As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 19, 2021
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 91-1707622 | |
|
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
|
200 Connell Drive, Suite 1500 Berkeley Heights, NJ
|
07922 | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. 2020 INDUCEMENT EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
(Full title of the plan)
Paul McBarron, Executive Vice President – Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
200 Connell Drive, Suite 1500
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
(Name and address of agent for service)
(908) 517-7330
(Telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ¨ | Accelerated filer | ¨ |
| Non-accelerated filer | x | Smaller reporting company | x |
| Emerging growth company | ¨ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ¨
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of Securities to be Registered | Amount to be Registered(1) | Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share(2) | Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(2) | Amount of Registration Fee | ||||||||||
| Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share | 200,000 shares | $ | 9.21 | $ | 1,842,000 | $ | 200.96 | |||||||
| (1) | Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Registrant”), is filing this Registration Statement to register 200,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”), of the Registrant for issuance under the Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2020 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan (the “Inducement Plan”). The maximum number of shares which may be sold upon the exercise of options or stock-based awards granted under the Inducement Plan is subject to adjustment in accordance with certain anti-dilution and other provisions of the Inducement Plan. Accordingly, pursuant to Rule 416 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), this Registration Statement covers, in addition to the number of shares stated above, an indeterminate number of shares which may be subject to grant or otherwise issuable after the operation of any such anti-dilution and other provisions. |
| (2) | Estimated solely for the purpose of determining the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(c) and (h) promulgated under the Securities Act. The offering price per share and the aggregate offering price for shares reserved for future grant or issuance under the Inducement Plan are based on the average of the high and low sale prices per share of the Common Stock as reported on The Nasdaq Capital Market as of a date (January 11, 2021) within five business days prior to filing this Registration Statement. |
EXPLANATORY NOTE
In accordance with the instructional Note to Part I of Form S-8 as promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the information specified by Part I of Form S-8 has been omitted from this Registration Statement on Form S-8 for offers of Common Stock pursuant to the Inducement Plan. The documents containing the information specified in Part I will be delivered to the participants in the Inducement Plan covered by this Registration Statement as required by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act.
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
| Item 3. | Incorporation of Certain Documents by Reference. |
The following documents filed by the Registrant with the Commission are incorporated herein by reference:
(a) The Registrant’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the Commission on March 5, 2020;
(b) All other reports filed pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K referred to in (a) above; and
(c) The description of the Registrant’s common stock contained in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A filed with the Commission under Section 12 of the Exchange Act on March 8, 2004, including any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.
All reports and other documents filed by the Registrant after the date hereof pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be part hereof from the date of filing of such reports and documents.
| Item 4. | Description of Securities. |
Not applicable.
| Item 5. | Interests of Named Experts and Counsel. |
Not applicable.
| Item 6. | Indemnification of Directors and Officers. |
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our amended and restated bylaws, as amended, provide that each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved (including, without limitation, as a witness) in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or an officer of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. or is or was serving at our request as a director, officer, or trustee of another corporation, or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director, officer or trustee or in any other capacity while serving as a director, officer or trustee, shall be indemnified and held harmless by us to the fullest extent authorized by the Delaware General Corporation Law against all expense, liability and loss (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes or penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such.
Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits a corporation to indemnify any director or officer of the corporation against expenses (including attorney’s fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred in connection with any action, suit or proceeding brought by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director or officer of the corporation, if such person acted in good faith and in a manner that he reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, if he or she had no reason to believe his or her conduct was unlawful. In a derivative action, (i.e., one brought by or on behalf of the corporation), indemnification may be provided only for expenses actually and reasonably incurred by any director or officer in connection with the defense or settlement of such an action or suit if such person acted in good faith and in a manner that he or she reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation, except that no indemnification shall be provided if such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation, unless and only to the extent that the court in which the action or suit was brought shall determine that the defendant is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses despite such adjudication of liability.
Pursuant to Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation eliminates the liability of a director to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for such a breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liabilities arising:
| · | From any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders; |
| · | From acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; |
| · | Under Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; and |
| · | From any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. |
We carry insurance policies insuring our directors and officers against certain liabilities that they may incur in their capacity as directors and officers.
The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors and executive officers. Pursuant to the indemnification agreements, the Company agrees to hold harmless and indemnify its directors and executive officers to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by the provisions of the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated by-laws and the DGCL, including for any amounts that such director or officer becomes obligated to pay because of any claim to which such director or officer is made or threatened to be made a party, witness or participant, by reason of such director’s or officer’s service as a director, officer, employee or other agent of the Company.
There are certain exceptions from the Company’s obligation to indemnify its directors and executive officers pursuant to the indemnification agreements, including for “short-swing” profit claims under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act losses that are as a result of conduct that is established by a final judgment as knowingly fraudulent or deliberately dishonest or that constituted willful misconduct, or that constituted a breach of the duty of loyalty to the Company or resulted in any improper personal profit or advantage, where payment is actually made to a director or officer under an insurance policy, indemnity clause, bylaw or agreement, except in respect of any excess beyond payment under such insurance, clause, bylaw or agreement, for indemnification which is not lawful, or in connection with any proceeding initiated by such director or officer, or any proceeding against the Company or its directors, officers, employees or other agents, unless (i) such indemnification is expressly required to be made by law, (ii) the proceeding was authorized by the board of directors of the Company, (iii) such indemnification is provided by the Company, in its sole discretion, pursuant to the powers vested in the Company under the DGCL, or (iv) the proceeding is initiated to enforce a claim for indemnification pursuant to the indemnification agreement.
All agreements and obligations of the Company contained in the indemnification agreements shall continue during the period when the director or officer who is a party to an indemnification agreement is a director, officer, employee or other agent of the Company (or is or is serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or other agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise) and shall continue thereafter so long as such director or officer shall be subject to any possible claim or threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, arbitrational, administrative or investigative. In addition, the indemnification agreements provide for partial indemnification and advance of expenses.
| Item 7. | Exemption from Registration Claimed. |
Not applicable.
| Item 8. | Exhibits. |
| Item 9. | Undertakings. |
| (a) | The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes: |
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:
(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represents a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective Registration Statement.
(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;
Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the Registration Statement is on Form S-3, Form S-8 or Form F-3, and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
| (b) | The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. |
| (c) | Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Berkeley Heights, State of New Jersey, on January 19, 2021.
| CYCLACEL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. | ||
| By: | /s/ Paul McBarron | |
| Paul McBarron | ||
| Executive Vice President – Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer | ||
Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Paul McBarron and Spiro Rombotis, and each of them singly, as his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for him and in his name, place and stead, and in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement on Form S-8 of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting to the attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite or necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that the attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of each of them or their substitute may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||
| /s/ Spiro Rombotis |
President & Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) and Director |
January 19, 2021 | ||
| Spiro Rombotis | ||||
| /s/ Paul McBarron |
Executive Vice President – Finance, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) and Director |
January 19, 2021 | ||
| Paul McBarron | ||||
| /s/ Christopher S. Henney | Director | January 19, 2021 | ||
| Christopher S. Henney | ||||
| /s/ Gregory T. Hradsky | Director | January 19, 2021 | ||
| Gregory T. Hradsky | ||||
| /s/ Lloyd Sems | Director | January 19, 2021 | ||
| Lloyd Sems | ||||
| /s/ Samuel L. Barker | Director | January 19, 2021 | ||
| Samuel L. Barker | ||||
| /s/ Robert J. Spiegel | Director | January 19, 2021 | ||
| Robert J. Spiegel | ||||
| /s/ Karin L. Walker | Director | January 19, 2021 | ||
| Karin L. Walker | ||||
| /s/ Brian Schwartz | ||||
| Brian Schwartz | Director | January 19, 2021 |
Exhibit 5.1
January 19, 2021
Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
200 Connell Drive, Suite 1500
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have acted as legal counsel to Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the preparation and filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) of a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”), pursuant to which the Company is registering the issuance under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), of an aggregate of 200,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), that may be issued pursuant to the Company’s 2020 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Plan”). This opinion is being rendered in connection with the filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission. All capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the respective meanings given to them in the Registration Statement.
In connection with this opinion, we have examined the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws, each as currently in effect; such other records of the corporate proceedings of the Company as we have deemed relevant; and the Registration Statement and the exhibits thereto.
In our examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of natural persons, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as certified or photostatic copies and the authenticity of the originals of such copies. In addition, we have assumed that the Company will receive any required consideration in accordance with the terms of the Plan.
Our opinion is limited to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, and we express no opinion with respect to the laws of any other jurisdiction. No opinion is expressed herein with respect to the qualification of the Shares under the securities or blue sky laws of any state or any foreign jurisdiction.
Based upon the foregoing, we are of the opinion that the Shares, when issued and delivered in accordance with the terms of the Plan will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable.
Please note that we are opining only as to the matters expressly set forth herein, and no opinion should be inferred as to any other matters. This opinion is based upon currently existing statutes, rules, regulations and judicial decisions, and we disclaim any obligation to advise you of any change in any of these sources of law or subsequent legal or factual developments which might affect any matters or opinions set forth herein.
We understand that you wish to file this opinion with the Commission as an exhibit to the Registration Statement in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act, and we hereby consent thereto. In giving this consent, we do not admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.
| Very truly yours, | |
| /s/ Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. | |
| MINTZ, LEVIN, COHN, FERRIS, | |
| GLOVSKY AND POPEO, P.C. |
Exhibit 23.2
Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
We consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement on Form S-8 of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of our report dated March 5, 2020, relating to the consolidated financial statements of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and subsidiaries, appearing in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2019.
/s/ RSM US LLP
New York, NY
January 19, 2021