Stockholders' Equity |
9 Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||
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Sep. 30, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Equity [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||
| Stockholders' Equity |
Stockholders´ Equity
The Company had 49,392,706 shares of common stock and 7,907 shares of preferred stock outstanding as of September 30, 2019, both with a par value of $0.001 per share.
Series B Preferred Stock
On January 30, 2019, the Company and certain entities affiliated with Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P., or BVF, entered into an exchange agreement pursuant to which BVF agreed to exchange an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock owned by BVF for an aggregate of 5,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock. On January 31, 2019, the Company designated 5,000 shares of its authorized and unissued preferred stock as Series B Preferred Stock and filed a Certificate of Designation of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or the Series B Certificate of Designation, with the Nevada Secretary of State.
Each share of Series B Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of the Company's common stock (subject to adjustment as provided in the Series B Certificate of Designation) at any time at the option of the holder, provided that the holder is prohibited from converting the Series B Preferred Stock into shares of the Company's common stock if, as a result of such conversion, the holder, together with its affiliates, would own more than 9.99% of the total number of shares of Common Stock then issued and outstanding, or the Beneficial Ownership Limitation. The holder may reset the Beneficial Ownership Limitation to a higher or lower number, not to exceed 19.99% of the total number of common shares issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to a conversion, upon providing written notice to the Company. Any such notice providing for an increase to the Beneficial Ownership Limitation will be effective 61 days after delivery to the Company.
In the event of the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding up, subject to the rights of holders of Senior Securities (defined below), holders of Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to receive a payment equal to $0.001 per share of Series B Preferred Stock before any proceeds are distributed to the holders of common stock and Junior Securities (defined below) and pari passu with any distributions to the holders of the previously issued Series A convertible preferred stock, or the Series A Preferred Stock, plus an additional amount equal to any dividends declared but unpaid on such shares. However, if the assets of the Company are insufficient to comply with the preceding sentence, then all remaining assets of the Company shall be distributed ratably to holders of the shares of the Series B Preferred Stock and Parity Securities (defined below).
Shares of Series B Preferred Stock generally have no voting rights, except as required by law and except that the consent of holders of a majority of the then outstanding Series B Preferred Stock is required to amend the terms of the Series B Certificate of Designation. Holders of Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to receive any dividends payable to holders of the Company's common stock and rank:
in each case, as to distributions of assets upon the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding up whether voluntarily or involuntarily and/or the right to receive dividends.
2019 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan
At the Annual Shareholder Meeting, held on July 31, 2019, the shareholders approved the 2019 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2019 Plan. The 2019 Plan permits the Company to issue up to 2,750,000 shares of common stock pursuant to awards granted under the 2019 Plan. Upon approval of the 2019 Plan, the 2018 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2018 Plan, was terminated; all unissued options will be cancelled and no additional awards will be made thereunder. All outstanding awards under the 2018 Plan will remain in effect and any awards forfeited from the outstanding awards will be recycled into the 2019 Plan. There were approximately 931,896 shares remaining and available for grant under the 2018 Plan that terminated with the 2018 Plan.
Open Market Sale Agreement
On August 9, 2019, the Company entered into an Open Market Sale AgreementSM, or the “Sale Agreement” with Jefferies LLC, or “Jefferies”, pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock, par value $0.001 per share, having aggregate gross sales proceeds of $50.0 million, or the Shares, from time to time, through an “at the market offering” program under our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-226725). To date, the Company has not sold any Shares under the Sales Agreement.
2019 Private Placement
In November 2019, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement for a private placement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with a select group of institutional investors, including lead investor BVF Inc. and its affiliates (“BVF”) as well as existing and new investors (the “Investors”). At the time of entering into the Purchase Agreement, BVF was a more than 5% stockholder of the Company, holding shares of common stock, Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock and warrants to purchase shares of common stock.
The private placement consisted of 9,014,960 units, at a price of $3.55 per unit (the “Financing”), for gross proceeds of approximately $32.0 million, and net proceeds to the Company of approximately $31.1 million. Each unit consists of (i) one share of the Company’s common stock (the “Common Shares”) or 0.001 shares of non-voting Series C convertible preferred stock (the “Series C Preferred Shares,” and together with the Common Shares, the “Shares”), and (ii) one immediately-exercisable warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s common stock with an exercise price of $7.10 (the “Exercise Price”).
If (i) the initial public disclosure of the Phase 2a Study of PRS-060/AZD1402 that includes the “p” value achieved for the primary endpoint of such study reveals top-line data on the primary efficacy endpoint in the Phase 2a Study with a “p” value below 0.05 (i.e., p < 0.05) in at least one dose level; and (ii) the 10-day volume weighted average stock price commencing on the trading day immediately after the initial data disclosure is at least three percent more than the Exercise Price, then the warrants will be exercisable for a period of 60 days from the date of the initial data disclosure and may only be exercised for cash. Otherwise, the warrants will be exercisable for a period of five years from the date of issuance.
Each Preferred Share is convertible into 1,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company will not undertake any conversion of the Series C Preferred Shares, and a stockholder shall not have the right to convert any portion of the Series C Preferred Shares, to the extent that, after giving effect to the conversion such stockholder would beneficially own in excess of 9.99% of the number of shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such conversion. The Series C Preferred Shares have no voting rights, except as required by law and except that the consent of holders of a majority of the then outstanding Series C Preferred Stock is required to amend the terms of the Series C Certificate of Designation. The Series C Preferred Shares are entitled to receive dividends on a pari passu basis with the Company’s common stock, when, and if declared. In any liquidation or dissolution of the Company, the Series C Preferred Shares rank senior to the Company’s common stock in the distribution of assets, to the extent legally available for distribution.
The Company also entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with the Investors in November 2019 in connection with the Financing requiring the Company to register the resale of the Shares and the Company’s common stock underlying the Series C Preferred Shares and warrants. The Company is required to prepare and file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 30 days of the closing, and to use commercially reasonable efforts to have the registration statement declared effective within 90 days if there is no review by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and within 120 days in the event of such review.
The Shares and the warrants were offered and will be issued and sold in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), set forth under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act relating to sales by an issuer not involving any public offering and in reliance on similar exemptions under applicable state laws.
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