OTLC 10-Q
Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. (OTLC)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
| QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For
the Quarterly Period Ended
or
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the Transition Period from _________ to _________
Commission
file number:
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(State
or other jurisdiction of |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of exchange on which registered | ||
| None | OTLC | N/A |
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2)
has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule
405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant
was required to submit such files).
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a small reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” a “smaller reporting company” and an “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☐ | 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 13(a) of the Exchange Act: ☐
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No
As of May 14, 2024, there were shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
FORM 10-Q
FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED MARCH 31, 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)
| March 31, | December 31, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| ASSETS | ||||||||
| Current assets: | ||||||||
| Cash | $ | $ | ||||||
| Restricted cash | $ | |||||||
| Accounts receivable | ||||||||
| Prepaid & other current assets | ||||||||
| Total current assets | ||||||||
| In process R&D | ||||||||
| Goodwill, net of impairment | ||||||||
| Investment in GMP Bio at fair vlue | ||||||||
| Total assets | $ | $ | ||||||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | ||||||||
| Current liabilities: | ||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued liabilities | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accounts payable to related party | ||||||||
| Contingent consideration | ||||||||
| Derivative liability on Notes | ||||||||
| Convertible and short-term debt, net of costs | ||||||||
| Convertible debt and short-term debt, related party, net of costs | ||||||||
| Total current liabilities | ||||||||
| Convertible long-term debt, net of costs | ||||||||
| Convertible long-term debt, net of costs - related party | ||||||||
| Total liabilities | ||||||||
| Commitments and contingencies (Note 13) | ||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | ||||||||
| Convertible preferred stock, $ par value, shares authorized; shares issued and outstanding | ||||||||
| Common stock, $ par value; shares authorized; and issued and outstanding, respectively | ||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | ||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. stockholders’ equity | ||||||||
| Non-controlling interests | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | ||||||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
| 3 |
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
For the Three MONTHS ended MARCH 31, 2024 and 2023
(Unaudited)
| For the Three Months Ended March 31, | ||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Operating expenses: | ||||||||
| Research and development | $ | $ | ||||||
| General and administrative | ||||||||
| Total operating expenses | ||||||||
| Loss from operations | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Other income (expense): | ||||||||
| Interest expense, net | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Reimbursement for expenses - related party | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of derivative on debt | ( | ) | ||||||
| Loss on extinguishment / conversion of debt | ( | ) | ||||||
| Total other expense | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net loss before non-controlling interests | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Net loss attributable to Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stock | $ | ) | $ | ) | ||||
| Basic and diluted weighted average common stock outstanding | ||||||||
The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
| 4 |
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2024
(Unaudited)
| Preferred Stock | Common Stock | Additional Paid-in | Accumulated | Non-controlling | Stockholders’ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Interests | Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Common shares issued upon partial conversion of debt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss on extinguishment of PPM1 debt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
| 5 |
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2023
(Unaudited)
| Preferred Stock | Common Stock | Additional Paid-in | Accumulated | Non-controlling | Stockholders’ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Interests | Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ASU 2020-06 adoption | $ | ( | ) | $ | $ | ( | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common shares issued upon partial conversion of debt | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | - | ( | ) | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
| 6 |
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2024 AND 2023
(Unaudited)
| For the Three Months Ended March 31, | ||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Cash flows from operating activities: | ||||||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | ) | $ | ( | ) | ||
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
| Amortization of debt discount and deferred financing costs | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of derivative | ( | ) | ||||||
| Loss on debt conversion | ||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | ||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | ||||||||
| Accounts payable to related party | ||||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | ( | ) | ( | ) | ||||
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||||||||
| Proceeds from short-term loan, other | ||||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | ||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash | ( | ) | ||||||
| Cash - beginning of period | ||||||||
| Cash - end of period | $ | $ | ||||||
| Supplemental cash flow information: | ||||||||
| Cash paid for: | ||||||||
| Interest paid | $ | $ | ||||||
| Income taxes paid | $ | $ | ||||||
| Non cash investing and financing activities: | ||||||||
| Common shares issued upon partial conversion of debt | $ | $ | ||||||
The accompanying footnotes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
| 7 |
ONCOTELIC THERAPEUTICS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(Unaudited)
NOTE 1 – DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION
Description of Business
Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. (“Oncotelic”), was formed in the State of New York in 1988 as OXiGENE, Inc., was reincorporated in the State of Delaware in 1992, and changed its name to Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. in 2016, and Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. in November 2020. Oncotelic conducts business activities through Oncotelic and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Oncotelic, Inc., a Delaware corporation, PointR Data, Inc. (“PointR”), a Delaware corporation; Pet2DAO, Inc (“Pet2DAO”) and EdgePoint AI, Inc. (“Edgepoint”), a Delaware Corporation for which there are non-controlling interests, (Oncotelic, Oncotelic Inc., PointR, Pet2DAO and Edgepoint are collectively called the “Company” or “We”). The Company completed a reverse merger with Oncotelic Inc in April 2019, a merger with PointR in November 2019 and formed a subsidiary Edgepoint in February 2020. For more information on these mergers, refer to our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
The Company is currently developing OT-101, through its joint venture (“JV”) with Dragon Overseas Capital Limited (“Dragon”) and GMP Biotechnology Limited (“GMP Bio”), both affiliates of Golden Mountain Partners (“GMP”), for various cancers and COVID-19, Artemisinin for COVID-19 and AI technologies for clinical development and manufacturing. The Company is also independently planning to develop OT-101 for certain animal health indications and contemplating using crypto currencies for that platform. The Company has acquired apomorphine for Parkinson’s Disease, erectile dysfunction and female sexual dysfunction. In addition, the Company is evaluating the further development of its product candidates OXi4503 as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes and CA4P in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced metastatic melanoma.
The
Company is primarily a cancer immunotherapy company dedicated to the development of first in class self-immunization protocol (“SIP™”)
candidates for difficult to treat cancers. The Company’s proprietary SIP™ candidates are expected to offer advantages over
other immunotherapies because they do not require extraction of the tumor or isolation of the antigens, and they have the potential for
broad-spectrum applicability for multiple cancer types. The Company’s proprietary product candidates have shown promising clinical
activity in phase 2 trials for the treatment of gliomas and pancreatic cancers. The Company aims to translate its unique insights, which
span more than three decades of original work using RNA therapeutics, into the deployment of antisense as a RNA therapeutic for diseases
which are caused by TGF-β overexpression, starting with cancer and expanding to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (“DMD”)
and others. OT-101, is being developed as a broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug that can also be used in combination with other standard
cancer therapies to establish an effective multi-modality treatment strategy for difficult-to-treat cancers. The JV plans to initiate
phase 2 and 3 clinical trials for OT-101 in both high-grade glioma and pancreatic cancer, and any other indications that may evolve,
for human pharmaceutical needs. The JV will also be sponsoring many investigator-initiated studies for OT-101 for other oncology indications.
The Company is evaluating the further development of its product candidates OXi4503 as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic
syndromes and CA4P in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced metastatic melanoma. The JV is also developing
OT-101 for the various epidemics and pandemics, similar to the corona virus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. In this connection,
the Company entered into an agreement and supplemental agreement with GMP for a total of $
| 8 |
Fundraising
Private Placement 2 & JH Darbie Financing
Between
July 2023 and January 2024, the Company entered into a series of subscription agreements with 15 accredited investors which resulted
in a conversion of a gross amount of $
J.H. Darbie Financing Notes & Issuance of Oncotelic Warrants
In
February 2022, the Company and 99 out of 100 of the Investors agreed to extend the maturity date of the notes connected to the Units
from March 31, 2022 to March 31, 2023. In addition, the Company issued approximately
Equity Purchase Agreement
In
May 2021, the Company entered into an Equity Purchase Agreement (the “EPL”) and Registration Rights Agreement
(the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P. (“Peak One”),
pursuant to which the Company shall have the right, but not the obligation, to direct Peak One to purchase up to $
August 2021 Notes
In
August 2021, the Company issued Note Purchase Agreements with Autotelic Inc., the Company’s Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”),
and certain other accredited investors. Under the terms of the Note Purchase Agreements, the Company issued an aggregate of $
November/December 2021 and March Notes
In
November / December 2021, the Company entered into various Securities Purchase Agreements with Talos Victory Fund, LLC (the (“Talos”),
Mast Hill Fund, LP (“Mast”), FirstFire Global Opportunities Fund, LLC (“FirstFire”), Blue Lake Partners, LLC
(“Blue Lake”) and Fourth Man, LLC (“Fourth Man”), pursuant to which the Company issued convertible promissory
notes in the aggregate principal amount of $
| 9 |
In
March 2022, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Fourth Man, pursuant to which the Company issued convertible
promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $
For more information on the debt financing of the Company, refer to Note 5 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
May 2022 Note
In
May 2022, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Mast, pursuant to which the Company issued convertible promissory
notes in the aggregate principal amount of $
June 2022 Note
In
June 2022, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Blue Lake, pursuant to which the Company issued convertible
promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $
Forever Prosperity (previously GMP) Note purchase agreements and unsecured notes
Between
June 2020 and January 2022, the Company entered into various purchase agreements and promissory notes with GMP, cumulatively totaling
$
For more information on the GMP debt financing, refer to Note 5 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Joint Venture with GMP Bio
In March 2022, the Company formalized a joint venture (“JV”) with Dragon Overseas Capital Limited (“Dragon”) and GMP Biotechnology Limited (“GMP Bio”), both affiliates of GMP. Although no assurances can be given, the Company and GMP currently intend to conduct an initial public offering of the JV, at a future date, on either the Hong Kong Exchange or other stock exchange.
For more information on the JV, refer to Note 6 of the unaudited Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Pet2DAO
In November 2022, the Company formed a Decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) entity, Pet2DAO LLC (“Pet2DAO”), as a wholly owned subsidiary. A DAO is an emerging form of legal structure, that has no central governing body, and whose members share a common goal to act in the best interest of the entity. Pet2DAO is a DAO technology company, integrating the strong governance of traditional corporations with the innovative DAO architecture. The Company will look to engage stakeholders, to build value through the DAO, while maintaining the rigor of traditional corporations, including governance, compliance, and accountability through a team of veterans in public companies with innovators in AI, blockchain and Web3. Pet2DAO will initially be looking to develop products for the animal health space. The Company will initially issue regular tokens and non-fungible tokens (“NFT” and cumulatively “Tokens”) of Pet2DAO called PDAO to its employees, shareholders and key opinion leaders (“KOLs’) and use the Tokens to propose and vote on various animal health related programs. In the future, the Company will evaluate and plan to register these tokens with the SEC to make such Tokens freely tradable at a future point in time.
| 10 |
Licensing Agreement with Autotelic Inc.
In
September 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive License Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Autotelic, Inc. (“Autotelic”),
pursuant to which Autotelic granted the Company, among other things: (i) the exclusive right and license to certain Autotelic Patents
(as defined in the Agreement) and Autotelic Know-How (as defined in the Agreement); and (ii) a right of first refusal to acquire at least
a majority of the outstanding capital stock of Autotelic prior to Autotelic entering into any transaction that is a financing collaboration,
distribution revenues, earn-outs, sales, out-licensing, purchases, debt, royalties, merger acquisition, change of control, transfer of
cash or non-cash assets, disposition of capital stock by way of tender or exchange offer, partnership or any other joint or collaborative
venture, research collaboration, material transfer, sponsored research or similar transaction or agreements. In exchange for the rights
granted to Oncotelic, Autotelic will be entitled to earn the milestone payments of up to $
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Oncotelic, its wholly owned subsidiaries, Oncotelic Inc. and PointR, and Edgepoint our non-controlled interest entity. Intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission including Form 10-K and Regulation S-X.
Liquidity and Going Concern
The
accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company
has incurred net accumulated losses of approximately $
The Company’s long-term plans include continued development of its current pipeline of products, in addition to continue the development of OT-101 which is exclusively out-licensed to the JV and the JV will be responsible for the funding required to support the development in entirety, to generate sufficient revenues, through either technology transfer or product sales, or raise additional financing to cover its anticipated expenses. Until the Company is able to generate sufficient revenues from its current pipeline, the Company plans on funding its operations through the sale of equity and/or the issuance of debt, combined with or without warrants or other equity instruments.
| 11 |
The
Company obtained approximately $
Although no assurances can be given as to the Company’s ability to deliver on its revenue plans, or that unforeseen expenses may arise, management believes that the potential equity and debt financing or other potential financing will provide the necessary funding for the Company to continue as a going concern. Also, management cannot guarantee any potential debt or equity financing will be available on favorable terms or at all. As such, management does not believe the Company has sufficient cash for 12 months from the date of this report. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, or at all, the Company will need to curtail operations, or cease operations completely.
NOTE 2 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with US GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, equity-based transactions and disclosure of contingent liabilities at the date of the financial statements and revenues and expense during the reporting period. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.
The Company believes the following critical accounting policies affect its more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of the financial statements. Significant estimates include the valuation of goodwill and intangible assets for impairment, deferred tax asset and valuation allowance, and fair value of financial instruments.
Cash
As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, the Company held all its cash in banks in the United States of America. The Company considers investments in highly liquid instruments with a maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. The Company did not have any cash equivalents as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. Restricted cash consists of certificates of deposits held at banks as collateral for various purposes.
Debt issuance Costs and Debt discount
Issuance costs are specific incremental costs that are (1) paid to third parties and (2) directly attributable to the issuance of a debt or equity instrument. The issuance costs attributable to the initial sale of the instrument are offset against the associated proceeds in the determination of the instrument’s initial net carrying amount.
Debt issuance costs and debt discounts are being amortized over the lives of the related financings on a basis that approximates the effective interest method. Costs and discounts are presented as a reduction of the related debt in the accompanying balance sheets if related to the issuance of debt or presented as a reduction of additional paid in capital if related to the issuance of an equity instrument. The Company applies the relative fair value to allocate the issuance costs among freestanding instruments that form part of the same transaction.
If the Company amends the terms of its convertible notes, the Company reviews and applies the guidance per ASC 470-60 Troubled debt restructurings and ASC 470-50 Debt-Modifications and Extinguishments, evaluates and concludes whether the terms of the agreements were or were not substantially different as of a particular reporting date and accounts the transaction as a debt modification or a troubled debt restructuring.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The carrying value of cash, accounts payable and accrued expense approximate their fair values based on the short-term maturity of these instruments. As defined in ASC 820, “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures,” fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). The Company utilizes market data or assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk and the risks inherent in the inputs to the valuation technique. These inputs can be readily observable, market corroborated, or generally unobservable. ASC 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (level 3 measurement). This fair value measurement framework applies at both initial and subsequent measurement.
| 12 |
The three levels of the fair value hierarchy defined by ASC 820 are as follows:
| ● | Level 1 – Quoted prices are available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date. Active markets are those in which transactions for the asset or liability occur in sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. Level 1 primarily consists of financial instruments such as exchange-traded derivatives, marketable securities and listed equities. |
| ● | Level 2 – Pricing inputs are other than quoted prices in active markets included in Level 1, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reported date. Level 2 includes those financial instruments that are valued using models or other valuation methodologies. These models are primarily industry-standard models that consider various assumptions, including quoted forward prices for commodities, time value, volatility factors and current market and contractual prices for the underlying instruments, as well as other relevant economic measures. Substantially all of these assumptions are observable in the marketplace throughout the full term of the instrument, can be derived from observable data or are supported by observable levels at which transactions are executed in the marketplace. Instruments in this category generally include non-exchange-traded derivatives such as commodity swaps, interest rate swaps, options and collars. |
| ● | Level 3 – Pricing inputs include significant inputs that are generally less observable from objective sources. These inputs may be used with internally developed methodologies that result in management’s best estimate of fair value. |
The Company did not have any Level 1 or Level 2 assets and liabilities at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.
Investment in equity securities
The following table summarizes the cumulative gross unrealized gains and losses and fair values for long-term investments accounted for at fair value under the fair value option, with the unrealized gains and losses reported within earnings on the Unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operation as of March 31, 2024 and the Audited Consolidated Statements of Operation for the year ended December 31, 2023:
| Initial Book Value | Cumulative Gross Unrealized Gains | Cumulative Gross Unrealized Losses | Fair Value | |||||||||||||
| March 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||
| Investment in GMP Bio (equity securities) | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Initial Book Value | Cumulative Gross Unrealized Gains | Cumulative Gross Unrealized Losses | Fair Value | |||||||||||||
| December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||
| Investment in GMP Bio (equity securities) | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||
| 13 |
The table below sets forth a summary of the recording of the initial value of the long-term value of investment in equity securities of GMP Bio, based on a third-party valuation report, and changes in the fair value of such equity securities, if such change occurs, as a Level 3 fair value as of March 31, 2024 and 2023.
Derivative Liability
The Company has certain derivative liabilities associated with its 2019 bridge financing Convertible Notes (see Note 5), consisted of conversion feature derivatives at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, are Level 3 fair value measurements.
The table below sets forth a summary of the changes in the fair value of the Company’s derivative liabilities classified as Level 3 as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively:
| March 31, 2024 Conversion Feature | December
31, 2023 Conversion Feature | |||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2024 and 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
| New derivative liability | ||||||||
| Reclassification to additional paid in capital from conversion of debt to common stock | ||||||||
| Change in fair value | ( | ) | ||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2024 and 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company estimated the fair value of the conversion feature derivatives embedded in the convertible debentures based on assumptions used in the Black-Scholes valuation model. The key valuation assumptions used consists, in part, of the price of the Company’s Common Stock, a risk-free interest rate based on the yield of a Treasury note and expected volatility of the Company’s Common Stock all as of the measurement dates. The Company used the following assumptions to estimate fair value of the derivatives as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023:
| March 31, 2024 Key Assumptions for fair value of conversions | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Risk free interest | % | % | ||||||
| Market price of share | $ | $ | - | |||||
| Life of instrument in years | ||||||||
| Volatility | % | % | ||||||
| Dividend yield | % | % | ||||||
When the Company changes its valuation inputs for measuring financial liabilities at fair value, either due to changes in current market conditions or other factors, it may need to transfer those liabilities to another level in the hierarchy based on the new inputs used. The Company recognizes these transfers at the end of the reporting period that the transfers occur. For the periods ended March 31, 2024 and March 31, 2023, there were no transfers of financial assets or financial liabilities between the hierarchy levels.
| 14 |
The
$
Basic net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing the net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income (loss) per share includes the effect of Common Stock equivalents (notes convertible into Common Stock, stock options and warrants) when, under either the treasury or if-converted method, such inclusion in the computation would be dilutive. For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, no equivalent shares of the Common Stock were excluded as the Company has incurred losses during the said periods, and addition of such stock equivalents in the computation would have been anti-dilutive.
The Company applies the provisions of ASC 718, Compensation—Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”), which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all stock-based awards made to employees and non-employees, including employee stock options, in the statements of operations.
For stock options issued, the Company estimates the grant date fair value of each option using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The use of the Black-Scholes option pricing model requires management to make assumptions with respect to the expected term of the option, the expected volatility of the Common Stock consistent with the expected life of the option, risk-free interest rates and expected dividend yields of the Common Stock. For awards subject to service-based vesting conditions, including those with a graded vesting schedule, the Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense equal to the grant date fair value of stock options on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting term. Forfeitures are recorded as they are incurred as opposed to being estimated at the time of grant and revised.
For warrants issued in connection with fund raising activities, the Company estimates the grant date fair value of each warrant using the Black-Scholes pricing model. The use of the Black-Scholes option pricing model requires management to make assumptions with respect to the expected term of the warrant, the expected volatility of the Common Stock consistent with the expected life of the warrant, risk-free interest rates and expected dividend yields of the Common Stock. If the warrants are issued upon termination or cancellation of prior issued warrants, then the Company estimates the grant date fair value of the new warrants using the Black-Scholes pricing model and evaluates whether the new warrants are deemed as equity instruments or liability instruments. If the warrants are deemed to be equity instruments, the Company records stock compensation expense and an addition to additional paid in capital. If however, the warrants are deemed to be liability instruments, then the fair value is treated as a deemed dividend and credited to additional paid in capital.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company reviews long-lived assets, including definite-lived intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these assets is determined by comparing the forecasted undiscounted net cash flows of the operation to which the assets relate to the carrying amount. If the operation is determined to be unable to recover the carrying amount of its assets, then these assets are written down first, followed by other long-lived assets of the operation to fair value. Fair value is determined based on discounted cash flows or appraised values, depending on the nature of the assets. For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, there were no impairment losses recognized for long-lived assets.
| 15 |
Intangible Assets
The
Company records its intangible assets at cost in accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other. The Company reviews
the intangible assets for impairment on an annual basis or if events or changes in circumstances indicate it is more likely than not
that they are impaired. These events could include a significant change in the business climate, legal factors, a decline in operating
performance, competition, sale or disposition of a significant portion of the business, or other factors. If the review indicates the
impairment, an impairment loss would be recorded for the difference of the value recorded and the new value. For the three months ended
March 31, 2024 and year ended December 31, 2023, there were
Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price of acquired business over the estimated fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment at least once annually, at the reporting unit level or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. The goodwill impairment test is applied by performing a qualitative assessment before calculating the fair value of the reporting unit. If, on the basis of qualitative factors, it is considered not more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, further testing of goodwill for impairment would not be required. Otherwise, goodwill impairment is tested using a two-step approach.
The
first step involves comparing the fair value of the reporting unit to its carrying amount. The Company has always operated as a single
unit. If the fair value of the reporting unit is determined to be greater than its carrying amount, there is no impairment. If the reporting
unit’s carrying amount is determined to be greater than the fair value, the second step must be completed to measure the amount
of impairment, if any. The second step involves calculating the implied fair value of goodwill by deducting the fair value of all tangible
and intangible assets, excluding goodwill, of the reporting unit from the fair value of the reporting unit as determined in step one.
The implied fair value of the goodwill in this step is compared to the carrying value of goodwill. If the implied fair value of the goodwill
is less than the carrying value of the goodwill, an impairment loss equivalent to the difference is recorded. When we sell or contribute
properties to unconsolidated arrangements and retain a non-controlling ownership interest in such assets, we recognize the difference
between the consideration received and the carrying amount of the asset sold or contributed. For the three months ended March 31, 2024,
impairment was recognized towards goodwill. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded an impairment loss of approximately
$
Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to the Company’s Common Stock
We have generally issued derivative financial instruments, such as warrants, in connection with our equity offerings. We evaluate the terms of these derivative financial instruments in order to determine their accounting treatment in our financial statements. Key considerations include whether the financial instruments are freestanding and whether they contain conditional obligations. If the warrants are freestanding, do not contain conditional obligations and meet other classification criteria, we account for the warrants as an equity instrument. However, if the warrants contain conditional obligations, then we account for the warrants as a liability until the conditional obligations are met or are no longer relevant. Because no established market prices exist for the warrants that we issue in connection with our equity offerings, we must estimate the fair value of the warrants based on the price of our Common Stock as of December 31 each year, which is as inherently subjective as it is for stock options, and for similar reasons as noted in the stock-based compensation section above. For financial instruments which are accounted for as a liability, we report any changes in their estimated fair values as gains or losses in our Consolidated Statement of Income.
| 16 |
Convertible Instruments
The Company evaluates and accounts for conversion options embedded in its convertible instruments in accordance with ASC 815 “Derivatives and Hedging”.
ASC 815 generally provides three criteria that, if met, require companies to bifurcate conversion options from their host instruments and account for them as free-standing derivative financial instruments. These three criteria include circumstances in which (a) the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative instrument are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics and risks of the host contract, (b) the hybrid instrument that embodies both the embedded derivative instrument and the host contract is not re-measured at fair value under otherwise applicable generally accepted accounting principles with changes in fair value reported in earnings as they occur, and (c) a separate instrument with the same terms as the embedded derivative instrument would be considered a derivative instrument. Professional standards also provide an exception to this rule when the host instrument is deemed to be conventional as defined under professional standards as “The Meaning of Conventional Convertible Debt Instrument.”
The Company accounts for convertible instruments (when it has determined that the embedded conversion options should not be bifurcated from their host instruments) in accordance with ASC 470-20 “Debt – Debt with Conversion and Other Options.” Accordingly, the Company records, when necessary, discounts to convertible notes for the intrinsic value of conversion options embedded in debt instruments based upon the differences between the fair value of the underlying Common Stock at the commitment date of the note transaction and the effective conversion price embedded in the note. Original issue discounts (“OID”) under these arrangements are amortized over the term of the related debt to their earliest date of redemption. The Company also records when necessary deemed dividends for the intrinsic value of conversion options embedded in preferred shares based upon the differences between the fair value of the underlying Common Stock at the commitment date of the note transaction and the effective conversion price embedded in the note.
ASC 815-40 “Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity” provides that, among other things, generally, if an event occurs that is not within the entity’s control could or would require net cash settlement, then the contract shall be classified as an asset or a liability.
Variable Interest Entity (VIE) Accounting
The
Company evaluates its ownership, contractual relationships and other interests in entities to determine the nature and extent of the
interests, whether such interests are variable interests and whether the entities are VIEs in accordance with ASC 810, Consolidations.
These evaluations can be complex and involve Management judgment as well as the use of estimates and assumptions based on available historical
information, among other factors. Based on these evaluations, if the Company determines that it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE,
the entity is consolidated into the financial statements. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company identified EdgePoint to
be the Company’s sole VIE. At March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company’s ownership percentage of EdgePoint was
Investments - Equity Method
The Company accounts for equity method investments at cost, adjusted for the Company’s share of the investee’s earnings or losses, which are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations. The Company periodically reviews the investments for other than temporary declines in fair value below cost and more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. The Investment in GMP Bio represents the investment into equity securities for which the Company elected the fair value option pursuant to ASC 825-10-15 and subsequent fair value changes in the GMP Bio shares shall be included in the result from other income. Refer to Note 6 to these Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
| 17 |
Joint Venture agreement
We have equity interest in unconsolidated arrangement that is primarily engaged in the business of drug discovery, development, and commercialization, including but not limited to development and commercialization of TGF-beta therapeutics as well as establishing and operating contract development and manufacturing organization (“CDMO”) facilities and capabilities. The Company first reviews the arrangement to determine if it meets the definition of an accounting joint venture pursuant to ASC 323-10-20. In order to meet the definition of a joint venture, the arrangement must have all of the following characteristics, (i) the arrangement is organized within a separate legal entity, (ii) the entity is under the joint control of the venturers, (iii) the venturers must be able to exercise joint control through their equity investments, (iv) the qualitative characteristics of the entity, including its purpose and design must be consistent with the definition of a joint venture.
We consolidate arrangements that are considered to be VIEs where we are the primary beneficiary. We analyze our investments in joint ventures to determine if the joint venture is considered a VIE and would require consolidation. We (i) evaluate the sufficiency of the total equity investment at risk, (ii) review the voting rights and decision-making authority of the equity investment holders as a group and whether there are limited partners (or similar owning entities) that lack substantive participating or kick out rights, guaranteed returns, protection against losses, or capping of residual returns within the group and (iii) establish whether activities within the venture are on behalf of an investor with disproportionately few voting rights in making this VIE determination.
To the extent that we own interests in a VIE and we (i) have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE and (ii) have the obligation or rights to absorb losses or receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE, then we would be determined to be the primary beneficiary and would consolidate the VIE. To the extent that we own interests in a VIE, then at each reporting period, we re-assess our conclusions as to which, if any, party within the VIE is considered the primary beneficiary.
To the extent that our arrangements do not qualify as VIEs, they are consolidated if we control them through majority ownership interests or if we are the managing entity (general partner or managing member) and our partner does not have substantive participating rights. Control is further demonstrated by our ability to unilaterally make significant operating decisions, refinance debt, and sell the assets of the joint venture without the consent of the non- managing entity and the inability of the non-managing entity to remove us from our role as the managing entity.
We use the equity method of accounting for those arrangements where we exercise significant influence but do not have control. Under the equity method of accounting, our investment in each arrangement is included on our consolidated balance sheet; however, the assets and liabilities of the joint ventures for which we use the equity method are not included on our consolidated balance sheet.
When we sell or contribute properties to unconsolidated arrangements and retain a non-controlling ownership interest in such assets, we recognize the difference between the consideration received and the carrying amount of the asset sold or contributed when its derecognition criteria are met. The equity method investment we retain in such partial sale transactions is noncash consideration and is measured at fair value. As a result, the accounting for a partial sale will result in the recognition of a full gain or loss.
When circumstances indicate there may have been a reduction in the value of an equity investment, we evaluate whether the loss in value is other than temporary. If we conclude it is other than temporary, we recognize an impairment charge to reflect the equity investment at fair value.
The Company elected the fair value option under the fair value option Subsection of Section 825-10-15 to account for its equity-method investment as the Company believes that the fair value option is most appropriate for a company in the biotechnology industry, The fair value option is more appropriate for companies that are involved in extensive and usually very expensive research and development efforts, which are not appropriately reflected in the market value or reflective of the true value of the development activities of the Company.
Embedded debt costs in convertible debt instruments
In August 2020, the FASB issued “ASU 2020-06, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40)” (“ASU 2020-06”) which simplifies the accounting for convertible instruments. The guidance removes certain accounting models which separate the embedded conversion features from the host contract for convertible instruments. Either a modified retrospective method of transition or a fully retrospective method of transition was permissible for the adoption of this standard. Update No. 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption was permitted no earlier than the fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company adopted ASU 2020-06 effective January 1, 2023 and has removed the effects of any embedded conversion features from certain of our convertible instruments as of that date.
| 18 |
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.
Under ASC 606, the Company recognizes revenue when its customers obtain control of the promised good or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The Company applies the following five-step process: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligation(s) in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligation(s) in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies a performance obligation.
At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, the Company identifies the performance obligation(s) in the contract by assessing whether the goods or services promised within each contract are distinct. The Company then recognizes revenue for the amount of the transaction price that is allocated to the respective performance obligation when (or as) the performance obligation is satisfied.
The Company anticipates generating revenues from rendering services to other third party customers for the development of certain drug products and/or in connection with certain out-licensing agreements. In the case of services rendered for development of the drugs, revenue is recognized upon the achievement of the performance obligations or over time on a straight-line basis over the extended service period. In the case of out-licensing contracts, the Company records revenues either (i) upon achievement of certain pre-defined milestones when there is no obligation of the Company achieve any performance obligations in connection with the said pre-defined milestones, or (ii) upon achievement of the performance obligations if the milestones require the Company to provide the performance obligations.
The Company occasionally collects advance payments from customers toward commitments to provide services or performance obligations, in which case the advance payment is recorded as a liability until the obligations are fulfilled and revenue is recognized.
Research & Development Costs
In accordance with ASC 730-10-25 “Research and Development”, research and development costs are charged to expense as and when incurred.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In
August 2020, the FASB issued “ASU 2020-06, Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts
in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40)” (“ASU 2020-06”) which simplifies the accounting for convertible
instruments. The guidance removes certain accounting models which separate the embedded conversion features from the host contract for
convertible instruments. Either a modified retrospective method of transition or a fully retrospective method of transition was permissible
for the adoption of this standard. Update No. 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim
periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption was permitted no earlier than the fiscal year beginning after December 15, 2020. The
Company has adopted ASU 2020-06 effective January 1, 2023 and as of the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company recorded approximately
$
All other newly issued but not yet effective accounting pronouncements have been deemed to be not applicable or immaterial to the Company.
| 19 |
NOTE 3 - ACQUISITIONS, GOODWILL AND INTANGIBLE ASSETS
Goodwill from 2019 Reverse Merger with Oncotelic and Merger with PointR
The Company completed the reverse merger with Oncotelic Inc. (“Merger”) in April 2019. The Company completed the merger with PointR Data Inc (“PointR Merger”) in November 2019. For more details on the two mergers, refer to our 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed by the Company on April 15, 2021.
The
Oncotelic merger gave rise to Goodwill of approximately $
Further,
we added goodwill of $
We have one operating segment and reporting unit. Accordingly, our review of goodwill impairment indicators was performed at the entity-wide level. In performing our annual impairment assessment, we determined if we should qualitatively assess whether it was more likely than not the fair value of goodwill was less than its carrying amount (the qualitative impairment test). The factors we considered in the assessment included our market capitalization, general macroeconomic conditions, conditions specific to the industry and market and whether there had been sustained declines in our share price. If we concluded, it was more likely than not, the fair value of the reporting unit was less than its carrying amount, or elected not to use the qualitative impairment test, a quantitative impairment test would be performed.
We
used our market capitalization as an indicator of fair value. While we believe the fair value measurement need not be based solely on
the quoted market price of an individual share of our Common Stock, and that we also could consider the impact of a control premium in
measuring the fair value of its reporting unit. In the absence of any other valuation metrics, the Company believed using a control premium
utilized would not be appropriate under the current circumstances. We also considered some other market comparables’ trends in
our stock price as well as the industry over a period of two successive quarters and prospective quarter to evaluate whether the fair
value of our reporting unit was greater than our carrying amount. As such, we performed a quantitative impairment assessment of goodwill
for our single reporting unit at the end of 2023, due to a sustained decline in our market capitalization and an increase in negative
economic outlook for biotech markets We estimated and reconciled the fair value of our reporting unit utilizing our market capitalization
based on the stock price of our Common Stock as of December 31, 2023. Before completing our goodwill impairment test, we first tested
our indefinite-lived intangible asset then our remaining long-lived assets for impairment. We concluded our indefinite-lived intangible
assets were not impaired. Based on the market capitalization, we further concluded the fair value of our single reporting unit was less
than its carrying value and therefore recognized an impairment charge of $
A summary of our goodwill as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 is shown below:
| March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2024 and 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
| Less: Goodwill impairment due to market capitalization | ( | ) | ||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
In general, the goodwill is tested on an annual impairment date of December 31, unless we observe any further deterioration in our market capitalization in any interim periods, in which case we may, depending on the materiality of the impairment, record an impairment at the end of other reporting periods, as we did during the course of the year ended December 31, 2023.
| 20 |
Assignment and Assumption Agreement with Autotelic, Inc.
In
April 2018, Oncotelic Inc. entered into an Assignment and Assumption Agreement (the “Assignment Agreement”) with Autotelic
Inc., an affiliate company, and Autotelic LLC, an affiliate company, pursuant to which Oncotelic acquired the rights to all intellectual
property (“IP”) related to a patented product. As consideration for the Assignment Agreement, Oncotelic Inc. issued
shares of its Common Stock for a value of $
In-Process Research & Development (“IPR&D”) Summary
The
IPR&D assets were acquired in the PointR Merger during the year ended December 31, 2019. Since January 2021, the Company has determined
that the IPR&D should be reported as an indefinitely lived asset and therefore will evaluate, on an annual basis, for any impairment
on the IPR&D and will record an impairment if identified. The balance of IPR&D as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively,
was $
NOTE 4 – ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND ACCRUED EXPENSES
Accounts payable and accrued expense consists of the following amounts:
March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accrued expense | ||||||||
| $ | $ | |||||||
March 31, 2024 |
December
31, 2023 |
|||||||
| Accounts payable – related party | $ | $ | ||||||
| 21 |
NOTE 5 – CONVERTIBLE DEBENTURES, NOTES AND OTHER DEBT
As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, special purchase agreements (SPAs) with convertible debentures and notes, net of debt discount and including accrued interest, if any, consist of the following amounts:
| March 31, | December 31, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Current Debt | ||||||||
| Convertible debentures | ||||||||
| 10% Convertible note payable – Bridge Investor | $ | $ | ||||||
| 10% Convertible note payable – Related Party | ||||||||
| 10% Convertible note payable – Bridge Investor | ||||||||
| Fall 2019 Notes | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note payable – Stephen Boesch | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note payable – Related Party | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note payable – Dr. Sanjay Jha (Through his family trust) | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note payable – CEO & CFO – Related Parties | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note payable – Bridge Investors | ||||||||
| August 2021 Convertible Notes | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note – Autotelic Inc– Related Party | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note – Bridge investors | ||||||||
| 5% Convertible note – CFO – Related Party | ||||||||
| JH Darbie PPM Debt | ||||||||
| 16% Convertible Notes – Non-related parties | ||||||||
| 16% Convertible Notes – CEO – Related Party | ||||||||
| November/December 2021 & March 2022 Notes | ||||||||
| 16% Convertible Notes – Accredited Investors | ||||||||
| Debt for Clinical Trials – Forever Prosperity ( Formerly GMP) | ||||||||
| 2% Convertible Notes – Forever Prosperity | ||||||||
| May and June 2022 Note | ||||||||
| 16% Convertible Notes – Accredited Investors | ||||||||
| Other Debt | ||||||||
| Short term debt – Bridge investors | ||||||||
| Short term debt from CFO – Related Party | ||||||||
| Short term debt – Autotelic Inc. – Related Party | ||||||||
| Short Term Debt from CEO – Related Party | ||||||||
| Total of short term convertible debentures & notes and other debt | $ | |||||||
| March 31, | December 31, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Long Term Debt | ||||||||
| JH Darbie PPM 2 Debt | ||||||||
| 16% Convertible Notes - Non-related parties | ||||||||
| 16% Convertible Notes – CEO – Related Party | ||||||||
Convertible Debentures
As
of March 31, 2024, the Company had a derivative liability of approximately $
| 22 |
Bridge Financings
Notes with Officer and Bridge Investor
In
April 2019, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Bridge SPA”) with our CEO (the “Trieu
Note”) and a Bridge Investor with a commitment to purchase convertible notes in the aggregate of $
The
issuance of the Trieu Note resulted in a discount from the beneficial conversion feature totaling $
In April 2019, pursuant to the Bridge SPA the Company entered into Convertible Note Tranche #1 (“Tranche #1”) with the Bridge Investor. For more information on Tranche #1, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
The issuance of the note resulted in a discount from the beneficial conversion feature totaling $. Total amortization of the OID and discount totaled approximately $ for the three months ended March 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Total unamortized discount on this note was approximately $ as of March 31, 2024.
In August 2019, pursuant to the Bridge SPA the Company entered into Convertible Note Tranche #2 (“Tranche #2”) with the Bridge Investor. For more information on Tranche #2, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
The issuance of the note resulted in a discount from the beneficial conversion feature totaling $. Total amortization of the OID and discount totaled approximately $ for the three months ended March 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Total unamortized discount on this note was $ as of March 31, 2024.
Fall 2019 Debt Financing
In
December 2019, the Company closed its Fall 2019 Debt Financing, raising an additional $
All
the Fall 2019 Notes provided for interest at the rate of
| 23 |
There
was no activity during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The total unamortized principal amount of the Fall 2019 Notes
was $
Further,
the Company recorded interest expense of $
Forever Prosperity (Formerly GMP) Notes
In
June 2020, the Company secured $
In
September 2021, the Company secured a further $
In
October 2021, the Company entered into an Unsecured Convertible Note Purchase Agreement (the “October Purchase Agreement”)
with GMP, pursuant to which the Company issued a convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $
In
January 2022, the Company entered into an Unsecured Convertible Note Purchase Agreement (the “January Purchase Agreement”)
with GMP, pursuant to which the Company issued a convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $
| 24 |
Cumulatively,
the GMP Note, GMP Note 2, October 2021 Note and the January 2022 Notes are referred to as the “GMP Notes”. The GMP
Notes carry an interest rate of
August 2021 Notes
In
August 2021, the Company entered into Note Purchase Agreements with Autotelic - a related party, our CFO – a related party, and
certain accredited investors (the “August 2021 investors”), whereby the Company issued four convertible notes in the aggregate
principal amount of $
As of March 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, the August 2021 convertible notes, inclusive of accrued interest, consist of the following amounts:
| March 31, | December 31, | |||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Autotelic Related party convertible note, 5% coupon December 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
| Accredited investors convertible note, 5% coupon December 2023 | ||||||||
| CFO Related party convertible note, 5% coupon December 2023 | ||||||||
| $ | $ | |||||||
During
the quarters ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized approximately $
At
March 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, accrued interests on these convertible notes totaled approximately $
| 25 |
November December 2021 and March 2022 Financing
In
November / December 2021, the Company entered into securities purchase agreement with five institutional investors, whereby the Company
issued five convertible notes in the aggregate principal amount of $
Further,
in March 2022, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Fourth Man, pursuant to which the Company issued convertible
promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $
As of March 31, 2024, the Blue Lake and Fourth Man November- December 2021 notes and any accrued interest, are fully converted.
| March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Fourth Man Convertible note, 16% coupon March 2023 inclusive of accrued interest and default provision | $ | $ | ||||||
| Unamortized debt discount | ||||||||
| Convertible notes, net | $ | |||||||
In
February 2024, the Company converted $
May 2022 Mast Financing
In
May 2022, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with one institutional investor, whereby the Company issued one convertible
note in the aggregate principal amount of $
| 26 |
| March
31, 2024 |
December
31, 2023 |
|||||||
| Mast Hill Convertible note, 12% coupon May 2023, inclusive of accrued interest and penalty | $ | $ | ||||||
| Convertible notes, net | $ | $ | ||||||
Accrued
interest was $
The
Company recognized approximately $
Effective
January 1, 2023, the Company adopted ASU 2020-06, which resulted in the reversal of the original BCF amount to additional paid in capital
for approximately $
June 2022 Blue Lake Financing
In
June 2022, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with one institutional investor, whereby the Company issued one convertible
note in the aggregate principal amount of $
| March
31, 2024 |
December
31, 2023 |
|||||||
| Blue Lake Convertible note, 16% coupon June 2023, inclusive of accrued interest and penalty | $ | $ | ||||||
| Convertible notes, net | $ | $ | ||||||
| 27 |
The
Company recognized approximately $
The
Company adopted ASU 2020-06 effective January 1, 2023, which resulted in the reversal of the original BCF amount to additional paid in
capital of approximately $
As
of March 31, 2024, these notes are in default. However, the Company has not received notification of default from the lender. The Company
has recorded an estimated default penalty of approximately $
Other short-term advances
As of March 31, 2024 compared to December 31, 2023, other short-term advances consist of the following amounts obtained from various employees and related parties:
| Other Advances | March 31, 2024 |
December 31, 2023 |
||||||
| Short term advance from CFO – Related Party | $ | $ | ||||||
| Short term advance from CEO – Related Party | ||||||||
| Short term advances – bridge investors & others | ||||||||
| Short term advances – Autotelic Inc. – Related Party | ||||||||
| $ | $ | |||||||
In
May 2021, Autotelic provided an additional short-term funding of approximately $
The
Company’s CFO was owed approximately $
In
December 2023, the Company received $
During
the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company received approximately $
NOTE 6 – JOINT VENTURE WITH GMP BIO AND AFFILIATES, EQUITY METHOD INVESTMENT
On March 31, 2022, the Company entered into (i) a joint venture (the “JV”) agreement with Dragon and GMP Bio, both affiliates of GMP, (and the Company, Dragon and GMP Bio are collectively called the “Parties”) (the “JVA”), (ii) a license agreement for rights to OT-101 (the “US License Agreement”) for the territory within the United States of America (the “US”) with Sapu Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of GMP Bio and (iii) a license agreement for rights to OT-101 for the rest of the world with GMP Bio (the “Ex-US Rights Agreement”, and the US License Agreement and the Ex-US License Agreement are collectively called the “Agreements”). For more information on the JV, JVA, and Agreements, refer to our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K/A filed with the SEC on April 19, 2023.
| 28 |
As
of the effective date of the formation of the JV, the combined enterprise value of GMP Bio was approximately $
| March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2024 and 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
| Add: change in fair value of investment in GMP Bio | ||||||||
| Balance at December 31, 2024 and 2023 | $ | $ | ||||||
For information on the various notes from GMP, refer to Note 5 – GMP Notes of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements above.
NOTE 7 - PRIVATE PLACEMENT (PPM-1) AND JH DARBIE FINANCING
During
the period from July 2020 to March 2021 the Company entered into subscription agreements with certain accredited investors pursuant to
the JH Darbie Financing, whereby the Company issued and sold a total of 100 Units, for total gross proceeds of approximately $
| ■ | shares of Edgepoint Common Stock for a price of $ per share of Edgepoint Common Stock. | |
| ■ | One
convertible promissory note, convertible into up to shares of Edgepoint Common Stock, at a conversion price of $ | |
| ■ |
In
July and October 2023, the Company converted the debt of fourty two (42) accredited investors from the JH Darbie Financing (now referred
to as “PPM-1”) into the new subscription agreements under the new financing (“PPM-2”- See Note
8 below), which resulted in conversion of $
In
January 2024, the Company converted the debt of four (4) accredited investors from PPM-1 into the new subscription agreements under the
new financing (“PPM-2”- See Note 8 below), which resulted in conversion of $
| March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Convertible promissory notes | ||||||||
| Subscription agreements - accredited investors | $ | $ | ||||||
| Subscription agreements – related party | ||||||||
| Total convertible promissory notes | $ | $ | ||||||
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The
Company incurred approximately $
Concurrently
with the sale of the Units, JH Darbie was granted a warrant, exercisable over a five-year period, to purchase
The terms of convertible notes are summarized as follows:
| ■ | Term: Through March 31, 2023. | |
| ■ | Coupon: | |
| ■ | Convertible at the option of the holder at any time in the Company’s Common Stock or Edgepoint Common Stock. | |
| ■ | The
conversion price is initially set at $
For more information on the private placement, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024. |
In
February 2022, the Company and all except one of the Investors agreed to extend the maturity date of the Notes from March 31, 2022, to
March 31, 2023. In consideration for the extension of the Notes, the Company issued to the Investors an aggregate of
The
Company recognized amortization expense related to the debt discount and debt issuance costs of approximately $
NOTE 8 – PRIVATE PLACEMENT -2 (PPM-2) AND JH DARBIE FUNDING
In
July and October 2023, the Company entered into a series of subscription agreements with certain accredited investors (the “financing”)
whereby the Company issued and converted a total of Units from the previous PPM (“PPM -1”- See Note 7 above) into
the current subscription agreements under the PPM-2, which resulted in conversion of $
| ● | One | |
| ● | warrants to purchase an equivalent number of shares of the Company’s common stock at a strike price of $ per share (“Oncotelic warrant”). |
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In
January 2024, the Company converted the remaining debt of four (4) accredited investors from PPM-1 into the new subscription agreements
under the new financing into PPM-2, which resulted in conversion of $
The
Company converted the debt of fifteen (15) accredited investors from the previous PPM (“PPM -1”- See Note 7 above)
into the current subscription agreements under the PPM-2, which resulted in conversion of $
In connection with the consummation of Tranche 1, 2 and 3 and 4 of the July 2023 PPM, the Company entered into a Registration Rights Agreement granting certain registration rights with respect to the shares of the Company’s Common Stock issued in connection with the financing, as well as the shares of the Company’s Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. The issuance of the Units is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“Securities Act”), in reliance on the exemptions provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as provided in Rule 506 of Regulation D promulgated thereunder. The shares of common stock and warrants and any shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants, have not been registered under the Securities Act or any other applicable securities laws, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the PPM2 - JH Darbie Financing, net of debt discounts, consisted of the following amounts:
March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Convertible promissory notes | ||||||||
| PPM-2 Darbie Financing, inclusive of accrued interest, including related parties | $ | $ | ||||||
| Total PPM-2 Darbie Financing, net of discounts | $ | $ | ||||||
The
Company incurred approximately $
The terms of convertible notes are summarized as follows:
| ■ | Term: through January 31, 2026 | |
| ■ | Coupon: | |
| ■ | Convertible at the option of the holder at any time into the Company’s common stock | |
| ■ | Conversion price is set
at $ |
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Management
reviewed the guidance per ASC 470-60 Troubled debt restructurings and ASC 470-50 Debt-Modifications and Extinguishments and
concluded that the terms of the agreements were substantially different and, accounted for the transaction as a debt extinguishment.
The transaction related to T4 resulted in a loss from debt extinguishment of approximately $
| Expected Term | ||||
| Expected volatility | % | |||
| Risk-free interest rate | % | |||
| Dividend | % |
The Company
recorded approximately $
During
the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company incurred approximately $
NOTE 9 - RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Master Service Agreement with Autotelic Inc.
In October 2015, Oncotelic entered into a Master Service Agreement (the “MSA”) with Autotelic Inc., a related party that is partly-owned by the Company’s CEO Vuong Trieu, Ph.D. Dr. Trieu, a related party, is a control person in Autotelic Inc. Autotelic Inc. currently owns less than 10% of the Company. The MSA stated that Autotelic Inc. would provide business functions and services to the Company and allowed Autotelic Inc. to charge the Company for these expenses paid on its behalf. The MSA includes personnel costs allocated based on amount of time incurred and other services such as consultant fees, clinical studies, conferences and other operating expenses incurred on behalf of the Company. The Company had minimally used the services under the MSA since the formation of the JV with Dragon. The MSA requires a 90-day written termination notice in the event either party requires to terminate such services.
Expenses
related to the MSA were approximately $
License Agreement with Autotelic Inc.
In September 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive License Agreement with Autotelic. For more information on the exclusive license Agreement with Autotelic, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with SEC on April 12, 20242.
Notes Payable and Short-Term Loan – Related Parties
In
April 2019, the Company issued a convertible note to Dr. Trieu totaling $
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In
May 2021, Autotelic provided an additional short-term funding of $
Artius Consulting Agreement
On March 9, 2020, the Company and Artius Bioconsulting, LLC (“Artius”), for which Mr. King is the Managing Member, entered into an amendment to the Consulting Agreement dated December 1, 2018, under which Artius agreed to serve as a consultant to the Company for services related to the Company’s business from time to time, effective December 1, 2019 (the “Effective Date”) (the “Artius Agreement”). For more information on this Agreement, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
Maida Consulting Agreement
Effective May 5, 2020, the Company and Dr. Maida entered into an independent consulting agreement, commencing April 1, 2020 (the “Maida Agreement”), under which Dr. Maida will assist the Company in providing medical expertise and advice from time to time in the design, conduct and oversight of the Company’s existing and future clinical trials. For more information on this Agreement, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
The
Company recorded an expense of $
NOTE 10 - EQUITY PURCHASE AGREEMENT AND REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT
On May 3, 2021, the Company entered into an Equity Purchase Agreement (“EPL”) and Registration Rights Agreement with Peak One Opportunity Fund LP (“Peak One” or the “Investor”). For further information on EPL, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024. The Company also filed a post-effective amendment Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the Commission on April 12, 2024, and the Form S-1 was declared effective on April 22, 2024. The Company filed the prospectus under rule 424b3 with the SEC on April 26, 2024.
During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company did not sell any shares of Common Stock under the EPL.
NOTE 11 - STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
The following transactions affected the Company’s Stockholders’ Equity:
Issuance of Common Stock during the three months ended March 31, 2024
In
February 2024, Fourth Man partially converted $
Issuance of Common Stock during the three months ended March 31, 2023
In
February 2023, Blue Lake partially converted $
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Options
Pursuant to the Merger, the Company’s Common Stock and corresponding outstanding options survived. The below information details the Company’s associated option activity pre and post-merger.
As of March 31, 2024, the Company had options to purchase Common Stock that were outstanding under three stock option plans – the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2017 Plan”), the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”) and the 2005 Stock Plan (the “2005 Plan”). Under the 2017 Plan, up to shares of the Company’s Common Stock may be issued pursuant to awards granted in the form of nonqualified stock options, restricted and unrestricted stock awards, and other stock-based awards. Under the 2015 and 2005 Plans, taken together, up to shares of the Company’s Common Stock may be issued pursuant to awards granted in the form of incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, restricted and unrestricted stock awards, and other stock-based awards
Employees, consultants, and directors are eligible for awards granted under the 2017 and 2015 Plans. Since the adoption of the 2015 Plan, no further awards may be granted under the 2005 Plan, although options previously granted remain outstanding in accordance with their terms.
| Weighted | ||||||||
| Average | ||||||||
| For the three months ended March 31, 2024 | Shares | Exercise Price | ||||||
| Outstanding at January 1, 2024 | $ | |||||||
| Expired or cancelled | ||||||||
| Outstanding at March 31, 2024 | ||||||||
| Options exercisable at March 31, 2024 | ||||||||
| Weighted | ||||||||
| Average | ||||||||
| For the three months ended March 31, 2023 | Shares | Exercise Price | ||||||
| Outstanding at January 1, 2023 | $ | |||||||
| Expired or cancelled | ||||||||
| Outstanding at March 31, 2023 | $ | |||||||
| Exercisable at March 31, 2023 | $ | |||||||
Information on compensation-based stock option activity for qualified and unqualified stock options for the year ended December 31, 2023 can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
| Exercise prices | Outstanding Options | Weighted- Average Remaining Life In Years | Weighted- Average Exercise Price | Number Exercisable | ||||||||||||||
| $ | to $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||
| to $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| to $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| to $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| to $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| $ | ||||||||||||||||||
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The compensation expense attributed to the issuance of the options is recognized as they are vested. The employee stock option plan stock options are generally exercisable for ten years from the grant date and vest over various terms from the grant date to three years.
As of March 31, 2024, there was unamortized stock compensation cost related to the stock options granted during the year as the stock options granted during the year ended December 31, 2023 are considered vested. For more information on the stock options, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
The Company amortized $ stock compensation expense during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 on the 2021 and 2022 grants.
Warrants
The
Company has issued warrants in connection with the various financings conducted by the Company. For more information on the warrant issuances,
refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, approximately
A summary of our warrant activity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively are are shown as follows:
| Average | ||||||||
| For the three months ended March 31, 2024 | Shares | Exercise Price | ||||||
| Outstanding at January 1, 2024 | $ | |||||||
| Issued during the three months ended March 31, 2024 | ||||||||
| Exercised / cancelled during the three months ended March 31, 2024 | ( | ) | ||||||
| Outstanding at March 31, 2024 | $ | |||||||
| Average | ||||||||
| For the three months ended March 31, 2023 | Shares | Exercise Price | ||||||
| Outstanding at January 1, 2023 | $ | |||||||
| Issued during the three months ended March 31, 2023 | ||||||||
| Exercised / cancelled during the three months ended March 31, 2023 | ||||||||
| Outstanding at March 31, 2023 | $ | |||||||
The following table summarizes information about warrants outstanding and exercisable at March 31, 2024:
| Outstanding and exercisable | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted- | Weighted- | |||||||||||||||||
| Average | Average | |||||||||||||||||
| Number | Remaining Life | Exercise | Number | |||||||||||||||
| Exercise Price | Outstanding | in Years | Price | Exercisable | ||||||||||||||
| $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| - | ||||||||||||||||||
| - | ||||||||||||||||||
| $ | ||||||||||||||||||
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NOTE 13 – INCOME TAXES
The Company had gross deferred tax assets, which primarily relate to net operating loss carryforwards. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had gross federal and state net operating loss carryforwards, which are available to offset future taxable income, if any. The Company recorded a valuation allowance in the full amount of its net deferred tax assets since realization of such tax benefits has been determined by our management to be less likely than not. Information on our deferred tax assets and liabilities can be found in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
NOTE 14 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Leases
Currently, the Company is leasing the office located at 29397 Agoura Road, Suite 107, Agoura Hills, CA 91301 on a month-to-month basis until such time a new office is identified. The Company believes the office is sufficient for its current operations.
PointR Merger Consideration
The
total purchase price in the PointR Merger of $
Third Party Service Provider Claim
The
Company had disputed a judgement of $
Other claims
From time to time, the Company may become involved in certain claims arising in the ordinary course of business. One of the Company’s ex-employees has made a breach of employment contract claim against the Company. The Company and its legal counsel are evaluating the validity of the claim, as the Company believes that such claim has limited merits and is hopeful to attain a positive outcome for such claim. Since the Company and its legal counsel are still evaluating the claim, we are unable to quantify the amount such claim would be settled at, if at all settled.
NOTE 15 – SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Post-effective amendment of the EPL
The Company filed a new post-effective amendment in April 2024 and the new post-effective amendment was found effective on April 22, 2024. The Company filed a prospectus under rule 424b3 with the SEC on April 26, 2024.
Term Sheet with Mosaic ImmunoEngeinnering (“Mosaic”)
The Company entered
into a binding term sheet (the “Term Sheet”) with Mosaic on April 26, 2024. As per the terms contained in the Term
Sheet, Mosaic will pay Oncotelic $ million in shares upon the closing of a definitive agreement for certain pre-agreed indications
of CA4P. In addition, Oncotelic may earn upto $
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ITEM 2: MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (the “Quarterly Report” or “Report”) includes a number of forward-looking statements that reflect management’s current views with respect to future events and financial performance. Forward-looking statements are projections in respect of future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Those statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of us and members of our management team, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, or performance. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors. Some of these risks are included in the section entitled “Risk Factors” set forth in this Annual Report and in other reports that we file with the SEC. The occurrence of any of these risks, or others of which we are currently unaware, may cause our company’s actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks include, by way of example and without limitation:
| ● | our ability to successfully commercialize our products and services on a large enough scale to generate profitable operations; | |
| ● | our ability to maintain and develop relationships with customers and suppliers; | |
| ● | our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses or new products, or to realize anticipated synergies in connection with acquisitions of businesses or products; | |
| ● | expectations concerning our ability to raise additional funding and to continue as a going concern; | |
| ● | our ability to successfully implement our business plan; | |
| ● | our ability to successfully operate GMP Biotechnology Limited (“GMP Bio”), our joint venture with Dragon Overseas Limited (“Dragon”), to develop our product portfolio, or to have a successful IPO for GMP Bio as planned; | |
| ● | our ability to avoid, or to adequately address any intellectual property claims brought by third parties; and |
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| ● | the anticipated impact of any changes in industry regulation. | |
| ● | building and the success of our nanoparticle platform and the related success of launching the platform | |
| ● | the success of the launch of a company with a DAO infrastructure, the success of the entity and the plans surrounding the pet and animal health, the ability for the Company to register the tokens of Pet2Dao, the actual filing of a registration statement and approval of the tokens as registrable securities with the SEC through a registration statement, the ability of the tokens to be tradable or any value such tokens may have if they become tradable. |
Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by us in this Quarterly Report and in our other reports filed with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in the future operating results over time except as required by law. We believe that our assumptions are based upon reasonable data derived from and known about our business and operations. No assurances are made that the actual results of operations or the results of our future activities will not differ materially from our assumptions.
Corporate History
Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. (“Oncotelic”), was formed in the State of New York in 1988 as OXiGENE, Inc., was reincorporated in the State of Delaware in 1992, and changed its name to Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. in 2016, and Oncotelic Therapeutics, Inc. in November 2020. Oncotelic conducts business activities through Oncotelic and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Oncotelic, Inc., a Delaware corporation, PointR Data, Inc. (“PointR”), a Delaware corporation, Pet2DAO Inc., a Delaware corporation and EdgePoint AI, Inc. (“Edgepoint”), a Delaware Corporation for which there are non-controlling interests, (Oncotelic, Oncotelic Inc., PointR, Pet2DAO and Edgepoint are collectively called the “Company” or “We”). The Company completed a reverse merger with Oncotelic Inc in April 2019, a merger with PointR in November 2019 and formed a subsidiary Edgepoint in February 2020. For more information on these mergers, 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
Company Overview
We are a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for the treatment of cancer. Our goal is to advance our drug candidates into late-stage pivotal clinical trials and either sell marketing rights to a larger pharmaceutical company or seek FDA approval ourselves.
The Company is currently developing OT-101, through its joint venture (“JV”) with Dragon Overseas Capital Limited (“Dragon”) and GMP Biotechnology Limited (“GMP Bio”), both affiliates of Golden Mountain Partners (“GMP”), for various cancers and COVID-19, Artemisinin for COVID-19 and AI technologies for manufacturing, COVID-19 and other AI technologies. The Company is also independently planning to develop OT-101 for certain animal health indications and contemplating using crypto currencies for that platform. The Company has acquired apomorphine for Parkinson’s Disease, erectile dysfunction and female sexual dysfunction. In addition, the Company is evaluating the further development of its product candidates OXi4503 as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes and CA4P in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced metastatic melanoma.
In 2020, the Company had entered into an agreement and supplemental agreement with GMP for a total of $1.2 million to render services for the development of OT-101 for COVID-19 and such amount was recorded as revenue upon completion of all performance obligations under the agreement. The Company secured various financings from GMP between 2020 and early 2022. For information on the GMP financings, please refer to GMP Note purchase agreements and unsecured notes below.
For more information on the GMP debt financing and the JV, refer to Notes 5 and 6 of the unaudited Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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In November 2022, the Company formed a Decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) entity, Pet2DAO, Inc. (“Pet2DAO”), as a wholly owned subsidiary. A DAO is an emerging form of legal structure, that has no central governing body, and whose members share a common goal to act in the best interest of the entity. Pet2DAO is a DAO technology company, integrating the strong governance of traditional corporations with the innovative DAO architecture. The Company will look to engage stakeholders, to build value through the DAO, while maintaining the rigor of traditional corporations, including governance, compliance, and accountability through a team of veterans in public companies with innovators in AI, blockchain and Web3. Pet2DAO will initially be looking to develop products for the animal health space. The Company will initially issue regular tokens and non-fungible tokens (“NFT” and cumulatively “Tokens”) of Pet2DAO called PDAO to its employees, shareholders, and key opinion leaders (“KOLs’) and use the Tokens to propose and vote on various animal health related programs. In the future, the Company will evaluate and plan to register these tokens with the SEC to make such Tokens freely tradable at a future point in time.
Since April 2019, we have been operating under significant capital constraints, which has curtailed our ability to achieve meaningful progress in either of the Company’s two clinical programs – one of which is developing OXi4503 as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes and the other of which is developing CA4P in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor for the treatment of advanced metastatic melanoma. We believe that the merger of Oncotelic and Oncotelic Inc. creates a combined company that has potential to generate shareholder value through a promising pipeline of next generation immunotherapies targeting several significant cancer markets where there is a lack of therapeutic options and lack of an effective immunotherapy protocol.
Forever Prosperity (previously GMP) Note purchase agreements and unsecured notes
Between June 2020 and January 2022, the Company entered into various purchase agreements and promissory notes with GMP, cumulatively totaling $4.5 million. Such notes were assigned to Forever Prosperity, LLC, an affiliated entity of GMP.
For more information on the GMP debt financing, refer to Note 5 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Joint Venture
In March 2022, the Company entered into (i) a joint venture (the “JV”) agreement with Dragon and GMP Bio, both affiliates of GMP, (and the Company, Dragon and GMP Bio are collectively called the “Parties”) (the “JVA”), (ii) a license agreement for rights to OT-101 (the “US License Agreement”) for the territory within the United States of America (the “US”) with Sapu Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of GMP Bio and (iii) a license agreement for rights to OT-101 for the rest of the world with GMP Bio (the “Ex-US Rights Agreement”, and the US License Agreement and the Ex-US License Agreement are collectively called the “Agreements”). For more information on the JV, JVA, and Agreements, refer to our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024.
New Private Placement with JH Darbie
Between July 2023 and January 2024, the Company entered into a series of subscription agreements with 15 accredited investors which resulted in a conversion of a gross amount of $1.0 million, consisting of 40 notes, under the prior JH Darbie Financing into new debt to the Company. JH Darbie and the Company are parties to a March 2023 placement agent agreement (“Agreement”) pursuant to which JH Darbie has the right to sell/convert a minimum of 10 Units and a maximum of 200 Units on a best-efforts basis. Further, in October 2023, the Company entered into a series of subscription agreements with 27 accredited investors which resulted in a conversion of a gross amount of $1.05 million, consisting of 42 notes, under the prior JH Darbie Financing into new debt to the Company. Additionally, in January 2024, Company entered into a series of subscription agreements with 4 accredited investors which resulted in a conversion of a gross amount of $0.3 million, consisting of 12 notes. The July 2023, October 2023 and January 2024 conversions fully converted JH Darbie PPM-1 notes into PPM-2 notes. For more information on the new JH Darbie Financing, refer to Note 8 of these Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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March 2022 Financing
In March 2022, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with Fourth Man, pursuant to which the Company issued convertible promissory note in the aggregate principal amount of $0.25 million, convertible into shares of common stock of the Company. The convertible notes carry a twelve (12%) percent coupon and a default coupon of 16% and mature at the earliest of one year from issuance or upon event of default. As of December 31, 2022, this note is in Investors have the right at any time following issuance date to convert all or any part of the outstanding and unpaid amount of the note into the Company’s Common Stock at a conversion price established at a fixed rate of $0.10. The Company granted a total number of 1,250,000 warrants convertible into an equivalent number of the Company common shares at a strike price of $0.20 up to five years after issuance. The Placement agent was also granted a total of 125,000 warrants convertible into an equivalent number of the Company Common Stock at a strike price of $0.20 up to five years after issuance, as part of a finder’s fee agreement.In February 2024, the Company converted $35,000 in principal, legal fees and accrued interest of the Fourth Man March 2022 note, into 500,000 shares of common stock.
May 2022 Note
In May 2022, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with one institutional investor, whereby the Company issued one convertible note in the aggregate principal amount of $605,000 convertible into shares of common stock of the Company (“May 2022 Mast Note”). The convertible notes carry a twelve (12%) percent coupon and a default coupon of 16% and mature at the earliest of one year from issuance or upon event of default. Investor has the right at any time following issuance date to convert all or any part of the outstanding and unpaid amount of the note into the Company’s common stock at a conversion price established at a fixed rate of $0.10. The Company granted a total number of 3,025,000 warrants convertible into an equivalent number of the Company common shares at a strike price of $0.20 up to five years after issuance. The Placement agent was also granted a total amount of 302,500 as part of a finder’s fee agreement. Portion of the proceeds were be used to retire some of the November/December 2021 notes. The May 2022 Note was extended till May 27, 2024.
For more information on the May 2022 Financing, refer to Note 5 of current Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
June 2022 Note
In June 2022, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with one institutional investor, whereby the Company issued one convertible note in the aggregate principal amount of $335,000 convertible into shares of common stock of the Company (“June 2022 Blue Lake Note”). The convertible notes carry a twelve (12%) percent coupon and a default coupon of 16% and mature at the earliest of one year from issuance or upon event of default. The investor has the right at any time following issuance date to convert all or any part of the outstanding and unpaid amount of the note into the Company’s common stock at a conversion price established at a fixed rate of $0.10. The Company granted a total number of 837,500 warrants convertible into an equivalent number of the Company common shares at a strike price of $0.20 up to five years after issuance. The Placement agent was also granted a total of 83,750 warrants convertible into an equivalent number of the Company Common Stock at a strike price of $0.20 up to five years after issuance, as part of a finder’s fee agreement. A portion of the proceeds were used to retire some of the November/December 2021 notes. As of March 31, 2024, this note is in technical default due to cross default provision contained in November / December 2021 Notes. However, the Company has not received notification of default from the lender.
For more information on the June 2022 Financing, refer to Note 5 of current Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
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Short-term loans
In May 2021, Autotelic provided an additional short-term funding of approximately $0.3 million to the Company, which was converted into the August 2021 Notes. Autotelic provided an additional $0.1 million short term loan to the Company during the year ended December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2023, Autotelic provided $1.4 million in various short-term loans to the Company. In the three months ended March 31, 2024 Autotelic Inc. provided additional short-term funding of $250,000 to the Company. As such, approximately $2 million was outstanding and payable to Autotelic at March 31, 2024.
The Company’s CFO was owed approximately $25,000 at December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the company’s CFO provided an additional short-term advance of $10,000. As such, approximately $35,000 was outstanding to the Company’s CFO at March 31, 2024.
In December 2023, the Company received $50,000 from the company’s CEO. As such, $50,000 was outstanding to the Company’s CEO at March 31, 2024.
Equity Purchase Agreement
In May 2021, the Company entered into an Equity Purchase Agreement (the “EPL”) and Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P. (“Peak One”), pursuant to which the Company shall have the right, but not the obligation, to direct Peak One to purchase up to $10.0 million (the “Maximum Commitment Amount”) in shares of the common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Common Stock”) in multiple tranches. The Company filed a post-effective amendment for the EPL on April 12, 2024 with the SEC and the SEC has made the post-effective amendment effective on April 22, 2024. The Company filed a prospectus under rule 424b3 with the SEC on April 26, 2024. For more information on the EPL, refer to Note 10 of the Notes to the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.
Term Sheet with Mosaic ImmunoEngeinnering (“Mosaic”)
The Company entered into a binding term sheet (the “Term Sheet”) with Mosaic on April 26, 2024. As per the terms contained in the Term Sheet, Mosaic will pay Oncotelic $15 million in shares upon the closing of a definitive agreement for certain pre-agreed indications of CA4P. In addition, Oncotelic may earn upto $15 million in cash and $15 million in shares of Mosaic, upon achievement of certain agreed upon milestones. Additional terms of the Term Sheet include that (1) Mosiac to continue the development work necessary to achieve the mutually agreed upon milestones which will include an annual budget of $2.0 – $2.5 million, (2) Oncotelic will loan Mosaic funds to cover Mosaic’s annual audit and operational costs till June 1, 2024, at terms to be decided, and repayable upon Mosaic raising financings of $2 million or more, in cash or additional shares of Mosaic (3) Oncotelic will assist Mosaic to raise at least $2 million to fund the operations of Mosaic and (4) in the event Oncotelic is unable to assist Mosiac raise the required funds as per clause 3 above, then the transaction shall move forward as a reverse acquisition/merger, with conditions typical of such a transaction. Pursuant to the Term Sheet, the parties agreed to negotiate in good faith towards the execution of the Definitive Agreements and the closing of the transactions contemplated thereby, which will be subject to customary due diligence and other conditions as described in the Term Sheet.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“US GAAP”) requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported revenues and expense during the reporting periods. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances at the time we make such estimates. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from our estimates, judgments, and assumptions. We periodically review our estimates considering changes in circumstances, facts, and experience. The effects of material revisions in estimates are reflected in the financial statements prospectively from the date of the change in estimate. Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 to our financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.
We define our critical accounting policies as those accounting principles that require us to make subjective estimates and judgments about matters that are uncertain and are likely to have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations, as well as the specific manner in which we apply those principles. We believe the critical accounting policies used in the preparation of our financial statements that require significant estimates and judgments are the following:
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company reviews long-lived assets, including definite-lived intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. The recoverability of these assets is determined by comparing the forecasted undiscounted net cash flows of the operation to which the assets relate to the carrying amount. If the operation is determined to be unable to recover the carrying amount of its assets, then these assets are written down first, followed by other long-lived assets of the operation to fair value. Fair value is determined based on discounted cash flows or appraised values, depending on the nature of the assets.
Intangible Assets
The Company records its intangible assets at cost in accordance with ASC 350, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other. The Company reviews the intangible assets for impairment on an annual basis or if events or changes in circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that they are impaired. These events could include a significant change in the business climate, legal factors, a decline in operating performance, competition, sale or disposition of a significant portion of the business, or other factors.
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Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price of acquired business over the estimated fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. Goodwill is not amortized but is tested for impairment at least once annually, at the reporting unit level or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. The goodwill impairment test is applied by performing a qualitative assessment before calculating the fair value of the reporting unit. If, on the basis of qualitative factors, it is considered not more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, further testing of goodwill for impairment would not be required. Otherwise, goodwill impairment is tested using a two-step approach.
The first step involves comparing the fair value of the reporting unit to its carrying amount. If the fair value of the reporting unit is determined to be greater than its carrying amount, there is no impairment. If the reporting unit’s carrying amount is determined to be greater than the fair value, the second step must be completed to measure the amount of impairment, if any. The second step involves calculating the implied fair value of goodwill by deducting the fair value of all tangible and intangible assets, excluding goodwill, of the reporting unit from the fair value of the reporting unit as determined in step one. The implied fair value of the goodwill in this step is compared to the carrying value of goodwill. If the implied fair value of the goodwill is less than the carrying value of the goodwill, an impairment loss equivalent to the difference is recorded.
Convertible Instruments
The Company evaluates and accounts for conversion options embedded in its convertible instruments in accordance with ASC 815 “Derivatives and Hedging”.
ASC 815 generally provides three criteria that, if met, require companies to bifurcate conversion options from their host instruments and account for them as free standing derivative financial instruments. These three criteria include circumstances in which (a) the economic characteristics and risks of the embedded derivative instrument are not clearly and closely related to the economic characteristics and risks of the host contract, (b) the hybrid instrument that embodies both the embedded derivative instrument and the host contract is not re-measured at fair value under otherwise applicable generally accepted accounting principles with changes in fair value reported in earnings as they occur, and (c) a separate instrument with the same terms as the embedded derivative instrument would be considered a derivative instrument. Professional standards also provide an exception to this rule when the host instrument is deemed to be conventional as defined under professional standards.
The Company accounts for convertible instruments (when it has determined that the embedded conversion options should not be bifurcated from their host instruments) in accordance with ASC 470-20 “Debt – Debt with Conversion and Other Options.” Accordingly, the Company records, when necessary, discounts to convertible notes for the intrinsic value of conversion options embedded in debt instruments based upon the differences between the fair value of the underlying common stock at the commitment date of the note transaction and the effective conversion price embedded in the note. Original issue discounts under these arrangements are amortized over the term of the related debt to their earliest date of redemption. The Company also records when necessary deemed dividends for the intrinsic value of conversion options embedded in preferred shares based upon the differences between the fair value of the underlying common stock at the commitment date of the note transaction and the effective conversion price embedded in the note.
ASC 815-40 “Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity” provides that, among other things, generally, if an event is not within the entity’s control could or require net cash settlement, then the contract shall be classified as an asset or a liability.
Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to the Company’s Common Stock
We have generally issued derivative financial instruments, such as warrants, in connection with our equity offerings. We evaluate the terms of these derivative financial instruments in order to determine their accounting treatment in our financial statements. Key considerations include whether the financial instruments are freestanding and whether they contain conditional obligations. If the warrants are freestanding, do not contain conditional obligations and meet other classification criteria, we account for the warrants as an equity instrument. However, if the warrants contain conditional obligations, then we account for the warrants as a liability until the conditional obligations are met or are no longer relevant. Because no established market prices exist for the warrants that we issue in connection with our equity offerings, we must estimate the fair value of the warrants, which is as inherently subjective as it is for stock options, and for similar reasons as noted in the stock-based compensation section above. For financial instruments which are accounted for as a liability, we report any changes in their estimated fair values as gains or losses in our Consolidated Statement of Income.
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Variable Interest Entity (VIE) Accounting
We evaluate our ownership, contractual relationships and other interests in entities to determine the nature and extent of the interests, whether such interests are variable interests and whether the entities are VIEs in accordance with ASC 810, Consolidations. These evaluations can be complex and involve Management judgment as well as the use of estimates and assumptions based on available historical information, among other factors. Based on these evaluations, if the Company determines that it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE, the entity is consolidated into the financial statements.
Investments - Equity Method
The Company accounts for equity method investments at cost, adjusted for the Company’s share of the investee’s earnings or losses, which are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations. The Company periodically reviews the investments for other than temporary declines in fair value below cost and more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable.
The Investment in GMP Bio represents the investment into equity securities for which the Company elected the fair value option pursuant to ASC 825-10-15 and subsequent fair value changes in the GMP Bio shares are included in the result from continuing operations. Refer to Note 6 of these Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
Joint Venture agreement
We have equity interest in unconsolidated arrangement that is primarily engaged in the business of drug discovery, development, and commercialization, including but not limited to development and commercialization of TGF-beta therapeutics as well as establishing and operating contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) facilities and capabilities. The Company first reviewed the arrangement to determine if it meets the definition of an accounting joint venture pursuant to ASC 323-10-20. In order to meet the definition of a joint venture, the arrangement must have all of the following characteristics, (i) the arrangement is organized within a separate legal entity, (ii) the entity is under the joint control of the venturers, (iii) the venturers must be able to exercise joint control through their equity investments, (iv) the qualitative characteristics of the entity, including its purpose and design must be consistent with the definition of a joint venture
We consolidate arrangements that are considered to be VIEs where we are the primary beneficiary. We analyze our investments in joint ventures to determine if the joint venture is considered a VIE and would require consolidation. We (i) evaluate the sufficiency of the total equity investment at risk, (ii) review the voting rights and decision-making authority of the equity investment holders as a group and whether there are limited partners (or similar owning entities) that lack substantive participating or kick out rights, guaranteed returns, protection against losses, or capping of residual returns within the group and (iii) establish whether activities within the venture are on behalf of an investor with disproportionately few voting rights in making this VIE determination.
To the extent that we own interests in a VIE and we (i) have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the VIE and (ii) have the obligation or rights to absorb losses or receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE, then we would be determined to be the primary beneficiary and would consolidate the VIE. To the extent that we own interests in a VIE, then at each reporting period, we re-assess our conclusions as to which, if any, party within the VIE is considered the primary beneficiary.
To the extent that our arrangements do not qualify as VIEs, they are consolidated if we control them through majority ownership interests or if we are the managing entity (general partner or managing member) and our partner does not have substantive participating rights. Control is further demonstrated by our ability to unilaterally make significant operating decisions, refinance debt, and sell the assets of the joint venture without the consent of the non-managing entity and the inability of the non-managing entity to remove us from our role as the managing entity.
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We use the equity method of accounting for those arrangements where we exercise significant influence but do not have control. Under the equity method of accounting, our investment in each arrangement is included on our consolidated balance sheet; however, the assets and liabilities of the joint ventures for which we use the equity method are not included on our consolidated balance sheet.
When we sell or contribute properties to unconsolidated arrangements and retain a non-controlling ownership interest in such assets, we recognize the difference between the consideration received and the carrying amount of the asset sold or contributed when its derecognition criteria are met. The equity method investment we retain in such partial sale transactions is noncash consideration and is measured at fair value. As a result, the accounting for a partial sale will result in the recognition of a full gain or loss.
When circumstances indicate there may have been a reduction in the value of an equity investment, we evaluate whether the loss in value is other than temporary. If we conclude it is other than temporary, we recognize an impairment charge to reflect the equity investment at fair value.
The Company elected the fair value option under the fair value option Subsection of Section 825-10-15 to account for its equity-method investment.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development expense consist of costs we incur for the development of our investigational drugs and, to a lesser extent, for preclinical research activities. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development expense include clinical trial costs, salaries and benefits of employees, including associated stock-based compensation, payments to clinical investigators, drug manufacturing costs, laboratory supplies and facility costs. Clinical trial costs are a significant component of our research and development expense, and these can be difficult to accurately estimate. Included in clinical trial costs are fees paid to other entities that conduct certain research and development activities on our behalf, such as clinical research organizations, or CROs. We estimate clinical trial expense based on the services performed pursuant to contracts with research institutions such as CROs and the actual clinical investigators. These estimates are based on actual time and expenses incurred by the CRO and the clinical investigators. Also included in clinical trial expense are costs based on the level of patient enrollment into the clinical trial and the actual services performed under the related clinical trial agreement. Changes in clinical trial assumptions, such as the length of time estimated to enroll all patients, rate of screening failures, patient drop-out rates, number and nature of adverse event reports and the total number of patients enrolled can impact the average and expected cost per patient and the overall cost of the clinical trial. Based on patient enrollment reports and services provided, we may periodically adjust estimates for the clinical trial costs. If we do not identify costs that we have begun to incur or if we underestimate or overestimate the level of services performed, the length of time for these services or the costs of these services, our actual expenses could differ from our estimates.
Share-Based Compensation
We record the estimated fair value of all share-based payments issued to employees and other service providers. Our share-based payments consist primarily of stock options. The valuation of stock options is an inherently subjective process, since market values are not available for any stock options in our equity securities. Market values are also not available on long-term, non-transferable stock options in other equity securities. With no market values on options to trade in our common stock and no comparable market values on any long-term non-transferable stock options, the process of valuing our stock options is even more uncertain and subjective. Accordingly, we use a Black-Scholes option pricing model to derive an estimated fair value of the stock options which we issue. The Black-Scholes option pricing model requires certain input assumptions, including the expected term of the options and the expected volatility of our common stock. Changes in these assumptions could have a material impact on the estimated fair value that we record for share-based payments that we issue. We determine the term of the options based on the simplified method, which averages the vesting period and the contractual life of the stock option. We determine the expected volatility based on the historical volatility of our common stock over a period commensurate with the option’s expected term. The Black-Scholes option pricing model also requires assumptions for risk-free interest rates and the expected dividend yield of our common stock, but we feel that these values are more objective and note that changes in these values do not have a significant impact on the estimated value of the options when compared to the volatility and term assumptions.
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We are also required to estimate the level of award forfeitures expected to occur and record compensation expense only for those awards that are ultimately expected to vest. Accordingly, we perform a historical analysis of option awards that are forfeited prior to vesting, and record total stock option expense that reflects this estimated forfeiture rate.
Results of Operations
A comparison of the Company’s operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, is as follows.
March 31, 2024 | March 31, 2023 | Variance | ||||||||||
| Operating expense: | ||||||||||||
| Research and development | $ | 480 | $ | 65,916 | $ | (65,436 | ) | |||||
| General and administrative | 166,742 | 198,200 | (31,458 | ) | ||||||||
| Total operating expense | 167,222 | 264,116 | (96,894 | ) | ||||||||
| Loss from operations | (167,222 | ) | (264,116 | ) | 96,894 | |||||||
| Interest expense, net | (234,709 | ) | (394,278 | ) | 159,569 | |||||||
| Reimbursement for expenses – related party | 12,538 | 72,246 | (59,708 | ) | ||||||||
| Change in fair value of derivative on debt | 2,476 | (19,896 | ) | 22,372 | ||||||||
| Loss on debt conversion | (88,258 | ) | - | (88,258 | ) | |||||||
| Net income (loss) before controlling interests | $ | (475,175 | ) | $ | (606,044 | ) | $ | 130,869 | ||||
Net Loss
We recorded a net loss of approximately $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared to approximately $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. The lower loss of approximately $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 as compared to the same period of 2023 was primarily due to lower operational expenses of approximately $0.1 million, lower interest expense by approximately $0.2 million, lower change in value of derivatives on debt by approximately $22 thousand, offset by higher loss on extinguishment of debt of approximately $0.1 million and lower reimbursement for expenses from a related party of approximately $60 thousand.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development (“R&D”) expenses decreased by approximately $65 thousand for the three months ended March 31, 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The lower R&D cost was primarily related to lower compensation and operational costs, as these costs are now being borne by our JV since April 2022.
Now that we have formed a joint venture with GMP Bio, whereby we are able to transfer the responsibility of our drug development program related to OT-101 to the JV, we plan to increase research and development activities related to apomorphine, the initiation of new clinical trials for our other oncology indications as well continuing or expanding on the trials and development of AI based tools and applications for OT-101 and Artemisinin for COVID-19 and other epidemics, and therefore believe that research and development expense may increase in the future, subject to our continuing ability to secure sufficient funding to continue planned operations.
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General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative (“G&A”) expenses decreased by approximately $31 thousand for the three months ended March 31, 2024 compared to the three months ended March 31, 2023, primarily due to the decrease in legal & professional and other operating costs.
Now that we have formed a joint venture with GMP Bio, we may be able to transfer the responsibility of some or most of our G&A expenses to the joint venture, however, we may see an increase in G&A expenses, subject to our continuing ability to secure sufficient funding to continue planned operations.
Interest Expense, Net
We recorded interest expense, including amortization of debt costs, of approximately $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 in connection with debt raised from various convertible notes, including the JH Darbie Financing and other debt financings, as compared to $0.4 million for the same period of 2023. For more information on debt raised from convertible notes and the JH Darbie Financing, see Note 5 and Note 7 of the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements of this Quarterly Report.
Reimbursement of expenses
The Company was reimbursed approximately $12 thousand, by Autotelic Inc. a related party, during the three months ended March 31, 2024, for expenses incurred by the Company on behalf of our JV. The Company was reimbursed $72 thousand for the same period in 2023.
Change in Value of Derivatives
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we recorded a gain of approximately $2 thousand due to change in the value of the derivatives on the notes issued to our CEO and the bridge investors. Correspondingly, during the three months ended March 31, 2023, we recorded a loss of $20 thousand due to the change in value of derivatives on the notes issued to our CEO and the bridge investors.
Loss on Conversion of Debt
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we recorded a loss of approximately $90 thousand on conversion or extinguishment of debt. No similar loss was recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2023.
Liquidity, Financial Condition and Capital Resources ($s in ‘000’s)
March 31, 2024 | December 31, 2023 | |||||||
| Cash | $ | 209 | $ | 190 | ||||
| Working capital | (16,281 | ) | (16,233 | ) | ||||
| Stockholders’ Equity | 11,249 | 11,611 | ||||||
The Company has experienced net losses every year since inception and as of March 31, 2024 had an accumulated deficit of approximately $34 million. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had approximately $0.2 million in cash, and current liabilities of approximately $16.5 million. Of the approximately $16.5 million in current liabilities, of which approximately $1.3 million are net assumed liabilities of the Company as part of the Oncotelic Inc. reverse merger, $4.7 million was debt for conducting clinical trials for OT-101 from GMP and $2.6 million related to contingent liability to issue Common Stock of the Company to PointR shareholders upon achievement of certain milestones. The Company does not expect to generate any meaningful revenue from product sales or licensing in the near future and expects to incur additional operating losses over the next several years, primarily as a result of the Company’s plans to continue clinical trials for its investigational drugs. Since the Company successfully formed the joint venture with Dragon Overseas and GMP Bio, all costs associated with developing the assets licensed to the JV and a substantial portion of the G&A expenses will shift over to the JV and hence the Company may be able to reduce its expenses. The Company’s limited capital resources, history of recurring losses and uncertainties as to whether the Company’s operations will become profitable raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements contained in this report do not include any adjustments related to the recoverability of assets or classifications of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.
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The principal source of the Company’s working capital deficit to date has been the issuance of convertible notes, a substantial part of which has been provided by officers and certain insiders, and sale of equity under the EPA with Peak One. The Company will need to raise additional capital in order to fund its operations and continue development of product candidates. The Company is evaluating the options to further the development of the Company’s product candidates, AL-101, Artemisinin for COVID-19, developing AI technologies to support the COVID-19 therapies; in addition to evaluating the development pathway of its product candidates; OXi4503 and/or CA4P. The Company is also independently planning to develop OT-101 for certain animal health indications and contemplating using crypto currencies for that platform.
The Company anticipates raising substantial additional capital through the sale of equity securities and/or debt, but no new financing arrangements are in place at this time.
If the Company is unable to access additional funds when needed, it may not be able to continue the development of these investigational drugs and the Company could be required to delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of its development programs and operations. Any additional equity financing, if available, would be dilutive to the current stockholders and may not be available on favorable terms. Additional debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants and could also be dilutive. The Company’s ability to access capital is not assured and, if access is not achieved on a timely basis, would materially harm the Company’s financial condition, the value of its common stock and its business prospects.
Cash Flows
| Three month ended March 31, | ||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | |||||||
| Net cash used in operating activities | $ | (231 | ) | $ | (251 | ) | ||
| Net cash provided by investing activities | - | - | ||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 250 | 200 | ||||||
| Increase (decrease) in cash | $ | 19 | $ | (51 | ) | |||
Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024. This was due to the net loss of approximately $0.5 million, primarily offset by non-cash amortization of debt discounts and deferred financing costs of approximately $38 thousand, approximately $0.1 million of loss on conversion of debt and and in operating assets and liabilities of approximately $0.1 million.
Net cash used in operating activities was approximately $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023. This was due to the net loss of approximately $0.6 million, primarily offset by non-cash amortization of debt discounts and deferred financing costs of approximately $0.2 million and in operating assets and liabilities of approximately $0.2 million.
Financing Activities
For the three months ended March 31, 2024, net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $0.3 million due to a short-term convertible loan from Autotelic Inc. of $0.2 million.
For the three months ended March 31, 2023, net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $0.2 million primarily due to a short-term convertible loan from Autotelic Inc. of $0.2 million.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We have no off-balance sheet arrangements.
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Effects of Inflation
We do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our business, revenues or operating results during the periods presented.
Contractual Obligations
Our current drug development programs are based on a series of compounds called combretastatins, which we have exclusively licensed from Arizona State University, or ASU. If our current drug candidates are approved, we will be required to pay low to mid-single-digit royalties on future net sales of products associated with the ASU patent rights until these patent rights expire.
We also have an exclusive license from Bristol-Myers Squibb, or BMS, for certain patent rights to particular combretastatins, including CA4P. If CA4P is approved, we will be required to pay low-single-digit royalties on future net sales of products associated with the BMS patent rights until these patent rights expire.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Our cash is maintained in U.S. dollar accounts. We have adopted a policy for the cash that we hold, and also for any cash equivalents and investments that we may hold, the primary objective of which is to preserve principal, while also maintaining liquidity to meet our operating needs and maximize yields to the extent possible. Although our investments can be subject to credit risk, we follow procedures to limit the amount of credit exposure in any single issue, issuer or type of investment. Our investments are also subject to interest rate risk and would be likely to decrease in value if market interest rates increase. However, due to the generally conservative nature of our investments and relatively short duration, we believe that interest rate risk is mitigated.
Although we may from time to time manufacture drugs and conduct preclinical or clinical trials outside of the United States, we believe our exposure to foreign currency risk to be immaterial.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. In designing disclosure controls and procedures, our management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible disclosure controls and procedures. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance of achieving the desired control objectives.
As required by Rule 13a-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and our Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) conducted an evaluation as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on that evaluation, our CEO and our CFO each concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are not effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act, (i) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and (ii) is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our CEO and our CFO, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
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Material Weaknesses in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management conducted an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2024 based on the framework established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, management has determined that the Registrant’s internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2024 was not effective as a result of certain material weaknesses.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
The ineffectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting was due to the following material weaknesses which are observed in many small companies with a small number of accounting and financial reporting staff:
| ● | Lack of formal policies and procedures; |
| ● | Lack of adequate independent directors on the Company’s board of directors and committees to oversee financial reporting responsibilities; |
| ● | Inadequate or lack of segregation of duties; |
| ● | Lack of dedicated resources and experienced personnel to design and implement internal control procedures to support financial reporting objectives; |
| ● | Lack of risk assessment procedures on internal controls to detect financial reporting risks on a timely manner. |
Management’s Plan to Remediate the Material Weaknesses
Management has been implementing and continues to implement measures designed to ensure that control deficiencies contributing to the material weakness are remediated, such that these controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively. The remediation actions planned include:
| ● | Continue to search for, evaluate and recruit qualified independent outside directors; |
| ● | Once independent directors are on Board, to augment or replace the non-independent directors to the Audit Committee and other committees. |
| ● | Identify gaps in our skills base and the expertise of our staff required to meet the financial reporting requirements of a public company; and |
| ● | Continue to develop policies and procedures on internal control over financial reporting and monitor the effectiveness of operations on existing controls and procedures. |
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
During the three months ended March 31, 2024, we continued to execute upon our planned remediation actions which are all intended to strengthen our overall control environment, within the limited resources available to us. We have made some progress in our planned remediation efforts, and we expect the Company to complete its planned execution of internal controls over financial reporting depending on the availability of resources.
We are committed to maintaining a strong internal control environment and believe that these remediation efforts will represent significant improvements in our control environment. Our management will continue to monitor and evaluate the relevance of our risk-based approach and the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures over financial reporting on an ongoing basis and is committed to taking further action and implementing additional enhancements or improvements, as necessary and as funds allow.
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PART II – OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
The Company had disputed a judgement of $20,000 for a non-payment to a third service provider. The Company considered the claim to be immaterial to the financial position of the Company. The Company had filed a counter claim on the third-party service provider as the Company believed the claim to be false and malicious to the interests of the Company. The Honorable Court overruled the previous judgement and the Company had sued the third-party service provider. In March 2024, the Honorable Court’s decision was in favor of the Company due to the reasons described above and the matter has been dismissed. The third party service provider has filed an appeal with the Honorable Court.
Other claims
One of the Company’s ex-employees has made a breach of employment contract claim against the Company. The Company and its legal counsel are evaluating the validity of the claim, as the Company believes that such claim has limited merits and is hopeful to attain a positive outcome for such claim. Since the Company and its legal counsel are still evaluating the claim, we are unable to quantify the amount such claim would be settled at, if at all settled.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the risk factor described below, for information about the risks and uncertainties related to our business, please see the risk factors described in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024 and other SEC filings. The risks described below and in our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K are not the only risks facing our Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and/or operating results.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use Of Proceeds
In February 2024, Blue Lake partially converted $35,000 of their debt, legal fees and accrued interest. In connection with the partial Note conversion, the Company issued 500,000 shares of Common Stock to Blue Lake.
Item 3. Defaults upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not Applicable.
Item 5. Other Information
None.
ITEM 6. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
In reviewing the agreements included as exhibits to this Quarterly Report, please remember that they are included to provide you with information regarding their terms and are not intended to provide any other factual or disclosure information about the Company or the other parties to the agreements. The agreements may contain representations and warranties by each of the parties to the applicable agreement. These representations and warranties have been made solely for the benefit of the parties to the applicable agreement and:
| ● | should not in all instances be treated as categorical statements of fact, but rather as a way of allocating the risk to one of the parties if those statements prove to be inaccurate; |
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| ● | have been qualified by disclosures that were made to the other party in connection with the negotiation of the applicable agreement, which disclosures are not necessarily reflected in the agreement; | |
| ● | may apply standards of materiality in a way that is different from what may be viewed as material to you or other investors; and | |
| ● | were made only as of the date of the applicable agreement or such other date or dates as may be specified in the agreement and are subject to more recent developments. |
Accordingly, these representations and warranties may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time. Additional information about the Company may be found elsewhere in this Quarterly Report and the Company’s other public filings, which are available without charge through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
The following exhibits are included as part of this Quarterly Report. A more complete list of previously filed Exhibits can be found with our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 12, 2024:
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| * | Confidential treatment has been granted for portions of this Exhibit. Redacted portions filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
| + | Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement. |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| ONCOTELIC THERPAEUTICS INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ Vuong Trieu | |
| Vuong Trieu, Ph.D. | ||
| Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) | ||
| Date: | May 14, 2024 | |
| By: | /s/ Amit Shah | |
| Amit Shah | ||
Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
||
| Date: | May 14, 2024 | |
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