Form of Inducement Letter

Exhibit 10.1

BLUE WATER BIOTECH, INC.

July 31, 2023           

Holder of Common Stock Preferred Investment Options

Dear Holder:

Blue Water Biotech, Inc. (the “Company”) is pleased to offer to you (“Holder”, “you” or similar terminology) the opportunity to receive (i) new preferred investment options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.00001 per share (the “Common Stock”), and (ii) a reduction in the Exercise Price (as defined in the respective Existing PIO) of the preferred investment options to purchase shares of Common Stock held by you (the “Holder”) in consideration for exercising all of the preferred investment options to purchase shares of the Company’s Common Stock, issued to you on August 11, 2022 (the “Existing PIOs”), as more particularly set forth on the signature page hereto. The resale of the shares of Common Stock underlying the Existing PIOs (the “PIO Shares”) has been registered pursuant to the registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-267142) (the “Registration Statement”). The Registration Statement is currently effective and, upon exercise of the Existing PIOs pursuant to this letter agreement, will be effective for the resale of the PIO Shares. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the New PIOs (as defined herein).

The Company desires to reduce the Exercise Price (as defined in the respective Existing PIO) of the Existing PIOs to $1.09 per share (the “Reduced Exercise Price”). In consideration for exercising in full all of the Existing PIOs held by Holder as set forth on the Holder’s signature page hereto (the “PIO Exercise”) on or before the Execution Time (as defined herein), the Company hereby offers to issue you or your designees:

(a) a new unregistered Common Stock Preferred Investment Option (“New PIO”) pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), to purchase up to a number of shares (the “New PIO Shares”) of Common Stock equal to 200% of the number of PIO Shares issued pursuant to each PIO Exercise hereunder, which New PIO shall be substantially in the form as set forth in Exhibit A hereto, will be exercisable at any time on or after the Stockholder Approval Date, and have a term of exercise of five (5) years following the Stockholder Approval Date, provided that, if such termination date is not a Trading Day, the date that is the immediately following Trading Day, and an exercise price per share equal to $1.09, subject to adjustments as provided in the New PIO.

(b) The New PIO certificate(s) will be delivered within two (2) Trading Days following the Execution Time, and such New PIOs, together with any underlying shares of Common Stock issued upon exercise of the New PIOs, will, unless and until registered, contain customary restrictive legends and other language typical for an unregistered preferred investment option and unregistered shares. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that any PIO Exercise would otherwise cause the Holder to exceed the beneficial ownership limitations (“Beneficial Ownership Limitation”) set forth in Section 2(e) of the Existing PIOs (or, if applicable and at the Holder’s election, 9.99%), the Company shall only issue such number of PIO Shares to the Holder that would not cause the Holder to exceed the maximum number of PIO Shares permitted thereunder, as directed by the Holder, with the balance to be held in abeyance until notice from the Holder that the balance (or portion thereof) may be issued in compliance with such limitations, which abeyance shall be evidenced through the Existing PIOs which shall be deemed prepaid thereafter (including the payment in full of the exercise price), and exercised pursuant to a Notice of Exercise in the Existing PIOs (provided no additional exercise price shall be due and payable). The parties hereby agree that the Beneficial Ownership Limitation for purposes of the Existing PIO is as set forth on the Holder’s signature page hereto.

Expressly subject to the paragraph immediately following this paragraph below, Holder may accept this offer by signing this letter below, with such acceptance constituting Holder’s exercise in full of the Existing PIOs for an aggregate exercise price set forth on the Holder’s signature page hereto (the “PIO Exercise Price”) on or before 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on July 31, 2023 (the “Execution Time”).

Additionally, the Company agrees to the representations, warranties and covenants set forth on Annex A attached hereto. Holder represents and warrants that, as of the date hereof it is, and on each date on which it exercises any New PIOs it will be, an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501 of the Securities Act, and agrees that the New PIOs will contain restrictive legends when issued, and neither the New PIOs nor the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the New PIOs will be registered under the Securities Act, except as provided in Annex A attached hereto. Also, Holder represents and warrants that it is acquiring the New PIOs as principal for its own account and has no direct or indirect arrangement or understandings with any other persons to distribute or regarding the distribution of the New PIOs or the New PIO Shares (this representation is not limiting Holder’s right to sell the New PIO Shares pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act or otherwise in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws).

The Holder understands that the New PIOs and the New PIO Shares are not, and may never be, registered under the Securities Act, or the securities laws of any state and, accordingly, each certificate, if any, representing such securities shall bear a legend substantially similar to the following:

“THIS SECURITY HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO, THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.”

Certificates evidencing the New PIO Shares shall not contain any legend (including the legend set forth above), (i) while a registration statement covering the resale of such New PIO Shares is effective under the Securities Act, (ii) following any sale of such New PIO Shares pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act, (iii) if such New PIO Shares are eligible for sale under Rule 144 (assuming cashless exercise of the New PIO), without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such New PIO Shares and without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions, (iv) if such New PIO Shares may be sold under Rule 144 (assuming cashless exercise of the New PIO) and the Company is then in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such New PIO Shares, or (v) if such legend is not required under applicable requirements of the Securities Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and the earliest of clauses (i) through (v), the “Delegend Date”)). The Company shall cause its counsel to issue a legal opinion to the Transfer Agent promptly after the Delegend Date if required by the Company and/or the Transfer Agent to effect the removal of the legend hereunder, or at the request of the Holder, which opinion shall be in form and substance reasonably acceptable to the Holder. From and after the Delegend Date, such New PIO Shares shall be issued free of all legends. The Company agrees that following the Delegend Date or at such time as such legend is no longer required under this Section, it will, no later than two (2) Trading Days following the delivery by the Holder to the Company or the Transfer Agent of a certificate representing the New PIO Shares issued with a restrictive legend (such second (2^nd) Trading Day, the “Legend Removal Date”), deliver or cause to be delivered to the Holder a certificate representing such shares that is free from all restrictive and other legends or, at the request of the Holder shall credit the account of the Holder’s prime broker with the Depository Trust Company System as directed by the Holder.  

In addition to the Holder’s other available remedies, the Company shall pay to a Holder, in cash, (i) as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, for each $1,000 of New PIO Shares (based on the VWAP of the Common Stock on the date such New PIO Shares are submitted to the Transfer Agent) delivered for removal of the restrictive legend, $10 per Trading Day (increasing to $20 per Trading Day five (5) Trading Days after such damages have begun to accrue) for each Trading Day after the Legend Removal Date until such certificate is delivered without a legend and (ii) if the Company fails to (a) issue and deliver (or cause to be delivered) to the Holder by the Legend Removal Date a certificate representing the New PIO Shares so delivered to the Company by the Holder that is free from all restrictive and other legends and (b) if after the Legend Removal Date the Holder purchases (in an open market transaction or otherwise) shares of Common Stock to deliver in satisfaction of a sale by the Holder of all or any portion of the number of shares of Common Stock, or a sale of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to all or any portion of the number of shares of Common Stock that the Holder anticipated receiving from the Company without any restrictive legend, then, an amount equal to the excess of the Holder’s total purchase price (including brokerage commissions and other out-of-pocket expenses, if any) for the shares of Common Stock so purchased (including brokerage commissions and other out-of-pocket expenses, if any) (the “Buy-In Price”) over the product of (A) such number of New PIO Shares that the Company was required to deliver to the Holder by the Legend Removal Date and for which the Holder was required to purchase shares to timely satisfy delivery requirements, multiplied by (B) the weighted average price at which the Holder sold that number of shares of Common Stock.  

If this offer is accepted and the transaction documents are executed by the Execution Time, then as promptly as possible following the Execution Time, but in any event no later than 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on the Trading Day following the date hereof, the Company shall file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Commission disclosing all material terms of the transactions contemplated hereunder, including this letter agreement as an exhibit thereto with the Commission within the time required by the Exchange Act. From and after the filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, the Company represents to you that it shall have publicly disclosed all material, non-public information delivered to you by the Company, or any of its respective officers, directors, employees or agents in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder. In addition, effective upon the filing of such Current Report on Form 8-K, the Company acknowledges and agrees that any and all confidentiality or similar obligations under any agreement, whether written or oral, between the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates on the one hand, and you and your Affiliates on the other hand, shall terminate. The Company represents, warrants and covenants that, upon acceptance of this offer, the PIO Shares shall be issued free of any legends or restrictions on resale by Holder.

No later than the second (2^nd) Trading Day following the date hereof, the closing (“Closing”) shall occur at such location as the parties shall mutually agree. Unless otherwise directed by H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (the “Placement Agent”), settlement of the PIO Shares shall occur via “Delivery Versus Payment” (“DVP”) (i.e., on the Closing Date, the Company shall issue the PIO Shares registered in the Holder’s name and address provided to the Company in writing and released by the Transfer Agent directly to the account(s) at the Placement Agent identified by the Holder; upon receipt of such PIO Shares, the Placement Agent shall promptly electronically deliver such PIO Shares to the Holder, and payment therefor shall concurrently be made to the Company by the Placement Agent (or its clearing firm) by wire transfer to the Company). The date of the Closing of the exercise of the Existing PIOs shall be referred to as the “Closing Date”.

The Company acknowledges and agrees that the obligations of the Holder under this letter agreement is several and not joint with the obligations of any other holder or holders of warrants and/or preferred investment options to purchase Common Stock of the Company that were issued by the Company on August 11, 2022 (each, an “Other Holder”) under any other agreement which may exist related to the exercise of such warrants and/or preferred investment options (“Other Warrant Exercise Agreement”), and the Holder shall not be responsible in any way for the performance of the obligations of any Other Holder or under any such Other Warrant Exercise Agreement. Nothing contained in this letter agreement, and no action taken by any Other Holder pursuant hereto, shall be deemed to constitute the Holder and the Other Holders as a partnership, an association, a joint venture or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Holder and the Other Holders are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement and the Company acknowledges that the Holder and the Other Holders are not acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by this letter agreement or any Other Warrant Exercise Agreement. The Company and the Holder confirm that the Holder has independently participated in the Company’s solicitation of, and the mutual negotiation of, the transactions contemplated hereby with the advice of its own counsel and advisors. The Holder shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights, including, without limitation, the rights arising out of this letter agreement, and it shall not be necessary for any Other Holder to be joined as an additional party in any proceeding for such purpose.

The Company hereby represents and warrants as of the date hereof and covenants and agrees from and after the date hereof until thirty (30) days after the date hereof, that none of the terms offered to any Other Holder with respect to any Other Warrant Exercise Agreement (or any amendment, modification or waiver thereof) relating to warrants that were sold concurrently with the Existing PIOs, is or will be more favorable to such Other Holder than those of the Holder and this letter agreement unless such terms are concurrently offered to the Holder. If, and whenever on or after the date hereof until thirty (30) days after the date hereof, the Company enters into an Other Warrant Exercise Agreement relating to warrants that were sold concurrently with the Existing PIOs, then (i) the Company shall provide notice thereof to the Holder promptly following the occurrence thereof and (ii) the terms and conditions of this letter agreement shall be, without any further action by the Holder or the Company, automatically amended and modified in an economically and legally equivalent manner such that the Holder shall receive the benefit of the more favorable terms and/or conditions (as the case may be) set forth in such Other Warrant Exercise Agreement (including the issuance of additional PIO Shares), provided that upon written notice to the Company at any time the Holder may elect not to accept the benefit of any such amended or modified term or condition, in which event the term or condition contained in this letter agreement shall apply to the Holder as it was in effect immediately prior to such amendment or modification as if such amendment or modification never occurred with respect to the Holder. The provisions of this paragraph shall apply similarly and equally to each such Other Warrant Exercise Agreement.

[Holder Signature Page Follows]

Accepted and Agreed to:

Name of Holder: ________________________________________________________

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Holder: _________________________________

Name of Authorized Signatory: _______________________________________________

Title of Authorized Signatory: ________________________________________________

Number of Existing Preferred Investment Options: __________________

Aggregate Preferred Investment Option Exercise Price at the Reduced Exercise Price being exercised contemporaneously with signing this letter agreement: _________________

Existing Preferred Investment Option Beneficial Ownership Blocker: ☐ 4.99% or ☐ 9.99%

New Preferred Investment Options: (200% of total Existing Preferred Investment Options being exercised): ___________

New Preferred Investment Option Beneficial Ownership Blocker: ☐ 4.99% or ☐ 9.99%

DTC Instructions:

Annex A

Representations, Warranties and Covenants of the Company. The Company hereby makes the following representations and warranties to the Holder:

(i) From the date hereof until thirty (30) days after the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any Subsidiary shall (A) issue, enter into any agreement to issue or announce the issuance or proposed issuance of any Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents or (B) file any registration statement or any amendment or supplement to any existing registration statement (other than (x) the Resale Registration Statement referred to herein, (y) prospectus supplements to the Registration Statement to reflect the transactions contemplated hereby, or (z) amendments or prospectus supplements to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-270383) for the purpose of updating such registration statement to reflect a fundamental change of the Company). Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Section (h)(i) shall not apply in respect of an Exempt Issuance. “Exempt Issuance” means the issuance of (a) shares of Common Stock or options to employees, officers or directors of the Company pursuant to any stock or option plan duly adopted for such purpose, by a majority of the non-employee members of the Board of Directors or a majority of the members of a committee of non-employee directors established for such purpose for services rendered to the Company, (b) warrants to the Placement Agent in connection with the transactions pursuant to this letter agreement (the “Placement Agent Warrants”) and any shares of Common Stock upon exercise of the Placement Agent Warrants and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise or exchange of or conversion of any securities issued hereunder and/or other securities exercisable or exchangeable for or convertible into shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding on the date of this letter agreement, provided that such securities have not been amended since the date of this letter agreement to increase the number of such securities or to decrease the exercise price, exchange price or conversion price of such securities (other than in connection with stock splits or combinations) or to extend the term of such securities, and (c) securities issued pursuant to acquisitions or strategic transactions approved by a majority of the disinterested directors of the Company, provided that such securities are issued as “restricted securities” (as defined in Rule 144) and carry no registration rights that require or permit the filing of any registration statement in connection therewith during the prohibition period this Section (h)(i), and provided that any such issuance shall only be to a Person (or to the equityholders of a Person) which is, itself or through its subsidiaries, an operating company or an owner of an asset in a business synergistic with the business of the Company and shall provide to the Company additional benefits in addition to the investment of funds, but shall not include a transaction in which the Company is issuing securities primarily for the purpose of raising capital or to an entity whose primary business is investing in securities. “Person” means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind, for purposes of this Section (h)(i).

(ii) From the date hereof until one (1) year following the Closing Date, the Company shall be prohibited from effecting or entering into an agreement to effect any issuance by the Company nor any Subsidiary of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents (or a combination of units thereof) involving a Variable Rate Transaction. “Variable Rate Transaction” means a transaction in which the Company (i) issues or sells any debt or equity securities that are convertible into, exchangeable or exercisable for, or include the right to receive, additional shares of Common Stock either (A) at a conversion price, exercise price or exchange rate or other price that is based upon, and/or varies with, the trading prices of or quotations for the shares of Common Stock at any time after the initial issuance of such debt or equity securities or (B) with a conversion, exercise or exchange price that is subject to being reset at some future date after the initial issuance of such debt or equity security or upon the occurrence of specified or contingent events directly or indirectly related to the business of the Company or the market for the Common Stock or (ii) enters into, or effects a transaction under, any agreement, including, but not limited to, an equity line of credit or an “at-the-market offering”, whereby the Company may issue securities at a future determined price, regardless of whether shares pursuant to such agreement have actually been issued and regardless of whether such agreement is subsequently canceled; provided, however, that, after thirty (30) days following the Closing Date, the entry into and/or issuance of shares of Common Stock in an “at the market” offering with the Placement Agent as sales agent shall not be deemed a Variable Rate Transaction. The Holder shall be entitled to obtain injunctive relief against the Company to preclude any such issuance, which remedy shall be in addition to any right to collect damages.