Silo Pharma (SILO) S-1/AIPO registration (amended)

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 20, 2022.

Registration Statement No. 333-261532

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

AMENDMENT No. 4

to

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

SILO PHARMA, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

560 Sylvan Avenue, Suite 3160

Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

(718) 400-9031

(Address and telephone number of principal executive offices)

Eric Weisblum

Chief Executive Officer

560 Sylvan Avenue, Suite 3160

Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

(718) 400-9031

(Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)

Copies to:

Approximate Date of Commencement of Proposed Sale to the Public: As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☒

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

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. (Check one):

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 ☐

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine. 

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state or jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

Silo Pharma, Inc.

588,236 Shares of Common Stock

This prospectus relates to the sale by Silo Pharma, Inc. (the “Company” or “Silo Pharma”) of 588,236 shares of common stock of (the “Common Stock”), at an assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share of common stock.

We have applied to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market upon our satisfaction of the exchange’s initial listing criteria. If our common stock is not approved for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, we will not consummate this offering. No assurance can be given that our application will be approved.

Our common stock is currently trading on the OTCQB Venture Market (the “OTCQB”) under the symbol “SILO.” The last reported sale price for our common stock as reported on the OTCQB on September 16, 2022 was $8.50 per share. For the purposes of this prospectus, we have assumed a public offering price of $8.50 per share. The actual public offering price per share will be determined between us and the underwriter at the time of pricing and may be at a discount to the current market price. Therefore, the assumed public offering price used throughout this prospectus may not be indicative of the final offering price.

The public offering price per share of our common stock will be determined between us, the underwriter and investors based on market conditions at the time of pricing, and may be at a discount to the current market price of our common stock. Therefore, the recent market price used throughout this prospectus may not be indicative of the actual combined public offering price.

Investing in our securities is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” beginning on page 5 of this prospectus before making a decision to purchase our securities.

NEITHER THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THESE SECURITIES OR PASSED UPON THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

The Company has granted a 45 day option to the underwriter to purchase up to an additional 88,236 shares of common stock, from us at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, to cover over-allotments, if any.

The underwriter expects to deliver the shares to purchasers in the offering on or about        , 2022.

Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd.

The date of this prospectus is         , 2022.

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

In this prospectus, unless the context suggests otherwise, references to “the Company,” “Silo Pharma,” “SILO,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Silo Pharma, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

This prospectus describes the specific details regarding this offering, the terms and conditions of the common stock being offered hereby and the risks of investing in the Company’s common stock. You should read this prospectus and the additional information about the Company described in the section entitled “Where You Can Find More Information” before making your investment decision.

Neither the Company, nor any of its officers, directors, agents, representatives or underwriters, make any representation to you about the legality of an investment in the Company’s common stock. You should not interpret the contents of this prospectus to be legal, business, investment or tax advice. You should consult with your own advisors for that type of advice and consult with them about the legal, tax, business, financial and other issues that you should consider before investing in the Company’s common stock.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus and in any accompanying prospectus supplement. No one has been authorized to provide you with different or additional information. The shares of common stock are not being offered in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of such documents.

TRADEMARKS AND TRADE NAMES

This prospectus includes trademarks that are protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are the Company’s property or the property of one of the Company’s subsidiaries. This prospectus also contains trademarks, service marks, trade names and/or copyrights of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ® or TM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that the Company will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, its rights or the right of the applicable licensor to these trademarks and trade names.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this prospectus concerning the Company’s industry and the markets in which it operates, including market position and market opportunity, is based on information from management’s estimates, as well as from industry publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties. The third-party sources from which the Company has obtained information generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but the Company cannot assure you that this information is accurate or complete. The Company has not independently verified any of the data from third-party sources nor has it verified the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by those third parties. Similarly, internal company surveys, industry forecasts and market research, which the Company believes to be reliable, based upon management’s knowledge of the industry, have not been verified by any independent sources. The Company’s internal surveys are based on data it has collected over the past several years, which it believes to be reliable. Management estimates are derived from publicly available information, its knowledge of the industry, and assumptions based on such information and knowledge, which management believes to be reasonable and appropriate. However, assumptions and estimates of the Company’s future performance, and the future performance of its industry, are subject to numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including those described under the heading “Risk Factors” in this prospectus and those described elsewhere in this prospectus, and the other documents the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, from time to time. These and other important factors could result in its estimates and assumptions being materially different from future results. You should read the information contained in this prospectus completely and with the understanding that future results may be materially different and worse from what the Company expects. See the information included under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements.”

TABLE OF CONTENTS

RISK FACTORS

Any investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. Before deciding whether to purchase our common stock, investors should carefully consider the risks described below. Our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects are subject to the following material risks. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently foreseeable to us may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and our stockholders may lose all or part of their investment in the shares of our common stock.

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Capital

We have only a limited history upon which an evaluation of our prospects and future performance can be made and have no history of profitable operations.

We commenced operations in 2010 and have a limited history upon which an evaluation of our prospects and future performance can be made and have no history of profitable operations. We may sustain losses in the future as we implement our business plan. We have not yet achieved positive cash flow on a monthly basis during any fiscal year including the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, and there can be no assurance that we will ever generate revenues or operate profitably.

We will require additional financing in the future to fund our operations.

We will need additional capital in the future to continue to execute our business plan. Therefore, we will be dependent upon additional capital in the form of either debt or equity to continue our operations. At the present time, we do not have arrangements to raise all of the needed additional capital, and we will need to identify potential investors and negotiate appropriate arrangements with them. Our ability to obtain additional financing will be subject to a number of factors, including market conditions, our operating performance and investor sentiment. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue our operations.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish certain rights.

We may seek additional capital through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, strategic collaborations and alliances or licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity, convertible debt securities or other equity-based derivative securities, your ownership interest will be diluted and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. Any indebtedness we incur could involve restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, acquire or license intellectual property rights, declare dividends, make capital expenditures and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. Furthermore, the issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline. If we raise additional funds through strategic collaborations and alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to future therapeutic candidates or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects. Adequate additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market our future therapeutic candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

Risks Related to our Rare Disease Therapeutics Business

Clinical drug development is a lengthy and expensive process with uncertain timelines and uncertain outcomes. If clinical trials of any future therapeutic candidates are prolonged or delayed, we or our current or future collaborators may be unable to obtain required regulatory approvals, and therefore we will be unable to commercialize our future therapeutic candidates on a timely basis or at all, which will adversely affect our business.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Failure can occur at any time during the clinical trial process and our future clinical trial results may not be successful. We may experience delays in initiating or completing our clinical trials. We may also experience numerous unforeseen events during our clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive marketing approval or commercialize any future therapeutic candidates.

We cannot provide any assurance that any product candidates will successfully complete clinical trials or receive regulatory approval, which is necessary before they can be commercialized.

We currently have no therapies that are approved for commercial sale and may never be able to develop marketable therapies. We entered into the Option Agreement with University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) pursuant to which, UMB has granted us an exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferable license with respect to the exploration of the potential use of central nervous system-homing peptides in vivo and their use for the investigation and treatment of MS and other neuroinflammatory pathology. Accordingly, our business may depend on the successful regulatory approval of potential in-licensed product candidates. We cannot be certain that any of our product candidates will receive regulatory approval or that our therapies will be successfully commercialized even if we receive regulatory approval.

The research, testing, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, labeling, approval, sale, marketing, and distribution of any in-licensed product is, and will remain, subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA, the DEA, the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”), the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) and foreign regulatory authorities.

Any therapeutic candidates we may develop in the future may be subject to controlled substance laws and regulations in the territories where the product will be marketed, and failure to comply with these laws and regulations, or the cost of compliance with these laws and regulations, may adversely affect the results of our business operations and our financial condition.

In the United States, psychedelics, or psilocybin, and its active metabolite, psilocin, are listed by the DEA as a Schedule I substance under the CSA. The DEA regulates chemical compounds as Schedule I, II, III, IV or V substances. Schedule I substances by definition have a high potential for abuse, have no currently “accepted medical use” in the United States, lack accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and may not be prescribed marketed or sold in the United States. Pharmaceutical products approved for use in the United States may be listed as Schedule II, III, IV or V, with Schedule II substances considered to present the highest potential for abuse or dependence and Schedule V substances the lowest relative risk of abuse among such substances. Schedule I and II substances are subject to the strictest controls under the CSA, including manufacturing and procurement quotas, security requirements and criteria for importation. In addition, dispensing of Schedule II substances is further restricted. For example, they may not be refilled without a new prescription and may have a black box warning. Further, most, if not all, state laws in the United States classify psilocybin and psilocin as Schedule I controlled substances. For any product containing psilocybin to be available for commercial marketing in the United States, psilocybin and psilocin must be rescheduled, or the product itself must be scheduled, by the DEA to Schedule II, III, IV or V. Commercial marketing in the United States will also require scheduling-related legislative or administrative action.

Scheduling determinations by the DEA are dependent on FDA approval of a substance or a specific formulation of a substance. Therefore, while psilocybin and psilocin are Schedule I controlled substances, products approved by the FDA for medical use in the United States that contain psilocybin or psilocin should be placed in Schedules II-V, since approval by the FDA satisfies the “accepted medical use” requirement. If one of our product candidates receives FDA approval, we anticipate that the DEA will make a scheduling determination and place it in a schedule other than Schedule I in order for it to be prescribed to patients in the United States. This scheduling determination will be dependent on FDA approval and the FDA’s recommendation as to the appropriate schedule. During the review process, and prior to approval, the FDA may determine that it requires additional data, either from non-clinical or clinical studies, including with respect to whether, or to what extent, the substance has abuse potential. This may introduce a delay into the approval and any potential rescheduling process. That delay would be dependent on the quantity of additional data required by the FDA. This scheduling determination will require DEA to conduct notice and comment rule making including issuing an interim final rule. Such action will be subject to public comment and requests for hearing which could affect the scheduling of these substances. There can be no assurance that the DEA will make a favorable scheduling decision. Even assuming categorization as a Schedule II or lower controlled substance (i.e., Schedule III, IV or V), at the federal level, such substances would also require scheduling determinations under state laws and regulations.

In addition, therapeutic candidates containing controlled substances are subject to DEA regulations relating to manufacturing, storage, distribution and physician prescription procedures, including:

The potential reclassification of psilocybin and psilocin in the United States could create additional regulatory burdens on our operations and negatively affect our results of operations.

If psilocybin and/or psilocin, other than the FDA-approved formulation, is rescheduled under the CSA as a Schedule II or lower controlled substance (i.e., Schedule III, IV or V), the ability to conduct research on psilocybin and psilocin would most likely be improved. However, rescheduling psilocybin and psilocin may materially alter enforcement policies across many federal agencies, primarily the FDA and DEA. The FDA is responsible for ensuring public health and safety through regulation of food, drugs, supplements, and cosmetics, among other products, through its enforcement authority pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”). The FDA’s responsibilities include regulating the ingredients as well as the marketing and labeling of drugs sold in interstate commerce. Because it is currently illegal under federal law to produce and sell psilocybin and psilocin, and because there are no federally recognized medical uses, the FDA has historically deferred enforcement related to psilocybin and psilocin to the DEA. If psilocybin and psilocin were to be rescheduled to a federally controlled, yet legal, substance, the FDA would likely play a more active regulatory role. The DEA would continue to be active in regulating manufacturing, distribution and dispensing of such substances. The potential for multi-agency enforcement post-rescheduling could threaten or have a materially adverse effect on our business.

Psilocybin and psilocin are listed as Schedule I controlled substances under the CSA in the U.S., and similar controlled substance legislation in other countries and any significant breaches in our compliance with these laws and regulations, or changes in the laws and regulations may result in interruptions to our development activity or business continuity.

Psilocybin and psilocin are categorized as Schedule I controlled substances under the CSA, and are similarly categorized by most states and foreign governments. Even assuming any future therapeutic candidates containing psilocybin or psilocin are approved and scheduled by regulatory authorities to allow their commercial marketing, the ingredients in such therapeutic candidates would likely continue to be Schedule I, or the state or foreign equivalent. Violations of any federal, state or foreign laws and regulations could result in significant fines, penalties, administrative sanctions, convictions or settlements arising from civil proceedings conducted by either the federal government or private citizens, or criminal charges and penalties, including, but not limited to, disgorgement of profits, cessation of business activities, divestiture or prison time. This could have a material adverse effect on us, including on our reputation and ability to conduct business, our financial position, operating results, profitability or liquidity, the potential listing of our shares or the market price of our shares. In addition, it is difficult for us to estimate the time or resources that would be needed for the investigation or defense of any such matters or our final resolution because, in part, the time and resources that may be needed are dependent on the nature and extent of any information requested by the applicable authorities involved, and such time or resources could be substantial. It is also illegal to aid or abet such activities or to conspire or attempt to engage in such activities. An investor’s contribution to and involvement in such activities may result in federal civil and/or criminal prosecution, including, but not limited to, forfeiture of his, her or its entire investment, fines and/or imprisonment.

Various federal, state, provincial and local laws govern our business in any jurisdictions in which we may operate, and to which we may export our products, including laws relating to health and safety, the conduct of our operations, and the production, storage, sale and distribution of our products. Complying with these laws requires that we comply concurrently with complex federal, state, provincial and/or local laws. These laws change frequently and may be difficult to interpret and apply. To ensure our compliance with these laws, we will need to invest significant financial and managerial resources. It is impossible for us to predict the cost of such laws or the effect they may have on our future operations. A failure to comply with these laws could negatively affect our business and harm our reputation. Changes to these laws could negatively affect our competitive position and the markets in which we operate, and there is no assurance that various levels of government in the jurisdictions in which we operate will not pass legislation or regulation that adversely impacts our business.

In addition, even if we or third parties were to conduct activities in compliance with U.S. state or local laws or the laws of other countries and regions in which we conduct activities, potential enforcement proceedings could involve significant restrictions being imposed upon us or third parties, while diverting the attention of key executives. Such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenue, operating results and financial condition as well as on our reputation and prospects, even if such proceedings conclude successfully in our favor. In the extreme case, such proceedings could ultimately involve the criminal prosecution of our key executives, the seizure of corporate assets, and consequently, our inability to continue business operations. Strict compliance with state and local laws with respect to psilocybin and psilocin does not absolve us of potential liability under U.S. federal law or EU law, nor provide a defense to any proceeding which may be brought against us. Any such proceedings brought against us may adversely affect our operations and financial performance.

Despite the current status of psilocybin and psilocin as Schedule I controlled substances in the United States, there may be changes in the status of psilocybin or psilocin under the laws of certain U.S. cities or states. For instance, the city of Denver voted to decriminalize the possession of psilocybin in 2019 and five other cities have decriminalized psilocybin since (Oakland, California; Santa Cruz, California; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Somerville, Massachusetts). Moreover, in the November 2020 election, Oregon passed Measure 109 which legalizes medical use of “psilocybin products,” including magic mushrooms, to treat mental health conditions in licensed facilities with registered therapists.

The legalization of psilocybin without regulatory oversight may lead to the setup of clinics without proper therapeutic infrastructure or adequate clinical research, which could put patients at risk and bring reputational and regulatory risk to the entire industry, making it harder for us to achieve regulatory approval.

Our product candidates may contain controlled substances, the use of which may generate public controversy. Adverse publicity or public perception regarding psilocybin or our current or future investigational therapies using psilocybin may negatively influence the success of these therapies.

Therapies containing controlled substances may generate public controversy. Political and social pressures and adverse publicity could lead to delays in approval of, and increased expenses for any future therapeutic candidates we may develop. Opponents of these therapies may seek restrictions on marketing and withdrawal of any regulatory approvals. In addition, these opponents may seek to generate negative publicity in an effort to persuade the medical community to reject these therapies. For example, we may face media-communicated criticism directed at our clinical development program. Adverse publicity from psilocybin misuse may adversely affect the commercial success or market penetration achievable by our product candidates. Anti-psychedelic protests have historically occurred and may occur in the future and generate media coverage. Political pressures and adverse publicity could lead to delays in, and increased expenses for, and limit or restrict the introduction and marketing of any future therapeutic candidates.

Our clinical trials may fail to demonstrate substantial evidence of the safety and effectiveness of future product candidates that we may identify and pursue, which would prevent, delay or limit the scope of regulatory approval and commercialization.

Before obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of future therapeutic candidates, we must demonstrate through lengthy, complex and expensive nonclinical studies, preclinical studies and clinical trials that the applicable therapeutic candidate is both safe and effective for use in each target indication. A therapeutic candidate must demonstrate an adequate risk versus benefit profile in its intended patient population and for its intended use.

Clinical testing is expensive and can take many years to complete, and its outcome is inherently uncertain. Most product candidates that begin clinical trials are never approved by regulatory authorities for commercialization. We have limited experience in designing clinical trials and may be unable to design and execute a clinical trial to support marketing approval.

We cannot be certain that any clinical trials will be successful. In some instances, there can be significant variability in safety or efficacy results between different clinical trials of the same therapeutic candidate due to numerous factors, including changes in trial procedures set forth in protocols, differences in the size and type of the patient populations, changes in and adherence to the clinical trial protocols and the rate of dropout among clinical trial participants.

Even if any of our future therapeutic candidates obtain regulatory approval, we will be subject to ongoing obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. Additionally, any such therapeutic candidates, if approved, could be subject to labeling and other restrictions and market withdrawal, and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or experience unanticipated problems with any of our future therapeutic candidates.

If the FDA, the EMA, the MHRA or a comparable foreign regulatory authority approves any of our future therapeutic candidates, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, advertising, promotion and recordkeeping for the therapy and underlying therapeutic substance will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration, as well as continued compliance with current good manufacturing practice (“cGMP”) and with good clinical practice (“GCP”) for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval, all of which may result in significant expense and limit our ability to commercialize such therapies. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with any approved therapeutic candidate, including adverse events of unanticipated severity or frequency, or with our third-party manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may result in, among other things:

In addition, any regulatory approvals that we receive for our future therapeutic candidates may also be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which the therapy may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including Phase IV clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of such therapeutic candidates.

If there are changes in the application of legislation, regulations or regulatory policies or if we or one of our distributors, licensees or co-marketers fails to comply with regulatory requirements, the regulators could take various actions. These include imposing fines on us, imposing restrictions on the therapeutic or its manufacture and requiring us to recall or remove the therapeutic from the market. The regulators could also suspend or withdraw our marketing authorizations, requiring us to conduct additional clinical trials, change our therapeutic labeling or submit additional applications for marketing authorization. If any of these events occurs, our ability to sell such therapy may be impaired, and we may incur substantial additional expense to comply with regulatory requirements, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Research and development of drugs targeting the central nervous system is particularly difficult, which makes it difficult to predict and understand why the drug has a positive effect on some patients but not others.

Discovery and development of new drugs targeting central nervous system disorders are particularly difficult and time-consuming, evidenced by the higher failure rate for new drugs for central nervous system disorders compared with most other areas of drug discovery. For example, in 2019, both Rapastinel and SAGE-217, two new drugs targeting major depressive disorder (“MDD”), failed to meet their primary endpoints in Phase III trials. ALKS 5461, another new drug targeting MDD, was rejected by FDA in 2019 after its Phase III trials as FDA required additional clinical data to provide substantial evidence of effectiveness. Any such setbacks in our clinical development could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition, our later stage clinical trials may present challenges related to conducting adequate and well-controlled clinical trials, including designing an appropriate comparator arm in trials given the potential difficulties related to maintaining the blinding during the trial or placebo or nocebo effects. Due to the complexity of the human brain and the central nervous system, it can be difficult to predict and understand why a drug may have a positive effect on some patients but not others and why some individuals may react to the drug differently from others.

The results of preclinical studies and early-stage clinical trials of our future therapeutic candidates may not be predictive of the results of later stage clinical trials. Initial success in our ongoing clinical trials may not be indicative of results obtained when these trials are completed or in later stage trials.

Therapeutic candidates in later stages of clinical trials may fail to show the desired safety and efficacy traits despite having progressed through preclinical studies and initial clinical trials. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that any of our clinical trials will ultimately be successful or support further clinical development of any of our future therapeutic candidates. There is a high failure rate for drugs proceeding through clinical trials. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in clinical development even after achieving promising results in earlier studies.

We will depend on enrollment of patients in our clinical trials for our future therapeutic candidates. If we are unable to enroll patients in our clinical trials, our research and development efforts and business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Identifying and qualifying patients to participate in our clinical trials will be critical to our success. Patient enrollment depends on many factors, including:

Even once enrolled, we may be unable to retain a sufficient number of patients to complete any of our trials.

In addition, any negative results we may report in clinical trials may make it difficult or impossible to recruit and retain patients in other clinical trials of that same therapeutic candidate. Delays in the enrollment for any clinical trial will likely increase our costs, slow down the approval process and delay or potentially jeopardize our ability to commence sales of our future therapeutic candidates and generate revenue. In addition, some of the factors that cause, or lead to, a delay in the commencement or completion of clinical trials may also ultimately lead to the denial of regulatory approval of any future therapeutic candidates.

We have never commercialized a therapeutic candidate before and may lack the necessary expertise, personnel and resources to successfully commercialize our therapies on our own or with suitable collaborators.

We have limited organizational experience in the sale or marketing of therapeutic candidates. To achieve commercial success for any approved therapy, we must develop or acquire a sales and marketing organization, outsource these functions to third parties or enter into partnerships.

If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform market access and commercial services for any approved therapies, the revenue or the profitability of these revenue to us could be lower than if we were to commercialize any therapies that we develop ourselves. Such collaborative arrangements may place the commercialization of any approved therapies outside of our control and would make us subject to a number of risks including that we may not be able to control the amount or timing of resources that our collaborative partner devotes to our therapies or that our collaborator’s willingness or ability to complete its obligations, and our obligations under our arrangements may be adversely affected by business combinations or significant changes in our collaborator’s business strategy. We may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to commercialize our therapies or may be unable to do so on terms that are favorable to us. Acceptable third parties may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to commercialize our therapies effectively, to set up sufficient number of treatment centers in third-party therapy sites, or to recruit, train and retain adequate number of therapists to administer our therapies.

If we do not establish commercial capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we may not be successful in commercializing our therapies, which in turn would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

The future commercial success of our future therapeutic candidates will depend on the degree of market access and acceptance of our potential therapies among healthcare professionals, patients, healthcare payors, health technology assessment bodies and the medical community at large.

We may never have a therapy that is commercially successful. To date, we have no therapy authorized for marketing. Furthermore, if approved, our future therapies may not achieve an adequate level of acceptance by payors, health technology assessment bodies, healthcare professionals, patients and the medical community at large, and we may not become profitable. The level of acceptance we ultimately achieve may be affected by negative public perceptions and historic media coverage of psychedelic substances, including psilocybin. Because of this history, efforts to educate the medical community and third-party payors and health technologies assessment bodies on the benefits of our future therapies may require significant resources and may never be successful, which would prevent us from generating significant revenue or becoming profitable. Market acceptance of our future therapies by healthcare professionals, patients, healthcare payors and health technology assessment bodies will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, the following:

If our future therapeutic candidates fail to gain market access and acceptance, this will have a material adverse impact on our ability to generate revenue to provide a satisfactory, or any, return on our investments. Even if some therapies achieve market access and acceptance, the market may prove not to be large enough to allow us to generate significant revenue.

Changes in methods of therapeutic candidate manufacturing or formulation may result in additional costs or delay.

As therapeutic candidates are developed through preclinical studies to late-stage clinical trials towards potential approval and commercialization, it is common that various aspects of the development program, such as manufacturing methods and formulation, may be altered along the way in an effort to optimize processes and results. Any of these changes could cause any of our future therapeutic candidates to perform differently and affect the results of planned clinical trials or other future clinical trials conducted with the materials manufactured using altered processes. Such changes may also require additional testing, FDA notification or FDA approval. This could delay completion of clinical trials, require the conduct of bridging clinical trials or the repetition of one or more clinical trials, increase clinical trial costs, delay approval of any of our future therapeutic candidates and jeopardize our ability to commence product sales and generate revenue.

We may become exposed to costly and damaging liability claims, either when testing our future therapeutic candidates in the clinic or at the commercial stage, and our product liability insurance may not cover all damages from such claims.

We will be exposed to potential product liability and professional indemnity risks that are inherent in the research, development, manufacturing, marketing and use of therapeutic substances. Currently, we have no therapies that have been approved for commercial sale; however, any future therapeutic candidates by us and our corporate collaborators in clinical trials, and the potential sale of any approved therapies in the future, may expose us to liability claims. These claims might be made by patients who use our therapies, healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, our corporate collaborators or other third parties that sell our therapies. Any claims against us, regardless of their merit, could be difficult and costly to defend and could materially adversely affect the market for our future therapeutic candidates or any prospects for commercialization of our future therapeutic candidates. Although the clinical trial process is designed to identify and assess potential side effects, it is always possible that a drug, even after regulatory approval, may exhibit unforeseen side effects. If any of our future therapeutic candidates causes adverse side effects during clinical trials or after regulatory approval, we may be exposed to substantial liabilities.

Physicians and patients may not comply with warnings that identify known potential adverse effects and describe which patients should not use any of our future therapeutic candidates. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may cause, among other things, the following:

In addition we may not be able to obtain or maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or obtain insurance coverage that will be adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise. If a successful product liability claim or series of claims is brought against us for uninsured liabilities or in excess of insured liabilities, our assets may not be sufficient to cover such claims and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Liability claims resulting from any of the events described above could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize any of our future therapeutic candidates and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

In the United States, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes to the healthcare system that could affect our future results of operations. In particular, there have been and continue to be a number of initiatives at the U.S. federal and state levels that seek to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of healthcare. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, “ACA”), substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacted the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry.

Among the provisions of the ACA of importance to our potential therapeutic candidates are the following:

Since its enactment, there have been numerous judicial, administrative, executive, and legislative challenges to certain aspects of the ACA, and we expect there will be additional challenges and amendments to the ACA in the future. It is unclear whether the ACA will be overturned, repealed, replaced, or further amended. We cannot predict what affect further changes to the ACA would have on our business. This uncertainty is heightened by President Biden’s January 28, 2021 Executive Order on Strengthening Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act which indicates that the incoming Biden Administration may significantly modify the ACA and potentially revoke any changes implemented by the Trump Administration. It is also possible that President Biden will further reform the ACA and other federal programs in manner that may impact our operations. The Biden Administration has indicated that a goal of its administration is to expand and support Medicaid and the ACA and to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable. The potential increase in patients covered by government funded insurance may impact our pricing. Further, it is possible that the Biden Administration may further increase the scrutiny on drug pricing. Additionally, on December 14, 2018, a Texas U.S. District Court Judge ruled that the ACA is unconstitutional in its entirety because the tax penalty on certain individuals who fail to maintain qualifying health coverage for all or part of a year, commonly referred to as the “individual mandate.” Additionally, on December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the individual mandate was unconstitutional and remanded the case back to the District Court to determine whether the remaining provisions of the ACA are invalid as well. The United States Supreme Court is currently reviewing this case, but it is unclear when a decision will be made. It is also unclear how the Supreme Court ruling, other such litigation and the healthcare reform measures of the Biden administration will impact the ACA. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative or executive action, either in the United States or abroad. We expect that additional state and federal health care reform measures will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for health care products and services.

Third-party payors are increasingly challenging the price and examining the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of medical products and services, in addition to their safety and efficacy. To obtain coverage and reimbursement for any product that might be approved for marketing, we may need to conduct expensive studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of any products, which would be in addition to the costs expended to obtain regulatory approvals. Third-party payors may not consider our product or product candidates to be medically necessary or cost-effective compared to other available therapies.

Additionally, the containment of healthcare costs (including drug prices) has become a priority of federal and state governments. The U.S. government, state legislatures, and foreign governments have shown significant interest in implementing cost-containment programs, including price controls, restrictions on reimbursement, and requirements for substitution by generic products. For example, the Biden Administration, including his nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has indicated that lowering prescription drug prices is a priority, but we do not yet know what steps the administration will take or whether such steps will be successful. Adoption of price controls and cost-containment measures, and adoption of more restrictive policies in jurisdictions with existing controls and measures, could limit our net revenue and results. If these third-party payors do not consider our products to be cost-effective compared to other therapies, they may not cover our products or product candidates if approved as a benefit under their plans or, if they do, the level of reimbursement may not be sufficient to allow us to sell our products on a profitable basis. Decreases in third-party reimbursement for our products once approved or a decision by a third-party payor to not cover our products could reduce or eliminate utilization of our products and have an adverse effect on our sales, results of operations, and financial condition. In addition, state and federal healthcare reform measures have been and will be adopted in the future, any of which could limit the amounts that federal and state governments will pay for healthcare products and services, which could result in reduced demand for our products or product candidates once approved or additional pricing pressures.

In addition, new laws and additional health reform measures may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, which may adversely affect customer demand and affordability for our future therapeutic candidates and, accordingly, the results of our financial operations.

Our business operations and current and future relationships with investigators, health care professionals, consultants, third-party payors and customers may be subject, directly or indirectly, to U.S. federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws, false claims laws, health information privacy and security laws, other healthcare laws and regulations and other foreign privacy and security laws. If we are unable to comply, or have not fully complied, with such laws, we could face substantial penalties.

Although we do not currently have any therapies on the market, our current and future operations may be directly, or indirectly through our relationships with investigators, health care professionals, customers and third-party payors, subject to various U.S. federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, including, without limitation, the U.S. federal Anti-Kickback Statute or the federal Anti-Kickback Statute. Healthcare providers, physicians and others play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any therapies for which we obtain marketing approval. These laws impact, among other things, our research activities and proposed sales, marketing and education programs and constrain our business and financial arrangements and relationships with third-party payors, healthcare professionals who participate in our clinical research program, healthcare professionals and others who recommend, purchase, or provide our approved therapies, and other parties through which we market, sell and distribute our therapies for which we obtain marketing approval. In addition, we may be subject to patient data privacy and security regulation by both the U.S. federal government and the states in which we conduct our business, along with foreign regulators (including European data protection authorities). Finally, our current and future operations will be subject to additional healthcare-related statutory and regulatory requirements and enforcement by foreign regulatory authorities in jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. These laws include, but are not limited to, the following:

The distribution of pharmaceutical products is subject to additional requirements and regulations, including licensing, extensive record-keeping, storage and security requirements intended to prevent the unauthorized sale of pharmaceutical products.

The scope and enforcement of each of these laws is uncertain and subject to rapid change in the current environment of healthcare reform, especially in light of the lack of applicable precedent and regulations. Federal and state enforcement bodies have recently increased their scrutiny of interactions between healthcare companies and healthcare providers, which has led to a number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and settlements in the healthcare industry. Even if precautions are taken, it is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion of drugs from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, additional reporting requirements and oversight if we become subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws, reputational harm and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any of the physicians or other healthcare providers or entities with whom we expect to do business is found not to be in compliance with applicable laws, that person or entity may be subject to significant criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs. Prohibitions or restrictions on sales or withdrawal of future marketed products could materially affect business in an adverse way.

Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. Any action against us for violation of these laws, even if we successfully defend against it, could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business. The shifting compliance environment and the need to build and maintain robust and expandable systems to comply with multiple jurisdictions with different compliance or reporting requirements increases the possibility that a healthcare company may run afoul of one or more of the requirements.

Failure to comply with health and data protection laws and regulations could lead to U.S. federal and state government enforcement actions, including civil or criminal penalties, private litigation, and adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business.

We and any potential collaborators may be subject to U.S. federal and state data protection laws and regulations, such as laws and regulations that address privacy and data security. In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including state data breach notification laws, state health information privacy laws, and federal and state consumer protection laws, govern the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of health-related and other personal information. In addition, we may obtain health information from third parties, including research institutions from which we obtain clinical trial data, which are subject to privacy and security requirements under HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”). To the extent that we act as a business associate to a healthcare provider engaging in electronic transactions, we may also be subject to the privacy and security provisions of HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, which restricts the use and disclosure of patient-identifiable health information, mandates the adoption of standards relating to the privacy and security of patient-identifiable health information, and requires the reporting of certain security breaches to healthcare provider customers with respect to such information. Additionally, many states have enacted similar laws that may impose more stringent requirements on entities like ours. Depending on the facts and circumstances, we could be subject to significant civil, criminal, and administrative penalties if we obtain, use, or disclose individually identifiable health information maintained by a HIPAA-covered entity in a manner that is not authorized or permitted by HIPAA.

Compliance with U.S. and foreign privacy and data protection laws and regulations could require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts, restrict our ability to collect, use and disclose data, or in some cases, impact our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could result in government enforcement actions (which could include civil, criminal and administrative penalties), private litigation, and/or adverse publicity and could negatively affect our operating results and business. Moreover, clinical trial subjects, employees and other individuals about whom we or our potential collaborators obtain personal information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, may limit our ability to collect, use and disclose the information. Claims that we have violated individuals’ privacy rights, failed to comply with data protection laws, or breached our contractual obligations, even if we are not found liable, could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity that could harm our business.

The successful commercialization of any of our future therapeutic candidates will depend in part on the extent to which governmental authorities and health insurers establish adequate reimbursement levels and pricing policies. Failure to obtain or maintain adequate coverage and reimbursement for any of our future therapeutic candidates, if approved, could limit our ability to market those therapies and decrease our ability to generate revenue.

The availability and adequacy of coverage and reimbursement by governmental healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, private health insurers and other third-party payors are essential for most patients to be able to afford therapies. As Schedule I substances under the CSA, psilocybin and psilocin are deemed to have no accepted medical use and therapies that use psilocybin or psilocin are precluded from reimbursement in the United States. Our products must be scheduled as a Schedule II or lower controlled substance (i.e., Schedule III, IV or V) before they can be commercially marketed. Our ability to achieve acceptable levels of coverage and reimbursement for therapies by governmental authorities, private health insurers and other organizations will have an effect on our ability to successfully commercialize, and attract additional collaboration partners to invest in the development of our future therapeutic candidates. Even if we obtain coverage for a given therapy by third-party payors, the resulting reimbursement payment rates may not be adequate or may require patient out-of-pocket costs that patients may find unacceptably high. We cannot be sure that coverage and reimbursement in the United States or elsewhere will be available for any therapy that we may develop, and any reimbursement that may become available may be decreased or eliminated in the future.

Furthermore, third-party payors are increasingly challenging prices charged for therapeutic substances and services, and many third-party payors may refuse to provide coverage and reimbursement for particular drugs when an equivalent generic drug or a less expensive therapy is available. It is possible that a third-party payor may consider our future therapeutic candidates as substitutable and only offer to reimburse patients for the less expensive therapy. These payors may deny or revoke the reimbursement status of a given drug product or establish prices for new or existing marketed therapies at levels that are too low to enable us to realize an appropriate return on our investment in product development. If reimbursement is not available or is available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize our future therapeutic candidates, and may not be able to obtain a satisfactory financial return on therapeutic candidates that we may develop.

There is significant uncertainty related to the insurance coverage and reimbursement of newly approved therapies. In the United States, third-party payors, including private and governmental payors, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs, play an important role in determining the extent to which new drugs will be covered. The Medicare and Medicaid programs increasingly are used as models for how private payors and other governmental payors develop their coverage and reimbursement policies for drugs. Some third-party payors may require pre-approval of coverage for new or innovative devices or drug therapies before they will reimburse health care providers who use such therapies. It is difficult to predict at this time what third-party payors will decide with respect to the coverage and reimbursement for our future therapeutic candidates.

Furthermore, obtaining and maintaining reimbursement status is time-consuming and costly. No uniform policy for coverage and reimbursement for drug therapies exists among third-party payors in the United States. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for drug therapies can differ significantly from payor to payor. As a result, the coverage determination process is often a time-consuming and costly process that will require us to provide scientific and clinical support for the use of our therapies to each payor separately, with no assurance that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be applied consistently or obtained in the first instance. Furthermore, rules and regulations regarding reimbursement change frequently, in some cases at short notice, and we believe that changes in these rules and regulations are likely.

Outside the United States, international operations are generally subject to extensive governmental price controls and other market regulations. Other countries allow companies to fix their own prices for medical therapies, but monitor and control company profits. Additional foreign price controls or other changes in pricing regulation could restrict the amount that we are able to charge for our future therapeutic candidates. Accordingly, in markets outside the United States, the reimbursement for our therapies may be reduced compared with the United States and may be insufficient to generate commercially reasonable revenue and profits.

We will be subject to environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, and we may become exposed to liability and substantial expenses in connection with environmental compliance or remediation activities which may adversely affect our business and financial condition.

Our operations, including our research, development, testing and manufacturing activities, will be subject to numerous foreign, federal, state and local environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, the controlled use, manufacture, handling, release and disposal of and the maintenance of a registry for, hazardous materials, such as chemical solvents, human cells, carcinogenic compounds, mutagenic compounds and compounds that have a toxic effect on reproduction, laboratory procedures and exposure to blood-borne pathogens.

We may incur significant costs to comply with these current or future environmental and health and safety laws and regulations. Furthermore, if we fail to comply with such laws and regulations, we could be subject to fines or other sanctions.

Risks Relating to Our Intellectual Property Rights

The failure to obtain or maintain patents, licensing agreements and other intellectual property could materially impact our ability to compete effectively.

In order for our business to be viable and to compete effectively, we need to develop and maintain, and we will heavily rely on, a proprietary position with respect to our intellectual property. However, there are significant risks associated with our actual or proposed intellectual property. The risks and uncertainties that we face with respect to our rights principally include the following:

We cannot be certain that any patents will be issued as a result of any pending or future applications, or that any patents, once issued, will provide us with adequate protection from competing products. For example, issued patents may be circumvented or challenged, declared invalid or unenforceable, or narrowed in scope. In addition, since publication of discoveries in scientific or patent literature often lags behind actual discoveries, we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to invent or to file patent applications covering them.

It is also possible that others may have or may obtain issued patents that could prevent us from commercializing our products or require us to obtain licenses requiring the payment of significant fees or royalties in order to enable us to conduct our business. There is no guarantee that such licenses will be available based on commercially reasonable terms. As to those patents that we have licensed, our rights depend on maintaining our obligations to the licensor under the applicable license agreement, and we may be unable to do so.

If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our products, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, competitors could develop and commercialize products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our products could be impaired.

The patent prosecution process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection.

The patent position of life science companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in past years been the subject of much litigation. In addition, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States and we may fail to seek or obtain patent protection in all major markets. For example, unlike the U.S., European patent law restricts the patentability of methods of treatment of the human body. Our pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products, in whole or in part, or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection, even post-grant.

Recent patent reform legislation has increased the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of patent applications and the enforcement or defense of issued patents. On September 16, 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, was signed into law. The Leahy-Smith Act includes a number of significant changes to United States patent law. These include provisions that affect the way patent applications are prosecuted and may also affect patent litigation. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) recently developed new regulations and procedures to govern administration of the Leahy-Smith Act, and many of the substantive changes to patent law associated with the Leahy-Smith Act, and in particular, the first to file provisions, only became effective on March 16, 2013. Accordingly, it is not clear what, if any, impact the Leahy-Smith Act will have on the operation of our business. However, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

Moreover, we may be subject to a third-party pre-issuance submission of prior art to the USPTO, or become involved in opposition, derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings challenging our patent rights (whether licensed or otherwise held) or the patent rights of others. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights (whether licensed or otherwise held), allow third parties to commercialize our products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third-party patent rights. In addition, if the breadth or strength of protection provided by our patents and patent applications (whether licensed or otherwise held) is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future product candidates.

Even if our patent applications (whether licensed or otherwise held) result in the issuance of patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner.

The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its inventorship, scope, validity or enforceability, and our licensed or owned patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in loss of exclusivity or freedom to operate or in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, in whole or in part, which could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new life science product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. As a result, our intellectual property rights portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, which could be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our intellectual property. To counter infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to sue a third party, or otherwise make a claim, alleging infringement or other violation of patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names or other intellectual property rights that we either own or license from a third party. If we do not prevail in enforcing our intellectual property rights in this type of litigation, we may be subject to:

Any claims we assert against perceived infringers could provoke these parties to assert counterclaims against us alleging that we infringe their intellectual property or that our intellectual property is invalid or unenforceable. The result of these challenges may narrow the scope or claims of or invalidate or found unenforceable patents that are integral to our product or product candidate. In addition, in a patent infringement proceeding, a court may decide that a licensed or owned patent of ours is invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, construe the patent’s claims narrowly or refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover that technology. Moreover, lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights could be expensive, time-consuming and ultimately unsuccessful.

Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. There is considerable intellectual property litigation in the life sciences industry. We cannot guarantee that our product candidates will not infringe third-party patents or other proprietary rights. We may become party to, or threatened with, future adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products and technology, including inter partes review, interference, or derivation proceedings before the USPTO and similar bodies in other countries. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing intellectual property rights and intellectual property rights that may be granted in the future.

If we are found to infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing and marketing our products. However, we may not be able to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing the infringing technology or product. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by governmental patent agencies, and our own patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for noncompliance with these requirements.

Periodic maintenance fees and annuities on any issued patent are due to be paid to the USPTO and foreign patent agencies in several stages over the lifetime of the patent. The USPTO and various foreign governmental patent agencies require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. While an inadvertent lapse can in many cases be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules, there are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction. Noncompliance events that could result in abandonment or lapse of a patent or patent application include, but are not limited to, failure to respond to official actions within prescribed time limits, non-payment of fees and failure to properly legalize and submit formal documents. In such an event, our competitors might be able to enter our markets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We may be subject to claims by third parties asserting that our employees or we have misappropriated their intellectual property or claiming ownership of what we regard as our own intellectual property.

We may retain employees and contractors that were previously employed at universities or other companies, including potential competitors. Although we will try to ensure that our employees and contractors do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that these employees or we have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such employee’s former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims, and any such litigation could have an unfavorable outcome.

In addition, while it is our policy to require our employees and contractors who may be involved in the development of intellectual property to execute agreements assigning such intellectual property to us, we may be unsuccessful in executing such an agreement with each party who in fact develops intellectual property that we regard as our own. Our and their assignment agreements may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property.

If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and adverse results, and be a distraction to management.

If we fail to comply with our obligations in the agreements under which we may license intellectual property rights from third parties or otherwise experience disruptions to our business relationships with our licensors, we could lose rights that are important to our business.

We have licensed and may be required to enter into intellectual property license agreements that are important to our business. These license agreements may impose various diligence, milestone payment, royalty and other obligations on us. For example, we may enter into exclusive license agreements with various universities and research institutions, we may be required to use commercially reasonable efforts to engage in various development and commercialization activities with respect to licensed products, and may need to satisfy specified milestone and royalty payment obligations. If we fail to comply with any obligations under our agreements with any of these licensors, we may be subject to termination of the license agreement in whole or in part, increased financial obligations to our licensors or loss of exclusivity in a particular field or territory, in which case our ability to develop or commercialize products covered by the license agreement will be impaired.

In addition, disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a license agreement, including:

Disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed may prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on acceptable terms, and we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize our product candidate.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could compromise our ability to compete in the marketplace.

We may spend considerable resources developing and maintaining patents, licensing agreements and other intellectual property that may later be abandoned or may otherwise never result in products brought to market.

Not all technologies and candidate products that initially show potential as the basis for future products will ultimately meet the rigors of our development process and as a result may be abandoned and/or never otherwise result in products brought to market. In some cases, prior to abandonment we may be required to incur significant costs developing and maintaining intellectual property and/or maintaining license agreements and our business could be harmed by such costs.

If we are not able to adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information, the value of our technology and product could be significantly diminished.

We rely on trade secrets to protect our proprietary technologies, especially where we do not believe patent protection is appropriate or obtainable. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. We rely in part on confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers and other advisors to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information. These agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets and proprietary information. For example, the FDA, as part of its transparency initiative, is currently considering whether to make additional information publicly available on a routine basis, including information that we may consider to be trade secrets or other proprietary information, and it is not clear at the present time how the FDA’s disclosure policies may change in the future, if at all. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive business position.

We rely on information technology, and if we are unable to protect against service interruptions, data corruption, cyber-based attacks or network security breaches, our operations could be disrupted, and our business could be negatively affected.

We rely on information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store electronic and financial information; to coordinate our business; and to communicate within our Company and with customers, suppliers, partners and other third-parties. These information technology systems may be susceptible to damage, disruptions or shutdowns, hardware or software failures, power outages, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, telecommunication failures, user errors or catastrophic events. If our information technology systems suffer severe damage, disruption or shutdown, and our business continuity plans do not effectively resolve the issues in a timely manner, our operations could be disrupted, and our business could be negatively affected. In addition, cyber-attacks could lead to potential unauthorized access and disclosure of confidential information, and data loss and corruption. There is no assurance that we will not experience these service interruptions or cyber-attacks in the future.

Other Risks Related to Our Business

We may not be successful in hiring and retaining key employees, including executive officers.

Our success materially depends upon the expertise, experience and continued service of our management and other key personnel, including, but not limited to, Eric Weisblum, our Chief Executive Officer. If we lose the services of Mr. Weisblum or any of other member of management, our business would be materially and adversely affected.

Our future success also depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly qualified management personnel and other employees. There can be no assurance that these professionals will be available in the market, or that we will be able to retain existing professionals or to meet or to continue to meet their compensation requirements. Furthermore, the cost base in relation to such compensation, which may include equity compensation, may increase significantly, which could have a material adverse effect on us. Failure to establish and maintain an effective management team and work force could adversely affect our ability to operate, grow and manage our business.

Unfavorable global economic, business or political conditions could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our results of operations could be adversely affected by general conditions in the global economy and in the global financial markets, including conditions that are outside of our control, including the impact of health and safety concerns, such as those relating to the current COVID-19 outbreak. The most recent global financial crisis caused extreme volatility and disruptions in the capital and credit markets. A severe or prolonged economic downturn could result in a variety of risks to our business, including weakened demand for our products and our ability to raise additional capital when needed on acceptable terms, if at all. A weak or declining economy could strain our domestic and international customers, possibly resulting in delays in customer payments. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and we cannot anticipate all the ways in which the current economic climate and financial market conditions could adversely impact our business.

Risks Relating to Our Securities

Our Certificate of Incorporation grants our board of directors, without any action or approval by our stockholders, the power to designate and issue preferred stock with rights, preferences and privileges that may be adverse to the rights of the holders of our common stock.

The total number of preferred stock that we are authorized to issue is 5,000,000 shares of which 1,000,000 shares have been  designated as Series A Preferred Stock, none of which are issued and outstanding as of September 19, 2022, 2,000 shares have been designated as Series B Preferred Stock, none of which are issued and outstanding as of September 19, 2022 and 4,280 shares have been designated as Series C Preferred Stock, of which no shares are issued and outstanding as of September 19, 2022. Pursuant to authority granted by our Certificate of Incorporation, our board of directors, without any action or approval by our stockholders, may issue preferred stock in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by our board of directors without further action by stockholders. The terms of any series of preferred stock may include voting rights (including the right to vote as a series on particular matters), preferences as to dividend, liquidation, conversion and redemption rights and sinking fund provisions. The rights of holders of other classes or series of capital stock, including preferred stock that may be issued could be superior to the rights of the holders of shares of our common stock. The designation and issuance of shares of capital stock having preferential rights could materially adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, any issuances of additional capital stock (common or preferred) will dilute the percentage of ownership interest of our stockholders.

Our common stock is subject to the “penny stock” rules of the SEC and the trading market in the securities is limited, which makes transactions in the stock cumbersome and may reduce the value of an investment in the stock.

Rule 15g-9 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) establishes the definition of a “penny stock,” for the purposes relevant to us, as any equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share or with an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. For any transaction involving a penny stock, unless exempt, the rules require: (a) that a broker or dealer approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks; and (b) the broker or dealer receive from the investor a written agreement to the transaction, setting forth the identity and quantity of the penny stock to be purchased.

In order to approve a person’s account for transactions in penny stocks, the broker or dealer must: (a) obtain financial information and investment experience objectives of the person and (b) make a reasonable determination that the transactions in penny stocks are suitable for that person and the person has sufficient knowledge and experience in financial matters to be capable of evaluating the risks of transactions in penny stocks.

The broker or dealer must also deliver, prior to any transaction in a penny stock, a disclosure schedule prescribed by the SEC relating to the penny stock market, which, in highlight form: (a) sets forth the basis on which the broker or dealer made the suitability determination; and (b) confirms that the broker or dealer received a signed, written agreement from the investor prior to the transaction. Generally, brokers may be less willing to execute transactions in securities subject to the “penny stock” rules. This may make it more difficult for investors to dispose of our common stock and cause a decline in the market value of our common stock.

Disclosure also has to be made about the risks of investing in penny stocks in both public offerings and in secondary trading and about the commissions payable to both the broker or dealer and the registered representative, current quotations for the securities and the rights and remedies available to an investor in cases of fraud in penny stock transactions. Finally, monthly statements have to be sent disclosing recent price information for the penny stock held in the account and information on the limited market in penny stocks.

We have never paid cash dividends and have no plans to pay cash dividends in the future.

Holders of shares of our common stock are entitled to receive such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors. To date, we have paid no cash dividends on our capital stock and we do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to provide funds for operations of our business. Therefore, any return investors in our capital stock may have will be in the form of appreciation, if any, in the market value of their shares of common stock.

Our compliance with complicated U.S. regulations concerning corporate governance and public disclosure is expensive and diverts management’s attention from our core business, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

As a publicly reporting company, we are faced with expensive, complicated and evolving disclosure, governance and compliance laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Act, and, following this offering, Nasdaq rules. As a result of the complexity involved in complying with the applicable rules and regulations, our management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. We may need to hire more personnel in the future or engage outside consultants, which will increase our operating expenses, to assist us in complying with these requirements.

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs, and making some activities more time-consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest substantial resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from business operations to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us, and our business may be harmed. 

Our common stock could be subject to extreme volatility.

The trading price of our common stock may be affected by a number of factors, including events described in the risk factors set forth herein and in our other reports filed with the SEC from time to time, as well as our operating results, financial condition and other events or factors. In addition to the uncertainties relating to future operating performance and the profitability of operations, factors such as variations in interim financial results or various, and unpredictable, factors, many of which are beyond our control, may have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock. In recent years, broad stock market indices, in general, and smaller capitalization companies, in particular, have experienced substantial price fluctuations. In a volatile market, we may experience wide fluctuations in the market price of our common stock and wide bid-ask spreads. These fluctuations may have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the securities market has, from time to time, experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may have a material adverse effect the market price of our common stock.

Market and economic conditions may negatively impact our business, financial condition and share price.

Concerns over inflation, energy costs, geopolitical issues, the U.S. mortgage market and a declining real estate market, unstable global credit markets and financial conditions, and volatile oil prices have led to periods of significant economic instability, diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence and discretionary spending, diminished expectations for the global economy and expectations of slower global economic growth going forward, increased unemployment rates, and increased credit defaults in recent years. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturns, volatile business environments and continued unstable or unpredictable economic and market conditions. If these conditions continue to deteriorate or do not improve, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to complete, more costly, and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance, and share price and could require us to delay or abandon development or commercialization plans.

Future sales and issuances of our securities could result in additional dilution of the percentage ownership of our stockholders and could cause our share price to fall.

We expect that significant additional capital will be needed in the future to continue our planned operations, including research and development, increased marketing, hiring new personnel, commercializing our products, and continuing activities as an operating public company. To the extent we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience substantial dilution. We may sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in one or more transactions at prices and in a manner we determine from time to time. If we sell common stock, convertible securities or other equity securities in more than one transaction, investors may be materially diluted by subsequent sales. Such sales may also result in material dilution to our existing stockholders, and new investors could gain rights superior to our existing stockholders.

We may be at risk of securities class action litigation.

We may be at risk of securities class action litigation. In the past, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies have experienced significant stock price volatility, particularly when associated with binary events such as clinical trials and product approvals. If we face such litigation, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could harm our business and results in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

Financial reporting obligations of being a public company in the United States are expensive and time-consuming, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to compliance matters.

As a publicly traded company we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. The obligations of being a public company in the United States require significant expenditures and places significant demands on our management and other personnel, including costs resulting from public company reporting obligations under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations regarding corporate governance practices, including those under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (“Sarbanes-Oxley”) and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These rules require the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and procedures, internal control over financial reporting and changes in corporate governance practices, among many other complex rules that are often difficult to implement, monitor and maintain compliance with. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these requirements and to keep pace with new regulations, otherwise we may fall out of compliance and risk becoming subject to litigation among other potential problems.

Failure to maintain effective internal control over our financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could cause our financial reports to be inaccurate.

We are required pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to assess and report on the effectiveness of those controls. This assessment includes disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. Although we prepare our financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, our internal accounting controls may not meet all standards applicable to companies with publicly traded securities. If we fail to implement any required improvements to our disclosure controls and procedures, we may be obligated to report control deficiencies and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to certify the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. In either case, we could become subject to regulatory sanction or investigation. Further, these outcomes could damage investor confidence in the accuracy and reliability of our financial statements.

Our management has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were, and continue to be, ineffective, as December 31, 2021 as a result of the following: (i) we lacked segregation of duties within accounting functions duties and lacked monitoring control as a result of our limited financial resources to support hiring of personnel; and (ii) we not have not implemented adequate system and manual controls. While management intends to remediate the material weakness, there is no assurance that such changes, when economically feasible and sustainable, will remediate the identified material weaknesses or that the controls will prevent or detect future material weaknesses. If we are not able to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, our financial statements, including related disclosures, may be inaccurate, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Risks Related to this Offering

The Company will have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may fail to apply these proceeds effectively.

The Company’s management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds of this offering, including using the proceeds to conduct operations, expand the Company’s business lines and for general working capital. The Company may also use the net proceeds of this offering to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, products, or technologies, or to obtain the right to use such complementary technologies. We have no commitments with respect to any acquisition or investment; however, we seek opportunities and transactions that management believes will be advantageous to the Company and its operations or prospects. We cannot specify with certainty the actual uses of the net proceeds of this offering. You may not agree with the manner in which our management chooses to allocate and spend the net proceeds. We may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

There is no guarantee that we will successfully have our common stock listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Even if our common stock is accepted for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, upon our satisfaction of the exchange’s initial listing criteria, the exchange may subsequently delist our common stock if we fail to comply with ongoing listing standards.

In the event we are able to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market upon our satisfaction of the exchange’s initial listing criteria, the exchange will require us to meet certain financial, public float, bid price and liquidity standards on an ongoing basis in order to continue the listing of our common stock. If we fail to meet these continued listing requirements, our common stock may be subject to delisting. If our common stock are delisted and we are not able to list such common stock or warrants on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities would be quoted on an over-the-counter market; However, if this were to occur, our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences, including limited availability of market quotations for our common stock and reduced liquidity for the trading of our securities. In addition, in the event of such delisting, we could experience a decreased ability to issue additional securities and obtain additional financing in the future. Even if our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained after our initial listing.

You will experience immediate and substantial dilution as a result of this offering and may experience additional dilution in the future.

If you purchase shares of common stock in this offering, the value of your shares based on our actual book value will immediately be less than the price you paid. This reduction in the value of your equity is known as dilution. This dilution occurs in large part because our existing stockholders paid less than the assumed public offering price when they acquired their shares of common stock. Based upon the issuance and sale of 588,236 shares of common stock by us in this offering at an assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share, you will incur immediate dilution of $3.83 in the net tangible book value per share of common stock. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option, or if outstanding options to purchase our common shares are exercised, investors will experience additional dilution. For more information, see “Dilution.”

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this prospectus are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this prospectus are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “depends,” “estimate,” “expects,” “intend,” “may,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of those terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain those words. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs.

These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those described in “Risk Factors.” Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this prospectus may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. Moreover, except as required by law, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this prospectus to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

You should read this prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed with the SEC as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances may be materially different from what we expect.

USE OF PROCEEDS

Assuming the sale of all of the 588,236 shares of common stock in this offering at an assumed offering price of $8.50 per share, the Company estimates that the net proceeds from the sale of shares it is offering will be approximately $4.15 million. If the underwriters fully exercise the over-allotment option, the net proceeds will be approximately $4.83 million. “Net proceeds” is what the Company expects to receive after deducting the underwriting discount and commission and estimated offering expenses payable by the Company.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering for product development, marketing and working capital and general corporate purposes.

The Company may also use a portion of the net proceeds of this offering to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, products, or technologies, or to obtain the right to use such complementary technologies. The Company has no commitments with respect to any acquisition or investment and is not currently involved in any negotiations with respect to any such transactions.

As of the date of this prospectus, the Company cannot specify with certainty all of the particular uses for the net proceeds to be received upon the completion of this offering. The amounts and timing of its actual expenditures will depend on numerous factors, including the status of its product development efforts, sales and marketing activities, technological advances, amount of cash generated or used by its operations and competition. Accordingly, the Company’s management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds and investors will be relying on the judgment of its management regarding the application of the proceeds of this offering.

DIVIDEND POLICY

The Company has not declared nor paid any cash dividend on its common stock, and it currently intends to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of its business, and the Company does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.  The decision whether to pay cash dividends on its common stock will be made by its board of directors, in their discretion, and will depend on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors that its board of directors considers significant.

CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth the Company’s cash and capitalization as of June 30, 2022 on:

The information in this table is unaudited and is illustrative only and the Company’s capitalization following the completion of this offering will be adjusted based on the actual public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. You should read this table in conjunction with the information contained in “Use of Proceeds,” “Summary Financial Information” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation,” as well as the financial statements and the notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash and cash equivalents, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity (deficit) by approximately $541,200 ($541,200), assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. Similarly, each increase (decrease) of 100,000 shares in the number of shares offered by us at the assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted amount of each of cash and cash equivalents, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity (deficit) by approximately $782,000 ($782,000).

The number of shares of common stock outstanding is based on 1,987,906 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2022, and excludes the following:

Except as otherwise indicated herein, all information in this prospectus reflects or assumes:

DILUTION

If you invest in the Company’s common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the assumed offering price per share of its common stock and the as adjusted net tangible book value per share of its common stock immediately after the offering. Historical net tangible book value per share represents the amount of the Company’s total tangible assets less total liabilities, divided by the number of shares of its common stock outstanding.

The historical net tangible book value (deficit) of the Company’s common stock as of June 30, 2022 was approximately $7,874,037 or $3.96 per share based upon shares of common stock outstanding on such date. Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share represents the amount of its total tangible assets reduced by the amount of its total liabilities, divided by the total number of shares of common stock outstanding. After giving effect to the Company’s sale of all of the 588,236 shares offered in this offering at an assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and the Company’s estimated offering expenses, the Company’s pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of June 30, 2022 would have been $12,020,167 or $4.67 per share. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $0.71 per share to the Company’s existing stockholders, and an immediate dilution in net tangible book value of $3.83 per share to new investors. The following table illustrates this per share dilution:

The information discussed above is illustrative only, and the dilution information following this offering will be adjusted based on the actual public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. A $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share would increase (decrease) the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $0.21 per share and increase (decrease) the dilution to new investors by $0.79 per share, assuming the number of shares offered by the Company, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses payable by the Company. The Company may also increase or decrease the number of shares it is offering. An increase of 100,000 shares offered by it would increase the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $0.11 per share and decrease the dilution to new investors by $0.11 per share, assuming the assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses payable by the Company. Similarly, a decrease of 100,000 shares offered by the Company would decrease the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by $0.13 per share and increase the dilution to new investors by $0.13 per share, assuming the assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses payable by the Company.

If the underwriters’ over-allotment option to purchase additional shares from the Company is exercised in full, and based on the assumed public offering price of $8.50 per share, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share after this offering would be $4.77 per share, the increase in as adjusted net tangible book value per share to existing stockholders would be $0.81 per share and the dilution to new investors purchasing shares in this offering would be $3.73 per share.

The number of shares of common stock outstanding is based on 1,987,906 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2022, and excludes the following:

Except as otherwise indicated herein, all information in this prospectus reflects or assumes:

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with financial statements and notes thereto, as well as the “Risk Factors” and “Description of Business” sections included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this prospectus, particularly in “Risk Factors.”

Overview

We are a developmental stage biopharmaceutical company focused on merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research. We are committed to developing innovative solutions to address a variety of underserved conditions. In these uncertain times, the mental health of the nation and beyond is being put to the test. More than ever, creative new therapies are needed to address the health challenges of today. Combining our resources with world-class medical research partners, we hope to make significant advances in the medical and psychedelic space.

Rare Disease Therapeutics

We seek to acquire and/or develop intellectual property or technology rights from leading universities and researchers to treat rare diseases, including the use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, and the potential benefits they may have in certain cases involving depression, mental health issues and neurological disorders. We are focused on merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research for people suffering from indications such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”), Parkinson’s, and other rare neurological disorders. Our mission is to identify assets to license and fund the research which we believe will be transformative to the well-being of patients and the health care industry. 

Psilocybin is considered a serotonergic hallucinogen and is an active ingredient in some species of mushrooms. Recent industry studies using psychedelics, such as psilocybin, have been promising, and we believe there is a large unmet need with many people suffering from depression, mental health issues and neurological disorders. While classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), there is an accumulating body of evidence that psilocybin may have beneficial effects on depression and other mental health conditions. Therefore, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) have permitted the use of psilocybin in clinical studies for the treatment of a range of psychiatric conditions.

The potential of psilocybin therapy in mental health conditions has been demonstrated in a number of academic-sponsored studies over the last decade. In these early studies, it was observed that psilocybin therapy provided rapid reductions in depression symptoms after a single high dose, with antidepressant effects lasting for up to at least six months for a number of patients. These studies assessed symptoms related to depression and anxiety through a number of widely used and validated scales. The data generated by these studies suggest that psilocybin is generally well-tolerated and has the potential to treat depression when administered with psychological support.

We have engaged in discussions with a number of world-renowned educational institutions and advisors regarding potential opportunities and have formed a scientific advisory board that is intended to help advise management regarding potential acquisition and development of products.

In addition, as more fully described below, we have entered into a license agreement with the University of Baltimore, Maryland, and have entered into a joint venture with Zylo Therapeutics, Inc., with respect to certain intellectual property and technology that may be used for targeted delivery of potential novel treatments. In addition, we have recently entered into a sponsored research agreement with Columbia University pursuant to which we have been granted an option to license certain patents and inventions relating to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and stress-induced affective disorders using Ketamine in combination with certain other compounds.

We plan to actively pursue the acquisition and/or development of intellectual property or technology rights to treat rare diseases, and to ultimately expand our business to focus on this new line of business.

License Agreements between the Company and a Vendor

Vendor License Agreement with the University of Baltimore, Maryland for CNS Homing Peptide

On February 12, 2021, we entered into a Master License Agreement (the “UMB License Agreement”) with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) pursuant to which UMB granted us an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-bearing license to certain intellectual property (i) to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, and import certain licensed products and (ii) to use the invention titled, “Central nervous system-homing peptides in vivo and their use for the investigation and treatment of multiple sclerosis and other neuroinflammatory pathology” (the “Invention”) and UMB’s confidential information to develop and perform certain licensed processes for the therapeutic treatment of neuroinflammatory disease. The term of the License Agreement shall commence on the UMB Effective Date and shall continue until the latest of (i) ten years from the date of First Commercial Sale (as defined in the Sublicense Agreement) of the Licensed Product in such country and (ii) the date of expiration of the last to expire claim of the Patent Rights (as defined in the UMB License Agreement) covering such Licensed Product in such country, or (iii) the expiration of data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity, or other legally enforceable market exclusivity, if applicable, unless terminated earlier pursuant to the terms of the agreement. Pursuant to the UMB License Agreement, we agreed to pay UMB (i) a license fee of $75,000, (ii) certain event-based milestone payments, (iii) royalty payments, depending on net revenues, (iv) minimum royalty payments, and (v) a tiered percentage of sublicense income. The UMB License Agreement will remain in effect until the later of: (a) the last patent covered under the UMB License Agreement expires, (b) the expiration of data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity, or other legally enforceable market exclusivity, if applicable, or (c) ten years after the first commercial sale of a licensed product in that country, unless earlier terminated in accordance with the provisions of the UMB License Agreement. The term of the UMB License Agreement shall expire 15 year after the effective date in which (a) there were never any patent rights, (b) there was never any data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity, or other legally enforceable market exclusivity or (c) there was never a first commercial sale of a licensed product. On January 28, 2022, the Company and University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) entered into a second amendment to the commercial evaluation and license agreement dated February 26, 2021 (“Second Amendment”). The Second Amendment to extend the term of the original license agreement until December 31, 2022. However, if the Company exercises the Exclusive Option, the License Agreement shall expire at the end of the negotiation period (as defined in the License Agreement) or upon execution of a master license agreement, whichever occurs first.

As described below, the Company has entered into an investigator sponsored research agreement with UMB related to a clinical study to examine a novel peptide-guided drug delivery approach for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

Commercial Evaluation License and Option Agreement with UMB for Joint Homing Peptide

Effective as of February 26, 2021, the Company, through its wholly-subsidiary, Silo Pharma, Inc., and University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”), entered into a commercial evaluation license and option agreement (“License Agreement”), which granted the Company an exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferable license to with respect to the exploration of the potential use of joint-homing peptides for use in the investigation and treatment of arthritogenic processes. The License Agreement also granted the Company an exclusive option to negotiate and obtain an exclusive, sublicensable, royalty-bearing license (“Exclusive Option”) to with respect to the subject technology. The License Agreement had a term of six months from the effective date. Both parties could have terminated the License Agreement within thirty days by giving a written notice.

On July 6, 2021, the Company entered into a First Amendment Agreement (“Amended License Agreement”) with UMB to extend the term of the original License Agreement by an additional six months such that the Amended License Agreement was effective until February 25, 2022 however, if the Company exercises the Exclusive Option, the License Agreement shall expire at the end of the negotiation period (as defined in the License Agreement) or upon execution of a master license agreement, whichever occurs first. The Company paid a license fee of $10,000 to UMB in March 2021 pursuant to the License Agreement, which was expensed, since the Company could not conclude that such costs would be recoverable for this early-stage venture.

On January 28, 2022, the Company and University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) entered into a second amendment to the commercial evaluation and license agreement dated February 26, 2021 (“Second Amendment”). The Second Amendment to extend the term of the original license agreement until December 31, 2022. However, if the Company exercises the Exclusive Option, the License Agreement shall expire at the end of the negotiation period (as defined in the License Agreement) or upon execution of a master license agreement, whichever occurs first.

On June 30, 2022, the Parties entered into a third amendment to the commercial evaluation and license agreement dated February 26, 2021 (“Third Amendment”). The Third Amendment expands the scope of the license granted in the License Agreement to add additional patent rights with respect to an invention generally known as Peptide-Targeted Liposomal Delivery for Treatment Diagnosis, and Imaging of Diseases and Disorders. In consideration of the licenses granted under this Third Amendment, Company agreed to pay a one-time, non-refundable fee of $2,500 which was recorded as research and development expense in the condensed consolidated statement of operations.

Joint Venture Agreement with Zylö Therapeutics, Inc. for Z-pod™ Technology

On April 22, 2021, the Company entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with Zylö Therapeutics, Inc. (“ZTI”) pursuant to which the parties agreed to form a joint venture entity, to be named Ketamine Joint Venture, LLC, to, among other things, focus on the clinical development of ketamine using ZTI’s Z-pod™ technology. Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreement, the Company shall act as the manager of the Joint Venture. The Venture shall terminate if the development program does not meet certain specifications and milestones as set forth in the Joint Venture Agreement within 30 days of the date set forth in the Joint Venture Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Manager may, in its sole discretion, terminate the Venture at any time. As of the current date of this registration statement, the joint venture entity has not been formed yet.

Pursuant to the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement, (A) the Company shall contribute (1) $225,000 and (2) its expertise and the expertise of its science advisory board and (B) ZTI shall contribute (1) certain rights to certain of its patented technology as set forth in the JV Agreement, (2) a license to the know-how and trade secrets with respect to its Z-pod™ technology for the loading and release of ketamine, (3) ketamine to be used for clinical purposes, (4) reasonable use of its facilities and permits and (5) its expertise and know-how. Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreement, 51% of the interest in the Joint Venture shall initially be owned by the Company and 49% of the interest in the Joint Venture shall initially be owned by ZTI, subject to adjustment in the event of additional contributions by either party. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall either party own more than 60% of the interest in the Joint Venture.

Furthermore, pursuant to the terms of the JV Agreement, ZTI shall grant the Joint Venture a sublicense pursuant to its license agreement (the “License Agreement”) with Albert Einstein College of Medicine dated November 27, 2017, in the event that the Company or a third party makes a request indicating that the patented technology (the “Patented Technology”) licensed to ZTI pursuant to the License Agreement is needed to advance the development of the Joint Venture or it is contemplated or determined that the Patented Technology will be sold. Furthermore, pursuant to the JV Agreement, ZTI granted the Company an exclusive option to enter into a separate joint venture for the clinical development of psilocybin using ZTI’s Z-pod™ technology on the same terms and conditions set forth in the JV Agreement, which option shall expire 24 months after the JV Effective Date. As of the current date of this registration statement, the joint venture entity has not yet been formed.

Investigator-Sponsored Study Agreements between the Company and Vendors

Sponsored Research Agreement with Columbia University for the Study of Ketamine in Combination with Other Drugs for Treatment of Alzheimer’s and Depression Disorders

On October 1, 2021, the Company entered into a sponsored research agreement with The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (“Columbia”) pursuant to which Columbia shall conduct two different studies related to all uses of Ketamine or its metabolites in combination with Prucalopride, one of which is related to Alzheimer’s and the other of which is related to Depression, PTSD and Stress Projects.

In addition, Company has been granted an option to license certain assets currently under development, including Alzheimer’s disease. The term of the option will commence on the effective date of this agreement and will expire upon the earlier of (i) 90 days after the date of the Company’s receipt of a final research report for each specific research proposal as defined in the agreement or (ii) termination of the research. If the Company elects to exercise the option, both parties will commence negotiation of a license agreement and will execute a license agreement no later than 3 months after the dated of the exercise of the option. Columbia University and the Company will work towards developing a therapeutic treatment for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to posttraumatic stress disorder. During a one-year period from the date of this agreement, the Company shall pay a total of $1,436,082 to Columbia University for the support of the research according to the payment schedule as follows: (i) 30% at signing, (ii) 30% at four and half months after the start of the project, (iii) 30% at nine months after the start of the project and, (iv)10% at completion of the project. The Company paid the first payment of $430,825 in November 2021.

Sponsored Research Agreement with University of Maryland, Baltimore for the Study of Targeted liposomal drug delivery for rheumatoid arthritis

On July 6, 2021, we entered into a sponsored research agreement (the “July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement”) with UMB pursuant to which UMB shall evaluate the pharmacokinetics of dexamethasone delivered to arthritic rats via liposome.  The research pursuant to the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement commenced on September 1, 2021 and will continue until the substantial completion thereof, subject to renewal upon written consent of the parties with a project timeline of twelve months. The July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement may be terminated by either party upon 30 days’ prior written notice to the other party. In addition, if either party commits any material breach of or defaults with respect to any terms or conditions of the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement and fails to remedy such default or breach within 10 business days after written notice from the other party, the party giving notice may terminate the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement as of the date of receipt of such notice by the other party. If the Company terminates the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement for any reason other than an uncured material breach by UMB, we shall relinquish any and all rights it may have in the Results (as defined in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement) to UMB. In addition, if the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement is terminated early, we, among other things, will pay all costs incurred and accrued by UMB as of the date of termination. Pursuant to the terms of the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement, UMB granted us an option (the “Option”) to negotiate and obtain an exclusive license to any UMB Arising IP (as defined in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement) and UMB’s rights in any Joint Arising IP (as defined in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement) (collectively, the “UMB IP”). We may exercise the Option by giving UMB written notice within 60 days after it receives notice from UMB of the UMB IP. We shall pay total fees of $276,285 as set forth in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement. The Company paid the first payment of $92,095 on September 1, 2021 and partial of the second payment of $50,000 on February 1, 2022.

On June 7, 2022, the Company and UMB amended the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement whereby both parties agreed to make changes to the original project work and budget.

Sponsored Research Agreement with The Regents of the University of California for the Effect of Psilocybin on Inflammation in the Blood

On June 1, 2021, the Company entered into a sponsored research agreement with The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of its San Francisco Campus (“UCSF”) pursuant to which UCSF shall conduct a study to examine psilocybin’s effect on inflammatory activity in humans to accelerate its implementation as a potential treatment for Parkinson’s Disease, chronic pain, and bipolar disorder. The purpose of this is to show what effect psilocybin has on inflammation in the blood. The Company believe that this study will help support the UMB homing peptide study. Pursuant to the Agreement, we shall pay UCSF a total fee of $342,850 to conduct the research over the two-year period. The Agreement shall be effective for a period of two years from the effective date, subject to renewal or earlier termination as set forth in the Sponsored Research Agreement. The Company paid the first payment of $40,000 pursuant to the payment schedule on the Sponsored Research Agreement on June 15, 2021, second payment of $40,000 on September 9, 2021 and $20,570 on November 18, 2021 and third payment of $60,570 on March 1, 2022.

Investigator-Sponsored Study Agreement with UMB for CNS Homing Peptide

On January 5, 2021, we entered into an investigator-sponsored study agreement with UMB. The research project is a clinical study to examine a novel peptide-guided drug delivery approach for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (“MS”). More specifically, the study is designed to evaluate (1) whether MS-1-displaying liposomes can effectively deliver dexamethasone to the central nervous system and (2) whether MS-1-displaying liposomes are superior to plain liposomes, also known as free drug, in inhibiting the relapses and progression of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. Pursuant to the agreement, the research commenced on March 1, 2021 and will continue until substantial completion, subject to renewal upon mutual written consent of the parties. The total cost under the S investigator-sponsored study agreement shall not exceed $81,474, which is payable in two equal installments of $40,737 upon execution of the Sponsored Study Agreement and $40,737 upon completion of the project with an estimated project timeline of nine months. The Company paid $40,737 on January 13, 2021. Currently, the project has not been completed due to the delays cause by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Investigator-Sponsored Study Agreement with Maastricht University of the Netherlands

On November 1, 2020, we entered into an investigator-sponsored study agreement with Maastricht University of the Netherlands. The research project is a clinical study to examine the effects of repeated low doses of psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide on cognitive and emotional dysfunctions in Parkinson’s disease and to understand its mechanism of action. The agreement shall terminate on October 31, 2024, unless earlier terminated pursuant to the terms thereof. We shall pay a total fee of 433,885 Euros ($507,602 USD) exclusive of value added tax based on a payment schedule set forth in the agreement. In December 2020, the Company paid the first payment of $101,520. In September 2021, we notified Maastricht University of Netherlands for an early termination of this agreement. Maastricht University of Netherlands has not reached the second phase which is to obtain approval from ethical committee. We have no further obligation after the termination.

Other License Agreements between the Company and a Customer

Customer Patent License Agreement with AIkido Pharma Inc.

On January 5, 2021, we entered into a Patent License Agreement (the “AIkido License Agreement”) with our wholly-owned subsidiary, Silo Pharma, Inc., and AIkido Pharma Inc. (“AIkido”) pursuant to which we granted AIkido an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-bearing license to certain intellectual property (i) to make, have made, use, provide, import, export, lease, distribute, sell, offer for sale, develop and advertise certain licensed products and (ii) to develop and perform certain licensed processes for the treatment of cancer and symptoms caused by cancer. The AIkido License Agreement relates to the rights which we had obtained under the UMB Option Agreement. Pursuant to the AIkido License Agreement, we agreed that if we exercised the UMB Option, we would grant AIkido a non-exclusive sublicense to certain UMB patent rights in the field of neuroinflammatory diseases occurring in patients diagnosed with cancer. The UMB Option was exercised on January 13, 2021. Accordingly, on April 6, 2021, we entered into a sublicense agreement with AIkido pursuant to which we granted AIkido a worldwide exclusive sublicense to our licensed patents under the UMB License Agreement. (See “Sublicense with AIkido Pharma Inc.”). 

Customer Sublicense Agreement with AIkido Pharma Inc.

On April 6, 2021 (“Effective Date”), we entered into a sublicense agreement (the “Sublicense Agreement”) with AIkido pursuant to which we granted AIkido an exclusive worldwide sublicense to (i) make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell and import the Licensed Products (as defined below) and (ii) in connection therewith to (A) use the Invention that was sublicensed to us pursuant to the UMB License Agreement and (B) practice certain patent rights as set forth in the Sublicense Agreement (the “Patent Rights”) for the therapeutic treatment of neuroinflammatory disease in cancer patients. “Licensed Products” means any product, service, or process, the development, making, use, offer for sale, sale, importation, or providing of which: (i) is covered by one or more claims of the Patent Rights; or (ii) contains, comprises, utilizes, incorporates, or is derived from the Invention or any technology disclosed in the Patent Rights. Pursuant to the Sublicense Agreement, AIkido shall agree to pay the Company (i) an upfront license fee of $50,000, (ii) the same sales-based royalty payments that we are subject to under the UMB License Agreement and (iii) total milestone payments of up to $1.9 million. The Sublicense Agreement shall continue on a Licensed Product-by-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis until the later of (i) the date of expiration of the last to expire claim of the Patent Rights covering such Licensed Product in such country, (ii) the expiration of data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity or other legally enforceable market exclusivity, if applicable and (iii) 10 years after the first commercial sale of a Licensed Product in that country, unless terminated earlier pursuant to the terms of the Sublicense Agreement. Furthermore, the Sublicense Agreement shall expire 15 years after the Effective Date with respect to any country in which (i) there were never any Patent Rights, (ii) there was never any data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity or other legally enforceable market exclusivity with respect to a Licensed Product and (ii) there was never a commercial sale of a Licensed Product, unless such agreement is earlier terminated pursuant to its terms. The Company collected the upfront license fee of $50,000 in April 2021.

COVID-19 

The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) evolved into a global pandemic. The Coronavirus has spread to many regions of the world. The extent to which the Coronavirus impacts the Company’s business and operating results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the Coronavirus and the actions to contain the Coronavirus or treat its impact, among others.

As a result of the continuing spread of the Coronavirus, certain aspects of the Company’s business operations may be delayed or subject to interruptions. Specifically, as a result of the shelter-in-place orders and other mandated local travel restrictions, among other things, the research and development activities of certain of the Company’s partners may be affected, which may result in delays to the Company’s clinical trials, and the Company can provide no assurance as to when such trials, if delayed, will resume at this time or the revised timeline to complete trials once resumed.

Furthermore, site initiation, participant recruitment and enrollment, participant dosing, distribution of clinical trial materials, study monitoring and data analysis may be delayed due to changes in hospital or university policies, federal, state or local regulations, prioritization of hospital resources toward pandemic efforts, or other reasons related to the pandemic. If the Coronavirus continues to spread, some participants and clinical investigators may not be able to comply with clinical trial protocols. For example, quarantines or other travel limitations (whether voluntary or required) may impede participant movement, affect sponsor access to study sites, or interrupt healthcare services, and the Company may be unable to conduct its clinical trials.

Infections and deaths related to the pandemic may disrupt the United States’ healthcare and healthcare regulatory systems. Such disruptions could divert healthcare resources away from, or materially delay U.S. Food and Drug Administration review and/or approval with respect to the Company’s clinical trials. It is unknown how long these disruptions could continue, were they to occur. Any elongation or de-prioritization of the Company’s clinical trials or delay in regulatory review resulting from such disruptions could materially affect the development and study of the Company’s product candidates. 

The spread of the Coronavirus, which has caused a broad impact globally, including restrictions on travel and quarantine policies put into place by businesses and governments, may have a material economic effect on the Company’s business. While the potential economic impact brought by and the duration of the pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, it has already caused, and is likely to result in further, significant disruption of global financial markets, which may negatively impact the Company’s ability to access capital on favorable terms, if at all. In addition, a recession, depression or other sustained adverse market event resulting from the spread of the Coronavirus could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business and the value of its common stock.

The ultimate impact of the current pandemic, or any other health epidemic, is highly uncertain and subject to change. The Company does not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts on its business, its clinical trials, its research programs, healthcare systems or the global economy as a whole. However, these effects could have a material impact on the Company’s operations, and the Company will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Equity Investments

At June 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, equity investments, at fair value of $113,012 and $419,995, respectively, comprised mainly of marketable common stock are recorded at fair value.

Results of Operations

Comparison of Our Results of Operations for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 and 2021

The following table summarizes the results of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 based primarily on the comparative condensed consolidated financial statements, footnotes and related information for the periods identified, and should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes to those statements that are included elsewhere in this report.

Revenues

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, revenues consisted of revenues on licensing fees related to our biopharmaceutical operation of $18,025 and $18,026, respectively. Such revenues are primarily related to the Aikido License and Sublicense Agreement.

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, revenues consisted of revenues on licensing fees related to our biopharmaceutical operation of $36,051 and $35,313, respectively. Such revenues are primarily related to the Aikido License and Sublicense Agreement.

Cost of Revenues

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, cost of revenues on license fees related to our biopharmaceutical operation amounted to $1,459 and $1,460, respectively. The primary components of cost of revenues on license fees include the cost of the license fees primarily related to the UMB License and Sublicense Agreement.

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, cost of revenues on license fees related to our biopharmaceutical operation amounted to $2,919 and $2,085, respectively. The primary components of cost of revenues on license fees include the cost of the license fees primarily related to the UMB License and Sublicense Agreement.

Operating Expenses

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, total operating expenses consisted of the following:

Operating Loss from Continuing Operations

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, operating loss from continuing operations amounted to $494,285 and $436,849, respectively, an increase of $57,436 or 13%. The increase was primarily a result of the changes in operating expenses discussed above.

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, operating loss from continuing operations amounted to $1,021,544 and $1,337,985, respectively, a decrease of $316,441 or 24%. The increase was primarily a result of the changes in operating expenses discussed above.

Other Income (Expenses), net

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, other (expense), net amounted to $(164,117) and other income, net amounted to $48,042, respectively, an increase in other (expense), net of $(212,159) or 442%. The increase in other (expense), net was primarily due to an increase in net unrealized (loss) on equity investment of $(89,511), an increase in net realized (loss) on equity investment of $(104,700) from the sale of equity investment, increase in net interest income of $1,417 resulting from the interest on note receivable, an increase in other expense of $(283) offset by a decrease in gain on forgiveness of PPP notes payable from 2021.

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, other (expense), net amounted to $(239,767) and other income, net amounted to $85,443, respectively, an increase in other (expense), net of $(352,210) or 381%. The increase in other (expense), net was primarily due to an increase in net unrealized (loss) on equity investment of $(290,059), an increase in net realized (loss) on equity investment of $(104,700) from the sale of equity investment, increase in net interest income of $3,181 resulting from the interest on note receivable and an increase in other expense of $(283) and an increase in other income of $85,733 resulting from the grant date fair value of Home Bistro, Inc common stock received in exchange for entering into a lock up agreement with Home Bistro, Inc and a decrease in gain on forgiveness of PPP notes payable from 2021.

Loss from Discontinued Operations

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, loss from discontinued operations amounted to $0 and $73,183, respectively, a decrease of $73,183 or 100%. The decrease was primarily due to a sale of the Company’s NFID business in September 2021. (NFID was a streetwear apparel brand featuring lifestyles graphic designs that we originally acquired in 2018.)

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, loss from discontinued operations amounted to $1,163 and $140,150, respectively, a decrease of $138,987 or 99%. The decrease was primarily due to a sale of the Company’s NFID business in September 2021.

Preferred Stock Dividend

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, there were no deemed dividends.

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, dividends amounted to $0 and $1,403,997 respectively, a decrease of $1,403,997 or 100%. In 2021, the Company recorded $1,403,997 of deemed dividends resulting from the beneficial conversion feature in connection with the issuance of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock.

Net Loss Available to Common Stockholders

During the three months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, net loss available to common stockholders amounted to $658,402 or $(0.33) per common share (basic and diluted), and $461,990 or $(0.24) per common share (basic and diluted), respectively, an increase of $196,412 or 43%. The increase was primarily a result of the changes discussed above.

During the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, net loss available to common stockholders amounted to $1,262,474 or $(0.64) per common share (basic and diluted), and $2,796,689 or $(1.54) per common share (basic and diluted), respectively, a decrease of $1,534,215 or 55%. The decrease was primarily a result of the changes discussed above.

Comparison of Our Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

The following table summarizes the results of operations for the years ending December 31, 2021 and 2020 and were based primarily on the comparative audited financial statements, footnotes and related information for the periods identified and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes to those statements that are included elsewhere in this report.

Revenues

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we generated minimal revenues from operations. For the year ended December 31, 2021, revenues consisted of revenues on licensing fees related to our biopharmaceutical operation of $71,264, as compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Cost of Revenues

During the year ended December 31, 2021, cost of revenues on license fees related to our biopharmaceutical operation amounted to $5,004, as compared to $0 for the year ended December 31, 2020. The primary components of cost of revenues on license fees include the cost of the license fees primarily related to the UMB License and Sublicense Agreement.

Operating Expenses

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, total operating expenses consisted of the following:

Operating Loss from Continuing Operations

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, operating loss from continuing operations amounted to $2,744,343 and $2,201,719, respectively, an increase of $542,624 or 25%. The increase was primarily a result of the changes in operating expenses discussed above.

Other Income (Expenses), net

For the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, other income, net amounted to $6,926,327 and other (expenses), net amounted to ($464,550), respectively, an increase of $7,390,877 or 1,591%. The change in other income (expenses), net was primarily due to an increase in gain on forgiveness of PPP note payable of $19,082, an increase in net realized gain on equity investments of $6,660,483 resulting from sale of our equity investments and an increase in net unrealized gain of $257,782 offset by a decrease of net interest expense of $255,898 resulting from the increase in fair value of our equity investments, offset by a decrease in other income of $3,000, a decrease of foreign exchange loss of $2,950 and a decrease in loss on debt extinguishment of $197,682 incurred in 2020.

Loss from Discontinued Operations

For the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, loss from discontinued operations amounted to $253,367 and $371,248, respectively, a decrease of $117,881 or 32%. The decrease was primarily due to a sale of the Company’s NFID business in September 2021.

Preferred Stock Dividend

For the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, dividends amounted to $1,403,997 and $69,000, respectively, an increase of $1,334,997 or 1,935%.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded $69,000 of deemed dividends in connection with exchange agreement dated April 15, 2020 whereby shares of Series B preferred stock and accompanying warrants were converted at a rate of $4.00 instead of the original rate of $10.00 resulting in the issuance of additional shares of common stock valued at $69,000 which was recorded as deemed dividends.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company recorded $1,403,997 of deemed dividends resulting from the beneficial conversion feature in connection with the issuance of these Series C Convertible Preferred Stock.

Net Income (Loss) Available to Common Stockholders

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, net income available to common stockholders amounted to $2,499,744 or $1.32 per common share (basic) and $1.30 per common share (diluted), and net (loss) $(3,106,517), or $(2.07) per common share (basic and diluted), respectively, a change of $5,606,261, or 180%. The increase was primarily a result of the increase in operating expenses, and offset by other income, net discussed above.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Liquidity is the ability of an enterprise to generate adequate amounts of cash to meet its needs for cash requirements. We had a working capital of $8,678,540 and $8,734,434 in cash and cash equivalents as of June 30, 2022 and working capital of $9,912,281 and $9,837,001 in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021

The decrease in working capital of $1,233,741 was primarily attributable to a decrease in current assets of $1,454,936 primarily due to decrease in cash of approximately $1,102,567, decrease in equity investments of $306,983 and a decrease in accounts payable of $262,013.

We had a working capital of $9,912,281 and $9,837,001 in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2021 and working capital of $1,284,941 and $1,128,389 in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020.

The increase in working capital of $8,627,340 was primarily attributable to an increase in current assets of $8,975,656 primarily due to increase in cash of $8.7 million and an increase in current liabilities of $348,316.

Cash Flows

A summary of cash flow activities is summarized as follows:

Net Cash (Used in) Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 were $1,189,274 and $841,063, respectively, an increase of $348,211 or 41%. Net cash used in operating activities for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were $2,278,016 and $1,156,996, respectively, an increase of $1,121,020 or 97%.

Net Cash Provided by Investing Activities

Net cash provided by investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 were $86,707 and $69,500, respectively, an increase of $17,207 or 25%. Net cash provided by investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2022 was $20,000 from proceeds from notes receivable collection and $66,707 net proceeds from sale of equity investment. Net cash provided by investing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2021 was $69,500 which consisted of proceeds from collection of previously written off notes receivable of $7,500 and proceeds from notes receivable collection of $62,000. Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $7,192,526 which consisted of aggregate proceeds from sale of equity investments in Aikido and DatChat, Inc. of $7,020,526, proceeds from collection of previously written off notes receivable of $7,500 and proceeds from notes receivable collection of $164,500. Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $39,000 from collection notes receivable

Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021 were $0 and $3,794,102, respectively, an increase of $3,794,102 or 100%. Net cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended June 30, 2021 was $3,794,102 which consisted of net proceeds from sale of preferred stock of $3,794,102, proceeds from a related party advance of $2,366 offset by a related party advance repayment of $2,366. Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $3,794,102 which consisted of net proceeds from sale of preferred stock of $3,794,102, proceeds from a related party advance of $2,366 offset by repayment of the related party advance of $2,366. Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was $2,134,633 which consisted of proceeds from note payable – related party of $35,000, proceeds from note payable of $18,900. Proceeds from sale of common stock of $2,115,733 offset by repayment of note payable – related party of $35,000.

Cash Requirements

The Company believes that the proceeds from the sale of our equity investments of $7,020,526 and the proceeds from the sale of our preferred stock of $3,794,102 amounting to aggregate proceeds of $10,814,628, during the year ended December 31, 2021, will provide sufficient cash required to meet our obligations for a minimum of twelve months from the date of this filing.

We currently have no material commitments for any capital expenditures.

Liquidity

As reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, the Company generated a net income of $3,903,741 and used cash in operations of $2,278,016, for the year ended December 31, 2021. Additionally, the Company has an accumulated deficit of $3,262,577 at December 31, 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company has received gross proceeds of approximately $7,020,526 from the sale of equity investments. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had working capital of $9,912,281.

These events served to mitigate the conditions that historically raised substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Company believes the proceeds received during the year ended December 31, 2021 will provide sufficient cash flows to meet its obligations for a minimum of twelve months from the date of this filing.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of December 31, 2021 and June 30, 2022, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K or any commitments or contractual obligations.

Critical Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, (“U.S. GAAP”).

Cash and Cash Equivalents

We consider all highly liquid instruments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less and money market accounts to be cash equivalents.

Equity Investments, at fair value

Equity investments are carried at fair value with unrealized gains or losses included in income (expense). Realized gains and losses are determined on a specific identification basis and are included in other income (expense). We review equity investments, at fair value for impairment whenever circumstances and situations change such that there is an indication that the carrying amounts may not be recovered. 

Equity Investments, at Cost

Equity investments, at cost are comprised mainly of non-marketable capital stock and stock warrants, are recorded at cost, as adjusted for other than temporary impairment write-downs and are evaluated for impairment periodically.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements

We use the guidance of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 820 for fair value measurements which clarifies the definition of fair value, prescribes methods for measuring fair value, and establishes a fair value hierarchy to classify the inputs used in measuring fair value as follows:

Level 1-Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities available at the measurement date.

Level 2-Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable, and inputs derived from or corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3-Inputs are unobservable inputs which reflect the reporting entity’s own assumptions on what assumptions the market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on the best available information.

The carrying amounts reported in the balance sheets for cash, prepaid expenses and other current assets, and accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate their fair market value based on the short-term maturity of these instruments.

Revenue Recognition

We apply ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). ASC 606 establishes a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most of the existing revenue recognition guidance. This standard requires an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services and also requires certain additional disclosures.

We record interest and dividend income on an accrual basis to the extent that we expect to collect such amounts.

For license and royalty income, revenue is recognized when we satisfy the performance obligation based on the related license agreement. Payments received from licensee that are related to future periods are recorded as deferred revenue to be recognized as revenues over the term of the related license agreement.

Product sales were recognized when the NFID products were shipped to the customer and title was transferred and were recorded net of any discounts or allowances which are separately reported as “discontinued operations” on the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Stock-based Compensation

Stock-based compensation is accounted for based on the requirements of ASC 718 – “Compensation –Stock Compensation”, which requires recognition in the financial statements of the cost of employee, director, and non-employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments over the period the employee, director, or non-employee is required to perform the services in exchange for the award (presumptively, the vesting period). The ASC also requires measurement of the cost of employee, director, and non-employee services received in exchange for an award based on the grant-date fair value of the award. We have elected to recognize forfeitures as they occur as permitted under Accounting Standards Update 2016-09 Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment.

Income Taxes

Deferred income tax assets and liabilities arise from temporary differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities, as measured by the enacted tax rates, which are expected to be in effect when these differences reverse. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are classified as current or non-current, depending upon the classification of the asset or liabilities to which they relate. Deferred tax assets and liabilities not related to an asset or liability are classified as current or non-current depending on the periods in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.

We follow the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board ASC 740-10, “Uncertainty in Income Taxes”. Certain recognition thresholds must be met before a tax position is recognized in the financial statements. An entity may only recognize or continue to recognize tax positions that meet a “more-likely-than-not” threshold. We do not believe we have any uncertain tax positions as of June 30, 2022 that would require either recognition or disclosure in the accompanying financial statements.

BUSINESS

Overview

We are a developmental stage biopharmaceutical company focused on merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research. We are committed to developing innovative solutions to address a variety of underserved conditions. In these uncertain times, the mental health of the nation and beyond is being put to the test. More than ever, creative new therapies are needed to address the health challenges of today. Combining our resources with world-class medical research partners, we hope to make significant advances in the medical and psychedelic space.

Rare Disease Therapeutics

We seek to acquire and/or develop intellectual property or technology rights from leading universities and researchers to treat rare diseases, including the use of psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin, and the potential benefits they may have in certain cases involving depression, mental health issues and neurological disorders. We are focused on merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research for people suffering from indications such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (“PTSD”), Parkinson’s, and other rare neurological disorders. Our mission is to identify assets to license and fund the research which we believe will be transformative to the well-being of patients and the health care industry. 

Psilocybin is considered a serotonergic hallucinogen and is an active ingredient in some species of mushrooms. Recent industry studies using psychedelics, such as psilocybin, have been promising, and we believe there is a large unmet need with many people suffering from depression, mental health issues and neurological disorders. While classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), there is an accumulating body of evidence that psilocybin may have beneficial effects on depression and other mental health conditions. Therefore, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) have permitted the use of psilocybin in clinical studies for the treatment of a range of psychiatric conditions.

The potential of psilocybin therapy in mental health conditions has been demonstrated in a number of academic-sponsored studies over the last decade. In these early studies, it was observed that psilocybin therapy provided rapid reductions in depression symptoms after a single high dose, with antidepressant effects lasting for up to at least six months for a number of patients. These studies assessed symptoms related to depression and anxiety through a number of widely used and validated scales. The data generated by these studies suggest that psilocybin is generally well-tolerated and has the potential to treat depression when administered with psychological support.

We have engaged in discussions with a number of world-renowned educational institutions and advisors regarding potential opportunities and have formed a scientific advisory board that is intended to help advise management regarding potential acquisition and development of products.

In addition, as more fully described below, we have entered into a license agreement with the University of Baltimore, Maryland, and have entered into a joint venture with Zylo Therapeutics, Inc., with respect to certain intellectual property and technology that may be used for targeted delivery of potential novel treatments. In addition, we have recently entered into a sponsored research agreement with Columbia University pursuant to which we have been granted an option to license certain patents and inventions relating to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and stress-induced affective disorders using Ketamine in combination with certain other compounds.

We plan to actively pursue the acquisition and/or development of intellectual property or technology rights to treat rare diseases, and to ultimately expand our business to focus on this new line of business.

License Agreements between the Company and a Vendor

Vendor License Agreement with the University of Baltimore, Maryland for CNS Homing Peptide

On February 12, 2021, we entered into a Master License Agreement (the “UMB License Agreement”) with the University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) pursuant to which UMB granted us an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-bearing license to certain intellectual property (i) to make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell, and import certain licensed products and (ii) to use the invention titled, “Central nervous system-homing peptides in vivo and their use for the investigation and treatment of multiple sclerosis and other neuroinflammatory pathology” (the “Invention”) and UMB’s confidential information to develop and perform certain licensed processes for the therapeutic treatment of neuroinflammatory disease. The term of the License Agreement shall commence on the UMB Effective Date and shall continue until the latest of (i) ten years from the date of First Commercial Sale (as defined in the Sublicense Agreement) of the Licensed Product in such country and (ii) the date of expiration of the last to expire claim of the Patent Rights (as defined in the UMB License Agreement) covering such Licensed Product in such country, or (iii) the expiration of data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity, or other legally enforceable market exclusivity, if applicable, unless terminated earlier pursuant to the terms of the agreement. Pursuant to the UMB License Agreement, we agreed to pay UMB (i) a license fee of $75,000, (ii) certain event-based milestone payments, (iii) royalty payments, depending on net revenues, (iv) minimum royalty payments, and (v) a tiered percentage of sublicense income. The UMB License Agreement will remain in effect until the later of: (a) the last patent covered under the UMB License Agreement expires, (b) the expiration of data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity, or other legally enforceable market exclusivity, if applicable, or (c) ten years after the first commercial sale of a licensed product in that country, unless earlier terminated in accordance with the provisions of the UMB License Agreement. The term of the UMB License Agreement shall expire 15 year after the effective date in which (a) there were never any patent rights, (b) there was never any data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity, or other legally enforceable market exclusivity or (c) there was never a first commercial sale of a licensed product.

On January 28, 2022, the Company and University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) entered into a second amendment to the commercial evaluation and license agreement dated February 26, 2021 (“Second Amendment”). The Second Amendment to extend the term of the original license agreement until December 31, 2022. However, if the Company exercises the Exclusive Option, the License Agreement shall expire at the end of the negotiation period (as defined in the License Agreement) or upon execution of a master license agreement, whichever occurs first.

As described below, the Company has entered into an investigator sponsored research agreement with UMB related to a clinical study to examine a novel peptide-guided drug delivery approach for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

Commercial Evaluation License and Option Agreement with UMB for Joint Homing Peptide

Effective as of February 26, 2021, the Company, through the Company’s wholly-subsidiary, Silo Pharma, Inc and University of Maryland Baltimore (“UMB”), entered into a commercial evaluation license and option agreement (the “License Agreement”), which granted the Company an exclusive non-sublicensable, non-transferable license with respect to the exploration of the potential use of joint-homing peptides for use in the investigation and treatment of arthritogenic processes. The License Agreement also granted the Company an exclusive, option to negotiate and obtain an exclusive, sublicensable, royalty-bearing license (the “Exclusive Option”) with respect to the subject technology. The License Agreement had a term of six months from the effective date. Both parties could have terminated the License Agreement within thirty days by giving a written notice.

On July 6, 2021, the Company entered into a First Amendment Agreement (“Amended License Agreement”) with UMB to extend the term of the original License Agreement by an additional six months such that the Amended License Agreement was effective until February 25, 2022 however, if the Company exercises the Exclusive Option, the License Agreement shall expire at the end of the negotiation period (as defined in the License Agreement) or upon execution of a master license agreement, whichever occurs first. The Company paid a license fee of $10,000 to UMB in March 2021 pursuant to the License Agreement, which was expensed, since the Company could not conclude that such costs would be recoverable for this early-stage venture.

On January 28, 2022, the Company and University of Maryland, Baltimore (“UMB”) entered into a second amendment to the commercial evaluation and license agreement dated February 26, 2021 (“Second Amendment”). The Second Amendment to extend the term of the original license agreement until December 31, 2022. However, if the Company exercises the Exclusive Option, the License Agreement shall expire at the end of the negotiation period (as defined in the License Agreement) or upon execution of a master license agreement, whichever occurs first.

On June 30, 2022, the Parties entered into a third amendment to the commercial evaluation and license agreement dated February 26, 2021 (“Third Amendment”). The Third Amendment expands the scope of the license granted in the License Agreement to add additional patent rights with respect to an invention generally known as Peptide-Targeted Liposomal Delivery for Treatment Diagnosis, and Imaging of Diseases and Disorders. In consideration of the licenses granted under this Third Amendment, Company agreed to pay a one-time, non-refundable fee of $2,500 which was recorded as research and development expense in the condensed consolidated statement of operations.

Joint Venture Agreement with Zylö Therapeutics, Inc. for Z-pod™ Technology

On April 22, 2021, the Company entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with Zylö Therapeutics, Inc. (“ZTI”) pursuant to which the parties agreed to form a joint venture entity, to be named Ketamine Joint Venture, LLC, to, among other things, focus on the clinical development of ketamine using ZTI’s Z-pod™ technology. Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreement, the Company shall act as the manager of the Joint Venture. The Joint Venture shall terminate if the development program does not meet certain specifications and milestones as set forth in the Joint Venture Agreement within 30 days of the date set forth in the Joint Venture Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Manager may, in its sole discretion, terminate the Venture at any time.

Pursuant to the terms of the Joint Venture Agreement, (A) the Company shall contribute (1) $225,000 and (2) its expertise and the expertise of its science advisory board and (B) ZTI shall contribute (1) certain rights to certain of its patented technology as set forth in the JV Agreement, (2) a license to the know-how and trade secrets with respect to its Z-pod™ technology for the loading and release of ketamine, (3) ketamine to be used for clinical purposes, (4) reasonable use of its facilities and permits and (5) its expertise and know-how. Pursuant to the Joint Venture Agreement, 51% of the interest in the Joint Venture shall initially be owned by the Company and 49% of the interest in the Joint Venture shall initially be owned by ZTI, subject to adjustment in the event of additional contributions by either party. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall either party own more than 60% of the interest in the Joint Venture. As of the current date of this registration statement, the joint venture entity has not been formed yet.

Furthermore, pursuant to the terms of the JV Agreement, ZTI shall grant the Joint Venture a sublicense pursuant to its license agreement (the “License Agreement”) with Albert Einstein College of Medicine dated November 27, 2017, in the event that the Company or a third party makes a request indicating that the patented technology (the “Patented Technology”) licensed to ZTI pursuant to the License Agreement is needed to advance the development of the Joint Venture or it is contemplated or determined that the Patented Technology will be sold. Furthermore, pursuant to the JV Agreement, ZTI granted the Company an exclusive option to enter into a separate joint venture for the clinical development of psilocybin using ZTI’s Z-pod™ technology on the same terms and conditions set forth in the JV Agreement, which option shall expire 24 months after the JV Effective Date. As of the current date of this registration statement, the joint venture entity has not yet been formed.

Investigator-Sponsored Study Agreements between the Company and Vendors

Sponsored Research Agreement with Columbia University for the Study of Ketamine in Combination with Other Drugs for Treatment of Alzheimer’s and Depression Disorders

On October 1, 2021, the Company entered into a sponsored research agreement with The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (“Columbia”) pursuant to which Columbia shall conduct two different studies related to all uses of Ketamine or its metabolites in combination with Prucalopride, one of which is related to Alzheimer’s and the other of which is related to Depression, PTSD and Stress Projects. In addition, Company has been granted an option to license certain assets currently under development, including Alzheimer’s disease. The term of the option will commence on the effective date of this agreement and will expire upon the earlier of (i) 90 days after the date of the Company’s receipt of a final research report for each specific research proposal as defined in the agreement or (ii) termination of the research. If the Company elects to exercise the option, both parties will commence negotiation of a license agreement and will execute a license agreement no later than 3 months after the dated of the exercise of the option. Columbia University and the Company will work towards developing a therapeutic treatment for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease to posttraumatic stress disorder. During a one-year period from the date of this agreement, the Company shall pay a total of $1,436,082 to Columbia University for the support of the research according to the payment schedule as follows: (i) 30% at signing, (ii) 30% at four and half months after the start of the project, (iii) 30% at nine months after the start of the project and, (iv)10% at completion of the project. The Company paid the first payment of $430,825 in November 2021.

Sponsored Research Agreement with University of Maryland, Baltimore for the Study of Targeted liposomal drug delivery for rheumatoid arthritis

On July 6, 2021, we entered into a sponsored research agreement (the “July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement”) with UMB pursuant to which UMB shall evaluate the pharmacokinetics of dexamethasone delivered to arthritic rats via liposome.  The research pursuant to the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement commenced on September 1, 2021 and will continue until the substantial completion thereof, subject to renewal upon written consent of the parties with a project timeline of twelve months. The July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement may be terminated by either party upon 30 days’ prior written notice to the other party. In addition, if either party commits any material breach of or defaults with respect to any terms or conditions of the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement and fails to remedy such default or breach within 10 business days after written notice from the other party, the party giving notice may terminate the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement as of the date of receipt of such notice by the other party. If the Company terminates the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement for any reason other than an uncured material breach by UMB, we shall relinquish any and all rights it may have in the Results (as defined in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement) to UMB. In addition, if the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement is terminated early, we, among other things, will pay all costs incurred and accrued by UMB as of the date of termination. Pursuant to the terms of the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement, UMB granted us an option (the “Option”) to negotiate and obtain an exclusive license to any UMB Arising IP (as defined in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement) and UMB’s rights in any Joint Arising IP (as defined in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement) (collectively, the “UMB IP”). We may exercise the Option by giving UMB written notice within 60 days after it receives notice from UMB of the UMB IP. We shall pay total fees of $276,285 as set forth in the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement.

The Company paid the first payment of $92,095 on September 1, 2021 and partial of the second payment of $50,000 on February 1, 2022.

On June 7, 2022, the Company and UMB amended the July 2021 Sponsored Research Agreement whereby both parties agreed to make changes to the original project work and budget.

Sponsored Research Agreement with The Regents of the University of California for the Effect of Psilocybin on Inflammation in the Blood

On June 1, 2021, the Company entered into a sponsored research agreement with The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of its San Francisco Campus (“UCSF”) pursuant to which UCSF shall conduct a study to examine psilocybin’s effect on inflammatory activity in humans to accelerate its implementation as a potential treatment for Parkinson’s Disease, chronic pain, and bipolar disorder. The purpose of this is to show what effect psilocybin has on inflammation in the blood. The Company believe that this study will help support the UMB homing peptide study. Pursuant to the Agreement, we shall pay UCSF a total fee of $342,850 to conduct the research over the two-year period. The Agreement shall be effective for a period of two years from the effective date, subject to renewal or earlier termination as set forth in the Sponsored Research Agreement. The Company paid the first payment of $40,000 pursuant to the payment schedule on the Sponsored Research Agreement on June 15, 2021, second payment of $40,000 on September 9, 2021 and $20,570 on November 18, 2021 and third payment of $60,570 on March 1, 2022.

Investigator-Sponsored Study Agreement with UMB for CNS Homing Peptide

On January 5, 2021, we entered into an investigator-sponsored study agreement with UMB. The research project is a clinical study to examine a novel peptide-guided drug delivery approach for the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (“MS”). More specifically, the study is designed to evaluate (1) whether MS-1-displaying liposomes can effectively deliver dexamethasone to the central nervous system and (2) whether MS-1-displaying liposomes are superior to plain liposomes, also known as free drug, in inhibiting the relapses and progression of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis. Pursuant to the agreement, the research commenced on March 1, 2021 and will continue until substantial completion, subject to renewal upon mutual written consent of the parties. The total cost under the S investigator-sponsored study agreement shall not exceed $81,474. which is payable in two equal installments of $40,737 upon execution of the Sponsored Study Agreement and $40,737 upon completion of the project with an estimated project timeline of nine months. The Company paid $40,737 on January 13, 2021. Currently, the project has not been completed due to the delays cause by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Investigator-Sponsored Study Agreement with Maastricht University of the Netherlands

On November 1, 2020, we entered into an investigator-sponsored study agreement with Maastricht University of the Netherlands. The research project is a clinical study to examine the effects of repeated low doses of psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide on cognitive and emotional dysfunctions in Parkinson’s disease and to understand its mechanism of action. The agreement shall terminate on October 31, 2024, unless earlier terminated pursuant to the terms thereof. We shall pay a total fee of 433,885 Euros ($507,602 USD) exclusive of value added tax based on a payment schedule set forth in the agreement. In September 2021, we notified Maastricht University of Netherlands for an early termination of this agreement. Maastricht University of Netherlands has not reached the second phase which is to obtain approval from ethical committee. We have no further obligation after the termination.

Other License Agreements between the Company and a Customer

Customer Patent License Agreement with AIkido Pharma Inc.

On January 5, 2021, we entered into a Patent License Agreement (the “AIkido License Agreement”) with our wholly-owned subsidiary, Silo Pharma, Inc., and AIkido Pharma Inc. (“AIkido”) pursuant to which we granted AIkido an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable, royalty-bearing license to certain intellectual property (i) to make, have made, use, provide, import, export, lease, distribute, sell, offer for sale, develop and advertise certain licensed products and (ii) to develop and perform certain licensed processes for the treatment of cancer and symptoms caused by cancer. The AIkido License Agreement relates to the rights which we had obtained under the UMB Option Agreement. Pursuant to the AIkido License Agreement, we agreed that if we exercised the UMB Option, we would grant AIkido a non-exclusive sublicense to certain UMB patent rights in the field of neuroinflammatory diseases occurring in patients diagnosed with cancer. The UMB Option was exercised on January 13, 2021. Accordingly, on April 6, 2021, we entered into a sublicense agreement with AIkido pursuant to which we granted AIkido a worldwide exclusive sublicense to our licensed patents under the UMB License Agreement. (See “Sublicense with AIkido Pharma Inc.”). 

Customer Sublicense Agreement with AIkido Pharma Inc.

On April 6, 2021 (“Effective Date”), we entered into a sublicense agreement (the “Sublicense Agreement”) with AIkido pursuant to which we granted AIkido an exclusive worldwide sublicense to (i) make, have made, use, sell, offer to sell and import the Licensed Products (as defined below) and (ii) in connection therewith to (A) use the Invention that was sublicensed to us pursuant to the UMB License Agreement and (B) practice certain patent rights as set forth in the Sublicense Agreement (the “Patent Rights”) for the therapeutic treatment of neuroinflammatory disease in cancer patients. “Licensed Products” means any product, service, or process, the development, making, use, offer for sale, sale, importation, or providing of which: (i) is covered by one or more claims of the Patent Rights; or (ii) contains, comprises, utilizes, incorporates, or is derived from the Invention or any technology disclosed in the Patent Rights. Pursuant to the Sublicense Agreement, AIkido shall agree to pay the Company (i) an upfront license fee of $50,000, (ii) the same sales-based royalty payments that we are subject to under the UMB License Agreement and (iii) total milestone payments of up to $1.9 million. The Sublicense Agreement shall continue on a Licensed Product-by-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis until the later of (i) the date of expiration of the last to expire claim of the Patent Rights covering such Licensed Product in such country, (ii) the expiration of data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity or other legally enforceable market exclusivity, if applicable and (iii) 10 years after the first commercial sale of a Licensed Product in that country, unless terminated earlier pursuant to the terms of the Sublicense Agreement. Furthermore, the Sublicense Agreement shall expire 15 years after the Effective Date with respect to any country in which (i) there were never any Patent Rights, (ii) there was never any data protection, new chemical entity, orphan drug exclusivity, regulatory exclusivity or other legally enforceable market exclusivity with respect to a Licensed Product and (ii) there was never a commercial sale of a Licensed Product, unless such agreement is earlier terminated pursuant to its terms. The Company collected the upfront license fee of $50,000 in April 2021.

COVID-19 

The outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) evolved into a global pandemic. The Coronavirus has spread to many regions of the world. The extent to which the Coronavirus impacts the Company’s business and operating results will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the Coronavirus and the actions to contain the Coronavirus or treat its impact, among others.

As a result of the continuing spread of the Coronavirus, certain aspects of the Company’s business operations may be delayed or subject to interruptions. Specifically, as a result of the shelter-in-place orders and other mandated local travel restrictions, among other things, the research and development activities of certain of the Company’s partners may be affected, which may result in delays to the Company’s clinical trials, and the Company can provide no assurance as to when such trials, if delayed, will resume at this time or the revised timeline to complete trials once resumed.

Furthermore, site initiation, participant recruitment and enrollment, participant dosing, distribution of clinical trial materials, study monitoring and data analysis may be delayed due to changes in hospital or university policies, federal, state or local regulations, prioritization of hospital resources toward pandemic efforts, or other reasons related to the pandemic. If the Coronavirus continues to spread, some participants and clinical investigators may not be able to comply with clinical trial protocols. For example, quarantines or other travel limitations (whether voluntary or required) may impede participant movement, affect sponsor access to study sites, or interrupt healthcare services, and the Company may be unable to conduct its clinical trials.

Infections and deaths related to the pandemic may disrupt the United States’ healthcare and healthcare regulatory systems. Such disruptions could divert healthcare resources away from, or materially delay U.S. Food and Drug Administration review and/or approval with respect to the Company’s clinical trials. It is unknown how long these disruptions could continue, were they to occur. Any elongation or de-prioritization of the Company’s clinical trials or delay in regulatory review resulting from such disruptions could materially affect the development and study of the Company’s product candidates. 

The spread of the Coronavirus, which has caused a broad impact globally, including restrictions on travel and quarantine policies put into place by businesses and governments, may have a material economic effect on the Company’s business. While the potential economic impact brought by and the duration of the pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, it has already caused, and is likely to result in further, significant disruption of global financial markets, which may negatively impact the Company’s ability to access capital on favorable terms, if at all. In addition, a recession, depression or other sustained adverse market event resulting from the spread of the Coronavirus could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business and the value of its common stock.

The ultimate impact of the current pandemic, or any other health epidemic, is highly uncertain and subject to change. The Company does not yet know the full extent of potential delays or impacts on its business, its clinical trials, its research programs, healthcare systems or the global economy as a whole. However, these effects could have a material impact on the Company’s operations, and the Company will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Intellectual Property

Our goal is to obtain, maintain and enforce patent protection for our products, formulations, processes, methods and other proprietary technologies, preserve our trade secrets, and operate without infringing on the proprietary rights of other parties. Our policy is to actively seek the broadest intellectual property protection possible for our products, proprietary information and proprietary technology through a combination of contractual arrangements and patents. Specifically, we try to ensure that we own intellectual property created for us by signing agreements with employees, independent contractors, consultants, companies, and any other third party that create intellectual property for us or that assign any intellectual property rights to us.

In addition, we have established business procedures designed to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information, including the use of confidentiality agreements with employees, independent contractors, consultants and entities with which we conduct business.

To date, we have filed four provisional patent applications related to the use of the central nervous system-homing peptides covered by the UMB Option Agreement to deliver certain compounds, including a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug and/or psilocybin, for the treatment of arthritis, central nervous system diseases ,neuroinflammatory diseases as well as cancer.

Competition

With respect to the rare disease therapeutics segment of our business, our industry is characterized by many newly emerging and innovative technologies, intense competition and a strong emphasis on proprietary product rights. We face potential competition from many different sources, including major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutions, governmental agencies and medical research organizations. Any product candidates that we may successfully develop and commercialize will compete with the standard of care and new therapies that may become available in the future.

Many of the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with whom we may compete have established markets for their therapies and have substantially greater financial, technical, human and other resources than we do and may be better equipped to develop, manufacture and market superior products or therapies. In addition, many of these potential competitors have significantly greater experience than we have in undertaking non-clinical studies and human clinical trials of new therapeutic substances and in obtaining regulatory approvals of human therapeutic products. Accordingly, our competitors may succeed in obtaining regulatory approvals for alternative or superior products. In addition, many competitors have greater name recognition and more extensive collaborative relationships. Smaller and earlier-stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large, established companies. An increasing number of companies are increasing their efforts in discovery of new psychedelic compounds.

Government Regulation

The FDA and other regulatory authorities at federal, state and local levels, as well as in foreign countries, extensively regulate, among other things, the research, development, testing, manufacture, quality control, import, export, safety, effectiveness, labeling, packaging, storage, distribution, recordkeeping, approval, advertising, promotion, marketing, post-approval monitoring and post-approval reporting of drugs. We, along with any potential our vendors, contract research organizations and contract manufacturers, will be required to navigate the various preclinical, clinical, manufacturing and commercial approval requirements of the governing regulatory agencies of the countries in which we wish to conduct studies or seek approval of our product candidates. The process of obtaining regulatory approvals of drugs and ensuring subsequent compliance with appropriate federal, state, local and foreign statutes and regulations requires the expenditure of substantial time and financial resources.

In the United States, the FDA regulates drug products under the FDCA, its implementing regulations and other laws. If we fail to comply with applicable FDA or other requirements at any time with respect to product development, clinical testing, approval or any other legal requirements relating to product manufacture, processing, handling, storage, quality control, safety, marketing, advertising, promotion, packaging, labeling, export, import, distribution, or sale, we may become subject to administrative or judicial sanctions or other legal consequences. These sanctions or consequences could include, among other things, the FDA’s refusal to approve pending applications, issuance of clinical holds for ongoing studies, suspension or revocation of approved applications, warning or untitled letters, product withdrawals or recalls, product seizures, relabeling or repackaging, total or partial suspensions of manufacturing or distribution, injunctions, fines, civil penalties or criminal prosecution.

The process required by the FDA before any product candidates are approved as drugs for therapeutic indications and may be marketed in the United States generally involves the following:

Controlled Substances

The federal CSA and its implementing regulations establish a “closed system” of regulations for controlled substances. The CSA imposes registration, security, recordkeeping and reporting, storage, manufacturing, distribution, importation and other requirements under the oversight of the DEA. The DEA is the federal agency responsible for regulating controlled substances, and requires those individuals or entities that manufacture, import, export, distribute, research, or dispense controlled substances to comply with the regulatory requirements in order to prevent the diversion of controlled substances to illicit channels of commerce.

The DEA categorizes controlled substances into one of five schedules — Schedule I, II, III, IV or V — with varying qualifications for listing in each schedule. Schedule I substances by definition have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and lack accepted safety for use under medical supervision. Pharmaceutical products having a currently accepted medical use that are otherwise approved for marketing may be listed as Schedule II, III, IV or V substances, with Schedule II substances presenting the highest potential for abuse and physical or psychological dependence, and Schedule V substances presenting the lowest relative potential for abuse and dependence.

Facilities that manufacture, distribute, import or export any controlled substance must register annually with the DEA. The DEA registration is specific to the particular location, activity(ies) and controlled substance schedule(s).

The DEA inspects all manufacturing facilities to review security, recordkeeping, reporting and handling prior to issuing a controlled substance registration. The specific security requirements vary by the type of business activity and the schedule and quantity of controlled substances handled. The most stringent requirements apply to manufacturers of Schedule I and Schedule II substances. Required security measures commonly include background checks on employees and physical control of controlled substances through storage in approved vaults, safes and cages, and through use of alarm systems and surveillance cameras. Once registered, manufacturing facilities must maintain records documenting the manufacture, receipt and distribution of all controlled substances. Manufacturers must submit periodic reports to the DEA of the distribution of Schedule I and II controlled substances, Schedule III narcotic substances, and other designated substances. Registrants must also report any controlled substance thefts or significant losses, and must obtain authorization to destroy or dispose of controlled substances. Imports of Schedule I and II controlled substances for commercial purposes are generally restricted to substances not already available from a domestic supplier or where there is not adequate competition among domestic suppliers. In addition to an importer or exporter registration, importers and exporters must obtain a permit for every import or export of a Schedule I and II substance or Schedule III, IV and V narcotic, and submit import or export declarations for Schedule III, IV and V non-narcotics. In some cases, Schedule III non-narcotic substances may be subject to the import/export permit requirement, if necessary, to ensure that the United States complies with its obligations under international drug control treaties.

For drugs manufactured in the United States, the DEA establishes annually an aggregate quota for the amount of substances within Schedules I and II that may be manufactured or produced in the United States based on the DEA’s estimate of the quantity needed to meet legitimate medical, scientific, research and industrial needs. The quotas apply equally to the manufacturing of the active pharmaceutical ingredient and production of dosage forms. The DEA may adjust aggregate production quotas a few times per year, and individual manufacturing or procurement quotas from time to time during the year, although the DEA has substantial discretion in whether or not to make such adjustments for individual companies.

The states also maintain separate controlled substance laws and regulations, including licensing, recordkeeping, security, distribution, and dispensing requirements. State authorities, including boards of pharmacy, regulate use of controlled substances in each state. Failure to maintain compliance with applicable requirements, particularly as manifested in the loss or diversion of controlled substances, can result in enforcement action that could have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and financial condition. The DEA may seek civil penalties, refuse to renew necessary registrations, or initiate proceedings to revoke those registrations. In certain circumstances, violations could lead to criminal prosecution.

Employees

As of July 12, 2022, we employed three full-time employees. We are not a party to any collective bargaining agreements. We believe that we maintain a good relationship with our employees.

Corporate History

We were incorporated as Gold Swap, Inc. (“Gold Swap”) under the laws of the State of New York on July 13, 2010.

On December 11, 2012, stockholders approved changing our state of incorporation from New York to Delaware via the merger of Gold Swap with and into our wholly-owned subsidiary, Point Capital, Inc., and to change our name from “Gold Swap Inc.” to “Point Capital, Inc.” The merger was effective on January 24, 2013.

On May 21, 2019, we amended our Certificate of Incorporation to change our name to “Uppercut Brands, Inc,” and on September 24, 2020, we amended our Certificate of Incorporation to change our name to “Silo Pharma, Inc.”

Through September 28, 2018, we were a closed-end, non-diversified investment company that had elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”). As a business development company, we were required to comply with certain regulatory requirements. For instance, we generally had to invest at least 70% of our total assets in “qualifying assets,” including securities of private U.S. companies, cash, cash equivalents, U.S. government securities and high-quality debt investments that mature in one year or less.

On September 29, 2018, we filed Form N-54C, Notification of Withdrawal of election to be Subject to Section 55 through 65 of the Investment Company Act, because we changed the nature of our business so as to cease to be a business development company. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2018, our consolidated financial statements of have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

As a result of this change in status, we discontinued applying the guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) Topic 946 - Financial Services – Investment Company and account for the change in our status prospectively by accounting for our equity investments in accordance with ASC Topics 320 - Investments—Debt and Equity Securities as of the date of the change in status. In addition, the presentation of the financial statements are that of a commercial company rather than that of an investment company.

In accordance with ASC 946, we made this change to our financial reporting prospectively, and did not restate periods prior to our change in status to a non-investment company effective September 29, 2018. Accordingly, we may refer to both accounting in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles applicable to corporations (“Corporation Accounting”), which applied commencing September 29, 2018 and to that applicable to investment companies under the Investment Company Act (“Investment Company Accounting”) which applied to prior periods. We determined that there is no cumulative effect of the change from Investment Company Accounting to Corporation Accounting on periods prior to those presented, and that there is no effect on our financial position or results of operations as a result of this change.

In order to maintain our status as a non-investment company, we will continue to operate so as to fall outside the definition of an “investment company” or within an applicable exception. We expect to continue to operate outside the definition of an “investment company” as a developmental stage company primarily engaged in merging traditional therapeutics with psychedelic research.

Through March 31, 2017, we elected to be treated as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and operated in a manner so as to qualify for the tax treatment applicable to RICs. At March 31, 2017, we failed the diversification test since our investment in Ipsidy Inc. accounted for over 25% of our total assets. We did not cure our failure to retain our status as a RIC and we will not seek to obtain RIC status again. Accordingly, beginning in 2017, we became subject to income taxes at corporate tax rates. The loss of our status as a RIC did not have any impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Currently, we are not making any new equity investments.

On September 29, 2018, we entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Blind Faith Concepts Holdings, Inc. pursuant to which we completed the acquisition of 100% of the assets of NFID from the seller which consisted of three trademarks related to the NFID brand, the NFID website, shoe designs and samples, and the assumption of a one-year Brand Ambassador Agreement in exchange for 40,000 shares of our common stock. NFID is a recently developed unisex clothing brand. We plan on continuing product development to fully launch the product. Our acquisition of the NFID assets gives us access to the growing market for unisex products.

On November 5, 2018, we entered into 14 separate Return to Treasury Agreements, whereby certain stockholders holding an aggregate of 574,698 shares of our common stock agreed to return a portion of their respective holdings to treasury in exchange for cash payments aggregating $2,872. As a result, the total issued and outstanding number of our common stock was reduced by 574,698 shares.

On April 8, 2020, we incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Silo Pharma Inc., in the State of Florida.

Our Corporate Information

We were incorporated as in the State of New York on July 13, 2010. On January 24, 2013, we changed our state of incorporation from New York to Delaware. Our principal executive offices are located at 560 Sylvan Avenue, Suite 3160, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 and our telephone number is (718) 400-9031. 

MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth the name, age and positions of our executive officers and directors. Each director of the Company serves for a term of one year or until the successor is elected at the Company’s annual shareholders’ meeting and is qualified, subject to removal by the Company’s shareholders. Each officer serves, at the pleasure of the board of directors, for a term of one year and until the successor is elected at the annual meeting of the board of directors and is qualified.

The following is a brief account of the education and business experience of each director and executive officer of our Company, indicating the person’s principal occupation during that period, and the name and principal business of the organization in which such occupation and employment were carried out.

Eric Weisblum – Chief Executive Officer and Chairman

Eric Weisblum has been our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of directors since November 2015, and our President and a member of the board of directors since January 2013. Mr. Weisblum has over 20 years of experience in structuring and trading financial instruments. From December 2016 to April 2020, Mr. Weisblum, served as a director of Aikido Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AIKI), a biotechnology company that develops anti-cancer therapeutics. Mr. Weisblum holds a Bachelor of Art degree from the University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business. We believe that Mr. Weisblum is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his extensive experience in senior leadership roles and background in finance.

Daniel Ryweck – Chief Financial Officer Nominee

Mr. Ryweck has agreed to become Chief Financial Officer upon consummation of this offering. Since January 2020, Mr. Ryweck has served as Controller at Mill City Ventures III Ltd. (NASDAQ: MCVT), a non-bank lender and specialty finance company. From. June 2014 to December 2019, he served as Chief Compliance Officer of Mill City Ventures III Ltd. From July 2016 to September 2017, Mr. Ryweck served as a director of KonaTel Inc. (NASDAQ: KTEL), a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud based voice and data telecommunications company formerly known as Dala Petroleum Corp. Mr. Ryweck holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Wayne D. Linsley - Director

Wayne D. Linsley has served as a director of the Company since January 2020. Mr. Linsley has over 40 years of experience in business management. Since April 2020, Mr. Linsley has served as a member of the board of directors of Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTH), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Since August 2021, Mr. Linsley has served as a member of the board of directors of DatChat, Inc. (NASDAQ: DATS), a communication software company. From 2014 to September 2021, Mr. Linsley served as the Vice President of Operations at CFO Oncall, Inc., a company that provides financial reporting and controller services on an outsourced basis and previously, from 2012 to 2014, Mr. Linsley worked at CFO Oncall, Inc. as an independent contractor. Mr. Linsley holds Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Siena College. We believe that Mr. Linsley is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his experience as a director of public companies and background in financial reporting.

Dr. Kevin Muñoz – Director

Dr. Kevin Muñoz has served as a director of the Company since October 2020. Since December 2021, Dr. Muñoz has taught Biomedical Science and Medical Intervention at Passaic County Technical Institute. Since June 2008, Dr. Muñoz has served as the Director of Operations and Medical Assistant at The Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, P.A., a diagnostic and treatment facility that specializes in treating sports, spine, orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions. Dr. Muñoz holds Doctor of Medicine degree from Xavier University School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from the University of Michigan. We believe that Dr. Muñoz is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors because of his medical background and experience in business operations.

Dr. Jeff Pavell – Director Nominee

Dr. Pavell has agreed to become a director upon consummation of this offering. Dr. Pavell has over 20 years of medical experience. Since January 2021, Dr. Pavell has served as a director of FoxWayne Enterprises Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: FOXW), a blank check company incorporated for the purpose of effecting a business combination. Since October 1999, Dr. Pavell has served as an Attending Physician at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center, P.A., a diagnostic and treatment facility that specializes in treating sports, spine, orthopedic and neuromuscular conditions. Since January 2000, Dr. Pavell has served as the Chief of Rehabilitation Medicine at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. Since April 2002, Dr. Pavell has served as the Associate Director of Pain Medicine at the Center for Advanced Surgery in Paramus, New Jersey. Since April 2002, Dr. Pavell has been an Instructor in Clinical Rehabilitation at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons. Dr. Pavell holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and a Bachelor of Art degree in Political Science from John Hopkins University. We believe that Dr. Pavell is qualified to serve as a member of our board of directors due to his medical background and experience practicing in the healthcare industry.

Family Relationships

There are no family relationships among any of our executive officers or directors.

Arrangements between Officers and Directors

Except as set forth herein, to our knowledge, there is no arrangement or understanding between any of our officers or directors and any other person pursuant to which the officer or director was selected to serve as an officer or director.

Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

We are not aware of any of our directors or officers being involved in any legal proceedings in the past ten years relating to any matters in bankruptcy, insolvency, criminal proceedings (other than traffic and other minor offenses), or being subject to any of the items set forth under Item 401(f) of Regulation S-K.

Scientific Advisory Board

We have formed a scientific advisory board that is intended to help advise management regarding potential acquisition and development of products. The members of such board are as follows.; Dr. Josh Woolley MD/Ph.D.and Dr. Charles Nemeroff.

Dr. Josh Woolley MD/Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (“UCSF”). He is also a licensed psychiatrist on staff at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He received both his MD and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from UCSF and completed his psychiatry residency training at UCSF. Dr. Woolley is the director and founder of the Bonding and Attunement in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (“BAND”) Laboratory. The mission of the BAND Lab is to understand why people with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, and substance use disorders, have trouble with social connection, and to develop and test novel treatments for these deficits. His laboratory is actively investigating psilocybin therapy for multiple disorders including major depressive disorder, bipolar depression, chronic pain, and mood symptoms associated with Parkinson’s Disease.

Dr. Charles Nemeroff is chair and professor with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He also directs the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as part of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences. Prior to joining Dell Med, Dr. Nemeroff was chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and clinical director of the Center on Aging at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. He received his medical degree and doctorate degrees in neurobiology from the University of North Carolina (“UNC”) School of Medicine. After psychiatry residency training at UNC and Duke University, he held faculty positions at Duke University Medical Center and at Emory University School of Medicine before relocating to the University of Miami in 2009. He has served as president of the American College of Psychiatrists and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. He is President-elect of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Director Terms; Qualifications

Members of our board of directors serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders, or until their successors have been duly elected.

When considering whether directors and nominees have the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills to enable the board of directors to satisfy its oversight responsibilities effectively in light of the Company’s business and structure, the board of directors focuses primarily on the industry and transactional experience, and other background, in addition to any unique skills or attributes associated with a director. 

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance

The Company has directors’ and officers’ liability insurance insuring its directors and officers against liability for acts or omissions in their capacities as directors or officers, subject to certain exclusions. Such insurance also insures the Company against losses, which it may incur in indemnifying its officers and directors. In addition, officers and directors also have indemnification rights under applicable laws, and the Company’s Certificates of Incorporation, as amended and Bylaws.

Director Independence

The listing rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) require that independent directors must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors. In addition, the rules of Nasdaq require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation, and nominating and governance committees be independent. Audit committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. Under the rules of Nasdaq, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of that company’s board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director.

Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of our directors and considered whether any director has a material relationship with it that could compromise his or her ability to exercise independent judgment in carrying out his or her responsibilities. Based upon information requested from and provided by each director concerning his background, employment and affiliations, including family relationships, the board of directors has determined that Wayne Linsley, Kevin Munoz and Jeff Pavell are “independent” as that term is defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of Nasdaq. In making these determinations, our board of directors considered the current and prior relationships that each non-employee director has with the Company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining their independence, including the beneficial ownership of the Company’s capital stock by each non-employee director, and any transactions involving them described in the section captioned “—Certain relationships and related transactions and director independence.”

Board Committees

Upon the consummation of this Offering, the Company’s Board will establish three standing committees: Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance. Each of the committees will operate pursuant to its charter. The committee charters will be reviewed annually by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. If appropriate, and in consultation with the chairs of the other committees, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may propose revisions to the charters. The responsibilities of each committee are described in more detail below.

Nasdaq permits a phase-in period of up to one year for an issuer registering securities in an initial public offering to meet the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee independence requirements. Under the initial public offering phase-in period, only one member of each committee is required to satisfy the heightened independence requirements at the time our registration statement becomes effective, a majority of the members of each committee must satisfy the heightened independence requirements within 90 days following the effectiveness of our registration statement, and all members of each committee must satisfy the heightened independence requirements within one year from the effectiveness of our registration statement.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee, among other things, will be responsible for:

The board of directors has affirmatively determined that each member of the Audit Committee meets the additional independence criteria applicable to audit committee members under SEC rules and Nasdaq listing rules. Effective upon the completion of this offering the board of directors will adopt a written charter setting forth the authority and responsibilities of the Audit Committee. The Board has affirmatively determined that each member of the Audit Committee is financially literate, and that Mr. Linsley meets the qualifications of an Audit Committee financial expert.

The Audit Committee will consist of Wayne Linsley, Kevin Munoz and Jeff Pavell. Mr. Linsley will chair the Audit Committee. We believe that, after consummation of this offering, the functioning of the Audit Committee will comply with the applicable requirements of the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq listing rules and the SEC.

Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee will be responsible for:

Effective upon the completion of this offering, the board of directors will adopt a written charter setting forth the authority and responsibilities of the Compensation Committee.

The Compensation Committee will consist of Wayne Linsley, Kevin Munoz and Jeff Pavell. Dr. Munoz will serve as chairman of the Compensation Committee. The board of directors has affirmatively determined that each member of the Compensation Committee meets the independence criteria applicable to compensation committee members under SEC rules and Nasdaq listing rules. The Company believes that, after the consummation of the offering, the composition of the Compensation Committee will meet the requirements for independence under, and the functioning of such Compensation Committee will comply with, any applicable requirements of the rules and regulations of Nasdaq listing rules and the SEC. 

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, among other things, will be responsible for:

Effective upon completion of this offering., the board of directors will adopt a written charter setting forth the authority and responsibilities of the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consist of Wayne Linsley, Kevin Munoz and Jeff Pavell. Ms. Pavell will serve as chairman. The Company’s board of directors has determined that each member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is independent within the meaning of the independent director guidelines of Nasdaq listing rules.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of the Company’s executive officers serves, or in the past has served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee, or other committee serving an equivalent function, of any entity that has one or more executive officers who serve as members of the Company’s board of directors or its compensation committee. None of the members of the Company’s compensation committee is, or has ever been, an officer or employee of the company.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

Prior to the completion of this offering, the Company’s Board of Directors will adopt a code of business conduct and ethics applicable to its employees, directors and officers, in accordance with applicable U.S. federal securities laws and the corporate governance rules of Nasdaq. The code of business conduct and ethics will be publicly available on the Company’s website. Any substantive amendments or waivers of the code of business conduct and ethics or code of ethics for senior financial officers may be made only by the Company’s board of directors and will be promptly disclosed as required by applicable U.S. federal securities laws and the corporate governance rules of Nasdaq.

Corporate Governance Guidelines

Prior to the completion of this offering, the Company’s board of directors will adopt corporate governance guidelines in accordance with the corporate governance rules of Nasdaq.  

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The following table provides certain information regarding compensation awarded to, earned by or paid to persons serving as our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer during the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (each a “named executive officer”).

Summary Compensation Table

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End Table

The following table provides information regarding option and restricted stock unit awards held by each of our named executive officers that were outstanding as of December 31, 2021. There were no stock awards or other equity awards to named executive officers outstanding as of December 31, 2021. 

Employment Agreement

On April 17, 2020, the Company entered into an employment agreement (“Employment Agreement”) with Eric Weisblum to serve as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Company. The term of the Employment Agreement will continue for a period of one year from the date of execution date thereof and automatically renews for successive one-year periods at the end of each term until either party delivers written notice of their intent not to review at least six months prior to the expiration of the then effective term. The Employment Agreement provided for a base salary of $120,000 and 152,619 of vested shares of the Company’s common stock in April 2020. In addition, Mr. Weisblum shall be eligible to earn a bonus, subject to the sole discretion of the Company’s Board of Directors (“Board”). The Employment Agreement may be terminated by either the Company or Mr. Weisblum at any time and for any reason upon 60 days prior written notice. Upon termination of the Employment Agreement, Mr. Weisblum shall be entitled to (i) any equity award that has vested prior to the termination date, (ii) reimbursement of expenses incurred on or prior to such termination date and (iii) such employee benefits to which he may be entitled as of the termination date (collectively, the “Accrued Amounts”). Mr. Weisblum employment may also be terminated by the Company at any time, with cause, death or disability (as defined in the Employment Agreement). Upon the termination of the Employment Agreement for death or disability, Mr. Weisblum shall be entitled to receive the Accrued Amounts. The Employment Agreement also contains covenants prohibiting Mr. Weisblum from disclosing confidential information with respect to the Company.

On January 18, 2021, the Company and Mr. Weisblum entered into the first amendment (the “Amendment”) to the Employment Agreement, effective as of January 1, 2021. Pursuant to the Amendment Mr. Weisblum’s base salary was increased from $120,000 per year to $180,000 per year and all the terms and provisions of the Employment Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

Non-Employee Director Compensation

The following table presents the total compensation for each person who served as a non-employee member of our board of directors and received compensation for such service during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. Other than as set forth in the table and described more fully below, we did not pay any compensation, make any equity awards or non-equity awards to, or pay any other compensation to any of the non-employee members of our board of directors in 2021.