Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Stockholders Equity

v3.23.1
Stockholders Equity
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Stockholders' Equity Note [Abstract]  
STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY
NOTE 13 - STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY

 

  A. Share Capital: 

 

Common Stock: 

 

On August 24, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved increasing the number of authorized shares of Common Stock from 60,000,000 shares, par value $0.0001 per share, to 120,000,000 shares, par value $0.0001 per share.

 

Treasury Stock:

 

Refer to Note 10B(1).

 

Initial Public Offering: 

 

On December 18, 2018, the Company consummated its initial public offering (“IPO”) of 7,000,000 units (“Public Units”). The Public Units sold in the IPO were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per Public Unit, generating total gross proceeds of $70,000. The Public Units each consist of one share of Common Stock and one warrant to purchase one-half of a share of Common Stock (“Public Warrant”), with every two Public Warrants entitling the holder to purchase one share of Common Stock for $11.50 per full share. 

 

Following the Recapitalization Transaction, the Company retained approximately $60,100 balance held in a trust account, after redemptions of IPO shares held by certain shareholders.

 

Simultaneous with the consummation of the IPO, the Company consummated the private placement of an aggregate of 2,900,000 warrants (“Private Placement Warrants”).

 

Stock Exchange:

 

As detailed in Note 1, as part of the Recapitalization Transaction on October 28, 2019, the Company issued 15,069,058 shares of Common Stock in exchange for approximately 65% of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares and all the preferred shares of BiomX Israel. The number of shares prior to the Recapitalization Transaction has been retroactively adjusted based on the equivalent number of shares received by the accounting acquirer in the Recapitalization Transaction.

 

In addition, the Company also agreed to issue the following number of additional shares of Common Stock, in the aggregate, to stockholders on a pro rata basis, subject to the Company’s achievement of the conditions specified below following the recapitalization transaction (all with respect to the Company’s Common Stock traded on the NYSE American):

 

  A. 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s Common Stock if the daily volume weighted average price of the Company’s Common Stock in any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period prior to January 1, 2022 is greater than or equal to $16.50 per share. As of December 31, 2021, the condition was not achieved and the Company’s conditional undertaking to issue additional shares expired.

 

  B. 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s Common Stock if the daily volume weighted average price of the Company’s Common Stock in any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period prior to January 1, 2024 is greater than or equal to $22.75 per share.

 

  C. 2,000,000 additional shares of the Company’s Common Stock if the daily volume weighted average price of the Company’s Common Stock in any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period prior to January 1, 2026 is greater than or equal to $29.00 per share.

 

At-the-market Sales Agreement:

 

In December 2020, pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3 declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 11, 2020, the Company entered into an Open Market Issuance Sales Agreement (“ATM Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC. (“Jefferies”), which provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions and limitations in the ATM Agreement, the Company may elect, from time to time, to offer and sell shares of Common Stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $50,000 through Jefferies acting as sales agent. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company sold 229,044 shares of Common Stock under the ATM Agreement, at an average price of $1.19 per share, raising aggregate net proceeds of approximately $273, after deducting an aggregate commission of 3%. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company sold 743,964 shares of Common Stock under the ATM Agreement, at an average price of $7.19 per share, raising aggregate net proceeds of approximately $5,188, after deducting an aggregate commission of 3%. The Company deducted issuance expenses from Additional Paid in Capital of $8 and $158 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

 

Securities Purchase Agreement:

 

On July 26, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with institutional investors, all of the Company’s directors and certain executive officers for the sale of an aggregate of 3,750,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,812,501 shares of the Company’s Common Stock in a registered direct offering (the “Registered Direct Offering”), for gross proceeds of $15,000 before deducting placement agent fees and offering expenses and assuming that none of the warrants are exercised. The securities were sold at price of $4.00 per share and an accompanying warrant to purchase 0.75 of a share of the Company’s Common Stock at an exercise price of $5.00 per share. The warrants will be exercisable six months after the date of issuance and will expire five years from the date such warrant first becomes exercisable. The warrants issued were classified as equity in accordance with ASC 815-40. The securities were offered pursuant to the Company’s effective registration statement on Form S-3. All proceeds were received as of July 28, 2021. 125,000 shares of Common Stock and 93,750 warrants were sold to related parties.

 

Maruho Agreement:

 

In October 2021, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with a subsidiary of Maruho Co. Ltd., (“Maruho”), a leading dermatology-focused pharmaceutical company in Japan, pursuant to which the Company issued to Maruho 375,000 shares of Common Stock at a price of $8.00 per share for gross proceeds of $3,000. The company also granted Maruho a right of first offer to license its atopic dermatitis product candidate, BX005, in Japan. The right of first offer will commence following the availability of results from the Phase 1/2 study initially expected in 2022. The Company applied ASC 606 by analogy to the agreements. The agreements were combined into a single unit of account for the purpose of applying ASC 606. Part of the consideration paid under the agreements, equal to the grant date fair value of the shares issued to Maruho of $1,024, is attributed to the issuance of shares and accounted for as an increase in equity. The remainder of $1,976 was attributed to a contract liability, to be recognized as other income, at a point in time, once the clinical trials related to the product candidate are completed. Following the Company’s announcement on May 24, 2022, as mentioned in Note 19 below regarding the delaying of the Company’s atopic dermatitis program, the contract liability was classified as a non-current liability.

 

CFF Agreement: 

 

In December 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with the CF Foundation, an organization that historically played a role in supporting the development of innovative therapies for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will receive up to $5,000 in two tranches. In the first tranche, which closed and fully received on December 21, 2021, the CF Foundation invested $3,000 as an initial equity investment based on a share price of $2.57. Upon completion of patient dosing in Part 1 of the Company’s Phase 1b/2a study of BX004, the Company would have the right to receive the second tranche of $2,000, also as an equity investment. In the event that the average closing price of the Common Stock for the ten trading days prior to the second tranche completion is less than $2.57, the Company shall have the right in its sole discretion to waive the second tranche payment and in such event the CF Foundation shall not have any right to receive additional shares. However, the CF Foundation may waive the Milestone in its discretion and make the Milestone Payment nonetheless. The Company concluded that the second tranche is a freestanding financial instrument. The Company also concluded that since the instrument will be predominantly settled in a variable number of shares at a fixed monetary amount, the second tranche is in the scope of ASC 480 and should be accounted for at fair value with subsequent changes in fair value recognized in the statements of operations in each period. The Company further determined that due to the settlement mechanism, the fair value of the second tranche is negligible, both at inception and on December 31, 2022. See Note 20B.

 

Preferred Stock:

 

The Company is authorized to issue 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share with such designation, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”). 

 

Warrants:

 

  1. The Private Placement Warrants are identical to the Public Warrants underlying the Units sold in the IPO except that the Private Placement Warrants are exercisable for cash (even if a registration statement covering the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants is not effective) or on a cashless basis, at the holder’s option, and will not be redeemable by the Company, in each case, so long as they are held by the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees. If the Private Placement Warrants are held by someone other than the initial purchasers or their permitted transferees, the Private Placement Warrants will be redeemable by the Company and exercisable by such holders on the same basis as the Public Warrants.

 

  2.

The Public Warrants became exercisable upon the closing of the Recapitalization Transaction. No fractional shares will be issued upon exercise of the Public Warrants. Therefore, the Public Warrants must be exercised in multiples of two warrants. The Public Warrants will expire five years after the completion of the Recapitalization Transaction or earlier upon redemption or liquidation.

 

The Company may redeem the Public Warrants:

 

  in whole and not in part;
     
  at a price of $0.01 per warrant;
     
  at any time during the exercise period;
     
  upon a minimum of 30 days prior written notice of redemption;
     
  if, and only if, the last sale price of the Company’s Common Stock equals or exceeds $16.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30-trading day period ending on the third business day prior to the date on which the Company sends the notice of redemption to the warrant holders; and
     
  if, and only if, there is a current registration statement in effect with respect to the shares of Common Stock underlying such warrants at the time of redemption and for the entire 30-day trading period referred to above and continuing each day thereafter until the date of redemption.

 

If the Company calls the Public Warrants for redemption, management will have the option to require all holders that wish to exercise the Public Warrants to do so on a “cashless basis,” as described in the warrant agreement. The exercise price and number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants may be adjusted in certain circumstances including in the event of a stock dividend, or recapitalization, reorganization, merger or consolidation. However, the warrants will not be adjusted for issuance of Common Stock at a price below their exercise price. Additionally, in no event will the Company be required to net cash settle the warrants.

 

As of December 31, 2022, the Company had the following outstanding warrants to purchase Common Stock issued to stockholders:

 

Warrant   Issuance Date   Expiration
Date
  Exercise
Price
Per Share
    Number of
Shares of
Common Stock
Underlying
Warrants
 
Private Placement Warrants   IPO (December 13, 2018)   December 13, 2023     11.50       2,900,000  
Public Warrants   IPO (December 13, 2018)   October 28, 2024     11.50       3,500,000  
2021 Registered Direct Offering Warrants   SPA (July 28, 2021)   January 28, 2027     5.00       2,812,501  
                      9,212,501  

 

  B. Stock-based compensation:

 

Equity Incentive Plan:

 

In 2015, the Board of Directors of BiomX Israel approved a plan for the allocation of options to employees, service providers, and officers (the “2015 Plan”). The options represented a right to purchase one Ordinary Share of the BiomX Israel in consideration of the payment of an exercise price. Also, the options were granted in accordance with the “capital gains route” under section 102 and section 3(i) of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance and section 409A of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code as technically adjusted following the Recapitalization Transaction on October 28, 2019.

 

As of December 31, 2021, there are no shares of Common Stock remaining for issuance under the 2015 Plan.

 

In 2019, the Company adopted a new incentive plan (the “2019 Plan”) to grant 1,000 options, exercisable for Common Stock.

 

The aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be delivered pursuant to the 2019 Plan will automatically increase on January 1 of each year, commencing on January 1, 2020 and ending on (and including) January 1, 2029, in an amount equal to four percent (4%) of the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding on December 31 of the preceding calendar year.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board may act prior to January 1 of a given year to provide that there will be no January 1 increase for such year or that the increase for such year will be a lesser number of shares of Common Stock than provided herein.

 

As of December 31, 2022, there were 380,189 shares of Common Stock remaining for issuance under the 2019 Plan. On January 1, 2023, the number of shares of Common Stock available to grant under the 2019 Plan was increased by 1,199,291.

 

Stock Options:

 

On March 30, 2021, the Board of Directors approved the grant of 985,530 options to 94 employees, including five senior officers, one consultant, and six directors under the 2019 Plan, without consideration. Options were granted at an exercise price of $7.02 per share with a vesting period of four years. Directors and senior officers are entitled to full acceleration of their unvested options upon the occurrence of both a change in control of the Company and the end of their engagement with the Company.

 

On March 29, 2022, the Board of Directors approved the grant of 1,153,500 options to 89 employees, three senior officers, one consultant, and five directors under the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, without consideration. Options were granted at an exercise price of $1.41 per share with a vesting period of four years. Directors and senior officers are entitled to full acceleration of their unvested options upon the occurrence of both a change in control of the Company and the end of their engagement with the Company.

 

On June 21, 2022, the Board of Directors approved the grant of 350,500 options to 53 employees, and one consultant under the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, without consideration. Options were granted at an exercise price of $0.66 per share with a vesting period of four years.

 

On August 22, 2022, the Board of Directors approved the grant of 290,000 options to four senior officers under the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, without consideration. Options were granted at an exercise price of $0.66 per share with a vesting period of four years. Senior officers are entitled to full acceleration of their unvested options upon the occurrence of both a change in control of the Company and the end of their engagement with the Company.

 

On September 30, 2022, the Board of Directors approved the grant of 20,000 options to a consultant under the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan, without consideration. Options were granted at an exercise price of $0.37 per share with a vesting period of one year.

 

The fair value of each option was estimated as of the date of grant or reporting period using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model using the following assumptions:

 

    2022     2021  
             
Underlying value of Common Stock ($)     0.37-1.41       7.02  
Exercise price ($)     0.37-1.41       7.02  
Expected volatility (%)     85.3-88.4       85.0  
Expected terms of the option (years)     5.31-6.11       6.11  
Risk-free interest rate (%)     2.50-4.05       1.17  

 

Total fair value embodied in the options granted in 2022 and 2021 at the grant date, is estimated to be $1,311 and $5,138 respectively. These amounts will be recognized in statements of operations over the vesting period.

 

As of December 31, 2022, the unrecognized compensation cost related to all unvested, equity classified stock options of $1,632 is expected to be recognized as an expense on a graded vesting method over a weighted-average period of 1.55 years.

 

    A summary of options granted to purchase the Company’s Common Stock under the Company’s stock option plans are as follows:

 

    For year ended
December 31, 2022
 
    Number of
Options
    Weighted
average
exercise
price
    Aggregate
intrinsic
value
 
                   
Outstanding at the beginning of period     4,084,549     $ 3.95     $ 671  
Granted     1,814,000       1.14          
Forfeited     (1,129,108 )     3.74          
Exercised    
-
    $
-
         
Outstanding at the end of period     4,769,441       2.93     $ 40  
Exercisable at end of period     2,688,238                  
Weighted average remaining contractual life – years as of December 31, 2022     7.00                  

 

    For year ended
December 31, 2021
 
    Number of
Options
    Weighted
average
exercise
price
    Aggregate
intrinsic
value
 
                   
Outstanding at the beginning of period     3,569,766     $ 3.12     $ 12,338  
Granted     985,530       7.02          
Forfeited     (386,508 )     4.60          
Exercised     (84,239 )   $ 1.55          
Outstanding at the end of period     4,084,549     $   3.95     $ 671  
Vested at end of period     2,486,381                    
Weighted average remaining contractual life – years as of December 31, 2021     6.82                  

 

Warrants:

 

As of December 31, 2022, and 2021, the Company had the following outstanding compensation related warrants to purchase Common Stock as follows:   

  

Warrant   Issuance
Date
   Expiration
Date
   Exercise
Price
Per
Share
   
     Number of
Shares of
Common
Stock
Underlying
Warrants
 
 
Private Warrants issued to Yeda (see 1 below)   May 11, 2017    May 11, 2025       (* )    
-
 
Private Warrants issued to scientific founders (see 2 below)   November 27, 2017        
-
      2,974  
                      2,974  

  

(*) less than $0.001.

 

  1.

In May 2017, in accordance with the 2017 License Agreement (see also Note 11B), the Company issued to Yeda, 591,382 warrants to purchase Common Stock at $0.0001 nominal value, for nominal consideration. Yeda has the option to exercise the warrants on a cashless basis. In 2020, the 2017 License Agreement was terminated.

 

On March 10, 2021, Yeda exercised 362,444 warrants on a cashless basis, resulting in the issuance of 362,383 shares of Common Stock. The remainder of the warrants were forfeited as part of the termination of the license agreement.

 

For the year ended December 31, 2021 the Company did not record an expense or income related to warrants.

  

  2. In November 2017, BiomX Israel issued 7,615 warrants to Yeda and 2,974 warrants to its founders. All the warrants were fully vested at their grant date and will expire immediately prior to a consummation of an M&A transaction. The warrants did not expire as a result of the Recapitalization Transaction and have no exercise price. No compensation expenses were recorded in the financial statements during 2022 and 2021.

 

  The following table sets forth the total stock-based payment expenses resulting from options and warrants granted, included in the statements of operations:

 

    Year ended
December 31,
 
    2022     2021  
             
Research and development expenses, net     490       1,770  
General and administrative     1,039       1,467  
      1,529       3,237  

 

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expenses in connection with options granted to executive officers of the Company in the amount of $923 and $1,102 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.