Related Party Transactions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Related Party Transactions

Note 16.   RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

As discussed in Note 8, the Company leases its facility from 1895 Management, Ltd., a New York corporation controlled by an entity affiliated with the Company’s chairman and major stockholder of the Company. Rent expense incurred under the operating lease was $43,500 and $87,000 for each of the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2022 and 2021.

As discussed in Note 6, in November 2017, the Company entered into a research collaboration and license option agreement with Surface to identify and select antibodies against two target antigens, using the Company’s proprietary technology as described in the agreement. J. Jeffrey Goater, a former member of the Company’s board of directors, served as the Chief Business Officer of Surface at that time, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Surface. During the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2022, the Company did not record any revenue related to its agreement with Surface.  During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company recorded revenue related to this agreement of $850,000, all of which was for an exclusive product license. This agreement will expire upon the latest of the expiration of both research programs and all evaluation and testing periods.       

On January 27, 2022, the Company entered into a stock purchase agreement (as amended, the “Stock Purchase Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue and sell to the investors named therein an aggregate of 5,945,943 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (the “Common Stock”) at a purchase price of $1.11 per share.  On January 31, 2022, the Stock Purchase Agreement was amended, pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue and sell to additional investors, and the additional investors (together with the original investor, the “investors”) agreed to purchase from the Company, on the same terms and conditions, and aggregate of 2,801,801 shares of Common Stock.  The closing of the sale of shares under the Stock Purchase Agreement (“the private placement”) occurred on January 31, 2022, and the Company issued an aggregate of 8,747,744 shares of Common Stock with aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $9.7 million.  The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the private placement to fund the ongoing development of its lead drug candidate, pepinemab, in cancer and neurodegenerative disease and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Several of the investors are affiliated with directors or officers of the Company: Vaccinex (Rochester), L.L.C., which is controlled by Maurice Zauderer, Ph.D., the Company’s president, chief executive officer and a member of its board of directors; Friedberg Global-Macro Hedge Fund Ltd., the investment manager of which is an entity controlled by Albert D. Friedberg, chairman of the Company’s board of directors; FCMI Parent Co., which is controlled by Mr. Friedberg; and Benbow Estates Ltd., which is controlled by Jacob Frieberg, one of the Company’s directors.