Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Capital Stock

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Capital Stock
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Capital Stock  
Capital Stock

12. Capital Stock

Series X and Series Y Convertible Preferred Stock

The Company sold directly to Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P. (“BVF”) 5,003 shares of Series X convertible preferred stock in 2017 and 1,252.772 shares of Series Y preferred stock in 2018. There were 5,003 shares of Series X convertible preferred stock and no shares of Series Y convertible preferred stock outstanding as of March 31, 2021, after BVF converted all Series Y preferred stock into common stock on April 15, 2020. The Series X and Series Y convertible preferred stock have the following characteristics, which are set forth in Certificates of Designation of Preferences, Rights and Limitations filed with the Delaware Secretary of State.

Dividends— Holders of convertible preferred stock are entitled to receive dividends on shares of convertible preferred stock equal (on an as if converted to common stock basis) to and in the same form as dividends actually paid on the Company’s common stock.

Liquidation Rights— In the event of the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of convertible preferred stock will participate, on a pro-rata basis, with any distribution of proceeds to holders of common stock.

Conversion— Each share of Series X and Series Y is convertible into 1,000 shares of registered common stock based on a conversion price of $4.03 per share and $13.00 per share of common stock, respectively.

Voting Rights— Convertible preferred stock will generally have no voting rights, except as required by law and except that the consent of the holders of the outstanding convertible preferred stock will be required to amend the terms and to issue additional shares of the preferred stock.

Classification— The Company evaluated the convertible preferred stock for liability or equity classification under the applicable accounting guidance and determined that equity treatment was appropriate because the convertible preferred stock did not meet the definition of the liability instruments defined thereunder for convertible instruments. Specifically, the convertible preferred shares are not mandatorily redeemable and do not embody an obligation to buy back the shares outside of the Company’s control in a manner that could require the transfer of assets. Additionally, the Company determined that the convertible preferred stock would be recorded as permanent equity, not temporary equity, given that they are not redeemable for cash or other assets (i) on a fixed or determinable date, (ii) at the option of the holder, and (iii) upon the occurrence of an event that is not solely within control of the Company. The Company has also evaluated the embedded conversion and contingent redemption features within the convertible preferred stock in accordance with the accounting guidance for derivatives and determined that bifurcation is not required for any embedded feature.

Beneficial Conversion Feature— The fair value of the common stock into which the Series X convertible preferred stock is convertible exceeded the allocated purchase price of the Series X convertible preferred stock by $5.6 million on the date of issuance, as such the Company recorded a deemed dividend. The Company recognized the resulting beneficial conversion feature as a deemed dividend equal to the number of shares of Series X convertible preferred stock sold on February 16, 2017 multiplied by the difference between the fair value of the common stock and the Series X convertible preferred stock effective conversion price per share on that date. The dividend was reflected as a one-time, non-cash, deemed dividend to the holders of Series X convertible preferred stock on the date of issuance, which is the date the stock first became convertible. There was no beneficial conversion feature associated with the issuance of Series Y convertible preferred stock.

Series A Preferred Stock

On December 15, 2020, the Company sold 984,000 shares of its 8.625% Series A cumulative, perpetual preferred stock at the price of $25.00 per share, through a public offering for aggregate gross proceeds of $24.6 million. Total offering costs of $2.0 million were offset against the proceeds from the sale of Series A Preferred Stock, for total net proceeds of $22.6 million.

Mr. Matthew Perry, a member of the Company’s Board of Directors and President of BVF, purchased 200,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock in the public offering at the public offering price of $25.00 per share for an aggregate amount of $5.0 million. The spouse of James Neal, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and a director, purchased 8,000 shares of the Series A Preferred Stock in the public offering at the public offering price of $25.00 per share for an aggregate amount of $0.2 million.

On March 17, 2021, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.71875 per share payable to holders of Series A Preferred Stock, which the Company paid on April 15, 2021. As of March 31, 2021, the Company held restricted cash of $2.1 million in a segregated account that may only be used to pay dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock.

The Series A Preferred Stock has the following characteristics, which are set forth in the Certificate of Designation of Preferences, Rights and Limitations filed with the Delaware Secretary of State.

Dividends— Holders of the Series A Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive, when, and if authorized by the Board of Directors and declared by the Corporation, cumulative cash dividends at the rate of 8.625% per annum of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share of the Series A Preferred Stock. Such dividends will accumulate and be cumulative from, and including, the date of original issue of the Series A Preferred Stock. Dividends will be payable in arrears on or about the 15th day of January, April, July and October of each year beginning on or about April 15, 2021. The amount of any dividend payable on the Series A Preferred Stock for any period greater or less than a full Dividend Period shall be prorated and computed on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months.

Liquidation Rights— In the event of the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding up, holders of Series A Preferred Stock will rank senior to all classes or series of common stock as to dividend rights and rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding-up and on parity with respect to the distribution of assets with the Company’s Series X Preferred Stock. The Series A Preferred Stock have a par value of $0.05 per share and a liquidation preference of $25.00 per share plus any accrued and unpaid dividends.

Redemption and Special Optional Redemption— The Company, at its option, may redeem the Series A Preferred Stock, in whole or in part, at any time for a cash redemption price, plus any accrued and unpaid dividends, as follows: (i) $26.00 per share between December 15, 2021 and December 15, 2022, (ii) $25.75 per share between December 15, 2022 and December 15, 2023, (iii) $25.50 per share between December 15, 2023 and December 15, 2024 (iv) $25.25 per share between December 15, 2024 and December 15, 2025 and $25.00 per share on or after December 15, 2025. The Company also has a special optional redemption option whereby, upon the occurrence of a delisting event or change of control event, the Company may redeem outstanding Series A Preferred Stock at an amount of $25.00 per share.

Conversion— The shares of Series A Preferred Stock are not convertible into or exchangeable for any other property or securities of the Company except upon the occurrence of a delisting event or change in control event and the Company has not, on or before the date of such an event, provided the required notice of its election to redeem the Series A Preferred Stock pursuant to its redemption right or special optional redemption right. In this case, the holder of shares of Series A Preferred Stock can convert some or all of their Series A Preferred Stock into a number of shares of common stock per share equal to the lesser of (A) (i) the sum of the $25.00 liquidation preference per share of Series A Preferred Stock to be converted plus (y) the amount of any accrued and unpaid dividends to, but not including, the event date, as applicable by (ii) the common stock price and (B) 1.46071 (the “Share Cap”). The common stock price to be used in the latter noted calculation for a delisting event will be the average of the closing price per share of the Company’s common stock on the 10 consecutive trading days immediately preceding, but not including, the effective date of the delisting event. The common stock price used in the event of a change in control event will, alternatively, be based on market price according to the definition in the Certificate of Designation.

Voting Rights— Holders of the Series A Preferred Stock generally will have no voting rights, but will have limited voting rights if the issuer fails to pay dividends for six or more quarters (whether or not declared or consecutive) and in certain other events.

Classification—The Company evaluated the convertible preferred stock for liability or equity classification under the applicable accounting guidance and determined that treatment as equity was appropriate.

BVF Ownership

In February 2020, BVF elected to increase the beneficial ownership limitation of the Series Y preferred stock to 50%, which became effective on April 11, 2020. On April 15, 2020, BVF converted all of its shares of Series Y preferred stock into common stock. As of March 31, 2021, BVF owned approximately 31.4% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock, and if all the Series X convertible preferred shares were converted, BVF would own 52.5% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock. The Company’s Series A Preferred Stock becomes convertible upon the occurrence of specific events and as of March 31, 2021 the contingency was not met. Due to its significant equity ownership, BVF is considered a related party of the Company.

2018 ATM Agreement

On December 18, 2018, the Company entered into an At The Market Issuance Sales Agreement (the “2018 ATM Agreement”) with H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (“HCW”), under which the Company may offer and sell from time to time at its sole discretion shares of its common stock through HCW as its sales agent, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $30.0 million. HCW may sell the shares by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at the market” offering as defined in Rule 415 of the Securities Act, and will use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices to sell the shares up to the amount specified. The Company will pay HCW a commission of up to 3% of the gross proceeds of any shares of common stock sold under the 2018 ATM Agreement. On March 10, 2021, the Company amended the 2018 ATM Agreement with HCW to increase the aggregate amount of shares of its common stock that it could sell through HCW as its sales agent to $50.0 million. No shares have been sold under the 2018 ATM Agreement since the agreement was executed.