officers or directors or any person controlling the Company or (ii) delivery of and payment for the Public Securities.

 

9. Miscellaneous .

 

9.1  Notices . All communications hereunder, except as herein otherwise specifically provided, shall be in writing and shall be mailed (registered or certified mail, return receipt requested), personally delivered or sent by facsimile transmission or e-mail and confirmed and shall be deemed given when so delivered, or faxed or e-mailed and confirmed or if mailed, two (2) days after such mailing.

 

If to the Representative:

 

ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc.

17 State Street, 22 nd Floor

New York, New York 10004
Attn: Mr. Eric Lord, Head of Investment Banking

Fax No.: (212) 349-2550

e-mail: el@think-equity.com

 

with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:


Reed Smith LLP

599 Lexington Avenue

New York, New York 10022-7650

Attn: Aron Izower

Fax No.: (212) 521-5450

e-mail: aizower@reedsmith.com

 

If to the Company:

 

DERMAdoctor, Inc.

1901 McGee Street

Kansas City, Missouri 64108

Attention: Jeff Kunin, M.D., Chief Executive Officer

Fax No: (816) 472-5752

e-mail: jkunin@dermadoctor.com

 

  - 31 -  

 

 

with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:

 

Gracin & Marlow, LLP

The Chrysler Building

405 Lexington Avenue, 26 th Floor

New York, New York 10174

Attention: Leslie Marlow, Esq.

Fax No: (212) 208-4657

e-mail: lmarlow@gracinmarlow.com

 

9.2  Headings . The headings contained herein are for the sole purpose of convenience of reference, and shall not in any way limit or affect the meaning or interpretation of any of the terms or provisions of this Agreement.

 

9.3  Amendment . This Agreement may only be amended by a written instrument executed by each of the parties hereto.

 

9.4  Entire Agreement . This Agreement (together with the other agreements and documents being delivered pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement) constitutes the entire agreement of the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof, and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings of the parties, oral and written, with respect to the subject matter hereof.

 

9.5  Binding Effect . This Agreement shall inure solely to the benefit of and shall be binding upon the Representative, the Underwriters, the Company and the controlling persons, directors and officers referred to in Section 5 hereof, and their respective successors, legal representatives, heirs and assigns, and no other person shall have or be construed to have any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in respect of or by virtue of this Agreement or any provisions herein contained. The term “successors and assigns” shall not include a purchaser, in its capacity as such, of securities from any of the Underwriters.

 

9.6  Governing Law; Consent to Jurisdiction; Trial by Jury . This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to conflict of laws principles thereof. The Company hereby agrees that any action, proceeding or claim against it arising out of, or relating in any way to this Agreement shall be brought and enforced in the New York Supreme Court, County of New York, or in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and irrevocably submits to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be exclusive. The Company hereby waives any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum. Any such process or summons to be served upon the Company may be served by transmitting a copy thereof by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed to it at the address set forth in Section 9.1 hereof. Such mailing shall be deemed personal service and shall be legal and binding upon the Company in any action, proceeding or claim. The Company agrees that the prevailing party(ies) in any such action shall be entitled to recover from the other party(ies) all of its reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses relating to such action or proceeding and/or incurred in connection with the preparation therefor. The Company (on its own behalf and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, on behalf of its stockholders and affiliates) and each of the Underwriters 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.

 

9.7  Execution in Counterparts . This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, and by the different parties hereto in separate counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all of which taken together shall constitute one and the same agreement, and shall become effective when one or more counterparts has been signed by each of the parties hereto and delivered to each of the other parties hereto. Delivery of a signed counterpart of this Agreement by facsimile or email/pdf transmission shall constitute valid and sufficient delivery thereof.

 

9.8  Waiver, etc . The failure of any of the parties hereto to at any time enforce any of the provisions of this Agreement shall not be deemed or construed to be a waiver of any such provision, nor to in any way effect the validity of this Agreement or any provision hereof or the right of any of the parties hereto to thereafter enforce each and every provision of this Agreement. No waiver of any breach, non-compliance or non-fulfillment of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall be effective unless set forth in a written instrument executed by the party or parties against whom or which enforcement of such waiver is sought; and no waiver of any such breach, non-compliance or non-fulfillment shall be construed or deemed to be a waiver of any other or subsequent breach, non-compliance or non-fulfillment.

 

[Signature Page Follows]

 

  - 32 -  

 

 

If the foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding between the Underwriters and the Company, please so indicate in the space provided below for that purpose, whereupon this letter shall constitute a binding agreement between us.

 

  Very truly yours,
  DERMADOCTOR, INC.
   
  By:  
    Name:  Jeff Kunin, M.D.
    Title: President and Chief Executive Officer

 

Confirmed as of the date first written above mentioned, on behalf
of itself and as Representative of the several
Underwriters named on Schedule 1 hereto:

 

THINKEQUITY, a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc.  
   
By:    
  Name: Eric Lord  
  Title: Head of Investment Banking  

 

[Signature Page]

[ISSUER] – Underwriting Agreement

 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE 1

 

Underwriter  

Total Number of

Firm Shares to be Purchased

    Number of Additional Shares to be Purchased if the Over-Allotment Option is Fully Exercised  
ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc.                 
                 
                 
TOTAL                

 

 

  Sch. 1 -1  

 

 

SCHEDULE 2-A

Pricing Information

 

Number of Firm Shares: [●]

 

Number of Option Shares: [●]

 

Public Offering Price per Share: $[●]

 

Underwriting Discount per Share: $[●]

 

Underwriting Non-accountable expense allowance per Share: $[●]

 

Proceeds to Company per Share (before expenses): $[●]

 

SCHEDULE 2-B

 

Issuer General Use Free Writing Prospectuses

 

Free writing prospectus filed with the Commission on [●], 2018

 

SCHEDULE 2-C

 

Written Testing-the-Waters Communications

 

[None.]

 

  Sch. 2 -1  

 

 

SCHEDULE 3

 

List of Lock-Up Parties

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Sch. 3 -1  

 

 

EXHIBIT A

 

Form of Representative’s Warrant Agreement

 

[ Reference is made to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File Number 333-224622 of the Company, which is incorporated by reference.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Ex. A- 1  

 

 

EXHIBIT B

 

Form of Lock-Up Agreement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Ex. B- 1  

 

 

EXHIBIT C

 

Form of Press Release

 

[DERMADOCTOR, INC.]


[Date]

 

DERMAdoctor, Inc. (the “Company”) announced today that ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc., acting as representative for the underwriters in the Company’s recent public offering of  _______ shares of the Company’s common stock, is [waiving] [releasing] a lock-up restriction with respect to _________  shares of the Company’s common stock held by [certain officers or directors] [an officer or director] of the Company.  The [waiver] [release] will take effect on  _________, 20___, and the shares may be sold on or after such date.  

 

This press release is not an offer or sale of the securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction where such offer or sale is prohibited, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

 

Ex. C- 1

 

 

 

EXHIBIT D

 

Form of Opinion of Counsel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ex. D-1

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 4.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following abbreviations, when used in the inscription on the face of this certificate, shall be construed as though they were written out in full according to applicable laws or regulations.

 

TEN COM - as tenants in common UNIF GIFT MIN ACT .........................         Custodian .........................
TEN ENT - as tenants by the entireties (Cust)             (Minor)
JT TEN - as joint tenants with the right of Act .........................      
     survivorship and not as tenants (State)           
     in common      

 

Additional abbreviations may also be used though not in the above list.

 

For value received,_______________________________________ hereby sell, assign and transfer unto

PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR OTHER IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF ASSIGNEE:

 

 

 

(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME AND ADDRESS, INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  shares

 

of the capital stock represented by the within Certificate, and do hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint ____________________________________________________________________________, Attorney to transfer the said stock on the books of the within named Corporation with full power of substitution in the premises.

 

Dated    

 

X  

THE SIGNATURE TO THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST CORRESPOND WITH THE NAME AS WRITTEN UPON THE FACE OF THIS CERTIFICATE. THE SIGNATURE(S) MUST BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (Banks, Stockbrokers, Savings and Loan Associations and Credit Unions).

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURE GUARANTEED:

 

 

 

TRANSFER FEE WILL APPLY

 

 

 

Exhibit 4.2

 

Form of Representative’s Warrant Agreement

 

THE REGISTERED HOLDER OF THIS PURCHASE WARRANT BY ITS ACCEPTANCE HEREOF, AGREES THAT IT WILL NOT SELL, TRANSFER OR ASSIGN THIS PURCHASE WARRANT EXCEPT AS HEREIN PROVIDED AND THE REGISTERED HOLDER OF THIS PURCHASE WARRANT AGREES THAT IT WILL NOT SELL, TRANSFER, ASSIGN, PLEDGE OR HYPOTHECATE THIS PURCHASE WARRANT FOR A PERIOD OF ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DAYS FOLLOWING THE EFFECTIVE DATE (DEFINED BELOW) TO ANYONE OTHER THAN (I) THINKEQUITY OR AN UNDERWRITER OR A SELECTED DEALER IN CONNECTION WITH THE OFFERING, OR (II) A BONA FIDE OFFICER OR PARTNER OF THINKEQUITY OR OF ANY SUCH UNDERWRITER OR SELECTED DEALER.

 

THIS PURCHASE WARRANT IS NOT EXERCISABLE PRIOR TO [________________] [ DATE THAT IS ONE YEAR FROM THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ]. VOID AFTER 5:00 P.M., EASTERN TIME, [___________________] [ DATE THAT IS FIVE YEARS FROM THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ].

 

WARRANT TO PURCHASE COMMON STOCK

 

[DERMADOCTOR, INC.]

 

Warrant Shares: _______

Initial Exercise Date: ______, 2019

 

THIS WARRANT TO PURCHASE COMMON STOCK (the “ Warrant ”) certifies that, for value received, _____________ or its assigns (the “ Holder ”) is entitled, upon the terms and subject to the limitations on exercise and the conditions hereinafter set forth, at any time on or after ____, 2019 (the one year anniversary of the Effective Date, the “ Initial Exercise Date ”) and, in accordance with FINRA Rule 5110(f)(2)(G)(i), prior to at 5:00 p.m. (New York time) on the date that is five (5) years following the Effective Date (the “ Termination Date ”) but not thereafter, to subscribe for and purchase from DERMAdoctor, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “ Company ”), up to ______ shares of Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company (the “ Warrant Shares ”), as subject to adjustment hereunder. The purchase price of one share of Common Stock under this Warrant shall be equal to the Exercise Price, as defined in Section 2(b).

 

Section 1 . Definitions . In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings indicated in this Section 1:

 

Affiliate ” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person, as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

 

 

Business Day ” means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, any day which is a federal legal holiday in the United States or any day on which banking institutions in the State of New York are authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close.

 

Commission ” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Exchange Act ” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

Person ” means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind.

 

Rule 144 ” means Rule 144 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Rule may be amended or interpreted from time to time, or any similar rule or regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially the same purpose and effect as such Rule.

 

Securities Act ” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

Trading Day ” means a day on which the New York Stock Exchange is open for trading.

 

Trading Market ” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE American LLC, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, or the New York Stock Exchange (or any successors to any of the foregoing).

 

VWAP ” means, for any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the Trading Market on which the Common Stock is then listed or quoted as reported by Bloomberg L.P. (based on a Trading Day from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) to 4:02 p.m. (New York City time)), (b)  if OTCQB or OTCQX is not a Trading Market, the volume weighted average price of a share of Common Stock for such date (or the nearest preceding date) on the OTCQB or OTCQX as applicable, (c) if Common Stock is not then listed or quoted for trading on the OTCQB or OTCQX and if prices for Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by OTC Markets Group, Inc. (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price per share of Common Stock so reported, or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of the Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Holder and reasonably acceptable to the Company, the fees and expenses of which shall be paid by the Company.

 

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Section 2 . Exercise .

 

a) Exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant may be made, in whole or in part, at any time or times on or after the Initial Exercise Date and on or before the Termination Date by delivery to the Company (or such other office or agency of the Company as it may designate by notice in writing to the registered Holder at the address of the Holder appearing on the books of the Company) of a duly executed facsimile copy (or e-mail attachment) of the Notice of Exercise Form annexed hereto. Within two (2) Trading Days following the date of exercise as aforesaid, the Holder shall deliver the aggregate Exercise Price for the shares specified in the applicable Notice of Exercise by wire transfer or cashier’s check drawn on a United States bank unless the cashless exercise procedure specified in Section 2(c) below is specified in the applicable Notice of Exercise. No ink-original Notice of Exercise shall be required, nor shall any medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any Notice of Exercise form be required. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Holder shall not be required to physically surrender this Warrant to the Company until the Holder has purchased all of the Warrant Shares available hereunder and the Warrant has been exercised in full, in which case, the Holder shall surrender this Warrant to the Company for cancellation within five (5) Trading Days of the date the final Notice of Exercise is delivered to the Company. Partial exercises of this Warrant resulting in purchases of a portion of the total number of Warrant Shares available hereunder shall have the effect of lowering the outstanding number of Warrant Shares purchasable hereunder in an amount equal to the applicable number of Warrant Shares purchased. The Holder and the Company shall maintain records showing the number of Warrant Shares purchased and the date of such purchases. The Company shall deliver any objection to any Notice of Exercise Form within two (2) Business Days of receipt of such notice. The Holder and any assignee, by acceptance of this Warrant, acknowledge and agree that, by reason of the provisions of this paragraph, following the purchase of a portion of the Warrant Shares hereunder, the number of Warrant Shares available for purchase hereunder at any given time may be less than the amount stated on the face hereof.

 

b) Exercise Price . The exercise price per share of the Common Stock under this Warrant shall be $_______ 1 , subject to adjustment hereunder (the “ Exercise Price ”).

 

c) Cashless Exercise . If at any time on or after the Initial Exercise Date, there is no effective registration statement registering, or the prospectus contained therein is not available for the issuance of the Warrant Shares to the Holder, then this Warrant may also be exercised, in whole or in part, at such time by means of a “cashless exercise” in which the Holder shall be entitled to receive the number of Warrant Shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing [(A-B) (X)] by (A), where:

 

(A) = the VWAP on the Trading Day immediately preceding the date on which Holder elects to exercise this Warrant by means of a “cashless exercise,” as set forth in the applicable Notice of Exercise;

 

(B) = the Exercise Price of this Warrant, as adjusted hereunder; and

 

  (X) = the number of Warrant Shares that would be issuable upon exercise of this Warrant in accordance with the terms of this Warrant if such exercise were by means of a cash exercise rather than a cashless exercise.

 

If Warrant Shares are issued in such a “cashless exercise,” the parties acknowledge and agree that in accordance with Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act, the Warrant Shares shall take on the registered characteristics of the Warrants being exercised, and the holding period of the Warrants being exercised may be tacked on to the holding period of the Warrant Shares.The Company agrees not to take any position contrary to this Section 2(c).  

 

 

 

1 125% of the initial public offering price per share of common stock in the offering.

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Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, on the Termination Date, this Warrant shall be automatically exercised via cashless exercise pursuant to this Section 2(c).

 

d) Mechanics of Exercise .

 

i. Delivery of Warrant Shares Upon Exercise . The Company shall cause the Warrant Shares purchased hereunder to be transmitted by its transfer agent to the Holder by crediting the account of the Holder’s or its designee’s balance account with The Depository Trust Company through its Deposit or Withdrawal at Custodian system (“ DWAC ”) if the Company is then a participant in such system and either (A) there is an effective registration statement permitting the issuance of the Warrant Shares to or resale of the Warrant Shares by Holder, or (B) the Warrant Shares are eligible for resale by the Holder without volume or manner-of-sale limitations pursuant to Rule 144 and, in either case, the Warrant Shares have been sold by the Holder prior to the Warrant Share Delivery Date (as defined below), and otherwise by physical delivery of a certificate, registered in the Company’s share register in the name of the Holder or its designee, for the number of Warrant Shares to which the Holder is entitled pursuant to such exercise to the address specified by the Holder in the Notice of Exercise by the date that is two (2) Trading Days after the delivery to the Company of the Notice of Exercise and payment of cash if the exercise is a cash exercise pursuant to Section 2(a) above (such date, the “ Warrant Share Delivery Date ”). If the Warrant Shares can be delivered via DWAC, the transfer agent shall have received from the Company, at the expense of the Company, any legal opinions or other documentation required by it to deliver such Warrant Shares without legend (subject to receipt by the Company of reasonable back up documentation from the Holder, including with respect to affiliate status) and, if applicable and requested by the Company prior to the Warrant Share Delivery Date, the transfer agent shall have received from the Holder a confirmation of sale of the Warrant Shares (provided the requirement of the Holder to provide a confirmation as to the sale of Warrant Shares shall not be applicable to the issuance of unlegended Warrant Shares upon a cashless exercise of this Warrant if the Warrant Shares are then eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144(b)(1)). The Warrant Shares shall be deemed to have been issued, and Holder or any other person so designated to be named therein shall be deemed to have become a holder of record of such shares for all purposes, as of the date the Warrant has been exercised, with payment to the Company of the Exercise Price (or by cashless exercise, if permitted) and all taxes required to be paid by the Holder, if any, pursuant to Section 2(d)(vi) prior to the issuance of such shares, having been paid. If the Company fails for any reason to deliver to the Holder the Warrant Shares subject to a Notice of Exercise by the second Trading Day following the Warrant Share Delivery Date, the Company shall pay to the Holder, in cash, as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of Warrant Shares subject to such exercise (based on the VWAP of the Common Stock on the date of the applicable Notice of Exercise), $10 per Trading Day (increasing to $20 per Trading Day on the fifth Trading Day after such liquidated damages begin to accrue) for each Trading Day after the second Trading Day following such Warrant Share Delivery Date until such Warrant Shares are delivered or Holder rescinds such exercise.

 

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ii. Delivery of New Warrants Upon Exercise . If this Warrant shall have been exercised in part, the Company shall, at the request of a Holder and upon surrender of this Warrant certificate, at the time of delivery of the Warrant Shares, deliver to the Holder a new Warrant evidencing the rights of the Holder to purchase the unpurchased Warrant Shares called for by this Warrant, which new Warrant shall in all other respects be identical with this Warrant.

 

iii. Rescission Rights . If the Company fails to cause its transfer agent to deliver to the Holder the Warrant Shares pursuant to Section 2(d)(i) by the Warrant Share Delivery Date, then the Holder will have the right to rescind such exercise; provided , however , that the Holder shall be required to return any Warrant Shares or Common Stock subject to any such rescinded exercise notice concurrently with the return to Holder of the aggregate Exercise Price paid to the Company for such Warrant Shares and the restoration of Holder’s right to acquire such Warrant Shares pursuant to this Warrant (including, issuance of a replacement warrant certificate evidencing such restored right).

 

iv. Compensation for Buy-In on Failure to Timely Deliver Warrant Shares Upon Exercise . In addition to any other rights available to the Holder, if the Company fails to cause its transfer agent to transmit to the Holder the Warrant Shares pursuant to an exercise on or before the second Trading Day following the Warrant Share Delivery Date, and if after such date the Holder is required by its broker to purchase (in an open market transaction or otherwise) or the Holder’s brokerage firm otherwise purchases, shares of Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of the Warrant Shares which the Holder anticipated receiving upon such exercise (a “ Buy-In ”), then the Company shall (A) pay in cash to the Holder the amount, if any, by which (x) the Holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased exceeds (y) the amount obtained by multiplying (1) the number of Warrant Shares that the Company was required to deliver to the Holder in connection with the exercise at issue times (2) the price at which the sell order giving rise to such purchase obligation was executed, and (B) at the option of the Holder, either reinstate the portion of the Warrant and equivalent number of Warrant Shares for which such exercise was not honored (in which case such exercise shall be deemed rescinded) or deliver to the Holder the number of shares of Common Stock that would have been issued had the Company timely complied with its exercise and delivery obligations hereunder. For example, if the Holder purchases Common Stock having a total purchase price of $11,000 to cover a Buy-In with respect to an attempted exercise of shares of Common Stock with an aggregate sale price giving rise to such purchase obligation of $10,000, under clause (A) of the immediately preceding sentence the Company shall be required to pay the Holder $1,000. The Holder shall provide the Company written notice indicating the amounts payable to the Holder in respect of the Buy-In and, upon request of the Company, evidence of the amount of such loss. Nothing herein shall limit a Holder’s right to pursue any other remedies available to it hereunder, at law or in equity including, without limitation, a decree of specific performance and/or injunctive relief with respect to the Company’s failure to timely deliver shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Warrant as required pursuant to the terms hereof.

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v. No Fractional Shares or Scrip . No fractional shares or scrip representing fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of this Warrant. As to any fraction of a share which the Holder would otherwise be entitled to purchase upon such exercise, the Company shall, at its election, either pay a cash adjustment in respect of such final fraction in an amount equal to such fraction multiplied by the Exercise Price or round up to the next whole share.

 

vi. Charges, Taxes and Expenses . Issuance of Warrant Shares shall be made without charge to the Holder for any issue or transfer tax or other incidental expense in respect of the issuance of such Warrant Shares, all of which taxes and expenses shall be paid by the Company, and such Warrant Shares shall be issued in the name of the Holder or in such name or names as may be directed by the Holder; provided , however , that in the event that Warrant Shares are to be issued in a name other than the name of the Holder, this Warrant when surrendered for exercise shall be accompanied by the Assignment Form attached hereto duly executed by the Holder and the Company may require, as a condition thereto, the payment of a sum sufficient to reimburse it for any transfer tax incidental thereto. The Company shall pay all transfer agent fees required for same-day processing of any Notice of Exercise and all fees to the Depository Trust Company (or another established clearing corporation performing similar functions) required for same-day electronic delivery of the Warrant Shares.

 

vii. Closing of Books . The Company will not close its stockholder books or records in any manner which prevents the timely exercise of this Warrant, pursuant to the terms hereof.

 

viii. Signature . This Section 2 and the exercise form attached hereto set forth the totality of the procedures required of the Holder in order to exercise this Purchase Warrant.  Without limiting the preceding sentences, no ink-original exercise form shall be required, nor shall any medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any exercise form be required in order to exercise this Purchase Warrant.  No additional legal opinion, other information or instructions shall be required of the Holder to exercise this Purchase Warrant.  The Company shall honor exercises of this Purchase Warrant and shall deliver Shares underlying this Purchase Warrant in accordance with the terms, conditions and time periods set forth herein.

 

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e) Holder’s Exercise Limitations . The Company shall not effect any exercise of this Warrant, and a Holder shall not have the right to exercise any portion of this Warrant, pursuant to Section 2 or otherwise, to the extent that after giving effect to such issuance after exercise as set forth on the applicable Notice of Exercise, the Holder (together with the Holder’s Affiliates, and any other Persons acting as a group together with the Holder or any of the Holder’s Affiliates), would beneficially own in excess of the Beneficial Ownership Limitation (as defined below).  For purposes of the foregoing sentence, the number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by the Holder and its Affiliates shall include the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Warrant with respect to which such determination is being made, but shall exclude the number of shares of Common Stock which would be issuable upon (i) exercise of the remaining, nonexercised portion of this Warrant beneficially owned by the Holder or any of its Affiliates and (ii) exercise or conversion of the unexercised or nonconverted portion of any other securities of the Company (including, without limitation, any other Common Stock Equivalents) subject to a limitation on conversion or exercise analogous to the limitation contained herein beneficially owned by the Holder or any of its Affiliates.  Except as set forth in the preceding sentence, for purposes of this Section 2(e), beneficial ownership shall be calculated in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, it being acknowledged by the Holder that the Company is not representing to the Holder that such calculation is in compliance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the Holder is solely responsible for any schedules required to be filed in accordance therewith. To the extent that the limitation contained in this Section 2(e) applies, the determination of whether this Warrant is exercisable (in relation to other securities owned by the Holder together with any Affiliates) and of which portion of this Warrant is exercisable shall be in the sole discretion of the Holder, and the submission of a Notice of Exercise shall be deemed to be the Holder’s determination of whether this Warrant is exercisable (in relation to other securities owned by the Holder together with any Affiliates) and of which portion of this Warrant is exercisable, in each case subject to the Beneficial Ownership Limitation, and the Company shall have no obligation to verify or confirm the accuracy of such determination. In addition, a determination as to any group status as contemplated above shall be determined in accordance with Section 13(d) of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. For purposes of this Section 2(e), in determining the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock, a Holder may rely on the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock as reflected in (A) the Company’s most recent periodic or annual report filed with the Commission, as the case may be, (B) a more recent public announcement by the Company or (C) a more recent written notice by the Company or the Company’s transfer agent setting forth the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding.  Upon the written or oral request of a Holder, the Company shall within two Trading Days confirm orally and in writing to the Holder the number of shares of Common Stock then outstanding.  In any case, the number of outstanding shares of Common Stock shall be determined after giving effect to the conversion or exercise of securities of the Company, including this Warrant, by the Holder or its Affiliates since the date as of which such number of outstanding shares of Common Stock was reported. The “ Beneficial Ownership Limitation ” shall be 9.99% of the number of shares of the Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to the issuance of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of this Warrant. The Holder, upon notice to the Company, may increase or decrease the Beneficial Ownership Limitation provisions of this Section 2(e), provided that the Beneficial Ownership Limitation in no event exceeds 9.99% of the number of shares of the Common Stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of this Warrant held by the Holder and the provisions of this Section 2(e) shall continue to apply. Any increase in the Beneficial Ownership Limitation will not be effective until the 61 st day after such notice is delivered to the Company. The provisions of this paragraph shall be construed and implemented in a manner otherwise than in strict conformity with the terms of this Section 2(e) to correct this paragraph (or any portion hereof) which may be defective or inconsistent with the intended Beneficial Ownership Limitation herein contained or to make changes or supplements necessary or desirable to properly give effect to such limitation. The limitations contained in this paragraph shall apply to a successor holder of this Warrant. 

 

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Section 3 . Certain Adjustments .

 

a) Stock Dividends and Splits . If the Company, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding: (i) pays a stock dividend or otherwise makes a distribution or distributions on shares of its Common Stock or any other equity or equity equivalent securities payable in shares of Common Stock (which, for avoidance of doubt, shall not include any shares of Common Stock issued by the Company upon exercise of this Warrant), (ii) subdivides outstanding shares of Common Stock into a larger number of shares, (iii) combines (including by way of reverse stock split) outstanding shares of Common Stock into a smaller number of shares, or (iv) issues by reclassification of shares of the Common Stock any shares of capital stock of the Company, then in each case the Exercise Price shall be multiplied by a fraction of which the numerator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) outstanding immediately before such event and of which the denominator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after such event, and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of this Warrant shall be proportionately adjusted such that the aggregate Exercise Price of this Warrant shall remain unchanged. Any adjustment made pursuant to this Section 3(a) shall become effective immediately after the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to receive such dividend or distribution and shall become effective immediately after the effective date in the case of a subdivision, combination or re-classification. For the purposes of clarification, the Exercise Price of this Warrant will not be adjusted in the event that the Company or any Subsidiary thereof, as applicable, sells or grants any option to purchase, or sell or grant any right to reprice, or otherwise dispose of or issue (or announce any offer, sale, grant or any option to purchase or other disposition) any Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents, at an effective price per share less than the Exercise Price then in effect.

 

b) [RESERVED]

 

c) Subsequent Rights Offerings . In addition to any adjustments pursuant to Section 3(a) above, if at any time the Company grants, issues or sells any Common Stock Equivalents or rights to purchase stock, warrants, securities or other property pro rata to the record holders of any class of shares of Common Stock (the “ Purchase Rights ”), then the Holder will be entitled to acquire, upon the terms applicable to such Purchase Rights, the aggregate Purchase Rights which the Holder could have acquired if the Holder had held the number of shares of Common Stock acquirable upon complete exercise of this Warrant (without regard to any limitations on exercise hereof, including without limitation, the Beneficial Ownership Limitation) immediately before the date on which a record is taken for the grant, issuance or sale of such Purchase Rights, or, if no such record is taken, the date as of which the record holders of shares of Common Stock are to be determined for the grant, issue or sale of such Purchase Rights (provided, however, to the extent that the Holder’s right to participate in any such Purchase Right would result in the Holder exceeding the Beneficial Ownership Limitation, then the Holder shall not be entitled to participate in such Purchase Right to such extent (or beneficial ownership of such shares of Common Stock as a result of such Purchase Right to such extent) and such Purchase Right to such extent shall be held in abeyance for the Holder until such time, if ever, as its right thereto would not result in the Holder exceeding the Beneficial Ownership Limitation).

 

d) Pro Rata Distributions . During such time as this Warrant is outstanding, if the Company shall declare or make any dividend (other than cash dividends) or other distribution of its assets (or rights to acquire its assets) to holders of shares of Common Stock, by way of return of capital or otherwise (including, without limitation, any distribution of shares or other securities, property or options by way of a dividend, spin off, reclassification, corporate rearrangement, scheme of arrangement or other similar transaction) (a “ Distribution” ), at any time after the issuance of this Warrant, then, in each such case, the Holder shall be entitled to participate in such Distribution to the same extent that the Holder would have participated therein if the Holder had held the number of shares of Common Stock acquirable upon complete exercise of this Warrant (without regard to any limitations on exercise hereof, including without limitation, the Beneficial Ownership Limitation) immediately before the date of which a record is taken for such Distribution, or, if no such record is taken, the date as of which the record holders of shares of Common Stock are to be determined for the participation in such Distribution ( provided , however , to the extent that the Holder’s right to participate in any such Distribution would result in the Holder exceeding the Beneficial Ownership Limitation, then the Holder shall not be entitled to participate in such Distribution to such extent (or in the beneficial ownership of any shares of Common Stock as a result of such Distribution to such extent) and the portion of such Distribution shall be held in abeyance for the benefit of the Holder until such time, if ever, as its right thereto would not result in the Holder exceeding the Beneficial Ownership Limitation). To the extent that this Warrant has not been partially or completely exercised at the time of such Distribution, such portion of the Distribution shall be held in abeyance for the benefit of the Holder until the Holder has exercised this Warrant.

 

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e) Fundamental Transaction . If, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding, (i) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another Person, (ii) the Company, directly or indirectly, effects any sale, lease, license, assignment, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of all or substantially all of its assets in one or a series of related transactions, (iii) any, direct or indirect, purchase offer, tender offer or exchange offer (whether by the Company or another Person) is completed pursuant to which holders of Common Stock are permitted to sell, tender or exchange their shares for other securities, cash or property and has been accepted by the holders of 50% or more of the outstanding Common Stock, (iv) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any reclassification, reorganization or recapitalization of the Common Stock or any compulsory share exchange pursuant to which the Common Stock is effectively converted into or exchanged for other securities, cash or property, or (v) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions consummates a stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination (including, without limitation, a reorganization, recapitalization, spin-off or scheme of arrangement) with another Person or group of Persons whereby such other Person or group acquires more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (not including any shares of Common Stock held by the other Person or other Persons making or party to, or associated or affiliated with the other Persons making or party to, such stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination) (each a “ Fundamental Transaction ”), then, upon any subsequent exercise of this Warrant, the Holder shall have the right to receive, for each Warrant Share that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, at the option of the Holder (without regard to any limitation in Section 2(e) on the exercise of this Warrant), the number of shares of Common Stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of the Company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration (the “ Alternate Consideration ”) receivable by holders of Common Stock as a result of such Fundamental Transaction for each share of Common Stock for which this Warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such Fundamental Transaction (without regard to any limitation in Section 2(e) on the exercise of this Warrant). For purposes of any such exercise, the determination of the Exercise Price shall be appropriately adjusted to apply to such Alternate Consideration based on the amount of Alternate Consideration issuable in respect of one share of Common Stock in such Fundamental Transaction, and the Company shall apportion the Exercise Price among the Alternate Consideration in a reasonable manner reflecting the relative value of any different components of the Alternate Consideration. If holders of Common Stock are given any choice as to the securities, cash or property to be received in a Fundamental Transaction, then the Holder shall be given the same choice as to the Alternate Consideration it receives upon any exercise of this Warrant following such Fundamental Transaction. The Company shall cause any successor entity in a Fundamental Transaction in which the Company is not the survivor (the “ Successor Entity ”) to assume in writing all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3(e) pursuant to written agreements prior to such Fundamental Transaction and shall, at the option of the Holder, deliver to the Holder in exchange for this Warrant a security of the Successor Entity evidenced by a written instrument substantially similar in form and substance to this Warrant which is exercisable for a corresponding number of shares of capital stock of such Successor Entity (or its parent entity) equivalent to the shares of Common Stock acquirable and receivable upon exercise of this Warrant (without regard to any limitations on the exercise of this Warrant) prior to such Fundamental Transaction, and with an exercise price which applies the exercise price hereunder to such shares of capital stock (but taking into account the relative value of the shares of Common Stock pursuant to such Fundamental Transaction and the value of such shares of capital stock, such number of shares of capital stock and such exercise price being for the purpose of protecting the economic value of this Warrant immediately prior to the consummation of such Fundamental Transaction). Upon the occurrence of any such Fundamental Transaction, the Successor Entity shall succeed to, and be substituted for (so that from and after the date of such Fundamental Transaction, the provisions of this Warrant referring to the “Company” shall refer instead to the Successor Entity), and may exercise every right and power of the Company and shall assume all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant with the same effect as if such Successor Entity had been named as the Company herein.

 

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f)  Calculations . All calculations under this Section 3 shall be made to the nearest cent or the nearest 1/100th of a share, as the case may be. For purposes of this Section 3, the number of shares of Common Stock deemed to be issued and outstanding as of a given date shall be the sum of the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) issued and outstanding.

 

g) Notice to Holder .

 

  i. Adjustment to Exercise Price . Whenever the Exercise Price is adjusted pursuant to any provision of this Section 3, the Company shall promptly mail to the Holder a notice setting forth the Exercise Price after such adjustment and any resulting adjustment to the number of Warrant Shares and setting forth a brief statement of the facts requiring such adjustment.

 

ii. Notice to Allow Exercise by Holder . If (A) the Company shall declare a dividend (or any other distribution in whatever form) on the Common Stock, (B) the Company shall declare a special nonrecurring cash dividend on or a redemption of the Common Stock, (C) the Company shall authorize the granting to all holders of the Common Stock rights or warrants to subscribe for or purchase any shares of capital stock of any class or of any rights, (D) the approval of any stockholders of the Company shall be required in connection with any reclassification of the Common Stock, any consolidation or merger to which the Company is a party, any sale or transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or any compulsory share exchange whereby the Common Stock is converted into other securities, cash or property, or (E) the Company shall authorize the voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation or winding up of the affairs of the Company, then, in each case, the Company shall cause to be mailed a notice to the Holder at its last address as it shall appear upon the Warrant Register of the Company, at least fifteen (15) calendar days prior to the applicable record or effective date hereinafter specified, stating (x) the date on which a record is to be taken for the purpose of such dividend, distribution, redemption, rights or warrants, or if a record is not to be taken, the date as of which the holders of the Common Stock of record to be entitled to such dividend, distributions, redemption, rights or warrants are to be determined or (y) the date on which such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange is expected to become effective or close, and the date as of which it is expected that holders of the Common Stock of record shall be entitled to exchange their shares of the Common Stock for securities, cash or other property deliverable upon such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange; provided that the failure to provide such notice or any defect therein shall not affect the validity of the corporate action required to be specified in such notice. To the extent that any notice provided hereunder constitutes, or contains, material, non-public information regarding the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K. The Holder shall remain entitled to exercise this Warrant during the period commencing on the date of such notice to the effective date of the event triggering such notice except as may otherwise be expressly set forth herein.

 

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iii. No Requirement for Written Notice to Holder . Notwithstanding the requirement to provide or mail written notice to a Holder set forth in this Section 3, the Company shall not be required to provide or mail a written notice to any Holder if the transaction or transactions resulting in any adjustment described in this Section 3 is disclosed publicly via a press release, Form 8-K or other means of public dissemination.

 

Section 4 . Transfer of Warrant .

 

a) Transferability . Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1), neither this Warrant nor any Warrant Shares issued upon exercise of this Warrant shall be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged, or hypothecated, or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put, or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the date of effectiveness or commencement of sales of the offering pursuant to which this Warrant is being issued, except the transfer of any security:

 

i. by operation of law or by reason of reorganization of the Company;

 

ii. to any FINRA member firm participating in the offering and the officers or partners thereof, if all securities so transferred remain subject to the lock-up restriction in this Section 4(a) for the remainder of the time period;

 

iii. if the aggregate amount of securities of the Company held by the Holder or related person do not exceed 1% of the securities being offered;

 

iv. that is beneficially owned on a pro-rata basis by all equity owners of an investment fund, provided that no participating member manages or otherwise directs investments by the fund, and participating members in the aggregate do not own more than 10% of the equity in the fund; or

 

v. the exercise or conversion of any security, if all securities received remain subject to the lock-up restriction in this Section 4(a) for the remainder of the time period.

 

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Subject to the foregoing restriction, any applicable securities laws and the conditions set forth in Section 4(d), this Warrant and all rights hereunder (including, without limitation, any registration rights) are transferable, in whole or in part, upon surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the Company or its designated agent, together with a written assignment of this Warrant substantially in the form attached hereto duly executed by the Holder or its agent or attorney and funds sufficient to pay any transfer taxes payable upon the making of such transfer. Upon such surrender and, if required, such payment, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in the name of the assignee or assignees, as applicable, and in the denomination or denominations specified in such instrument of assignment, and shall issue to the assignor a new Warrant evidencing the portion of this Warrant not so assigned, and this Warrant shall promptly be cancelled. The Warrant, if properly assigned in accordance herewith, may be exercised by a new holder for the purchase of Warrant Shares without having a new Warrant issued.

 

b) New Warrants . This Warrant may be divided or combined with other Warrants upon presentation hereof at the aforesaid office of the Company, together with a written notice specifying the names and denominations in which new Warrants are to be issued, signed by the Holder or its agent or attorney. Subject to compliance with Section 4(a), as to any transfer which may be involved in such division or combination, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in exchange for the Warrant or Warrants to be divided or combined in accordance with such notice. All Warrants issued on transfers or exchanges shall be dated the initial issuance date of this Warrant and shall be identical with this Warrant except as to the number of Warrant Shares issuable pursuant thereto.

 

c) Warrant Register . The Company shall register this Warrant, upon records to be maintained by the Company for that purpose (the “ Warrant Register ”), in the name of the record Holder hereof from time to time. The Company may deem and treat the registered Holder of this Warrant as the absolute owner hereof for the purpose of any exercise hereof or any distribution to the Holder, and for all other purposes, absent actual notice to the contrary.

 

d) Representation by the Holder . The Holder, by the acceptance hereof, represents and warrants that it is acquiring this Warrant and, upon any exercise hereof, will acquire the Warrant Shares issuable upon such exercise, for its own account and not with a view to or for distributing or reselling such Warrant Shares or any part thereof in violation of the Securities Act or any applicable state securities law, except pursuant to sales registered or exempted under the Securities Act.

 

Section 5 . Miscellaneous .

 

a) No Rights as Stockholder Until Exercise . This Warrant does not entitle the Holder to any voting rights, dividends or other rights as a stockholder of the Company prior to the exercise hereof as set forth in Section 2(d)(i).

 

b) Loss, Theft, Destruction or Mutilation of Warrant . The Company covenants that upon receipt by the Company of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of this Warrant or any certificate relating to the Warrant Shares, and in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably satisfactory to it (which, in the case of the Warrant, shall not include the posting of any bond), and upon surrender and cancellation of such Warrant or stock certificate, if mutilated, the Company will make and deliver a new Warrant or stock certificate of like tenor and dated as of such cancellation, in lieu of such Warrant or stock certificate.

 

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c) Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc . If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Business Day, then, such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Business Day.

 

d) Authorized Shares .

 

The Company covenants that, during the period the Warrant is outstanding, it will reserve from its authorized and unissued Common Stock a sufficient number of shares to provide for the issuance of the Warrant Shares upon the exercise of any purchase rights under this Warrant. The Company further covenants that its issuance of this Warrant shall constitute full authority to its officers who are charged with the duty of executing stock certificates to execute and issue the necessary Warrant Shares upon the exercise of the purchase rights under this Warrant. The Company will take all such reasonable action as may be necessary to assure that such Warrant Shares may be issued as provided herein without violation of any applicable law or regulation, or of any requirements of the Trading Market upon which the Common Stock may be listed. The Company covenants that all Warrant Shares which may be issued upon the exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant will, upon exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant and payment for such Warrant Shares in accordance herewith, be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free from all taxes, liens and charges created by the Company in respect of the issue thereof (other than taxes in respect of any transfer occurring contemporaneously with such issue).

 

Except and to the extent as waived or consented to by the Holder, the Company shall not by any action, including, without limitation, amending its certificate of incorporation or through any reorganization, transfer of assets, consolidation, merger, dissolution, issue or sale of securities or any other voluntary action, avoid or seek to avoid the observance or performance of any of the terms of this Warrant, but will at all times in good faith assist in the carrying out of all such terms and in the taking of all such actions as may be necessary or appropriate to protect the rights of Holder as set forth in this Warrant against impairment. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Company will (i) not increase the par value of any Warrant Shares above the amount payable therefor upon such exercise immediately prior to such increase in par value, (ii) take all such action as may be necessary or appropriate in order that the Company may validly and legally issue fully paid and nonassessable Warrant Shares upon the exercise of this Warrant and (iii) use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain all such authorizations, exemptions or consents from any public regulatory body having jurisdiction thereof, as may be, necessary to enable the Company to perform its obligations under this Warrant.

 

Before taking any action which would result in an adjustment in the number of Warrant Shares for which this Warrant is exercisable or in the Exercise Price, the Company shall obtain all such authorizations or exemptions thereof, or consents thereto, as may be necessary from any public regulatory body or bodies having jurisdiction thereof.

 

e) Jurisdiction . All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of this Warrant shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of the underwriting agreement, dated [______], 2018, by and between the Company and ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management Inc., as representative of the underwriters set forth therein (the “ Underwriting Agreement ”).

 

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f) Restrictions . The Holder acknowledges that the Warrant Shares acquired upon the exercise of this Warrant, if not registered, and the Holder does not utilize cashless exercise, will have restrictions upon resale imposed by state and federal securities laws.

 

g) Nonwaiver and Expenses . No course of dealing or any delay or failure to exercise any right hereunder on the part of Holder shall operate as a waiver of such right or otherwise prejudice the Holder’s rights, powers or remedies. Without limiting any other provision of this Warrant or the Underwriting Agreement, if the Company willfully and knowingly fails to comply with any provision of this Warrant, which results in any material damages to the Holder, the Company shall pay to the Holder such amounts as shall be sufficient to cover any costs and expenses including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, including those of appellate proceedings, incurred by the Holder in collecting any amounts due pursuant hereto or in otherwise enforcing any of its rights, powers or remedies hereunder.

 

h) Notices . Any notice, request or other document required or permitted to be given or delivered to the Holder by the Company shall be delivered in accordance with the notice provisions of the Underwriting Agreement.

 

i) Limitation of Liability . No provision hereof, in the absence of any affirmative action by the Holder to exercise this Warrant to purchase Warrant Shares, and no enumeration herein of the rights or privileges of the Holder, shall give rise to any liability of the Holder for the purchase price of any Common Stock or as a stockholder of the Company, whether such liability is asserted by the Company or by creditors of the Company.

 

j) Remedies . The Holder, in addition to being entitled to exercise all rights granted by law, including recovery of damages, will be entitled to specific performance of its rights under this Warrant. The Company agrees that monetary damages would not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of a breach by it of the provisions of this Warrant and hereby agrees to waive and not to assert the defense in any action for specific performance that a remedy at law would be adequate.

 

k) Successors and Assigns . Subject to applicable securities laws, this Warrant and the rights and obligations evidenced hereby shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the successors and permitted assigns of the Company and the successors and permitted assigns of Holder. The provisions of this Warrant are intended to be for the benefit of any Holder from time to time of this Warrant and shall be enforceable by the Holder or holder of Warrant Shares.

 

l) Amendment . This Warrant may be modified or amended or the provisions hereof waived with the written consent of the Company and the Holder.

 

m) Severability . Wherever possible, each provision of this Warrant shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Warrant shall be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of such provisions or the remaining provisions of this Warrant.

 

n) Headings . The headings used in this Warrant are for the convenience of reference only and shall not, for any purpose, be deemed a part of this Warrant.

 

********************

(Signature Page Follows)

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Warrant to be executed by its officer thereunto duly authorized as of the date first above indicated.

 

  DERMADOCTOR, INC.
     
  By:                            
    Name:
    Title:

 

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NOTICE OF EXERCISE

 

TO: dermadoctor, INC.

 

(1) The undersigned hereby elects to purchase ________ Warrant Shares of the Company pursuant to the terms of the attached Warrant (only if exercised in full), and tenders herewith payment of the exercise price in full, together with all applicable transfer taxes, if any.

 

(2) Payment shall take the form of (check applicable box):

 

[ ] in lawful money of the United States; or

 

[ ] if permitted the cancellation of such number of Warrant Shares as is necessary, in accordance with the formula set forth in subsection 2(c), to exercise this Warrant with respect to the maximum number of Warrant Shares purchasable pursuant to the cashless exercise procedure set forth in subsection 2(c).

 

(3) Please register and issue said Warrant Shares in the name of the undersigned or in such other name as is specified below:

 

_______________________________

 

 

The Warrant Shares shall be delivered to the following DWAC Account Number or by physical delivery of a certificate to:

 

_______________________________

 

_______________________________

 

_______________________________

 

(4) Accredited Investor . If the Warrant is being exercised via cash exercise, the undersigned is an “accredited investor” as defined in Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended

 

[SIGNATURE OF HOLDER]

 

Name of Investing Entity: _______________________________________________________________

 

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Investing Entity : _________________________________________

 

Name of Authorized Signatory: ___________________________________________________________

 

Title of Authorized Signatory: ____________________________________________________________

 

Date: _______________________________________________________________________________

 

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ASSIGNMENT FORM

 

(To assign the foregoing warrant, execute
this form and supply required information.
Do not use this form to exercise the warrant.)

 

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, [____] all of or [_______] shares of the foregoing Warrant and all rights evidenced thereby are hereby assigned to

 

_______________________________________________ whose address is

 

_______________________________________________________________.

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________

 

Dated: ______________, _______

 

Holder’s Signature: _____________________________

 

Holder’s Address: _____________________________

 

  _____________________________

 

NOTE: The signature to this Assignment Form must correspond with the name as it appears on the face of the Warrant, without alteration or enlargement or any change whatsoever. Officers of corporations and those acting in a fiduciary or other representative capacity should file proper evidence of authority to assign the foregoing Warrant.

 

 

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Exhibit 10.12

 

FORM OF SALE PROCEEDS SHARING AGREEMENT

 

THIS SALE PROCEEDS SHARING AGREEMENT (“ Agreement ”) is made effective as of the [      ] day of January, 2016, by and among DERMAdoctor, LLC, a Missouri limited liability company (the “ Company ”), Papillon Partners, Inc. f/k/a DERMAdoctor, Inc., a Missouri corporation (“ Papillon ”), and [      ] (“ Employee ”).

 

RECITALS

 

WHEREAS , Employee is employed by the Company;

 

WHEREAS , Papillon is the owner of a majority of the membership interests of the Company; and

 

WHEREAS , the parties desire to provide for an award to Employee upon a Change of Control (as defined below), as well as provide for certain restrictive covenants binding upon Employee, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein.

 

AGREEMENT

 

NOW THEREFORE , for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and legal sufficiency of which is acknowledged by the parties, the parties agree as follows:

 

1.  Purpose of Agreement; Acknowledgements . The purpose of this Agreement is to (a) encourage and reward Employee, in his or her capacity as an employee of the Company, upon the occurrence of a Change of Control (if at all), and (b) provide for certain restrictive covenants binding upon Employee. Employee acknowledges that the restrictive covenants set forth herein are binding upon Employee regardless of whether or not a Change of Control occurs and whether or not Employee is in fact entitled to the Award hereunder. This Agreement represents the unsecured and unfunded promise of Papillon to pay the amount specified in this Agreement in the future to Employee subject to the conditions set forth herein, but Employee is not an actual Member of the Company by virtue of this Agreement and, as a result, among other things, this Agreement does not convey to Employee a right to vote on any matter relating to the Company or evidence an ownership interest in the Company. Except as otherwise provided in the Employment Agreement between Employee and the Company dated effective as of the date hereof, as may be amended from time to time (the “ Employment Agreement ”), Employee acknowledges that Employee is an at-will employee of the Company, and therefore such employment can be terminated at any time and for any reason, or for no reason at all, by either party.

 

2.  Definitions . The following terms shall have the following definitions:

Proceeds.

Award ” shall mean a lump sum amount equal to 0.25% of the Liquidation.

 

Board ” shall mean the Board of Managers of the Company.

 

Business ” shall mean a business involved in the developing, producing, marketing or selling products or services of the kind or type developed or being developed, produced, marketed or sold by the Company while Employee is employed by the Company.

 

 

 

 

Change of Control ” shall mean (a) the sale, lease or transfer, in one or a series of related transactions, of all or substantially all of the Company’ s assets to any person or group, or (b) the acquisition by any person or group (other than the current Members of the Company or their affiliates or family members) of a direct or indirect interest in 100% of the voting interests of the Company by way of merger, consolidation or otherwise.

 

Closing Date ” shall mean the date of the closing of the transaction contemplated under the Definitive Agreement.

 

Company Intellectual Property ” shall mean all ideas, inventions, discoveries, improvements, designs, formulae, processes, production methods and technological innovations, patents, copyrights and trade secrets, whether or not patentable, which Employee has conceived or made or may hereafter conceive or make, alone or with others, in connection with his or her employment by the Company or its affiliates either prior to or after the date of this Agreement, whether or not during working hours, and which (a) relate specifically to the Business, (b) are based on or derived from Employee’s knowledge of the actual or planned business activities of the Company or its affiliates, or (c) are developed using existing intellectual property belonging to the Company or its affiliates.

 

Confidential Information ” shall mean (a) Company Intellectual Property, and information or data, whether or not reduced to writing, used by or belonging or relating to the Company or any of its affiliates, or any other person or entity to whom the Company or any of its affiliates owes a duty of confidentiality, including, without limitation, intellectual property, trade secrets, proprietary data, inventions, concepts, designs, processes, research, test results, plant layout, feasibility studies, procedures or standards, know-how, manuals, patent information, the identity of or information concerning current or prospective clients, customers, accounts, suppliers, service providers, licensors, licensees, contractors, subcontractors or other agents or representatives, financial or sales information, current or planned commercial activities, business strategies, records or marketing plans, or any other information that the Company advises should be treated as confidential.

 

Definitive Agreement ” shall mean the final definitive written agreement effecting the Change of Control.

 

Liquidation Proceeds ” shall mean the proceeds from a Change of Control, if any, after reduction for (a) all debts and liabilities of the Company, (b) the Unreturned Capital Contributions as of the Closing Date, and (c) the establishment of any reserves which the Board deems reasonably necessary for any contingent or unforeseen liabilities or obligations of the Company.

 

Members ” shall mean the Members of the Company.

 

Unreturned Capital Contributions ” shall mean the aggregate amount of capital contributions made by all Members to the Company reduced (but not below zero) by all distributions of unreturned capital contributions to the Members pursuant to the Company’ s operating agreement, as amended from time to time.

 

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3.  Administration of Award . The Board shall supervise and administer the Award. Any questions of interpretation of the Award issued hereunder shall be determined by the Board and such determination shall be final and binding upon all persons. Any determination of the Board under this Agreement may be made without notice or meeting of the Board by a writing signed by the Board. This Agreement shall not be a “qualified” plan for purposes of either the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.

 

4.  Grant and Payment of Award . In the event of a Change of Control, Papillon shall pay and/or transfer to Employee the Award (proportionally in the same form and amount of consideration as received by Papillon pursuant to the Change of Control) on the date that is ninety (90) days following the Closing Date so long as Employee (a) is and has been at all times in full compliance with the terms of this Agreement, and (b) is employed by the Company on the Closing Date. The Award shall be deemed fully vested on the date hereof, subject to the preceding sentence.

 

5.  Modification of Award . The terms and conditions applicable to the Award may, after the grant, be amended or modified by the mutual written agreement of all parties.

 

6.  Restrictions on Transfer . Employee shall not sell, transfer, encumber or dispose of all or any portion of the Award.

 

7.  Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation . Employee acknowledges that Employee may develop or have access to and knowledge of (or may have developed or had access to and knowledge of) certain information and data of the Company or its affiliates that the Company considers confidential and that the release of this information or data to unauthorized persons or entities would be extremely detrimental to the Company and its affiliates. As a consequence and as further consideration given to the Company and Papillon in exchange for entering into this Agreement, Employee hereby acknowledges her non-competition and nonsolicitation obligations under Section 6 of the Employment Agreement.

 

8.  Confidentiality; Company Intellectual Property .

 

8.1. Employee hereby agrees that without the prior written consent of the Company (a) Employee shall not at any time communicate, publish or disclose to any person or entity anywhere or use any Confidential Information for any purpose, and (b) Employee shall at all times hold in confidence and safeguard any Confidential Information to ensure that any unauthorized persons do not gain possession of any Confidential Information and, in particular, will not permit any Confidential Information to be read, duplicated or copied by unauthorized persons. Employee shall deliver promptly to the Company, at the request and option of the Company, all tangible embodiments (and all copies) of the Confidential Information which are in Employee ’s possession or under Employee’s control. In the event that Employee is requested or required (by oral question or request for information or documents in any legal proceeding, interrogatory, subpoena, civil investigative demand, or similar process) to disclose any Confidential Information, Employee shall notify the Company promptly of the request or requirement so that the Company may seek an appropriate protective order or waive compliance with the provisions of this Section. If, in the absence of a protective order or the receipt of a waiver hereunder, Employee is, in the written opinion of Employee’ s counsel issued to the Company, compelled to disclose any Confidential Information to any tribunal or else stand liable for contempt, Employee may disclose the Confidential Information to the tribunal; provided, that, Employee shall use best efforts to obtain, at the request and sole cost of the Company, an order or other assurance that confidential treatment shall be accorded to such portion of the Confidential Information required to be disclosed as the Company shall designate.

 

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8.2. Employee agrees to disclose promptly to the Company all Company Intellectual Property. Employee agrees to assign, and does hereby assign, to the Company (and to bind Employee’s heirs, executors and administrators to assign to the Company) all Company Intellectual Property, regardless of when such Company Intellectual Property was created. Without further compensation, Employee agrees to give all testimony and execute all patent applications, rights of priority, assignments and other documents, and in general do all lawful things reasonably requested of Employee by the Company or its affiliates to enable the Company or its affiliates to obtain, maintain and enforce their rights to such Company Intellectual Property. All of Employee’s work product during Employee’s employment or during his involvement or relationship with the Company or its affiliates and all parts thereof shall be “work made for hire” for the Company within the meaning of the United States Copyright Act of 1976, as amended from time to time, and for all other purposes, and Employee hereby quitclaims and assigns to the Company any and all other rights Employee may have or acquire therein. Accordingly, all right, title and interest in any and all materials, or other property, including, without limitation, trademarks, service marks and related rights, whether or not copyrightable, created, developed, adapted, formulated or improved by Employee (whether alone or in conjunction with any other person or employee), constituting Company Intellectual Property shall be owned exclusively by the Company. Employee will not have or claim to have under this Agreement, or otherwise, any right, title or interest of any kind or nature whatsoever in any Company Intellectual Property.

 

9.  Miscellaneous Provisions.

 

9.1. Employee acknowledges that the restrictions contained in Sections 1 and are fair, reasonable and necessary for the protection of the legitimate business interests of the Company and that the Company and its affiliates will suffer irreparable harm in the event of an actual or threatened breach of any such provision by Employee. Employee therefore consents to the entry of a restraining order, preliminary injunction or other court order to enforce such provisions and expressly waives any security that might otherwise be required in connection with such relief. Employee also agrees that any request for such relief by the Company shall be in addition and without prejudice to any claim for monetary damage s which the Company might elect to assert. Employee agrees that the terms of Sections 7 and are in addition to, and not in limitation of, any other restrictive covenants agreed to by Employee with respect to the Company. The provisions of this Agreement do not in any way limit or abridge any rights of the Company under the law of unfair competition, trade secret, copyright, patent, trademark or any other applicable law(s), all of which are in addition to and cumulative of the Company’s rights under this Agreement. Employee expressly agrees and acknowledges that the obligations and restrictions contained herein do not preclude Employee from earning a livelihood, nor do they unreasonably impose limitations on Employee’s ability to earn a living.

 

9.2. Throughout this Agreement, the masculine, feminine or neuter genders shall be deemed to include the masculine, feminine and neuter and the singular, the plural and vice versa. The headings of the Sections of this Agreement are for reference only and do not limit, expand or otherwise affect the contents of the Agreement.

 

9.3. The invalidity or unenforceability of any prov1s1on of this Agreement in any respect shall not affect the validity or enforceability of this Agreement in any other respect or of any other provision of this Agreement. In the event that any provision of this Agreement shall be held invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction , such invalidity or unenforceability shall attach only to such provision and shall not affect or render invalid or unenforceable any other provision of this Agreement, and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, this Agreement shall be construed as if such provision had been more narrowly drafted so as not to be invalid or unenforceable and the court shall reform this Agreement to render it enforceable to the broadest extent.

 

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9.4. No party may assign his, her or its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the other parties hereto. This Agreement may be amended, modified or supplemented only by a written instrument executed by all parties hereto. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns. This Agreement and the Employment Agreement represents the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with reference to the transactions and other matters set forth herein; provided, however, that to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between this Agreement and Employment Agreement, the stricter terms shall govern and control.

 

9.5. This Agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Missouri without regard to its conflicts of law principles.

 

9.6. Employee’ s right, if any, to continue to serve the Company or its affiliates as an employee or otherwise, shall not be enlarged or otherwise affected by this Agreement.

 

9.7. In connection with any legal action or proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement, the prevailing party or parties in such action or proceeding shall be entitled to be reimbursed by the non-prevailing party or parties for the reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses incurred by the prevailing party or parties.

 

9.8. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which will be deemed to be an original copy of this Agreement and all of which, when taken together, will be deemed to constitute one and the same agreement. The exchange of copies of this Agreement and of executed signature pages by facsimile transmission or by other electronic means (including by “.pdf’) shall constitute effective execution and delivery of this Agreement as to the parties and may be used in lieu of the original Agreement for all purposes. Signatures of the parties transmitted by facsimile or by other electronic means (including by “.pdf”) shall be deemed to be their original signatures for all purposes.

 

[Signature page follows]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the date first above written.

 

  COMPANY
     
  DERMAdoctor, LLC a Missouri limited liability company
     
  By:  
  Name:  Audrey Kunin
  Title: President
     
  PAPILLON
     
  Papillon Partners, Inc. f/k/a DERMAdoctor, Inc.
     
  By:  
  Name:  Audrey Kunin
  Title: CEO
     
  EMPLOYEE
   

 

[Signature Page to Form of Sale Proceeds Sharing Agreement]

 

 

6

 

Exhibit 21.1

 

List of Subsidiaries

 

As of the date of this Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-224622), DERMAdoctor, Inc. has no subsidiaries.

 

Exhibit 23.1

 

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

We hereby consent to the inclusion in this Registration Statement of DERMAdoctor, LLC (the “Company”) on Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 (File No. 333-224622) of our report dated March 2, 2018, which includes an explanatory paragraph as to the Company’s ability to continue as going concern, with respect to the consolidated financial statements of DERMAdoctor, LLC as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 and for the years then ended. We also consent to the reference to our firm under the heading “Experts” in such Registration Statement.

 

/s/ Friedman LLP

 

East Hanover, New Jersey

May 18, 2018