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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): October 2, 2022

 

ONCOSEC MEDICAL INCORPORATED

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in 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 2.05 Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities.

 

On October 2, 2022, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the “Company”) authorized a restructuring plan (the “Restructuring Plan”) that is designed to prioritize clinical activities in melanoma to reduce operating expenses while advancing the Company’s lead product candidate, TAVO-EP, toward near-term data milestones in connection with the KEYNOTE-695 clinical trial. As part of the Restructuring Plan, the Company expects it will restructure and reduce the current workforce by approximately 45%, or approximately 18 employees.

 

The Company currently estimates that it will incur charges of approximately $650,000 to $700,000 in connection with the Restructuring Plan, consisting primarily of cash expenditures for employee transition, notice period and severance payments, retention bonus payments, and related costs as well as non-cash expenses related to vesting of share-based awards. The Company expects that the majority of the restructuring charges will be incurred in the fourth calendar quarter of 2022 and first calendar quarter of 2023, and that the execution of the Restructuring Plan will be substantially complete by the second calendar quarter of 2023.

 

The charges that the Company expects to incur in connection with the Restructuring Plan are estimates and subject to a number of assumptions, and actual results may differ materially. The foregoing estimated amounts do not include any non-cash charges associated with stock-based compensation. The Company expects to operationalize additional cost reduction actions that will include other incremental cost reduction actions unrelated to workforce reductions. If the Company subsequently determines that it will incur additional material restructuring costs or charges or there are material differences from the ranges provided above, the Company will file an amendment to this Current Report on Form 8-K to disclose any such material costs, charges, or differences.

 

On October 4, 2022, the Company issued a press release announcing the Restructuring Plan. The full text of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

This Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are characterized by future or conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “continue” and similar words, and include statements regarding the expected impact of, and costs associated with, the Restructuring Plan. Such statements are only predictions and actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements as circumstances change, except as required by securities laws.

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits.

 

The following exhibits are filed herewith:

 

99.1   Press release dated October 4, 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: October 4, 2022 OncoSec Medical Incorporated
   
  By: /s/ Robert H. Arch
  Name: Robert H. Arch
  Title: President and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

OncoSec Announces Pipeline Prioritization and Workforce Reduction

 

PENNINGTON, NJ and SAN DIEGO, CA, October 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — OncoSec Medical Incorporated (NASDAQ: ONCS) (the “Company” or “OncoSec”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing intratumoral immunotherapies to stimulate the patient’s own immune system to target and eradicate cancer, today announced a corporate restructuring intended to prioritize development of its lead clinical candidate TAVO™ (TAVO-EP) a plasmid encoding interleukin 12 (IL-12) delivered by intratumoral electroporation, and extend the Company’s cash runway.

 

Oncosec is reducing its staff by approximately 45% and prioritizing clinical pipeline activities to reduce operating expenses. The Company and remaining employees will focus clinical activities in melanoma to advance TAVO-EP toward near-term data milestones of the KEYNOTE-695 clinical trial. OncoSec will provide more detail on the financial implications of the restructuring in the Form 10-K due in October.

 

Updated guidance on the pivotal Phase 2b KEYNOTE-695 trial in metastatic melanoma, is as follows.

 

Top-line results of the secondary endpoint, Objective Response Rate (ORR) by investigator assessment based on RECIST v1.1, is expected to be announced in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Top-line results of the primary endpoint, Overall Response Rate (ORR) by blinded independent central review (BICR) based on RECIST v1.1, is expected to be announced in the first quarter of 2023.

 

“Since joining as CEO my focus has been on reviewing all aspects of our technology and pipeline. This led to the conclusion that an operational restructuring and strategic pipeline refocus is the best course of action to accelerate advancing TAVO-EP and preparing for the completion and data readout of our KEYNOTE-695 trial,” said Robert H. Arch, Ph.D., OncoSec’s Chief Executive Officer. “It is very unfortunate because this necessary step affects a very talented group of employees that have contributed to our efforts and helped build the company. We are grateful for their contributions.”

 

About OncoSec Medical Incorporated

 

OncoSec Medical Incorporated (the “Company,” “OncoSec,” “we” or “our”) is a biotechnology company focused on developing intratumoral immunotherapies to stimulate the body’s immune system to target and attack cancer. OncoSec’s lead immunotherapy investigational product candidate – TAVO™ (tavokinogene telseplasmid) – enables the intratumoral delivery of DNA-based interleukin-12 (IL-12), a naturally occurring human protein with immune-stimulating functions. The technology, which employs electroporation (EP), is designed to produce a limited, localized expression of IL-12 in the tumor microenvironment, which ultimately enables the immune system to target and attack tumors throughout the body. OncoSec is committed to building a 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: non-responders to anti-PD-1 treatment. Results from recently conducted clinical studies of TAVO™ have demonstrated a local immune response, and subsequently, a systemic therapeutic effect as either a monotherapy or combination treatment approach along with an acceptable safety profile, warranting further development. For more information, please visit www.oncosec.com.

 

TAVO™ is a trademark of OncoSec Medical Incorporated.

 

 
 

 

Risk Factors and Forward-Looking Statements

 

This release, as well as other information provided from time to time by the Company or its employees, may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide the Company’s current beliefs, expectations and intentions regarding future events and involve risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond the Company’s control) and assumptions. For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “will” and “would” and similar expressions (including the negative of these terms). Although we believe that expectations reflected in the forward- looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only at the time they are published on or as otherwise specified and does not undertake to update or revise these statements as more information becomes available, except as required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In particular, you should be aware that the timing of release of our updated guidance on the pivotal Phase 2b KEYNOTE-695 trial in metastatic melanoma may differ and may not meet our estimated timelines. Please refer to the risk factors and other cautionary statements provided in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021 and subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC (each of which can be found at the SEC’s website www.sec.gov), as well as other factors described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the SEC.

 

Company Contact

Investor Contact

Mike Moyer

LifeSci Advisors

+1-617-308-4306

mmoyer@lifesciadvisors.com