Sales Agreement, dated as of August 16, 2021, by and between Annexon Inc. and Cowen and Company, LLC
Exhibit 10.1
Annexon, Inc.
COMMON STOCK
SALES AGREEMENT
August 16, 2021
Cowen and Company, LLC
599 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10022
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Annexon, Inc. (the “Company”) confirms its agreement (this “Agreement”) with Cowen and Company, LLC (“Cowen”), as follows:
1. Issuance and Sale of Shares. The Company agrees that, from time to time during the term of this Agreement, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, it may issue and sell through Cowen, acting as agent and/or principal, shares (the “Placement Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), having an aggregate offering price of up to $100,000,000. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the parties hereto agree that compliance with the limitation set forth in this Section 1 on the number of shares of Common Stock issued and sold under this Agreement shall be the sole responsibility of the Company, and Cowen shall have no obligation in connection with such compliance. The issuance and sale of Common Stock through Cowen will be effected pursuant to the Registration Statement (as defined below) filed or to be filed by the Company which automatically became or will become effective under Rule 462(e) of the Securities Act (as defined below) upon filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), although nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring the Company to use the Registration Statement (as defined below) to issue the Common Stock. The Registration Statement is an “automatic shelf registration statement” (as defined in Rule 405) and the Placement Shares (as defined below) have been and remain eligible for registration by the Company on such automatic shelf registration statement.
The Company shall file, in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Securities Act”), with the Commission an automatic registration statement on Form S-3, including a base prospectus, relating to certain securities, including the Common Stock, to be issued from time to time by the Company, and which incorporates by reference documents that the Company has filed or will file in accordance with the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Exchange Act”). The Company has prepared a prospectus specifically relating to the Placement Shares (the “ATM Prospectus”) to the base prospectus included as part of such registration statement, and shall, if necessary, prepare a prospectus supplement specifically relating to the Placement Shares (the “Prospectus Supplement”) to the base prospectus included as part of such registration statement. The Company shall furnish to Cowen, for use by Cowen, copies of the prospectus included as part of
such registration statement, as supplemented by the Prospectus Supplement, if any, relating to the Placement Shares. Except where the context otherwise requires, such registration statement, and any post-effective amendment thereto, as amended when it becomes effective, including all documents filed as part thereof or incorporated by reference therein, and including any information contained in a Prospectus (as defined below) subsequently filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act or deemed to be a part of such registration statement pursuant to Rule 430B or 462(b) of the Securities Act, or any subsequent registration statement on Form S-3 filed pursuant to Rule 415(a)(6) under the Securities Act by the Company to cover any Placement Shares, is herein called the “Registration Statement.” The base prospectus and the ATM Prospectus, including all documents incorporated therein by reference, included in the Registration Statement, as it may be supplemented by any Prospectus Supplement, in the form in which such prospectus, ATM Prospectus and/or Prospectus Supplement have most recently been filed by the Company with the Commission, together with any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 of the Securities Act regulations (“Rule 433”), relating to the Placement Shares that (i) is consented to by Cowen, hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectus,” (ii) is required to be filed with the Commission by the Company or (iii) is exempt from filing pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i), in each case in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g), is herein called the “Prospectus.” Any reference herein to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto shall be deemed to refer to and include the documents incorporated by reference therein, and any reference herein to the terms “amend,” “amendment” or “supplement” with respect to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus shall be deemed to refer to and include the filing after the execution hereof of any document with the Commission deemed to be incorporated by reference therein. For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus or to any amendment or supplement thereto shall be deemed to include any copy filed with the Commission pursuant to the Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System or any successor thereto (“EDGAR”).
2. Placements. Each time that the Company wishes to issue and sell the Placement Shares hereunder (each, a “Placement”), it will notify Cowen by email notice (or other method mutually agreed to in writing by the parties) (a “Placement Notice”) containing the parameters in accordance with which it desires the Placement Shares to be sold, which shall at a minimum include the number of shares of Placement Shares to be issued, the time period during which sales are requested to be made, any limitation on the number of Placement Shares that may be sold in any one Trading Day (as defined in Section 3) and any minimum price below which sales may not be made, a form of which containing such minimum sales parameters necessary is attached hereto as Schedule 1. The Placement Notice shall originate from any of the individuals from the Company set forth on Schedule 2 (with a copy to each of the other individuals from the Company listed on such schedule), and shall be addressed to each of the individuals from Cowen set forth on Schedule 2, as such Schedule 2 may be amended in writing from time to time in accordance herewith. The Placement Notice shall be effective upon receipt by Cowen unless and until (i) in accordance with the notice requirements set forth in Section 4, Cowen declines to accept the terms contained therein for any reason, in its sole discretion, (ii) the entire amount of the Placement Shares have been sold, (iii) in accordance with the notice requirements set forth in Section 4, the Company suspends or terminates the Placement Notice for any reason in its sole discretion, (iv) the Company issues a subsequent Placement Notice with parameters superseding those on the
earlier dated Placement Notice, or (v) this Agreement has been terminated under the provisions of Section 11. The amount of any discount, commission or other compensation to be paid by the Company to Cowen in connection with the sale of the Placement Shares shall be calculated in accordance with the terms set forth in Schedule 3. It is expressly acknowledged and agreed that neither the Company nor Cowen will have any obligation whatsoever with respect to a Placement or any Placement Shares unless and until the Company delivers a Placement Notice to Cowen and Cowen does not decline such Placement Notice pursuant to the terms set forth above, and then only upon the terms specified therein and herein. In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and the terms of a Placement Notice, the terms of the Placement Notice will control.
3. Sale of Placement Shares by Cowen. Subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, upon the Company’s delivery of a Placement Notice, and unless the sale of the Placement Shares described therein has been declined, suspended, or otherwise terminated in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, Cowen, for the period specified in the Placement Notice, will use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices and applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations and the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (“Nasdaq”) to sell such Placement Shares up to the amount specified in such Placement Notice, and otherwise in accordance with the terms of such Placement Notice. Cowen will provide written confirmation to the Company (including by email correspondence to each of the individuals of the Company set forth on Schedule 2, if receipt of such correspondence is actually acknowledged by any of the individuals to whom the notice is sent, other than via auto-reply) no later than the opening of the Trading Day (as defined below) immediately following the Trading Day on which it has made sales of Placement Shares hereunder setting forth the number of Placement Shares sold on such day, the volume-weighted average price of the Placement Shares sold, and the Net Proceeds (as defined below) payable to the Company. In the event the Company engages Cowen for a sale of Placement Shares that would constitute a “block” within the meaning of Rule 10b-18(a)(5) under the Exchange Act, the Company will provide Cowen, at Cowen’s request and upon reasonable advance notice to the Company, on or prior to the Settlement Date (as defined below), the opinions of counsel, accountant’s letter and officers’ certificates set forth in Section 8 hereof, each dated the Settlement Date, and such other documents and information as Cowen shall reasonably request. Cowen may sell Placement Shares by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at the market offering” as defined in Rule 415(a)(4) of the Securities Act, including without limitation sales made through Nasdaq or on any other existing trading market for the Common Stock. Cowen shall not purchase Placement Shares for its own account as principal unless expressly authorized to do so by the Company in a Placement Notice. The Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) there can be no assurance that Cowen will be successful in selling Placement Shares, and (ii) Cowen will incur no liability or obligation to the Company or any other person or entity if it does not sell Placement Shares for any reason other than a failure by Cowen to use its commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices to sell such Placement Shares as required under this Section 3. For the purposes hereof, “Trading Day” means any day on which the Company’s Common Stock is purchased and sold on the principal market on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, the Company shall not offer, sell or deliver, or request the offer or sale, of any Placement Shares pursuant to this Agreement and, by notice to Cowen given by telephone (confirmed promptly by email), shall cancel any instructions
for the offer or sale of any Placement Shares, and Cowen shall not be obligated to offer or sell any Placement Shares, (i) during any period in which the Company is, or could be deemed to be, in possession of material non-public information, or (ii) at any time from and including the date on which the Company shall issue a press release containing, or shall otherwise publicly announce, its earnings, revenues or other results of operations (an “Earnings Announcement”) through and including the time that the Company files a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or an Annual Report on Form 10-K that includes consolidated financial statements as of and for the same period or periods, as the case may be, covered by such Earnings Announcement.
4. Suspension of Sales.
(a)The Company or Cowen may, upon notice to the other party in writing (including by email correspondence to each of the individuals of the other party set forth on Schedule 2, if receipt of such correspondence is actually acknowledged by any of the individuals to whom the notice is sent, other than via auto-reply) or by telephone (confirmed immediately by verifiable facsimile transmission or email correspondence to each of the individuals of the other party set forth on Schedule 2), suspend any sale of Placement Shares; provided, however, that such suspension shall not affect or impair either party’s obligations with respect to any Placement Shares sold hereunder prior to the receipt of such notice. While a suspension is in effect, any obligation under Sections 7(m), 7(n) and 7(o) with respect to delivery of certificates, opinion, or comfort letters to Cowen shall be waived. Each of the parties agrees that no such notice under this Section 4 shall be effective against the other unless it is made to one of the individuals named on Schedule 2 hereto, as such schedule may be amended from time to time.
(b)If either Cowen or the Company has reason to believe that the exemptive provisions set forth in Rule 101(c)(1) of Regulation M under the Exchange Act are not satisfied with respect to the Common Stock, it shall promptly notify the other party, and Cowen may, at its sole discretion, suspend sales of the Placement Shares under this Agreement.
(c)Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, during any period in which the Registration Statement is no longer effective under the Securities Act, the Company shall promptly notify Cowen, the Company shall not request the sale of any Placement Shares, and Cowen shall not be obligated to sell or offer to sell any Placement Shares.
5. Settlement.
(a) Settlement of Placement Shares. Unless otherwise specified in the applicable Placement Notice, settlement for sales of Placement Shares will occur on the second (2nd) Trading Day (or such earlier day as is industry practice for regular-way trading) following the date on which such sales are made (each, a “Settlement Date” and the first such settlement date, the “First Delivery Date”). The amount of proceeds to be delivered to the Company on a Settlement Date against receipt of the Placement Shares sold (the “Net Proceeds”) will be equal to the aggregate sales price received by Cowen at which such Placement Shares were sold, after deduction for (i) Cowen’s commission, discount or other compensation for such sales payable by the Company pursuant to Section 2 hereof, (ii) any other amounts due and payable by the Company to Cowen hereunder pursuant to Section 7(g) (Expenses) hereof, and (iii) any transaction fees imposed by any governmental or self-regulatory organization in respect of such sales.
(b) Delivery of Placement Shares. On or before each Settlement Date, the Company will, or will cause its transfer agent to, electronically transfer the Placement Shares being sold by crediting Cowen’s or its designee’s account (provided Cowen shall have given the Company written notice of such designee at least one (1) Trading Day prior to the Settlement Date) at The Depository Trust Company through its Deposit and Withdrawal at Custodian System or by such other means of delivery as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties hereto which in all cases shall be freely tradeable, transferable, registered shares in good deliverable form. On each Settlement Date, Cowen will deliver the related Net Proceeds in same day funds to an account designated by the Company on, or prior to, the Settlement Date. Cowen will be responsible for providing DWAC instructions or instructions for delivery by other means with regard to the transfer of the Placement Shares being sold. The Company agrees that if the Company, or its transfer agent (if applicable), defaults in its obligation to deliver duly authorized Placement Shares on a Settlement Date, in addition to and in no way limiting the rights and obligations set forth in Section 9(a) (Indemnification and Contribution) hereto, it will (i) hold Cowen harmless against any loss, claim, damage, or reasonable and documented expense (including reasonable and documented legal fees and expenses), as incurred, arising out of or in connection with such default by the Company and (ii) pay to Cowen (without duplication) any commission, discount, or other compensation to which it would otherwise have been entitled absent such default.
6. Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company represents and warrants to, and agrees with, Cowen that, unless such representation, warranty or agreement specifies otherwise, as of (i) the date of this Agreement, (ii) each Time of Sale (as defined below), (iii) each Settlement Date, and (iv) each Bring-Down Date (as defined below) (each date included in (i) through (iv), a “Representation Date”):
(a) Compliance with Registration Requirements. Other than as of the date of this Agreement, the Registration Statement became or will become effective automatically upon filing with the Commission under the Securities Act. The Registration Statement is an “automatic shelf registration statement” on Form S-3 as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act and was filed not earlier than three (3) years prior to the date hereof. No stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement is in effect and no proceedings for such purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, contemplated or threatened by the Commission. At the time of the initial filing of the Registration Statement, the Company paid or will pay the required Commission filing fees relating to the Placement Shares in accordance with Rules 457(o) and 457(r) under the Securities Act. The Company meets the requirements for use of Form S‑3 under the Securities Act. The sale of the Placement Shares hereunder meets the requirements or General Instruction I.B.1 of Form S-3.
(b) No Misstatement or Omission. The Prospectus when filed complied and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act. Each of the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, the Prospectus and any post-effective amendments or supplements thereto, at the time it became effective or its date, as applicable, complied and as of each Representation Date, complied and will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and did not and, as of each Representation Date, did not and will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, as of its date, did not and, as of each Representation Date, will not
contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The representations and warranties set forth in the two immediately preceding sentences do not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, or any post-effective amendment thereto, or the Prospectus, or any amendments or supplements thereto, made in reliance upon and in conformity with information relating to Agent’s Information (as defined below). There are no contracts or other documents required to be described in the Prospectus or to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement which have not been described or filed as required. As used herein, “Time of Sale” means with respect to each offering of Placement Shares pursuant to this Agreement, the time of Cowen’s initial entry into contracts with purchasers for the sale of such Placement Shares.
(c) Offering Materials Furnished to Cowen. The Company has delivered to Cowen one complete copy of the Registration Statement and a copy of each consent and certificate of experts filed as a part thereof, and conformed copies of the Registration Statement (without exhibits) and the Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, in such quantities and at such places as Cowen has reasonably requested. The Registration Statement, the Prospectus and any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus (to the extent any such Permitted Free Writing Prospectus was required to be filed with the Commission) delivered to Cowen for use in connection with the public offering of the Placement Shares contemplated herein have been and will be identical to the versions of such documents transmitted to the Commission for filing via EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.
(d) Emerging Growth Company Status. On the date of the initial filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission, the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”); provided, however, that the Company will cease, or has ceased, to be an Emerging Growth Company as of December 31, 2021.
(e) Not an Ineligible Issuer. The Company currently is not an “ineligible issuer,” as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act. The Company agrees to notify Cowen promptly upon the Company becoming an “ineligible issuer.”
(f) Distribution of Offering Material By the Company. The Company has not distributed and will not distribute, prior to the completion of Cowen’s distribution of the Placement Shares, any offering material in connection with the offering and sale of the Placement Shares other than the Prospectus or the Registration Statement.
(g) WKSI. (i) At the time of filing of the Registration Statement, (ii) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment, incorporated report filed pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act or form of prospectus), (iii) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c) under the Securities Act) made any offer relating to the Placement Shares in reliance on the exemption of Rule 163 under the Securities Act, and (iv) as of the time of any Placement, the Company was and is a “well known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405; the Registration Statement is an “automatic shelf registration statement,” as defined in Rule 405, that has become or became effective automatically not more than three (3) years prior to the date of any Placement;
the Company has not received from the Commission any notice pursuant to Rule 401(g)(2) under the Securities Act objecting to use of the automatic shelf registration statement form; and the Company has not otherwise ceased to be eligible to use the automatic shelf registration form.
(h) Preparation of the Financial Statements. The financial statements (including the related notes thereto) of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries filed with the Commission as a part of or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus comply in all material respects with the applicable requirements of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, and present fairly in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries as of the dates indicated and the results of their operations and the changes in their cash flows for the periods specified; such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods covered thereby, except in the case of unaudited financial statements, which are subject to normal year-end adjustments and do not contain certain footnotes as permitted by the applicable rules of the Commission; and any supporting schedules included in the Registration Statement present fairly in all material respects the information required to be stated therein; and the other financial information included in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus has been derived from the accounting records of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries and presents fairly in all material respects the information shown thereby.
(i) XBRL. The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in each Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all material respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.
(j) No Material Adverse Change. Since the date of the most recent financial statements of the Company included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, (i) there has not been any material change in the capital stock (other than the issuance of shares of Common Stock upon exercise of stock options and warrants described as outstanding in, and the grant of options and awards under existing equity incentive plans described in, the Registration Statement and the Prospectus), short-term debt or long-term debt of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any dividend or distribution of any kind declared, set aside for payment, paid or made by the Company on any class of capital stock, or any material adverse change, or any development that would reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse change, in or affecting the business, properties, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity, results of operations or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; (ii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has entered into any transaction or agreement (whether or not in the ordinary course of business) that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or incurred any liability or obligation, direct or contingent, that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole; and (iii) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sustained any loss or interference with its business that is material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole and that is either from fire, explosion, flood or other calamity, whether or not covered by insurance, or from any labor disturbance or dispute or any action, order or decree of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except in each case as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.
(k) Incorporation and Good Standing of the Company and its Subsidiaries. The Company and each of its subsidiaries have been duly organized and are validly existing and in good standing under the laws of their respective jurisdictions of organization, are duly qualified to do business and are in good standing in each jurisdiction in which their respective ownership or lease of property or the conduct of their respective businesses requires such qualification, and have all power and authority necessary to own or hold their respective properties and to conduct the businesses in which they are engaged, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing or have such power or authority would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the business, properties, management, financial position, stockholders’ equity, results of operations or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole or on the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement (a “Material Adverse Effect”). The Company does not own or control, directly or indirectly, any corporation, association or other entity other than the subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21.1 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year and other than (i) those subsidiaries not required to be listed on Exhibit 21.1 by Item 601 of Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act and (ii) those subsidiaries formed since the last day of the most recently ended fiscal year.
(l) Capital Stock Matters. The Company has an authorized capitalization as set forth in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus under the heading “Description of Capital Stock”; all the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company and its subsidiaries have been duly and validly authorized and issued and are fully paid and non-assessable and are not subject to any pre-emptive or similar rights that have not been duly waived or satisfied; except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there are no outstanding rights (including, without limitation, pre-emptive rights), warrants or options to acquire, or instruments convertible into or exchangeable for, any shares of capital stock or other equity interest in the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or any contract, commitment, agreement, understanding or arrangement of any kind relating to the issuance of any capital stock of the Company or any such subsidiary, any such convertible or exchangeable securities or any such rights, warrants or options; the capital stock of the Company conforms in all material respects to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus; and except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, all the outstanding shares of capital stock or other equity interests of each subsidiary owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company have been duly and validly authorized and issued, are fully paid and non-assessable (except, in the case of any foreign subsidiary, for directors’ qualifying shares) and are owned directly or indirectly by the Company, free and clear of any lien, charge, encumbrance, security interest, restriction on voting or transfer or any other claim of any third party.
(m) Stock Options. With respect to the stock options (the “Stock Options”) granted pursuant to the stock-based compensation plans of the Company and its subsidiaries (the “Company Stock Plans”), except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (i) each Stock Option intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option” under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) so qualifies, (ii) each grant of a Stock Option was duly authorized no later than the date on which the grant of such Stock Option was by its terms to be effective by all necessary corporate action, including, as applicable, approval by the board of directors of the Company (or a duly constituted and authorized committee thereof) and any required stockholder approval by the
necessary number of votes or written consents, and the award agreement governing such grant (if any) was duly executed and delivered by each party thereto, (iii) each such grant was made in accordance with the terms of the Company Stock Plans, the Exchange Act and all other applicable laws and regulatory rules or requirements, and (iv) each such grant was properly accounted for in accordance with GAAP in the financial statements (including the related notes) of the Company.
(n) The Sales Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by, and is a valid and binding agreement of, the Company, enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as rights to indemnification hereunder may be limited by applicable law and except as the enforcement hereof may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting the rights and remedies of creditors or by general equitable principles.
(o) Authorization of the Common Stock. The Placement Shares, when issued and delivered by the Company hereunder will be duly and validly issued, will be fully paid and nonassessable and will conform in all material respects to the descriptions thereof in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus; and the issuance of the Placement Shares is not subject to any preemptive or similar rights that have not been duly waived or satisfied.
(p) Listing. The Company is subject to and in compliance in all material respects with the reporting requirements of Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. The Common Stock is registered pursuant to Section 12(b) or Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act and is listed on the Nasdaq, and the Company has taken no action designed to, or reasonably likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act or delisting the Common Stock from the Exchange, nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission or Nasdaq is contemplating terminating such registration or listing. All of the Placement Shares that have been or may be sold under this Agreement have been or will have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq prior to the sale of such Placement Shares, subject to official notice of issuance; the Company has taken all necessary actions to ensure that, upon and at all times after the Nasdaq shall have approved the Placement Shares for listing, it will be in compliance with all applicable corporate governance requirements set forth in the Nasdaq’s listing rules that are then in effect.
(q) No Violation or Default. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is (i) in violation of its charter or by-laws or similar organizational documents; (ii) in default, and no event has occurred that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would constitute such a default, in the due performance or observance of any term, covenant or condition contained in any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any property or asset of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject; or (iii) in violation of any law or statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except, in the case of clauses (ii) and (iii) above, for any such default or violation that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(r) No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Placement Shares and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Prospectus will not (i) conflict with or result
in a breach or violation of any of the terms or provisions of, or constitute a default under, result in the termination, modification or acceleration of, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any property, right or asset of the Company or any of its subsidiaries pursuant to, any indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan agreement or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is bound or to which any property, right or asset of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject, (ii) result in any violation of the provisions of the charter or by-laws or similar organizational documents of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or (iii) result in the violation of any law or statute or any judgment, order, rule or regulation of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, except, in the case of clauses (i) and (iii) above, for any such conflict, breach, violation, default, lien, charge or encumbrance that would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(s) No Consents Required. No consent, filing, approval, authorization, order, license, registration or qualification of or with any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority is required for the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement, the issuance and sale of the Placement Shares and the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except such as have already been obtained or for the registration of the Placement Shares under the Securities Act and such consents, approvals, authorizations, orders and registrations or qualifications as may be required by Nasdaq, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) and under applicable state securities laws.
(t) No Material Actions or Proceedings. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there are no legal, governmental or regulatory investigations, actions, demands, claims, suits, arbitrations, inquiries or proceedings (“Actions”) pending to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is or may reasonably be expected to become a party or to which any property of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is or may reasonably be expected to become the subject that, individually or in the aggregate, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; to the knowledge of the Company, no such Actions are threatened or contemplated by any governmental or regulatory authority or threatened by others; and (i) there are no current or pending Actions that are required under the Securities Act or Exchange Act, as applicable, to be described in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus that are not so described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and (ii) there are no statutes, regulations or contracts or other documents that are required under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, as applicable, to be filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus that are not so filed as exhibits to the Registration Statement or described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus.
(u) Independent Accountants. KPMG LLP, who has certified certain financial statements of the Company and its subsidiaries is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries within the applicable rules and regulations adopted by the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) and as required by the Securities Act and the Exchange Act.
(v) Title to Real and Personal Property. The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title in fee simple (in the case of real property) to, or have valid rights to lease or
otherwise use, all items of real and personal property and assets that are material to the respective businesses of the Company and its subsidiaries, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances, claims and defects and imperfections of title except those that (i) are disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, (ii) do not materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company and its subsidiaries or (iii) would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(w) Intellectual Property. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company and its subsidiaries own, or possess valid and enforceable licensed rights to use, all material patents, patent applications, trademarks, service marks, trade names, trademark registrations, service mark registrations, trade dress, designs, data, database rights, Internet domain names, copyrights, works of authorship, licenses, proprietary information and know-how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures) necessary for the conduct of their respective businesses as currently conducted and as proposed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus to be conducted (collectively, “Intellectual Property”). The Intellectual Property of the Company has not been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such adjudication. The Company and its subsidiaries have not received any notice of any claim of infringement, misappropriation or conflict with any intellectual property rights of another, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such notice or claim. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, too the Company’s knowledge: (i) there are no third parties who have rights to any Intellectual Property, except for customary reversionary rights of third-party licensors with respect to Intellectual Property that is disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as owned by or licensed to the Company or its subsidiaries; and (ii) there is no infringement by third parties of any Intellectual Property. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others: (A) challenging the Company’s rights in or to any Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; (B) challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of any Intellectual Property, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim; or (C) asserting that the Company or its subsidiaries infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate, or would, upon the commercialization of any product or service described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as under development, infringe, misappropriate, or otherwise violate, any intellectual property rights of others, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such action, suit, proceeding or claim. The Company and its subsidiaries have complied with the terms of each agreement in all material respects pursuant to which Intellectual Property has been licensed to the Company or its subsidiaries, and all such agreements are in full force and effect. To the Company’s knowledge, there are no material defects in any of the patents or patent applications included in the Intellectual Property. The patents and patent applications included in the Intellectual Property are subsisting and have not lapsed and the patent applications in the Intellectual Property are subsisting and have not been abandoned. The Company and its subsidiaries have taken all reasonable steps to protect, maintain and safeguard their Intellectual Property, including having a policy to execute appropriate nondisclosure, confidentiality agreements and invention assignment agreements and invention assignments with their employees, and, to the Company’s knowledge, no employee of the
Company is in or has been in violation of any term of any employment contract, patent disclosure agreement, invention assignment agreement, non-competition agreement, non-solicitation agreement, nondisclosure agreement, or any restrictive covenant to or with a former employer where the basis of such violation relates to such employee’s employment with the Company. To the Company’s knowledge, the duty of candor and good faith as required by the United States Patent and Trademark Office during the prosecution of the Company owned United States patents and patent applications included in the Intellectual Property have been complied with; and in all foreign offices having similar requirements, all such requirements have been complied with for the Company owned foreign patents and patent applications included in the Intellectual Property. To the Company’s knowledge, none of the Company owned Intellectual Property employed by the Company or its subsidiaries has been obtained or is being used by the Company or its subsidiary in violation of any material contractual obligation binding on the Company or its subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors or employees. The product candidates described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as under development by the Company or its subsidiaries fall within the scope of the claims of one or more patents or patent applications owned by, or exclusively licensed to, the Company or its subsidiaries.
(x) Trade Secrets. The Company and its subsidiaries have taken reasonable and customary actions to protect their rights in and prevent the unauthorized use and disclosure of material trade secrets and confidential business information (including confidential source code, ideas, research and development information, know-how, formulas, compositions, technical data, designs, drawings, specifications, research records, records of inventions, test information, financial, marketing and business data, customer and supplier lists and information, pricing and cost information, business and marketing plans and proposals) owned by the Company and its subsidiaries, and, to the knowledge of the Company, there has been no unauthorized use or disclosure.
(y) IT Assets. Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (i) the computers, software, hardware, applications, databases, servers, networks, data communications lines, and other information technology assets or systems owned, licensed, leased or otherwise used by the Company or its subsidiaries (excluding any public networks) (collectively, the “IT Assets”) are adequate for, and operate and perform as is necessary for the operation of the business of the Company and its subsidiaries as currently conducted and as proposed to be conducted as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and (ii) to the knowledge of the Company, such IT Assets are not infected by viruses, disabling code or other harmful code. The Company and its subsidiaries have implemented and maintained commercially reasonable controls, policies, procedures, and safeguards designed to maintain and protect Personal Data (as defined below) and sensitive, confidential or regulated information (collectively, “Confidential Data”) and the integrity, continuous operation, redundancy and security of all IT Assets used in connection with their businesses. Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and to the knowledge of the Company, (1) there have been no breaches, violations, outages or unauthorized uses of or accesses to same, except for those that have been remedied without material cost or liability or the duty to notify any other person, nor (2) any incidents under internal review or investigations relating to the same. “Personal Data” means any information that constitutes “personal data”, “personal information”, “personally identifiable information”, “protected health information” under applicable law.
(z) Data Privacy and Security Laws. Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and except where non-compliance would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries are, and have since August 1, 2018 been, in compliance with all applicable state, federal, and foreign data privacy, security and consumer protection laws and regulations, including without limitation, to the extent applicable, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act”), the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”) and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (EU 2016/679) (collectively, the “Privacy Laws”). Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries have since August 1, 2018 made all disclosures to users or customers required by Privacy Laws, and none of such disclosures have, to the knowledge of the Company, been inaccurate or in violation of Privacy Laws. Neither the Company nor any subsidiary: (i) has received written notice of any actual or potential liability, including, but not limited to security or data privacy breaches or other unauthorized or unlawful access to, use of, or destruction of its Confidential Data or Personal Data, under or relating to, or actual or potential violation of, any of the Privacy Laws, and to the Company’s knowledge, no such notices are threatened or pending; (ii) is currently conducting or paying for, in whole or in part, any investigation, remediation, or other corrective action pursuant to any Privacy Law; or (iii) is a party to any order, decree, or agreement with any governmental, regulatory or supervisory authority or body that imposes any obligation or liability under any Privacy Law.
(aa) No Complaints. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there is no complaint to or audit, proceeding, investigation (formal or informal) or claim currently pending against the Company or its subsidiaries, or to the knowledge of the Company, any of its customers (specific to the customer’s use of the products or services of the Company) by any state Attorney General or related office, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and any office contained therein (“HHS”), or any similar authority in any jurisdiction other than the United States or any other governmental entity, or by any person in respect of the collection, use or disclosure of Personal Data by the Company or its subsidiaries, and, to the knowledge of the Company, no such complaint, audit, proceeding, investigation or claim is threatened.
(bb) FDA Compliance. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and except, in each case, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company: (A) is, and has since August 1, 2018 been, in compliance with all applicable statutes, rules or regulations of the FDA relating to the ownership, testing, development, manufacture, packaging, processing, use, distribution, marketing, labeling, promotion, sale, offer for sale, storage, import, export or disposal of any product under development, manufactured or distributed by the Company (“Applicable Laws”); (B) has not received any FDA Form 483, written notice of adverse finding, warning letter, untitled letter or other correspondence or written notice from the FDA or any similar governmental entity in each case alleging or asserting material noncompliance with any Applicable Laws or any licenses, certificates, approvals, clearances, exemptions, authorizations, permits and supplements or amendments thereto required by any such Applicable Laws (“Authorizations”); (C) possesses all Authorizations required for the conduct of its business and such Authorizations are valid and in full force and effect and the Company is not in violation of any term of any such Authorizations;
(D) has not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from the FDA or any governmental entity or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in material violation of any Applicable Laws or Authorizations and has no knowledge that the FDA or any governmental entity or third party has threatened any such claim, litigation, arbitration, action, suit, investigation or proceeding; and (E) has not received written notice that the FDA or any governmental entity has taken, is taking or intends to take action to limit, suspend, modify or revoke any material Authorizations and has no knowledge that the FDA or any governmental entity is considering such action.
(cc) Tests and Preclinical and Clinical Trials. The studies, tests and preclinical and clinical trials conducted by or, to the Company’s knowledge, on behalf of the Company were and, if still ongoing, are being conducted in all material respects in accordance with experimental protocols, procedures and controls pursuant to, where applicable, all Applicable Laws, including, without limitation, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and any applicable rules and regulations of the jurisdiction in which such trials and studies are being conducted; except to the extent disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, the Company is not aware of any studies, tests or trials, the results of which the Company believes materially call into question the study, test, or trial results described or referred to in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus when viewed in the context in which such results are described and the clinical state of development; and, except to the extent disclosed in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, the Company has not received any written notices or correspondence from the FDA or any governmental entity requiring the termination or suspension of any studies, tests or preclinical or clinical trials conducted by or on behalf of the Company, other than ordinary course communications with respect to modifications in connection with the design and implementation of such trials.
(dd) Compliance with Health Care Laws. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect: the Company and its subsidiaries are, and have since August 1, 2018 been, in compliance with all Health Care Laws. For purposes of this Agreement, “Health Care Laws” means: (i) the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder; and (ii) all applicable federal, state, local and foreign health care fraud and abuse laws, including, without limitation, the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b(b)), the U.S. Civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. Section 3729 et seq.), the criminal False Statements Law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b(a)), 18 U.S.C. Sections 286, 287, 1035, 1347, and 1349 the health care fraud criminal provisions under HIPAA, the civil monetary penalties law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7a), the exclusions law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7), and the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (42 U.S.C Section 1320-7h); and the regulations promulgated pursuant to such laws. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in material violation of any Health Care Laws nor, to the Company’s knowledge, has any such claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action been threatened. Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries have filed, maintained or submitted all reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required by any
Health Care Laws, and all such reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments were complete and accurate on the date filed in all respects (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission). Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, or any of their respective employees, officers, directors, or to the Company’s knowledge, any of their respective agents, is a party to any corporate integrity agreements, monitoring agreements, consent decrees, settlement orders, or similar agreements with or imposed by any governmental or regulatory authority. Additionally, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor any of their respective employees, officers, directors, or to the Company’s knowledge, its agents, has been excluded, suspended or debarred from participation in any U.S. federal health care program or human clinical research or, to the knowledge of the Company, is subject to a governmental inquiry, investigation, proceeding, or other similar action that would reasonably be expected to result in debarment, suspension, or exclusion.
(ee) Related Party Transactions. No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the directors, officers, stockholders, customers, suppliers or other affiliates of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the other, that is required by the Securities Act or Exchange Act, as applicable, to be described in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus and that is not so described in such documents.
(ff) Company Not an “Investment Company”. The Company has been advised of the rules and requirements under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (the “Investment Company Act”). The Company is not and, after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Placement Shares and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, will not be required to register as an “investment company” or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act.
(gg) Tax Law Compliance. The Company and its subsidiaries have paid all federal, state, local and foreign taxes and filed all tax returns required to be paid or filed through the date hereof; and except as otherwise disclosed in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there is no tax deficiency that has been, or is reasonably expected to be, asserted against the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties or assets; in each case, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
(hh) All Necessary Permits, etc. The Company and its subsidiaries possess all licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations issued by, and have made all declarations and filings with, the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory authorities that are necessary for the ownership or lease of their respective properties or the conduct of their respective businesses as described in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, except where the failure to possess or make the same would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and except as described in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received written notice of any revocation or modification of any such license, certificate, permit or authorization or has any reason to believe that any such license, certificate, permit or authorization will not be renewed in the ordinary course, except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. To the Company’s knowledge, no party granting any such licenses, certificates, permits or other authorizations has taken any action to limit,
suspend or revoke the same in any material respect. Except as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries have filed, obtained, maintained or submitted all reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments as required and all such reports, documents, forms, notices, applications, records, claims, submissions and supplements or amendments were timely, complete and correct on the date filed (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission) as required for maintenance of their licenses, certificates, permits and other authorizations that are necessary for the conduct of their respective businesses.
(ii) No Labor Disputes. (i) No labor disturbance by or dispute with employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is contemplated or threatened, and (ii) the Company is not aware of any existing or imminent labor disturbance by, or dispute with, the employees of any of its or its subsidiaries’ principal suppliers, contractors or customers, except in the case of each of (i) and (ii) above, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(jj) Compliance with Environmental Laws. (i) The Company and its subsidiaries (x) are in compliance with all, and have not violated any, applicable federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules, regulations, requirements, decisions, judgments, decrees, orders and other legally enforceable requirements relating to pollution or the protection of human health or safety, the environment, natural resources, hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (collectively, “Environmental Laws”); (y) have received and are in compliance with all, and have not violated any, permits, licenses, certificates or other authorizations or approvals required of them under any Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses; and (z) have not received written notice of any actual or potential liability or obligation under or relating to, or any actual or potential violation of, any Environmental Laws, including for the investigation or remediation of any disposal or release of hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, and have no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in any such notice; (ii) there are no costs or liabilities associated with Environmental Laws of or relating to the Company or its subsidiaries, except in the case of each of (i) and (ii) above, for any such matter as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect; and (iii) except as described in the Prospectus, (x) there is no proceeding that is pending, or that is known by the Company to be contemplated, against the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any Environmental Laws in which a governmental entity is also a party, other than such proceeding regarding which the Company reasonably believes no monetary sanctions of $100,000 or more will be imposed, (y) the Company and its subsidiaries are not aware of any facts or issues regarding compliance with Environmental Laws, or liabilities or other obligations under Environmental Laws or concerning hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants, that would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, and (z) none of the Company or its subsidiaries anticipates material capital expenditures relating to any Environmental Laws.
(kk) Hazardous Materials. There has been no storage, generation, transportation, use, handling, treatment, Release or threat of Release of Hazardous Materials by, relating to or caused by the Company or any of its subsidiaries (or, to the knowledge of the Company and its subsidiaries, any other entity (including any predecessor) for whose acts or omissions the
Company or any of its subsidiaries is or could reasonably be expected to be liable) at, on, under or from any property or facility now or previously owned, operated or leased by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, or at, on, under or from any other property or facility, in violation of any Environmental Laws or in a manner or amount or to a location that could reasonably be expected to result in any liability under any Environmental Law, except for any violation or liability which would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. “Hazardous Materials” means any material, chemical, substance, waste, pollutant, contaminant, compound, mixture, or constituent thereof, in any form or amount, including petroleum (including crude oil or any fraction thereof) and petroleum products, natural gas liquids, asbestos and asbestos containing materials, naturally occurring radioactive materials, brine, and drilling mud, regulated or which can give rise to liability under any Environmental Law. “Release” means any spilling, leaking, seepage, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, disposing, depositing, dispersing, or migrating in, into or through the environment, or in, into from or through any building or structure.
(ll) Compliance with ERISA. (i) Each employee benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), for which the Company or any member of its “Controlled Group” (defined as any entity, whether or not incorporated, that is under common control with the Company within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(14) of ERISA or any entity that would be regarded as a single employer with the Company under Section 414(b),(c),(m) or (o) of the Code) would have any liability (each, a “Plan”) has been maintained in compliance with its terms and the requirements of any applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations, including but not limited to ERISA and the Code; (ii) no prohibited transaction, within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, has occurred with respect to any Plan, excluding transactions effected pursuant to a statutory or administrative exemption; (iii) for each Plan that is subject to the funding rules of Section 412 of the Code or Section 302 of ERISA, no Plan has failed (whether or not waived), or is reasonably expected to fail, to satisfy the minimum funding standards (within the meaning of Section 302 of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code) applicable to such Plan; (iv) no Plan is, or is reasonably expected to be, in “at risk status” (within the meaning of Section 303(i) of ERISA) and no Plan that is a “multiemployer plan” within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA is in “endangered status” or “critical status” (within the meaning of Sections 304 and 305 of ERISA) (v) the fair market value of the assets of each Plan exceeds the present value of all benefits accrued under such Plan (determined based on those assumptions used to fund such Plan); (vi) no “reportable event” (within the meaning of Section 4043(c) of ERISA and the regulations promulgated thereunder) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur; (vii) each Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code has received a favorable determination letter, or is entitled to rely on an opinion letter, from the Internal Revenue Service, and, to the knowledge of the Company, nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification; (viii) neither the Company nor any member of the Controlled Group has incurred, nor reasonably expects to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA (other than contributions to the Plan or premiums to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, in the ordinary course and without default) in respect of a Plan (including a “multiemployer plan” within the meaning of Section 4001(a)(3) of ERISA); and (ix) none of the following events has occurred or is reasonably likely to occur: (A) a material increase in the aggregate amount of contributions required to be made to all Plans by the Company or its Controlled Group affiliates in the current fiscal year of the Company and its Controlled Group affiliates compared to the amount of such
contributions made in the Company’s and its Controlled Group affiliates’ most recently completed fiscal year; or (B) a material increase in the Company and its subsidiaries’ “accumulated post-retirement benefit obligations” (within the meaning of Accounting Standards Codification Topic 715-60) compared to the amount of such obligations in the Company and its subsidiaries’ most recently completed fiscal year, except in each case with respect to the events or conditions set forth in (i) through (ix) hereof, as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(mm) Disclosure Controls. The Company and its subsidiaries maintain an effective system of “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Exchange Act) that complies with the requirements of the Exchange Act and that has been designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms, including controls and procedures designed to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to the Company’s management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The Company has conducted evaluations of the effectiveness of their disclosure controls as required by Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act.
(nn) Accounting System. The Company and its subsidiaries maintain systems of “internal control over financial reporting” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act) that are designed to comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act and have been designed by, or under the supervision of, their respective principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP, including, but not limited to, internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (i) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (ii) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; and (iv) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, there are no material weaknesses in the Company’s internal controls. The Company’s auditors and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company have been advised of: (i) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal controls over financial reporting which have adversely affected or are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and (ii) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting.
(oo) Insurance. The Company and its subsidiaries have insurance covering their respective properties, operations, personnel and businesses, including business interruption insurance, which insurance is in amounts and insures against such losses and risks as are generally maintained by similarly situated companies and which the Company believes are reasonably adequate to protect the Company and its subsidiaries and their respective businesses; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has (i) received notice from any insurer or agent of such insurer that capital improvements or other expenditures are required or necessary to be made in order to continue such
insurance or (ii) any reason to believe that it will not be able to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such coverage expires or to obtain similar coverage at reasonable cost from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business.
(pp) No Unlawful Contributions or Other Payments. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries nor any director, officer, or employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any agent, affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has (i) used any corporate funds for any unlawful contribution, gift, entertainment or other unlawful expense relating to political activity; (ii) made or taken an act in furtherance of an offer, promise or authorization of any direct or indirect unlawful payment or benefit to any foreign or domestic government or regulatory official or employee, including of any government-owned or controlled entity or of a public international organization, or any person acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of any of the foregoing, or any political party or party official or candidate for political office; (iii) violated or is in violation of any provision of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or any applicable law or regulation implementing the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, or committed an offence under the Bribery Act 2010 of the United Kingdom, or any other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws; or (iv) made, offered, agreed, requested or taken an act in furtherance of any unlawful bribe or other unlawful benefit, including, without limitation, any rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful or improper payment or benefit. The Company and its subsidiaries have instituted, maintain and enforce, and will continue to maintain and enforce policies and procedures designed to promote and ensure compliance with all applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws.
(qq) Compliance with Money Laundering Laws. The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, the applicable money laundering statutes of all jurisdictions where the Company or any of its subsidiaries conducts business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any governmental or regulatory agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”) and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental or regulatory agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any of its subsidiaries with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(rr) Compliance with OFAC. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, directors, officers or employees, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any agent, or affiliate or other person associated with or acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is currently the subject or the target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Government, (including, without limitation, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury or the U.S. Department of State and including, without limitation, the designation as a “specially designated national” or “blocked person”), the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), nor is the Company or any of its subsidiaries located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject or the target of Sanctions, including, without limitation, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea Region of the Ukraine (each, a “Sanctioned Country”); and the Company
will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering of the Placement Shares hereunder, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity (i) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business with any person that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject or the target of Sanctions, (ii) to fund or facilitate any activities of or business in any Sanctioned Country or (iii) in any other manner that will result in a violation by any person (including any person participating in the transaction, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise) of Sanctions. For the past five years, the Company and its subsidiaries have not knowingly engaged in and are not now knowingly engaged in any dealings or transactions with any person that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject or the target of Sanctions or with any Sanctioned Country.
(ss) Brokers. Except for Cowen, there is no broker, finder or other party that is entitled to receive from the Company any brokerage or finder’s fee or other fee or commission as a result of any transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
(tt) No Applicable Registration or Other Similar Rights. There are no persons with registration or other similar rights to have any equity or debt securities registered for sale under the Registration Statement or included in the offering contemplated by this Agreement, except for such rights as have been duly waived.
(uu) No Price Stabilization or Manipulation. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries or, to the Company’s knowledge, affiliates have taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Placement Shares.
(vv) Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply with any applicable provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, including Section 402 related to loans.
(ww) Statistical and Market Data. Nothing has come to the attention of the Company that has caused the Company to believe that the statistical and market-related data included in each of the Registration Statement and the Prospectus is not based on or derived from sources that are reliable and accurate in all material respects.
(xx) No Ratings. There are no debt securities, convertible securities or preferred stock issued or guaranteed by the Company or any of its subsidiaries that are rated by a “nationally recognized statistical rating organization”, as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act.
(yy) Cybersecurity. Except as described in the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, and except where non-compliance would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its subsidiaries are presently in compliance with all applicable laws or statutes and all judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or governmental or regulatory authority, internal policies and contractual obligations relating to the privacy and security of IT Assets and Personal Data and to the protection of such IT Assets and Personal Data from unauthorized use, access, misappropriation or modification.
(zz) Exchange Act Compliance. The documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Prospectus, at the time they were or hereafter are filed with the Commission, complied and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the Exchange Act, and, when read together with the other information in the Prospectus, at the Settlement Dates, will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(aaa) Reserved.
(bbb) No Reliance. The Company has not relied upon Cowen or legal counsel for Cowen for any legal, tax or accounting advice in connection with the offering and sale of the Placement Shares.
(ccc) Compliance with Laws. The Company has not been advised, and has no reason to believe, that it and each of its subsidiaries are not conducting business in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations of the jurisdictions in which it is conducting business, except where failure to be so in compliance would not result in a Material Adverse Effect.
Any certificate signed by an officer of the Company and delivered to Cowen or to counsel for Cowen pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement shall be deemed to be a representation and warranty by the Company to Cowen as to the matters set forth therein.
The Company acknowledges that Cowen and, for purposes of the opinions to be delivered pursuant to Section 7 hereof, counsel to the Company and counsel to Cowen, will rely upon the accuracy and truthfulness of the foregoing representations and hereby consents to such reliance.
7. Covenants of the Company. The Company covenants and agrees with Cowen that:
(a) Registration Statement Amendments. After the date of this Agreement and during any period in which a Prospectus relating to any Placement Shares is required to be delivered by Cowen under the Securities Act (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172 under the Securities Act), (i) the Company will notify Cowen promptly of the time when any subsequent amendment to the Registration Statement, other than documents incorporated by reference, has been filed with the Commission and/or has become effective or any subsequent supplement to the Prospectus has been filed and of any request by the Commission for any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus or for additional information (insofar as it relates to the transactions contemplated hereby), (ii) the Company will prepare and file with the Commission, promptly upon Cowen’s reasonable request, any amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or Prospectus that, in Cowen’s reasonable opinion, may be necessary or advisable in connection with the distribution of the Placement Shares by Cowen (provided, however, that (x) the failure of Cowen to make such request shall not relieve the Company of any obligation or liability hereunder, or affect Cowen’s right to rely on the representations and warranties made by the Company in this Agreement and (y) the only remedy Cowen shall have with respect to the failure by the Company to make such filing (other than Cowen’s rights under Section 9 hereof) shall be to cease making sales under this Agreement until such amendment or supplement is filed); (iii) the Company will not file any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or Prospectus, other than documents
incorporated by reference, relating to the Placement Shares or a security convertible into the Placement Shares unless a copy thereof has been submitted to Cowen within a reasonable period of time before the filing and Cowen has not reasonably objected thereto (provided, however, that (x) the failure of Cowen to make such objection shall not relieve the Company of any obligation or liability hereunder, or affect Cowen’s right to rely on the representations and warranties made by the Company in this Agreement, (y) the Company has no obligation to provide Cowen any advance copy of such filing or to provide Cowen an opportunity to object to such filing if the filing does not name Cowen and does not relate to the transaction herein and (z) the only remedy Cowen shall have with respect to the failure by the Company to provide Cowen with such copy, to make such filings, or to obtain such consent (other than Cowen’s rights under Section 9 hereof) shall be to cease making sales under this Agreement) and the Company will furnish to Cowen at the time of filing thereof a copy of any document that upon filing is deemed to be incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement or Prospectus, except for those documents available via EDGAR; (iv) the Company will cause each amendment or supplement to the Prospectus, other than documents incorporated by reference, to be filed with the Commission as required pursuant to the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act, and (v) prior to the termination of this Agreement, the Company will notify Cowen if at any time the Registration Statement shall no longer be effective as a result of the passage of time pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act or otherwise.
(b) Notice of Commission Stop Orders. The Company will advise Cowen, promptly after it receives notice or obtains knowledge thereof, of the issuance or threatened issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, of the suspension of the qualification of the Placement Shares for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for any such purpose; and it will promptly use its commercially reasonable efforts to prevent the issuance of any stop order or to obtain its withdrawal if such a stop order should be issued.
(c) Delivery of Prospectus; Subsequent Changes. During any period in which a Prospectus relating to the Placement Shares is required to be delivered by Cowen under the Securities Act with respect to a pending sale of the Placement Shares, (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172 under the Securities Act), the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to comply with all requirements imposed upon it by the Securities Act, as from time to time in force, and to file on or before their respective due dates (taking into account any extensions available under the Exchange Act) all reports and any definitive proxy or information statements required to be filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, 15(d) or any other provision of or under the Exchange Act. If during such period any event occurs as a result of which the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances then existing, not misleading, or if during such period it is necessary to amend or supplement the Registration Statement or Prospectus to comply with the Securities Act, the Company will promptly notify Cowen to suspend the offering of Placement Shares during such period and the Company will promptly amend or supplement the Registration Statement or Prospectus (at the expense of the Company) so as to correct such statement or omission or effect such compliance; provided, that, the Company may delay the filing of any amendment or supplement, if in the
judgment of the Company, it is in the best interest of the Company, during which time of delay of Cowen shall be under no obligation to make any sales of the Placement Shares hereunder.
(d) Listing of Placement Shares. During any period in which the Prospectus relating to the Placement Shares is required to be delivered by Cowen under the Securities Act with respect to a pending sale of the Placement Shares (including in circumstances where such requirement may be satisfied pursuant to Rule 172 under the Securities Act), the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Placement Shares to be listed on Nasdaq and to qualify the Placement Shares for sale under the securities laws of such jurisdictions as Cowen reasonably designates and to continue such qualifications in effect so long as required for the distribution of the Placement Shares; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required in connection therewith to qualify as a foreign corporation or dealer in securities or file a general consent to service of process in any jurisdiction.
(e) Delivery of Registration Statement and Prospectus. The Company will furnish to Cowen and its counsel (at the expense of the Company) copies of the Registration Statement, the Prospectus (including all documents incorporated by reference therein) and all amendments and supplements to the Registration Statement or Prospectus that are filed with the Commission during any period in which a Prospectus relating to the Placement Shares is required to be delivered under the Securities Act (including all documents filed with the Commission during such period that are deemed to be incorporated by reference therein), in each case as soon as reasonably practicable and in such quantities as Cowen may from time to time reasonably request and, at Cowen’s request, will also furnish copies of the Prospectus to each exchange or market on which sales of the Placement Shares may be made; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to furnish any document (other than the Prospectus) to Cowen to the extent such document is available on EDGAR.
(f) Earnings Statement. The Company will make generally available to its security holders as soon as practicable, but in any event not later than 15 months after the end of the Company’s current fiscal quarter, an earnings statement covering a 12-month period that satisfies the provisions of Section 11(a) and Rule 158 of the Securities Act.
(g) Expenses. The Company, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereunder are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, in accordance with the provisions of Section 11 hereunder, will pay the following expenses all incident to the performance of its obligations hereunder, including, but not limited to, expenses relating to (i) the preparation, printing and filing of the Registration Statement and each amendment and supplement thereto, of each Prospectus and of each amendment and supplement thereto, (ii) the preparation, issuance and delivery of the Placement Shares, (iii) the qualification of the Placement Shares under securities laws in accordance with the provisions of Section 7(d) of this Agreement, including filing fees (provided, however, that any fees or disbursements of counsel for Cowen in connection therewith shall be paid by Cowen except as set forth in (vii) below), (iv) the printing and delivery to Cowen of copies of the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto, and of this Agreement, (v) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with the listing or qualification of the Placement Shares for trading on Nasdaq, (vi) the filing fees and expenses, if any, of the Commission, and (vii) the reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of Cowen’s counsel in an amount not to exceed $50,000 in connection with the execution of this Agreement.
(h) Use of Proceeds. The Company will use the Net Proceeds as described in the Prospectus in the section entitled “Use of Proceeds.”
(i) Notice of Other Sales. During the pendency of any Placement Notice given hereunder, and for five (5) trading days following the termination of any Placement Notice given hereunder, the Company shall provide Cowen notice as promptly as reasonably practicable before it offers to sell, contracts to sell, sells, grants any option to sell or otherwise disposes of any shares of Common Stock (other than Placement Shares offered pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement) or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Common Stock, warrants or any rights to purchase or acquire Common Stock; provided, that such notice shall not be required in connection with the (i) issuance, grant or sale of Common Stock, options to purchase shares of Common Stock, restricted shares of Common Stock, restricted stock units or other equity awards or Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of options or other equity awards pursuant to any stock option, stock bonus or other stock plan or arrangement described in the Prospectus, (ii) the issuance of securities in connection with a licensing agreement, joint venture, acquisition, merger or sale or purchase of assets, (iii) the issuance or sale of Common Stock pursuant to any dividend reinvestment plan that the Company may adopt from time to time provided the implementation of such is disclosed to Cowen in advance, (iv) the issuance or sale of Common Stock upon the exchange, conversion or redemption of securities or the exercise of warrants, options or other rights in effect or outstanding or disclosed in filings by the Company available on EDGAR or otherwise in writing to Cowen prior to the date of the applicable Placement Notice or (v) the issuance or sale of Common Stock, or securities convertible into or exercisable for Common Stock, offered and sold in a privately negotiated transaction to vendors, customers, strategic or collaboration partners or potential strategic partners conducted in a manner so as not to be integrated with the offering of Common Stock hereby. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, nothing herein shall be construed to restrict the Company’s ability, or require the Company to provide notice to Cowen, to file a registration statement under the Securities Act.
(j) Change of Circumstances. The Company will, at any time during the pendency of a Placement Notice, advise Cowen promptly after it shall have received notice or obtained knowledge thereof, of any information or fact that would alter or affect in any material respect any opinion, certificate, letter or other document provided to Cowen pursuant to this Agreement.
(k) Due Diligence Cooperation. The Company will cooperate with any reasonable due diligence review conducted by Cowen or its agents in connection with the transactions contemplated hereby, including, without limitation, providing information and making available documents and senior corporate officers, during regular business hours and at the Company’s principal offices, as Cowen may reasonably request.
(l) Required Filings Relating to Placement of Placement Shares. The Company agrees that on such dates as the Securities Act shall require, the Company will (i) file a prospectus supplement with the Commission under the applicable paragraph of Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, and (ii) deliver such number of copies of each such prospectus supplement to each exchange or market on which such sales were effected as may be required by the rules or regulations of such exchange or market. The Company shall disclose in its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in its annual report on Form 10-K, the number of the Placement Shares sold through Cowen under this Agreement, and the gross proceeds and Net Proceeds to the Company from the sale of the Placement Shares and the compensation paid by the Company with respect to
sales of the Placement Shares pursuant to this Agreement during the relevant quarter or, in the case of an Annual Report on Form 10-K, during the fiscal year covered by such Annual Report and the fourth quarter of such fiscal year.
(m) Bring-Down Dates; Certificate. On or prior to the First Delivery Date and each time (i) the Company files the Prospectus relating to the Placement Shares or amends or supplements the Registration Statement or the Prospectus relating to the Placement Shares (other than a prospectus supplement filed in accordance with Section 7(l) of this Agreement) by means of a post-effective amendment, sticker, or supplement but not by means of incorporation of document(s) by reference to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus relating to the Placement Shares; (ii) the Company files an annual report on Form 10-K under the Exchange Act; (iii) the Company files its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q under the Exchange Act; or (iv) the Company files a report on Form 8-K containing amended financial information (other than an earnings release) under the Exchange Act (each date of filing of one or more of the documents referred to in clauses (i) through (iv) shall be a "Bring-Down Date"); the Company shall furnish Cowen with a certificate, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 7(m) within three (3) Trading Days of any Bring-Down Date if requested by Cowen. The requirement to provide a certificate under this Section 7(m) shall be waived for any Bring-Down Date occurring at a time at which no Placement Notice is pending, which waiver shall continue until the earlier to occur of the date the Company delivers a Placement Notice hereunder (which for such calendar quarter shall be considered a Bring-Down Date) and the next occurring Bring-Down Date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company subsequently decides to sell Placement Shares following a Bring-Down Date when the Company relied on such waiver and did not provide Cowen with a certificate under this Section 7(m), then before the Company delivers the Placement Notice or Cowen sells any Placement Shares, the Company shall provide Cowen with a certificate, in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 7(m), dated the date of the Placement Notice.
(n) Legal Opinion. On or prior to the First Delivery Date and within three (3) Trading Days of each Bring-Down Date with respect to which the Company is obligated to deliver a certificate in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 7(m) for which no waiver is applicable, the Company shall cause to be furnished to Cowen a written opinion of Latham & Watkins LLP (“Company Counsel”), or other counsel satisfactory to Cowen, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Cowen and its counsel, dated the date that the opinion is required to be delivered, modified, as necessary, to relate to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as then amended or supplemented; provided, however, that in lieu of such opinions for subsequent Bring-Down Dates, counsel may furnish Cowen with a letter to the effect that Cowen may rely on a prior opinion delivered under this Section 7(n) to the same extent as if it were dated the date of such letter (except that statements in such prior opinion shall be deemed to relate to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as amended or supplemented at such Bring-Down Date).
(o) Comfort Letter. On or prior to the First Delivery Date and within three (3) Trading Days of each Bring-Down Date with respect to which the Company is obligated to deliver a certificate in the form attached hereto as Exhibit 7(m) for which no waiver is applicable, the Company shall cause its independent accountants to furnish Cowen letters (the "Comfort Letters"), dated the date the Comfort Letter is delivered, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Cowen, (i) confirming that they are an independent registered public accounting firm within the meaning of the Securities Act and the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States), (ii) stating, as of such date, the conclusions and findings of such firm with respect to the financial information and other matters ordinarily covered by accountants’ “comfort letters” to Cowen in connection with registered public offerings (the first such letter, the “Initial Comfort Letter”) and (iii) updating the Initial Comfort Letter with any information that would have been included in the Initial Comfort Letter had it been given on such date and modified as necessary to relate to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, as amended and supplemented to the date of such letter.
(p) Market Activities. The Company will not, directly or indirectly, (i) take any action designed to cause or result in, or that constitutes or might reasonably be expected to constitute, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of the Placement Shares or (ii) sell, bid for, or purchase the Common Stock to be issued and sold pursuant to this Agreement, or pay anyone any compensation for soliciting purchases of the Placement Shares other than Cowen; provided, however, that the Company may bid for and purchase shares of its Common Stock in accordance with Rule 10b-18 under the Exchange Act.
(q) Insurance. The Company and its subsidiaries shall use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain, or cause to be maintained, insurance in such amounts and covering such risks as is reasonable and customary for the business for which it is engaged.
(r) Compliance with Laws. The Company and each of its subsidiaries shall maintain, or cause to be maintained, all material environmental permits, licenses and other authorizations required by federal, state and local law in order to conduct their businesses as described in the Prospectus, and the Company and each of its subsidiaries shall conduct their businesses, or cause their businesses to be conducted, in substantial compliance with such permits, licenses and authorizations and with applicable environmental laws, except where the failure to maintain or be in compliance with such permits, licenses and authorizations could not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(s) Investment Company Act. The Company will conduct its affairs in such a manner so as to reasonably ensure that neither it nor its subsidiaries will be or become, at any time prior to the termination of this Agreement, an “investment company,” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act, assuming no change in the Commission’s current interpretation as to entities that are not considered an investment company.
(t) Securities Act and Exchange Act. The Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to comply with all requirements imposed upon it by the Securities Act and the Exchange Act as from time to time in force, so far as necessary to permit the continuance of sales of, or dealings in, the Placement Shares as contemplated by the provisions hereof and the Prospectus.
(u) No Offer to Sell. Other than a Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, neither Cowen nor the Company (including its agents and representatives, other than Cowen in its capacity as such) will make, use, prepare, authorize, approve or refer to any written communication (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act), required to be filed with the Commission, that constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy Common Stock hereunder.
(v) Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Company and its subsidiaries will use their commercially reasonable efforts to comply with all effective applicable provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
(w) Affirmation. Each Placement Notice delivered by the Company to Cowen shall be deemed to be (i) an affirmation that the representations, warranties and agreements of the Company herein contained and contained in any certificate delivered to Cowen pursuant hereto are true and correct at the time of delivery of such Placement Notice, and (ii) an undertaking that such representations, warranties and agreements will be true and correct on any applicable Time of Sale and Settlement Date, as though made at and as of each such time (it being understood that such representations, warranties and agreements shall relate to the Registration Statement and the Prospectus as amended and supplemented to the time of such Placement Notice acceptance).
(x) Renewal. If immediately prior to the third anniversary (the “Renewal Deadline”) of the initial effective date of the Registration Statement, the aggregate gross sales price of Placement Shares sold by the Company is less than the Maximum Amount and this Agreement has not expired or been terminated, the Company will, prior to the Renewal Deadline, file, if it has not already done so and is eligible to do so, a new shelf registration statement relating to the Placement Shares, in a form satisfactory to Cowen, and, if not automatically effective, will use its best efforts to cause such registration statement to be declared effective within 60 days after the Renewal Deadline. The Company will take all other action necessary or appropriate to permit the issuance and sale of the Placement Shares to continue as contemplated in the expired registration statement relating to the Placement Shares. References herein to the Registration Statement shall include such new shelf registration statement.
8. Conditions to Cowen’s Obligations. The obligations of Cowen hereunder with respect to a Placement Notice will be subject to the continuing accuracy and completeness of the representations and warranties made by the Company herein, to the due performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder and thereunder, to the completion by Cowen of a due diligence review satisfactory to Cowen in its reasonable judgment, and to the continuing satisfaction (or waiver by Cowen in its sole discretion) of the following additional conditions:
(a) Registration Statement Effective. The Registration Statement shall be effective and shall be available for (i) all sales of Placement Shares issued pursuant to all prior Placement Notices and (ii) the sale of all Placement Shares contemplated to be issued pursuant to any Placement Notice.
(b) No Material Notices. None of the following events shall have occurred and be continuing: (i) receipt by the Company or any of its subsidiaries of any request for additional information from the Commission or any other federal or state governmental authority during the period of effectiveness of the Registration Statement, the response to which would require any post-effective amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus; (ii) the issuance by the Commission or any other federal or state governmental authority of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the initiation of any proceedings for that purpose; (iii) receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification or exemption from qualification of any of the Placement Shares for sale in any jurisdiction or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose; or (iv) the occurrence of any event that makes any material statement made in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or any material document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated therein by
reference untrue in any material respect or that requires the making of any changes in the Registration Statement, related Prospectus or such documents so that, in the case of the Registration Statement, it will not contain any materially untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading and, that in the case of the Prospectus, it will not contain any materially untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.
(c) No Misstatement or Material Omission. Cowen shall not have advised the Company that the Registration Statement or Prospectus, or any amendment or supplement thereto, contains an untrue statement of fact that in Cowen’s reasonable opinion is material, or omits to state a fact that in Cowen’s reasonable opinion is material and is required to be stated therein or is necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.
(d) Material Changes. Except as contemplated in the Prospectus, or disclosed in the Company’s reports filed with the Commission, there shall not have been any material adverse change, on a consolidated basis, in the authorized capital stock of the Company or any Material Adverse Effect or any development that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, or any downgrading in or withdrawal of the rating assigned to any of the Company’s securities (other than asset backed securities) by any rating organization or a public announcement by any rating organization that it has under surveillance or review its rating of any of the Company’s securities (other than asset backed securities), the effect of which, in the case of any such action by a rating organization described above, in the reasonable judgment of Cowen (without relieving the Company of any obligation or liability it may otherwise have), is so material as to make it impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offering of the Placement Shares on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Prospectus.
(e) Company Counsel Legal Opinion. Cowen shall have received the opinions of Company Counsel required to be delivered pursuant to Section 7(n) on or before the date on which such delivery of such opinion is required pursuant to Section 7(n).
(f) Cowen Counsel Legal Opinion. Cowen shall have received from Cooley LLP, counsel for Cowen, such opinion or opinions, on or before the date on which the delivery of the Company Counsel legal opinion is required pursuant to Section 7(n), with respect to such matters as Cowen may reasonably require, and the Company shall have furnished to such counsel such documents as they request for enabling them to pass upon such matters.
(g) Comfort Letter. Cowen shall have received the Comfort Letter required to be delivered pursuant to Section 7(o) on or before the date on which such delivery of such Comfort Letter is required pursuant to Section 7(o).
(h) Representation Certificate. Cowen shall have received the certificate required to be delivered pursuant to Section 7(m) on or before the date on which delivery of such certificate is required pursuant to Section 7(m).
(i) Secretary’s Certificate. On or prior to the First Delivery Date, Cowen shall have received a certificate, signed on behalf of the Company by its corporate secretary, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Cowen and its counsel.
(j) No Suspension. Trading in the Common Stock shall not have been suspended on Nasdaq.
(k) Other Materials. On each date on which the Company is required to deliver a certificate pursuant to Section 7(m), the Company shall have furnished to Cowen such appropriate further information, certificates and documents as Cowen may have reasonably requested. All such opinions, certificates, letters and other documents shall have been in compliance with the provisions hereof. The Company will furnish Cowen with such conformed copies of such opinions, certificates, letters and other documents as Cowen shall have reasonably requested.
(l) Securities Act Filings Made. All filings with the Commission required by Rule 424 under the Securities Act to have been filed prior to the issuance of any Placement Notice hereunder shall have been made within the applicable time period prescribed for such filing by Rule 424.
(m) Approval for Listing. The Placement Shares shall either have been (i) approved for listing on Nasdaq, subject only to notice of issuance, or (ii) the Company shall have filed an application for listing of the Placement Shares on Nasdaq at, or prior to, the issuance of any Placement Notice.
(n) No Termination Event. There shall not have occurred any event that would permit Cowen to terminate this Agreement pursuant to Section 11(a).
9. Indemnification and Contribution.
(a) Company Indemnification. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Cowen, the directors, officers, partners, employees and agents of Cowen and each person, if any, who (i) controls Cowen within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act, or (ii) is controlled by or is under common control with Cowen from and against any and all losses, claims, liabilities, expenses and damages (including, but not limited to, any and all reasonable and documented investigative, legal and other expenses incurred in connection with, and any and all amounts paid in settlement (in accordance with Section 9(c)) of, any action, suit or proceeding between any of the indemnified parties and any indemnifying parties or between any indemnified party and any third party, or otherwise, or any claim asserted), as and when incurred, to which Cowen, or any such person, may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or other federal or state statutory law or regulation, at common law or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, liabilities, expenses or damages arise out of or are based, directly or indirectly, on (x) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement to the Registration Statement or the Prospectus or in any free writing prospectus or in any application or other document executed by or on behalf of the Company or based on written information furnished by or on behalf of the Company filed in any jurisdiction in order to qualify the Common Stock under the securities laws thereof or filed with the Commission, (y) the omission or alleged omission to state in any such document a material fact required to be stated in it or necessary to make the statements in it not misleading or (z) any breach by any of the indemnifying parties of any of their
respective representations, warranties and agreements contained in this Agreement; provided, however, that this indemnity agreement shall not apply to the extent that such loss, claim, liability, expense or damage arises from the sale of the Placement Shares pursuant to this Agreement and is caused directly or indirectly by an untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with solely Agent’s Information. “Agent’s Information” means, solely, the following information in the Prospectus: the third sentence of the eight paragraph and the tenth paragraph under the caption “Plan of Distribution” in the Prospectus. This indemnity agreement will be in addition to any liability that the Company might otherwise have.
(b) Cowen Indemnification. Cowen agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its directors and each officer of the Company that signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who (i) controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act or (ii) is controlled by or is under common control with the Company against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense described in the indemnity contained in Section 9(a), as incurred, but only with respect to untrue statements or omissions, or alleged untrue statements or omissions, made in the Registration Statement (or any amendments thereto) or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with the Agent’s Information.
(c) Procedure. Any party that proposes to assert the right to be indemnified under this Section 9 will, promptly after receipt of notice of commencement of any action against such party in respect of which a claim is to be made against an indemnifying party or parties under this Section 9, notify each such indemnifying party of the commencement of such action, enclosing a copy of all papers served, but the omission so to notify such indemnifying party will not relieve the indemnifying party from (i) any liability that it might have to any indemnified party otherwise than under this Section 9 and (ii) any liability that it may have to any indemnified party under the foregoing provision of this Section 9 unless, and only to the extent that, such omission results in the forfeiture of substantive rights or defenses by the indemnifying party. If any such action is brought against any indemnified party and it notifies the indemnifying party of its commencement, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate in and, to the extent that it elects by delivering written notice to the indemnified party promptly after receiving notice of the commencement of the action from the indemnified party, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly notified, to assume the defense of the action, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party, and after notice from the indemnifying party to the indemnified party of its election to assume the defense, the indemnifying party will not be liable to the indemnified party for any legal or other expenses except as provided below and except for the reasonable and documented costs of investigation subsequently incurred by the indemnified party in connection with the defense. The indemnified party will have the right to employ its own counsel in any such action, but the fees, expenses and other charges of such counsel will be at the expense of such indemnified party unless (1) the employment of counsel by the indemnified party has been authorized in writing by the indemnifying party, (2) the indemnified party has reasonably concluded (based on advice of counsel) that there may be legal defenses available to it or other indemnified parties that are different from or in addition to those available to the indemnifying party, (3) a conflict or potential conflict exists (based on advice of counsel to the indemnified party) between the indemnified party and the indemnifying party (in which case the indemnifying party will not have the right to direct the defense of such action on behalf of the indemnified party) or (4) the indemnifying party has not in fact employed counsel to assume the defense of such action within a reasonable time after
receiving notice of the commencement of the action, in each of which cases the reasonable fees, disbursements and other charges of counsel will be at the expense of the indemnifying party or parties. It is understood that the indemnifying party or parties shall not, in connection with any proceeding or related proceedings in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the reasonable fees, disbursements and other charges of more than one separate firm admitted to practice in such jurisdiction at any one time for all such indemnified party or parties. All such fees, disbursements and other charges will be reimbursed by the indemnifying party promptly as they are incurred after the indemnifying party receives a written invoice relating to fees, disbursements and other charges in reasonable detail. An indemnifying party will not, in any event, be liable for any settlement of any action or claim effected without its written consent. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of each indemnified party, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment in any pending or threatened claim, action or proceeding relating to the matters contemplated by this Section 9 (whether or not any indemnified party is a party thereto), unless such settlement, compromise or consent includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising or that may arise out of such claim, action or proceeding.
(d) Contribution. In order to provide for just and equitable contribution in circumstances in which the indemnification provided for in the foregoing paragraphs of this Section 9 is applicable in accordance with its terms but for any reason is held to be unavailable from the Company or Cowen, the Company and Cowen will contribute to the total losses, claims, liabilities, expenses and damages (including any investigative, legal and other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with, and any amount paid in settlement of, any action, suit or proceeding or any claim asserted, but after deducting any contribution received by the Company from persons other than Cowen, such as persons who control the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act, officers of the Company who signed the Registration Statement and directors of the Company, who also may be liable for contribution) to which the Company and Cowen may be subject in such proportion as shall be appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and Cowen on the other. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and Cowen on the other hand shall be deemed to be in the same proportion as the total Net Proceeds from the sale of the Placement Shares (before deducting expenses) received by the Company bear to the total compensation received by Cowen from the sale of Placement Shares on behalf of the Company. If, but only if, the allocation provided by the foregoing sentence is not permitted by applicable law, the allocation of contribution shall be made in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in the foregoing sentence but also the relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and Cowen, on the other, with respect to the statements or omission that resulted in such loss, claim, liability, expense or damage, or action in respect thereof, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations with respect to such offering. Such relative fault shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or Cowen, the intent of the parties and their relative knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Company and Cowen agree that it would not be just and equitable if contributions pursuant to this Section 9(d) were to be determined by pro rata allocation or by any other method of allocation that does not take into account the equitable considerations referred to herein. The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the loss, claim, liability, expense, or damage, or action in respect thereof, referred to above in this Section 9(d) shall be deemed to include, for the purpose of this Section 9(d), any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified
party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim to the extent consistent with Section 9(c) hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 9(d), Cowen shall not be required to contribute any amount in excess of the commissions received by it under this Agreement and no person found guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) will be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. For purposes of this Section 9(d), any person who controls a party to this Agreement within the meaning of the Securities Act, and any officers, directors, partners, employees or agents of Cowen, will have the same rights to contribution as that party, and each director of the Company and each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement will have the same rights to contribution as the Company, subject in each case to the provisions hereof. Any party entitled to contribution, promptly after receipt of notice of commencement of any action against such party in respect of which a claim for contribution may be made under this Section 9(d), will notify any such party or parties from whom contribution may be sought, but the omission to so notify will not relieve that party or parties from whom contribution may be sought from any other obligation it or they may have under this Section 9(d) except to the extent that the failure to so notify such other party materially prejudiced the substantive rights or defenses of the party from whom contribution is sought. Except for a settlement entered into pursuant to the last sentence of Section 9(c) hereof, no party will be liable for contribution with respect to any action or claim settled without its written consent if such consent is required pursuant to Section 9(c) hereof.
10. Representations and Agreements to Survive Delivery. The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in Section 9 of this Agreement and all representations and warranties of the Company herein or in certificates delivered pursuant hereto shall survive, as of their respective dates, regardless of (i) any investigation made by or on behalf of Cowen, any controlling persons, or the Company (or any of their respective officers, directors or controlling persons), (ii) delivery and acceptance of the Placement Shares and payment therefor or (iii) any termination of this Agreement.
11. Termination.
(a) Cowen shall have the right by giving written notice as hereinafter specified at any time to terminate this Agreement if (i) any Material Adverse Effect, or any development that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect has occurred that, in the reasonable judgment of Cowen, may materially impair the ability of Cowen to sell the Placement Shares hereunder, (ii) the Company shall have failed, refused or been unable to perform any agreement on its part to be performed hereunder; provided, however, in the case of any failure of the Company to deliver (or cause another person to deliver) any certification, opinion, or letter required under Sections 7(m),7(n) or 7(o), Cowen’s right to terminate shall not arise unless such failure to deliver (or cause to be delivered) continues for more than thirty (30) days from the date such delivery was required; (iii) any other condition of Cowen’s obligations hereunder is not fulfilled, or (iv) any suspension or limitation of trading in the Placement Shares or in securities generally on Nasdaq shall have occurred. Any such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Section 7(g) (Expenses), Section 9 (Indemnification and Contribution), Section 10 (Representations and Agreements to Survive Delivery), Section 16 (Applicable Law; Consent to Jurisdiction) and Section 17 (Waiver of Jury Trial) hereof shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination. If Cowen elects to terminate this
Agreement as provided in this Section 11(a), Cowen shall provide the required written notice as specified in Section 12 (Notices).
(b) The Company shall have the right, by giving ten (10) days’ notice as hereinafter specified to terminate this Agreement in its sole discretion at any time after the date of this Agreement. Any such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Section 7(g), Section 9, Section 10, Section 16 and Section 17 hereof shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination.
(c) Cowen shall have the right, by giving ten (10) days’ notice as hereinafter specified to terminate this Agreement in its sole discretion at any time after the date of this Agreement. Any such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except that the provisions of Section 7(g), Section 9, Section 10, Section 16 and Section 17 hereof shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination.
(d) Unless earlier terminated pursuant to this Section 11, this Agreement shall automatically terminate upon the issuance and sale of all of the Placement Shares through Cowen on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein; provided that the provisions of Section 7(g), Section 9, Section 10, Section 16 and Section 17 hereof shall remain in full force and effect notwithstanding such termination.
(e) This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect unless terminated pursuant to Sections 11(a), (b), (c), or (d) above or otherwise by mutual agreement of the parties; provided, however, that any such termination by mutual agreement shall in all cases be deemed to provide that Section 7(g), Section 9, Section 10, Section 16 and Section 17 shall remain in full force and effect.
(f) Any termination of this Agreement shall be effective on the date specified in such notice of termination; provided, however, that such termination shall not be effective until the close of business on the date of receipt of such notice by Cowen or the Company, as the case may be. If such termination shall occur prior to the Settlement Date for any sale of Placement Shares, such Placement Shares shall settle in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
12. Notices. All notices or other communications required or permitted to be given by any party to any other party pursuant to the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing, unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, and if sent to Cowen, shall be delivered to Cowen at Cowen and Company, LLC, 599 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022, fax no. 646 ###-###-####, Attention: General Counsel, email: ***@***, with a copy to Cooley LLP, fax no. 212 ###-###-####, attention: Daniel I. Goldberg; or if sent to the Company, shall be delivered to Annexon, Inc., 180 Kimball Way, Suite 200, South San Francisco, California 94080; Attention: Jennifer Lew, Chief Financial Officer (e-mail: ***@***), with a copy (which shall not constitute notice) to Latham & Watkins LLP, 140 Scott Drive, Menlo Park, California 94025, Attention: Kathleen M. Wells and Brian J. Cuneo (e-mail: ***@*** and ***@***). Each party to this Agreement may change such address for notices by sending to the parties to this Agreement written notice of a new address for such purpose. Each such notice or other communication shall be deemed given (i) when delivered personally or by verifiable facsimile transmission (with an original to follow) on or before 4:30 p.m., New York City time, on a Business Day (as defined below), or, if such day is not a Business Day on the next
succeeding Business Day, (ii) on the next Business Day after timely delivery to a nationally-recognized overnight courier and (iii) on the Business Day actually received if deposited in the U.S. mail (certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid). For purposes of this Agreement, “Business Day” shall mean any day on which the Nasdaq and commercial banks in the City of New York are open for business.
13. Successors and Assigns. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Company and Cowen and their respective successors and the affiliates, controlling persons, officers and directors referred to in Section 9 hereof. References to any of the parties contained in this Agreement shall be deemed to include the successors and permitted assigns of such party. Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon any party other than the parties hereto or their respective successors and permitted assigns any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities under or by reason of this Agreement, except as expressly provided in this Agreement. Neither party may assign its rights or obligations under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other party; provided, however, that Cowen may assign its rights and obligations hereunder to an affiliate of Cowen without obtaining the Company’s consent.
14. Adjustments for Share Splits. The parties acknowledge and agree that all share-related numbers contained in this Agreement shall be adjusted to take into account any share split, share dividend or similar event effected with respect to the Common Stock.
15. Entire Agreement; Amendment; Severability. This Agreement (including all schedules and exhibits attached hereto and Placement Notices issued pursuant hereto) constitutes the entire agreement and supersedes all other prior and contemporaneous agreements and undertakings, both written and oral, among the parties hereto with regard to the subject matter hereof. Neither this Agreement nor any term hereof may be amended except pursuant to a written instrument executed by the Company and Cowen. In the event that any one or more of the provisions contained herein, or the application thereof in any circumstance, is held invalid, illegal or unenforceable as written by a court of competent jurisdiction, then such provision shall be given full force and effect to the fullest possible extent that it is valid, legal and enforceable, and the remainder of the terms and provisions herein shall be construed as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable term or provision was not contained herein, but only to the extent that giving effect to such provision and the remainder of the terms and provisions hereof shall be in accordance with the intent of the parties as reflected in this Agreement.
16. Applicable Law; Consent to Jurisdiction. This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the internal laws of the State of New York without regard to the principles of conflicts of laws. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York, borough of Manhattan, for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection with any transaction contemplated hereby, and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any suit, action or proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such suit, action or proceeding is brought in an inconvenient forum or that the venue of such suit, action or proceeding is improper. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such suit, action or proceeding by mailing a copy thereof (certified or registered mail, return receipt requested) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof.
Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any manner permitted by law.
17. Waiver of Jury Trial. The Company and Cowen each hereby irrevocably waives any right it may have to a trial by jury in respect of any claim based upon or arising out of this Agreement or any transaction contemplated hereby.
18. Absence of Fiduciary Relationship. The Company acknowledges and agrees that:
(a) Cowen has been retained solely to act as an arm’s length contractual counterparty to the Company in connection with the sale of the Placement Shares contemplated hereby and that no fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship between the Company and Cowen has been created in respect of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, irrespective of whether Cowen has advised or is advising the Company on other matters;
(b) the Company is capable of evaluating and understanding and understands and accepts the terms, risks and conditions of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement;
(c) the Company has been advised that Cowen and its affiliates are engaged in a broad range of transactions which may involve interests that differ from those of the Company and that Cowen has no obligation to disclose such interests and transactions to the Company by virtue of any fiduciary, advisory or agency relationship; and
(d) the Company waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any claims it may have against Cowen, for breach of fiduciary duty or alleged breach of fiduciary duty and agrees that Cowen shall have no liability (whether direct or indirect) to the Company in respect of such a fiduciary claim or to any person asserting a fiduciary duty claim on behalf of or in right of the Company, including stockholders, partners, employees or creditors of the Company.
19. Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. Delivery of an executed Agreement by one party to the other may be made by facsimile or by electronic delivery of a portable document format (PDF) file (including any electronic signature covered by the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, the Electronic Signatures and Records Act or other applicable law, e.g., www.docusign.com).
[Remainder of Page Intentionally Blank]
If the foregoing correctly sets forth the understanding between the Company and Cowen, please so indicate in the space provided below for that purpose, whereupon this letter shall constitute a binding agreement between the Company and Cowen.
Very truly yours,
COWEN AND COMPANY, LLC
By: /s/ Michael Murphy
Name: Michael Murphy
Title: Managing Director
ACCEPTED as of the date
first-above written:
ANNEXON, INC.
By: /s/ Douglas Love
Name: Douglas Love, Esq.
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
SCHEDULE 1
form of PLACEMENT NOTICE
| From: | [ ] |
| Cc: | [ ] |
| To: | [ ] |
Subject: Cowen At the Market Offering—Placement Notice
Gentlemen:
Pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions contained in the Sales Agreement between Annexon, Inc. (the “Company”) and Cowen and Company, LLC (“Cowen”) dated August 16, 2021 (the “Agreement”), I hereby request on behalf of the Company that Cowen sell up to [ ] shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, at a minimum market price of $_______ per share. Sales should begin on the date of this Notice and shall continue until [DATE] [all shares are sold].
SCHEDULE 2
Notice Parties
Company
Douglas Love, Esq.Chief Executive Officer
Jennifer LewChief Financial Officer
Cowen
Michael J. MurphyManaging Director
William FollisManaging Director
SCHEDULE 3
Compensation
Cowen shall be paid compensation up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the sales of Common Stock pursuant to the terms of this Agreement.
Exhibit 7(m)
OFFICER CERTIFICATE
The undersigned, the duly qualified and elected _______________________, of Annexon, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Company”), does hereby certify in such capacity and on behalf of the Company, pursuant to Section 7(m) of the Sales Agreement dated August 16, 2021 (the “Sales Agreement”) between the Company and Cowen and Company, LLC, that to the best of the knowledge of the undersigned.
| (i) | The representations and warranties of the Company in Section 6 of the Sales Agreement (A) to the extent such representations and warranties are subject to qualifications and exceptions contained therein relating to materiality or Material Adverse Effect, are true and correct on and as of the date hereof with the same force and effect as if expressly made on and as of the date hereof, except for those representations and warranties that speak solely as of a specific date and which were true and correct as of such date, and (B) to the extent such representations and warranties are not subject to any qualifications or exceptions, are true and correct in all material respects as of the date hereof as if made on and as of the date hereof with the same force and effect as if expressly made on and as of the date hereof except for those representations and warranties that speak solely as of a specific date and which were true and correct as of such date; and |
| (ii) | The Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied pursuant to the Sales Agreement at or prior to the date hereof. |
By:
Name:
Title:
Date:
