As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 7, 2024.
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM S-3
REGISTRATION
STATEMENT UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
BULLFROG AI HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Nevada | 84-4786155 | |
(State
or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(I.R.S.
Employer Identification Number) |
325 Ellington Blvd., Unit 317
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(240) 658-6710
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Vininder Singh
Chief Executive Officer
Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc.
325 Ellington Blvd., Unit 317
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
(240) 658-6710
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Copies to:
Arthur S. Marcus, Esq.
Sichenzia Ross Ference Carmel LLP
1185 Avenue of the Americas, 31st Floor
New York, New York 10036
(212) 930-9700
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after the effective date of this registration statement.
If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box: ☐
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plants, check the following box: ☒
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐
If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.D. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.D. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer | ☐ | Accelerated filer | ☐ |
Non-accelerated filer | ☒ | Smaller reporting company | ☒ |
Emerging growth company | ☒ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of Securities Act. ☐
The registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We may not sell these securities until the registration statement relating to these securities that has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.
(Subject to Completion, dated August 7, 2024)
PROSPECTUS
$100,000,000
Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc.
Common Stock
Preferred Stock
Warrants
Units
We may from time to time, in one or more offerings at prices and on terms that we will determine at the time of each offering, sell common stock, preferred stock, warrants, or a combination of these securities, or units, up to a total offering price of $100,000,000.
This prospectus describes the general manner in which our securities may be offered using this prospectus. Each time we offer and sell securities, we will provide you with a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. Any prospectus supplement may also add, update, or change information contained in this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement as well as the documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus before you purchase any of the securities offered hereby.
We are an “emerging growth company” under applicable Securities and Exchange Commission, rules and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements for this prospectus and future filings.
This prospectus may not be used to offer and sell securities unless accompanied by a prospectus supplement.
Our common stock and certain warrants are currently traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “BFRG” and “BFRGW,” respectively. On August 2, 2024, the last reported sales price for our common stock was $3.05 per share. The applicable prospectus supplement will contain information, where applicable, as to any other listing of the securities on Nasdaq or any other securities market or exchange covered by the prospectus supplement. Prospective purchasers of our securities are urged to obtain current information as to the market prices of our securities, where applicable.
We may offer the securities directly or through agents or to or through underwriters or dealers. If any agents or underwriters are involved in the sale of the securities their names, and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangement between or among them, will be set forth, or will be calculable from the information set forth, in an accompanying prospectus supplement. We can sell the securities through agents, underwriters or dealers only with delivery of a prospectus supplement describing the method and terms of the offering of such securities. See “Plan of Distribution.”
The aggregate market value of our outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates was approximately $15,986,179 which was calculated based on 5,241,370 shares of outstanding common stock held by non-affiliates as of August 2, 2024, and a price per share of $3.05, the closing price of our common stock on August 2, 2024. Pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3, in no event will we sell securities in a public offering with a value of more than one-third of our public float in any 12-month period, so long as our public float is less than $75,000,000. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not offered and sold any shares of our common stock pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 to Form S-3 during the prior 12 calendar month period that ends on and includes the date hereof.
Investing in our securities involves significant risks. We strongly recommend that you read carefully the risks we describe in this prospectus and in any accompanying prospectus supplement, as well as the risk factors that are incorporated by reference into this prospectus from our filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 3 of this prospectus.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
This prospectus is dated , 2024
Table of Contents
You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained or incorporated by reference into this prospectus. If any person does provide you with information that differs from what is contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus, you should not rely on it. No dealer, salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to represent anything not contained in this prospectus. You should assume that the information contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the date on the front of the document and that any information contained in any document we have incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any prospectus supplement or any sale of a security. These documents are not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities in any circumstances under which the offer or solicitation is unlawful.
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This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, using a “shelf” registration process. Under this shelf registration process, we may sell any combination of the securities described in this prospectus in one of more offerings up to a total dollar amount of proceeds of $100,000,000. This prospectus describes the general manner in which our securities may be offered by this prospectus. Each time we sell securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus or in documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus. The prospectus supplement that contains specific information about the terms of the securities being offered may also include a discussion of certain U.S. Federal income tax consequences and any risk factors or other special considerations applicable to those securities. To the extent that any statement that we make in a prospectus supplement is inconsistent with statements made in this prospectus or in documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus, you should rely on the information in the prospectus supplement.
You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus is accurate on any date subsequent to the date set forth on the front of the document or that any information we have incorporated by reference is correct on any date subsequent to the date of the document incorporated by reference, even though this prospectus, any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus is delivered, or securities are sold, on a later date. You should carefully read both this prospectus and any prospectus supplement together with the additional information described under “Where You Can Find More Information” before buying any securities in this offering.
The terms “Bullfrog”, the “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us,” in this prospectus refer to Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, unless the context suggests otherwise.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some of the statements made under “Prospectus Summary,” “Use of Proceeds,” and elsewhere in this prospectus, as well as the documents incorporated by reference herein, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “intends,” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology.
These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expected business, new product introductions, results of clinical studies, expectations regarding regulatory clearance and the timing of FDA or non-US filings or approvals including meetings with FDA or non-U.S. regulatory bodies, our ability to raise funds for general corporate purposes and operations, including our research activities and clinical trials, procedures and procedure adoption, future results of operations, future financial position, our ability to generate revenues, our financing plans and future capital requirements, anticipated costs of revenue, anticipated expenses, the effect of recent accounting pronouncements, our anticipated cash flows, our ability to finance operations from cash flows or otherwise, and statements based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about the economies and markets in which we operate and intend to operate and our beliefs and assumptions regarding these economies and markets.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We have based these forward-looking statements on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments, and other factors they believe to be appropriate.
Important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, among others, those factors referred to in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, which is incorporated by reference herein.
These statements are only current predictions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. We discuss many of these risks in the documents incorporated by reference herein. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Except as required by law, we are under no duty to update or revise any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this prospectus.
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This summary highlights certain information about us and selected information contained in the prospectus. This summary is not complete and does not contain all of the information that may be important to you. For a more complete understanding of the Company, we encourage you to read and consider the more detailed information included or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and our most recent consolidated financial statements and related notes.
Business Overview
Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Nevada in February 2020. Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. is the parent company of Bullfrog AI, Inc. and Bullfrog AI Management, LLC, which were incorporated in Delaware and Maryland, in 2017 and 2021, respectively. Operations are currently conducted through Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc., which began operations on February 6, 2020. We are a company focused specifically on advanced Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) analysis of complex data in the advancement of medicine. Our founding AI/ML platform (trade name: bfLEAP™) was created from technology originally developed at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL). Subsequently, we have developed new tools and capabilities composed of an ensemble of machine learning and artificial intelligence models.
In February 2018, Bullfrog AI Holdings secured the original exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license from JHU-APL. The license covers three (3) issued patents, one (1) new provisional patent application, non-patent rights to proprietary libraries of algorithms and other trade secrets including modifications and improvements. We entered into a license agreement in July 2022 that provides the Company with new intellectual property and also encompasses most of the intellectual property from the February 2018 license. Our objective is to utilize our AI/ML platform with a precision medicine approach toward drug development with biopharmaceutical collaborators, as well as for our own internal clinical development programs. We believe the bfLEAP™ platform is ideally suited for evaluating pre-clinical and clinical trial data generated in translational research and clinical trial settings that lead to faster, less expensive drug approvals.
Our aim is to improve the odds of success in each stage of developing medicine, ranging from early pre-clinical through late-stage clinical development. Our ultimate objective is to utilize bfLEAP™ to enable the success of ongoing clinical trials or rescue late-stage failed drugs (i.e., Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trial failures) for in-house development and divestiture; although, we also consider collaborations for earlier stage drugs.
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In July 2022, the Company entered into an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing license from JHU-APL for the additional technology. The new license provides additional intellectual property rights including patents, copyrights, and knowhow to be utilized under the Company’s bfLEAP™ analytical AI/ML platform. In consideration of the new license, the Company issued to JHU-APL 39,879 shares of common stock. In September 2020 and October 2021, the Company executed amendments to the original license which represents improvements and new advanced analytics capabilities. In consideration of the rights granted to the Company under the original License Agreement, the Company granted JHU 178,571 warrants exercisable to purchase shares of common stock at $2.10 per share. Under the terms of the new License Agreement, JHU will be entitled to eight (8%) percent of net sales for the services provided by the Company to other parties and three (3%) percent for internally developed drug projects in which the JHU license was utilized. The new license also contains tiered sub licensing fees that start at fifty (50%) percent and reduce to twenty-five (25%) percent based on revenues. In May 2023, the Company and JHU-APL entered into Amendment number 1 of the July 2022 License Agreement whereby the Company gained access to certain improvements including additional patents and knowhow in exchange for a series of payments totaling $275,000. The first of these payments for $75,000 was paid in July 2022 and the remaining payments of $75,000, $75,000 and $50,000 are due in years 2025, 2026, and 2027, respectively. The amendment also reduced the 2023 minimum annual royalty payment to $60,000, all other financial terms remain the same. As a result of this Amendment, the minimum annual payments were $30,000 for 2022 and $60,000 for 2023, and the minimum annual payments will be $300,000 for 2024 and beyond, all of which are creditable by royalties.
We intend to continue to evolve and improve bfLEAP™, either in-house or with development partners like JHU-APL. We plan to leverage our proprietary AI/ML platform developed over several years at one of the top innovation institutions in the world which has already been successfully applied in multiple sectors.
We have staffed our business using funds from our initial public offering and have entered into partnerships and relationships and recently completed our first commercial service contract with a leading rare disease non-profit organization for AI/ML analysis of late-stage clinical data. We have also acquired the rights to a series of preclinical and early clinical drug assets from universities, as well as a strategic collaboration with a world-renowned research institution to create a HSV1 viral therapeutic platform to engineer immunotherapies for a variety of diseases. We have signed exclusive worldwide License Agreements with JHU for a cancer drug that targets glioblastoma (brain cancer), pancreatic cancer, and others. We have also signed an exclusive worldwide license from George Washington University for another cancer drug that targets hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) and other liver diseases. In addition, we have signed three-year strategic data and commercialization agreements with the Lieber Institute for Brain Development (“LIBD”) whom we believe has a repository of the largest collection of postmortem brains in the world including molecular, clinical, and other data. The objective of this partnership is for the Company to analyze these rich data sets using its proprietary AI/ML tools and models and then go to market with the discoveries with the ultimate goal of securing multiple revenue generating strategic partnership deals with biopharmaceutical companies. We intend on securing the rights to other proprietary data sets and repeating this strategy. Additionally, we intend to gain access to later-stage clinical assets through partnerships or the acquisition of rights to failed therapeutic candidates for drug rescue. In certain circumstances, we intend to conduct late-stage clinical trials in an effort to rescue therapeutic assets that previously failed. In these cases, there will be a requirement for drug supply and regulatory services to conduct clinical trials. The success of our clinical development programs will require finding partners to support the clinical development, adequate availability of raw materials and/or drug product for our R&D and clinical trials, and, in some cases, may also require establishment of third-party arrangements to obtain finished drug product that is manufactured appropriately under Good Manufacturing Practices, and packaged for clinical use or sale. Since we are a company focused on using our AI technology to advance medicines, any clinical development programs will also require, in all cases, partners and the establishment of third-party relationships for execution and completion of clinical trials.
Since completing our IPO in February 2023, aided by the receipt of the IPO proceeds, as well as the proceeds from our February 2024 Offering, we have initiated several initiatives: Investor relations and marketing to promote and raise awareness of the company in the financial and business sectors, research and development, collaboration with the J Craig Venter Institute and, in the quarter ended September 30, 2023, we completed a preclinical study for our Mebendazole prodrug program. The Company is actively engaged in developing and pursuing new intellectual property as it strives to continuously evolve its AI/ML platform.
Internally, the Company has added incremental staff to accelerate execution, and the development of processes and custom scripts for use in performing new drug target discovery and analytical services for customers, while also launching initiatives targeting large public health data sources and seeking access to proprietary health data sources, such as our agreement with the Lieber Institute for Brain Development. We also transitioned our accounting and financial reporting systems and processes to enhance our internal control environment as a public company. Capital from the IPO was also used to retire two notes that were sold to fund the Company through the IPO that did not convert into common stock as well as other debts accrued over time to our staff, employees and consultants as well as obligations related to the acquisition of our licensed drug programs.
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Implications of Being an Emerging Growth Company and a Smaller Reporting Company
We qualify as an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act of 1933, as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the “JOBS Act.” As such, we take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, including (i) the exemption from the auditor attestation requirements with respect to internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), (ii) the exemptions from say-on-pay, say-on-frequency and say-on-golden parachute voting requirements and (iii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they deem important. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of the Company’s common stock, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion or (c) in which Bullfrog is deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the exemption from complying with new or revised accounting standards provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as long as it is an emerging growth company. An emerging growth company can therefore delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies, but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. The Company has elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with another public company which is neither an emerging growth company nor an emerging growth company which has opted out of using the extended transition period difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.
Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 325 Ellington Blvd, Unit 317, Gaithersburg, MD 20878. Our telephone number is (240) 658-6710. Our website address is www.bullfrogai.com. The references to our website in this prospectus are inactive textual references only. The information on our website is neither incorporated by reference into this prospectus nor intended to be used in connection with this offering. All of our operations are currently conducted through Bullfrog AI, Inc. We have included our website address in this prospectus as an inactive textual reference only and not as an active hyperlink.
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully review the risks and uncertainties described below before deciding whether to purchase any of the securities being registered pursuant to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Each of the risk factors described below could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition, as well as adversely affect the value of an investment in our securities. The occurrence of any of these risks might cause you to lose all or part of your investment. Moreover, the risks described below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Our business, affairs, prospects, assets, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected by these risks. For more information about our SEC filings, please see “Where You Can Find More Information”.
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Risks Related to Liquidity, the Company’s Business and Industry
We have a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our performance, and accordingly, our prospects must be considered in light of the risks that any new company encounters.
We were incorporated under the laws of Nevada on February 26, 2020. Accordingly, we have no significant history upon which an evaluation of our prospects and future performance can be made. Our proposed operations are subject to all of the business risks associated with a new enterprise. The likelihood of our creation of a viable business must be considered in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications, and delays frequently encountered in connection with the inception of a business, operation in a competitive industry, and the continued development of our technology and the results of our clinical data. We anticipate that our operating expenses will increase for the near future. There can be no assurances that we will ever operate profitably. You should consider the Company’s business, operations and prospects in light of the risks, expenses and challenges faced as an early-stage company.
If we are unable to attract and retain key management, scientific personnel and advisors, we may not achieve our business objectives.
Our success depends on the availability and contributions of members of our senior management team. The loss of services of any of these individuals could delay, reduce or prevent our drug development and other business objectives. Furthermore, recruiting and retaining qualified scientific personnel to perform drug development work will be critical to our success. We face intense competition for qualified individuals from numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, governmental entities and other public and private research institutions. We may be unable to attract and retain these individuals, and our failure to do so could materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
The development of our technology, products, and services is highly competitive.
We face competition with respect to any products that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future. Our competitors include major companies worldwide. Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical and human resources than we have and superior expertise in research and development and marketing approved products/services and thus may be better equipped than us to develop and commercialize products/services. These competitors also compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified personnel and acquiring technologies. Smaller or early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. Accordingly, our competitors may commercialize products more rapidly or effectively than we are able to, which would adversely affect our competitive position, the likelihood that our products/services will achieve initial market acceptance and our ability to generate meaningful additional revenues from our products.
From time to time, third parties may claim that one or more of our products or services infringe their intellectual property rights.
Any dispute or litigation regarding patents or other intellectual property could be costly and time consuming due to the uncertainty of intellectual property litigation and could divert our management and key personnel from our business operations. A claim of intellectual property infringement could force us to enter into a costly or restrictive license agreement, which might not be available under acceptable terms or at all, could require us to redesign our products, which would be costly and time-consuming, and/or could subject us to an injunction against development and sale of certain of our products or services. We may have to pay substantial damages, including damages for past infringement if it is ultimately determined that our products infringe on a third party’s proprietary rights. Even if these claims are without merit, defending a lawsuit takes significant time, may be expensive and may divert management’s attention from other business concerns. Any public announcements related to litigation or interference proceedings initiated or threatened against us could cause our business to be harmed. Our intellectual property portfolio may not be useful in asserting a counterclaim, or negotiating a license, in response to a claim of intellectual property infringement. In certain of our businesses we rely on third party intellectual property licenses and we cannot ensure that these licenses will be available to us in the future on favorable terms or at all.
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Although dependent on certain key personnel, the Company does not have any key man life insurance policies on any such people.
The Company is dependent on Vininder Singh in order to conduct its operations and execute its business plan and the loss of Vininder Singh or any member of the board of directors or executive officer could harm the Company’s business, financial condition, cash flow and results of operations; however, the Company has not purchased any insurance policies with respect to those individuals in the event of their death or disability. Therefore, if Vininder Singh or any member of the board of directors or an executive officer dies or become disabled, the Company will not receive any compensation to assist with such person’s absence. The loss of such person could negatively affect the Company and its operations.
New product development involves a lengthy, expensive and complex process.
We may be unable to develop or commercialize any product candidates. Moreover, even if we develop such candidates, they may be subject to significant regulatory review, approval and other government regulations. There can be no assurance that our technologies will be capable of developing and commercializing products at all. New product development involves a lengthy, expensive and complex process and we currently have no fully validated diagnostic candidates. In addition, before we can commercialize any new product candidates, we will need to:
● | conduct substantial research and development; | |
● | conduct validation studies; | |
● | expend significant funds; | |
● | develop and scale-up our laboratory processes; and | |
● | obtain regulatory approval and acceptance of our product candidates. |
This process involves a high degree of risk and takes several years. Our product development efforts may fail for many reasons, including:
● | failure of the product at the research or development stage; and | |
● | lack of clinical validation data to support the effectiveness of the product. |
Few research and development projects result in commercial products, and perceived viability in early clinical trials often is not replicated in later studies. At any point, we may abandon development of a product candidate or we may be required to expend considerable resources repeating clinical trials, which would adversely impact the timing for generating potential revenues from those product candidates. In addition, as we develop product candidates, we will have to make significant investments in product development, marketing and sales resources.
We may not be able to conduct clinical trials necessary to increase the value of our proposed products and formulations.
In order to conduct clinical trials that are necessary to obtain approval of a product by the FDA, it is necessary to receive clearance from the FDA to conduct such clinical trials. The FDA can halt clinical trials at any time for safety reasons or because we or our clinical investigators do not follow the FDA’s requirements for conducting clinical trials. If we are unable to receive clearance to conduct clinical trials or the trials are halted by the FDA, the likelihood of our ability to sell or license our products would be greatly reduced as it is the FDA approval which will enhance the value of our products.
Our ability to resell and/or license our products will depend upon successful clinical trials.
Only a small number of research and development programs result in the development of a product that obtains FDA approval. Success in preclinical work or early stage clinical trials does not ensure that later stage or larger scale clinical trials will be successful. Conducting clinical trials is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process. Our ability to complete our clinical trials in a timely fashion depends in large part on a number of key factors including protocol design, regulatory and institutional review board approval, the rate of patient enrollment in clinical trials, and compliance with extensive current Good Clinical Practices. If we fail to adequately manage the design, execution and regulatory aspects of our clinical trials, our studies and ultimately our regulatory approvals may be delayed, or we may fail to gain approval for our product candidates. Clinical trials may indicate that our product candidates have harmful side effects or raise other safety concerns that may significantly reduce the likelihood of regulatory approval, result in significant restrictions on use and safety warnings in any approved label, adversely affect placement within the treatment paradigm, or otherwise significantly diminish the commercial potential of the product candidate. Also, positive results in a registrational trial may not be replicated in any subsequent confirmatory trials. Even if later stage clinical trials are successful, regulatory authorities may disagree with our view of the data or require additional studies, and may fail to approve or delay approval of our product candidates or may grant marketing approval that is more restricted than anticipated, including indications for a narrower patient population than expected and the imposition of safety monitoring or educational requirements or risk evaluation and mitigation strategies. In addition, if another Company is the first to file for marketing approval of a competing drug candidate, that Company may ultimately receive marketing exclusivity for its drug candidate, thereby reducing the value of our product.
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We face significant competition from other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
While we believe that our technology, development experience and scientific knowledge provide competitive advantages, we face potential competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies, academic institutions and governmental agencies, and public and private research institutions. Many of our existing or potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than we do and significantly greater experience in the development of drug candidates as well as in obtaining regulatory approvals of those drug candidates in the United States and in foreign countries.
Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries could result in even more resources being concentrated among a small number of our competitors. Competition may increase further as a result of advances in the commercial applicability of technologies and greater availability of capital for investment in these industries. Our competitors may succeed in developing, acquiring or licensing, on an exclusive basis, drug candidates that are more effective or less costly than any drug candidate that we may develop.
Our ability to compete successfully will depend largely on our ability to:
● | identify drugs that have suffered set backs in the clinical development and regulatory process which we believe can be assisted by our platform’s ability to design a better study group; |
● | attract qualified scientific, product development and commercial personnel; |
● | obtain patent or other proprietary protection for our drugs and technologies; |
● | obtain required regulatory approvals; successfully collaborate with pharmaceutical companies in the discovery, development and commercialization of new drugs; and |
● | negotiate competitive pricing and reimbursement with third party payors |
The availability of our competitors’ technologies could limit the demand, and the price we are able to charge for our services and for any drug candidate we develop. The inability to compete with existing or subsequently introduced drug development technologies would have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects.
Established pharmaceutical companies and research institutions may invest heavily to accelerate discovery and development of novel compounds or to in license novel compounds that could make bfLEAP™ less competitive, which would have a material adverse impact on our business.
We may not be able to acquire the rights to any failed drugs or we may not be able to rescue failed drugs through analysis due to our technology or the lack of clinical data.
Our business model is based on the use of AI/ML technology, which technology may not uncover actionable insights or we may not be able to access sufficient clinical data to uncover such insights that lead to a successful project, clinical trial, or product. The failure of such projects, clinical trials or products would result in a loss of revenue from one of our three sources, which could have a material adverse impact on our business as a whole.
We may not succeed in acquiring the rights to failed drugs, which could limit one of our main sources of revenue.
Our business model is partly based on our ability to acquire drugs that have failed to pass Phase 2 or Phase 3 of the FDA approval process; however, there is no guarantee that we will be able to acquire the rights to such drugs, which would significantly impact our ability to generate revenue and as a result would have a material adverse impact on our business.
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We intend to invest in early stage experimental technologies which have a high risk of failure.
To continue supporting our business model, we intend to invest in early stage and experimental technologies, some or all of which may not be useful to us. There is a risk that we will invest in technology that will not ultimately contribute to the success of our projects, which could have a material adverse impact on our business.
We are dependent on our collaborative agreements for the development of products and business development, which exposes us to the risk of reliance on the viability of third parties.
In conducting our research and development activities, we currently rely, and will in the future rely, on collaborative agreements with third parties such as manufacturers, contract research organizations, commercial partners, universities, governmental agencies and not-for-profit organizations for both strategic and financial resources. The loss of, or failure to perform by us or our partners under, any applicable agreements or arrangements, or our failure to secure additional agreements for other products in development, would substantially disrupt or delay our research and development and commercialization activities. Any such loss would likely increase our expenses and materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operation.
We extensively outsource our clinical trial activities and usually perform only a small portion of the start-up activities in-house.
We rely on independent third-party contract research organizations (CROs) to perform most of our clinical studies, including document preparation, site identification, screening and preparation, pre-study visits, training, program management and bioanalytical analysis. Many important aspects of the services performed for us by the CROs are out of our direct control. If there is any dispute or disruption in our relationship with our CROs, our clinical trials may be delayed. Moreover, in our regulatory submissions, we rely on the quality and validity of the clinical work performed by third-party CROs. If any of our CROs’ processes, methodologies or results were determined to be invalid or inadequate, our own clinical data and results and related regulatory approvals could be adversely impacted.
We are a biotechnology company with no significant revenue. We have incurred operating losses since our inception, and we expect to incur losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve profitability.
We have incurred significant operating losses since our inception. To date, we have not generated any revenue and we may not generate any revenue from sales of our clinical analytics services or drug candidates for the foreseeable future. We expect to continue to incur significant operating losses and we anticipate that our losses may increase substantially as we expand our drug development programs.
To achieve profitability, we must successfully develop and obtain regulatory approval for one or more of drugs and effectively commercialize any drugs we develop. Even if we succeed in developing and commercializing one or more drug candidates, we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue and we may never be able to achieve or sustain profitability.
We will continue to require additional capital for the foreseeable future. If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed, we may be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our drug acquisition efforts.
We expect to continue to incur significant operating expenses in connection with our ongoing activities, including conducting clinical trials and seeking regulatory approval of drug candidates. Our ongoing future capital requirements will depend on numerous factors, including:
● | the rate of progress, results and costs of completion of clinical trials of drug candidates; | |
● | the size, scope, rate of progress, results and costs of completion of any potential future clinical trials and preclinical tests of our drug candidates that we may initiate; | |
● | the costs of obtaining regulatory approval of drug candidates; | |
● | the scope, prioritization and number of drug development programs we pursue; | |
● | the costs for preparing, filing, prosecuting, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims; | |
● | the extent to which we acquire or in-license other products and technologies and the costs to be able to obtain regulatory approval of such products; | |
● | our ability to establish strategic collaborations and licensing or other arrangements on terms favorable to us; and | |
● | competing technological and market developments. |
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Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day to day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to identify and acquire new drug candidates and to further the regulatory process of such products. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend, in part, on the success of our product development activities and other factors related to financial, economic and market conditions, many of which are beyond our control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to raise additional capital when needed or on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. If adequate funds are not available on a timely basis, we may be forced to:
● | delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our drug development programs; | |
● | limit the amount of new products that we acquire or relinquish, license or otherwise dispose of rights on terms that are less favorable than if we were able to further the regulatory approval process; or | |
● | liquidate and dissolve the Company. |
If our operating plans change, we may require additional capital sooner than planned. Such additional financing may not be available when needed or on terms favorable to us. In addition, we may seek additional capital due to favorable market conditions or strategic considerations, even if we believe we have sufficient funds for our current and future operating plan.
We are increasingly dependent on information technology systems to operate our business and a cyber-attack or other breach of our systems, or those of third parties on whom we may rely, could subject us to liability or interrupt the operation of our business.
We are increasingly dependent on information technology systems to operate our business. A breakdown, invasion, corruption, destruction or interruption of critical information technology systems by employees, others with authorized access to our systems or unauthorized persons could negatively impact operations. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, store and transmit confidential information and it is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such information. Additionally, we outsource certain elements of our information technology systems to third parties. As a result of this outsourcing, our third party vendors may or could have access to our confidential information making such systems vulnerable. Data breaches of our information technology systems, or those of our third party vendors, may pose a risk that sensitive data may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. For example, the loss of clinical trial data from completed or ongoing clinical trials or preclinical studies could result in delays in our regulatory approval efforts and significantly increase our costs to recover or reproduce the data. While we believe that we have taken appropriate security measures to protect our data and information technology systems, and have been informed by our third party vendors that they have as well, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent breakdowns or breaches in our systems, or those of our third party vendors, that could materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We must complete extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates. If we are unable to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates, we will not be successful.
The success of our business depends primarily on our ability to further the regulatory approval process to increase the value of our drug candidates. Drug candidates must satisfy rigorous standards of safety and efficacy before they can be approved for sale which greatly enhances their value. To satisfy these standards, we must engage in expensive and lengthy testing of drug candidates.
We may not be able to obtain authority from the FDA or other equivalent foreign regulatory agencies to move on to further efficacy segments of the Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trials or commence and complete any clinical trials for any of our drug candidates. Positive results in preclinical studies of a drug candidate may not be predictive of similar results in human clinical trials, and promising results from early clinical trials of a drug candidate may not be replicated in later clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in early-stage development. Accordingly, the results from the preclinical tests or clinical trials for our drug candidates may not be predictive of the results we may obtain in later stage trials. The failure of clinical trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy of one or more of our drug candidates will have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
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Delays in the commencement of clinical trials of our drug candidates could result in increased costs to us and delay our ability to successfully license or sell such products.
Our drug candidates will require continued extensive clinical trials to increase the value and desirability of the products. Because of the nature of clinical trials, we do not know whether future planned clinical trials will begin on time, if at all. Delays in the commencement of clinical trials could significantly increase our drug development costs and delay our ability to successfully sell or license our drug candidates. In addition, many of the factors that may cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to denial of regulatory approval of a drug candidate. The commencement of clinical trials can be delayed for a variety of reasons, including delays in:
● | demonstrating sufficient safety and efficacy in past clinical trials to obtain regulatory approval to commence a further clinical trial; | |
● | convincing the FDA that we have selected valid endpoints for use in proposed clinical trials; and | |
● | obtaining institutional review board approval to conduct a clinical trial at a prospective site. |
In addition, the commencement of clinical trials may be delayed due to insufficient patient enrollment, which is a function of many factors, including the size of the patient population, the nature of the protocol, the proximity of patients to clinical sites, the availability of effective treatments for the relevant disease and the eligibility criteria for the clinical trial.
If we are unable to obtain U.S. and/or foreign regulatory approval, we will be unable to resell or license our drug candidates.
Our drug candidates will be subject to extensive governmental regulations relating to, among other things, research, testing, development, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, record keeping, labelling, marketing and distribution of drugs. Rigorous preclinical testing and clinical trials and an extensive regulatory approval process are required in the U.S. and in many foreign jurisdictions prior to the commercial sale of drug candidates. Satisfaction of these and other regulatory requirements is costly, time consuming, uncertain and subject to unanticipated delays. It is possible that no drug candidate that we present to the FDA will obtain marketing approval which will significantly diminish the value and desirability of our product candidates. In connection with the clinical trials for our drug candidates, we face risks that:
● | the drug candidate may not prove to be efficacious; | |
● | the drug candidate may not prove to be safe; | |
● | the drug candidate may not be readily co-administered or combined with other drugs or drug candidates; | |
● | the results may not confirm the positive results from earlier preclinical studies or clinical trials; | |
● | the results may not meet the level of statistical significance required by the FDA or other regulatory agencies; and | |
● | the FDA or other regulatory agencies may require us to carry out additional studies. |
We have limited experience in conducting and managing later stage clinical trials necessary to obtain regulatory approvals, including approval by the FDA. However, this risk would be mitigated in the event the Company is successful entering into a co-development agreement with a pharma partner for late stage clinical development. The time required to complete clinical trials and for the FDA and other countries’ regulatory review processes is uncertain and typically takes many years. Our analysis of data obtained from preclinical and clinical trials is subject to confirmation and interpretation by regulatory authorities, which could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. We may also encounter unanticipated delays or increased costs due to government regulation from future legislation or administrative action or changes in FDA policy during the period of product development, clinical trials, and FDA regulatory review.
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We will rely on third parties for manufacturing of our clinical drug supplies; our dependence on these manufacturers may impair the development of our drug candidates.
We have no ability to internally manufacture the drug candidates that we need to conduct our clinical trials for the products that we acquire. For the foreseeable future, we expect to continue to rely on third-party manufacturers and other third parties to produce, package and store sufficient quantities of our drug candidates and any future drug candidates for use in our clinical trials. We may face various risks and uncertainties in connection with our reliance on third-party manufacturers, including:
● | reliance on third-party manufactures for regulatory compliance and quality assurance; | |
● | the possibility of breach of the manufacturing agreement by the third-party manufacturer because of factors beyond our control; | |
● | the possibility of termination or nonrenewal of our manufacturing agreement by the third-party manufacturer at a time that is costly or inconvenient for us; | |
● | the potential that third-party manufacturers will develop know-how owned by such third-party manufacturers in connection with the production of our drug candidates that is necessary for the manufacture of our drug candidates; and | |
● | reliance on third-party manufacturers to assist us in preventing inadvertent disclosure or theft of our proprietary knowledge. |
Our drug candidates may be complicated and expensive to manufacture. If our third-party manufacturers fail to deliver our drug candidates for clinical use on a timely basis, with sufficient quality, and at commercially reasonable prices, we may be required to delay or suspend clinical trials or otherwise discontinue development of our drug candidates. While we may be able to identify replacement third-party manufacturers or develop our own manufacturing capabilities for these drug candidates, this process would likely cause a delay in the availability of our drug candidates and an increase in costs. In addition, third-party manufacturers may have a limited number of facilities in which our drug candidates can be manufactured, and any interruption of the operation of those facilities due to events such as equipment malfunction or failure or damage to the facility by natural disasters could result in the cancellation of shipments, loss of product in the manufacturing process or a shortfall in available drug candidates.
We may rely on technology solution partners for the development and deployment of our AI technology
Our partners may experience technical, financial, operational, or security issues that reduce or eliminate their ability to support the Company. This could prevent the Company from generating revenue and eliminate our ability to operate.
In addition to the risks listed above, businesses are often subject to risks not foreseen or fully appreciated by the management. It is not possible to foresee all risks that may affect us. Moreover, the Company cannot predict whether the Company will successfully effectuate the Company’s current business plan. Each prospective Purchaser is encouraged to carefully analyze the risks and merits of an investment in the Securities and should take into consideration when making such analysis, among other, the Risk Factors discussed above.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property Rights
We rely on various intellectual property rights, including patents and licenses in order to operate our business.
Our intellectual property rights, may not be sufficiently broad or otherwise may not provide us a significant competitive advantage. In addition, the steps that we have taken to maintain and protect our intellectual property may not prevent it from being challenged, invalidated, circumvented or designed-around, particularly in countries where intellectual property rights are not highly developed or protected. In some circumstances, enforcement may not be available to us because an infringer has a dominant intellectual property position or for other business reasons, or countries may require compulsory licensing of our intellectual property. Our failure to obtain or maintain intellectual property rights that convey competitive advantage, adequately protect our intellectual property or detect or prevent circumvention or unauthorized use of such property, could adversely impact our competitive position and results of operations. We also rely on nondisclosure and noncompetition agreements with employees, consultants and other parties to protect, in part, trade secrets and other proprietary rights. There can be no assurance that these agreements will adequately protect our trade secrets and other proprietary rights and will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, that others will not independently develop substantially equivalent proprietary information or that third parties will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or other proprietary rights.
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As we expand our business, protecting our intellectual property will become increasingly important. The protective steps we have taken may be inadequate to deter our competitors from using our proprietary information. In order to protect or enforce our patent rights, we may be required to initiate litigation against third parties, such as infringement lawsuits. Also, these third parties may assert claims against us with or without provocation. These lawsuits could be expensive, take significant time and could divert management’s attention from other business concerns. The law relating to the scope and validity of claims in the technology field in which we operate is still evolving and, consequently, intellectual property positions in our industry are generally uncertain. We cannot assure you that we will prevail in any of these potential suits or that the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, would be commercially valuable.
The Company could be negatively impacted if found to have infringed on intellectual property rights.
Technology companies, including many of the Company’s competitors, frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of patent infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. In addition, patent holding companies seek to monetize patents they have purchased or otherwise obtained. As the Company grows, the intellectual property rights claims against it will likely increase. The Company intends to vigorously defend infringement actions in court and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. The plaintiffs in these actions frequently seek injunctions and substantial damages. Regardless of the scope or validity of such patents or other intellectual property rights, or the merits of any claims by potential or actual litigants, the Company may have to engage in protracted litigation. If the Company is found to infringe one or more patents or other intellectual property rights, regardless of whether it can develop non-infringing technology, it may be required to pay substantial damages or royalties to a third-party, or it may be subject to a temporary or permanent injunction prohibiting the Company from marketing or selling certain products. In certain cases, the Company may consider the desirability of entering into licensing agreements, although no assurance can be given that such licenses can be obtained on acceptable terms or that litigation will not occur. These licenses may also significantly increase the Company’s operating expenses. Regardless of the merit of particular claims, litigation may be expensive, time-consuming, disruptive to the Company’s operations and distracting to management. In recognition of these considerations, the Company may enter into arrangements to settle litigation. If one or more legal matters were resolved against the Company’s consolidated financial statements for that reporting period could be materially adversely affected. Further, such an outcome could result in significant compensatory, punitive or trebled monetary damages, disgorgement of revenue or profits, remedial corporate measures or injunctive relief against the Company that could adversely affect its financial condition and results of operations.
We rely heavily on our technology and intellectual property, but we may be unable to adequately or cost-effectively protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, thereby weakening our competitive position and increasing operating costs.
To protect our rights in our services and technology, we rely on a combination of copyright and trademark laws, patents, trade secrets, confidentiality agreements and protective contractual provisions. We also rely on laws pertaining to trademarks and domain names to protect the value of our corporate brands and reputation. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may copy aspects of our services or technology, obtain and use information, marks, or technology that we regard as proprietary, or otherwise violate or infringe our intellectual property rights. In addition, it is possible that others could independently develop substantially equivalent intellectual property. If we do not effectively protect our intellectual property, or if others independently develop substantially equivalent intellectual property, our competitive position could be weakened.
Effectively policing the unauthorized use of our services and technology is time-consuming and costly, and the steps taken by us may not prevent misappropriation of our technology or other proprietary assets. The efforts we have taken to protect our proprietary rights may not be sufficient or effective, and unauthorized parties may copy aspects of our services, use similar marks or domain names, or obtain and use information, marks, or technology that we regard as proprietary. We may have to litigate to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of others’ proprietary rights, which are sometimes not clear or may change. Litigation can be time consuming and expensive, and the outcome can be difficult to predict.
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We rely on agreements with third parties to provide certain services, goods, technology, and intellectual property rights necessary to enable us to implement some of our applications.
Our ability to implement and provide our applications and services to our clients depends, in part, on services, goods, technology, and intellectual property rights owned or controlled by third parties. These third parties may become unable to or refuse to continue to provide these services, goods, technology, or intellectual property rights on commercially reasonable terms consistent with our business practices, or otherwise discontinue a service important for us to continue to operate our applications. If we fail to replace these services, goods, technologies, or intellectual property rights in a timely manner or on commercially reasonable terms, our operating results and financial condition could be harmed. In addition, we exercise limited control over our third-party vendors, which increases our vulnerability to problems with technology and services those vendors provide. If the services, technology, or intellectual property of third parties were to fail to perform as expected, it could subject us to potential liability, adversely affect our renewal rates, and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
If any third-party owners of intellectual property we may license in the future do not properly maintain or enforce the patents underlying such licenses, our competitive position and business prospects will be harmed.
We may enter into licenses for third-party intellectual property in the future. Our success will depend in part on the ability of our licensors to obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for their intellectual property, in particular, those patents to which we have secured exclusive rights.
If applicable, our licensors may not successfully prosecute the patent applications to which we are licensed. Even if patents issue in respect of any such patent applications, our licensors may fail to maintain these patents, may determine not to pursue litigation against other companies that are infringing these patents, or may pursue such litigation less aggressively than we would. In addition, our licensors may terminate their agreements with us in the event we breach the applicable license agreement and fail to cure the breach within a specified period of time. Without protection for the intellectual property we license, other companies might be able to offer substantially identical products for sale, which could materially adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition.
Because our research and development of drug candidates often incorporates compounds and other information that is the intellectual property of third parties, we depend on continued access to such intellectual property to conduct and complete our preclinical and clinical research and commercialize the drug candidates that result from this research. We expect that future licenses would impose, numerous obligations on us. For example, under our existing and future license agreements, we may be required to pay (i) annual maintenance fees until a drug candidate is sold for the first time, (ii) running royalties on net sales of drug candidates, (iii) minimum annual royalties after a drug candidate is sold for the first time, and (iv) one-time payments upon the achievement of specified milestones. We may also be required to reimburse patent costs incurred by the licensor, or we may be obligated to pay additional royalties, at specified rates, based on net sales of our drug candidates that incorporate the licensed intellectual property rights. We may also be obligated under some of these agreements to pay a percentage of any future sublicensing revenues that we may receive. Future license agreements may also include payment obligations such as milestone payments or minimum expenditures for research and development. We expect that any future licenses would contain reporting, insurance and indemnification requirements. We are actively reviewing and preparing additional patent applications to expand our patent portfolio, but there can be no assurances that patents related to our existing patent applications or any applications we may file in the future will be issued or that any issued patents will provide meaningful protection for our drug candidates, which could materially adversely affect our competitive business position, business prospects and financial condition.
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Confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information and may not adequately protect our intellectual property.
We rely on trade secrets to protect our technology, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. In order to protect our proprietary technology and processes, we also rely in part on confidentiality and intellectual property assignment agreements with our corporate partners, employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators and sponsored researchers and other advisors. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information nor result in the effective assignment to us of intellectual property, and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information or other breaches of the agreements. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such case we could not assert any trade secret rights against such party. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally obtained and is using our trade secrets is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the U.S. may be less willing to protect trade secrets. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to seek to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could materially adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities and this Offering
Because Vininder Singh, our Chief Executive Officer and director, controls a significant number of shares of our voting capital stock, he has effective control over actions requiring stockholder approval.
Mr. Vininder Singh, our Chief Executive Officer and a director, beneficially owns approximately 32% of the Company’s common stock. As a result, Mr. Singh possesses significant influence on the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. Accordingly, any investors who purchase shares will be minority stockholders and as such will have little to no say in the direction of us and the election of directors. Additionally, this concentration of ownership might harm the market price of our common stock by:
● | delaying, deferring or preventing a change in corporate control; | |
● | impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or | |
● | discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us. |
The price of our common stock may fluctuate substantially.
You should consider an investment in our common stock to be risky, and you should invest in our common stock only if you can withstand a significant loss and wide fluctuations in the market value of your investment. Some factors that may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate, in addition to the other risks mentioned in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this prospectus, are:
● | sales of our common stock by our stockholders, executives, and directors; |
● | volatility and limitations in trading volumes of our shares of common stock; |
● | our ability to obtain financing to conduct and complete research and development activities; |
● | our ability to attract new customers; |
● | changes in the development status of the drugs we acquire; |
● | failures to meet external expectations or management guidance; |
● | changes in our capital structure or dividend policy or future issuances of securities; |
● | our cash position; |
● | announcements and events surrounding financing efforts, including debt and equity securities; |
● | reputational issues; |
● | announcements of acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations, joint ventures, new products, capital commitments, or other events by us or our competitors; |
● | changes in general economic, political and market conditions in or any of the regions in which we conduct our business; |
● | changes in industry conditions or perceptions; |
● | changes in valuations of similar companies or groups of companies; |
● | analyst research reports, recommendation and changes in recommendations, price targets, and withdrawals of coverage; |
● | departures and additions of key personnel; |
● | disputes and litigations related to intellectual property rights, proprietary rights, and contractual obligations; |
● | changes in applicable laws, rules, regulations, or accounting practices and other dynamics; and |
● | other events or factors, many of which may be out of our control. |
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In addition, if the market for stocks in our industry or industries related to our industry, or the stock market in general, experiences a loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition and results of operations. If any of the foregoing occurs, it could cause our stock price to fall and may expose us to lawsuits that, even if unsuccessful, could be costly to defend and a distraction to management.
We have never paid dividends on our capital stock and we do not anticipate paying any dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, any gains from an investment in our common stock will likely depend on whether the price of our common stock increases.
We have not paid dividends on any of our classes of capital stock to date and we currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, the terms of any future indebtedness we may incur could preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain from an investment in our common stock for the foreseeable future. Consequently, in the foreseeable future, you will likely only experience a gain from your investment in our common stock if the price of our common stock increases.
If equity research analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they issue unfavorable commentary or downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could decline.
The trading market for our common stock may be affected by the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. We do not control these analysts. The price of our common stock could decline if one or more equity analysts downgrade our common stock or if analysts issue other unfavorable commentary or cease publishing reports about us or our business.
Provisions of our charter documents or Nevada law could delay or prevent an acquisition of our company, even if the acquisition would be beneficial to our stockholders, and could make it more difficult to change management.
Provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders might otherwise consider favorable, including transactions in which stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempt by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult to replace or remove our board of directors. These provisions include:
● | limitations on our stockholders’ ability to call special meetings of stockholders; | |
● | an advance notice requirement for stockholder proposals and nominations for members of our Board; | |
● | the authority of our Board to determine the number of director seats on our Board; | |
● | the authority of our Board to fill vacancies occurring on the Board; | |
● | the authority of our Board to issue preferred stock with such terms as our Board may determine. |
Our articles of incorporation grants our Board of Directors the power to designate and issue additional shares of common and/or preferred stock.
Our authorized capital consists of 100,000,000 shares of common stock and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Our preferred stock may be designated into series pursuant to authority granted by our articles of incorporation, and on approval from our Board of Directors. The Board of Directors, without any action by our stockholders, may designate and issue shares in such classes or series as the Board of Directors deems appropriate and establish the rights, preferences and privileges of such shares, including dividends, liquidation and voting rights. The rights of holders of other classes or series of stock that may be issued could be superior to the rights of holders of our common stock. The designation and issuance of shares of capital stock having preferential rights could adversely affect other rights appurtenant to shares of our common stock.
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We will indemnify and hold harmless our officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by Nevada law.
Our bylaws provide that we will indemnify and hold harmless our officers and directors against claims arising from our activities, to the fullest extent not prohibited by Nevada law. If we were called upon to perform under our indemnification agreement, then the portion of our assets expended for such purpose would reduce the amount otherwise available for our business.
We are an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act of 2012 and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are not applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We are choosing to take advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards.
We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common stock pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act, although we will lose that status sooner if our revenues exceed $1.07 billion, if we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three year period, or if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter.
Investors may be unable to compare our business with other companies in our industry if they believe that our financial accounting is not as transparent as other companies in our industry. If we are unable to raise additional capital as and when we need it, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Our common stock may be delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market if we cannot maintain compliance with Nasdaq Capital Market’s continued listing requirements.
Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. There are a number of continued listing requirements that we must satisfy in order to maintain our listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
We cannot assure you our securities will meet the continued listing requirements to be listed on Nasdaq Capital Market in the future. If the Nasdaq Capital Market delists our common stock from trading on its exchange, we could face significant material adverse consequences including:
● | a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; | |
● | a determination that our common stock is a “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in our common stock to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly resulting in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our common stock; | |
● | a limited amount of news and analyst coverage for our company; and | |
● | a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future. |
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If we fail to maintain compliance with all applicable continued listing requirements for the Nasdaq Capital Market and Nasdaq Capital Market determines to delist our common stock, the delisting could adversely affect the market liquidity of our common stock, our ability to obtain financing to repay debt and fund our operations.
FINRA sales practice requirements may also limit a stockholder’s ability to buy and sell our stock.
In addition to the “penny stock” rules described above, FINRA has adopted Rule 2111 that requires a broker-dealer to have reasonable grounds for believing that an investment is suitable for a customer before recommending the investment. Before recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. The FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and sell shares of common stock and may have an adverse effect on the market for our securities.
We will continue to incur significant costs to ensure compliance with United States corporate governance and accounting requirements.
We will continue to incur significant costs associated with our public company reporting requirements, including costs associated with applicable corporate governance requirements such as those required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and with other rules issued or implemented by the SEC. We expect all of these applicable rules and regulations will result in significant legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time consuming and costly. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs.
If we fail to successfully maintain an effective internal control over financial reporting, the integrity of our financial reporting could be compromised, which could result in a material adverse effect on our reported financial results.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, stockholders could lose confidence in our financial and other public reporting, which would harm our business and the trading price of our common stock. Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and, together with adequate disclosure controls and procedures, are designed to prevent fraud. Any failure to implement the required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock.
Unless otherwise indicated in a prospectus supplement, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities under this prospectus for general corporate purposes, including to support research and development, including clinical trials, and general corporate purposes.
General
The following description of our capital stock, together with any additional information we include in any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus, summarizes the material terms and provisions of our common stock and the preferred stock that we may offer under this prospectus. While the terms we have summarized below will apply generally to any future common stock or preferred stock that we may offer, we will describe the particular terms of any class or series of these securities in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement. For the complete terms of our common stock and preferred stock, please refer to our articles of incorporation and our bylaws that are incorporated by reference into the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. The summary below and that contained in any applicable prospectus supplement or any related free writing prospectus are qualified in their entirety by reference to our articles of incorporation and our bylaws.
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Common Stock
We are authorized to issue 100,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.00001 par value per share. As of the date of this prospectus, there are 7,850,550 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. The outstanding shares of common stock are validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.
Voting rights
Each share of common stock entitles the holder to one vote, either in person or by proxy, at meetings of stockholders. The holders are not permitted to vote their shares cumulatively.
Dividend rights
Holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared by the Board of Directors out of funds legally available.
Rights upon liquidation
Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of our common stock will be entitled to share ratably in the net assets legally available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all of our debts and other liabilities.
Other rights
Holders of our common stock do not have any pre-emptive rights or other subscription rights, conversion rights, redemption or sinking fund provisions.
Preferred Stock
We are authorized to issue up to 5,500,000 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.00001 per share, from time to time in one or more series. As of the date of this prospectus, there were 73,449 shares of our Series A Preferred Stock issued and outstanding.
Conversion rights
Each holder of Series A Preferred Stock may, from time to time, convert any or all of such holder’s shares of Series A Preferred Stock into fully paid and nonassessable shares of common stock in an amount equal to ten shares of common stock for each one share of Series A Preferred Stock surrendered.
A holder of shares of Series A Preferred Stock is not entitled to convert shares of Series A Preferred Stock if upon such conversion the number of shares of common stock to be received, together with the number of shares of common stock beneficially owned by the holder and its affiliates on the conversion date, would result in beneficial ownership by the bolder and its affiliates of more than 4.99% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company on such conversion date
Voting rights
Each holder of Series A Preferred Stock has no voting rights.
Rights upon liquidation
Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of our Series A Preferred Stock shall not be entitled to any liquidation preference and are to receive any liquidation as if they were converted to common stock.
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Issuance of Preferred Stock
A prospectus supplement relating to the issuance of preferred stock being offered will include specific terms relating to the offering. Such prospectus supplement will include:
● | the title and stated or par value of the preferred stock; |
● | the number of shares of the preferred stock offered, the liquidation preference per share and the offering price of the preferred stock; |
● | the dividend rate(s), period(s) and/or payment date(s) or method(s) of calculation thereof applicable to the preferred stock; |
● | whether dividends shall be cumulative or non-cumulative and, if cumulative, the date from which dividends on the preferred stock shall accumulate; |
● | the provisions for a sinking fund, if any, for the preferred stock; |
● | any voting rights of the preferred stock; |
● | the provisions for redemption, if applicable, of the preferred stock; |
● | any listing of the preferred stock on any securities exchange; |
● | the terms and conditions, if applicable, upon which the preferred stock will be convertible into our common stock, including the conversion price or the manner of calculating the conversion price and conversion period; |
● | if appropriate, a discussion of Federal income tax consequences applicable to the preferred stock; and |
● | any other specific terms, preferences, rights, limitations or restrictions of the preferred stock. |
The terms, if any, on which the preferred stock may be convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock will also be stated in the preferred stock prospectus supplement. The terms will include provisions as to whether conversion or exchange is mandatory, at the option of the holder or at our option, and may include provisions pursuant to which the number of shares of our common stock to be received by the holders of preferred stock would be subject to adjustment.
Transfer Agent and Registrar
The transfer agent for our common stock is VStock Transfer, LLC. The transfer agent’s address is 18 Lafayette Place, Woodmere, New York 11598.
Listing
Our common stock is currently traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “BFRG”.
We may issue warrants for the purchase of preferred stock or common stock. Warrants may be issued independently or together with any preferred stock or common stock, and may be attached to or separate from any offered securities. Each series of warrants will be issued under a separate warrant agreement to be entered into between a warrant agent specified in the agreement and us. The warrant agent will act solely as our agent in connection with the warrants of that series and will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders or beneficial owners of warrants. This summary of some provisions of the securities warrants is not complete. You should refer to the securities warrant agreement, including the forms of securities warrant certificate representing the securities warrants, relating to the specific securities warrants being offered for the complete terms of the securities warrant agreement and the securities warrants. The securities warrant agreement, together with the terms of the securities warrant certificate and securities warrants, will be filed with the SEC in connection with the offering of the specific warrants.
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The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the following terms, where applicable, of the warrants in respect of which this prospectus is being delivered:
● | the title of the warrants; |
● | the aggregate number of the warrants; |
● | the price or prices at which the warrants will be issued; |
● | the designation, amount and terms of the offered securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrants; |
● | if applicable, the date on and after which the warrants and the offered securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrants will be separately transferable; |
● | the terms of the securities purchasable upon exercise of such warrants and the procedures and conditions relating to the exercise of such warrants; |
● | any provisions for adjustment of the number or amount of securities receivable upon exercise of the warrants or the exercise price of the warrants; |
● | the price or prices at which and currency or currencies in which the offered securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrants may be purchased; |
● | the date on which the right to exercise the warrants shall commence and the date on which the right shall expire; |
● | the minimum or maximum amount of the warrants that may be exercised at any one time; |
● | information with respect to book-entry procedures, if any; |
● | if appropriate, a discussion of Federal income tax consequences; and |
● | any other material terms of the warrants, including terms, procedures and limitations relating to the exchange and exercise of the warrants. |
Warrants for the purchase of common stock or preferred stock will be offered and exercisable for U.S. dollars only. Warrants will be issued in registered form only.
Upon receipt of payment and the warrant certificate properly completed and duly executed at the corporate trust office of the warrant agent or any other office indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will, as soon as practicable, forward the purchased securities. If less than all of the warrants represented by the warrant certificate are exercised, a new warrant certificate will be issued for the remaining warrants.
Prior to the exercise of any securities warrants to purchase preferred stock or common stock, holders of the warrants will not have any of the rights of holders of the common stock or preferred stock purchasable upon exercise, including in the case of securities warrants for the purchase of common stock or preferred stock, the right to vote or to receive any payments of dividends on the preferred stock or common stock purchasable upon exercise.
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As specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may issue units consisting of shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock or warrants or any combination of such securities.
The applicable prospectus supplement will specify the following terms of any units in respect of which this prospectus is being delivered:
● | the terms of the units and of any of the common stock, preferred stock and warrants comprising the units, including whether and under what circumstances the securities comprising the units may be traded separately; |
● | a description of the terms of any unit agreement governing the units; and |
● | a description of the provisions for the payment, settlement, transfer or exchange of the units. |
We may sell the securities offered through this prospectus (i) to or through underwriters or dealers, (ii) directly to purchasers, including our affiliates, (iii) through agents, or (iv) through a combination of any these methods. The securities may be distributed at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed, market prices prevailing at the time of sale, prices related to the prevailing market prices, or negotiated prices. The prospectus supplement will include the following information:
● | the terms of the offering; |
● | the names of any underwriters or agents; |
● | the name or names of any managing underwriter or underwriters; |
● | the purchase price of the securities; |
● | any over-allotment options under which underwriters may purchase additional securities from us; |
● | the net proceeds from the sale of the securities; |
● | any delayed delivery arrangements; |
● | any underwriting discounts, commissions and other items constituting underwriters’ compensation; |
● | any initial public offering price; |
● | any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers; |
● | any commissions paid to agents; and |
● | any securities exchange or market on which the securities may be listed. |
Sale Through Underwriters or Dealers
Only underwriters named in the prospectus supplement are underwriters of the securities offered by the prospectus supplement.
If underwriters are used in the sale, the underwriters will acquire the securities for their own account, including through underwriting, purchase, security lending or repurchase agreements with us. The underwriters may resell the securities from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions. Underwriters may sell the securities in order to facilitate transactions in any of our other securities (described in this prospectus or otherwise), including other public or private transactions and short sales. Underwriters may offer securities to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more firms acting as underwriters. Unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus supplement, the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the securities will be subject to certain conditions, and the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all the offered securities if they purchase any of them. The underwriters may change from time to time any initial public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers.
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If dealers are used in the sale of securities offered through this prospectus, we will sell the securities to them as principals. They may then resell those securities to the public at varying prices determined by the dealers at the time of resale. The prospectus supplement will include the names of the dealers and the terms of the transaction.
Direct Sales and Sales Through Agents
We may sell the securities offered through this prospectus directly. In this case, no underwriters or agents would be involved. Such securities may also be sold through agents designated from time to time. The prospectus supplement will name any agent involved in the offer or sale of the offered securities and will describe any commissions payable to the agent. Unless otherwise indicated in the prospectus supplement, any agent will agree to use its reasonable best efforts to solicit purchases for the period of its appointment.
We may sell the securities directly to institutional investors or others who may be deemed to be underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 with respect to any sale of those securities. The terms of any such sales will be described in the prospectus supplement.
Delayed Delivery Contracts
If the prospectus supplement indicates, we may authorize agents, underwriters or dealers to solicit offers from certain types of institutions to purchase securities at the public offering price under delayed delivery contracts. These contracts would provide for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. The contracts would be subject only to those conditions described in the prospectus supplement. The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the commission payable for solicitation of those contracts.
Continuous Offering Program
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, we may enter into a continuous offering program equity distribution agreement with a broker-dealer, under which we may offer and sell shares of our common stock from time to time through a broker-dealer as our sales agent. If we enter into such a program, sales of the shares of common stock, if any, will be made by means of ordinary brokers’ transactions on Nasdaq at market prices, block transactions and such other transactions as agreed upon by us and the broker-dealer. Under the terms of such a program, we also may sell shares of common stock to the broker-dealer, as principal for its own account at a price agreed upon at the time of sale. If we sell shares of common stock to such broker-dealer as principal, we will enter into a separate terms agreement with such broker-dealer, and we will describe this agreement in a separate prospectus supplement or pricing supplement.
Market Making, Stabilization and Other Transactions
Unless the applicable prospectus supplement states otherwise, other than our common stock all securities we offer under this prospectus will be a new issue and will have no established trading market. We may elect to list offered securities on an exchange or in the over-the-counter market. Any underwriters that we use in the sale of offered securities may make a market in such securities, but may discontinue such market making at any time without notice. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the securities will have a liquid trading market.
Any underwriter may also engage in stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Rule 104 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase the underlying security in the open market for the purpose of pegging, fixing or maintaining the price of the securities. Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the securities in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions.
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Penalty bids permit the underwriters to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the securities originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions. Stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may cause the price of the securities to be higher than it would be in the absence of the transactions. The underwriters may, if they commence these transactions, discontinue them at any time.
General Information
Agents, underwriters, and dealers may be entitled, under agreements entered into with us, to indemnification by us against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933. Our agents, underwriters, and dealers, or their affiliates, may be customers of, engage in transactions with or perform services for us, in the ordinary course of business.
Pursuant to General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3, in no event will we sell securities in a public offering with a value exceeding more than one-third of our public float in any 12-calendar month period so long as our public float remains below $75,000,000.
The validity of the issuance of the securities offered by this prospectus will be passed upon for us by Sichenzia Ross Ference Carmel LLP, New York, New York.
The consolidated financial statements of Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. as of and for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 appearing in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 have been audited by M&K CPAs, PLLC, as set forth in its report thereon. Such consolidated financial statements are incorporated herein by reference in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We have filed our registration statement on Form S-3 with the SEC under the Securities Act of 1933, as may be amended. We also file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document that we file with the SEC, including the registration statement and the exhibits to the registration statement, at the SEC’s Public Reference Room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington D.C. 20549. You may obtain further information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. These documents may also be accessed on our web site at www.bullfrogai.com. Information contained on our web site is not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider information contained on our web site to be part of this prospectus.
This prospectus and any prospectus supplement are part of a registration statement filed with the SEC and do not contain all of the information in the registration statement. The full registration statement may be obtained from the SEC or us as indicated above. Other documents establishing the terms of the offered securities are filed as exhibits to the registration statement or will be filed through an amendment to our registration statement on Form S-3 or under cover of a Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated into this prospectus by reference.
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INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” into this prospectus the information we file with it, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus. Any statement contained herein or in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference into this document will be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of the document to the extent that a statement contained in this document or any other subsequently filed document that is deemed to be incorporated by reference into this document modifies or supersedes the statement. We incorporate by reference in this prospectus the following information (other than, in each case, documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with SEC rules):
|
● | our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 which were filed with the SEC on March 29, 2024 and April 25, 2023, respectively; |
|
● | our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2024 which were filed with the SEC on May 10, 2024 and August 7, 2024, respectively; |
|
● | our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 9, 2024, May 16, 2024 and July 25, 2024; |
|
● | the description of our common stock contained in our Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed with the SEC on January 23, 2023 (File No. 001-41600); and |
● | all reports and other documents subsequently filed by us pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act after the date of this prospectus and prior to the termination of this offering. |
We also incorporate by reference any future filings (other than information furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and exhibits furnished on such form that are related to such items unless such Form 8-K expressly provides to the contrary) made with the SEC pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, including those made after the date of the initial filing of the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part and prior to effectiveness of such registration statement, until we file a post-effective amendment that indicates the termination of the offering of the common stock made by this prospectus and will become a part of this prospectus from the date that such documents are filed with the SEC. Information in such future filings updates and supplements the information provided in this prospectus. Any statements in any such future filings will automatically be deemed to modify and supersede any information in any document we previously filed with the SEC that is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference to the extent that statements in the later filed document modify or replace such earlier statements.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, information furnished under Items 2.02 and 7.01 of any Current Report on Form 8-K, including the related exhibits, is not incorporated by reference in this prospectus.
The information about us contained in this prospectus should be read together with the information in the documents incorporated by reference. You may request a copy of any or all of these filings, at no cost, by writing or telephoning us at: Vininder Singh, Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc., 325 Ellington Blvd., Unit 317, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 telephone number (240) 658-6710.
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$100,000,000
Common Stock
Preferred Stock
Warrants
Units
BULLFROG AI HOLDINGS, INC.
Prospectus
, 2024
PART II
INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 14. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The following table sets forth the costs and expenses payable by the Registrant in connection with this offering, other than underwriting commissions and discounts, all of which are estimated except for the SEC registration fee.
Item | Amount | |||
SEC registration fee | $ | 14,760 | ||
FINRA filing fee | $ | 15,500 | ||
Printing and engraving expenses | $ | * | ||
Legal fees and expenses | $ | * | ||
Accounting fees and expenses | $ | * | ||
Transfer agent and registrar’s fees and expenses | $ | * | ||
Miscellaneous expenses | $ | * | ||
Total | $ | 30,260 |
* | These fees are calculated based on the securities offered and the number of issuances and accordingly cannot be estimated at this time. In accordance with Rule 430B, the applicable prospectus supplement will set forth the estimated amount of expenses of any offering of securities. |
Item 15. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
NRS 78.7502(1) provides that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, except an action by or in the right of the corporation, by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with the action, suit or proceeding if he: (a) is not liable pursuant to NRS 78.138; or (b) acted in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful.
NRS Section 78.7502(2) provides that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses, including amounts paid in settlement and attorneys’ fees actually and reasonably incurred by him in connection with the defense or settlement of the action or suit if he: (a) is not liable pursuant to NRS 78.138; or (b) acted in good faith and in a manner which he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation. Indemnification may not be made for any claim, issue or matter as to which such a person has been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction, after exhaustion of all appeals there from, to be liable to the corporation or for amounts paid in settlement to the corporation, unless and only to the extent that the court in which the action or suit was brought or other court of competent jurisdiction determines upon application that in view of all the circumstances of the case, the person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses as the court deems proper.
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Our Articles of Incorporation provides that very person who was or is a party to, or is threatened to be made a party to, or is involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he, or a person of whom he is the legal representative, is or was a director or officer of the Company, or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director or officer of another corporation, or as its representative in a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall be indemnified and held harmless to the fullest extent legally permissible under the laws of the State of Nevada from time to time against all expenses, liability and loss (including attorney’s fees, judgements, fines and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by him in connection therewith. Such right of indemnification shall be a contract right which may be enforced in any matter desired by such person. The expenses of the officers and directors incurred in defending a civil or criminal action, suit or proceeding must be paid by the Company as they are incurred and in advance of the final disposition of the action, suit or proceeding, upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the director or officer to repay the amount if it is ultimately determined by a court of competent jurisdiction that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company. Such right of indemnification shall not be exclusive of any other right which such directors, officers or representatives may have or hereafter acquire, and, without limiting the generality of such statement, they shall be entitled to their respective rights of indemnification under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders, provision of law, or otherwise, as well as their rights under this Article.
NRS Section 78.747 provides that except as otherwise provided by specific statute, no director or officer of a corporation is individually liable for a debt or liability of the corporation, unless the director or officer acts as the alter ego of the corporation. The court as a matter of law must determine the question of whether a director or officer acts as the alter ego of a corporation.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, offices or controlling persons of ours, pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933, and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by us of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of ours in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered hereunder, we will, unless in the opinion of our counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by us is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act of 1933 and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
Item 16. Exhibits.
Exhibit | ||
Number | Description of Document | |
1.1 | Form of Underwriting Agreement.* | |
3.1 | Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Amendment to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-267951) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2023. | |
3.2 | Bylaws of Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company’s Amendment to the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-267951) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2023. | |
4.1 | Form of Certificate of Designation.* | |
4.2 | Form of Preferred Stock Certificate.* | |
4.3 | Form of Warrant Agreement.* | |
4.4 | Form of Warrant Certificate.* | |
4.5 | Form of Stock Purchase Agreement.* | |
4.6 | Form of Unit Agreement.* | |
5.1 | Opinion of Sichenzia Ross Ference Carmel LLP. | |
23.1 | Consent of M&K CPAs, PLLC. | |
23.2 | Consent of Sichenzia Ross Ference Carmel LLP (contained in Exhibit 5.1). | |
107 | Filing Fee Table. |
* | To be filed by amendment or by a Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated by reference herein. |
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Item 17. Undertakings
(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
(i) To include any prospectus required by section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement.
(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii) and (a)(1)(iii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of the registration statement.
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
(4) That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser:
(A) Each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement; and
(B) Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5), or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii), or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by section 10(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 shall be deemed to be part of and included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date; or
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(5) That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act of 1933 to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:
(i) Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
(ii) Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant;
(iii) The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and
(iv) Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser.
(b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
(d) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:
(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act of 1933 shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.
(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Gaithersburg, State of Maryland, on August 7, 2024.
Bullfrog AI Holdings, Inc. | ||
By: | /s/ Vininder Singh | |
Vininder Singh. | ||
Its: | Chief Executive Officer | |
(Principal Executive Officer) | ||
By: | /s/ Dane Saglio | |
Dane Saglio | ||
Its: | Chief Financial Officer | |
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Vininder Singh and Dane Saglio, and each of them severally, as his true and lawful attorney in fact and agent, with full powers of substitution and re-substitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any or all amendments (including post effective amendments) to the Registration Statement, and to sign any registration statement for the same offering covered by this Registration Statement that is to be effective upon filing pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and all post effective amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and all documents in connection therewith, with the SEC, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent, each acting alone, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, each acting alone, or his or her substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed below by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
/s/ Vininder Singh | August 7, 2024 | |
Vininder Singh | ||
Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
/s/ Dane Saglio | August 7, 2024 | |
Dane Saglio | ||
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
||
/s/ R. Donald Elsey | August 7, 2024 | |
R. Donald Elsey | ||
Director | ||
/s/ William Enright | August 7, 2024 | |
William Enright | ||
Director | ||
/s/ Jason D. Hanson | August 7, 2024 | |
Jason D. Hanson | ||
Director |
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