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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): February 17, 2022

 

ONCOSEC MEDICAL INCORPORATED

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Nevada   000-54318   98-0573252

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

 

24 North Main Street, Pennington, NJ   08534-2218
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (855) 662-6732

 

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

 

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
   
Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
   
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
   
Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

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

 

Title of each class

 

Trading symbol

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share   ONCS   Nasdaq Capital Market

 

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

 

Emerging growth company

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

 

 

 
 

 

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

 

Chief Financial Officer

 

On February 17, 2022, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the “Company”) approved the appointment of George Chi, CFA, CPA, as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective February 21, 2022.

 

Mr. Chi, 52, joins the Company from THPlasma, where he served as Chief Executive Officer since July 2020 and helped found the company’s plasma collection business and establish regular commercial sales. Prior to joining THPlasma, Mr. Chi served as Chief Financial Officer of CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“CASI”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics and pharmaceutical products, from September 2018 to February 2020. Prior to joining CASI, Mr. Chi was Vice President of Finance at Flavors Holdings, Inc., a packaged food company, from October 2016 to September 2018, where he led the global accounting function, including financial reporting, planning, treasury, investor relations, tax and auditing with global sales in 90 countries. Prior to his time at Flavor Holdings, Inc. from 2014-2016, Mr. Chi was Chief Financial Officer at BPL Plasma, a large third party blood plasma collection businesses. From 2008-2013, Mr. Chi was finance director at Unilever PLC where he was responsible for leading the accounting function including financial reporting, annual budgeting and strategic planning. Mr. Chi holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China and a M.B.A. in finance and operations from the Yale School of Management. He also holds certifications as a CPA and CFA.

 

In connection with his appointment as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, the Company provided an employment offer letter (the “Offer Letter”) to Mr. Chi dated January 28, 2022, that governs the current terms of Mr. Chi’s employment with the Company. The Offer Letter provides that Mr. Chi will be entitled to an initial annual base salary of US$400,000 and, starting in 2023, will be eligible to receive an annual bonus initially up to 25% of base salary based on the achievement of performance goals established by the Board. If Mr. Chi’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause, Mr. Chi will be entitled to a payment equal to six months base salary and COBRA coverage for six months. The foregoing summary of the Offer Letter is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Offer Letter, a copy of which is filed with this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

There are no family relationships between Mr. Chi and any director or executive officer of the Company. There are no transactions between Mr. Chi and the Company that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

 

On February 22, 2022, the Company issued a press release announcing Mr. Chi’s appointment as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer. The full text of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

 

Interim President and Chief Executive Officer

 

On February 17, 2022, the Board appointed Kevin R. Smith as interim President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Smith has been a member of the Company’s Board since February 2020.

 

Mr. Smith, 51, is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sirtex Medical US Holdings, Inc. (“Sirtex”), a position that he has held since October 2019. He combines more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the medical device industry with the keen instincts of an entrepreneur. Prior to his appointment to Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Smith served as Sirtex’s interim Chief Executive Officer from April 2019 to October 2019 and Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Americas from August 2017 to April 2019. Before joining Sirtex, Mr. Smith was Executive Vice President of Business Development at Gel-e, Inc., a company based at the University of Maryland specializing in advanced material hemostasis products, a position he held since January 2017. Mr. Smith’s previous positions include Chief Commercial Officer of Sensium Healthcare along with Global Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Teleflex, where he was the senior sales and marketing executive in the company’s cardiac business unit. Kevin holds a Master of Business Administration in Global Management from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Kentucky.

 

 
 

 

Mr. Smith will receive no additional compensation or benefits in connection with his appointment as the Company’s interim President and Chief Executive Officer.

 

There are no family relationships between Mr. Smith and any director or executive officer of the Company.

 

Mr. Smith was originally appointed as a director of the Company in February 2020 in connection with the closing (the “Closing”) of a strategic transaction (the “Transaction”) between the Company and Sirtex whereby, pursuant to the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement, dated October 10, 2019, Sirtex purchased 2,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for cash consideration of US$5 million, resulting in Sirtex’s then-approximate 8% ownership of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock. In connection with the Closing, the Company entered into a Stockholders Agreement (the “Stockholders Agreement”) with Sirtex, pursuant to which, among other things, Sirtex exercised its option to nominate one director to the Board. Pursuant to the Stockholders Agreement, Sirtex nominated Mr. Smith, Sirtex’s Chief Executive Officer, to the Company’s Board.

 

In connection with Mr. Smith’s appointment as interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, the Company reports the following related party transactions under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K:

 

Equity Issuances

 

On April 16, 2021, pursuant to the terms of the Stockholders Agreement, Sirtex exercised its right to purchase additional shares of common stock in connection with certain third party investor warrant exercises in order to maintain its ownership percentage of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company as calculated immediately after the Closing and purchased 281,968 shares of common stock at a purchase price of US$3.45 per share. This related party transaction was based on Sirtex’s approximate 8% ownership of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock at such time. Mr. Smith had no direct material interest in the transaction and Mr. Smith’s indirect material interest in the transaction arose as a result of his position as Chief Executive Officer of Sirtex.

 

On January 25, 2021, the Company completed the offer and sale of an aggregate of 7,711,284 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of US$5.45 per share in a public offering. Pursuant to the terms of the Stockholders Agreement, Sirtex exercised its right of participation in future offerings in order to maintain its ownership percentage of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company as calculated immediately after the Closing and purchased 677,839 shares of common stock. This related party transaction was based on Sirtex’s approximate 8% ownership of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock at such time. Mr. Smith had no direct material interest in the transaction and Mr. Smith’s indirect material interest in the transaction arose as a result of his position as Chief Executive Officer of Sirtex.

 

On August 19, 2020, the Company completed the offer and sale of an aggregate of 4,608,589 shares of its common stock at a purchase price of US$3.25 per share in a registered direct offering. Pursuant to the terms of the Stockholders Agreement Sirtex exercised its right of participation in future offerings in order to maintain its ownership percentage of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company as calculated immediately after the Closing and purchased 399,800 shares of common stock. This related party transaction was based on Sirtex’s approximate 8% ownership of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock at such time. Mr. Smith had no direct material interest in the transaction and Mr. Smith’s indirect material interest in the transaction arose as a result of his position as Chief Executive Officer of Sirtex.

 

 
 

 

Co-Promotion Agreement

 

In January 2021, the Company entered into a co-promotion agreement with Sirtex, pursuant to which the Company granted Sirtex the option to co-promote the Company’s lead product candidate, a DNA-encoded interleukin-12 called tavokinogene telseplasmid (“TAVO”) for the treatment of anti-PD-1 refractory locally advanced or metastatic melanoma in the U.S., including its territories and possessions. In consideration for the option, the Company received an upfront, non-refundable payment of US$5.0 million from Sirtex (the “option fee”). The option to co-promote is non-exclusive and may be exercised at any time by Sirtex from the effective date until 90 days following the receipt by Sirtex of a complete copy of the final biologics license application (“BLA”) filed by the Company with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) (the “option period”). If Sirtex exercises the option, the Company will receive an additional non-refundable and non-creditable option exercise fee of US$25.0 million, comprised of US$20.0 million in cash, and US$5.0 million for the issuance of common shares of the Company determined by the average closing price of the stock for the 30 days prior to the date of receipt of the exercise notice for the option.

 

Under the terms of the co-promotion agreement, if Sirtex exercises the co-promote option, the Company will pay to Sirtex a high-teens to low-twenties royalty of U.S. net sales of the TAVO products. The co-promotion agreement will continue until the earlier of the expiration of the option period without Sirtex extending the option or the eighth anniversary of the first FDA approval of the BLA, and can be extended by mutual agreement between the Company and Sirtex. During the co-promotion term, the Company is responsible for funding approximately two-thirds of the promotional costs incurred by Sirtex and Sirtex shall be responsible for approximately one-third.

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits.

 

The following exhibits are filed herewith:

 

10.1 Offer Letter between OncoSec Medical Incorporated and George Chi, dated January 28, 2022.
   
99.1 Press release dated February 22, 2022.
   
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

 
 

 

SIGNATURES

 

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

 

Date: February 22, 2022 OncoSec Medical Incorporated
     
    By: /s/ Kevin Smith
    Name: Kevin Smith
    Title: Interim President and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 10.1

 

 

 

January 28, 2022

 

Mr. George Chi

618 Ellington Road

Ridgewood, NJ 07450

 

Dear Mr. Chi:

 

On behalf of OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the “Company” or “OncoSec”), I am very pleased to offer you the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Company. This letter establishes the terms of your employment with the Company if you accept this offer.

 

If you accept this offer of employment, your effective start date will be February 21, 2022. Your initial annual base salary will be $400,000, payable in accordance with the Company’s standard payroll practice and subject to applicable withholding taxes. You will not be eligible for any annual bonus or other additional compensation for the 2022 calendar year. The payout of any annual bonus for the 2023 calendar year will be based on the achievement of performance objectives to be determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, and the target of the bonus shall equal a maximum of 25% of your base salary ($400,000). It is agreed that the Board of Directors will use best efforts to provide you with your annual performance goals and objectives in writing by the end of the first quarter of each fiscal year. You will be entitled, during the term of your employment, to such vacation, medical and other employee benefits as the Company may offer from time to time to its senior executive officers, subject to applicable eligibility requirements. The Company reserves the right to make any modifications to this benefits package that it deems appropriate from time to time.

 

If you accept our offer of employment, you will be an employee-at-will, meaning that either you or the Company may terminate our relationship at any time for any reason, with or without cause. Any statements to the contrary that may have been made to you, by the Company, its agents, or representatives, whether orally or in writing, are superseded by and canceled by this offer letter. You will report to the Chief Executive Officer, once he/she is hired, and to the Company’s Board of Directors.

 

Should the Company terminate your employment without Cause (as defined below), in addition to all accrued compensation (including accrued but, unused vacation time) owed to you through your termination date, in exchange for executing (and not revoking) a release of claims in a form acceptable to the Company (“Release Agreement”), the Company will (i) pay your then-current base salary (less applicable withholdings and deductions) for six (6) months following the termination date (collectively referred to as the “Severance Payments), and (ii) to the extent you are eligible for COBRA, pay your portion of the full monthly COBRA premium amount covering you and your spouse and/or dependents for six (6) months following your termination date. The Company shall make the first payment of the Severance Payments no later than thirty (30) days following the effective date of the Release Agreement. As used in this letter agreement, “Cause” means:

 

24 N. Main Street, Pennington, NJ 08534 3565

General Atomics Court, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121

p | 855.662.6732 f | 858.430.3832

 

 

 

 

(a) your admission, confession, conviction of, or plea of nolo contendere to, a felony or other crime involving moral turpitude or your commission of any crime involving misappropriation, embezzlement, conversion of any property (including confidential or proprietary information) or business opportunities, or fraud with respect to the Company or any of its customers or suppliers;

  

(b) willful or repeated failure to follow any lawful directive of the CEO or the Board;

 

(c) willful conduct by you that causes or has the potential to cause the Company substantial public disgrace, disrepute or economic harm;

 

(d) your repeated, willful failure to perform duties assigned to you by the CEO or Board;

 

(e) breach of fiduciary duty by your gross negligence, or willful misconduct with respect to the Company;

 

(f) any material violation by you of any policy of the Company that has been communicated to you in writing;

 

(g) any other material breach by you of this Agreement the policies of the Company or any other agreement between the you and the Company; and

 

(h) your violation of any Company policy or applicable law prohibiting employment discrimination, harassment or retaliation.

 

For all purposes hereunder, no act or omission to act by you shall be deemed “willful” if conducted in good faith or with a reasonable belief that such act or omission was in the best interests of the Company. Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, no event or condition described in the foregoing (b) through (g) shall constitute Cause unless (x) within thirty (30) days from the Company first acquiring actual knowledge of the existence of the Cause condition, the Company provides you with written notice of its intention to terminate your employment for Cause and the grounds for such termination; (y) such grounds for termination (if susceptible to correction) are not corrected by you within thirty (30) days of your receipt of such notice and (z) the Company terminates your employment with the Company immediately following expiration of such thirty-day (30) period. For purposes of the foregoing, any attempt you make to correct a stated Cause shall not be deemed an admission by you that the Board’s assertion of Cause is valid.

 

In the event that your employment is terminated by the Company for Cause or you voluntarily resign from your employment, you shall only be entitled to accrued compensation (including accrued but unused vacation time) owed to you through your termination date.

 

This offer of employment is also contingent on your ability to freely enter into this agreement without being subject to any restrictive covenants which would impact your ability to perform the services contemplated hereby. By signing below, you confirm that you are not presently subject to or otherwise bound by a non-compete, non-solicit, confidentiality or similar restriction with any person with respect to any prior or existing employment, investment or other relationship.

 

No outside work, including work related to consultancies, shall be performed without the written consent of the Company’s Board of Directors.

 

As an additional condition of your employment, you will be required to sign the enclosed Confidentiality and Noncompetition Agreement (“Confidentiality Agreement”) on or before your start date.

 

If you accept employment with the Company by performing all of the above steps, this offer letter will set forth the terms of your employment. This letter supersedes any previous discussions or offers, no matter what their source. Any future modifications of or additions to the terms set forth in this letter will be of no effect unless in writing and signed by you and the Board of Directors.

 

I hope that you will accept this offer and look forward to a productive and mutually beneficial working relationship. Please let me know if I can answer any questions for you about any of the matters outlined in this letter.

 

Sincerely,  
   
/s/ Kevin Smith  
Kevin Smith  
Member of Leadership Committee  

 

Acknowledged and Accepted:  
     
/s/ George Chi  
Name:  George Chi  
Date: February 18, 2022  

 

 

  

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

OncoSec Announces Appointment of George Chi as Chief Financial Officer

 

PENNINGTON, NJ and SAN DIEGO, CA, February 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — OncoSec Medical Incorporated (NASDAQ: ONCS) (the “Company” or “OncoSec”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing intratumoral immunotherapies to stimulate the body’s immune system to target and attack cancer, today announced the appointment of George Chi as Chief Financial Officer.

 

Mr. Chi joins the Company from THPlasma, where he served as Chief Executive Officer since July 2020 and helped found the company’s plasma collection business and establish regular commercial sales. Prior to joining THPlasma, Mr. Chi served as Chief Financial Officer of CASI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“CASI”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics and pharmaceutical products, from September 2018 to February 2020. Prior to joining CASI, Mr. Chi was Vice President of Finance at Flavors Holdings, Inc., a packaged food company, where he led the global accounting function, including financial reporting, planning, treasury, investor relations, tax and auditing with global sales in 90 countries. Prior to his time at Flavor Holdings, Inc., Mr. Chi was Chief Financial Officer at BPL Plasma, a large third party blood plasma collection business. Previously, Mr. Chi was finance director at Unilever PLC where he was responsible for leading the accounting function including financial reporting, annual budgeting and strategic planning. Mr. Chi holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China and a MBA in finance and operations from the Yale School of Management. He also holds certifications as a CPA and CFA.

 

Kevin Smith, interim President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Leadership Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, remarked, “On behalf of the entire Company, we welcome George who brings a wealth of financial experience, including budgeting and planning.”

 

About OncoSec Medical Incorporated

 

OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the “Company,” “OncoSec,” “we” or “our”) is a biotechnology company focused on developing intratumoral immunotherapies. OncoSec’s lead immunotherapy investigational product candidate – TAVO™ (tavokinogene telseplasmid) – enables the intratumoral delivery of DNA-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), a naturally occurring protein with immune-stimulating functions. The technology, which employs electroporation, is designed to produce a controlled, localized expression of IL-12 in the tumor microenvironment, enabling the immune system to target and attack tumors throughout the body. OncoSec has built a deep and diverse clinical pipeline utilizing TAVO™ as a potential treatment for multiple cancer indications either as a monotherapy or in combination with leading checkpoint inhibitors; with the latter potentially enabling OncoSec to address a great unmet medical need in oncology: anti-PD-1 non-responders. Results from recently completed clinical studies of TAVO™ have demonstrated a local immune response, and subsequently, a systemic effect as either a monotherapy or combination treatment approach along with an acceptable safety profile, warranting further development. In addition to TAVO™, OncoSec is identifying and developing new DNA-encoded therapeutic candidates and tumor indications for use with its new Visceral Lesion Applicator (VLA), to target deep visceral lesions, such as liver, lung or pancreatic lesions. For more information, please visit www.oncosec.com.

 

TAVO™ is a trademark of OncoSec Medical Incorporated.

 

Company Contact

Investor Contact

 

Mike Moyer

LifeSci Advisors

+1-617-308-4306

mmoyer@lifesciadvisors.com