Underwriting Agreement dated May 18, 2023
Exhibit 1.1
4,496,744 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK (PAR VALUE $0.0001 PER SHARE)
PRE-FUNDED WARRANTS TO PURCHASE 12,895,256 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK
PRELUDE THERAPEUTICS INCORPORATED
UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT
May 18, 2023
May 18, 2023
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
As Representative of the several Underwriters
named in Schedule I hereto
c/o Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
1585 Broadway
New York, New York 10036
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), proposes to issue and sell to the several Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto (the “Underwriters”) an aggregate of (a) 4,496,744 shares of its common stock (the “Firm Shares”), which comprise (i) 3,048,522 shares of its voting common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Voting Common Stock”) and (ii) 1,448,222 shares of its non-voting common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Non-Voting Common Stock” and, together with the Voting Stock, the “Common Stock”) and (b) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 12,895,256 shares of the Company’s Voting Common Stock in a form to be mutually agreed upon by the Company and the Representative (the “Pre-Funded Warrants” and, together with the Firm Shares, the “Firm Securities”) at an exercise price of $0.0001. The Company also proposes to issue and sell to the several Underwriters not more than an additional 2,608,800 shares of Voting Common Stock (the “Additional Shares”), if and to the extent that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, as representative (the “Representative”) of the Underwriters, shall have determined to exercise, on behalf of the Underwriters, the right to purchase such shares of Voting Common Stock granted to the Underwriters in Section 2 hereof. The Firm Shares and the Additional Shares are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Shares” and, together with the Pre-Funded Warrants, the “Securities.” The shares of the Company’s common stock issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants are herein referred to as the “Warrant Shares”.
The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-261019), including a preliminary prospectus, relating to the Securities and the Warrant Shares. The registration statement as amended at the time it becomes effective, including the information (if any) deemed to be part of the registration statement at the time of effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), is hereinafter referred to as the “Registration Statement”; the prospectus in the form first used to confirm sales of Securities (or in the form first made available to the Underwriters by the Company to meet requests of purchasers pursuant to Rule 173 under the Securities Act) is hereinafter referred to as the “Prospectus.” If the Company has filed an abbreviated registration statement to register additional shares of Common Stock pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act (the “Rule 462 Registration Statement”), then any reference herein to the term “Registration Statement” shall be deemed to include such Rule 462 Registration Statement.
For purposes of this Agreement, “free writing prospectus” has the meaning set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act, “preliminary prospectus” shall mean each prospectus used prior to the effectiveness of the Registration Statement, and each prospectus that omitted information pursuant to Rule 430A under the Securities Act that was used after such effectiveness and prior to the execution and delivery of this Agreement, “Time of Sale Prospectus” means the preliminary prospectus contained in the Registration Statement at the time of its effectiveness together with the documents and pricing information set forth in Schedule II hereto, and “broadly available road show” means a “bona fide electronic road show” as defined in Rule 433(h)(5) under the Securities Act that has been made available without restriction to any person. As used herein, the terms “Registration Statement,” “preliminary prospectus,” “Time of Sale Prospectus” and “Prospectus” shall include the documents, if any, incorporated by reference therein as of the date hereof. The terms “supplement,” “amendment” and “amend” as used herein with respect to the Registration Statement, the Prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus shall include all documents subsequently filed by the Company with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that are deemed to be incorporated by reference therein. To the extent there are no additional Underwriters listed on Schedule I other than you, the terms Representative and Underwriters as used herein shall mean you, as sole underwriter.
1. Representations and Warranties. The Company represents and warrants to and agrees with each of the Underwriters that:
(a) The Registration Statement has become effective; no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement is in effect, and no proceedings for such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act are pending before or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened by the Commission.
(b) (i) Each document, if any, filed or to be filed pursuant to the Exchange Act and incorporated by reference in the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus complied or will comply when so filed in all material respects with the Exchange Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, (ii) the Registration Statement, when it became effective, did not contain and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, 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, (iii) the Registration Statement and the Prospectus comply and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, will comply in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission
thereunder, (iv) the Time of Sale Prospectus does not, and at the time of each sale of the Securities in connection with the offering when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers and at the Closing Date (as defined in Section 4), the Time of Sale Prospectus, as then amended or supplemented by the Company, if applicable, as of the date of such amendment or supplement, will not, contain any 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 under which they were made, not misleading, (v) each broadly available road show, if any, when considered together with the Time of Sale Prospectus, does not contain any 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 under which they were made, not misleading and (vi) the Prospectus does not contain and, as amended or supplemented, if applicable, will not contain any 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 under which they were made, not misleading, except that the representations and warranties set forth in this paragraph do not apply to statements or omissions in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus based upon information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representative expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed upon that the only such information furnished by any Underwriter consists of the following information in the Prospectus furnished on behalf of each Underwriter: the information contained in the thirteenth paragraph regarding stabilizing transactions under the caption “Underwriters” (collectively, the “Underwriter Information”).
(c) The Company is not an “ineligible issuer” in connection with the offering pursuant to Rules 164, 405 and 433 under the Securities Act. Any free writing prospectus that the Company is required to file pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act has been, or will be, filed with the Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. Each free writing prospectus that the Company has filed, or is required to file, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act or that was prepared by or on behalf of or used or referred to by the Company complies or will comply, as of the date of such filing, in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder. Except for the free writing prospectuses, if any, identified in Schedule II hereto, and electronic road shows, if any, each furnished to the Representative before first use, the Company has not prepared, used or referred to, and will not, without the Representative’s prior consent, prepare, use or refer to, any free writing prospectus.
(d) The Company has been duly incorporated, is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of Delaware, has the corporate power and authority to own or lease its property and to conduct its business as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus and is duly qualified to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which the conduct of its business or its ownership or leasing of property requires such qualification, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect (as defined herein) on the Company.
(e) The Company has no “subsidiaries” (as defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act) and the Company does not own or control, directly or indirectly, any corporation, association or other entity.
(f) This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company.
(g) The authorized capital stock of the Company conforms in all material respects as to legal matters to the description thereof contained in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(h) The shares of Common Stock outstanding prior to the issuance of the Securities have been duly authorized and are validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
(i) The Shares have been duly authorized and, when issued, delivered and paid for in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, and the issuance of the Shares will not be subject to any preemptive or similar rights that have not been validly waived.
(j) The Pre-Funded Warrants have been duly authorized and, when executed and delivered by the Company in accordance with this Agreement, will be valid and legally binding agreements of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms except as the enforcement thereof may be limited by applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting the rights and remedies of creditors or by general equitable principles. The Warrant Shares to be issued by the Company upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants in accordance therewith have been duly authorized and will be reserved for issuance upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants in a number sufficient to meet the current exercise requirements. The Warrant Shares, when issued and delivered upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants in accordance therewith, will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, and the issuance of the Warrant Shares is not subject to any preemptive or similar rights not otherwise validly waived or satisfied.
(k) The execution and delivery by the Company of, and the performance by the Company of its obligations under, this Agreement will not contravene (i) any provision of applicable law, (ii) the restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws of the Company, (iii) any agreement or other instrument binding upon the Company that is material to the Company, or (iv) any judgment, order or decree of any governmental body, agency or court having jurisdiction over the Company, except in the case of
clauses (iii) and (iv), as would not, individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the company or the ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement, and no consent, approval, authorization or order of, or qualification with, any governmental body, agency or court is required for the performance by the Company of its obligations under this Agreement, except such as have been obtained or validly waived or as may be required by the securities or Blue Sky laws of the various states or the rules and regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) or the Nasdaq Global Select Market in connection with the offer and sale of the Securities.
(l) There has not occurred any material adverse change, or any development involving a prospective material adverse change, in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business or operations of the Company (a “material adverse effect”) from that set forth in the Time of Sale Prospectus.
(m) There are no legal or governmental proceedings pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened to which the Company is a party or to which any of the properties of the Company is subject (i) other than proceedings accurately described in all material respects in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus and proceedings that would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company, or on the power or ability of the Company to perform its obligations under this Agreement or to consummate the transactions contemplated by each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus or (ii) that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus and are not so described in all material respects; and there are no statutes, regulations, contracts or other documents that are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus or to be filed or incorporated by reference as exhibits to the Registration Statement that are not described in all material respects or filed or incorporated by reference as required.
(n) Each preliminary prospectus filed as part of the Registration Statement as originally filed or as part of any amendment thereto, or filed pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act, complied when so filed in all material respects with the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.
(o) The Company is not, and after giving effect to the offering and sale of the Securities and the application of the proceeds thereof as described in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus will not be, required to register as an “investment company” as such term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
(p) The Company (i) is in compliance with any and all applicable foreign, federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of human health and safety, the environment or hazardous or toxic substances or wastes, pollutants or contaminants (“Environmental Laws”), (ii) has received all permits, licenses or other approvals required of them under applicable Environmental Laws to conduct their respective businesses and (iii) is in compliance with all terms and conditions of any such permit, license or approval, except where such noncompliance with Environmental Laws, failure to receive required permits, licenses or other approvals or failure to comply with the terms and conditions of such permits, licenses or approvals would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company.
(q) There are no costs or liabilities associated with Environmental Laws (including, without limitation, any capital or operating expenditures required for clean-up, closure of properties or compliance with Environmental Laws or any permit, license or approval, any related constraints on operating activities and any potential liabilities to third parties) which would, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company.
(r) There are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to any securities of the Company or to require the Company to include such securities with the Securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement, except as otherwise have been validly waived in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities contemplated hereby and as described in the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(s) (i) None of the Company or any of its affiliates, or any directors or officers thereof, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any employee, agent or representative of the Company or any of its affiliates, has taken or will take any action in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization or approval of the payment, giving or receipt of money, property, gifts or anything else of value, directly or indirectly, to any government official (including any officer or employee of a government or 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) (“Government Official”) in order to influence official action, or to any person in violation of any applicable anti-corruption laws; (ii) the Company and each of its affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with applicable anti-corruption laws and have instituted and maintained and will continue to maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote and achieve compliance with such laws and with the representations and warranties contained herein; and (iii) the Company will not use, directly or indirectly, the proceeds of the offering in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay, or authorization of the payment or giving of money, or anything else of value, to any person in violation of any applicable anti-corruption laws.
(t) The operations of the Company are and have been conducted at all times in material compliance with all applicable financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements, including those of the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by Title III of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act), and the applicable anti-money laundering statutes of jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines, issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency (collectively, the “Anti-Money Laundering Laws”), and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to the Anti-Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened.
(u) (i) None of the Company or any of its directors or officers, or, to the Company’s knowledge, any employee, agent, affiliate or representative of the Company, is an individual or entity (“Person”) that is, or is owned or controlled by one or more Persons that are:
(A) the subject of any sanctions administered or enforced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, His Majesty’s Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”), or
(B) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions (including, without limitation, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine).
(ii) The Company will not, directly or indirectly, use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other Person:
(A) to fund or facilitate any activities or business of or with any Person or in any country or territory that, at the time of such funding or facilitation, is the subject of Sanctions; or
(B) in any other manner that will result in a violation of Sanctions by any Person (including any Person participating in the offering, whether as underwriter, advisor, investor or otherwise).
(iii) The Company has not knowingly engaged in, are not now knowingly engaged in, and will not engage in, any dealings or transactions with any Person, or in any country or territory, that at the time of the dealing or transaction is or was the subject of Sanctions.
(v) Subsequent to the respective dates as of which information is given in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, (i) the Company has not incurred any material liability or obligation, direct or contingent, nor entered into any material transaction; (ii) the Company has not purchased any of its outstanding capital stock, nor declared, paid or otherwise made any dividend or distribution of any kind on its capital stock other than ordinary and customary dividends; and (iii) there has not been any material change in the capital stock, short-term debt or long-term debt of the Company, other than the exercise, grant or forfeiture of any equity awards, as applicable, in case granted pursuant to any equity compensation plan described in the Time of Sale Prospectus.
(w) The Company does not own any real property. The Company has good and marketable title to all personal property owned by them which is material to the business of the Company, in each case free and clear of all liens, encumbrances and defects except such as do not materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company; and any real property and buildings held under lease by the Company are held by it under valid, subsisting and enforceable leases with such exceptions as are not material and would not be reasonably expected to materially interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property and buildings by the Company.
(x) (i) The Company owns, or has valid and enforceable licenses to all patents, patent applications, inventions, copyrights and other works of authorship, know how (including trade secrets and other unpatented and/or unpatentable proprietary or confidential information, systems or procedures), designs, processes, trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade and service mark registrations, computer programs, technical data and information, and other intellectual property (collectively, “Intellectual Property Rights”) used in or reasonably necessary to the conduct of its business as currently operated, except where the failure to own, possess, license have the right to use or the ability to acquire any of the foregoing would not reasonably be expected to result, singly or in the aggregate, in a material adverse effect on the Company; (ii) there are no rights of third parties to any such Intellectual Property Rights, including no liens, security interests, or other encumbrances; (iii) there is no pending or, to the company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the company’s rights in or to any Intellectual Property Rights owned by, or licensed to, the Company; (iv) the Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, the Intellectual Property Rights exclusively licensed to the Company which are material to the conduct of the business of the Company as currently conducted, are valid, subsisting and
enforceable, and there is no pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity, scope or enforceability of any such Intellectual Property Rights; (v) to the Company’s knowledge, the Company has not received any note alleging any infringement, misappropriation or other violation of any Intellectual Property Rights, nor does the Company reasonably expect any of the Intellectual Property Rights to be subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, which, singly or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on the Company; (vi) to the Company’s knowledge, no third party is infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating, or has infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated, any Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company; (vii) to the Company’s knowledge, the Company does not infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate, and has not infringed, misappropriated or otherwise violated, any Intellectual Property Rights; (viii) all employees or contractors engaged in the development of Intellectual Property Rights on behalf of the Company have executed an invention assignment agreement whereby such employees or contractors presently assign all of their right, title and interest in and to such Intellectual Property Rights to the Company, and to the Company’s knowledge no such agreement has been breached or violated; (ix) to the Company’s knowledge, no employee of the Company is 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; (x) to the Company’s knowledge, the Company has complied with the terms of each agreement pursuant to which Intellectual Property Rights have been licensed to the Company, and all such agreements are in full force and effect; (xi) to the Company’s knowledge there is no prior art that may render any patent within the Intellectual Property Rights invalid or that may render any patent application within the Intellectual Property Rights unpatentable that has not been disclosed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; (xii) to the Company’s knowledge, there are no material defects in any of the patents or patents applications within the Intellectual Property Rights; (xiii) to the Company’s knowledge, the product candidates described in the Disclosure Documents as under development by the Company fall within the scope of the claims of one or more patent or pending patent application owned by, or exclusively licensed to, the Company; (xiv) to the Company’s knowledge, there is no patent or published patent application, in the U.S. or other jurisdiction, which, in the case of a patent, contains claims, or in the case of a published patent application contains patentable claims, that dominate or may dominate any of the Company’s Intellectual Property described in the Preliminary Prospectus and Prospectus as being owned by or licensed to the Company or that interferes with the issued or pending claims of any of the Company’s Intellectual Property Rights; (xv) to the Company’s knowledge, the patents included in the Intellectual Property Rights are subsisting and have not lapsed and the patent applications in the Intellectual Property Rights are subsisting and have not been abandoned; and (xvi) to the Company’s knowledge, the Company uses, and has used, commercially reasonable efforts to appropriately maintain all information intended to be maintained as a trade secret.
(y) (i) The Company uses and has used any and all software and other materials distributed under a “free,” “open source,” or similar licensing model (including but not limited to the MIT License, Apache License, GNU General Public License, GNU Lesser General Public License and GNU Affero General Public License) (“Open Source Software”) in compliance with all license terms applicable to such Open Source Software, except where the failure to comply would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company; and (ii) the Company does not use or distribute or has not used or distributed any Open Source Software in any manner that requires or has required (A) the Company to permit reverse engineering of any software code or other technology owned by the Company or (B) any software code or other technology owned by the Company to be (1) disclosed or distributed in source code form, (2) licensed for the purpose of making derivative works or (3) redistributed at no charge, except as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company.
(z) (i) The Company has complied and is presently in compliance with all internal and external privacy and security policies, contractual obligations, industry standards, applicable laws, statutes, judgments, orders, rules and regulations of any court or arbitrator or other governmental or regulatory authority and any other legal obligations, in each case, relating to the collection, use, transfer, import, export, storage, protection, disposal and disclosure by the Company of personal, personally identifiable, household, sensitive, confidential or regulated data (“Data Security Obligations”, and such data, “Data”), including, without limitation compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (collectively, “HIPAA”), the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and all other applicable state privacy laws, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) (EU 2016/679) (collectively, the “Privacy Laws”), and has designed and executed a plan to implement such controls as necessary to comply, and will comply, with all pending SEC cybersecurity rules when they become effective; (ii) the Company has not received any notification of or complaint regarding and is unaware of any other facts that, individually or in the aggregate, would reasonably indicate non-compliance with any Data Security Obligation or Privacy Law; and (iii) there is no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body pending or, to the Company’s knowledge, threatened alleging non-compliance with any Data Security Obligation or Privacy Law.
(aa) The Company has taken reasonable technical and organizational measures necessary to protect the information technology systems and Data used in connection with the operation of the Company’s business. Without limiting the foregoing, the Company has used reasonable efforts to establish and maintain, have established, maintained, implemented and complied with, and continue to
maintain and comply with reasonable information technology, information security, cyber security and data protection controls, policies and procedures, including oversight, access controls, encryption, technological and physical safeguards and business continuity/disaster recovery and security plans to protect against and prevent breach, destruction, loss, unauthorized distribution, use, access, disablement, misappropriation or modification, or other compromise or misuse of or relating to any information technology system or Data used in connection with the operation of the Company’s business (“Breach”). There has been no material Breach, and the Company has not been notified of and have no knowledge of any event or condition that would reasonably be expected to result in, any material Breach.
(bb) No material labor dispute with the employees of the Company exists, or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent; and the Company is not aware of any existing, threatened or imminent labor disturbance by the employees of any of its principal suppliers, manufacturers or contractors that could, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company.
(cc) The Company is insured by insurers of recognized financial responsibility against such losses and risks and in such amounts as, in the Company’s reasonable judgement, are prudent and customary in the businesses in which they are engaged; the Company has not been refused any insurance coverage sought or applied for; and the Company has no 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 from similar insurers as may be necessary to continue its business at a cost that would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company.
(dd) The Company has operated at all times and is currently in compliance in all material respects with all applicable statutes, rules, regulations and policies of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) and applicable foreign regulatory authorities, including the European Medicines Agency and the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (collectively, the “Regulatory Authorities”), except where failure to be in compliance would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect, including, without limitation:
(i) the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder;
(ii) all applicable federal, state, local and foreign health care laws, including, without limitation, the U.S. Anti-Kickback Statute (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b(b)), the Civil Monetary Penalties Law (42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7a), the U.S. Civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. Section 3729 et seq.), all applicable federal, state, local and all foreign criminal laws relating to health care fraud and abuse, including but not
limited to the U.S. False Statements Law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7b(a)), 18 U.S.C. Sections 286 and 287, and the health care fraud criminal provisions under HIPAA (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.), the U.S. Physician Payments Sunshine Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7h), the exclusion law (42 U.S.C. Section 1320a-7), the statutes, regulations and directives of applicable government funded or sponsored healthcare programs, and the regulations promulgated pursuant to such statutes;
(iii) the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, the Security Standards, and the Standards for Electronic Transactions and Code Sets promulgated under HIPAA, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (42 U.S.C. Section 17921 et seq.), and the regulations promulgated thereunder and any state or non-U.S. counterpart thereof or any other law or regulation the purpose of which is to protect the privacy of individuals or prescribers;
(iv) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, the regulations promulgated thereunder;
(v) the U.S. Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. Section 801 et seq.);
(vi) licensure, quality, safety and accreditation requirements under applicable federal, state, local or foreign laws or regulatory bodies; and
(vii) all other local, state, federal, national, supranational and foreign laws, relating to the regulation of the Company and 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; (clauses (i) through (vii), collectively, “Health Care Laws”).
(ee) (i) The tests, preclinical studies and clinical trials conducted by or on behalf of or sponsored by the Company or in which the Company has participated that are described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, were, and if still pending are, being conducted in all material respects accordance with standard medical and experimental protocols, procedures and controls pursuant to accepted professional scientific research standards and procedures, and all applicable Health Care Laws, the rules and regulations of the Regulatory Authorities and current Good Clinical Practices and Good Laboratory Practices; (ii) the descriptions of the results of such studies and trials contained in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus are accurate and complete in all material respects
and fairly present the data derived from such trials and studies; (iii) the Company has no knowledge of any other studies or trials conducted by the Company or on behalf of the Company not described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, the results of which are inconsistent with or call into question the results described or referred to in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus; (iv) the Company has provided the Underwriters with all material written notices, correspondence and summaries of all other communications provided to the Company from the Regulatory Authorities; and (v) the Company has not received any written notices, correspondence or other communications from any Regulatory Authority or any other governmental entity requiring or threatening the termination, material modification or suspension of any studies or trials that are described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus or the results of which are referred to in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, and, to the Company’s knowledge, there are no reasonable grounds for the same.
(ff) (i) Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect, the Company has filed, obtained, 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 timely, complete, accurate and not misleading on the date filed (or were corrected or supplemented by a subsequent submission); (ii) the Company has not received written notice of any claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any court or arbitrator or Regulatory Authority, other governmental entity or third party alleging that the Company is in material violation of any Health Care Laws, including, without limitation, any FDA Form 483, notice of adverse finding, warning letter, untitled letter or other written correspondence or notice from the FDA or any other Regulatory Authority or governmental entity, nor, to the Company’s knowledge, is any such claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action threatened; (iii) the Company is not a party to any corporate integrity agreements, monitoring agreements, consent decrees, settlement orders, or similar agreements with or imposed by any Regulatory Authority or other governmental entity; and (iv) neither the Company nor any of its employees, officers or directors 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 an inquiry, investigation, proceeding or other similar action by a Regulatory Authority or other governmental entity that could reasonably be expected to result in debarment, suspension, or exclusion.
(gg) The Company possesses all certificates, authorizations and permits issued by the appropriate federal, state or foreign regulatory authorities necessary to conduct their respective businesses, and the Company has not received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such certificate, authorization or permit which, singly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would have a material adverse effect on the Company.
(hh) (i) Except as would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect, each employee benefit plan, within the meaning of Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), that is sponsored, maintained, administered or contributed to by the Company 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 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and (ii) neither the Company nor any member of its “Controlled Group” (defined as any trade or business, whether or not incorporated, that would be regarded as a single employer with the Company under Section 414 of the Code) (x) has ever sponsored, maintained, contributed to or has had any obligation to contribute to, any employee benefit plan that is subject to Title IV of ERISA or any “multiemployer plan” as defined in Section 3(37) of ERISA or (y) has incurred, or reasonably expects to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA.
(ii) The financial statements (including the related notes thereto) included or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes thereto, comply as to form in all material respects with the applicable accounting requirements of the Securities Act and present fairly the financial position of the Company as of the dates shown and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods shown, and such financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods covered thereby. The other financial information included in or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus has been derived from the accounting or other records of the Company and presents fairly in all material respects the information shown thereby. There are no financial statements (historical or pro forma) that are required to be included in or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus that are not included as required.
(jj) The statistical, industry-related and market-related data included in or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources which the Company reasonably and in good faith believes are reliable and accurate and such data is consistent with the sources from which they are derived, in each case in all material respects. To the Company’s knowledge, it does not require the consent of any third party for the use of any such data except as already obtained.
(kk) Ernst & Young LLP, who have certified certain financial statements of the Company and delivered its report with respect to the audited financial statements and schedules filed with the Commission as part of the Registration Statement and included or incorporated by reference in each of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm with respect to the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act and the applicable rules and regulations thereunder adopted by the Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States).
(ll) The Company maintains a system of 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 U.S. GAAP and to maintain asset accountability; (iii) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (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 and (v) the interactive data in the eXtensible Business Reporting Language included or incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement fairly presents the information called for in all respects and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto. Since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (i) no material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and (ii) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
(mm) Except as described in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus, the Company has not sold, issued or distributed any shares of Common Stock during the six-month period preceding the date hereof, including any sales pursuant to Rule 144A under, or Regulation D or S of, the Securities Act, other than shares issued pursuant to employee benefit plans, qualified stock option plans or other employee compensation plans or pursuant to outstanding options, rights or warrants.
(nn) The Company has filed all federal, state, local and foreign tax returns required to be filed through the date of this Agreement or have properly requested extensions thereof (except where the failure to file would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company) and have paid all taxes for which it is liable and any related or similar assessment, fine or penalty levied against it (except for cases in which the failure to file or pay would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on the Company or, except as currently being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings and for which reserves required by U.S. GAAP have been created and maintained in the financial statements of the Company), and no tax deficiency has been determined adversely to the Company which, singly or in the aggregate, has had (nor does the Company have any notice or knowledge of any tax deficiency which
could reasonably be expected to be determined adversely to the Company and which could reasonably be expected to have) a material adverse effect on the Company. The Company has made adequate charges, accruals and reserves on the books of the Company in respect of any federal, state, local and foreign taxes for any periods not finally determined, except to the extent that such inadequacy would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect. The Company is not under audit by any governmental body or agency and has not received written notice of any pending or threatened audit, except to the extent that such inadequacy would not, singly or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect. To the knowledge of the Company. there are no outstanding agreements or waivers extending the statutory period of limitation applicable to any federal, state, local or foreign tax return for any period.
(oo) From the time of initial confidential submission of the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-248628) to the Commission (or, if earlier, the first date on which the Company engaged directly or through any person authorized to act on its behalf in any Testing-the-Waters Communication) through the date hereof, the Company has been and is an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act (an “Emerging Growth Company”). “Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any oral or written communication with potential investors undertaken in reliance on Section 5(d) or Rule 163B of the Securities Act.
(pp) The Company (i) has not alone engaged in any Testing-the-Waters Communication with any person other than Testing-the-Waters Communications with the consent of the Representatives with entities that are qualified institutional buyers within the meaning of Rule 144A under the Securities Act or institutions that are accredited investors within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Securities Act and (ii) has not authorized anyone other than the Representative to engage in Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company reconfirms that the Representative has been authorized to act on its behalf in undertaking Testing-the-Waters Communications. The Company has not distributed any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication. “Written Testing-the-Waters Communication” means any Testing-the-Waters Communication that is a written communication within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act.
(qq) The Company has not had any securities rated by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization,” as such term is defined in Section 3(a)(62) of the Exchange Act.
(rr) As of the time of each sale of the Securities in connection with the offering when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers, none of (A) the Time of Sale Prospectus, (B) any free writing prospectus, when considered together with the Time of Sale Prospectus, and (C) any individual Written Testing-the-Waters Communication, when considered together with the Time of Sale Prospectus, included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will 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.
(ss) The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures that comply with the requirements of the Exchange Act; such disclosure controls and procedures have been designed to ensure that material information relating to the Company is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within the Company; such disclosure controls and procedures are effective at the reasonable assurance level; and the Company has carried out evaluations of the effectiveness of its disclosure controls and procedures as required by Rule 13a-15 of the Exchange Act through March 31, 2023.
(tt) The Company is in compliance, to the extent required, with all provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder applicable to the Company as of the date hereof (it being understood that this subsection shall not require the Company to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, as of an earlier date than it would otherwise be required to so comply under applicable law).
(uu) The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included in or incorporated by reference in the 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.
2. Agreements to Sell and Purchase. The Company hereby agrees to sell to the several Underwriters, and each Underwriter, upon the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained, but subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter stated, agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase from the Company the respective numbers of Firm Securities set forth in Schedule I hereto opposite its name. The purchase price per Firm Share to be paid by the several Underwriters to the Company shall be $5.405 a share (the “Purchase Price”) and the purchase price per Pre-Funded Warrant to be paid by the several Underwriters to the Company equals the Purchase Price minus $0.0001 (the “Warrant Purchase Price”); provided that an aggregate of 2,317,787 Firm Shares and 11,595,256 Pre-Funded Warrants (the “Indication of Interest Securities”) proposed to be sold by the Underwriters to entities affiliated with the Company’s 5% stockholders affiliated with its directors shall be purchased at the Public Offering Price and the Public Offering Price per Warrant, respectively.
On the basis of the representations and warranties contained in this Agreement, and subject to its terms and conditions, the Company agrees to sell to the Underwriters the Additional Shares, and the Underwriters shall have the right to purchase, severally and not jointly, up to 2,608,800 Additional Shares at the Purchase Price, provided, however, that the amount paid by the Underwriters for any Additional Shares shall be reduced by an amount per share equal to any dividends declared by the Company and
payable on the Firm Shares but not payable on such Additional Shares. The Representative may exercise this right on behalf of the Underwriters in whole or from time to time in part by giving written notice not later than 30 days after the date of this Agreement. Any exercise notice shall specify the number of Additional Shares to be purchased by the Underwriters and the date on which such shares are to be purchased. Each purchase date must be at least one business day after the written notice is given and may not be earlier than the closing date for the Firm Securities or later than ten business days after the date of such notice. Additional Shares may be purchased as provided in Section 4 hereof. On each day, if any, that Additional Shares are to be purchased (an “Option Closing Date”), each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to purchase the number of Additional Shares (subject to such adjustments to eliminate fractional shares as the Representative may determine) that bears the same proportion to the total number of Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date as the aggregate number of Firm Shares set forth in Schedule I hereto opposite the name of such Underwriter bears to the total number of Firm Shares.
3. Terms of Public Offering. The Company is advised by the Representative that the Underwriters propose to make a public offering of their respective portions of the Securities as soon after the Registration Statement and this Agreement have become effective as in the judgment of the Representative is advisable. The Company is further advised by the Representative that (i) the Shares are to be offered to the public initially at $5.75 a share (the “Public Offering Price”) and to certain dealers selected by the Representative at a price that represents a concession not in excess of $0.207 a share under the Public Offering Price and (ii) the Pre-Funded Warrants are to be offered to the public initially at $5.7499 per warrant (the “Public Offering Price per Warrant”) and to certain dealers selected by the Representative at a price that represents a concession not in excess of $0.207 per warrant under the Public Offering Price per Warrant.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company and the Representative shall instruct purchasers of the Pre-Funded Warrants in the public offering to make payment for the Pre-Funded Warrants on the Closing Date to the Company by wire transfer in immediately available funds to the account specified by the Company, in lieu of payment by the Underwriters for such Pre-Funded Warrants, and the Company shall deliver such Pre-Funded Warrants to such purchasers on the Closing Date in definitive form against such payment, in lieu of the Company’s obligation to deliver such Pre-Funded Warrants to the Underwriters; provided that the Company shall promptly (but in no event later than the Closing Date) pay $0.345 per such Pre-Funded Warrant to the Underwriters by wire transfer in immediately available funds to the account specified by the Representative.
In the event that the purchasers of the Pre-Funded Warrants in the public offering fail to make payment to the Company for all or part of the Pre-Funded Warrants on the Closing Date, the Representative may elect, by written notice to the Company, to receive shares of Common Stock in lieu of all or a portion of such Pre-Funded Warrants to be delivered to the Underwriters under this Agreement.
4. Payment and Delivery. Payment for the Firm Securities shall be made to the Company in Federal or other funds immediately available in New York City against delivery of such Firm Securities for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on May 22, 2023, or at such other time on the same or such other date, not later than May 30, 2023, as shall be designated in writing by the Representative. The time and date of such payment are hereinafter referred to as the “Closing Date.”
Payment for any Additional Shares shall be made to the Company in Federal or other funds immediately available in New York City against delivery of such Additional Shares for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the date specified in the corresponding notice described in Section 2 or at such other time on the same or on such other date, in any event not later than July 3, 2023, as shall be designated in writing by the Representative.
The Firm Securities and Additional Shares shall be registered in such names and in such denominations as the Representative shall request in writing not later than one full business day prior to the Closing Date or the applicable Option Closing Date, as the case may be. The Firm Securities and Additional Shares shall be delivered to the Representative on the Closing Date or an Option Closing Date, as the case may be, for the respective accounts of the several Underwriters, with any transfer taxes payable in connection with the transfer of the Securities to the Underwriters duly paid by the Company, against payment of the Purchase Price and Warrant Purchase Price therefor. The Pre-Funded Warrants will be made available for inspection by the Representative on the day prior to the Closing Date.
5. Conditions to the Underwriters’ Obligations. The obligations of the Company to sell the Securities to the Underwriters and the several obligations of the Underwriters to purchase and pay for the Securities on the Closing Date are subject to the condition that the Registration Statement shall have become effective not later than 3:00 a.m. (New York City time) on the date hereof.
The several obligations of the Underwriters are subject to the following further conditions:
(a) Subsequent to the execution and delivery of this Agreement and prior to the Closing Date:
(i) no order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall be in effect, and no proceeding for such purpose or pursuant to Section 8A under the Securities Act shall be pending before or threatened by the Commission;
(ii) there shall not have occurred any change, or any development involving a prospective change, in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business or operations of the Company from that set forth in the Time of Sale Prospectus that, in the judgment of the Representative, is material and adverse and that makes it, in the judgment of the Representative, impracticable to market the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Time of Sale Prospectus.
(b) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date a certificate, dated the Closing Date and signed by an executive officer of the Company, to the effect set forth in Sections 5(a)(i) and 5(a)(ii) above and to the effect that the representations and warranties of the Company contained in this Agreement are true and correct as of the Closing Date and that the Company has complied with all of the agreements and satisfied all of the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied hereunder on or before the Closing Date.
The officer signing and delivering such certificate may rely upon the best of his or her knowledge as to proceedings threatened.
(c) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion and negative assurance letter of Fenwick & West LLP, outside counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative.
(d) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion of Baker & Hostetler LLP, outside intellectual property counsel for the Company, each dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative.
(e) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., outside regulatory counsel for the Company, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative.
(f) The Underwriters shall have received on the Closing Date an opinion and negative assurance letter of Cooley LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, dated the Closing Date, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Representative.
With respect to the negative assurance letters to be delivered pursuant to Sections 5(c) and 5(f) above, Fenwick & West LLP and Cooley LLP may state that their opinions and beliefs are based upon their participation in the preparation of the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto (other than documents incorporated by reference) and upon review and discussion of the contents thereof (including documents incorporated by reference), but are without independent check or verification, except as specified.
The opinion and negative assurance letter of Fenwick & West LLP described in Section 5(c) above shall be rendered to the Underwriters at the request of the Company and shall so state therein.
(g) The Underwriters shall have received, on each of the date hereof and the Closing Date, a letter dated the date hereof or the Closing Date, as the case may be, in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriters, from Ernst & Young LLP, independent public accountants, containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus; provided that the letter delivered on the Closing Date shall use a “cut-off date” not earlier than the date hereof.
(h) The Underwriters shall have received, on each of the date hereof and the Closing Date, a certificate dated the date hereof or the Closing Date, as the case may be, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representative, from the chief financial officer of the Company as to the accuracy of certain financial and other information included in the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus.
(i) The “lock-up” agreements, each substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto, between the Representative and certain stockholders, officers and directors of the Company relating to restrictions on sales and certain other dispositions of shares of Common Stock or certain other securities, delivered to the Representative on or before the date hereof, shall be in full force and effect on the Closing Date.
(j) The Shares of Voting Common Stock sold pursuant to this Agreement and shares of Voting Common Stock equivalent to the number of Shares of Non-Voting Common Stock and Warrant Shares sold pursuant to this Agreement shall have been submitted for listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
(k) The several obligations of the Underwriters to purchase Additional Shares hereunder are subject to the delivery to the Representative on the applicable Option Closing Date of the following:
(i) a certificate, dated the Option Closing Date and signed by an executive officer of the Company, confirming that the certificate delivered on the Closing Date pursuant to Section 5(b) hereof remains true and correct as of such Option Closing Date;
(ii) an opinion and negative assurance letter of Fenwick & West LLP, outside counsel for the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion and negative assurance letter required by Section 5(c) hereof;
(iii) opinions of each of Baker & Hostetler LLP, outside intellectual property counsel for the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion, as applicable, required by Section 5(d) hereof;
(iv) an opinion of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C., outside regulatory counsel for the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion required by Section 5(e) hereof;
(v) an opinion and negative assurance letter of Cooley LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, dated the Option Closing Date, relating to the Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date and otherwise to the same effect as the opinion and negative assurance letter required by Section 5(f) hereof;
(vi) a letter dated the Option Closing Date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Underwriters, from Ernst & Young LLP independent public accountants, substantially in the same form and substance as the letter furnished to the Underwriters pursuant to Section 5(g) hereof; provided that the letter delivered on the Option Closing Date shall use a “cut-off date” not earlier than two business days prior to such Option Closing Date;
(vii) a certificate from the chief financial officer of the Company, dated the Option Closing Date, substantially in the same form and substance as the certificate delivered to the Underwriters pursuant to Section 5(h) hereof; and
(viii) such other documents as the Representative may reasonably request with respect to the good standing of the Company, the due authorization and issuance of the Additional Shares to be sold on such Option Closing Date and other matters related to the issuance of such Additional Shares.
6. Covenants of the Company. The Company covenants with each Underwriter as follows:
(a) To furnish to the Representative, without charge, four signed copies of the Registration Statement (including exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference) and for delivery to each other Underwriter a conformed copy of the Registration Statement (without exhibits thereto but including documents incorporated by reference) and to furnish to the Representative in New York City, without charge, prior to 10:00 a.m. New York City time on the business day next succeeding the date of this Agreement and during the period mentioned in Section 6(e) or 6(f) below, as many copies of the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus, and any documents incorporated by reference therein and any supplements and amendments thereto or to the Registration Statement as the Representative may reasonably request.
(b) Before amending or supplementing the Registration Statement, the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus, to furnish to the Representative a copy of each such proposed amendment or supplement and not to file any such proposed amendment or supplement to which the Representative reasonably objects, and to file with the Commission within the applicable period specified in Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act any prospectus required to be filed pursuant to such Rule.
(c) To furnish to the Representative a copy of each proposed free writing prospectus to be prepared by or on behalf of, used by, or referred to by the Company and not to use or refer to any proposed free writing prospectus to which the Representative reasonably objects.
(d) Not to take any action that would result in an Underwriter or the Company being required to file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act a free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of the Underwriter that the Underwriter otherwise would not have been required to file thereunder.
(e) If the Time of Sale Prospectus is being used to solicit offers to buy the Securities at a time when the Prospectus is not yet available to prospective purchasers and any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which it is necessary to amend or supplement the Time of Sale Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances, not misleading, or if any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which the Time of Sale Prospectus conflicts with the information contained in the Registration Statement then on file, or if, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters, it is necessary to amend or supplement the Time of Sale Prospectus to comply with applicable law, forthwith to prepare, file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and to any dealer upon request, either amendments or supplements to the Time of Sale Prospectus so that the statements in the Time of Sale Prospectus as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when the Time of Sale Prospectus is delivered to a prospective purchaser, be misleading or so that the Time of Sale Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, will no longer conflict with the Registration Statement, or so that the Time of Sale Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, will comply with applicable law.
(f) If, during such period after the first date of the public offering of the Securities as in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Securities Act) is required by law to be delivered in connection with sales by an Underwriter or dealer, any event shall occur or condition exist as a result of which it is necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus in order to make the statements therein, in
the light of the circumstances when the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Securities Act) is delivered to a purchaser, not misleading, or if, in the opinion of counsel for the Underwriters, it is necessary to amend or supplement the Prospectus to comply with applicable law, forthwith to prepare, file with the Commission and furnish, at its own expense, to the Underwriters and to the dealers (whose names and addresses the Representative will furnish to the Company) to which Securities may have been sold by the Representative on behalf of the Underwriters and to any other dealers upon request, either amendments or supplements to the Prospectus so that the statements in the Prospectus as so amended or supplemented will not, in the light of the circumstances when the Prospectus (or in lieu thereof the notice referred to in Rule 173(a) of the Securities Act) is delivered to a purchaser, be misleading or so that the Prospectus, as amended or supplemented, will comply with applicable law.
(g) If required by applicable law, to endeavor to qualify the Securities for offer and sale under the securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions as the Representative shall reasonably request; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall require the Company to qualify to do business in any jurisdiction, to execute a general consent of service of process in any jurisdiction or to subject itself to taxation in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise subject.
(h) To make generally available to the Company’s security holders and to the Representative as soon as reasonably practicable an earnings statement covering a period of at least twelve months beginning with the first fiscal quarter of the Company occurring after the date of this Agreement which shall satisfy the provisions of Section 11(a) of the Securities Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder; provided, however, that the Company will be deemed to have furnished such statement to its security holders to the extent it is filed on the Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System.
(i) Whether or not the transactions contemplated in this Agreement are consummated or this Agreement is terminated, to pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, including: (i) the fees, disbursements and expenses of the Company’s counsel and the Company’s accountants in connection with the registration and delivery of the Securities under the Securities Act, including the costs of reproducing and distributing each of the Pre-Funded Warrants, and all other fees or expenses in connection with the preparation and filing of the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus, any free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of, used by, or referred to by the Company and amendments and supplements to any of the foregoing, including all printing costs associated therewith, and the mailing and delivering of copies thereof to the Underwriters and dealers, in the quantities hereinabove specified, (ii) all costs and expenses related to the authorization, issuance, preparation,
transfer, sale and delivery of the Securities to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement or the execution and delivery of this Agreement, including any issue, transfer, stamp or other similar taxes or duties (including any interest and penalties thereon) payable thereon, (iii) the cost of printing or producing any Blue Sky or Legal Investment memorandum in connection with the offer and sale of the Securities under state securities laws and all expenses in connection with the qualification of the Securities for offer and sale under state securities laws as provided in Section 6(g) hereof, including filing fees and the reasonable and documented fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters in connection with such qualification and in connection with the Blue Sky or Legal Investment memorandum (provided that the amount payable by the Company with respect to the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters pursuant to clause (iii) shall not exceed $5,000 in the aggregate), (iv) all filing fees and the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters incurred in connection with the review and qualification of the offering of the Securities by FINRA (provided that the amount payable by the Company with respect to the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters pursuant to clause (v) shall not exceed $30,000 in the aggregate), (v) all costs and expenses incident to listing the Securities on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, (vi) the cost of printing certificates representing the Securities, (vii) the costs and charges of any transfer agent, registrar or depositary, (viii) the costs and expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations on any “road show” undertaken in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Securities, including, without limitation, expenses associated with the preparation or dissemination of any electronic road show, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations with the prior approval of the Company, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and any such consultants, (ix) the document production charges and expenses associated with printing this Agreement and (x) all other costs and expenses incident to the performance of the obligations of the Company hereunder for which provision is not otherwise made in this Section. It is understood, however, that except as provided in this Section, Section 8 entitled “Indemnity and Contribution” and the last paragraph of Section 10 below, the Underwriters will pay all of their costs and expenses, including fees and disbursements of their counsel, stock transfer taxes payable on resale of any of the Securities held by them and any advertising expenses connected with any offers they may make.
(j) The Company will promptly notify the Representative if the Company ceases to be an Emerging Growth Company at any time prior to the later of (i) completion of the distribution of the Securities within the meaning of the Securities Act and (ii) completion of the Restricted Period (as defined in this Section 6).
(k) If at any time following the distribution of any Written Testing-the-Waters Communication there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication included or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances existing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Representative and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Written Testing-the-Waters Communication to eliminate or correct such untrue statement or omission.
(l) The Company shall, at all times while any shares of Non-Voting Common Stock are outstanding, reserve and keep available out of the aggregate of its authorized but unissued and otherwise unreserved Voting Common Stock, the number of shares of Voting Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of all outstanding Non-Voting Common Stock.
The Company also covenants with each Underwriter that, without the prior written consent of the Representative on behalf of the Underwriters, it will not, and will not publicly disclose an intention to, during the period ending 90 days after the date of the Prospectus (the “Restricted Period”), (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or (2) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise or (3) file with or confidentially submit to the Commission any registration statement relating to the offering of any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock.
The restrictions contained in the preceding paragraph shall not apply to (A) the Securities to be sold hereunder, including, for the avoidance of doubt, the issuance by the Company of Warrant Shares upon the exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants, (B) the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for shares of Common Stock upon the exercise of an option or warrant or the conversion of a security outstanding on the date hereof as described in each of the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, (C) the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock or Non-Voting Common Stock upon the exchange of any security exchangeable therefor or the conversion of any security convertible therefor pursuant to a contractual arrangement or other right described in the Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, provided, that the Company shall cause each recipient of such issuance to execute and deliver to the Representative an agreement substantively in the form of Exhibit A hereto if such recipient has not already delivered one, (D) the issuance by the Company of shares of Voting Common Stock in connection with a conversion of Non-Voting Common Stock to Voting Common Stock, provided that any such shares of Voting Common Stock received upon such conversion or reclassification shall be subject to the terms of an agreement substantively in the form of Exhibit A hereto, (E) facilitating the establishment of a trading plan on behalf of a stockholder, officer or director of the Company pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the transfer of shares of
Common Stock, provided that (i) such plan does not provide for the transfer of Common Stock during the Restricted Period and (ii) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act, if any, is required of or voluntarily made by the Company regarding the establishment of such plan, such announcement or filing shall include a statement to the effect that no transfer of Common Stock may be made under such plan during the Restricted Period, (F) the grant of any options to purchase shares of Common Stock or other awards granted under a stock incentive plan or stock purchase plan described in the Registration Statement, Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, and the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock upon the exercise thereof, provided that the Company shall cause each recipient of such grant to execute and deliver to the Representative an agreement substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto if such recipient has not already delivered one, (G) the filing by the Company of any registration statement on Form S-8 or a successor form thereto relating to the shares of Common Stock granted pursuant to or reserved for issuance under a stock incentive plan or stock purchase plan described in the Registration Statement, Time of Sale Prospectus and the Prospectus, (H) shares of Common Stock or other securities issued in connection with a transaction with an unaffiliated third party that includes a debt financing or a bona fide commercial relationship (including joint ventures, marketing or distribution arrangements, collaboration agreements, or intellectual property license agreements) or any acquisition of assets or acquisition of not less than a majority or controlling portion of the equity of another entity, provided that (x) the aggregate number of shares issued pursuant to this clause (H) shall not exceed 5% of the total number of outstanding shares of Common Stock immediately following the issuance and sale of the Securities to be sold hereunder (giving effect to the Warrant Shares issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants) and (y) the recipient of any such shares of Common Stock and securities issued pursuant to this clause (H) during the 90-day restricted period described above shall enter into an agreement substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto on or prior to such issuance, or (I) the issuance by the Company of shares of Common Stock in connection with sales under an “at-the-market” equity offering program pursuant to an Open Market Sale AgreementSM (the “Sale Agreement”) between the Company and Jefferies LLC dated as of March 15, 2023, provided no sales shall be made under the Sale Agreement until the earlier of (i) the exercise in full by the Underwriters of their option to purchase the Additional Shares or (ii) 30 days after the date of this Agreement.
7. Covenants of the Underwriters. Each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, covenants with the Company not to take any action that would result in the Company being required to file with the Commission under Rule 433(d) a free writing prospectus prepared by or on behalf of such Underwriter that otherwise would not be required to be filed by the Company thereunder, but for the action of the Underwriter.
8. Indemnity and Contribution. (a) The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act and each affiliate of any Underwriter within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act from and against any and all losses, claims, damages and liabilities (including, without limitation, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred in connection with defending or investigating any such action or claim) that arise out of,
or are based upon, any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement or any amendment thereof, any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, any issuer free writing prospectus as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act, any Company information that the Company has filed, or is required to file, pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the Securities Act, any road show as defined in Rule 433(h) under the Securities Act (a “road show”), the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any Testing-the-Waters Communication, or arise out of, or are based upon, any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, except insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities arise out of, or are based upon, any such untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with any information relating to any Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representative expressly for use therein, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriters through the Representative consists of the Underwriter Information.
(b) Each Underwriter agrees, severally and not jointly, to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, its officers who sign the Registration Statement and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of either Section 15 of the Securities Act or Section 20 of the Exchange Act to the same extent as the foregoing indemnity from the Company to such Underwriter, but only with reference to information relating to such Underwriter furnished to the Company in writing by such Underwriter through the Representative expressly for use in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, any issuer free writing prospectus, road show or the Prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, it being understood and agreed that the only such information furnished by the Underwriters consists of the Underwriter Information.
(c) In case any proceeding (including any governmental investigation) shall be instituted involving any person in respect of which indemnity may be sought pursuant to Section 8(a) or 8(b), such person (the “indemnified party”) shall promptly notify the person against whom such indemnity may be sought (the “indemnifying party”) in writing and the indemnifying party, upon request of the indemnified party, shall retain counsel reasonably satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party and any others the indemnifying party may designate in such proceeding and shall pay the reasonably incurred fees and disbursements of such counsel related to such proceeding. In any such proceeding, any indemnified party shall have the right to retain its own counsel, but the fees and expenses of such counsel shall be at the expense of such indemnified party unless (i) the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall have mutually agreed in writing to the retention of such counsel or (ii) the named parties to any such proceeding (including any impleaded parties) include both the indemnifying party and the indemnified party and representation of both parties by the same counsel would be inappropriate due to actual or potential differing interests between them. It is understood that the indemnifying party shall
not, in respect of the legal expenses of any indemnified party in connection with any proceeding or related proceedings in the same jurisdiction, be liable for the reasonably incurred fees and expenses of more than one separate firm (in addition to any local counsel) for all such indemnified parties and that all such fees and expenses shall be reimbursed as they are incurred. Such firm shall be designated in writing by the Representative, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 8(a), and by the Company, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 8(b). The indemnifying party shall not be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent, but if settled with such consent or if there be a final judgment for the plaintiff, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify the indemnified party from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, if at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel as contemplated by the second and third sentences of this paragraph, the indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of any proceeding effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 30 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request and (ii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed the indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party, effect any settlement of any pending or threatened proceeding in respect of which any indemnified party is or could have been a party and indemnity could have been sought hereunder by such indemnified party, unless such settlement includes (i) an unconditional release of such indemnified party from all liability on claims that are the subject matter of such proceeding and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party.
(d) To the extent the indemnification provided for in Section 8(a) or 8(b) is unavailable to an indemnified party or insufficient in respect of any losses, claims, damages or liabilities referred to therein, then each indemnifying party under such paragraph, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party thereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand from the offering of the Securities or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause 8(d)(i) above is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause 8(d)(i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such losses, claims, damages or liabilities, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the offering of the Securities shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the net proceeds from the offering of the Securities (after deducting underwriting discounts and
commissions but before deducting expenses) received by the Company and the total underwriting discounts and commissions received by the Underwriters, in each case as set forth in the table on the cover of the Prospectus, bear to the aggregate Public Offering Price of the Shares and Public Offering Price per Warrant and the Pre-Funded Warrants. The relative fault of the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or the omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. The Underwriters’ respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 8 are several in proportion to the respective number of Securities they have purchased hereunder, and not joint.
(e) The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just or equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 8 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation that does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to in Section 8(d). The amount paid or payable by an indemnified party as a result of the losses, claims, damages and liabilities referred to in Section 8(d) shall be deemed to include, subject to the limitations set forth above, any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in connection with investigating or defending any such action or claim. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 8, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the total price at which the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public were offered to the public exceeds the amount of any damages that such Underwriter has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission. No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation. The remedies provided for in this Section 8 are not exclusive and shall not limit any rights or remedies which may otherwise be available to any indemnified party at law or in equity.
(f) The indemnity and contribution provisions contained in this Section 8 and the representations, warranties and other statements of the Company contained in this Agreement shall remain operative and in full force and effect regardless of (i) any termination of this Agreement, (ii) any investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter, any person controlling any Underwriter or any affiliate of any Underwriter or by or on behalf of the Company, its officers or directors or any person controlling the Company and (iii) acceptance of and payment for any of the Securities.
9. Termination. The Underwriters may terminate this Agreement by notice given by the Representative to the Company, if after the execution and delivery of this Agreement and prior to or on the Closing Date or any Option Closing Date, as the case may be, (i) trading generally shall have been suspended or materially limited on, or by, as the case may be, any of the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE MKT, the Nasdaq Global Select Market or other relevant exchanges, (ii) trading of any securities of the Company shall have been suspended on any exchange or in any over-the-counter market, (iii) a material disruption in securities settlement, payment or clearance services in the United States shall have occurred, (iv) any moratorium on commercial banking activities shall have been declared by Federal or New York State authorities or (v) there shall have occurred any outbreak or escalation of hostilities, or any change in financial markets or any calamity or crisis that, in the judgment of the Representative, is material and adverse and which, singly or together with any other event specified in this clause (v), makes it, in the judgment of the Representative, impracticable or inadvisable to proceed with the offer, sale or delivery of the Securities on the terms and in the manner contemplated in the Time of Sale Prospectus or the Prospectus.
10. Effectiveness; Defaulting Underwriters. This Agreement shall become effective upon the execution and delivery hereof by the parties hereto.
If, on the Closing Date or an Option Closing Date, as the case may be, any one or more of the Underwriters shall fail or refuse to purchase Securities that it has or they have agreed to purchase hereunder on such date, and the aggregate number of Securities which such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed or refused to purchase is not more than one-tenth of the aggregate number of the Securities to be purchased on such date, the other Underwriters shall be obligated severally in the proportions that the number of Firm Securities set forth opposite their respective names in Schedule I bears to the aggregate number of Firm Securities set forth opposite the names of all such non-defaulting Underwriters, or in such other proportions as the Representative may specify, to purchase the Securities which such defaulting Underwriter or Underwriters agreed but failed or refused to purchase on such date; provided that in no event shall the number of Securities that any Underwriter has agreed to purchase pursuant to this Agreement be increased pursuant to this Section 10 by an amount in excess of one-ninth of such number of Securities without the written consent of such Underwriter. If, on the Closing Date, any Underwriter or Underwriters shall fail or refuse to purchase Firm Securities and the aggregate number of Firm Securities with respect to which such default occurs is more than one-tenth of the aggregate number of Firm Securities to be purchased on such date, and arrangements satisfactory to the Representative and the Company for the purchase of such Firm Securities are not made within 36 hours after such default, this Agreement shall terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter or the Company. In any such case either the Representative or the Company shall have the right to postpone the Closing Date, but in no event for longer than seven days, in order that the required changes, if any, in the Registration Statement, in the Time of Sale Prospectus, in the Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements may be effected. If, on an Option Closing Date, any Underwriter or Underwriters shall fail or refuse to purchase Additional Shares and the aggregate number of Additional Shares with respect to which such default occurs is more than one-tenth of the aggregate number of Additional Shares to be purchased on such Option Closing Date, the non-defaulting Underwriters shall have the option to (i) terminate their obligation hereunder to purchase the Additional Shares to be sold on such Option Closing Date or (ii) purchase not less than the number of Additional Shares that such non-defaulting Underwriters would have been obligated to purchase in the absence of such default. Any action taken under this paragraph shall not relieve any defaulting Underwriter from liability in respect of any default of such Underwriter under this Agreement.
If this Agreement shall be terminated by the Underwriters, or any of them, because of any failure or refusal on the part of the Company to comply with the terms or to fulfill any of the conditions of this Agreement, or if for any reason the Company shall be unable to perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Company will reimburse the Underwriters or such Underwriters as have so terminated this Agreement with respect to themselves, severally, for all out-of-pocket expenses (including the reasonably incurred and documented fees and disbursements of their counsel) reasonably incurred by such Underwriters in connection with this Agreement or the offering contemplated hereunder provided, that if the Company shall be unable to perform its obligations under this Agreement for reason of a default by any of the Underwriters, the Company shall not be obligated to reimburse the defaulting Underwriters.
11. Entire Agreement. (a) This Agreement, together with any contemporaneous written agreements and any prior written agreements (to the extent not superseded by this Agreement) that relate to the offering of the Securities, represents the entire agreement between the Company and the Underwriters with respect to the preparation of any preliminary prospectus, the Time of Sale Prospectus, the Prospectus, the conduct of the offering, and the purchase and sale of the Securities.
(b) The Company acknowledges that in connection with the offering of the Securities: (i) the Underwriters have acted at arm’s length, are not agents of, and owe no fiduciary duties to, the Company or any other person, (ii) the Underwriters owe the Company only those duties and obligations set forth in this Agreement, any contemporaneous written agreements and prior written agreements (to the extent not superseded by this Agreement), if any, (iii) the Underwriters may have interests that differ from those of the Company, and (iv) none of the activities of the Underwriters in connection with the transactions contemplated herein constitutes a recommendation, investment advice, or solicitation of any action by the Underwriters with respect to any entity or natural person. The Company waives to the full extent permitted by applicable law any claims it may have against the Underwriters arising from an alleged breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the offering of the Securities.
12. Recognition of the U.S. Special Resolution Regimes. (a) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, the transfer from such Underwriter of this Agreement, and any interest and obligation in or under this Agreement, will be effective to the same extent as the transfer would be effective under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement, and any such interest and obligation, were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
(b) In the event that any Underwriter that is a Covered Entity or a BHC Act Affiliate of such Underwriter becomes subject to a proceeding under a U.S. Special Resolution Regime, Default Rights under this Agreement that may be exercised against such Underwriter are permitted to be exercised to no greater extent than such Default Rights could be exercised under the U.S. Special Resolution Regime if this Agreement were governed by the laws of the United States or a state of the United States.
For purposes of this Section a “BHC Act Affiliate” has the meaning assigned to the term “affiliate” in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 U.S.C. § 1841(k). “Covered Entity” means any of the following: (i) a “covered entity” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 252.82(b); (ii) a “covered bank” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 47.3(b); or (iii) a “covered FSI” as that term is defined in, and interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. § 382.2(b). “Default Right” has the meaning assigned to that term in, and shall be interpreted in accordance with, 12 C.F.R. §§ 252.81, 47.2 or 382.1, as applicable. “U.S. Special Resolution Regime” means each of (i) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder and (ii) Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
13. Counterparts. This Agreement may be signed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be an original, with the same effect as if the signatures thereto and hereto were upon the same instrument. Any signature to this Agreement may be delivered by facsimile, electronic mail (including pdf) or any electronic signature complying with the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000 or the New York Electronic Signature and Records Act or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.
14. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York.
15. Headings. The headings of the sections of this Agreement have been inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not be deemed a part of this Agreement.
16. Notices. All communications hereunder shall be in writing and effective only upon receipt and if to the Underwriters shall be delivered, mailed or sent (i) to Morgan Stanley at c/o Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, 1585 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, Attention: Equity Syndicate Desk, with a copy to the Legal Department; and if to the Company shall be delivered, mailed or sent to c/o Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated, 200 Powder Mill Road, Wilmington, Delaware 19803, Attention Chief Legal Officer.
| Very truly yours,
PRELUDE THERAPEUTICS INCORPORATED | ||
| By: | /s/ Krishna Vaddi | |
| Name: Krishna Vaddi | ||
| Title: Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Accepted as of the date hereof
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | ||
| Acting severally on behalf of themselves and the several Underwriters named in Schedule I hereto. | ||
| By: | Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | |
| By: | /s/ Chris Rigoli | |
| Name: Chris Rigoli | ||
| Title: Executive Director | ||
SCHEDULE I
| Underwriter | Number of Firm Shares To Be Purchased (Voting Common Stock) | Number of Firm Shares To Be Purchased (Non-Voting Common Stock) | Number of Pre- Funded Warrants to be Purchased | |||||||||
| Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC | 3,048,522 | 1,448,222 | 12,895,256 | |||||||||
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| Total: | 3,048,522 | 1,448,222 | 12,895,256 | |||||||||
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I-1
SCHEDULE II
Time of Sale Prospectus
| 1. | Preliminary Prospectus issued May 17, 2023 |
| 2. | Free writing prospectus filed May 18, 2023 |
II-2
EXHIBIT A
FORM OF LOCK-UP AGREEMENT
_____________, 2023
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
c/o Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC
1585 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The undersigned understands that Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC (the “Representative”) proposes to enter into an Underwriting Agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated, a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), providing for the public offering (the “Public Offering”) by the several Underwriters, including the Representative (the “Underwriters”), of shares (the “Shares”) of the voting common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company and the non-voting common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (together, the “Common Stock”).
To induce the Underwriters that may participate in the Public Offering to continue their efforts in connection with the Public Offering, the undersigned hereby agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representative, on behalf of the Underwriters, it will not, and will not publicly disclose an intention to, during the period commencing on the date hereof and ending 90 days after the date of the final prospectus (the “Restricted Period”) relating to the Public Offering (the “Prospectus”), (1) offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of Common Stock beneficially owned (as such term is used in Rule 13d-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), by the undersigned or any other securities so owned convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock or (2) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the Common Stock, whether any such transaction described in clause (1) or (2) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise. The foregoing sentence shall not apply to:
(a) transactions relating to shares of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the Public Offering or in open market transactions after the completion of the Public Offering, provided that no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period in connection with subsequent sales of Common Stock or other securities acquired in the Public Offering or such open market transactions;
(b) transfers or dispositions of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock (i) as a bona fide gift or charitable contribution, (ii) by will or intestacy or to any member of the undersigned’s immediate family or to a trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the undersigned and/or any member of the undersigned’s immediate family, (iii) to any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other business entity, all of the beneficial ownership interests of which, in each such case, are held by the undersigned or any member of the undersigned’s immediate family, (iv) if the undersigned is an entity, to limited partners, members, shareholders or holders of similar equity interests in the undersigned, or (v) if the undersigned is an entity, to another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity that is an affiliate (as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended) of the undersigned, or to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the undersigned or affiliated with the undersigned; provided that, in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to this clause (b), (A) each transferee, donee or distributee shall sign and deliver a lock-up agreement substantially in the form of this agreement and (B) no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period (other than, in the case of a transfer or other disposition pursuant to clause (i) above, a Form 4 or clause (ii) above, a Form 5 in each case required to be filed under the Exchange Act if the undersigned is subject to Section 16 reporting with respect to the Company under the Exchange Act; any such filing will indicate by footnote disclosure or otherwise the nature of the transfer or disposition); and provided further that any such transfer pursuant to this clause (b) shall not involve a transfer or distribution for value;
(c) transfers of shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock by operation of law pursuant to a qualified domestic order or other court order or in connection with a divorce settlement; provided that (i) any filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act made during the Restricted Period shall clearly indicate in the footnotes thereto that (A) the filing relates to the circumstances described in this clause (c) and (B) no securities were sold by the undersigned, and (ii) the undersigned does not otherwise voluntarily effect any other public filing or report regarding such transfers during the Restricted Period;
(d) (i) the exercise of options or other similar awards or the vesting or settlement of awards granted pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive plans as described in the Prospectus and outstanding on the date of the Underwriting Agreement (including the delivery and receipt of shares of Common Stock, other awards or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock in connection with such exercise, vesting or settlement), or (ii) the transfer or disposition of shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into shares of Common Stock by the undersigned to the Company (or the purchase and cancellation of the same by the
Company) upon a vesting or settlement event of the Company’s securities or upon the exercise of options to purchase the Company’s securities on a “cashless” or “net exercise” basis solely to the extent permitted by the instruments representing such options pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive plans as described in the Prospectus and solely to cover withholding tax obligations in connection with such transaction and any transfer to the Company for the payment of taxes as a result of such transaction, provided that (A) the shares of Common Stock received upon the exercise or settlement of the option are subject to the terms of this agreement, (B) no public disclosure or filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period and (C) to the extent a filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act is required during the Restricted Period as a result of transfers in this clause (d), it shall clearly indicate that the filing relates to the circumstances described in this clause (d);
(e) transfers to the Company pursuant to the repurchase of shares of Common Stock in connection with the termination of the undersigned’s employment with the Company or other service relationship with the Company pursuant to contractual agreements with the Company as in effect as of the date of the Prospectus, provided that no public disclosure or filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act shall be required or shall be voluntarily made during the Restricted Period;
(f) transactions in connection with the conversion of non-voting common stock to voting common stock, provided that any such shares of voting common stock received upon such conversion or reclassification shall be subject to the terms of this agreement;
(g) facilitating the establishment of a trading plan on behalf of a stockholder, officer or director of the Company pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the transfer of shares of Common Stock, provided that (i) such plan does not provide for the transfer of Common Stock during the Restricted Period and (ii) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act, if any, is required of or voluntarily made by or on behalf of the undersigned or the Company regarding the establishment of such plan, such announcement or filing shall include a statement to the effect that no transfer of Common Stock may be made under such plan during the Restricted Period; or
(h) transfers pursuant to a bona fide third-party tender offer for all outstanding shares of Common Stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock, merger, amalgamation, consolidation or other similar transaction approved by the Company’s Board of Directors and made to all holders of the Company’s securities involving a “change of control” of the Company (including, without limitation, the entering into any lock-up, voting or similar agreement pursuant to which the undersigned may agree to transfer, sell, tender or otherwise dispose of shares of Common Stock or other such securities in connection with such transaction, or vote any shares of Common Stock or other such securities in favor of any such transaction); provided that in the event that such tender offer, merger, amalgamation, consolidation or other such transaction is not completed, such securities held by the undersigned shall remain subject to the provisions of this agreement.
In addition, the undersigned agrees that, without the prior written consent of the Representative, on behalf of the Underwriters, it will not, and will not publicly disclose an intention to, during the Restricted Period, make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to, the registration of any shares of Common Stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for Common Stock. The undersigned also agrees and consents to the entry of stop transfer instructions with the Company’s transfer agent and registrar against the transfer of the undersigned’s shares of Common Stock except in compliance with the foregoing restrictions.
For purposes of this agreement, (i) “immediate family” shall mean any relationship by blood, marriage, domestic partnership or adoption, not more remote than first cousin, and (ii) “change of control” shall mean the consummation of any bona fide third party tender offer, merger, amalgamation, consolidation or other similar transaction the result of which is that any “person” (as defined in Section 13(d)(3) of the Exchange Act), or group of persons, other than the Company, becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 of the Exchange Act) of greater than 75% of total voting power of all outstanding voting securities of the Company (or the surviving entity).
The undersigned understands that the Company and the Underwriters are relying upon this agreement in proceeding toward consummation of the Public Offering. The undersigned further understands that this agreement is irrevocable and shall be binding upon the undersigned’s heirs, legal representatives, successors and assigns.
The undersigned acknowledges and agrees that the Underwriters have not provided any recommendation or investment advice nor have the Underwriters solicited any action from the undersigned with respect to the Public Offering of the Shares and the undersigned has consulted their own legal, accounting, financial, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent deemed appropriate. The undersigned further acknowledges and agrees that, although the Underwriters may provide certain Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS disclosures or other related documentation to you in connection with the Public Offering, the Underwriters are not making a recommendation to you to participate in the Public Offering or sell any Shares at the price determined in the Public Offering, and nothing set forth in such disclosures or documentation is intended to suggest that any Underwriter is making such a recommendation.
Whether or not the Public Offering actually occurs depends on a number of factors, including market conditions. Any Public Offering will only be made pursuant to an Underwriting Agreement, the terms of which are subject to negotiation between the Company and the Underwriters.
The undersigned understands that, if (i) the Representative, on the one hand, or the Company, on the other hand, informs the other in writing, prior to the execution of the Underwriting Agreement, that it has determined not to proceed with the Public Offering, (ii) the Underwriting Agreement (other than the provisions thereof which survive termination) shall terminate or be terminated prior to payment for and delivery of the securities to be sold thereunder, (iii) the registration statement related to the Public
Offering is withdrawn prior to the execution of the Underwriting Agreement or (iv) the Underwriting Agreement is not executed on or before June 30, 2023, then, in each case, this agreement shall automatically, and without any action on the part of any other party, be of no further force and effect, and the undersigned shall be automatically released from all obligations under this agreement.
This agreement and any claim, controversy or dispute arising under or related to this agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without regard to the conflict of laws principles thereof.
| Very truly yours, |
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| (Name) |
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