Stockholders’ equity

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Equity [Abstract]

Stockholders’ equity

Note 7 – Stockholders’ equity

As of September 30, 2024, the Company had 100,000,000 shares of authorized common stock and 10,068,111 shares issued and outstanding, and 10,000,000 shares of authorized preferred stock, of which 6,999,000 shares remain undesignated and unissued.

Following receipt of approval from stockholders at a special meeting of stockholders held in November 2022, the Company filed an amendment to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, at a ratio of one share for twenty shares, and the reverse stock split was effective January 5, 2023. All share amounts and per share prices in this Quarterly Report have been adjusted to reflect the reverse stock split.

Following receipt of approval from stockholders at a special meeting of stockholders held in May 2024, the Company filed an amendment to its Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, at a ratio of one share for ten shares, and the reverse stock split was effective May 20, 2024. All share amounts and per share prices in this Quarterly Report have been adjusted to reflect the reverse stock split.

In January 2023, the Company closed a best-efforts public offering pursuant to a securities purchase agreement with a certain institutional investor for the purchase of (i) 32,121 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 226,500 shares of common stock, (iii) Series A-1 common warrants to purchase an aggregate of 258,621 shares of common stock, and (iv) Series A-2 common warrants to purchase an aggregate of 258,621 shares of common stock. Each share of common stock and accompanying Series A-1 and Series A-2 common warrant were sold at a price of $29.00 per share and accompanying Series A-1 and Series A-2 common warrant, and each pre-funded warrant and accompanying Series A-1 and Series A-2 common warrant were sold at an offering price of $28.90 per share underlying such pre-funded warrant and accompanying Series A-1 and Series A-2 common warrant, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $7.5 million before deducting the placement agent’s fees and the offering expenses, and net proceeds of approximately $6.9 million. The Series A-1 and Series A-2 common warrants have an exercise price of $26.50 per share. The Series A-1 common warrants were immediately exercisable upon issuance and will expire five years following the issuance date. The Series A-2 common warrants were immediately exercisable upon issuance and will expire eighteen months following the issuance date. Subject to certain ownership limitations described in the pre-funded warrants, the pre-funded warrants were immediately exercisable and could be exercised at a nominal consideration of $0.10 per share of common stock any time until all the pre-funded warrants are exercised in full. All pre-funded warrants were exercised by February 2023. In connection with the Company’s best-efforts public offering consummated in May 2023, the Company amended the exercise price of the Series A-1 and Series A-2 common warrants to $7.785 per share.

In May 2023, the Company closed a best-efforts public offering pursuant to a securities purchase agreement with a certain institutional investor, pursuant to which the Company issued and sold to the investor (i) 60,500 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 389,083 shares of common stock, and (iii) common warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 449,583 shares of common stock. Each share of common stock and accompanying common warrant was sold at a price of $7.785 per share and accompanying common warrant, and each pre-funded warrant and accompanying common warrant was sold at an offering price of $7.685 per share underlying such pre-funded warrant and accompanying common warrant, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $3.5 million and net proceeds of approximately $3.0 million. The common warrants have an exercise price of $7.785 per share and will be exercisable beginning on the date of stockholder approval of the exercisability of the warrants under Nasdaq rules or may be exercised through October 26, 2023, pursuant to the Warrant Inducement Agreement entered into on October 12, 2023. Pursuant to amendment agreements entered into by the Company and holder on October 26, 2023 and February 7, 2024, the Company agreed to initially extend the offer period until December 31, 2023, and subsequently extend the offer period until April 30, 2024. In order to permit the exercise of the Existing Warrants pursuant to the rules of the Nasdaq Capital Market, the holder agreed to pay as additional consideration $0.25 per share of common stock issued upon exercise of the Existing Warrants. The common warrants not exercised as part of the Inducement Agreement will expire on the five-year anniversary of the date of such stockholder approval. Each pre-funded warrant has an exercise price per share of common stock equal to $0.10 per share and may be exercised at any time until the pre-funded warrants are exercised in full. In connection with the offering, the Company also entered into a warrant amendment agreement with the investor pursuant to which the Company amended certain existing warrants to purchase up to 639,691 shares of common stock that were previously issued in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 to the investor, with exercise prices ranging from $26.50 to $75.40 per share, in consideration for their purchase of the securities in the offering, as follows: (i) lower the exercise price of the existing warrants to $7.785 per share, (ii) provide that the existing warrants, as amended, will not be exercisable until the receipt of stockholder approval for the exercisability of the common warrants in the offering, and (iii) extend the original expiration date of the existing warrants by five years following the receipt of such stockholder approval. The increase in fair value resulting from the warrant modifications is accounted for as an equity issuance cost, resulting in a debit and credit to additional paid in capital of approximately $0.3 million. In October 2023, the holder exercised 200,000 shares of Common Stock under the existing warrants pursuant to the Inducement Agreement for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $2.057 million before deducting financial advisory fees and other expenses payable by the Company. The holder did not exercise any additional Existing Warrants prior to the termination of the April 30, 2024 extended offer period. Except for the extension of the offer period pursuant to the amendment agreements, the terms and conditions of the Inducement Agreement remained unchanged.

In October 2023, the Company entered into a Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (the “October 2023 Purchase Agreement”) with a single investor, pursuant to which the Company agreed to issue and sell to the investor in a private placement (the “Private Placement”) 1,000 shares of the Company’s Series D Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Preferred Stock”). Each share of preferred stock was agreed to sell at a price of $1,000 per share for expected aggregate gross proceeds of $1.0 million before deducting offering expenses. The Private Placement was conducted in connection with the negotiation of a potential strategic transaction involving the Company and the investor. The Company intended to use the proceeds from the Private Placement to fund the Company’s operations while it pursued a potential strategic transaction with the investor. Pursuant to the October 2023 Purchase Agreement, the Company filed a certificate of designation (the “Series D Certificate of Designation”) with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware designating the rights, preferences and limitations of the shares of preferred stock in October 2023. The Series D Certificate of Designation provides that the shares of preferred stock have a stated value of $1,000 per share and are convertible into shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share of the Company at a price of $4.09 per share, subject to adjustment in the event of certain stock dividends and distributions, stock splits, stock combinations, reclassifications, or similar events affecting the common stock. The preferred stock may be converted at any time at the option of the holder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Series D Certificate of Designation provides that in no event will the preferred stock be convertible into common stock in a manner that would result in the holder, its permitted transferees and affiliates holding more than 19.99% (together with any shares of common stock otherwise held by the investor, its permitted transferees and their affiliates) of the then issued and outstanding common stock (the “Ownership Limitation”), prior to the date that the Company’s stockholders approve the issuance of shares of common stock to the holder upon conversion of the preferred stock (the “stockholder approval”). Upon receipt of stockholder approval, the shares of preferred stock will automatically be converted into shares of common stock without further action of the holder thereof. The investor funded $250,000 of the expected aggregate gross proceeds of $1.0 million before deducting offering expenses in November 2023. In December 2023, in coordination with the investor, the Company issued 250 shares of Series D Preferred Stock to the investor in consideration for the partial payment. As of September 30, 2024, all 250 Series D Preferred Shares remain outstanding and the remaining $750,000 of the purchase price remains unpaid. The Company reserves all rights and remedies arising from the investor’s failure to close the transaction and the investor will continue to be in breach of the Purchase Agreement until the remaining amount is paid in full.

In October 2023, the Company entered into a warrant inducement agreement (the “Inducement Agreement”) with a holder (the “Holder”) of certain existing warrants (the “Existing Warrants”) to purchase shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the Company. Pursuant to the Inducement Agreement, the Holder agreed to exercise for cash their Existing Warrants to purchase up to 1,089,274 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $7.785 per share, the exercise price per share of the Existing Warrants, during the period from the date of the Inducement Agreement until 7:30 a.m., Eastern Time, on October 26, 2023. Pursuant to amendment agreements entered into by the Company and Holder on October 26, 2023 and February 7, 2024, the Company agreed to initially extend the offer period until December 31, 2023, and subsequently extend the offer period until April 30, 2024. In order to permit the exercise of the Existing Warrants pursuant to the rules of the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Holder agreed to pay as additional consideration $0.25 per share of common stock issued upon exercise of the Existing Warrants. In consideration of the Holder’s agreement to exercise the Existing Warrants in accordance with the Inducement Agreement, the Company agreed to issue new warrants (the “Inducement Warrants”) to purchase shares of common stock equal to 100% of the number of shares of common stock issued upon exercise of the Existing Warrants (the “Inducement Warrant Shares”). The Inducement Warrants will have an exercise price of $3.36 per share and will be exercisable on the six-month anniversary of the date of issuance and expire on the five-year anniversary of the Inducement Warrant’s first becoming exercisable. In October 2023, the Holder exercised 200,000 shares of Common Stock under the existing warrants pursuant to the Inducement Agreement for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $2.057 million before deducting financial advisory fees and other expenses payable by the Company. The Holder did not exercise any additional Existing Warrants prior to the termination of the April 30, 2024 extended offer period. Except for the extension of the offer period pursuant to the amendment agreements, the terms and conditions of the Inducement Agreement remained unchanged.

In March 2024, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “March 2024 Purchase Agreement”) with David E. Lazar, pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell 3,000,000 shares of Series E Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series E Preferred Stock”) to Mr. Lazar at a price of $1.00 per share for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.0 million. In connection with the transactions contemplated by the March 2024 Purchase Agreement, the members of the Board of Directors, prior to the closing of such transactions, resigned and a new Board of Directors was appointed, of which Mr. Lazar was appointed Chairman. In March 2024, Mr. Lazar paid $200,000 at the initial closing of the transactions under the March 2024 Purchase Agreement in exchange for 200,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock. Mr. Lazar subsequently paid $350,000 in exchange for an additional 350,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock in April 2024. Each share of Series E Preferred Stock was convertible into 2.4 shares of the Company’s common stock, and following stockholder approval of the issuance of shares of common stock to Mr. Lazar upon conversion of the Series E Preferred Stock at the Company’s special meeting of stockholders held in May 2024, Mr. Lazar or his transferees or their affiliates could convert the Series E Preferred Stock into common stock and hold in excess of applicable beneficial ownership limitations. In connection with the transactions contemplated by the March 2024 Purchase Agreement, the Company entered into settlement agreements (the “Settlement Agreements”) with each of the European Investment Bank (“EIB”) and Curetis GmbH, the Company’s subsidiary (“Curetis”), and Curetis’ trustee in insolvency, pursuant to which the parties agreed to settle outstanding liabilities amongst the parties. Additionally, in connection with the transactions contemplated by the March 2024 Purchase Agreement, in March 2024, the Company entered into an Inducement Offer to Amend Common Stock Purchase Warrants (the “Offer”) with the holder of such warrants. Pursuant to the Offer, the holder agreed to waive certain rights that would otherwise have been triggered under their warrants as a result of the transactions contemplated by the March 2024 Purchase Agreement, in exchange for the Company entering into the March 2024 Purchase Agreement.

In July 2024, Mr. Lazar consummated a transaction pursuant to which he sold 550,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock together with his rights to purchase the additional 2,450,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock under the March 2024 Purchase Agreement to AEI Capital Ltd. Subsequently, AEI Capital Ltd. paid the Company $2.45 million in August 2024 in exchange for the remaining 2,450,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock under the terms of the March 2024 Purchase Agreement. All 3,000,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock were converted into 7,200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in August 2024. As of September 30, 2024, no shares of Series E Preferred Stock remain outstanding. Upon conversion, such shares of Series E Preferred Stock resumed the status of authorized but unissued shares of undesignated preferred stock of the Company. Upon receipt of the funding from AEI Capital Ltd. and pursuant to the Settlement Agreements with the EIB and Curetis and the March 2024 Purchase Agreement, the Company paid and settled its outstanding indebtedness with the EIB and Curetis. Settlement with EIB also terminated that certain Guarantee and Indemnity Agreement, dated as of July 9, 2020, by and between the EIB and the Company, pursuant to which the Company had guaranteed all of Curetis’ debt to EIB.

In August 2024, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “August 2024 Securities Purchase Agreement”) with AEI Capital Ltd., pursuant to which the Company had the right, in its discretion, to sell to AEI Capital Ltd., at any time prior to September 30, 2024, shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Shares”), of the Company having an aggregate value of up to $3.0 million (the “Financing”). The Company will control the timing and amount of any sales of Shares pursuant to the August 2024 Securities Purchase Agreement. As of September 30, 2024, the Company sold 1,079,109 shares of common stock to AEI Capital Ltd. for gross proceeds of $2.0 million before deducting offering expenses. In October 2024, the Company and AEI Capital Ltd. entered into a First Amendment to the August 2024 Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Amendment”). The Amendment amended the August 2024 Securities Purchase Agreement by: (1) granting the Company the right to sell two additional tranches of common stock to AEI Capital Ltd. of $3.0 million each, for an aggregate amount of $9.0 million under the August 2024 Securities Purchase Agreement; and (2) extending the Company’s ability to sell shares of common stock to AEI Capital Ltd. under the August 2024 Securities Purchase Agreement until December 31, 2025 (see Note 11).

Stock options

In 2008, the Company adopted the 2008 Stock Option and Restricted Stock Plan (the “2008 Plan”), pursuant to which the Company’s Board of Directors could grant either incentive or non-qualified stock options or shares of restricted stock to directors, key employees, consultants and advisors.

In April 2015, the Company adopted, and the Company’s stockholders approved, the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2015 Plan”); the 2015 Plan became effective upon the execution and delivery of the underwriting agreement for the Company’s initial public offering in May 2015. Following the effectiveness of the 2015 Plan, no further grants will be made under the 2008 Plan. The 2015 Plan provides for the granting of incentive stock options within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code to employees and the granting of non-qualified stock options to employees, non-employee directors and consultants. The 2015 Plan also provides for the grants of restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, dividend equivalents and stock payments to employees, non-employee directors and consultants.

Under the 2015 Plan, the aggregate number of shares of the common stock authorized for issuance may not exceed (1) 271 plus (2) the sum of the number of shares subject to outstanding awards under the 2008 Plan as of the 2015 Plan’s effective date, that are subsequently forfeited or terminated for any reason before being exercised or settled, plus (3) the number of shares subject to vesting restrictions under the 2008 Plan as of the 2015 Plan’s effective date that are subsequently forfeited. In addition, the number of shares that have been authorized for issuance under the 2015 Plan will be automatically increased on the first day of each fiscal year beginning on January 1, 2016 and ending on (and including) January 1, 2025, in an amount equal to the lesser of (1) 4% of the outstanding shares of common stock on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year, or (2) another lesser amount determined by the Company’s Board of Directors. Following Board of Director approval, 48,058 shares were automatically added to the 2015 Plan in 2024. Shares subject to awards granted under the 2015 Plan that are forfeited or terminated before being exercised or settled, or are not delivered to the participant because such award is settled in cash, will again become available for issuance under the 2015 Plan. However, shares that have actually been issued shall not again become available unless forfeited. As of September 30, 2024, 12,506 shares remain available for issuance under the 2015 Plan.

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized share-based compensation expense as follows:

	Three months ended September 30,					Nine months ended September 30,
	2024		2023			2024		2023
Cost of services	$	-	$	(442	)	$	-	$	(442	)
Research and development		-		(159,742	)		48,820		(41,914	)
General and administrative		1,530		74,411			504,941		259,452
Sales and marketing		-		(143,710	)		4,397		(78,928	)
	$	1,530	$	(229,483	)	$	558,158	$	138,168

No income tax benefit for share-based compensation arrangements was recognized in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss due to the Company’s anticipated net taxable loss position for the year ended December 31, 2024.

The Company did not grant any options during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024. During the three months ended September 30, 2024, no options were forfeited, and 5,813 options expired. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, 892 options were forfeited, and 8,594 options expired.

The Company had total stock options to acquire 138 shares of common stock outstanding at September 30, 2024 under all of its equity compensation plans.

Restricted stock units

During the three months ended September 30, 2024, no restricted stock units were granted, no restricted stock units vested, and no restricted stock units were forfeited. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company granted 61,053 restricted stock units, 61,053 restricted stock units vested, and 4,163 were forfeited. The Company had 4,163 total restricted stock units outstanding at September 30, 2024.

Stock purchase warrants

At September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the following warrants to purchase shares of common stock were outstanding:

				Outstanding at
Issuance	Exercise Price		Expiration	September 30, 2024		December 31, 2023
February 2015	$	660,000.00	February 2025		3		3
October 2019	$	400.00	October 2024		1,770		1,770
October 2019	$	520.00	October 2024		1,175		1,175
November 2020	$	504.40	May 2026		1,211		1,211
February 2021	$	780.00	August 2026		2,084		2,084
May 2023	$	7.785	(1)		889,274		889,274
October 2023	$	3.36	April 2029		200,000		200,000
					1,095,517		1,095,517

The warrants listed above were issued in connection with various equity, debt, or development contract agreements.

(1) Warrants will be exercisable beginning on the date of stockholder approval of the exercisability of the warrants under Nasdaq rules. Once exercisable, the warrants will expire on the five-year anniversary of the date of such stockholder approval.