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Description of Business
12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Notes to Financial Statements  
Description of Business

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a Nevada corporation (“VistaGen” or the “Company”), is a biotechnology company with expertise in human pluripotent stem cell technology (“hPSC technology”).  The Company is currently applying its hPSC technology for drug rescue, predictive toxicology and drug metabolism screening. The Company’s primary goal is to use its hPSC technology platform, which it also refers to as Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube™, and the novel pharmaceutical assay systems developed using its hPSC technology expertise and network of strategic relationships, to generate novel, proprietary, safer variants (Drug Rescue Variants) of once-promising small molecule drug candidates originally discovered, developed and ultimately discontinued by large pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies prior to market approval due to unexpected safety concerns relating to heart toxicity, liver toxicity or adverse drug-drug interactions.  The Company’s strategy is to leverage substantial prior third-party investment in drug discovery and drug development and to generate early indications, or predictions, of how humans will ultimately respond to new drug candidates, including Drug Rescue Variants, before they are ever tested in humans, bringing human biology to the front end of the drug development process..

 

VistaGen's orally-available, small molecule drug candidate, AV-101, has successfully completed Phase 1 development in the Unites States for treatment of neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain, a serious and chronic condition causing pain after an injury or disease of the peripheral or central nervous system, affects millions of people worldwide. The NIH awarded VistaGen approximately $8.8 million for preclinical and clinical development of AV-101.

 

VistaGen is in the development stage and, since inception, has devoted substantially all of its time and efforts to hPSC research and bioassay development, small molecule drug development, creating, protecting and patenting intellectual property, recruiting personnel and raising working capital.

 

The Merger

 

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a California corporation (“VistaGen California”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.  VistaGen California was incorporated in California on May 26, 1998.  Excaliber Enterprises, Ltd. (“Excaliber”), a publicly-held company (formerly OTCBB: EXCA) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada on October 6, 2005. After being unable to generate material revenues based on its original business plan, Excaliber became inactive in 2007.  In May 2011, after assessing the prospects associated with its original business plan and the business opportunities associated with a strategic merger with an established, privately-held, biotechnology company seeking the potential advantages of being a publicly-held company, Excaliber’s Board of Directors agreed to pursue a strategic merger with VistaGen California, as described below.

 

On May 11, 2011, pursuant to a strategic merger transaction with VistaGen California, Excaliber acquired all outstanding shares of VistaGen California in exchange for 6,836,452 shares of Excaliber common stock (the “Merger”), and Excaliber assumed all of VistaGen California’s pre-Merger obligations to contingently issue shares of common stock in accordance with VistaGen California’s stock option agreements, warrant agreements, and a convertible promissory note.  In connection with the Merger, Excaliber repurchased 5,064,207 shares of its common stock from two of its stockholders for a nominal amount, resulting in a total of 784,500 shares of Excaliber common stock outstanding at the date of the Merger.  The 6,836,452 shares issued to VistaGen California stockholders in connection with the Merger represented approximately ninety percent (90%) of the outstanding shares of Excaliber’s common stock after the closing of the Merger.  As a result of the Merger, the business of VistaGen California became the operating business of Excaliber.

 

Immediately preceding and concurrent with the Merger:

 

· VistaGen California sold 2,216,106 Units, consisting of one share of VistaGen California restricted common stock and a three-year warrant to purchase one-fourth (1/4) of one share of VistaGen California restricted common stock at an exercise price of $2.50 per share, at a price of $1.75 per Unit in a private placement for aggregate gross offering proceeds of $3,878,200, including $2,369,200 in cash (the “2011 Private Placement”).  See Note 9, Capital Stock, for a further description;

 

· Holders of certain promissory notes issued by VistaGen California from 2006 through 2010 converted notes totaling $6,174,793, including principal and accrued but unpaid interest, into 3,528,290 Units at $1.75 per Unit.  These Units were the same Units issued in connection with the 2011 Private Placement.  See Note 8, Convertible Promissory Notes and Other Notes Payable; and

 

· All holders of VistaGen California's then-outstanding 2,884,655 shares of restricted preferred stock converted all of their preferred shares into 2,884,655 shares of VistaGen California restricted common stock.  See Note 9, Capital Stock.

 

Shortly after the Merger: 

 

· Each of VistaGen California’s pre-Merger directors was appointed as a director of Excaliber;

· The pre-Merger directors and officers of Excaliber resigned as officers and directors of Excaliber;

· Each of VistaGen California’s pre-Merger officers was appointed an officer of like tenor of Excalber;

· The post-Merger directors of Excaliber (consisting of the pre-Merger directors of VistaGen California) approved a two-for-one (2:1) forward stock split of Excaliber’s common stock;

· The post-Merger directors of Excaliber approved an increase in the number of shares of common stock Excaliber was authorized to issue from 200 million to 400 million shares (see Note 9, Capital Stock);

· Excaliber’s name was changed to “VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc.”;

· VistaGen’s common stock began trading on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “VSTA” effective on June 21, 2011; and

· VistaGen adopted VistaGen California's fiscal year-end of March 31st.

 

VistaGen California, as the accounting acquirer in the Merger, recorded the Merger as the issuance of common stock for the net monetary assets of Excaliber, accompanied by a recapitalization.  This accounting for the Merger was identical to that resulting from a reverse acquisition, except that no goodwill or other intangible assets were recorded.  A total of 1,569,000 shares of common stock, representing the shares held by stockholders of Excaliber immediately prior to the Merger and effected for the post-Merger two-for-one (2:1) stock split noted above, have been retroactively reflected as outstanding for all periods presented in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company. Additionally, the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets of the Company retroactively reflect the $0.001 par value of Excaliber’s common stock and the two-for one (2:1) stock split after the Merger.

 

In October 2011, the Company’s stockholders amended the Company’s Articles of Incorporation to (1) reduce the number of shares of common stock the Company is authorized to issue from 400 million shares to 200 million shares; (2) authorize the Company to issue up to 10 million shares of preferred stock; and (3) authorize the Company’s Board of Directors to prescribe the classes, series and the number of each class or series of preferred stock and the voting powers, designations, preferences, limitations, restrictions and relative rights of each class or series of preferred stock.  In December 2011, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the creation of a series of up to 500,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 (“Series A Preferred”).  Pursuant to the Note Exchange and Purchase Agreement of October 11, 2012 (the “October 2012 Agreement”), as amended, between the Company and Platinum Long Term Growth VII, LLC (“Platinum”), currently the Company’s largest institutional security holder, Platinum has the right and option to exchange 500,000 shares of the Company’s Series A Preferred held by Platinum for (i) a total of 15,000,000 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock, and (ii) a five-year warrant to purchase 7,500,000 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share (see Note 9, Capital Stock).

 

The Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company in this Report represent the activity of VistaGen California from May 26, 1998, and the consolidated activity of VistaGen California and Excaliber (now VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a Nevada corporation) from May 11, 2011 (the date of the Merger). The Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company also include the accounts of VistaGen California’s two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Artemis Neuroscience, Inc., a Maryland corporation (“Artemis”), and VistaStem Canada, Inc., an Ontario corporation (“VistaStem Canada”).