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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
(Mark One)
| |
☒ | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2025
or
| |
☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 001-38997
RAPT Therapeutics, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| | |
Delaware | | 47-3313701 |
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
561 Eccles Avenue, South San Francisco, California | | 94080 |
(Address of principal executive offices) | | (Zip Code) |
(650) 489-9000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| | |
Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered |
Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share | RAPT | Nasdaq Global Market |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| | | | | | |
Large accelerated filer | | ☐ | | Accelerated filer | | ☐ |
| | | | | | |
Non-accelerated filer | | ☒ | | Smaller reporting company | | ☒ |
| | | | | | |
| | | | Emerging growth company | | ☐ |
If 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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
As of August 1, 2025, there were 16,537,794 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q includes trademarks, service marks and trade names owned by us or other companies. All trademarks, service marks and trade names included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are the property of their respective owners.
PART I—FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | |
| | June 30, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Assets | | | | | | |
Current assets: | | | | | | |
Cash and cash equivalents | | $ | 41,886 | | | $ | 169,735 | |
Marketable securities | | | 127,061 | | | | 61,320 | |
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | | | 3,912 | | | | 4,181 | |
Total current assets | | | 172,859 | | | | 235,236 | |
Property and equipment, net | | | 970 | | | | 1,367 | |
Operating lease right-of-use assets | | | 2,308 | | | | 3,333 | |
Other assets | | | 2,273 | | | | 389 | |
Total assets | | $ | 178,410 | | | $ | 240,325 | |
Liabilities and stockholders' equity | | | | | | |
Current liabilities: | | | | | | |
Accounts payable | | $ | 4,189 | | | $ | 1,275 | |
Accrued expenses | | | 6,583 | | | | 9,597 | |
License fees payable | | | — | | | | 35,000 | |
Operating lease liabilities, current | | | 2,205 | | | | 2,422 | |
Other current liabilities | | | 66 | | | | 57 | |
Total current liabilities | | | 13,043 | | | | 48,351 | |
Operating lease liabilities, non-current | | | 959 | | | | 2,070 | |
Total liabilities | | | 14,002 | | | | 50,421 | |
Commitments and contingencies | | | | | | |
Stockholders' equity: | | | | | | |
Preferred stock | | | — | | | | — | |
Common stock | | | 13 | | | | 13 | |
Additional paid-in capital | | | 813,734 | | | | 804,388 | |
Accumulated other comprehensive income | | | 16 | | | | 50 | |
Accumulated deficit | | | (649,355 | ) | | | (614,547 | ) |
Total stockholders' equity | | | 164,408 | | | | 189,904 | |
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity | | $ | 178,410 | | | $ | 240,325 | |
See accompanying notes to condensed financial statements.
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(In thousands, except share and per share data)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended | | | Six Months Ended | |
| | June 30, | | | June 30, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | | | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Operating expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Research and development | | $ | 12,340 | | | $ | 22,640 | | | $ | 24,382 | | | $ | 47,421 | |
General and administrative | | | 7,195 | | | | 6,690 | | | | 14,418 | | | | 14,427 | |
Total operating expenses | | | 19,535 | | | | 29,330 | | | | 38,800 | | | | 61,848 | |
Loss from operations | | | (19,535 | ) | | | (29,330 | ) | | | (38,800 | ) | | | (61,848 | ) |
Other income, net | | | 1,892 | | | | 1,667 | | | | 3,992 | | | | 3,664 | |
Net loss | | $ | (17,643 | ) | | $ | (27,663 | ) | | $ | (34,808 | ) | | $ | (58,184 | ) |
Other comprehensive loss: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Unrealized loss on marketable securities | | | (19 | ) | | | (37 | ) | | | (34 | ) | | | (150 | ) |
Total comprehensive loss | | $ | (17,662 | ) | | $ | (27,700 | ) | | $ | (34,842 | ) | | $ | (58,334 | ) |
Net loss per share, basic and diluted | | $ | (0.65 | ) | | $ | (5.69 | ) | | $ | (1.29 | ) | | $ | (12.01 | ) |
Weighted average number of shares used in computing net loss per share, basic and diluted | | | 26,949,752 | | | | 4,858,345 | | | | 26,938,008 | | | | 4,843,527 | |
See accompanying notes to condensed financial statements.
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(In thousands, except share amounts)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Accumulated | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Additional | | | Other | | | | | | Total | |
| | Common Stock | | | Paid-In | | | Comprehensive | | | Accumulated | | | Stockholders' | |
| | Shares | | | Amount | | | Capital | | | Income | | | Deficit | | | Equity | |
Balance at December 31, 2024 | | | 16,500,835 | | | $ | 13 | | | $ | 804,388 | | | $ | 50 | | | $ | (614,547 | ) | | $ | 189,904 | |
Stock-based compensation | | | — | | | | — | | | | 4,648 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 4,648 | |
Unrealized loss on marketable securities | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (15 | ) | | | — | | | | (15 | ) |
Net loss | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (17,165 | ) | | | (17,165 | ) |
Balance at March 31, 2025 | | | 16,500,835 | | | | 13 | | | | 809,036 | | | | 35 | | | | (631,712 | ) | | | 177,372 | |
Issuances of common stock under employee stock plans | | | 35,234 | | | | — | | | | 161 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 161 | |
Stock-based compensation | | | — | | | | — | | | | 4,537 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 4,537 | |
Unrealized loss on marketable securities | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (19 | ) | | | — | | | | (19 | ) |
Net loss | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (17,643 | ) | | | (17,643 | ) |
Balance at June 30, 2025 | | | 16,536,069 | | | $ | 13 | | | $ | 813,734 | | | $ | 16 | | | $ | (649,355 | ) | | $ | 164,408 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | Accumulated | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Additional | | | Other | | | | | | Total | |
| | Common Stock | | | Paid-In | | | Comprehensive | | | Accumulated | | | Stockholders' | |
| | Shares | | | Amount | | | Capital | | | Income (Loss) | | | Deficit | | | Equity | |
Balance at December 31, 2023 | | | 4,299,789 | | | $ | 3 | | | $ | 631,611 | | | $ | 103 | | | $ | (484,682 | ) | | $ | 147,035 | |
Issuances of common stock under employee stock plans | | | 4,509 | | | | — | | | | 67 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 67 | |
Issuances of common stock in “at-the-market” offerings, net of issuance costs | | | 45,665 | | | | — | | | | 8,969 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 8,969 | |
Stock-based compensation | | | — | | | | — | | | | 5,398 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 5,398 | |
Unrealized loss on marketable securities | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (113 | ) | | | — | | | | (113 | ) |
Net loss | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (30,521 | ) | | | (30,521 | ) |
Balance at March 31, 2024 | | | 4,349,963 | | | | 3 | | | | 646,045 | | | | (10 | ) | | | (515,203 | ) | | | 130,835 | |
Issuances of common stock under employee stock plans | | | 12,972 | | | | — | | | | 701 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 701 | |
Stock-based compensation | | | — | | | | — | | | | 5,384 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 5,384 | |
Unrealized loss on marketable securities | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (37 | ) | | | — | | | | (37 | ) |
Net loss | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | — | | | | (27,663 | ) | | | (27,663 | ) |
Balance at June 30, 2024 | | | 4,362,935 | | | $ | 3 | | | $ | 652,130 | | | $ | (47 | ) | | $ | (542,866 | ) | | $ | 109,220 | |
See accompanying notes to condensed financial statements.
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
| | | | | | | | |
| | Six Months Ended | |
| | June 30, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Operating activities | | | | | | |
Net loss | | $ | (34,808 | ) | | $ | (58,184 | ) |
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | | | | | | |
Accretion of discounts on marketable securities | | | (1,533 | ) | | | (1,731 | ) |
Depreciation and amortization | | | 480 | | | | 619 | |
Stock-based compensation expense | | | 9,185 | | | | 10,782 | |
Non-cash operating lease expense | | | 1,168 | | | | 1,168 | |
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | | | | | | |
Prepaid expenses and other assets | | | (1,615 | ) | | | 686 | |
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities | | | (91 | ) | | | (7,155 | ) |
License fees payable | | | (35,000 | ) | | | — | |
Operating lease liabilities | | | (1,471 | ) | | | (1,423 | ) |
Net cash used in operating activities | | | (63,685 | ) | | | (55,238 | ) |
Investing activities | | | | | | |
Purchase of marketable securities | | | (138,652 | ) | | | (34,007 | ) |
Proceeds from maturities of marketable securities | | | 74,410 | | | | 69,211 | |
Purchase of property and equipment | | | (83 | ) | | | (104 | ) |
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities | | | (64,325 | ) | | | 35,100 | |
Financing activities | | | | | | |
Proceeds from issuances of common stock in “at-the-market” offerings, net of issuance costs | | | — | | | | 8,969 | |
Proceeds from issuance of common stock under employee stock plans | | | 161 | | | | 768 | |
Net cash provided by financing activities | | | 161 | | | | 9,737 | |
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents | | | (127,849 | ) | | | (10,401 | ) |
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period | | | 169,735 | | | | 47,478 | |
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | | $ | 41,886 | | | $ | 37,077 | |
| | | | | | |
See accompanying notes to condensed financial statements.
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1. Organization
Description of the Business
RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (“RAPT” or the “Company”) is a clinical-stage immunology-based biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapies for patients living with inflammatory and immunological diseases. The Company's lead drug candidate, RPT904, is a half-life extended monoclonal antibody designed to bind free human immunoglobulin E (“IgE”), a key driver of several allergic diseases. The Company’s oncology drug candidate, tivumecirnon, is an oral small-molecule C-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (“CCR4”) antagonist designed to selectively inhibit the migration of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells into tumors. In November 2024, the Company ceased development of zelnecirnon, its small molecule CCR4 antagonist for inflammatory disease. The Company is currently pursuing different novel CCR4 antagonists, which the Company believes may have improved safety margins. The Company is located in South San Francisco, California.
Liquidity and Management Plans
The accompanying condensed financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. Since inception, the Company has incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations. During the six months ended June 30, 2025, the Company incurred a net loss of $34.8 million and used $63.7 million of cash in operations and capital expenditures. At June 30, 2025, the Company had cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $168.9 million and working capital of $159.8 million.
The Company plans to continue to incur substantial costs in order to conduct research and development activities, and additional capital will be needed to undertake these activities. The Company intends to raise such capital through the issuance of additional equity, borrowings or strategic alliances with other companies. However, if such arrangements are not available at adequate levels or on acceptable terms, the Company would be required to significantly reduce operating expenses and delay or reduce the scope of or eliminate some of its development programs. The Company believes that its current cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities will provide sufficient funds to enable it to meet its obligations for at least 12 months from the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The Company’s evaluation was based on the facts known as of the date of filing of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to Article 10 of Regulation S‑X of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. These unaudited condensed financial statements include only normal and recurring adjustments that the Company believes are necessary to fairly state the Company’s financial position and the results of its operations and cash flows. Interim-period results are not necessarily indicative of results of operations or cash flows for a full year or any subsequent interim period. The condensed balance sheet as of December 31, 2024 has been derived from the audited financial statements as of that date but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Because all of the disclosures required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements are not included herein, these unaudited condensed financial statements and the notes accompanying them should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited financial statements included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed on March 6, 2025 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Reverse Stock Split
On June 16, 2025, the Company effected a 1-for-8 reverse stock split of the Company’s shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, pursuant to an amendment of the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation approved by the Company’s stockholders at the annual meeting on May 29, 2025 (“2025 Annual Meeting”). All share and per-share data in the accompanying condensed financial statements and related notes have been retroactively adjusted to account for the reverse stock split for all periods presented. Proportionate adjustments have been made to the number of shares of common stock underlying our outstanding equity awards and pre-funded warrants, the number of shares issuable under our equity incentive plans, and other existing agreements, as well as the corresponding exercise price of outstanding equity awards and pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock. The reverse stock split did not affect the par value of the common stock.
Segments
Operating segments are defined as components of an entity for which separate financial information is available and that are regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) in deciding how to allocate resources to an individual segment and in assessing performance. The Company’s CODM is its chief executive officer, Brian Wong, M.D., Ph.D. Based on the information used by the CODM to allocate resources, the Company has determined it operates in one segment.
The CODM assesses performance for the Company’s operating segment and decides how to allocate resources based on the Company’s cash runway and net loss that also is reported on the statements of operations and comprehensive loss as net loss. Net loss is used to monitor budget versus actual results. The measure of segment assets is reported on the balance sheets as total assets. As of June 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, all of the Company’s property and equipment was maintained in the United States.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company determines employee, nonemployee and director stock-based compensation expense for all stock-based awards based on their grant date fair value using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. For stock-based awards with service conditions only, stock-based compensation expense is recognized over the requisite service period using the straight-line method. Forfeitures are recognized as they occur.
The fair value of restricted stock awards granted is determined based on the stock price on the date of grant. The estimated fair value is amortized as compensation expense over the service period of the award.
Net Loss Per Share
Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss by the sum of the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and the weighted average number of pre-funded warrants outstanding, without consideration of potential dilutive securities. Diluted net loss per common share is computed by dividing the net loss by the sum of the weighted average number of common shares and weighted average number of outstanding pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock plus the number of potential dilutive securities outstanding during the period calculated in accordance with the treasury stock method. Diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share since the effect of potentially dilutive securities is anti-dilutive. The pre-funded warrants are included in the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share as the exercise price of $0.008 per share is non-substantive and the shares are issuable for little or no consideration.
Marketable Securities
Marketable securities primarily consist of commercial paper, corporate debt securities and U.S. government agency securities. The Company has classified its marketable securities as available-for-sale and may sell these securities prior to their stated maturities. The Company views these marketable securities as available to support current operations and classifies marketable securities with maturities beyond 12 months as current assets. The Company’s marketable securities are carried at estimated fair value, which is derived from independent pricing sources based on quoted prices in active markets for similar securities. Unrealized gains and losses are reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). The cost of marketable securities is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity, which is included in other income, net on the condensed statements of operations.
All of the Company's available-for-sale investments are subject to periodic impairment review. For each available-for-sale investment whose fair value is below its amortized cost, the Company determines if the impairment is a result of a credit-related loss or other factors using both quantitative and qualitative factors, including the length of time and extent to which the market value has been less than amortized cost, the financial condition and near-term prospects of the issuer and the Company’s intent and ability to retain its investment in the issuer for a period of time sufficient to allow for any anticipated recovery in market value. If the impairment is a result of a credit-related loss, the Company recognizes an allowance for credit losses. If the impairment is not a result of a credit loss, the Company recognizes the loss in other comprehensive loss.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company evaluates its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of these assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of these assets is measured by comparing the carrying amount of each asset to the future undiscounted cash flows the asset is expected to generate over its remaining life. If the asset is considered to be impaired, the amount of any impairment is measured as the difference between the carrying value and the fair value of the impaired asset. To date, there have been no such impairment losses.
Leases
At inception of a contract, the Company determines whether an arrangement is or contains a lease. For all leases, the Company determines the classification as either operating leases or financing leases. Operating leases are included in operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and operating lease liabilities in the Company’s condensed balance sheets.
Lease recognition occurs at the commencement date and lease liability amounts are based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. The lease term may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. The Company uses an implicit rate when readily available, or its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at lease commencement date, in determining the present value of lease payments. ROU assets represent our right to use underlying assets for the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments under the lease. ROU assets also include any lease payments made prior to the commencement date and exclude lease incentives received. Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Lease agreements with both lease and nonlease components are generally accounted for together as a single lease component.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or other standard setting bodies and adopted by the Company as of the specified effective date.
In November 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures (“ASU No. 2023-07”), which provides updates to qualitative and quantitative reportable segment disclosure requirements, including enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses and increased interim disclosure requirements, among others. ASU No. 2023-07 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The amendments in this ASU should be applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company retrospectively adopted ASU 2023-07 on January 1, 2024 and adopted it for its interim reporting starting with the quarter ended March 31, 2025. The adoption of ASU 2023-07 did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (“ASU No. 2024-03”). In January 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-01, "Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40), clarifying the effective date of ASU 2024-03. The two standards require disaggregated disclosures of certain categories of expenses in the notes to the financial statements that are included in expense line items on the face of the income statement in annual and interim periods. The standards are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026 and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2027. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on its financial statements and related disclosures.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (“ASU No. 2023-09”), which requires disclosure of disaggregated income taxes paid, prescribes standard categories for the components of the effective tax rate reconciliation and modifies other income tax-related disclosures. ASU No. 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024 and allows for adoption on a prospective basis, with a retrospective option. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on the income tax disclosures within the financial statements.
3. Fair Value Measurements
Fair value accounting is applied for all financial assets and liabilities that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements on a recurring basis (at least annually). Financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, accounts payable and accrued expenses that approximate fair value due to their relatively short maturities.
Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value on a recurring basis in the balance sheet are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair values. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or an exit price that would be paid to transfer a liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The authoritative guidance on fair value measurements establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy for disclosure of fair value measurements as follows:
Level 1—Inputs are unadjusted, quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities at the measurement date;
Level 2—Inputs are observable, unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, unadjusted quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the related assets or liabilities; and
Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities that are supported by little or no market data.
The Company estimates the fair values of investments in corporate debt securities, commercial paper and U.S. government agency securities using valuations obtained from third-party pricing services. The pricing services utilize industry standard valuation models, including both income and market-based approaches, for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly, to estimate fair value. These inputs include reported trades of and broker/dealer quotes on the same or similar securities, issuer credit spreads, benchmark securities, prepayment/default projections based on historical data and other observable inputs.
Cash equivalents and marketable securities, all of which are classified as available-for-sale securities and measured at fair value on a recurring basis, consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | As of June 30, 2025 | |
| | Fair Value Hierarchy Level | | Amortized Cost | | | Unrealized Gains | | | Unrealized Losses | | | Fair Value | |
Financial assets: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Money market funds | | Level 1 | | $ | 12,252 | | | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 12,252 | |
Corporate debt | | Level 2 | | | 31,084 | | | | 7 | | | | (4 | ) | | | 31,087 | |
Asset-backed securities | | Level 2 | | | 6,373 | | | | 2 | | | | — | | | | 6,375 | |
Commercial paper | | Level 2 | | | 56,613 | | | | — | | | | (2 | ) | | | 56,611 | |
U.S. government agency securities | | Level 2 | | | 62,365 | | | | 18 | | | | (5 | ) | | | 62,378 | |
Subtotal | | | | | 168,687 | | | | 27 | | | | (11 | ) | | | 168,703 | |
Less: Cash equivalents | | | | | (41,642 | ) | | | — | | | | — | | | | (41,642 | ) |
Marketable securities | | | | $ | 127,045 | | | $ | 27 | | | $ | (11 | ) | | $ | 127,061 | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | As of December 31, 2024 | |
| | Fair Value Hierarchy Level | | Amortized Cost | | | Unrealized Gains | | | Unrealized Losses | | | Fair Value | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Financial assets: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Money market funds | | Level 1 | | $ | 152,776 | | | $ | — | | | $ | — | | | $ | 152,776 | |
Corporate debt | | Level 2 | | | 17,772 | | | | 21 | | | | (3 | ) | | | 17,790 | |
Asset-backed securities | | Level 2 | | | 3,820 | | | | 5 | | | | — | | | | 3,825 | |
Commercial paper | | Level 2 | | | 16,795 | | | | — | | | | — | | | | 16,795 | |
U.S. government agency securities | | Level 2 | | | 39,743 | | | | 27 | | | | — | | | | 39,770 | |
Subtotal | | | | | 230,906 | | | | 53 | | | | (3 | ) | | | 230,956 | |
Less: Cash equivalents | | | | | (169,636 | ) | | | — | | | | — | | | | (169,636 | ) |
Marketable securities | | | | $ | 61,270 | | | $ | 53 | | | $ | (3 | ) | | $ | 61,320 | |
As of June 30, 2025, the unrealized losses on the Company’s securities that were in an unrealized loss position were caused by interest rate changes and were not attributable to credit losses. As of June 30, 2025, the Company held marketable securities with an aggregate unrealized loss position of $11,000 that had an aggregate fair value of $52.2 million. The Company does not intend to sell the securities that are in an unrealized loss position and the Company believes it is more likely than not that the investments will be held until recovery of the amortized cost bases. The Company did not record an allowance for credit losses or other impairment charges related to its marketable securities as of June 30, 2025.
The following table presents the remaining contractual maturities of the Company’s marketable securities as of June 30, 2025 (in thousands):
| | | | |
| | June 30, 2025 | |
Maturing in one year or less | | $ | 120,016 | |
Maturing after one year through five years | | | 7,045 | |
Total | | $ | 127,061 | |
4. Property and Equipment
Property and equipment consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | June 30, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Laboratory equipment | | $ | 7,078 | | | $ | 7,035 | |
Leasehold improvements | | | 3,295 | | | | 3,295 | |
Computer equipment | | | 688 | | | | 707 | |
Furniture and fixtures | | | 411 | | | | 411 | |
Total property and equipment | | | 11,472 | | | | 11,448 | |
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization | | | (10,502 | ) | | | (10,081 | ) |
Property and equipment, net | | $ | 970 | | | $ | 1,367 | |
Depreciation and amortization expense was $0.2 million and $0.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and $0.5 million and $0.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
5. Accrued Expenses
Accrued expenses consisted of the following (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | June 30, | | | December 31, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Accrued research and development expenses | | $ | 2,361 | | | $ | 1,239 | |
Accrued compensation | | | 3,346 | | | | 6,723 | |
Accrued professional and consulting services | | | 747 | | | | 1,493 | |
Other | | | 129 | | | | 142 | |
Total accrued expenses | | $ | 6,583 | | | $ | 9,597 | |
6. Common Stock
As of June 30, 2025, the Company had reserved the following shares of common stock for future issuance:
| | | | |
Options issued and outstanding under the 2025 Equity Incentive Plan, 2019 Equity Incentive Plan and 2015 Stock Plan | | | 3,391,339 | |
Shares available for future grants under the 2025 Inducement Plan | | | 62,500 | |
Shares available for future grants under the 2025 Equity Incentive Plan | | | 1,017,658 | |
Pre-funded warrants issued and outstanding | | | 10,425,428 | |
Shares reserved under the 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan | | | 556,346 | |
Total | | | 15,453,271 | |
On August 11, 2023, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the SEC, which was declared effective on August 17, 2023, related to the sale and issuance of up to $450 million of the Company’s securities, including up to $150 million of shares of common stock that may be offered and sold from time to time in one or more “at-the-market” offerings pursuant to a Controlled Equity OfferingSM Sales Agreement (the “ATM Sales Agreement”) with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Leerink Partners LLC. No shares were sold during the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 under the ATM Sales Agreement. No shares were sold during the three months ended June 30, 2024. During the six months ended June 30, 2024, the Company sold 45,665 shares of common stock in “at-the-market” offerings pursuant to the ATM Sales Agreement for net proceeds of $9.0 million, after deducting commissions and other offering related costs. As of June 30, 2025, $140.6 million of shares of common stock are available for future issuance under the ATM Sales Agreement.
7. Stock-Based Compensation
2025 Inducement Plan
On March 25, 2025, the Company’s board of directors adopted the RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. Inducement Plan (“2025 Inducement Plan”) and reserved 62,500 shares of its common stock to be used exclusively for grants of awards to individuals that were not previously employees or directors of the Company as a material inducement to such individuals’ entry into employment with the Company within the meaning of Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. As of June 30, 2025, no awards had been granted under the 2025 Inducement Plan.
2025 Equity Incentive Plan
The 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2025 Plan”) was adopted by the Company’s board of directors on March 25, 2025 and approved by the Company’s stockholders at the 2025 Annual Meeting on May 29, 2025 (the “2025 Plan Effective Date”). The terms of the 2025 Plan provide for the grant of incentive stock options, nonstatutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, other stock awards, and performance awards that may be settled in cash, stock, or other property. Stock options may be granted under the 2025 Plan with an exercise price not less than 100% of the fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant. Stock options under the 2025 Plan may be granted with terms of up to ten years and generally vest over a period of four years, with the exception of grants to non-employee directors and consultants where the vesting period is or may be shorter. The total number of shares of the Company’s common stock initially reserved for issuance under the 2025 Plan was equal to the sum of 4,408,997 shares of common stock under the 2025 Plan, consisting of (i) 2,687,500 new shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2025 Plan, (ii) 196,798 shares of common stock that remained available for grant under the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”) as of the 2025 Plan Effective Date, which shares were rolled over into the 2025 Plan under the terms thereof and (iii) up to 1,524,699 shares of common stock subject to outstanding equity awards under the 2019 Plan and the Company’s 2015 Stock Plan (the “2015 Plan”) that, on or after the 2025 Plan Effective Date, may terminate, expire or lapse for any reason without the delivery of shares of common stock to the holder thereof and may potentially be returned due to forfeiture of such prior awards and, as a result, may become available for issuance under the 2025 Plan under the terms thereof. No new awards will be granted under the 2019 Plan on or after the 2025 Plan Effective Date and all outstanding awards previously granted under the 2019 Plan or 2015 Plan will remain outstanding, subject to the terms thereof.
Stock option activity under the 2015 Plan, 2019 Plan and 2025 Plan is set forth below for the six months ended June 30, 2025:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Weighted | | | Average | | | | |
| | | | | Average | | | Remaining | | | Aggregate | |
| | Number of | | | Exercise | | | Contractual | | | Intrinsic | |
| | Shares | | | Price Per | | | Term | | | Value | |
| | Outstanding | | | Share | | | (Years) | | | (in thousands) | |
Balances at December 31, 2024 | | | 625,337 | | | $ | 167.52 | | | | 7.2 | | | $ | 1 | |
Stock options granted | | | 2,839,586 | | | | 8.00 | | | | | | | |
Stock options exercised | | | — | | | | — | | | | | | | |
Stock options forfeited | | | (73,584 | ) | | | 95.37 | | | | | | | |
Balances at June 30, 2025 | | | 3,391,339 | | | $ | 35.24 | | | | 9.3 | | | $ | 1,081 | |
As of June 30, 2025, 1,017,658 shares remained available for issuance under the 2025 Plan.
Amended and Restated 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (as amended and restated, the “Amended ESPP”)
The Company's board of directors adopted the Amended and Restated 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (as amended and restated, the “Amended ESPP”) on March 25, 2025, which was approved by the Company’s stockholders at the 2025 Annual Meeting. The Company’s Amended ESPP removed its evergreen provision and reserved an additional 500,000 shares of common stock for issuance.
Stock-based compensation expense
Total stock-based compensation expense recognized for options and RSUs granted to both employees and non-employees and for the Amended ESPP was as follows (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | For the Three Months Ended June 30, | | | For the Six Months Ended June 30, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | | | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Research and development | | $ | 1,826 | | | $ | 2,632 | | | $ | 3,699 | | | $ | 5,269 | |
General and administrative | | | 2,711 | | | | 2,752 | | | | 5,486 | | | | 5,513 | |
Total stock-based compensation expense | | $ | 4,537 | | | $ | 5,384 | | | $ | 9,185 | | | $ | 10,782 | |
As of June 30, 2025, unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to outstanding unvested stock options and RSUs that are expected to vest was $41.1 million. This unrecognized stock-based compensation expense is expected to be recognized over 2.8 years.
The Company recorded stock-based compensation expense related to the Amended ESPP of $0.3 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and $0.6 million and $0.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Repricing of stock options
On November 12, 2024, the compensation committee of the board of directors approved an option repricing, effective November 13, 2024 (the “Repricing Effective Date”). The repricing generally applied to options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock that: (i) were granted under the 2019 Plan; (ii) as of the Repricing Effective Date, were held by the Company’s then-current employees and consultants (subject to the caveat below) (each, an “Eligible Participant”); and (iii) had an exercise price per share greater than $64.00 (the “Eligible Options”). The Eligible Options include options held by certain of the Company's executive officers. Options held by non-employee members of the Board were not eligible for the repricing program.
As of the Repricing Effective Date, the exercise price per share of the Eligible Options was reduced, subject to certain retention requirements outlined below, to the closing price per share of the Company’s common stock on the Repricing Effective Date, which was $12.56. If an employee exercises Eligible Options in advance of the end of the retention period as described below, the employee will be required to pay a premium exercise price equal to the original exercise price per share of the Eligible Options. There were no changes to the number of shares underlying the Eligible Options or to the vesting schedules or expiration dates of the Eligible Options.
In order to exercise the Eligible Options at the reduced exercise price, holders of the Eligible Options are required to remain in service with the Company through the end of the relevant retention period. The retention period begins on the Repricing Effective Date and ends on the earliest of the following: (i) the date 12 months following the Repricing Effective Date; (ii) a Change in Control (as defined in the 2019 Plan) if the Eligible Options are not assumed or continued by the successor or acquiror entity (or its parent company) in such Change in Control or substituted for a similar award of the successor or acquiror entity (or its parent company); or (iii) the option holder’s termination of Continuous Service (as defined in the 2019 Plan) (a) due to such individual’s death or disability, (b) by the Company (or successor entity in a Change in Control) other than for Cause (as defined in the applicable 2019 Plan) or (c) due to such option holder’s resignation on or following a Change in Control under certain circumstances.
As of the Repricing Effective Date, the total number of shares underlying the Eligible Options was 0.5 million shares. The effect of the repricing resulted in total incremental stock-based compensation expense of $1.6 million, $0.5 million of which will be recognized on a straight-line basis through the end of the retention period, while the remaining $1.1 million will be recognized on a straight-line basis over the original vesting period for those options that vest after the end of the retention period. The incremental stock-based compensation expense was calculated using the Monte Carlo option-pricing model.
For the three and six months ended June 30, 2025, the Company recognized incremental stock-based compensation expense totaling $0.2 million and $0.5 million, respectively, associated with the option repricing, which is included in general and administrative and research and development expense on the statement of operations.
8. Net Loss Per Share
Net loss per share
The following table sets forth the computation of the basic and diluted net loss per share for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands, except share and per share data):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Three Months Ended June 30, | | | Six Months Ended June 30, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | | | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Numerator: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Net loss | | $ | (17,643 | ) | | $ | (27,663 | ) | | $ | (34,808 | ) | | $ | (58,184 | ) |
Denominator: | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Weighted average shares of common stock | | | 16,524,324 | | | | 4,358,345 | | | | 16,512,580 | | | | 4,343,527 | |
Weighted average pre-funded warrants to purchase common stock | | | 10,425,428 | | | | 500,000 | | | | 10,425,428 | | ` | | 500,000 | |
Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share, basic and diluted | | | 26,949,752 | | | | 4,858,345 | | | | 26,938,008 | | | | 4,843,527 | |
Net loss per share, basic and diluted | | $ | (0.65 | ) | | $ | (5.69 | ) | | $ | (1.29 | ) | | $ | (12.01 | ) |
Potential dilutive securities that were not included in the diluted per share calculations because they would be anti-dilutive were as follows:
| | | | | | | | |
| | As of June 30, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Stock options issued and outstanding under the 2019 Plan and 2015 Stock Plan | | | 3,391,339 | | | | 698,651 | |
Estimated shares issuable under the Amended ESPP | | | 10,261 | | | | 1,617 | |
Total | | | 3,401,600 | | | | 700,268 | |
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with the unaudited condensed financial statements and related notes included in Item 1 of Part I of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and with the audited financial statements and the related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 6, 2025. This discussion includes forward-looking statements based upon current beliefs, plans and expectations that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations, intentions and projections. Our actual results may differ materially from management’s expectations as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in this report. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “may,” “plans,” “potential” “predicts,” “projects,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information or future events, even if new information comes available in the future. You should not assume that our silence over time means that actual events are bearing out as expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.
Overview
We are a clinical-stage immunology-based biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapies for patients living with inflammatory and immunological diseases. Our lead drug candidate, RPT904, is a half-life extended monoclonal antibody (“mAb”) designed to bind free human immunoglobin E (“IgE”), a key driver of several allergic diseases.
In December 2024, we entered into an exclusive license agreement (the “Jemincare License Agreement”) with Shanghai Jemincare Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (“Jemincare”), a subsidiary of Jiangxi Jemincare Group Co., Ltd., under which we have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize RPT904 worldwide, excluding mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (together, the “Jemincare Territory”). We believe RPT904 could offer patients a potentially improved therapeutic option compared to omalizumab (Xolair®), an anti-IgE antibody approved for asthma, chronic spontaneous urticaria (“CSU”), chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps and food allergy. In a Phase 1 clinical trial conducted by Jemincare comparing RPT904 and omalizumab, the median half-life of RPT904 was more than two times that of omalizumab at the same dose, and RPT904 demonstrated deeper and more sustained reduction of free IgE and higher total IgE accumulation compared to omalizumab at the same dose. We plan to pursue clinical development of RPT904 initially in food allergy and CSU.
Our oncology drug candidate, tivumecirnon, is an oral small-molecule C-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (“CCR4”) antagonist designed to selectively inhibit the migration of immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (“Treg”) into tumors. Data from a Phase 2 trial of patients with advanced checkpoint-naïve non-small cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”) treated with tivumecirnon in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab showed greater confirmed objective response rate and progression free survival than what has historically been demonstrated by pembrolizumab monotherapy. We hold worldwide rights to tivumecirnon, with the exception of the exclusive license (the “Hanmi License Agreement”) granted to Hanmi Pharmaceutical Ltd. (“Hanmi”) in Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (together, the “Hanmi Territory”). We are seeking a partner to further develop tivumecirnon outside the Hanmi Territory.
Zelnecirnon, our small molecule CCR4 antagonist for inflammatory disease, was being evaluated in two randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trials in asthma and atopic dermatitis (“AD”). Both trials were placed on clinical hold by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in February 2024 due to a serious adverse event (“SAE”) of liver failure in one patient in the AD trial, and we subsequently closed both trials. In November 2024, based on feedback from the FDA, we ceased development of zelnecirnon. We are currently pursuing different novel CCR4 antagonists that we believe may have improved safety margins.
Reverse Stock Split
On June 16, 2025, we effected a 1-for-8 reverse stock split of our shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (the “Reverse Stock Split”), pursuant to an amendment of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation approved by our stockholders at the 2025 Annual Meeting. All share and per-share data in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q have been retroactively adjusted to account for the Reverse Stock Split for all periods presented. Proportionate adjustments have been made to the number of shares of common stock underlying our outstanding equity awards and pre-funded warrants, the number of shares issuable under our equity incentive plans, and other existing agreements, as well as the corresponding exercise price of outstanding equity awards and pre-funded warrants. The Reverse Stock Split did not affect the par value of the common stock.
Geopolitical and Macroeconomic Developments
Recent geopolitical and macroeconomic events have led to disruptions to trade, commerce, pricing stability, credit availability and supply chain continuity globally. As a result of these factors and other geopolitical and macroeconomic developments described in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Although we did not see a significant financial impact to our business operations as a result of recent geopolitical and macroeconomic developments during the six months ended June 30, 2025, there may be potential impacts to our business in the future that are highly uncertain and difficult to predict such as disruptions or restrictions in our supply chain, disruption or restrictions on our employees’ ability to travel, disruptions to or delays in planned or ongoing clinical trials, third-party manufacturing supply and other operations, interruptions or delays in the operations of the FDA or other regulatory authorities, and continued fluctuations in inflation and interest rates, which may increase the cost of conducting business activities or cause changes in availability and cost of credit and impact our ability to raise capital and conduct business development activities. The ultimate impact of these geopolitical and macroeconomic developments, as well as any lasting effects on our business, is highly uncertain and subject to continued change, and we recognize that macroeconomic and geopolitical factors may continue to present challenges for us.
Financial Overview
Since commencing operations in 2015, we have devoted substantially all of our efforts and financial resources to building our research and development capabilities and establishing our corporate infrastructure. As a result, we have incurred net losses since inception. As of June 30, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $649.4 million. We incurred net losses of $34.8 million and $58.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively. We do not expect to generate product revenue unless and until we obtain approval for the commercialization of a drug candidate, and we cannot assure you that we will ever generate significant product revenue or profits.
Since inception, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity securities. In December 2024, we sold through a private placement to a select group of accredited investors 12,500,000 shares of common stock at a price of $6.80 per share and pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 9,556,500 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $6.7992 per pre-funded warrant, resulting in net proceeds of $143.0 million, after deducting offering expenses (the “Private Placement”). Each pre-funded warrant has an exercise price of $0.0008 per share. Additionally, in August 2023, we filed with the SEC and the SEC declared effective, a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 related to the sale and issuance of up to $450 million of our securities, including up to $150 million of shares of common stock that may be offered and sold from time to time in one or more “at-the-market” offerings pursuant to a Controlled Equity OfferingSM Sales Agreement (the “ATM Sales Agreement”) with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Leerink Partners LLC. During the six months ended June 30, 2025, we did not sell any shares of common stock under the ATM Sales Agreement. As of June 30, 2025, there were up to $140.6 million of shares of common stock available for future issuance under the ATM Sales Agreement. As of June 30, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $168.9 million and working capital of $159.8 million.
We expect to incur substantial expenditures in the foreseeable future as we expand our pipeline and advance our drug candidates through clinical development, undergo the regulatory approval process and, if our drug candidates are approved, launch commercial activities.
We will need substantial additional funding to support our continuing operations and pursue our development strategy. Until we can generate significant revenue from sales of our drug candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through equity or debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations with other companies, or other strategic transactions. Adequate funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as and when needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue the development and commercialization of our drug candidates or delay our efforts to expand our product pipeline. We may also be required to sell or license to other parties rights to develop or commercialize our drug candidates that we would prefer to retain.
Components of Operating Results
Research and Development Expenses
We expense both internal and external research and development costs as such expenses are incurred. We track the external research and development costs incurred for each of our drug candidates. However, we do not track our internal research and development costs by drug candidate, as the related efforts and their costs are typically spread across multiple drug candidates.
We account for non-refundable advance payments for goods or services that will be used in future research and development activities as expenses when the goods have been received or when the service has been performed rather than when the payment is made.
Clinical trial costs are a component of research and development expenses. We expense costs for our clinical trial activities performed by third parties, including clinical research organizations (“CROs”) and other service providers, as they are incurred, based upon estimates of the work completed over the life of the individual study in accordance with the associated agreements. We use information received from our personnel and outside service providers to estimate the clinical trial costs incurred.
External research and development expenses consist primarily of costs incurred for the development of our drug candidates and include:
•costs incurred under agreements with CROs, investigative sites and consultants to conduct our clinical trials and preclinical and non-clinical studies;
•costs to acquire, develop and manufacture supplies for clinical trials and other studies, including fees paid to contract manufacturing organizations (“CMOs”);
•costs related to compliance with drug development regulatory requirements; and
•costs related to strategic licensing agreements such as upfront license and milestone fees.
Internal research and development costs include:
•salaries and related costs, including stock-based compensation and travel expenses, for personnel in our research and development functions; and
•depreciation and other allocated facility-related and overhead expenses.
Our research and development expenses decreased during the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2024 due to the early closure of the zelnecirnon clinical trials and termination of the zelnecirnon program. However, we expect to devote substantial resources towards research and development during the next few years as we seek to conduct clinical trials for RPT904 and advance other programs into clinical development, which we expect to result in increased research and development expenditures as compared to our 2024 research and development expenses, excluding the $35.0 million upfront license fee for RPT904. Predicting the timing or the final cost to complete our clinical program or validation of our manufacturing and supply processes is difficult and delays may occur because of many factors.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist principally of personnel-related costs, including payroll and stock‑based compensation for personnel in executive, finance, human resources, business and corporate development and other administrative functions; professional fees for legal, consulting and accounting services; rent and other facilities costs; depreciation and other general operating expenses not otherwise classified as research and development expenses.
We expect to continue to incur expenses to support our continued operations as a public company, including expenses related to compliance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq Global Market, insurance expenses, investor relations expenses, audit fees, professional services and general overhead and administrative costs. If we are no longer deemed to be a smaller reporting company, we expect that we will incur increased expenses to support our continued operations as a public company.
Other Income, Net
Our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities are invested in money market funds, corporate debt securities, commercial paper and U.S. government agency securities. Other income, net, consists primarily of interest earned on our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities.
Critical Accounting Policies, Significant Judgments and Use of Estimates
Our condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). The preparation of these condensed financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.
There have been no significant changes in our critical accounting policies and estimates during the six months ended June 30, 2025, as compared to the critical accounting policies and estimates disclosed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC on March 6, 2025. Our significant accounting policies are also described in “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in Note 2 of the accompanying condensed financial statements.
Results of Operations
Comparison of the Three Months Ended June 30, 2025 and 2024
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the periods indicated (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended | | | | | | | |
| June 30, | | | | |
| 2025 | | | 2024 | | | $ Change | | | % Change | |
Operating expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | |
Research and development | $ | 12,340 | | | $ | 22,640 | | | $ | (10,300 | ) | | | (45 | )% |
General and administrative | | 7,195 | | | | 6,690 | | | | 505 | | | | 8 | % |
Total operating expenses | | 19,535 | | | | 29,330 | | | | (9,795 | ) | | | (33 | )% |
Loss from operations | | (19,535 | ) | | | (29,330 | ) | | | 9,795 | | | | (33 | )% |
Other income, net | | 1,892 | | | | 1,667 | | | | 225 | | | | 13 | % |
Net loss | $ | (17,643 | ) | | $ | (27,663 | ) | | $ | 10,020 | | | | (36 | )% |
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses decreased $10.3 million, or 45%, to $12.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025 from $22.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily due to decreases of $7.0 million in development costs related to zelnecirnon, $0.8 million in development costs related to tivumecirnon, $2.9 million in personnel costs, $0.5 million in lab supplies costs, $0.8 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense and $0.4 million in facilities costs, partially offset by increases of $1.9 million in development costs related to RPT904 and $0.2 million in development costs for early-stage programs.
The following is a comparison of research and development expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Three Months Ended | | | | |
| June 30, | | | | |
| 2025 | | | 2024 | | | $ Change | | | % Change | |
External development expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | |
RPT904 | $ | 1,850 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 1,850 | | | * | |
Zelnecirnon | | 100 | | | | 7,024 | | | | (6,924 | ) | | | (99 | )% |
Tivumecirnon | | 1,011 | | | | 1,843 | | | | (832 | ) | | | (45 | )% |
Other programs | | 429 | | | | 249 | | | | 180 | | | | 72 | % |
Internal research and development expenses | | 8,950 | | | | 13,524 | | | | (4,574 | ) | | | (34 | )% |
Total research and development expenses | $ | 12,340 | | | $ | 22,640 | | | $ | (10,300 | ) | | | (45 | )% |
*: percentage not meaningful
As previously noted, we do not track our internal research and development expenses by drug candidate, as the related efforts and their costs are typically spread across multiple drug candidates.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses increased $0.5 million, or 8%, to $7.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025 from $6.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to increases of $0.4 million in consulting costs, and $0.1 million in facilities costs.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net increased $0.2 million, or 13%, to $1.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025 from $1.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The increase was driven primarily by an increase in interest income due to higher invested cash balances for the three months ended June 30, 2025.
Comparison of the Six Months Ended June 30, 2025 and 2024
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the periods indicated (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Six Months Ended | | | | | | | |
| June 30, | | | | |
| 2025 | | | 2024 | | | $ Change | | | % Change | |
Operating expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | |
Research and development | $ | 24,382 | | | $ | 47,421 | | | $ | (23,039 | ) | | | (49 | )% |
General and administrative | | 14,418 | | | | 14,427 | | | | (9 | ) | | * | |
Total operating expenses | | 38,800 | | | | 61,848 | | | | (23,048 | ) | | | (37 | )% |
Loss from operations | | (38,800 | ) | | | (61,848 | ) | | | 23,048 | | | | (37 | )% |
Other income, net | | 3,992 | | | | 3,664 | | | | 328 | | | | 9 | % |
Net loss | $ | (34,808 | ) | | $ | (58,184 | ) | | $ | 23,376 | | | | (40 | )% |
*: percentage not meaningful
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses decreased $23.0 million, or 49%, to $24.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 from $47.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily due to decreases of $14.6 million in development costs related to zelnecirnon, $1.7 million in development costs related to tivumecirnon, $6.5 million in personnel costs, $1.2 million in lab supplies costs, $1.6 million in non-cash stock-based compensation expense and $0.7 million in facilities costs, partially offset by increases of $2.9 million in development costs related to RPT904 and $0.3 million in development costs for early-stage programs.
The following is a comparison of research and development expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Six Months Ended | | | | |
| June 30, | | | | |
| 2025 | | | 2024 | | | $ Change | | | % Change | |
External development expenses: | | | | | | | | | | | |
RPT904 | $ | 2,913 | | | $ | — | | | $ | 2,913 | | | * | |
Zelnecirnon | | 288 | | | | 14,865 | | | | (14,577 | ) | | | (98 | )% |
Tivumecirnon | | 2,283 | | | | 4,000 | | | | (1,717 | ) | | | (43 | )% |
Other programs | | 769 | | | | 452 | | | | 317 | | | | 70 | % |
Internal research and development expenses | | 18,129 | | | | 28,104 | | | | (9,975 | ) | | | (35 | )% |
Total research and development expenses | $ | 24,382 | | | $ | 47,421 | | | $ | (23,039 | ) | | | (49 | )% |
*: percentage not meaningful
As previously noted, we do not track our internal research and development expenses by drug candidate, as the related efforts and their costs are typically spread across multiple drug candidates.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses were $14.4 million for each of the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024. General and administrative expenses were flat primarily due to the decreases of $0.2 million in personnel costs, offset by an increase of $0.2 million in facilities costs.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net increased $0.3 million, or 9%, to $4.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 from $3.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024. The increase was driven primarily by an increase in interest income due to higher invested cash balances for the six months ended June 30, 2025.
Liquidity and Capital Resources; Plan of Operations
Since inception, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of equity securities. In December 2024, we closed the Private Placement, resulting in net proceeds of $143.0 million, after deducting offering expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we sold 45,665 shares of common stock under the ATM Sales Agreement for net proceeds of $9.0 million, after deducting sales agent commissions and other offering related costs. As of June 30, 2025, up to $140.6 million of shares of common stock remained available for future issuance under the ATM Sales Agreement. As of June 30, 2025, we had cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities of $168.9 million and working capital of $159.8 million. Our cash equivalents and marketable securities consist of commercial paper, corporate bonds and U.S. government agency securities. Cash in excess of immediate requirements is invested in accordance with our investment policy, primarily with a view towards liquidity and capital preservation. Since inception, we have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations.
As of June 30, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $649.4 million. In addition, we expect to incur substantial additional costs in order to conduct research and development activities necessary to develop and commercialize our drug candidates. Additional capital will be needed to undertake these activities and we intend to raise such capital through the issuance of additional equity or debt, strategic alliances with other companies or other sources of financing. However, if such capital is not available at adequate levels or on acceptable terms, we could be required to significantly reduce operating expenses and delay or reduce the scope of, or eliminate, some of our development programs. We believe our current cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our anticipated level of operations through at least the next 12 months following the filing date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
We will continue to require additional capital to develop our drug candidates and fund operations for the foreseeable future. We may seek to raise capital through private or public equity or debt financings, collaborative or other arrangements with other companies, or through other sources of financing. Adequate additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed could have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategies. We anticipate that we will need to raise substantial additional capital, the requirements of which will depend on many factors, including:
•the scope, rate of progress and costs of our drug discovery, preclinical development activities, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our drug candidates;
•the number and scope of clinical programs we decide to pursue;
•the scope and costs of manufacturing development and commercial manufacturing activities;
•the extent to which we acquire or in-license other drug candidates and technologies;
•the cost, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our drug candidates;
•the cost and timing of establishing sales and marketing capabilities, if any of our drug candidates receive marketing approval;
•the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, obtaining, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;
•our ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;
•our efforts to enhance operational systems and our ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel, including personnel to support the development of our drug candidates;
•the costs associated with being a public company, which we expect will increase if we are no longer a smaller reporting company, as defined in the Exchange Act; and
•the cost associated with commercializing our drug candidates, if they receive marketing approval.
Additionally, the global financial markets have recently experienced, and may in the future experience, significant disruptions due to various macroeconomic factors, including among other things, the impact of ongoing overseas conflicts and other economic factors such as tariffs and escalating trade tensions, resulting in a general global economic slowdown. If these disruptions and slowdown deepen or persist, we may not be able to access additional capital on favorable terms, or at all, which could in the future negatively affect our ability to pursue our business strategy. See “Risk Factors” for additional risks associated with our substantial capital requirements.
If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution. Any future debt financing may impose upon us covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, repurchase our common stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. Any equity or debt financing may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, reduce or terminate some or all of our development programs and clinical trials. We may also be required to sell or license to other parties rights to develop or commercialize our drug candidates that we would prefer to retain.
On May 21, 2025, we received a notification letter from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) notifying us that the average closing bid price of our shares of common stock was below the minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share during the last 30 consecutive trading days (the “Notice”), as required for continued listing on the Nasdaq under Rule 5450(a)(1) of the Nasdaq’s Listing Rules (the “Rules”).
The Notice had no immediate impact on the listing of our common stock, which continued to be listed and traded on Nasdaq subject to our continued compliance with the other listing requirements of the Rules. Pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), we had 180 calendar days, or until November 17, 2025 (the “Compliance Date”) to cure the deficiency and regain compliance with the minimum bid price (subject to additional time periods for which we may be eligible). To regain compliance, the closing bid price of our common stock must be at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days before the Compliance Date.
On June 16, 2025, we effected the Reverse Stock Split. One of the purposes of the Reverse Stock Split was to maintain the listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market. As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, on June 20, 2025, we were notified by NASDAQ that we had regained compliance with the Rules.
Summary Condensed Statements of Cash Flows
The following table sets forth the primary sources and uses of cash and cash equivalents for each of the periods presented below (in thousands):
| | | | | | | | |
| | Six Months Ended | |
| | June 30, | |
| | 2025 | | | 2024 | |
Net cash (used in) provided by: | | | | | | |
Operating activities | | $ | (63,685 | ) | | $ | (55,238 | ) |
Investing activities | | | (64,325 | ) | | | 35,100 | |
Financing activities | | | 161 | | | | 9,737 | |
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents | | $ | (127,849 | ) | | $ | (10,401 | ) |
Cash Used in Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $63.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025, reflecting a net loss of $34.8 million and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $38.2 million, including the $35.0 million payment for the upfront license fee to Jemincare, partially offset by non-cash charges primarily for depreciation, amortization, non-cash operating lease expense and stock-based compensation expense totaling $9.3 million.
Net cash used in operating activities was $55.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, reflecting a net loss of $58.2 million and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $7.8 million, partially offset by non-cash charges primarily for depreciation, amortization, non-cash operating lease expense and stock-based compensation expense totaling $10.8 million.
Cash (Used in) Provided by Investing Activities
Cash used in investing activities was $64.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025, primarily from the purchases of marketable securities of $138.7 million, partially offset by the proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $74.4 million.
Cash provided by investing activities was $35.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, primarily from the proceeds from maturities of marketable securities of $69.2 million, partially offset by the purchases of marketable securities of $34.0 million and purchase of property and equipment for $0.1 million.
Cash Provided by Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $0.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 from net proceeds from our employee stock plans. Net cash provided by financing activities was $9.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2024, consisting of $9.0 million of net proceeds from the sale of shares under the ATM Sales Agreement and $0.7 million of net proceeds from our employee stock plans.
Material Cash Requirements
Our cash requirements in the ordinary course of business have not materially changed from those disclosed under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources – Material Cash Requirements” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed on March 6, 2025 with the SEC.
Smaller Reporting Company Status
We are a smaller reporting company as defined in the Exchange Act. We may take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as (i) our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter or (ii) our annual revenue is less than $100.0 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
As a “smaller reporting company” as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, we are not required to provide this information.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Management, with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of June 30, 2025. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of June 30, 2025, our chief executive officer and chief financial officer concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management determined that, as of June 30, 2025, there were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fiscal quarter then ended that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. Our management believes that there are currently no claims or actions pending against us, the ultimate disposition of which would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business and investing in our common stock involve a high degree of risk. You should consider and read carefully all of the risks and uncertainties described below, as well as other information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including our condensed financial statements and related notes, our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” as well as our other public filings. The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. The occurrence of any of the following risks or additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and stock price. In such a case, the market price of our common stock could decline and you may lose all or part of your original investment. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q also contains forward-looking statements and estimates that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks and uncertainties described below.
Summary of Risk Factors
The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. The occurrence of any of the following risks or additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and stock price. Some of these risks are:
•Our current or future product candidates may fail or suffer delays in clinical development that materially and adversely affect their commercial viability.
•We are a clinical-stage therapeutics company with a history of losses. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability.
•We may not be successful in our efforts to build a pipeline of drug candidates, and as an organization we have no history of successfully developing drugs.
•The market may not be receptive to our current or potential future drug candidates and we may not generate any revenue from the sale or licensing of our drug candidates.
•If we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by our current or potential future drug candidates, our ability to market and derive revenue from the drug candidate could be compromised.
•We will need substantial additional funds to discover and advance development of drug candidates and we cannot guarantee that we will have sufficient funds available in the future to develop and commercialize our current or potential future drug candidates.
•If third parties on which we rely to conduct certain preclinical studies and clinical trials do not perform as contractually required, fail to satisfy regulatory or legal requirements or miss expected deadlines, our development program could be delayed with material and adverse impacts on our business and financial condition.
•Because we may rely on third parties, some of which are or may be sole source vendors, for manufacturing and supply of our drug candidates and clinical development materials and commercial supplies, our supply may become limited or interrupted or may not be of satisfactory quantity or quality.
•We face intense competition from entities that have developed or may develop drug candidates for the treatment of the diseases that we are currently targeting or may target in the future. If these companies develop technologies or drug candidates more rapidly than we do, or if their technologies or drug candidates are more effective, our ability to develop and successfully commercialize drug candidates may be adversely affected.
•If any of our drug candidates is approved for marketing and commercialization in the future and we are unable to develop sales, marketing and distribution capabilities on our own or enter into agreements with third parties to perform these functions on acceptable terms, we will be unable to successfully commercialize any such future products.
•Our present and potential future international operations may expose us to business, political, operational and financial risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.
•Our business could be materially and adversely affected in the future by effects of disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
•If we are unable to obtain, maintain, enforce or defend intellectual property rights related to our technology and current or future drug candidates, or if our intellectual property rights are inadequate, we may not be able to compete effectively.
•We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and rules, contractual obligations, industry standards, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and security. Our actual or perceived failure, or that of the third parties with whom we work, to comply with such obligations could lead to government investigations or enforcement actions, which could include civil or criminal penalties, litigation, including class claims, and mass arbitration demands; fines or penalties; or disruptions of our business operations, reputational harm, loss of revenue or profits, adverse publicity and other adverse business consequences, which could negatively affect our operating results and business.
•Our stock price may be volatile and purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.
•Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or drug candidates.
•Our principal stockholders own a significant percentage of our stock and are able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our current or future product candidates may fail or suffer delays in clinical development that materially and adversely affect their commercial viability.
We have no products that have gained regulatory approval. Other than RPT904 and tivumecirnon, none of our drug candidates has ever been tested in humans. None of our drug candidates has advanced into late-stage development or a pivotal clinical trial and it may be years before any such trial is initiated, if at all. Our ability to achieve and sustain profitability depends on us developing, obtaining regulatory approval for and successfully commercializing one or more drug candidates, either alone or with partners.
Before obtaining regulatory approval for any of our drug candidates, we must conduct extensive preclinical studies and clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates in humans. While our partner Jemincare is conducting clinical trials of RPT904 in China, we have not yet submitted an IND to the FDA and there is no guarantee that FDA or other foreign regulatory authorities will permit us to conduct clinical trials of RPT904. We have successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical trial of tivumecirnon in healthy volunteers and a Phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating tivumecirnon as a single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab in a range of tumors; however, more clinical trials are needed. There is no guarantee that the FDA will permit us to conduct additional clinical trials of tivumecirnon or conduct trials of any other potential drug candidates. Further, we cannot be certain of the timely completion or outcome of any of our clinical trials and cannot predict if the FDA or other foreign regulatory authorities will accept our proposed clinical programs, or if the outcome of any preclinical studies or clinical trials will ultimately support the further development of tivumecirnon or any other potential drug candidates. For example, in 2024, clinical holds were placed on our Phase 2 clinical trials of zelnecirnon following an SAE of liver failure in one patient in one of the trials; we subsequently stopped the zelnecirnon program based on feedback from the FDA. There can be no guarantee that we will not be required to stop, either temporarily or permanently, any other clinical trials as a result of similar events relating to any other current or potential future drug candidates.
Our clinical development efforts are subject to the risks of failure inherent in the development of drug candidates based on novel approaches, targets and mechanisms of action. While targeted minimal and conservative changes were made to the omalizumab sequence in developing RPT904 with the goal of preserving the epitope of omalizumab while improving certain drug-like properties, the full impact of those changes is unknown and RPT904 may not have the efficacy and safety profile that was intended or that is sufficient for regulatory approval. It may not ultimately be shown to benefit patients or the benefit may not be sufficient to be an attractive alternative to other therapies. While tivumecirnon has shown activity in a small number of patients in a Phase 1/2 trial in various advanced cancers, there is no guarantee that tivumecirnon will ultimately prove to benefit patients. It is possible that the observed responses in patients who received tivumecirnon and pembrolizumab were caused solely by the pembrolizumab administered to the patient and not by tivumecirnon, or that the responses were spontaneous and unrelated to either tivumecirnon or pembrolizumab. We have discontinued, and may elect in the future to discontinue, development of tivumecirnon in certain indications if, among other reasons, data does not warrant moving forward. For example, in 2022, we made the decision not to move forward with development of tivumecirnon in nasopharyngeal cancer and checkpoint-naïve head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. There can be no assurance that the intended effects of our drug candidates will be observed or avoided, as the case may be, in clinical trials or that the drug candidate will offer any significant clinical benefit to humans. Results in preclinical studies do not necessarily predict the results of clinical studies. Additionally, even though our drug candidates are designed to address the same indications as existing drugs and therapies, we have not conducted head-to-head clinical trials comparing our drug candidates with such existing drugs and therapies. Accordingly, you should consider our prospects in light of the costs, uncertainties, delays and difficulties frequently encountered by clinical and preclinical-stage therapeutics companies such as ours.
Tivumecirnon is in clinical development as a single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab. If tivumecirnon is approved as a treatment in combination with pembrolizumab, then the future availability of pembrolizumab for administration with tivumecirnon would affect our ability to commercialize tivumecirnon. For example, if the supply of pembrolizumab were constrained for any reason it could have the effect of limiting the commercial uptake of tivumecirnon, if approved for commercial sale.
We may not have the financial resources to continue development of, or to enter into new collaborations or partnerships for our existing or any potential future drug candidates. Our position may be exacerbated if we experience any issues that delay or prevent regulatory approval of, or our ability to commercialize, a drug candidate, such as:
•negative or inconclusive results from our clinical trials or the clinical trials of others for drug candidates similar to ours, leading to a decision or requirement to conduct additional preclinical studies or clinical trials or abandon a program;
•product-related side effects experienced by participants in our clinical trials or by individuals using drugs or therapeutics similar to ours;
•delays in submitting INDs or comparable foreign applications, or delays or failure in obtaining the necessary approvals from regulators to commence a clinical trial, or a suspension or termination of a clinical trial once commenced;
•conditions imposed by the FDA, or other regulatory authorities, regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials;
•suspension or termination of our clinical trials for various reasons, including a clinical hold based on a finding that our drug candidates have undesirable side effects or other unexpected characteristics, or that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
•delays in enrolling research subjects in clinical trials;
•high drop-out rates of research subjects;
•inadequate supply or quality of drug candidate components or materials or other supplies necessary for the conduct of our clinical trials;
•greater-than-anticipated clinical trial costs;
•poor effectiveness of our drug candidates during clinical trials;
•unfavorable FDA or other regulatory agency inspections and review of a clinical trial or manufacturing site;
•failure of our third-party contractors or investigators to comply with regulatory requirements or otherwise meet their contractual obligations in a timely manner, or at all;
•delays and changes in regulatory requirements, policies and guidelines; or
•the FDA’s or other regulatory agencies’ data interpretation.
Further, we and our potential future partners may never receive approval to market and commercialize any drug candidate. Even if we or a potential future partner obtain regulatory approval, the approval may be for targets, disease indications or patient populations that are not as broad as we intended or desired or may require labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings. We or a potential future partner may be subject to post-marketing testing requirements to maintain regulatory approval.
We are a clinical-stage therapeutics company with a history of losses. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future and may never achieve or maintain profitability, which could result in a decline in the market value of our common stock.
Since our inception, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to research and development, including preclinical studies and clinical trials; raising capital; building our management team; and developing and maintaining our intellectual property portfolio. Our net loss was $34.8 million and $58.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively. As of June 30, 2025, we had an accumulated deficit of $649.4 million. Substantially all of our losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with our research and development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations. Furthermore, we do not expect to generate any revenue from product sales for the foreseeable future, and we expect to continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future due to the cost of research and development, preclinical studies, clinical trials and the regulatory approval process for our current and potential future drug candidates.
We expect to continue incurring net losses as we make efforts to advance the clinical development of our drug candidates. However, the amount of our future losses is uncertain. Our ability to generate revenue from product sales and achieve or sustain profitability, if ever, will depend on, among other things, successfully developing drug candidates, obtaining regulatory approvals to market and commercialize drug candidates, manufacturing any approved products on commercially reasonable terms, entering into any future collaborations or other partnerships, establishing a sales and marketing organization or suitable third-party alternatives for any approved product and raising sufficient capital to finance our operations. If we, or any of our future partners, are unable to develop and commercialize one or more of our drug candidates, or if sales revenue from any drug candidate that receives regulatory approval is insufficient, we will not achieve or sustain profitability, which would have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Current or potential future drug candidates may not demonstrate the safety and efficacy necessary to support further clinical development or commercial viability. Further, success in research and preclinical studies or early clinical trial results may not be indicative of results obtained in later trials. Likewise, preliminary, initial or interim data from clinical trials may be materially different from final data.
Our partner, Jemincare, has completed a Phase 1 clinical trial of RPT904 in healthy volunteers to evaluate the safety, PK and PD properties of RPT904. Jemincare is currently conducting Phase 2 clinical trials of RPT904 in asthma and CSU. We may ultimately discover that RPT904 does not meet criteria to be determined to be therapeutically effective or safe. As a result, we may never succeed in developing a marketable product based on RPT904.
We have completed a Phase 1 clinical trial with healthy volunteers for tivumecirnon and a Phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating tivumecirnon as a single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab. We may ultimately discover that tivumecirnon does not meet criteria to be determined to be therapeutically effective or safe. As a result, we may never succeed in developing a marketable product based on tivumecirnon.
If RPT904, tivumecirnon or any of our potential future drug candidates prove to be ineffective, unsafe or commercially unviable, our entire pipeline could have little, if any, value, which could require us to change our focus and approach to discovery and development, which would have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We have in the past, and may in the future, cease development of a drug candidate due to an inability to demonstrate adequate safety to the satisfaction of regulators. For example, in 2024, clinical holds were placed on our Phase 2 zelnecirnon clinical trials following an SAE of liver failure in one patient in one of the trials; we subsequently stopped the zelnecirnon program based on feedback from the FDA. There can be no guarantee that we will not be forced to suspend or cease clinical development of a current or potential future product candidate as a result of similar or other events.
Additionally, results from research and preclinical studies or early clinical trials are not necessarily predictive of future clinical trial results, and preliminary, initial and interim results of a clinical trial are not necessarily indicative of final results. From time to time, we have and may in the future publish or report preliminary, initial or interim data. Preliminary, initial or interim data from our clinical trials and those of our collaborators may not be indicative of the final results of the trial and are subject to the risk that one or more of the clinical outcomes may materially change as patient enrollment continues and/or more patient data become available. In this regard, such data may show initial evidence of clinical benefit but, as patients continue to be followed and more patient data becomes available, there is a risk that any therapeutic effects will not be durable in patients and/or will decrease over time, or cease entirely. Preliminary, initial or interim data also remain subject to audit and verification procedures that may result in the final data being materially different from such preliminary, initial or interim data. As a result, preliminary, initial or interim data should be considered carefully and with caution until the final data are available.
In addition, there is a high failure rate for product candidates proceeding through clinical trials. Many companies in the biopharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in late-stage clinical trials even after achieving promising results in preclinical testing and earlier-stage clinical trials. Data obtained from preclinical and clinical activities are subject to varying interpretations, which may delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. Any such setbacks could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be successful in our efforts to build a pipeline of drug candidates, and as an organization we have no history of successfully developing drugs.
A key element of our strategy is to build a pipeline of potential drug candidates and advance these drug candidates through preclinical studies and clinical development for the treatment of various diseases. As an organization, we have never developed a drug candidate through to commercialization nor have we ever conducted a pivotal clinical trial. Our current drug candidates may not be safe or effective therapeutics and we may not be able to develop any successful drug candidates. Even if we are successful in building our pipeline of drug candidates, the potential drug candidates that we identify may not be suitable for clinical development or generate acceptable clinical data, including unacceptable toxicity or other characteristics that indicate that the drug candidates are unlikely to be products that will receive marketing approval from the FDA or other regulatory authorities or achieve market acceptance. Even if the drug candidates we identify are suitable for clinical development, our lack of experience as an organization at developing drugs may cause us to fail in successfully developing the drug candidate through to commercialization. If we do not successfully develop and commercialize drug candidates, we will not be able to generate product revenue in the future.
The market may not be receptive to our current or potential future drug candidates, and we may not generate any revenue from the sale or licensing of our drug candidates.
Even if regulatory approval is obtained for a drug candidate, we may not generate or sustain revenue from sales of such products. Market acceptance of our current and potential future drug candidates will depend on, among other factors:
•the timing of our receipt of any marketing and commercialization approvals;
•the terms of any approvals and the countries in which approvals are obtained;
•the safety and efficacy of our drug candidates;
•the prevalence and severity of any adverse side effects associated with our drug candidates;
•limitations or warnings contained in any labeling approved by the FDA or other regulatory authority;
•relative convenience and ease of administration of our drug candidates;
•the extent to which physicians recommend our products to their patients;
•the availability of coverage and adequate government and third-party payor reimbursement;
•the pricing of our products, particularly as compared to alternative treatments; and
•the availability of alternative effective treatments for the disease indications our drug candidates are intended to treat and the relative risks, benefits and costs of those treatments.
If any drug candidate we commercialize fails to achieve market acceptance, it could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may not be successful in our efforts to expand indications for approved drug candidates.
Part of our drug development strategy is to clinically test and seek regulatory approval for our drug candidates in indications in which we believe there is the most evidence that we will be able to quickly generate proof of concept data. We then intend to expand clinical testing and seek regulatory approvals in other indications. Conducting clinical trials for additional indications for our drug candidates requires substantial technical, financial and human resources and is prone to the risks of failure inherent in drug development. We cannot provide any assurance that we will be successful in our effort to obtain regulatory approval for our drug candidates for additional indications even if we obtain approval for an initial indication.
If we or others later identify undesirable side effects caused by our current or potential future drug candidates, our ability to market and derive revenue from the drug candidate could be compromised.
Undesirable side effects caused by our current or potential future drug candidates could cause regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials and could result in a more restrictive label or the delay or denial of regulatory approval by the FDA or other regulatory authorities.
While we have not discovered any adverse side effects of RPT904 or tivumecirnon that have limited our ability to test either drug candidate in humans, it is possible that there will be undesirable side effects associated with their use. Results of our clinical trials could reveal a high and unacceptable severity and prevalence of these side effects. In such an event, our trials could be suspended or terminated, and the FDA or other regulatory authorities could order us to cease further development, or deny approval, of a drug candidate for any or all targeted indications. For example, in 2024, clinical holds were placed on our Phase 2 clinical trials of zelnecirnon following an SAE of liver failure in one patient in one of the trials; we subsequently stopped the zelnecirnon program based on feedback from the FDA. There can be no guarantee that we will not be forced to stop any other clinical trials, either temporarily or permanently, as a result of similar events relating to any other current or potential future drug candidates. Any side effects of our drug candidates could also affect patient recruitment or the ability of enrolled patients to complete the trial or result in potential product liability claims. Any of these occurrences may materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition and impair our ability to generate revenue.
Further, clinical trials by their nature utilize a sample of the potential patient population. With a limited number of patients and limited duration of exposure, rare and severe side effects of a drug candidate may only be uncovered when a significantly larger number of patients are exposed to the drug candidate or when patients are exposed for a longer period of time.
If any of our current or potential future drug candidates receives regulatory approval and we or others identify undesirable side effects caused by that product, any of the following adverse events could occur, which could result in the loss of significant revenue to us and materially and adversely affect our results of operations and business:
•regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product or seize the product;
•we may be required to recall the product or change the way the product is administered to patients;
•additional restrictions may be imposed on the marketing of the particular product or the manufacturing processes for the product or any component thereof;
•we may be subject to fines, injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties;
•regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as a “black box” warning or a contraindication;
•we may be required to create a Medication Guide outlining the risks of such side effects for distribution to patients;
•we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
•the product may become less competitive; and
•our reputation may suffer.
We will need substantial additional funds to discover and advance development of drug candidates and we cannot guarantee that we will have sufficient funds available in the future to develop and commercialize our current or potential future drug candidates.
Since our inception, we have used substantial amounts of cash to fund our operations and expect our expenses to increase substantially in the foreseeable future. Discovering and developing our drug candidates and conducting clinical trials will require substantial amounts of capital. Accordingly, we expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we continue the research and development of, initiate clinical trials of and seek marketing approval for, our drug candidates. We will continue to expend significant resources for the foreseeable future in connection with these activities. In addition, if we obtain marketing approval for any of our drug candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Furthermore, we expect to continue to incur costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce or eliminate our research and development programs or future commercialization efforts.
As of June 30, 2025 we had $168.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities. Based on current business plans, we believe that our current cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities will provide sufficient funds to enable us to meet our obligations for at least the next 12 months from the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Our future capital requirements and the period for which we expect our existing resources to support our operations may vary significantly from what we expect. Our monthly spending levels vary based on new and ongoing research and development and other corporate activities. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development and commercialization of our current and potential future drug candidates and the extent to which we may enter into collaborations with third parties to participate in their development and commercialization, we are unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenditures associated with our current and anticipated preclinical studies, clinical trials and any approved marketing and commercialization activities. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures will depend largely on:
•the timing and progress of preclinical and clinical development activities;
•the price and pricing structure that we are able to obtain from our third-party contract manufacturers to manufacture our preclinical study and clinical trial materials and supplies;
•the number and scope of preclinical and clinical programs we decide to pursue;
•our ability to maintain our current licenses, collaboration and research and development programs and supply agreements, including our agreement with Jemincare to supply RPT904 to us for use in our initial clinical trials;
•our ability to establish new collaborations and licensing agreements;
•the progress of the development efforts of parties with whom we may in the future enter into collaboration and research and development agreements;
•the costs involved in obtaining, maintaining, enforcing and defending patents and other intellectual property rights;
•the cost and timing of regulatory approvals; and
•our efforts to enhance operational systems, secure sufficient laboratory space and hire additional personnel, including personnel to support development of our drug candidates and satisfy our obligations as a public company.
To date, we have primarily financed our operations through the sale of equity securities. We may seek to raise any necessary additional capital through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements and other marketing and distribution arrangements. Our ability to raise additional funds will depend on financial, economic and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in acquiring additional funding at levels sufficient to fund our operations or on terms favorable to us.
If we are unable to obtain adequate financing when needed, we may be required to implement cost reduction measures, such as reducing operating expenses, or otherwise be required to delay, reduce the scope of or suspend one or more of our preclinical studies, clinical trials, research and development programs or commercialization efforts. For example, in July 2024, our board of directors approved a reduction of our workforce to conserve cash resources. The workforce reduction impacted 47 people, or approximately 40% of our headcount.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our current and potential future drug candidates, future revenue streams or research programs or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we do raise additional capital through public or private equity or convertible debt offerings, the ownership interest of our existing stockholders will be diluted and the terms of these securities may include liquidation preferences or other rights that adversely affect our and our stockholders’ rights. If we raise additional capital through debt financing, we may be subject to covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.
We do not expect to realize revenue from product sales in the foreseeable future, if at all, and unless and until our current and potential future drug candidates are clinically tested, approved for commercialization and successfully marketed.
We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular drug candidate and fail to capitalize on drug candidates that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we intend to prioritize our efforts on specific research and development programs, including clinical development of current and other potential future drug candidates. As a result, we may forgo or delay pursuit of other opportunities, including with potential future drug candidates that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and drug candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable drug candidates. If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular drug candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that drug candidate through partnership, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such drug candidate.
We may not be able to enter into collaborations or strategic transactions on acceptable terms, if at all, which could adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize current and potential future drug candidates, impact our cash position and increase our expenses.
From time to time, we may consider strategic transactions, such as collaborations, acquisitions of companies, asset purchases, joint ventures and out- or in-licensing of drug candidates or technologies. For example, we entered into the Jemincare License Agreement in December 2024 to obtain exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize RPT904 worldwide, excluding the Jemincare Territory. We also entered into the Hanmi License Agreement in December 2019, pursuant to which we granted Hanmi the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize tivumecirnon in the Hanmi Territory. The competition for partners is intense, and the negotiation process may be time-consuming and complex. If we are not able to enter into collaborations or other strategic transactions, or continue our existing collaborations, we may not have access to necessary capital or expertise to further develop our potential future drug candidates. Any such collaboration or other strategic transaction may require us to incur non-recurring or other charges, increase our near- and long-term expenditures and pose significant integration or implementation challenges or disrupt our management or business. We may acquire additional technologies and assets, form strategic alliances or create joint ventures with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing business, but we may not be able to realize the benefit of acquiring such assets. Conversely, any new collaboration that we do enter into may be on terms that are not optimal for us. These transactions entail numerous operational and financial risks, including:
•exposure to unknown liabilities;
•disruption of our business and diversion of our management’s time and attention in order to manage a collaboration or develop acquired products, drug candidates or technologies;
•incurrence of substantial debt or dilutive issuances of equity securities to pay transaction consideration or costs;
•higher-than-expected collaboration, acquisition or integration costs, write-downs of assets or goodwill or impairment charges or increased amortization expenses;
•difficulty and cost in facilitating the collaboration or combining the operations and personnel of any acquired business;
•impairment of relationships with key suppliers, manufacturers or customers of any acquired business due to changes in management and ownership; and
•the inability to retain key employees of any acquired business.
Accordingly, although there can be no assurance that we will undertake or successfully complete any collaborations or other strategic transactions of the nature described above, any transactions that we do complete may be subject to the foregoing or other risks and our business could be materially harmed by such transactions. Conversely, any failure to enter any collaboration or other strategic transaction that would be beneficial to us could delay the development and potential commercialization of our drug candidates and have a negative impact on the competitiveness of any drug candidate that reaches market.
In addition, to the extent that any of our current or future partners were to terminate a collaboration agreement, we may be forced to seek additional partnerships, which may be less favorable to us, or independently develop our current and future drug candidates, including funding preclinical studies or clinical trials, assuming marketing and distribution costs and obtaining, maintaining, enforcing and defending intellectual property rights or, in certain instances, abandoning drug candidates altogether, any of which could result in a change to our business plan and materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If third parties on which we rely to conduct certain preclinical studies and clinical trials do not perform as contractually required, fail to satisfy regulatory or legal requirements or miss expected deadlines, our development program could be delayed with material and adverse impacts on our business and financial condition.
We rely on third-party clinical investigators, contract research organizations (“CROs”), contract development and manufacturing organizations (“CDMOs”) and consultants to design, conduct, supervise and monitor certain preclinical studies and any clinical trials. Because we intend to rely on these third parties and will not have the ability to conduct certain preclinical studies or clinical trials independently, we will have less control over the timing, quality and other aspects of such preclinical studies and clinical trials than we would have had if we conducted them on our own. These investigators, CROs, CDMOs and consultants are not our employees and we have limited control over the amount of time and resources that they dedicate to our programs. These third parties may have contractual relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors, which may draw time and resources from our programs. The third parties with which we may contract might not be diligent, careful or timely in conducting our preclinical studies or clinical trials, resulting in the preclinical studies or clinical trials being delayed or unsuccessful. In addition, we may contract with CROs, CDMOs and other third parties outside the United States, including without limitation, in China. For example, under the Jemincare License Agreement, we expect Jemincare, a company incorporated in China, will provide the initial supply of drug product for certain of our clinical trials and may act as a supplier for our future needs. Any disruption in the operations of Jemincare or other third parties or in their ability to meet our needs, whether as a result of a natural disaster, changes in the policies of the United States or non-U.S. governments, war, political unrest or unstable economic conditions in any of the countries where we conduct such activities or other causes, could impair our ability to operate our business on a day-to-day basis and to continue development of our programs.
If we cannot contract with acceptable third parties on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, or if these third parties do not carry out their contractual duties, satisfy legal and regulatory requirements for the conduct of preclinical studies or clinical trials or meet expected deadlines, our clinical development programs could be delayed and otherwise adversely affected. In all events, we will be responsible for ensuring that each of our preclinical studies and clinical trials are conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. The FDA may require preclinical studies to be conducted in accordance with good laboratory practices and clinical trials to be conducted in accordance with good clinical practices, including for designing, conducting, recording and reporting the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials, to ensure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of clinical trial participants are protected. Our reliance on third parties that we do not control will not relieve us of these responsibilities and requirements. Any adverse development or delay in our clinical trials could have a material and adverse impact on our commercial prospects and may impair our ability to generate revenue.
If we encounter difficulties enrolling patients in our clinical trials, our clinical development activities could be delayed or otherwise adversely affected.
We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our current or potential future drug candidates if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or other regulatory authorities on anticipated timelines. We cannot predict how difficult it will be to enroll patients in future clinical trials or whether we will be able to meet our anticipated timelines. We have experienced in the past, and may experience in the future, difficulties in patient enrollment in our clinical trials for a variety of reasons. The enrollment of patients depends on many factors, including:
•the severity of the disease under investigation;
•the patient eligibility criteria defined in the clinical trial protocol;
•the size of the patient population required for analysis of the trial’s primary endpoints;
•the proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients;
•the patient referral practices of physicians;
•our ability to recruit clinical trial investigators with the appropriate competencies and experience;
•clinicians’ and patients’ perceptions as to the potential advantages and risks of the drug candidate being studied in relation to other available therapies, including any new drugs that may be approved for the indications we are investigating;
•our ability to obtain and maintain patient consents; and
•the risk that patients enrolled in clinical trials will drop out of the trials before completion.
In addition, our future clinical trials will compete with other clinical trials for drug candidates that are in the same therapeutic areas as our drug candidates, and this competition will reduce the number and types of patients available to us, because some patients who might have opted to enroll in our trials may instead opt to enroll in a trial being conducted by one of our competitors. Since the number of qualified clinical investigators is limited, we expect to conduct some of our clinical trials at the same clinical trial sites that some of our competitors use, which will reduce the number of patients who are available for our clinical trials at such clinical trial sites. Delays in patient enrollment may result in increased costs or may affect the timing or outcome of the planned clinical trials, which could prevent completion of these trials and adversely affect our ability to advance the development of our drug candidates.
We may not be able to conduct, or contract others to conduct, animal testing in the future, which could harm our research and development activities.
Certain laws and regulations relating to drug development require us to test our drug candidates on animals before initiating clinical trials involving humans. Animal testing activities have been the subject of controversy and adverse publicity. Animal rights groups and other organizations and individuals have attempted to stop animal testing activities by pressing for legislation and regulation in these areas and by disrupting these activities through protests and other means. To the extent the activities of these groups are successful, our research and development activities may be interrupted or delayed.
Because we may rely on third parties, some of which are or may be sole source vendors, for manufacturing and supply of our drug candidates for preclinical and clinical development materials and commercial supplies, our supply may become limited or interrupted or may not be of satisfactory quantity or quality.
We currently rely on third-party contract manufacturers for our current and future clinical trial product materials and supplies. We do not produce any meaningful quantity of our drug candidates for clinical development, and we do not currently own manufacturing facilities for producing such supplies. Furthermore, some of our manufacturers represent our sole source of supplies of current and future clinical development materials, including our source for the manufacture of RPT904. We cannot assure you that our preclinical or current or future clinical development product supplies and commercial supplies will not be limited or interrupted, especially with respect to our sole source third-party manufacturing and supply partners, or will be of satisfactory quality or continue to be available at acceptable prices. In particular, any replacement of our manufacturers could require significant effort and expertise because there may be a limited number of qualified replacements. For our current and future sole source third-party manufacturing and supply partners, we may be unable to negotiate binding agreements with them or find replacement manufacturers to support our preclinical and current and future clinical activities at commercially reasonable terms in the event that their services to us are interrupted for any reason. We do not always have arrangements in place for a redundant or second-source supply for our sole source vendors in the event they cease to provide their products or services to us or do not timely provide sufficient quantities to us. Establishing additional or replacement sole source vendors, if required, may not be accomplished quickly. Any delays resulting from manufacturing or supply interruptions associated with our reliance on third-party manufacturing and supply partners, including those that are sole source, could impede, delay, limit or prevent our drug development efforts, which could harm our business, result of operations, financial condition and prospects.
The manufacturing process for a drug candidate is subject to FDA and other regulatory authority review. Suppliers and manufacturers must meet applicable manufacturing requirements and undergo rigorous facility and process validation tests required by regulatory authorities in order to comply with regulatory standards, such as current Good Manufacturing Practices (“cGMP”). If any of our manufacturers fails to comply with such requirements or to perform its obligations to us in relation to quality, timing or otherwise, or if our supply of components or other materials becomes limited or interrupted for other reasons, we may be forced to manufacture the materials ourselves, for which we currently do not have the capabilities or resources, or enter into an agreement with another third party, which we may not be able to do on reasonable terms, or at all. In some cases, the technical skills or technology required to manufacture our current and future drug candidates may be unique or proprietary to the original manufacturer and we may have difficulty transferring such skills or technology to another third party and a feasible alternative may not exist. These factors would increase our reliance on such manufacturer or require us to obtain a license from such manufacturer in order to have another third-party manufacture our drug candidates. If we are required to change manufacturers for any reason, we will be required to verify that the new manufacturer maintains facilities and procedures that comply with quality standards and with all applicable regulations and guidelines. The delays associated with the verification of a new manufacturer could negatively affect our ability to develop drug candidates in a timely manner or within budget.
We also expect to rely on third-party manufacturers if we receive regulatory approval for any drug candidate. We have existing, and may enter into future, manufacturing arrangements with third parties. We will depend on these third parties to perform their obligations in a timely manner consistent with contractual and regulatory requirements, including those related to quality control and assurance. If we are unable to obtain or maintain third-party manufacturing for any drug candidate, or to do so on commercially reasonable terms, we may not be able to develop and commercialize our drug candidates successfully. Our or a third party’s failure to execute on our manufacturing requirements and comply with cGMP could adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including:
•an inability to initiate or continue clinical trials of drug candidates under development;
•delay in submitting regulatory applications, or receiving regulatory approvals, for drug candidates;
•loss of the cooperation of a potential future partner;
•subjecting third-party manufacturing facilities or our potential future manufacturing facilities to additional inspections by regulatory authorities;
•requirements to cease distribution or to recall batches of drug candidates; and
•in the event of approval to market and commercialize a drug candidate, an inability to meet commercial demands for our products.
Our third-party manufacturers may be unable to successfully scale manufacturing of current or potential future drug candidates in sufficient quality and quantity, which would delay or prevent us from developing drug candidates and commercializing approved products, if any.
In order to conduct clinical trials of our current and any potential future drug candidates, we will need to manufacture large quantities of these drug candidates. We may continue to use third parties for our manufacturing needs. Our manufacturing partners may be unable to successfully increase the manufacturing capacity for any current or potential future drug candidate in a timely or cost-effective manner, or at all. In addition, quality issues may arise during scale-up activities. If our manufacturing partners are unable to successfully scale the manufacture of any current or potential future drug candidate in sufficient quality and quantity, the development, testing and clinical trials of that drug candidate may be delayed or infeasible, and regulatory approval or commercial launch of any potential resulting product may be delayed or not obtained, which could significantly harm our business.
If the market opportunities for our current and potential future drug candidates are smaller than we believe they are, our ability to generate product revenue may be adversely affected and our business may suffer.
Our understanding of the number of people who suffer from certain diseases that our current or potential future drug candidates may have the potential to treat is based on estimates. These estimates may prove to be incorrect, and new studies may demonstrate or suggest a lower estimated incidence or prevalence of these diseases. The number of patients in the United States or elsewhere may turn out to be lower than expected, may not be otherwise amenable to treatment with our current or potential future drug candidates or patients may become increasingly difficult to identify and access, all of which would adversely affect our business prospects and financial condition. In particular, the treatable population for our candidates may be further reduced if our estimates of addressable populations are erroneous or sub-populations of patients do not derive benefit from such drug candidates.
Further, there are several factors that could contribute to making the actual number of patients who receive our current or potential future drug candidates less than the potentially addressable market, including limited reimbursement for new therapies in many markets.
We face intense competition from entities that have developed or may develop drug candidates for the treatment of the diseases that we are currently targeting or may target in the future. If these companies develop technologies or drug candidates more rapidly than we do, or if their technologies or drug candidates are more effective, our ability to develop and successfully commercialize drug candidates may be adversely affected.
The development and commercialization of drugs and therapeutic biologics is highly competitive. We compete with a variety of large pharmaceutical companies, multinational biopharmaceutical companies, other biopharmaceutical companies and specialized biotechnology companies, as well as technology being developed at universities and other research institutions. Our competitors are often larger and better funded than we are. Our competitors have developed, are developing or will develop drug candidates and processes competitive with ours. Competitive therapeutic treatments include those that have already been approved and accepted by the medical community and any new treatments that are currently in development or that enter the market. We believe that a significant number of products are currently under development, and may become commercially available in the future, for the treatment of conditions for which we are developing or may try to develop drug candidates. There is intense and rapidly evolving competition in the biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, inflammation, immunology and oncology fields.
We are aware of numerous companies that are developing biologics and small molecule drugs for the treatment of inflammatory and immunological diseases and cancer. Many of these companies are well capitalized and, in contrast to us, have significant clinical experience, and may include our future partners. In addition, these companies compete with us in recruiting scientific and managerial talent. Our success will partially depend on our ability to obtain, maintain, enforce and defend patents and other intellectual property rights with respect to small molecule drugs or biologics that are safer and more effective than competing products. Our commercial opportunity and success will be reduced or eliminated if competing products that are safer, more effective or less expensive than the drugs we develop are or become available.
We expect to compete with small molecule, biologics and other therapeutic platforms and development companies, including, but not limited to, companies such as LongBio Pharma, United Biopharma and Yuhan which are developing anti-IgE treatments for food allergy and CSU and Sanofi, Novartis, Otsuka and Celldex, which have products in late-stage clinical development for CSU. In addition, we expect to compete with large, multinational pharmaceutical companies that discover, develop and commercialize small molecule drugs and other therapeutics for use in treating inflammatory diseases and cancer such as AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Incyte, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech and Sanofi/Regeneron. If any current or future drug candidate is eventually approved, it will compete with a range of treatments that are either in development or currently marketed.
Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing, sales and supply resources or experience than we do. If we successfully obtain approval for any drug candidate, we will face competition based on many different factors, including the safety and effectiveness of our products, the ease with which our products can be administered, the timing and scope of regulatory approvals for these products, the availability and cost of manufacturing, marketing and sales capabilities, price, reimbursement coverage and patent position. Competing products could present superior treatment alternatives, including by being more effective, safer, less expensive or marketed and sold more effectively than any products we may develop. Competitive products may make any product we develop obsolete or noncompetitive before we recover the expense of developing and commercializing such product. Such competitors could also recruit our employees, which could negatively impact our level of expertise and our ability to execute our business plan.
Any inability to attract and retain qualified key management, technical personnel and employees would impair our ability to implement our business plan.
Our success largely depends on the continued service of key management, advisors and other specialized personnel, including Brian Wong, M.D., Ph.D., our President and Chief Executive Officer, Rodney Young, our Chief Financial Officer, William Ho, M.D., Ph.D., our Chief Medical Officer, and Dirk Brockstedt, Ph.D., our Chief Scientific Officer, as well as our ability to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel. The loss of one or more members of our executive team, management team or other key employees or advisors could delay our research and development programs and have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
The relationships that our key managers have cultivated within our industry make us particularly dependent upon their continued employment with us. We are dependent on the continued service of our technical personnel because of the highly technical nature of our drug candidates and technologies and the specialized nature of the regulatory approval process. Because our management team and key employees are not obligated to provide us with continued service, they could terminate their employment with us at any time without penalty.
Our future success will also depend in large part on our ability to attract and retain other highly qualified scientific, technical and management personnel, as well as personnel with expertise in clinical testing, manufacturing, governmental regulation and commercialization. We face significant competition for personnel from other companies, universities, public and private research institutions, government entities and other organizations.
As of June 30, 2025, we had 61 full-time employees. Our focus on the development of current and potential future drug candidates will require adequate staffing. We will need to hire and retain new employees to execute our future clinical development and manufacturing plans. We cannot provide assurance that we will be able to hire or retain adequate staffing levels to develop our current and potential future drug candidates or to run our operations or to accomplish all of our objectives.
We may experience delays or other difficulties effectuating the transition of certain responsibilities that were previously performed by employees impacted by the workforce reduction, which could result in significant disruptions to our business and delays in our development efforts and timelines. In addition, our workforce reduction could yield unanticipated consequences, such as reputational risk, litigation risk and expense, attrition beyond planned staff reductions, increased difficulties in our day-to-day operations and loss of institutional knowledge and expertise. The workforce reduction could also harm our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel who are critical to our operations. In addition, we may need to undertake additional workforce reductions or restructuring activities in the future.
We may experience difficulties in managing our growth and expanding our operations.
We have limited experience in product development. As our current and potential future drug candidates enter and advance through preclinical studies and any clinical trials, we will need to expand our development, regulatory and manufacturing capabilities or contract with other organizations to provide these capabilities for us.
In the future, we also expect to have to manage additional relationships with collaborators, suppliers and other organizations. Our ability to manage our operations and future growth will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, reporting systems and procedures and to secure adequate facilities for our operational needs. We may not be able to implement improvements to our management information and control systems in an efficient or timely manner and may discover deficiencies in existing systems and controls.
If any of our drug candidates is approved for marketing and commercialization in the future and we are unable to develop sales, marketing and distribution capabilities on our own or enter into agreements with third parties to perform these functions on acceptable terms, we will be unable to successfully commercialize any such future products.
We currently have no sales, marketing or distribution capabilities or experience. We will need to develop internal sales, marketing and distribution capabilities to commercialize each current and potential future drug candidate that gains FDA approval, which would be expensive and time-consuming, or enter into partnerships with third parties to perform these services. If we decide to market any approved products directly, we will need to commit significant financial and managerial resources to develop a marketing and sales force with technical expertise and supporting distribution, administration and compliance capabilities. If we rely on third parties with such capabilities to market any approved products or decide to co-promote products with partners, we will need to establish and maintain marketing and distribution arrangements with third parties, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into such arrangements on acceptable terms or at all. In entering into third-party marketing or distribution arrangements, any revenue we receive will depend upon the efforts of the third parties and we cannot assure you that such third parties will establish adequate sales and distribution capabilities or be successful in gaining market acceptance for any approved product. If we are not successful in commercializing any product approved in the future, either on our own or through third parties, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our present and potential future international operations may expose us to business, political, operational and financial risks associated with doing business outside of the United States.
Our business is subject to risks associated with conducting business internationally. Some of our suppliers and clinical trial centers are located outside of the United States. We are party to the Jemincare License Agreement with Jemincare, which is located in China and owns the intellectual property that we need to develop, manufacture and commercialize RPT904 and upon whom we are currently dependent for clinical drug supply for our development program. Additionally, we are party to the Hanmi License Agreement. Furthermore, if we or any future collaborator succeeds in developing any products, we anticipate marketing them in the European Union and other jurisdictions in addition to the United States. If approved, we or our collaborator may hire sales representatives and conduct physician and patient association outreach activities outside of the United States. Doing business internationally involves a number of risks, including but not limited to:
•multiple, conflicting and changing laws and regulations such as privacy regulations, tax laws, export and import restrictions, employment laws, regulatory requirements and other governmental approvals, permits and licenses;
•failure by us to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for the use of our products in various countries;
•rejection or qualification of foreign clinical trial data by the competent authorities of other countries;
•additional potentially relevant third-party patent and other intellectual property rights that may be necessary to develop and commercialize our products and drug candidates;
•complexities and difficulties in obtaining, maintaining, enforcing and defending our patent and other intellectual property rights;
•difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
•complexities associated with managing multiple payor reimbursement regimes, government payors or patient self-pay systems;
•limits in our ability to penetrate international markets;
•financial risks, such as longer payment cycles, difficulty collecting accounts receivable, the impact of local and regional financial crises on demand and payment for our products and exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;
•natural disasters; political and economic instability, including tariffs, embargoes, sanctions or other limitations on trade, wars, terrorism and political unrest, including as a result of ongoing overseas conflicts; outbreak of disease; boycotts, curtailment of trade and other business restrictions and implementation of tariffs;
•certain expenses, including among others, expenses for travel, translation and insurance; and
•regulatory and compliance risks that relate to anti-corruption compliance and record-keeping that may fall within the purview of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, its accounting provisions or its anti-bribery provisions or provisions of anti-corruption or anti-bribery laws in other countries.
Any of these factors could increase costs and harm our ongoing international clinical operations and supply chain, as well as any future international expansion and operations and, consequently, our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations.
Global trade issues and changes in and uncertainties with respect to trade policies and regulations, including import and export license requirements, trade sanctions, tariffs and international trade disputes, could adversely impact our business and operations and reduce the competitiveness of our products relative to local and global competitors.
There is inherent risk, based on the complex relationships among the United States and the countries in which we and our partners conduct our business, that political, diplomatic and national security factors could lead to global trade restrictions and changes in trade policies and regulations that may adversely affect our business and operations. The United States and other countries have imposed, and may continue to impose, new trade restrictions and regulations, have levied tariffs and taxes on certain goods, and could significantly increase tariffs on a broad array of goods. While pharmaceutical products have customarily been granted exemptions from tariffs, recent proposals do not contemplate such exemptions. In connection with trade disputes, foreign governments may take retaliatory actions against U.S. entities, such as decreased intellectual property protection, increased enforcement actions, or delays in regulatory approvals, which may result in heightened international legal and operational risks. In addition, the United States and other governments have imposed and may continue to impose additional sanctions, such as trade restrictions or trade barriers, which could restrict us from doing business directly or indirectly in or with certain countries or parties and may impose additional costs and complexity to our business. Trade restrictions and regulations, or increases in tariffs and additional taxes, including any retaliatory measures, can negatively impact demand, increase our supply chain complexity and our manufacturing costs, delay development timelines and increase development costs, decrease margins, reduce the competitiveness of our products, or restrict our ability to sell products, provide services or purchase necessary equipment and supplies, any or all of which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.
Trade disputes, tariffs, trade restrictions and other political tensions between the United States and other countries may exacerbate unfavorable macroeconomic conditions including inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility, financial market instability, and economic recessions or downturns. The ultimate impact of current or future tariffs and trade restrictions remains uncertain and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and prospects. While we actively monitor these risks, any prolonged economic downturn, escalation in trade tensions, or deterioration in international perception of U.S.-based companies could materially and adversely affect our business, ability to access the capital markets or other financing sources, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. In addition, tariffs and other trade developments have and may continue to heighten the risks related to the other risk factors described elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Our future growth may depend, in part, on our ability to operate in foreign markets, where we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and other risks and uncertainties.
Our future growth may depend, in part, on our ability to develop and commercialize drug candidates in foreign markets for which we may rely on partnering with third parties. We will not be permitted to market or promote any drug candidate before we receive regulatory approval from the applicable regulatory authority in a foreign market, and we may never receive such regulatory approval for any drug candidate. To obtain separate regulatory approval in foreign countries, we generally must comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements of such countries regarding safety and efficacy, and governing, among other things, clinical trials and commercial sales, pricing and distribution of a drug candidate, and we cannot predict success in these jurisdictions. If we obtain approval of any of our current or potential future drug candidates and ultimately commercialize any such drug candidate in foreign markets, we would be subject to risks and uncertainties, including the burden of complying with complex and changing foreign regulatory, tax, accounting and legal requirements and the reduced protection of intellectual property rights in some foreign countries.
Price controls imposed in foreign markets may adversely affect our future profitability.
In some countries, particularly member states of the European Union, the pricing of prescription drugs is subject to governmental control. In these countries, pricing negotiations with governmental authorities can take considerable time after receipt of marketing approval for a product. In addition, there can be considerable pressure exerted by governments and other stakeholders on prices and reimbursement levels, including as part of cost-containment measures. Political, economic and regulatory developments, in the United States or internationally, including tariffs, embargoes, sanctions or other limitations on trade, wars and terrorism, may further complicate pricing negotiations, and pricing negotiations may continue after reimbursement has been obtained. Reference pricing used by various European Union member states and parallel distribution, or arbitrage between low-priced and high-priced member states, can further reduce prices. In some countries, we or future partners may be required to conduct clinical trials or other studies that compare the cost-effectiveness of a drug candidate to other available therapies in order to obtain or maintain reimbursement or pricing approval. Publication of discounts by third-party payors or authorities may lead to further pressure on the prices or reimbursement levels within the country of publication and other countries. If reimbursement of any current or potential future drug candidate that is approved for marketing in the future is unavailable or limited in scope or amount, or if pricing is set at unsatisfactory levels, our business and results of operations or prospects could be materially and adversely affected and our ability to commercialize such drug candidate could be materially impaired.
Our business could be materially and adversely affected in the future by the effects of disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
Disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics in regions where we have concentrations of clinical trial sites and other business operations, could adversely affect our business, including by causing significant disruptions in our operations and/or in the operations of manufacturers and CROs we rely on. Disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics have had, and may have, negative impacts on our ability to initiate new clinical trial sites, enroll new patients and to maintain existing patients who are participating in clinical trials, which may result in increased clinical trial costs, longer timelines and delay in our ability to obtain regulatory approvals of our product candidates, if at all.
General supply chain issues may be exacerbated during disease outbreaks, epidemics or pandemics and may also impact the ability of our clinical trial sites to obtain basic medical supplies used in our trials in a timely fashion, if at all.
Moreover, the extent to which disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics may impact our business, results of operations and financial position will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence. New health epidemics or pandemics may emerge that result in similar or more severe disruptions to our business. To the extent any future disease outbreak, epidemic or pandemic adversely affects our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects, it could also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section.
Our current operations are concentrated in one location, and we or the third parties upon whom we depend may be adversely affected by natural or other disasters and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.
Our current operations are concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area. Any unplanned event, such as earthquake, flood, fire, explosion, extreme weather, medical epidemic, pandemic, power shortage, telecommunication failure or other natural or manmade accidents or incidents that result in us being unable to fully utilize our facilities or the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, or lose our repository of preclinical and clinical human samples and other valuable laboratory samples, may have a material and adverse effect on our ability to operate our business, particularly on a daily basis. Such an event would have significant negative consequences on our financial and operating conditions. Loss of access to these facilities may result in increased costs, delays in the development of our drug candidates or interruption of our business operations. Natural disasters such as earthquakes or wildfires, both of which are prevalent in Northern California, floods or tsunamis could further disrupt our operations, and have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. If a natural disaster, power outage or other event occurred that prevented us from using all or a significant portion of our headquarters, that damaged critical infrastructure, such as our research facilities or the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, or that otherwise disrupted operations, it may be difficult or, in certain cases, impossible, for us to continue our business for a substantial period of time. The disaster recovery and business continuity plans we have in place may prove inadequate in the event of a serious disaster or similar event. We may incur substantial expenses as a result of the limited nature of our disaster recovery and business continuity plans, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. As part of our risk management policy, we maintain insurance coverage at levels that we believe are appropriate for our business. However, in the event of an accident or incident at these facilities, we cannot assure you that the amounts of insurance will be sufficient to satisfy any damages and losses. If our facilities, or the manufacturing facilities of our third-party contract manufacturers, are unable to operate because of an accident or incident or for any other reason, even for a short period of time, any or all of our research and development programs may be harmed. Any business interruption may have a material and adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to obtain, maintain, enforce or defend intellectual property rights related to our technology and current or future drug candidates, or if our intellectual property rights are inadequate, we may not be able to compete effectively.
Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain protection in the United States and other countries for our intellectual property rights and proprietary technology. We rely on patents and other forms of intellectual property rights to protect our current or future drug candidates, methods used to manufacture our current or future drug candidates and methods for treating patients using our current or future drug candidates.
The patent prosecution process is expensive, complex and time-consuming. Patent license negotiations also can be complex and protracted, with uncertain results. We may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, enforce or license all necessary or desirable patents and patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we or our collaborators will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development output before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Although we enter into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to confidential or patentable aspects of our research and development output, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, CROs, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose such output before a patent application is filed, thereby jeopardizing our ability to seek patent protection. The patent applications that we own or license may fail to result in issued patents, and, even if they do issue as patents, such patents may not cover our current or future technologies or drug candidates in the United States or in other countries or provide sufficient protection from competitors. In addition, the coverage claimed in a patent application can be significantly reduced before the patent is issued and its scope can be reinterpreted after issuance.
Further, although we and our licensors make reasonable efforts to ensure patentability of inventions, we cannot guarantee that all of the potentially relevant prior art relating to the patent applications and any issued patents we obtain has been found. For example, publications of discoveries in scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing and, in some cases, not at all. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our drug candidates or the use of our technologies. We thus cannot know with certainty whether we or any of our current or future licensors or strategic partners were the first to make the inventions claimed in our pending patent applications or any issued patents we obtain, or that we or any of our future licensors or strategic partners were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. For this reason, and because there is no guarantee that any prior art search is correct and comprehensive, we may be unaware of prior art that could be used to invalidate an issued patent or to prevent our pending patent applications from issuing as patents. Invalidation of any of our patent rights, including in-licensed patent rights, could materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Moreover, the patent positions of biopharmaceutical companies are generally uncertain because they may involve complex legal and factual considerations that have, in recent years, been the subject of legal development and change. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our pending patent rights is uncertain. The standards applied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and foreign patent offices in granting patents are not always certain and, moreover, are not always applied uniformly or predictably. For example, there is no uniform worldwide policy regarding patentable subject matter or the scope of claims allowable in patents. 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 patent rights or narrow the scope of our patent protection.
Even if patents do successfully issue and even if such patents cover our current or any future technologies or drug candidates, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable. Any successful challenge to any patents we own or license could deprive us of rights necessary for the successful commercialization of any current or future technologies or drug candidates that we may develop. Likewise, if patent applications we own or license with respect to our development programs and current or future technologies or drug candidates fail to issue, if their breadth or strength is threatened or if they fail to provide meaningful exclusivity, other companies could be dissuaded from collaborating with us to develop current or future technologies or drug candidates. Lack of valid and enforceable patent protection could threaten our ability to commercialize current or future products and could prevent us from maintaining exclusivity with respect to the invention or feature claimed in the patent applications. Any failure to obtain, or any loss of, patent protection could have a material adverse impact on our business and ability to achieve profitability. We may be unable to prevent competitors from entering the market with a product that is similar to or the same as current or potential future drug candidates that emerge from our discovery program.
The filing of a patent application or the issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its ownership, inventorship, scope, patentability, validity or enforceability. Issued patents and patent applications may be challenged in the courts and in the patent office in the United States and abroad. For example, our patent applications or patent applications filed by any of our current or future licensors or strategic partners may be challenged through third-party submissions, opposition or derivation proceedings. By further example, issued patents may be challenged through reexamination, inter partes review or post-grant review proceedings before the USPTO or patent offices in other jurisdictions or in declaratory judgment actions or counterclaims. An adverse determination in any such submission, proceeding or litigation could prevent the issuance of, reduce the scope of, invalidate or render unenforceable our patent rights; limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical products; allow third parties to 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 patent rights is threatened, it could dissuade companies from collaborating with us to license, develop or commercialize current or future drug candidates. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Moreover, some of our intellectual property, including patents and patent applications, are or may in the future be co-owned with third parties. If we are unable to obtain an exclusive license to any such third-party co-owners’ interest in such intellectual property, including patents or patent applications, such co-owners may be able to license their rights to other third parties, including our competitors, and our competitors could market competing products and technology. We may need the cooperation of any such co-owners of our patent rights to enforce such patent rights against third parties, and such cooperation may not be provided to us. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business prospects and financial conditions.
If we fail to comply with our obligations under any license, collaboration or other intellectual property-related agreements, we may be required to pay damages and could lose intellectual property rights that may be necessary for developing, commercializing and protecting our current or future technologies or drug candidates or we could lose certain rights to grant sublicenses.
Any license, collaboration or other intellectual property-related agreements impose, and any future license, collaboration or other intellectual property-related agreements we enter into are likely to impose, various development, commercialization, funding, milestone, royalty, diligence, sublicensing, insurance, patent prosecution and enforcement or other obligations on us. If we breach any of these obligations, or use the intellectual property licensed to us in an unauthorized manner, we may be required to pay damages and the licensor may have the right to terminate the license. Despite our best efforts, any of our future licensors or strategic partners might conclude that we have materially breached our license agreements and might therefore terminate the license agreements, thereby removing our ability to develop and commercialize products and technologies covered by these license agreements. Any license agreements we enter into may be complex and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
We may seek to obtain licenses from licensors in the future. However, we may be unable to obtain any such licenses at a reasonable cost or on reasonable terms, if at all. In addition, if any of our future licensors or strategic partners terminates any such license agreement, such license termination could result in our inability to develop, manufacture and sell products that are covered by the licensed technology or could enable a competitor to gain access to the licensed technology. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial conditions, results of operations and ability to achieve profitability.
Furthermore, we may not have the right to control the preparation, filing, prosecution, maintenance, enforcement and defense of patents and patent applications that we license from third parties. Therefore, we cannot be certain that these patents and patent applications will be prepared, filed, prosecuted, maintained, enforced and defended in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. If our future licensors fail to prosecute, maintain, enforce and defend patents we may in-license, or they lose rights to licensed patents or patent applications, our license rights may be reduced or eliminated. In such circumstances, our right to develop and commercialize any of our products or drug candidates that is the subject of such licensed rights could be materially adversely affected. In certain circumstances, our licensed patent rights are subject to our reimbursing our licensors for their patent prosecution and maintenance costs.
Moreover, our licensors may own or control intellectual property that has not been licensed to us and, as a result, we may be subject to claims, regardless of their merit, that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the licensor’s intellectual property rights and the amount of any damages or future royalty obligations that would result if any such claims were successful would depend on the technology and intellectual property we use in products that we successfully develop and commercialize, if any. Therefore, even if we successfully develop and commercialize products, we may be unable to achieve or maintain profitability.
Patent terms may not be able to protect our competitive position for an adequate period of time with respect to our current or future technologies or drug candidates.
Patents have a limited lifespan. In the United States, the standard patent term is typically 20 years after filing. Various extensions may be available. Even so, the life of a patent and the protection it affords are limited. As a result, our patent portfolio provides us with limited rights that may not last for a sufficient period of time to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours. For example, given the large amount of time required for the research, development, testing and regulatory review of new drug candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized.
Extensions of patent term may be available, but there is no guarantee that we would succeed in obtaining any particular extension or that any such extension would lengthen the patent term for a sufficient period of time to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours. In the United States, the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 permits a patent term extension of up to five years beyond the normal expiration of the patent, which is limited to the approved indication or any additional indications approved during the period of extension. A patent term extension cannot extend the remaining term of a patent beyond 14 years from the date of product approval; only one patent may be extended; and extension is available for only those claims covering the approved drug, a method for using it or a method for manufacturing it. The applicable authorities, including the FDA and the USPTO in the United States, and any equivalent regulatory authority in other countries, may not agree with our assessment of whether such extensions are available, and may refuse to grant extensions to any patents we obtain, or may grant more limited extensions than we request. An extension may not be granted or may be limited where there is, for example, a failure to exercise due diligence during the testing phase or regulatory review process, failure to apply within applicable deadlines, failure to apply before expiration of relevant patents or some other failure to satisfy applicable requirements. If this occurs, our competitors may be able to launch their products earlier by taking advantage of our investment in development and clinical trials along with our clinical and preclinical data. This could have a material adverse effect on our business and ability to achieve profitability.
Changes in U.S. patent law or the patent law of other countries or jurisdictions could diminish the value of patents in general, thereby impairing our ability to protect our current or any future technologies or drug candidates.
As is the case with other therapeutics companies, our success is heavily dependent on intellectual property, particularly patents. Obtaining and enforcing patents in the biopharmaceutical industry involves both technological and legal complexity, and is therefore costly, time-consuming and inherently uncertain. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States could increase the uncertainties and costs of, and may diminish our ability to protect, our inventions, obtaining, maintaining, and enforcing our intellectual property rights and, more generally, could affect the value of our intellectual property or narrow the scope of our owned and licensed patents. In September 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the “Leahy-Smith Act”) was signed into law, which increased uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our issued patents. The Leahy-Smith Act included a number of significant changes to U.S. patent law. These provisions affected the way patent applications are prosecuted, redefined prior art and provided more efficient and cost-effective avenues for competitors to challenge the validity of patents. This included allowing third-party submission of prior art to the USPTO during patent prosecution and additional procedures that attacked the validity of a patent by USPTO administered post-grant proceedings, including post-grant review, inter partes review and derivation proceedings. In March 2013, under the Leahy-Smith Act, the United States transitioned to a first-to-file system in which, assuming that the other statutory requirements are met, the first inventor to file a patent application would be entitled to the patent on an invention regardless of whether a third-party was the first to invent the claimed invention. This required us to be cognizant of the time from invention to filing of a patent application. The Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation resulted in 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 impact on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Courts in the U.S. continue to refine the heavily fact-and-circumstance-dependent jurisprudence defining the scope of patent protection available for therapeutics, narrowing the scope of patent protection available in certain circumstances or weakening the rights of patent owners in certain situations. This creates uncertainty about our ability to obtain patents in the future and the value of such patents. We cannot provide assurance that future developments in Congress, the federal courts and the USPTO will not adversely impact our patent rights. The laws and regulations governing patents could change in unpredictable ways that could weaken our and our licensors’ ability to obtain new patents or to enforce our existing patent rights or patent rights that we might obtain or in-license in the future. Similarly, changes in patent law and regulations in other countries or jurisdictions or changes in the governmental bodies that enforce them or changes in how the relevant governmental authority enforces patent laws or regulations may have a material adverse effect on our and our licensors’ ability to obtain new patents or to protect and enforce our owned or in-licensed patent rights or patent rights that we may obtain or in-license in the future.
In Europe, a new unitary patent system took effect in June 2023, which will significantly impact European patents, including those granted before the introduction of such a system. Under the unitary patent system, European applications will have the option, upon grant of a patent, of becoming a Unitary Patent, which will be subject to the jurisdiction of the Unitary Patent Court (“UPC”). As the UPC is a new court system, there is no precedent for the court, increasing the uncertainty of any litigation. Patents granted before the implementation of the UPC will have the option of opting out of the jurisdiction of the UPC and remaining as national patents in the UPC countries. Patents that remain under the jurisdiction of the UPC will be potentially vulnerable to a single UPC-based revocation challenge that, if successful, could invalidate the patent in all countries who are signatories to the UPC. We cannot predict with certainty the long-term effects of any potential changes.
Other companies or organizations may challenge our patent rights or may assert patent rights that prevent us from developing and commercializing our current or future products.
Third parties may attempt to invalidate our intellectual property rights. Even if such rights are not directly challenged, disputes could lead to the weakening of our intellectual property rights. Our defense against any attempt by third parties to circumvent or invalidate our intellectual property rights could be costly to us, could require significant time and attention of our management and could have a material and adverse impact on our profitability, financial condition, prospects or ability to successfully compete.
Further, we cannot guarantee that we are aware of all patents and patent applications potentially relevant to our technology or products. There may be issued and pending patents that claim aspects of our current or potential future drug candidates and modifications that we may need for our current or potential future drug candidates. We may not be aware of potentially relevant third-party patents or applications for several reasons. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our drug candidates or technologies could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications that have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our drug candidates or the use of our technologies.
We may be subject to priority disputes, inventorship disputes and similar proceedings that could, if resolved unfavorably, narrow the scope of our intellectual property protection. We cannot provide any assurances that third-party patents do not exist that might be enforced against our drug candidates or technologies or future methods or products, resulting in either an injunction prohibiting our manufacture or sales or, with respect to our sales, an obligation on our part to pay royalties or other forms of compensation to third parties, which could be significant.
Thus, it is possible that one or more third parties will hold patent rights to which we will need a license, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all. If such third parties refuse to grant us a license to such patent rights on reasonable terms or at all, we may be required to expend significant time and resources to redesign our technology, drug candidates or the methods for manufacturing our drug candidates, or to develop or license replacement technology, all of which may not be commercially or technically feasible. In such case, we may not be able to market such technology or drug candidates and may not be able to perform research and development or other activities covered by these patents. This could have a material adverse effect on our ability to commercialize our drug candidates and our business and financial condition.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world, which could negatively impact our business.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents on current or future technologies or drug candidates in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. Competitors or other third parties may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we or our licensors have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and, further, may export infringing products to territories where we have patent protection or licenses, but where enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products and our patent or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
Additionally, the laws of some foreign jurisdictions do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws in the United States. Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from practicing our inventions in all countries outside the United States, or from selling or importing products made using our inventions in and into the United States or other jurisdictions. Many companies have encountered significant difficulties in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in such foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, including certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets and other intellectual property protection, particularly those relating to biotechnology, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patent rights or the marketing of competing products in violation of our intellectual property and proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and could divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business. Such proceedings could also put our patent rights at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly, could put our or our licensors’ patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us or any of our future licensors or strategic partners. We may not prevail in any lawsuits or other adversarial proceedings that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce such intellectual property and proprietary rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or in-license.
Further, many countries have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In addition, many countries limit the enforceability of patents against government agencies or government contractors. In these countries, the patent owner may have limited remedies, which could materially diminish the value of its patents. If we or any of our licensors are forced to grant a license to third parties with respect to any patents relevant to our business, our competitive position in the relevant jurisdiction may be impaired and our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse impact on the success of our business.
Our commercial success depends, in part, upon our ability or the ability of any of our current or future collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our current or any future drug candidates and to use our proprietary technologies without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the proprietary and intellectual property rights of third parties. The biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries are characterized by extensive and complex litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights.
We or any of our current or future licensors or strategic partners may be party to, or be threatened with, adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our current or any potential future drug candidates and technologies, including derivation, reexamination, inter partes review, post-grant review or interference proceedings before the USPTO and similar proceedings in jurisdictions outside of the United States, such as opposition proceedings. If we or our licensors or strategic partners are unsuccessful in any interference proceedings or other priority or validity disputes (including through any patent oppositions) to which we or they are subject, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights through the loss of one or more patents or our patent claims may be narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable. In some instances, we may be required to indemnify our licensors or strategic partners for the costs associated with any such adversarial proceedings or litigation. Third parties may also assert infringement, misappropriation or other claims against us, our licensors or our strategic partners based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future, as well as other intellectual property rights, regardless of their merit. There is a risk that third parties may choose to engage in litigation or other adversarial proceedings with us, our licensors or our strategic partners to enforce or otherwise assert their patent rights or other intellectual property rights. Even if we believe such claims are without merit, a court of competent jurisdiction could hold that these third-party patents and other intellectual property rights are valid, enforceable and infringed, which could have a material adverse impact on our ability to commercialize our current or any future drug candidates. In order to successfully challenge the validity of any such U.S. patent in federal court, we would need to overcome a presumption of validity by presenting clear and convincing evidence of invalidity. There is no assurance that a court of competent jurisdiction, even if presented with evidence we believe to be clear and convincing, would invalidate the claims of any such U.S. patent.
Further, we cannot guarantee that we or our licensors or strategic partners will be able to successfully settle or otherwise resolve such adversarial proceedings or litigation on terms acceptable to us. If such proceedings or litigation is not settled on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to engage in or to continue costly, unpredictable and time-consuming litigation and may be prevented from or experience substantial delays in marketing our drug candidates. If we or any of our licensors or strategic partners are found to infringe, misappropriate or violate a third-party patent or other intellectual property rights, we could be required to pay damages, including treble damages and attorney’s fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed. In addition, we or any of our licensors or strategic partners may choose to seek, or be required to seek, a license from a third party, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Even if a license can be obtained on commercially reasonable terms, the rights may be non-exclusive, which could give our competitors access to the same technology or intellectual property rights licensed to us, and we could be required to make substantial licensing and royalty payments. We also could be forced, including by court order, to cease utilizing, developing, manufacturing and commercializing our drug candidates deemed to be infringing. We may be forced to redesign current or future technologies or products. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue or achieve profitability and possibly prevent us from generating revenue sufficient to sustain our operations.
In addition, we or our licensors or strategic partners may find it necessary to pursue claims or to initiate lawsuits to protect or enforce our patent or other intellectual property rights. If we or our licensors or strategic partners were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our drug candidates or our technology, the defendant could counterclaim that such patent is invalid or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, for example, claiming patent-ineligible subject matter, lack of novelty, indefiniteness, lack of written description, non-enablement, anticipation or obviousness. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the USPTO or made a misleading statement during prosecution. The outcome of such invalidity and unenforceability claims is unpredictable. With respect to the validity question, for example, we cannot be certain that there is no invalidating prior art of which we or our licensors or strategic partners and the patent examiner were unaware during prosecution. If a defendant were to prevail on a legal assertion of invalidity or unenforceability, we could lose at least part, and perhaps all, of the patent protection for one or more of our drug candidates. The narrowing or loss of our owned and licensed patent claims could limit our ability to stop others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products. All of these events could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Patent and other intellectual property rights also will not protect our drug candidates and technologies if competitors or third parties design around such drug candidates and technologies without legally infringing, misappropriating or violating our patent or other intellectual property rights.
The cost to us in defending or initiating any litigation or other proceeding relating to our patent or other intellectual property rights, even if resolved in our favor, could be substantial, and any litigation or other proceeding would divert our management’s attention and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities. Such litigation or proceedings could materially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities or any future sales, marketing or distribution activities. We or our licensors or strategic partners may not have sufficient financial or other resources to conduct such litigation or proceedings adequately. Some of our competitors may be better able to sustain the costs of complex patent litigation because they have substantially greater resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could delay our research and development efforts and materially limit our ability to continue our operations. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with certain such proceedings, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure. 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, such announcements could have a material adverse effect on the price of our common stock.
Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our current or future technologies or drug candidates, and we might be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties to develop or market our current or future technologies or drug candidates, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
Because the immunology, inflammatory and oncology disease landscapes are still evolving, it is difficult to conclusively assess our freedom to operate. Thus, we may unknowingly pursue development of a product or technology that infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates third-party rights. There are numerous companies that have pending patent applications and issued patents broadly covering immune-therapies generally or covering molecules directed against the same targets as, or targets similar to, those we are pursuing. Our competitive position may materially suffer if patents issued to third parties or other third-party intellectual property rights cover our current or future technologies, drug candidates or elements thereof or our manufacture or uses relevant to our development plans. In such cases, we may not be in a position to develop or commercialize current or future technologies, drug candidates or elements thereof unless we successfully pursue litigation to nullify or invalidate the third-party intellectual property right concerned or enter into a license agreement with the intellectual property right holder, if available on commercially reasonable terms. There may be issued patents of which we are not aware, held by third parties, that, if found to be valid and enforceable, could be alleged to be infringed by our current or future technologies or drug candidates. There also may be pending patent applications of which we are not aware that may result in issued patents, which could be alleged to be infringed by our current or future technologies or drug candidates. Should such an infringement claim be successfully brought, we may be required to pay substantial damages or be forced to abandon our current or future technologies or drug candidates or to seek a license from any patent holders. No assurances can be given that a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
Third-party intellectual property right holders may also actively bring infringement, misappropriation or other claims alleging violations of intellectual property rights against us or our licensors. We cannot guarantee that these claims will be successfully settled or otherwise resolved on terms acceptable to us. If such claims cannot be successfully settled on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to engage in or to continue costly, unpredictable and time-consuming litigation and may be prevented from or experience substantial delays in marketing our drug candidates. If we fail in any such dispute, in addition to being forced to pay damages, we may be temporarily or permanently prohibited from commercializing any of our current or future technologies or drug candidates that are held to be infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third-party intellectual property rights. We might, if possible, also be forced to redesign current or future technologies or drug candidates so that we no longer infringe, misappropriate or violate the third-party intellectual property rights. Any of these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We may not be successful in obtaining necessary or exclusive rights to any drug candidates or products we may develop through acquisitions and in-licensing.
We may be unable to acquire or otherwise in-license any compositions, methods of use, processes or other intellectual property rights from third parties that we identify as necessary for drug candidates that we may wish to develop. The licensing or acquisition of third-party intellectual property rights is a competitive area, and several more established companies may pursue strategies to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights that we may consider attractive or necessary. These established companies may have a competitive advantage over us due to their size, capital resources and greater clinical development and commercialization capabilities. In addition, companies that perceive us to be a competitor may be unwilling to assign or license rights to us. We may be unable to license or acquire third-party intellectual property rights on terms that would allow us to make an appropriate return on our investment or at all. If we are unable to successfully obtain rights to required third-party intellectual property rights or maintain the existing intellectual property rights we have, we may have to abandon development of the relevant program or drug candidates, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Patent rights we may in-license in the future may be subject to a reservation of rights by one or more third parties. For example, the research resulting in any in-licensed patent rights and technology may be funded in part by the U.S. government. As a result, the government may have certain rights, or march-in rights, to such patent rights and technology. When new technologies are developed with government funding, the government generally obtains certain rights in any resulting patents, including a non-exclusive license authorizing the government to use the invention for non-commercial purposes. These rights may permit the government to disclose our confidential information to third parties and to exercise march-in rights to use or allow third parties to use our licensed technology. The government can exercise its march-in rights if it determines that action is necessary because we fail to achieve practical application of the government-funded technology, because action is necessary to alleviate health or safety needs, to meet requirements of federal regulations or to give preference to U.S. industry. In addition, our rights in such inventions may be subject to certain requirements to manufacture products embodying such inventions in the United States. Any exercise by the U.S. government of such rights could harm our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.
As referenced above, in addition to seeking patent protection for certain aspects of our current or future technologies and drug candidates, we also consider trade secrets, including confidential and unpatented know-how, important to the maintenance of our competitive position. However, trade secrets and know-how can be difficult to protect. We protect and plan to protect trade secrets and confidential and unpatented know-how, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to such knowledge, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, CROs, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants under which they are obligated to maintain confidentiality and to assign their inventions to us. Despite these efforts, we may not obtain these agreements in all circumstances and we cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary information.
Moreover, individuals with whom we have such agreements may not comply with their terms. Any of these parties may breach such agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for any such breaches. We may be forced to bring claims against third parties, including current or former employees or consultants, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property, including our patent rights. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret or securing title to an employee- or consultant-developed invention if a dispute arises, is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. If we are unsuccessful in any inventorship disputes to which we are subject, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as ownership of our patent rights. In addition, some courts in the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions disfavor or are unwilling to protect trade secrets. Further, if any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent that competitor from using the technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position would be materially and adversely harmed.
We may be subject to claims that we or our employees or consultants have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information of our employees’ or consultants’ former employers or their clients.
Many of our employees or consultants and our licensors’ employees or consultants were previously employed at universities or biotechnology or biopharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that one or more of these employees or consultants or we have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information of any such individual’s current or former employers. Litigation or arbitration may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel or may be enjoined from using such intellectual property. Any such proceedings and possible aftermath would likely divert significant resources from our core business, including distracting our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. A loss of key research personnel or their work product could limit our ability to commercialize, or prevent us from commercializing, our current or future technologies or drug candidates, which could materially harm our business. Even if we are successful in defending against any such claims, litigation or arbitration could result in substantial costs and could be a distraction to management.
Obtaining and maintaining our patent protection depends on compliance with various procedural, document submission, fee payment and other requirements imposed by government patent agencies, and our patent protection could be reduced or eliminated for non-compliance with these requirements.
Periodic maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuity fees and various other government fees on patents or applications will be due to be paid to the USPTO and various government patent agencies outside of the United States over the lifetime of our patent rights and any patent rights we may own or in-license now or in the future. The USPTO and various non-U.S. government patent agencies require compliance with several procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process. We employ reputable law firms and other professionals to help us comply with these requirements, and we may also be dependent on our licensors to take the necessary action to comply with these requirements with respect to our in-licensed intellectual property. In many cases, an inadvertent lapse can be cured by payment of a late fee or by other means in accordance with the applicable rules. There are situations, however, in which non-compliance 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. In such an event, potential competitors might be able to enter the market with similar or identical products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects and financial condition.
If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be adversely affected.
Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. We own a U.S. registered trademark for RAPT and a U.S. registered trademark for a design used in our corporate logo. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names or may be forced to stop using these names, which we use for name recognition by potential partners or customers in our markets of interest. If we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be materially adversely affected.
Intellectual property rights do not necessarily address all potential threats to our business.
The degree of future protection afforded by our intellectual property rights is uncertain because intellectual property rights have limitations and may not adequately protect our business. The following examples are illustrative:
•others may be able to make small molecule drugs, biologics, inhibitors or formulations that are similar to our drug candidates, but that are not covered by the claims of any patents that we own, license or control;
•we or any of our licensors might not have been the first to make the inventions covered by the patent rights that we own, license or control;
•we or our licensors might not have been the first to file patent applications covering certain of our owned and in-licensed inventions;
•others may independently develop the same, similar or alternative technologies without infringing, misappropriating or violating our intellectual property rights;
•it is possible that our or our licensors’ pending patent applications will not lead to issued patents;
•issued patents that we may own, in-license or control may not provide us with any competitive advantages, or may be narrowed or held invalid or unenforceable, including as a result of legal challenges;
•our competitors might conduct research and development activities in the United States and other countries that provide a safe harbor from patent infringement claims for certain research and development activities, as well as in countries where we do not have patent rights, and may then use the information learned from such activities to develop competitive products for sale in our major commercial markets;
•we or our strategic partners may choose not to file a patent in order to maintain certain trade secrets or know-how, and a third party may subsequently file a patent covering such trade secrets or know-how; and
•the patents of others may have an adverse effect on our business.
Should any of these events occur, they could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition.
Legal and Regulatory Risks
Clinical development includes a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future trial results.
Our drug candidates RPT904 and tivumecirnon are in clinical development and the risk of failure is high. It is impossible to predict when or if our candidates or any potential future drug candidates will prove effective in humans or will receive regulatory approval. Before obtaining marketing approval from regulatory authorities for the sale of any drug candidate, we must complete preclinical studies and then conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of a drug candidate in humans. 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 development process. The results of preclinical studies and clinical trials of any of our current or potential future drug candidates may not be predictive of the results of later-stage clinical trials. For example, while Jemincare conducted certain preclinical studies and a head-to-head clinical study of RPT904 and omalizumab in healthy patients, future clinical trials may not be consistent with the results of those studies. Drug 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. A number of companies in the pharmaceutical industry have suffered significant setbacks in advanced clinical trials due to lack of efficacy or safety issues, notwithstanding promising results in earlier trials.
We have completed a Phase 1/2 clinical trial investigating tivumecirnon as a single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab in a range of tumors and our partner Jemincare is conducting clinical trials of RPT904 in China. In connection with these clinical trials or any other clinical trials we conduct in the future, if any, each of the following, among other factors, could prolong and/or cause the clinical development process to be even more expensive:
•the FDA or other regulatory authorities requiring us to submit additional data or imposing other requirements before permitting us to initiate or continue a clinical trial;
•obtaining regulatory approval to commence a clinical trial, such as an IND prior to commencing a clinical trial in the United States for RPT904;
•reaching agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs and clinical trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly among different CROs and clinical trial sites;
•obtaining IRB approval at each clinical trial site;
•recruiting suitable patients to participate in a clinical trial;
•having patients complete a clinical trial or return for post-treatment follow-up;
•clinical trial sites deviating from trial protocol or dropping out of a trial;
•adding new clinical trial sites; or
•manufacturing sufficient quantities of our drug candidates for use in clinical trials.
Furthermore, we expect to rely on our CROs and clinical trial sites to ensure the proper and timely conduct of our clinical trials and, while we expect to enter into agreements governing their committed activities, we have limited influence over their actual performance.
We could encounter delays if prescribing physicians encounter unresolved ethical issues associated with enrolling patients in clinical trials of our current or potential future drug candidates in lieu of prescribing existing treatments that have established safety and efficacy profiles. Further, a clinical trial may be suspended or terminated by us, our partners, the IRBs of the institutions in which such trials are being conducted, the Data Safety Monitoring Board for such trial or by the FDA or other regulatory authorities due to a number of factors, including failure to conduct the clinical trial in accordance with regulatory requirements or our clinical protocols, inspection of the clinical trial operations or trial site by the FDA or other regulatory authorities resulting in the imposition of a clinical hold, unforeseen safety issues or adverse side effects, failure to demonstrate a benefit from using a drug or therapeutic biologic, changes in governmental regulations or administrative actions or lack of adequate funding to continue the clinical trial. For example, in 2024, clinical holds were placed on our Phase 2 clinical trials of zelnecirnon following an SAE of liver failure in one patient in one of the trials; we subsequently stopped the zelnecirnon program based on feedback from the FDA. There can be no guarantee that we will not be forced to stop any other clinical trials, either temporarily or permanently, as a result of similar events relating to any other current or potential future drug candidates.
We may be unable to obtain U.S. or foreign regulatory approval and, as a result, be unable to commercialize our current or potential future drug candidates.
Our current and potential future drug candidates are and will be subject to extensive governmental regulations relating to, among other things, research, testing, development, manufacturing, safety, efficacy, approval, recordkeeping, reporting, labeling, storage, packaging, advertising and promotion, pricing, marketing and distribution of drugs and therapeutic biologics. Rigorous preclinical testing and clinical trials and an extensive regulatory approval process are required to be successfully completed in the U.S. and in many foreign jurisdictions before a new drug, therapeutic or biologic can be marketed. Satisfaction of these and other regulatory requirements is costly, time-consuming, uncertain and subject to unanticipated delays. It is possible that none of the drug candidates we may develop will obtain the regulatory approvals necessary for us or our potential future partners to begin selling them.
We have very limited experience in conducting and managing the clinical trials necessary to obtain regulatory approvals, including approval by the FDA. The time required to obtain FDA and other approvals is unpredictable but typically takes many years following the commencement of clinical trials, depending upon the type, complexity and novelty of the drug candidate. The standards that the FDA and its foreign counterparts use when regulating us and other companies developing drugs require judgment and can change, which makes it difficult to predict with certainty how they will be applied. Any analysis we perform of data from preclinical and clinical activities is subject to confirmation and interpretation by regulatory authorities, which could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval. We may also encounter unexpected delays or increased costs due to new government regulations, for example, from future legislation or administrative action, or from changes in FDA policy during the period of product development, clinical trials and FDA regulatory review. It is impossible to predict whether legislative changes will be enacted, or whether FDA or foreign regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes, if any, may be.
Any delay or failure in obtaining required approvals could have a material and adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue from the particular drug candidate for which we are seeking approval. Further, we and our potential future partners may never receive approval to market and commercialize any drug candidate. Even if we or a potential future partner obtains regulatory approval, the approval may be for targets, disease indications or patient populations that are not as broad as we intended or desired or may require labeling that includes significant use or distribution restrictions or safety warnings. We or a potential future partner may be subject to post-marketing testing requirements to maintain regulatory approval. If any of our drug candidates prove to be ineffective, unsafe or commercially unviable, we may have to re-engineer them, and our entire pipeline could have little, if any, value, which could require us to change our focus and approach to drug discovery and development, which would have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Disruptions at the FDA or other agencies may also slow the time necessary for new drugs to be reviewed and/or approved by relevant government agencies, which would adversely affect our business. For example, over the last several years, the U.S. government shut down several times and certain regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, furloughed critical employees and ceased critical activities. More recently, such agencies, including the FDA, have conducted layoffs and may, from time to time, conduct additional layoffs. If a prolonged government shutdown or significant layoffs occur, it could significantly impact the ability of the FDA and applicable foreign authorities to timely review and process our regulatory submissions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
We are also subject to numerous foreign regulatory requirements governing, among other things, the conduct of clinical trials, manufacturing and marketing authorization, pricing and third-party reimbursement. The foreign regulatory approval process varies among countries and may include all of the risks associated with FDA approval described above as well as risks attributable to the satisfaction of local regulations in foreign jurisdictions. Moreover, the time required to obtain approval may differ from that required to obtain FDA approval. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities outside the United States and vice versa.
Even if we receive regulatory approval for any of our current or potential future drug candidates, we will be subject to ongoing regulatory obligations and continued regulatory review, which may result in significant additional expense. Additionally, our current or potential future drug 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 our products.
Any regulatory approvals that we or potential future partners obtain for our current or potential future drug candidates may also be subject to limitations on the approved indicated uses for which a product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for potentially costly post-marketing testing, including “Phase 4” clinical trials, and surveillance to monitor the safety and efficacy of such drug candidate. In addition, if the FDA or other regulatory authority approves current or potential future drug candidates, the manufacturing processes, labeling, packaging, distribution, adverse event reporting, storage, import, export, advertising, promotion and recordkeeping for such product will be subject to extensive and ongoing regulatory requirements. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and continued compliance with cGMP and good clinical practices for any clinical trials that we conduct post-approval. Later discovery of previously unknown problems with a product, 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:
•restrictions on the marketing or manufacturing of the product, withdrawal of the product from the market or voluntary or mandatory product recalls;
•fines, warning letters or holds on clinical trials;
•refusal by the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications filed by us or our strategic partners;
•suspension or revocation of product license approvals;
•product seizure or detention or refusal to permit the import or export of products; and
•injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.
The FDA’s policies may change and additional government regulations may be enacted that could prevent, limit or delay regulatory approval of our drug candidates. We cannot predict the likelihood, nature or extent of government regulation that may arise from future legislation or administrative action, either in the United States or abroad. If we are slow or unable to adapt to changes in existing requirements or the adoption of new requirements or policies, or if we are not able to maintain regulatory compliance, we may lose any marketing approval that we may have obtained and we may not achieve or sustain profitability, which would adversely affect our business.
Healthcare legislative reform measures may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In the United States, there have been and continue to be a number of legislative initiatives to contain healthcare costs. For example, in March 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (collectively, the “ACA”) was enacted, which substantially changed the way healthcare is financed by both governmental and private insurers, and significantly impacted the U.S. pharmaceutical industry. The ACA was intended to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for the healthcare and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms.
There have been executive, judicial and Congressional challenges and amendments to certain aspects of the ACA. For example, in August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) was signed into law, which, among other things, extends enhanced subsidies for individuals purchasing health insurance coverage in ACA marketplaces through plan year 2025. The IRA also eliminates the “donut hole” under the Medicare Part D program beginning in 2025 by significantly lowering the beneficiary maximum out-of-pocket cost through a newly established manufacturer discount program. It is possible that the ACA will be subject to judicial or Congressional challenges in the future. It is unclear how any such challenges and healthcare reform measures will impact the ACA and our business.
In addition, other legislative changes have been proposed and adopted in the United States since the ACA was enacted. For example, in July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) was signed into law and is expected to reduce Medicaid spending and enrollment by implementing work requirements for some beneficiaries, capping state-directed payments, reducing federal funding, and limiting provider taxes used to fund the program. OBBBA also narrows access to ACA marketplace exchange enrollment and declines to extend the ACA enhanced advanced premium tax credits, set to expire in 2025, which, among other provisions in the
law, are anticipated to reduce the number of Americans with health insurance. Further, the Budget Control Act of 2011, among other things, includes aggregate reductions of Medicare payments to providers of 2% per fiscal year. These reductions went into effect in April 2013 and, due to subsequent legislative amendments, will remain in effect until 2032.
Additionally, there has been heightened government scrutiny over the manner in which manufacturers set prices for their marketed products. For example, there have been several Congressional inquiries, Presidential executive orders and proposed and enacted federal and state legislation designed to, among other things, bring more transparency to drug pricing, review the relationship between pricing and manufacturer patient programs and reform government program reimbursement methodologies for drug products. At the federal level, the IRA, among other things, (1) directs the HHS to negotiate the price of certain single-source drugs that have been on the market for 7 years and biologics that have been on the market for 11 years covered under Medicare (the “Medicare Price Negotiation Program”) and (2) imposes rebates under Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D to penalize price increases that outpace inflation. These provisions began to take effect progressively starting in fiscal year 2023. In August 2024, HHS announced the agreed-upon reimbursement price of the first ten drugs that were subject to price negotiations, although the Medicare Price Negotiation Program is currently subject to legal challenges. In January 2024, HHS selected fifteen additional products covered under Part D for price negotiation in 2025. Each year thereafter more Part B and Part D products will become subject to the Medicare Price Negotiation Program. Further, in December 2023, the National Institute of Standards and Technology published for comment a Draft Interagency Guidance Framework for Considering the Exercise of March-In Rights that, for the first time, includes the price of a product as one factor an agency can use when deciding to exercise march-in rights. While the government has not previously exercised march-in rights, it is uncertain if that practice will change under the new framework.
The current presidential administration is pursuing policies to reduce regulations and expenditures across government, including at HHS, the FDA, CMS and related agencies. These actions, presently directed by executive orders or memoranda from the Office of Management and Budget, may propose policy changes that create additional uncertainty for our business. These actions and proposals, for example, include: (i) reducing agency workforces and cutting programs, (ii) rescinding a prior executive order tasking CMMI to consider new payment and healthcare models to limit drug spending, (iii) eliminating a prior executive order that directed HHS to establish an AI task force and develop a strategic plan, (iv) directing HHS and other agencies to lower prescription drug costs for Medicare through a variety of initiatives, including by improving upon the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and establishing Most-Favored-Nation pricing for pharmaceutical products, (v) imposing tariffs on imported pharmaceutical products, and (vi) directing certain federal agencies to enforce existing law regarding hospital and plan price transparency, and standardizing prices across hospitals and health plans. Additionally, in its June 2024 decision in Loper Bright, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the longstanding Chevron doctrine, under which courts were required to give deference to regulatory agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes. The Loper Bright decision could result in additional legal challenges to current regulations and guidance issued by federal agencies applicable to our operations, including those issued by the FDA. Congress may introduce and ultimately pass health care related legislation that could impact the drug approval process and make changes to the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program created under the IRA. We cannot predict which additional measures may be adopted or the impact of current and additional measures on the marketing, pricing and demand for our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
At the state level, legislatures have increasingly passed legislation and implemented regulations designed to (i) control pharmaceutical and biological product pricing, including price or patient reimbursement constraints, discounts, restrictions on certain product access and marketing cost disclosure and transparency measures, and (ii) encourage importation from other countries and bulk purchasing. For example, in January 2024, the FDA approved Florida’s Section 804 Importation Program (“SIP”) proposal to import certain drugs from Canada for specific state healthcare programs. It is unclear how this program will be implemented, including which drugs will be chosen, and whether it will be subject to legal challenges in the United States or Canada. Other states have also submitted SIP proposals that are pending review by the FDA. Any such approved importation plans, when implemented, may result in lower drug prices for products covered by those programs. These new laws and initiatives may result in additional reductions in Medicare and other healthcare funding, which could have a material adverse effect on our future customers and accordingly, our financial operations.
We expect that additional state and federal healthcare reform measures 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 drug candidates or additional pricing pressures.
If we or potential future partners, manufacturers or service providers fail to comply with healthcare laws and regulations, we or they could be subject to enforcement actions, which could affect our ability to develop, market and sell our products and may harm our reputation.
Healthcare providers and third-party payors, among others, will play a primary role in the prescription and recommendation of any drug candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our current and future arrangements with third-party payors, providers and customers, among others, may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we research, market, sell and distribute our drug candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations include the following:
•the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, which prohibits, among other things, a person or entity from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, paying, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, lease order, arranging for or recommendation of, any good, facility, item or service, for which payment may be made, in whole or in part, by a federal healthcare program, such as Medicare or Medicaid. A person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. In addition, a violation of the Anti-Kickback Statute can form the basis for a violation of the federal False Claims Act (discussed below);
•federal civil and criminal false claims laws and civil monetary penalties laws, including the federal False Claims Act, which provides for civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, that impose penalties against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government. In addition, the government may assert that a claim including items and services resulting from a referral made in violation of the federal Anti-Kickback Statute constitutes a false or fraudulent claim for purposes of the False Claims Act;
•the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) which imposes criminal and civil liability for executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program, or knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, healthcare benefits, items or services. Similar to the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, a person or entity does not need to have actual knowledge of the statute or specific intent to violate it in order to have committed a violation. As amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (“HITECH”), HIPAA also imposes obligations on certain covered entity healthcare providers, health plans and healthcare clearinghouses as well as their business associates and subcontractors that perform certain services involving the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information, and require notification to affected individuals and regulatory authorities of certain breaches of security of individually identifiable health information;
•the federal false statements statute, which prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services;
•the federal transparency requirements known as the federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act, created as part of ACA, which requires certain manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies for which payment is available under Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program to report annually to CMS information related to payments and other transfers of value made by that entity to physicians (defined to include doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors), other healthcare professionals (such as physicians assistants and nurse practitioners) and teaching hospitals, as well as ownership and investment interests held by physicians and their immediate family members; and
•analogous local, state and foreign laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws that may apply to healthcare items or services reimbursed by third-party payors, including private insurers; local, state and foreign transparency laws that require manufacturers to report information related to payments and transfers of value to other healthcare providers and healthcare entities, marketing expenditures or drug pricing; state laws that require pharmaceutical companies to register certain employees engaged in marketing activities in the location and comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government; and state and foreign laws governing the privacy and security of health information in certain circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.
Ensuring that our future business arrangements with third parties comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations could involve substantial costs. If our operations are found to be in violation of any such requirements, we may be subject to significant penalties, including criminal and significant civil monetary penalties, damages, fines, individual imprisonment, disgorgement, contractual damages, reputational harm, exclusion from participation in government healthcare programs, integrity obligations, injunctions, recall or seizure of products, total or partial suspension of production, denial or withdrawal of pre-marketing product approvals, private qui tam actions brought by individual whistleblowers in the name of the government, refusal to allow us to enter into supply contracts, including government contracts, additional reporting requirements and oversight if subject to a corporate integrity agreement or similar agreement to resolve allegations of non-compliance with these laws and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations, any of which could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our results of operations. Although effective compliance programs can mitigate the risk of investigation and prosecution for violations of these laws, these risks cannot be entirely eliminated. Any action against us for an alleged or suspected violation could cause us to incur significant legal expenses and could divert our management’s attention from the operation of our business, even if our defense is successful. In addition, achieving and sustaining compliance with applicable laws and regulations may be costly to us in terms of money, time and resources.
If we fail to comply with U.S. and foreign regulatory requirements, regulatory authorities could limit or withdraw any marketing or commercialization approvals we may receive and subject us to other penalties that could materially harm our business.
Even if we receive marketing and commercialization approval of a drug candidate, we will be subject to continuing regulatory requirements, including in relation to adverse patient experiences with the product and clinical results that are reported after a product is made commercially available, both in the United States and any foreign jurisdiction in which we seek regulatory approval. The FDA has significant post-market authority, including the authority to require labeling changes based on new safety information and to require post-market studies or clinical trials to evaluate safety risks related to the use of a product or to require withdrawal of the product from the market. The FDA also has the authority to require a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (“REMS”), after approval, which may impose further requirements or restrictions on the distribution or use of an approved drug or therapeutic biologic. The manufacturer and manufacturing facilities we use to make a future product, if any, will also be subject to periodic review and inspection by the FDA and other regulatory agencies, including for continued compliance with cGMP requirements. The discovery of any new or previously unknown problems with our third-party manufacturers, manufacturing processes or facilities may result in restrictions on the product, manufacturer or facility, including withdrawal of the product from the market. We intend to rely on third-party manufacturers and we will not have control over compliance with applicable rules and regulations by such manufacturers. Any product promotion and advertising will also be subject to regulatory requirements and continuing regulatory review. If we or our existing or future partners, manufacturers or service providers fail to comply with applicable continuing regulatory requirements in the U.S. or foreign jurisdictions in which we seek to market our products, we or they may be subject to, among other things, fines, warning letters, holds on clinical trials, delay of approval or refusal by the FDA to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications, suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approval, product recalls and seizures, administrative detention of products, refusal to permit the import or export of products, operating restrictions, injunction, civil penalties and criminal prosecution.
Even if we are able to commercialize any drug candidate, such drug candidate may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations or third-party coverage and reimbursement policies, which would harm our business.
Our ability to commercialize any products successfully will depend, in part, on the extent to which coverage and adequate reimbursement for these products and related treatments will be available from third-party payors, such as government authorities, private health insurers and health maintenance organizations. Patients who are prescribed medications for the treatment of their conditions generally rely on third-party payors to reimburse all or part of the costs associated with their prescription drugs. Coverage and adequate reimbursement from government healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and private health insurers are critical to new product acceptance. Patients are unlikely to use our future products, if any, unless coverage is provided and reimbursement is adequate to cover a significant portion of the cost. We plan to develop, either by ourselves or with collaborators, in vitro companion diagnostic tests for our drug candidates for certain indications. We, or our collaborators, will be required to obtain coverage and reimbursement for these tests separate and apart from the coverage and reimbursement we seek for our drug candidates, once approved. The failure to obtain coverage reimbursement for the companion diagnostic tests may hinder our ability to commercialize our product candidates, once approved.
Cost-containment is a priority in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere. As a result, government authorities and other third-party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications. Increasingly, third-party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products. Third-party payors also may request additional clinical evidence beyond the data required to obtain marketing approval, requiring a company to conduct expensive pharmacoeconomic studies in order to demonstrate the medical necessity and cost-effectiveness of its product. Commercial third-party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their reimbursement rates, but also have their own methods and approval process apart from Medicare determinations. Therefore, coverage and reimbursement for pharmaceutical products in the U.S. can differ significantly from payor to payor. We cannot be sure that coverage and adequate reimbursement will be available for any product that we commercialize and, if reimbursement is available, that the level of reimbursement will be adequate. Further, coverage policies and third‑party reimbursement rates may change at any time. Thus, even if favorable coverage and reimbursement status is attained, less favorable coverage policies and reimbursement rates may be implemented in the future. Coverage and reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the price of, any drug candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. If coverage and reimbursement are not available or are available only at limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any drug candidate for which we obtain marketing approval.
Additionally, the regulations that govern regulatory approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drugs and therapeutic biologics vary widely from country to country. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug or therapeutic biologic before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain regulatory approval for a product in a particular country but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenue we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more drug candidates, even if our drug candidates obtain regulatory approval.
We are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws with respect to our operations and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal or civil liability and harm our business.
We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and possibly other state and national anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, agents, third-party intermediaries, joint venture partners and collaborators from authorizing, promising, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector. We interact with officials and employees of government agencies and government-affiliated hospitals, universities and other organizations. In addition, we may engage third-party intermediaries to promote our clinical research activities abroad or to obtain necessary permits, licenses and other regulatory approvals. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities.
Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics mandates compliance with the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws applicable to our business throughout the world. However, we cannot assure you that our employees and third-party intermediaries will comply with this code or such anti-corruption laws. Noncompliance with anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain persons, the loss of export privileges, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas, investigations or other enforcement actions are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense and compliance costs and other professional fees. In certain cases, enforcement authorities may even cause us to appoint an independent compliance monitor, which can result in added costs and administrative burdens.
Our business entails a significant risk of product liability, and our inability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
As we conduct clinical trials, we will be exposed to significant product liability risks inherent in the development, testing, manufacturing and marketing of inflammatory disease and cancer treatments. Product liability claims could delay or prevent completion of our development programs. If we succeed in marketing products, such claims could result in an FDA investigation of the safety and effectiveness of our products, our manufacturing processes and facilities, our marketing programs and potentially a recall of our products or more serious enforcement action, limitations on the approved indications for which they may be used or suspension or withdrawal of approvals. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may also result in decreased demand for our products, injury to our reputation, costs to defend the related litigation, a diversion of management’s time and our resources, substantial monetary awards to clinical trial participants or patients and a decline in our stock price. Any insurance we have or may obtain may not provide sufficient coverage against potential liabilities. Furthermore, clinical trial and product liability insurance is becoming increasingly expensive. As a result, our partners or we may be unable to obtain sufficient insurance at a reasonable cost to protect us against losses caused by product liability claims that could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners may engage in misconduct or other improper activities, including noncompliance with regulatory standards and requirements.
We are exposed to the risk of fraud or other misconduct by our employees, principal investigators, consultants and commercial partners. Misconduct by employees could include intentional failures to comply with FDA regulations, provide accurate information to the FDA, comply with manufacturing standards we may establish, comply with federal and state healthcare fraud and abuse laws and regulations, report financial information or data accurately or disclose unauthorized activities to us. In particular, sales, marketing and business arrangements in the healthcare industry are subject to extensive laws and regulations intended to prevent fraud, kickbacks, self-dealing and other abusive practices. These laws and regulations may restrict or prohibit a wide range of pricing, discounting, marketing and promotion, sales commission, customer incentive programs and other business arrangements. Such misconduct could also involve the improper use of information obtained in the course of clinical trials, which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious harm to our reputation. It is not always possible to identify and deter misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from governmental investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from a failure to comply with such laws or regulations. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a material and adverse effect on our business and financial condition, including the imposition of significant criminal, civil and administrative fines or other sanctions, such as monetary penalties, damages, fines, disgorgement, imprisonment, exclusion from participation in government-funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, integrity obligations, reputational harm and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations.
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to stringent and evolving U.S. and foreign laws, regulations and rules, contractual obligations, industry standards, policies and other obligations related to data privacy and security. Our actual or perceived failure (or that of the third parties with whom we work) to comply with such obligations could lead to government investigations or enforcement actions (which could include civil or criminal penalties), litigation (including class claims) and mass arbitration demands; fines or penalties; or disruptions of our business operations, reputational harm, loss of revenue or profits, adverse publicity and other adverse business consequences, which could negatively affect our operating results and business.
In the ordinary course of business, we and the third parties with whom we work collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit and share (collectively, “process”) personal data and other sensitive information, including proprietary and confidential business data, trade secrets, intellectual property, sensitive third-party data, business plans, transactions, financial information and clinical trial and other health data (collectively, “sensitive data”).
Our data processing activities subject us to numerous data privacy and security obligations, such as various federal, state, local and foreign data protection laws, regulations, guidance, industry standards, external and internal privacy and security policies, contractual requirements and other obligations relating to data privacy and security. In the United States, federal, state and local governments have enacted numerous data privacy and security laws, including data breach notification laws, personal data privacy laws, consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act) and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws). For example, HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, imposes specific requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of protected health information. In the past few years, numerous U.S. states have enacted comprehensive privacy laws that impose certain obligations on covered businesses, including providing specific disclosures in privacy notices and affording residents with certain rights concerning their personal data. As applicable, such rights may include the right to access, correct or delete certain personal data and to opt-out of certain data processing activities, such as targeted advertising, profiling and automated decision-making. The exercise of these rights may impact our business and ability to provide our products and services. Certain states also impose stricter requirements for processing certain personal data, including sensitive information, such as conducting data privacy impact assessments. These state laws allow for statutory fines for noncompliance. Similar laws are being considered in several other states, as well as at the federal and local levels, and we expect more states to pass similar laws in the future. While these laws also exempt some data processed in the context of clinical trials, these developments further complicate our compliance efforts and increase compliance costs for us, the third parties with whom we work and our future customers.
Outside the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations and industry standards govern data privacy and security. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“EU GDPR”), the United Kingdom’s GDPR (“UK GDPR”) (collectively, “GDPR”) and Australia’s Privacy Act impose strict requirements for processing personal data. For example, under the GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions; fines of up to €20 million under the EU GDPR, £17.5 million under the UK GDPR or, in each case, 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is greater; or private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests. In addition, we are, and may in the future become subject to new and emerging data privacy regimes in Asia, including China's Personal Information Protection Law, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act, Taiwan’s Personal Data Protection Act, Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act and Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
In addition, we transfer personal data from Europe and other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries. Europe and other jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the European Economic Area (“EEA”) and the United Kingdom (“UK”) have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws they generally believe are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt or have already adopted similarly stringent data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA's standard contractual clauses, the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum, and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the UK extension thereto (which allows for transfers to relevant U.S.-based organizations who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework), these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States. If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions (such as Europe) at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business. Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants and activities groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers of personal data out of Europe for allegedly violating the GDPR’s cross-border data transfer limitations. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a rule entitled the Preventing Access to U.S. Sensitive Personal Data and Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern or Covered Persons, which places additional restriction on certain data transactions involving countries of concern (e.g., China, Russia, Iran) and covered individuals (i.e., individuals and entities located in or controlled by individuals or entities located in those jurisdictions) that may impact certain business activities such as vendor engagements, sale or sharing of data, employment of certain individuals, and investor agreements. Violations of the rule could lead to significant civil and criminal fines and penalties. The rule applies regardless of whether data is anonymized, key-coded, pseudonymized, de-identified or encrypted, which presents particular challenges for companies like ours and may impact our ability to transfer data in connection with certain transactions or agreements.
In addition to data privacy and security laws, we are contractually subject to industry standards adopted by industry groups, and we are, and may in the future become, subject to such obligations. We are also bound by other contractual obligations related to data privacy and security and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. For example, clinical trial subjects about whom we or the third parties with whom we work obtain information, as well as the providers who share this information with us, contractually limit our ability to use and disclose the information.
We also publish privacy policies, marketing materials and other statements concerning data privacy and security. Regulators in the United States are increasingly scrutinizing these statements, and if these policies, materials or statements are found to be deceptive, unfair, misleading, deficient, lacking in transparency or misrepresentative of our practices, we may be subject to investigation, enforcement actions by regulators or other adverse consequences.
Obligations related to data privacy and security (and consumers’ data privacy expectations) are quickly changing, becoming increasingly stringent and creating uncertainty. Additionally, these obligations may be subject to differing applications and interpretations, which may be inconsistent or conflict among jurisdictions. Preparing for and complying with these obligations requires us to devote significant resources and may necessitate changes to our services, information technologies, systems and practices and to those of any third parties that process personal data or sensitive data on our behalf.
We may at times fail, or be perceived to have failed, in our efforts to comply with our data privacy and security obligations. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties with whom we work may fail to comply with such obligations, which could negatively impact our business operations. In the event of failure (or perceived failure) of us or the third parties with whom we work to address or comply with applicable data privacy and security obligations, we could face significant consequences, including but not limited to: government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, civil or criminal penalties, audits, inspections, and similar); litigation (including class claims) and mass arbitration demands, additional reporting requirements and/or oversight, bans on processing personal data, orders to destroy or not use personal data, adverse publicity or imprisonment of company officials. In particular, plaintiffs have become increasingly more active in bringing privacy-related claims against companies, including class action claims and mass arbitration demands. Some of these claims allow for the recovery of statutory damages on a per violation basis and, if viable, carry the potential for monumental statutory damages, depending on the volume of data and the number of violations. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business or financial condition, including but not limited to: loss of customers, inability to process personal data or to operate in certain jurisdictions, limited ability to develop or commercialize our products, expenditure of time and resources to defend any claim or inquiry, adverse publicity or substantial changes to our business model or operations.
If our information technology systems (or those of the third parties with whom we work) or our data are or were compromised, we could experience adverse consequences resulting from such compromise, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions, litigation, fines and penalties, disruptions of our business operations, reputational harm, loss of revenue or profits and other adverse consequences.
In the ordinary course of business, we and the third parties with whom we work process sensitive data. As a result, we and the third parties with whom we work face a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to ransomware attacks, which could cause security incidents. Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud and other similar activities threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our sensitive data and information technology systems, and those of the third parties with whom we work. Such threats are prevalent and continue to rise, are increasingly difficult to detect and come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, “hacktivists,” organized criminal threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation states and nation-state-supported actors.
Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. During times of war and other major conflicts, we and the third parties with whom we work may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including retaliatory cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain and ability to produce, sell and distribute our services.
We and the third parties with whom we work are subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks, credential stuffing attacks, credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, telecommunications failures, earthquakes, fires, floods, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI and other similar threats.
In particular, severe ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, ability to provide our products or services, loss of sensitive data and income, reputational harm and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments. It may be difficult and/or costly to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain and remediate a security incident. Our efforts to do so may not be successful. Actions taken by us or the third parties with whom we work to detect, investigate, mitigate, contain and remediate a security incident could result in outages, data losses and disruptions of our business. Threat actors may also gain access to other networks and systems after a compromise of our networks and systems.
Remote work has become more common and has increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as more of our employees utilize network connections, computers and devices outside our premises or network, including working at home, while in transit and in public locations. Additionally, future or past business transactions, such as acquisitions or integrations, could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities’ systems and technologies. Furthermore, we may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.
In addition, we rely on third parties and technologies to operate critical business systems to process sensitive data in a variety of contexts, including, without limitation, cloud-based infrastructure, data center facilities, clinical trials, CROs, encryption and authentication technology, employee email and other functions. We also rely on third parties to provide other products, services, parts or otherwise to operate our business. Our ability to monitor these third parties’ information security practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. If the third parties we rely on experience a security incident or other interruption, we could experience adverse consequences. While we may be entitled to damages if the third parties with whom we work fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages or we may be unable to recover such award. In addition, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties’ infrastructure in our supply chain or the supply chain of third parties with whom we work have not been compromised.
While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against security incidents, there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective. We take steps designed to detect, mitigate and remediate vulnerabilities in our information systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties with whom we work). We have not and may not in the future, however, detect, mitigate and remediate all such vulnerabilities including on a timely basis. Further, we have (and may in the future) experienced delays in developing and deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address identified vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities could be exploited and result in a security incident.
Certain of the previously identified or similar threats have in the past and may in the future cause a security incident or other interruption that could result in unauthorized, unlawful or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to, our sensitive data or our information technology systems or those of the third parties with whom we work. For example, our CROs have been subject to cyber attacks in the past that impacted certain of our non-clinical trial data. A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our ability (and that of the third parties with whom we work) to provide our services.
We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities (including our clinical trial activities) to try to protect against security incidents. Additionally, certain data privacy and security obligations have required us to implement and maintain specific security measures or industry-standard or reasonable security measures to protect our information technology systems and sensitive data.
Applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us, or we may voluntarily choose, to notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, customers, regulators and investors, of security incidents, or to take other actions, such as providing credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Such disclosures and related actions can be costly, and the disclosure or the failure to comply with such applicable requirements could lead to adverse consequences.
If we or a third party with whom we work experiences a security incident or is perceived to have experienced a security incident, we may experience adverse consequences such as: government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits and inspections); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; restrictions on processing sensitive data (including personal data); litigation (including class claims); indemnification obligations; negative publicity; reputational harm; disputes with physicians, patients and our partners; monetary fund diversions; interruptions in our operations (including availability of data and interruptions and delays in our research and development work; financial loss; and other similar harms. Security incidents and attendant consequences may negatively impact our ability to grow and operate our business.
Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We cannot be sure that our insurance coverage will be adequate or sufficient to protect us from or to mitigate liabilities arising out of our privacy and security practices, that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all, or that such coverage will pay future claims.
In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect or infer sensitive data about us from public sources, data brokers or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position. Additionally, sensitive data of the Company could be leaked, disclosed or revealed as a result of or in connection with the use of generative AI technologies by our personnel or our vendors.
If we do not comply with laws regulating the protection of the environment and health and human safety, our business could be adversely affected.
Our research, development and manufacturing involve the use of hazardous materials and various chemicals. We maintain quantities of various flammable and toxic chemicals in our facilities that are required for our research, development and manufacturing activities. We are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, manufacture, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. We believe our procedures for storing, handling and disposing of these materials in our facilities comply with the relevant guidelines of the state of California and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor. Although we believe that our safety procedures for handling and disposing of these materials comply with the standards mandated by applicable regulations, the risk of accidental contamination or injury from these materials cannot be eliminated. If an accident occurs, we could be held liable for resulting damages, which could be substantial. We are also subject to numerous environmental, health and workplace safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures, exposure to blood-borne pathogens and the handling of animals and biohazardous materials. Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of these materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. Although we have some environmental liability insurance covering certain of our facilities, we may not maintain adequate insurance for all environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological or hazardous materials. Additional federal, state and local laws and regulations affecting our operations may be adopted in the future. We may incur substantial costs to comply with, and substantial fines or penalties if we violate, any of these laws or regulations.
Environmental, social and governance matters and any related reporting obligations may impact our business.
Companies across many industries are facing increasing scrutiny related to their environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) practices and reporting, both in the United States and internationally. For example, new domestic and international laws and regulations relating to ESG matters, including environmental sustainability, climate change and human capital management, are under consideration or being adopted, which may include specific, target-driven disclosure requirements or obligations. If increased ESG disclosure requirements apply to us, we may require additional investments and implementation of new practices and reporting processes, all entailing additional compliance risk regulations.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly or may fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, each of which may cause our stock price to fluctuate or decline.
We expect our operating results to be subject to quarterly fluctuations. Our net loss and other operating results will be affected by numerous factors, including:
•variations in the level of expense related to the ongoing development of our drug candidates or future development programs;
•results of clinical trials, or the addition, delay or termination of clinical trials or funding support by us or potential future partners;
•our execution of any collaboration, licensing or similar arrangements, and the timing of payments we may make or receive under potential future arrangements or the termination or modification of any such potential future arrangements;
•any intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or violation lawsuit or opposition, interference or cancellation proceeding in which we may become involved;
•additions and departures of key personnel;
•strategic decisions by us or our competitors, such as acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, joint ventures, strategic investments or changes in business strategy;
•if any of our drug candidates receives regulatory approval, the terms of such approval and market acceptance and demand for such drug candidates;
•regulatory developments affecting our drug candidates or those of our competitors; and
•changes in general market and economic conditions, including declines in economic growth, fluctuating inflation, tariffs and trade tensions, higher borrowing rates and adverse changes in liquidity and credit availability.
If our quarterly operating results fall below the expectations of investors or securities analysts, the price of our common stock could decline substantially. Furthermore, any quarterly fluctuations in our operating results may, in turn, cause the price of our stock to fluctuate substantially. We believe that quarterly comparisons of our financial results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of our future performance.
Our stock price may be volatile and purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.
Our stock price has been and is likely to continue to be highly volatile. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section and the following:
•our ability to advance our current or potential future drug candidates through clinical development;
•results of our preclinical studies, non-clinical studies and clinical trials for our current and future drug candidates or those of our competitors or potential future partners;
•regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries, especially changes in laws or regulations applicable to our products;
•the success of competitive products or technologies;
•introductions and announcements of new products by us, our future commercialization partners or our competitors, and the timing of these introductions or announcements;
•actions taken by regulatory agencies with respect to our products, clinical trials, manufacturing process or sales and marketing terms;
•actual or anticipated variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;
•the success of our efforts to acquire or in-license additional technologies, products or drug candidates;
•developments concerning any future collaborations, including, but not limited to, those with our sources of manufacturing supply and our commercialization partners;
•market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
•developments, disputes or litigation matters concerning patents or other intellectual property rights, and our ability to obtain and maintain patent protection for our products;
•our ability or inability to raise additional capital and the terms on which we raise it;
•the recruitment or departure of key personnel;
•changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;
•actual or anticipated changes in earnings estimates or changes in securities analyst recommendations regarding our common stock, other comparable companies or our industry generally;
•our failure or the failure of our competitors to meet securities analysts’ projections or guidance that we or our competitors may give to the market;
•fluctuations in the valuation of companies perceived by investors to be comparable to us;
•announcement or expectation of additional financing efforts;
•speculation in the press or investment community;
•trading volume of our common stock;
•sales of our common stock by us or our stockholders;
•the concentrated ownership of our common stock;
•changes in accounting principles;
•terrorist acts, acts of war or periods of widespread civil unrest, including as a result of ongoing overseas conflicts;
•natural disasters, medical epidemics, pandemics and other calamities;
•compliance with listing requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market;
•corporate actions, such as reverse stock splits; and
•general economic, industry and market conditions.
In addition, the stock markets in general, and the markets for pharmaceutical, therapeutics, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology stocks in particular, have experienced extreme volatility that has been often unrelated to the operating performance of the issuer, including in connection with ongoing overseas conflicts and past United States bank failures, each of which has resulted in decreased stock prices for many companies notwithstanding the lack of a fundamental change in their underlying business models or prospects. Substantial purchases of common stock by existing stockholders could reduce the liquidity of the trading market for our common stock and increase volatility.
The Reverse Stock Split may not achieve its intended results, and the market price of our common stock may be negatively impacted.
The ultimate effect of the Reverse Stock Split on the market price of our common stock cannot be predicted with any certainty, and we cannot assure you that the Reverse Stock Split will result in any or all of the benefits we expect. We cannot assure you that the Reverse Stock Split will result in any permanent or sustained increase in the market price of our common stock. The market price of our common stock depends on multiple factors, many of which are unrelated to the number of shares outstanding, including our business and financial performance, general market conditions and prospects for future success, any of which could have a counteracting effect to the Reverse Stock Split on the per share price.
In addition, the Reverse Stock Split also reduced the total number of outstanding shares of common stock, which may lead to reduced trading for our common stock, which is already generally thinly traded and increased volatility. In addition, the Reverse Stock Split has increased the number of stockholders who own “odd lots” (less than 100 shares) of our common stock, who may experience an increase in the cost of selling their shares and greater difficulty in effecting such sales.
Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or drug candidates.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.
If we raise funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or drug candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings 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 drug candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our company, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding us, our business model, our intellectual property rights or our common stock performance, or if our clinical studies and operating results fail to meet the expectations of the analysts, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Our principal stockholders own a significant percentage of our stock and are able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.
Holders of 5% or more of our capital stock and their respective affiliates beneficially own a significant percentage of our common stock. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, will have significant influence over the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and any other significant corporate transaction.
The interests of these stockholders may not be the same as, and may even conflict with, your interests. For example, these stockholders could delay or prevent a change of control of our company, even if such a change of control would benefit our other stockholders, which could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company or our assets and might affect the prevailing market price of our common stock. The significant concentration of stock ownership may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock due to investors’ perception that conflicts of interest may exist or arise.
We are a “smaller reporting company” and our election of reduced reporting requirements applicable to such companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined in the Exchange Act. We may take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as (i) our voting and non-voting common stock held by nonaffiliates is less than $250.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter or (ii) our annual revenue is less than $100.0 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. As a result, the information that we provide to our stockholders may be different than you might receive from other public reporting companies in which you hold equity interests. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result of any choice we make to reduce disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price for our common stock may be more volatile.
Our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) and certain other tax attributes is conditioned upon our attaining profitability and generating U.S. federal and state taxable income. As described above under “—Risks Related to Our Business,” we have incurred significant net losses since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future; thus, we do not know whether or when we will generate the U.S. federal or state taxable income necessary to utilize our NOLs and certain other tax attributes. Our NOLs could expire unused and be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities because of their limited duration or because of restrictions under U.S. tax law. Federal NOLs generated in tax years beginning before January 1, 2018, are only permitted to be carried forward for 20 taxable years under applicable U.S. federal tax law. Federal NOLs arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such federal NOLs may be limited to 80% of current year taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the federal tax laws.
In general, under Sections 382 and 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change,” generally defined as a greater than 50% change, by value, in its equity ownership over a three-year period, is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs and certain other pre-change tax attributes (such as research and development tax credits) to offset post-change taxable income. Our existing NOLs and certain other tax attributes may be subject to substantial limitations arising from previous ownership changes, if any, and if we undergo an ownership change, our ability to utilize NOLs and certain other tax attributes could be further limited by Sections 382 and 383 of the Code. In addition, future changes in our stock ownership, many of which are outside of our control, could result in an ownership change. Our NOLs and certain other tax attributes may also be impaired under state law. For example, California Senate Bill 113 imposed limits on the usability of California state NOLs and certain California state tax credits in tax years beginning after 2023 and before 2027. Accordingly, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our NOLs and certain other tax attributes.
Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us or our customers may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations.
New tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted differently, changed, repealed or modified at any time. Any such enactment, interpretation, change, repeal or modification could adversely affect us, possibly with retroactive effect. For instance, for certain research and experimental expenses incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2021, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act required the capitalization and amortization of such expenses over five years if incurred in the United States and fifteen years if incurred outside the United States, rather than deducting such expenses currently. The OBBBA restored the tax deductibility of research and experimental expenses incurred in the United States in the year incurred for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. We are evaluating the potential impact that this and other changes under the OBBBA may have on our business. In addition, the IRA imposes, among other rules, a 15% minimum tax on the book income of certain large corporations and a 1% excise tax on certain corporate stock repurchases. Future guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities with respect to any legislation may affect us, and certain aspects of such legislation could be repealed or modified in future legislation or sunset in future years. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to federal tax laws. Changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of our net deferred tax assets, the taxation of foreign earnings and the deductibility of expenses could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, result in significant one-time charges and increase our future tax expenses.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
We may incur significant costs from class action litigation due to the volatility of our stock.
Our stock price has fluctuated and may continue to fluctuate for many reasons, including as a result of public announcements regarding the progress of our drug candidates, the development efforts of future partners or competitors, the addition or departure of our key personnel, variations in our quarterly operating results and changes in market valuations of biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. This risk is especially relevant to us because biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have experienced significant stock price volatility in recent years. When the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have occasionally brought securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders were to bring a lawsuit of this type against us, even if the lawsuit is without merit, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit. The lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws may delay or prevent an acquisition of our company or a change in our management. In addition, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions could in turn affect any attempt by our stockholders to replace current members of our management team. These provisions include:
•a prohibition on actions by our stockholders by written consent;
•a requirement that special meetings of stockholders, which our company is not obligated to call more than once per calendar year, be called only by the chair of our board of directors, our chief executive officer or our board of directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the total number of authorized directors;
•advance notice requirements for election to our board of directors and for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings;
•division of our board of directors into three classes, serving staggered terms of three years each; and
•the authority of the board of directors to issue preferred stock with such terms as the board of directors may determine.
Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as amended, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. These provisions would apply even if the proposed merger or acquisition could be considered beneficial by some stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forums for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for the following types of actions or proceedings under Delaware statutory or common law:
•any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
•any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents to us or our stockholders;
•any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees arising under any provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; or
•any action asserting a claim against us or any of our directors, officers or other employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
These provisions would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. However, these provisions apply to Securities Act claims and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. For the avoidance of doubt, this provision is intended to benefit, and may be enforced by, us, our officers and directors, the underwriters to any offering giving rise to such complaint and any other professional entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying the offering. These exclusive-forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in the exclusive forum provisions. In such instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This may require significant additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and the provisions may not be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
None.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
None.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information
None.
Item 6. Exhibits
We have filed the exhibits listed on the accompanying Exhibit Index, which is incorporated herein by reference.
* Filed herewith.
† The certifications attached as Exhibit 32.1 to this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are not deemed filed with the SEC and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Date: August 7, 2025
| | | |
| RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. |
| | | |
| By: | | /s/ Brian Wong, M.D., Ph.D. |
| | | Brian Wong |
| | | President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer) |
| | | |
| By: | | /s/ Rodney Young |
| | | Rodney Young |
| | | Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) |
| | | |
EX-10.1 Exhibit 10.1
APPENDIX B
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MARCH 25, 2025
APPROVED BY THE STOCKHOLDERS: May 29, 2025
EFFECTIVE DATE: May 29, 2025
(a)Successor to and Continuation of Prior Plan. The Plan is intended as the successor to and continuation of the Company’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Prior Plan”). From and after 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on the Effective Date, no additional awards will be granted under the Prior Plan. All Awards granted on or after 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on the Effective Date will be granted under this Plan. All awards granted under the Prior Plan will remain subject to the terms of the Prior Plan.
(i)Any shares that would otherwise remain available for future grants under the Prior Plan as of 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on the Effective Date (the “Prior Plan’s Available Reserve”) will cease to be available under the Prior Plan at such time. Instead, that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the Prior Plan’s Available Reserve will be added to the Share Reserve (as further described in Section 3(a) below) and will be immediately available for grants and issuance pursuant to Stock Awards hereunder, up to the maximum number set forth in Section 3(a) below.
(ii)In addition, from and after 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on the Effective Date, any shares subject, at such time, to outstanding stock awards granted under the Prior Plan or the Company’s 2015 Stock Plan that (i) expire or terminate for any reason prior to exercise or settlement; (ii) are forfeited because of the failure to meet a contingency or condition required to vest such shares or otherwise return to the Company; or (iii) are reacquired, withheld (or not issued) to satisfy a tax withholding obligation in connection with an award or to satisfy the purchase price or exercise price of a stock award (such shares the “Returning Shares”) will immediately be added to the Share Reserve (as further described in Section 3(a) below) as and when such shares become Returning Shares, up to the maximum number set forth in Section 3(a) below.
(b)Eligible Award Recipients. Employees, Directors and Consultants are eligible to receive Awards.
(c)Available Awards. The Plan provides for the grant of the following Awards: (i) Incentive Stock Options, (ii) Nonstatutory Stock Options, (iii) Stock Appreciation Rights, (iv) Restricted Stock Awards, (v) Restricted Stock Unit Awards, (vi) Performance Stock Awards, (vii) Performance Cash Awards, and (viii) Other Stock Awards.
(d)Purpose. The Plan, through the grant of Awards, is intended to help the Company secure and retain the services of eligible award recipients, provide incentives for such persons to exert maximum efforts for the success of the Company and any Affiliate, and provide a means by which the eligible recipients may benefit from increases in value of the Common Stock.
(a)Administration by Board. The Board will administer the Plan. The Board may delegate administration of the Plan to a Committee or Committees, as provided in Section 2(c).
(b)Powers of Board. The Board will have the power, subject to, and within the limitations of, the express provisions of the Plan:
(i)To determine: (A) who will be granted Awards; (B) when and how each Award will be granted; (C) what type of Award will be granted; (D) the provisions of each Award (which need not be identical), including when a person will be permitted to exercise or otherwise receive cash or Common Stock under the Award; (E) the number of shares of Common Stock subject to, or the cash value of, an Award; and (F) the Fair Market Value applicable to a Stock Award.
(ii)To construe and interpret the Plan and Awards granted under it, and to establish, amend and revoke rules and regulations for administration of the Plan and Awards. The Board, in the exercise of these powers, may correct any defect, omission or inconsistency in the Plan or in any Award Agreement or in the written terms of a Performance Cash Award, in a manner and to the extent it will deem necessary or expedient to make the Plan or Award fully effective.
(iii)To settle all controversies regarding the Plan and Awards granted under it.
(iv)To accelerate, in whole or in part, the time at which an Award may be exercised or vest (or the time at which cash or shares of Common Stock may be issued in settlement thereof).
(v)To suspend or terminate the Plan at any time. Except as otherwise provided in the Plan or an Award Agreement, suspension or termination of the Plan will not materially impair a Participant’s rights under the Participant’s then-outstanding Award without the Participant’s written consent, except as provided in subsection (viii) below.
(vi)To amend the Plan in any respect the Board deems necessary or advisable, including, without limitation, by adopting amendments relating to Incentive Stock Options and certain nonqualified deferred compensation under Section 409A of the Code and/or bringing the Plan or Awards granted under the Plan into compliance with the requirements for Incentive Stock Options or ensuring that they are exempt from, or compliant with, the requirements for nonqualified deferred compensation under Section 409A of the Code, subject to the limitations, if any, of applicable law. If required by applicable law or listing requirements, and except as provided in Section 9(a) relating to Capitalization Adjustments, the Company will seek stockholder approval of any amendment of the Plan that (A) materially increases the number of shares of Common Stock available for issuance under the Plan, (B) materially expands the class of individuals eligible to receive Awards under the Plan, (C) materially increases the benefits accruing to Participants under the Plan, (D) materially reduces the price at which shares of Common Stock may be issued or purchased under the Plan, (E) materially extends the term of the Plan, or (F) materially expands the types of Awards available for issuance under the Plan. Except as otherwise provided in the Plan or an Award Agreement, no amendment of the Plan will materially impair a Participant’s rights under an outstanding Award without the Participant’s written consent.
(vii)To submit any amendment to the Plan for stockholder approval, including, but not limited to, amendments to the Plan intended to satisfy the requirements of (A) Section 422 of the Code regarding “incentive stock options” or (B) Rule 16b-3.
(viii)To approve forms of Award Agreements for use under the Plan and to amend the terms of any one or more Awards, including, but not limited to, amendments to provide terms more favorable to the Participant than previously provided in the Award Agreement, subject to any specified limits in the Plan that are not subject to Board discretion; provided, however, that a Participant’s rights under any Award will not be impaired by any such amendment unless (A) the Company requests the consent of the affected Participant, and (B) such Participant consents in writing. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (1) a Participant’s rights will not be deemed to have been impaired by any such amendment if the Board, in its sole discretion, determines that the amendment, taken as a whole, does not materially impair the Participant’s rights, and (2) subject to the limitations of applicable law, if any, the Board may amend the terms of any one or more Awards without the affected Participant’s consent (A) to maintain the qualified status of the Award as an Incentive Stock Option under Section 422 of the Code; (B) to change the terms of an Incentive Stock Option, if such
change results in impairment of the Award solely because it impairs the qualified status of the Award as an Incentive Stock Option under Section 422 of the Code; (C) to clarify the manner of exemption from, or to bring the Award into compliance with, Section 409A of the Code; or (D) to comply with other applicable laws or listing requirements.
(ix)Generally, to exercise such powers and to perform such acts as the Board deems necessary or expedient to promote the best interests of the Company and that are not in conflict with the provisions of the Plan or Awards.
(x)To adopt such procedures and sub-plans as are necessary or appropriate to permit participation in the Plan by Employees, Directors or Consultants who are foreign nationals or employed outside the United States (provided that Board approval will not be necessary for immaterial modifications to the Plan or any Award Agreement that are required for compliance with the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction).
(xi)To effect, with the consent of any adversely affected Participant, (A) the reduction of the exercise, purchase or strike price of any outstanding Stock Award; (B) the cancellation of any outstanding Stock Award and the grant in substitution therefor of a new (1) Option or SAR, (2) Restricted Stock Award, (3) Restricted Stock Unit Award, (4) Other Stock Award, (5) cash and/or (6) other valuable consideration determined by the Board, in its sole discretion, with any such substituted award (x) covering the same or a different number of shares of Common Stock as the cancelled Stock Award and (y) granted under the Plan or another equity or compensatory plan of the Company; or (C) any other action that is treated as a repricing under generally accepted accounting principles.
(c)Delegation to Committee.
(i)General. The Board may delegate some or all of the administration of the Plan to a Committee or Committees. If administration of the Plan is delegated to a Committee, the Committee will have, in connection with the administration of the Plan, the powers theretofore possessed by the Board that have been delegated to the Committee, including the power to delegate to a subcommittee of the Committee any of the administrative powers the Committee is authorized to exercise (and references in this Plan to the Board will thereafter be construed as being to the Committee or subcommittee, as applicable). Any delegation of administrative powers will be reflected in resolutions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, adopted from time to time by the Board or Committee (as applicable). The Board may retain the authority to concurrently administer the Plan with the Committee and may, at any time, revest in the Board some or all of the powers previously delegated.
(ii)Rule 16b-3 Compliance. The Committee may consist solely of two or more Non-Employee Directors in accordance with Rule 16b-3.
(d)Delegation to an Officer. The Board may delegate to one (1) or more Officers the authority to do one or both of the following (i) designate Employees who are not Officers to be recipients of Options and SARs (and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, other Stock Awards) and, to the extent permitted by applicable law, the terms of such Awards, and (ii) determine the number of shares of Common Stock to be subject to such Stock Awards granted to such Employees; provided, however, that the Board resolutions regarding such delegation will specify the total number of shares of Common Stock that may be subject to the Stock Awards granted by such Officer and that such Officer may not grant a Stock Award to himself or herself. Any such Stock Awards will be granted on the form of Stock Award Agreement most recently approved for use by the Committee or the Board, unless otherwise provided in the resolutions approving the delegation authority. The Board may not delegate authority to an Officer who is acting solely in the capacity of an Officer (and not also as a Director) to determine the Fair Market Value pursuant to Section 13(w)(iii) below.
(e)Effect of Board’s Decision. All determinations, interpretations and constructions made by the Board in good faith will not be subject to review by any person and will be final, binding and conclusive on all persons.
3.SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN.
(a)Share Reserve. Subject to Section 9(a) relating to Capitalization Adjustments, and the following sentence regarding the annual increase, the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to Stock Awards will not exceed 4,409,207 shares (the “Share Reserve”), which number is the sum of (i) 2,687,500 new shares, plus (ii) the number of shares subject to the Prior Plan’s Available Reserve as of the Effective Date, plus (iii) the number of shares that are Returning Shares, as such shares become available from time to time.
In addition, the Share Reserve will automatically increase on January 1st of each year, for a period of not more than five years, commencing on January 1st of the year following the year in which the Effective Date occurs and ending on (and including) January 1, 2030, in an amount equal to 5% of the total number of shares of Common Stock plus the total number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock subject to Pre-Funded Warrants (if any), in each case outstanding on the immediately preceding December 31st (rounded down to the nearest whole share). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board may act prior to January 1st of a given year to provide that there will be no January 1st increase in the Share Reserve for such year or that the increase in the Share Reserve for such year will be a lesser number of shares of Common Stock than would otherwise occur pursuant to the preceding sentence.
For clarity, the Share Reserve in this Section 3(a) is a limitation on the number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to the Plan. Accordingly, this Section 3(a) does not limit the granting of Stock Awards except as provided in Section 7(a). Shares may be issued in connection with a merger or acquisition as permitted by NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c) or, if applicable, NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 303A.08, AMEX Company Guide Section 711 or other applicable rule, and such issuance will not reduce the number of shares available for issuance under the Plan.
(b)Reversion of Shares to the Share Reserve. If a Stock Award or any portion thereof (i) expires or otherwise terminates without all of the shares covered by such Stock Award having been issued or (ii) is settled in cash (i.e., the Participant receives cash rather than stock), such expiration, termination or settlement will not reduce (or otherwise offset) the number of shares of Common Stock that may be available for issuance under the Plan. If any shares of Common Stock issued pursuant to a Stock Award are forfeited back to or repurchased by the Company because of the failure to meet a contingency or condition required to vest such shares in the Participant, then the shares that are forfeited or repurchased will revert to and again become available for issuance under the Plan. Any shares reacquired by the Company in satisfaction of tax withholding obligations on a Stock Award or as consideration for the exercise or purchase price of a Stock Award will again become available for issuance under the Plan.
(c)Incentive Stock Option Limit. Subject to the provisions of Section 9(a) relating to Capitalization Adjustments, the aggregate maximum number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued pursuant to the exercise of Incentive Stock Options will be 13,227,621 shares.
(d)Limitation on Grants to Non-Employee Directors. The maximum number of shares of Common Stock subject to Stock Awards granted under the Plan or otherwise during any one calendar year to any Non-Employee Director, taken together with any cash fees paid by the Company to such Non-Employee Director during such calendar year for service on the Board, will not exceed $750,000 in total value (calculating the value of any such Stock Awards based on the grant date fair value of such Stock Awards for financial reporting purposes), or, with respect to the calendar year in which a Non-Employee Director is first appointed or elected to the Board, $1,000,000.
(e)Source of Shares. The stock issuable under the Plan will be shares of authorized but unissued or reacquired Common Stock, including shares repurchased by the Company on the open market or otherwise.
(a)Eligibility for Specific Stock Awards. Incentive Stock Options may be granted only to employees of the Company or a “parent corporation” or “subsidiary corporation” thereof (as such terms are defined in Sections 424(e) and 424(f) of the Code). Stock Awards other than Incentive Stock Options may be
granted to Employees, Directors and Consultants; provided, however, that Stock Awards may not be granted to Employees, Directors and Consultants who are providing Continuous Service only to any “parent” of the Company, as such term is defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act, unless (i) the stock underlying such Stock Awards is treated as “service recipient stock” under Section 409A of the Code (for example, because the Stock Awards are granted pursuant to a corporate transaction such as a spin off transaction), (ii) the Company, in consultation with its legal counsel, has determined that such Stock Awards are otherwise exempt from Section 409A of the Code, or (iii) the Company, in consultation with its legal counsel, has determined that such Stock Awards comply with the distribution requirements of Section 409A of the Code.
(b)Ten Percent Stockholders. A Ten Percent Stockholder will not be granted an Incentive Stock Option unless the exercise price of such Option is at least 110% of the Fair Market Value on the date of grant and the Option is not exercisable after the expiration of five years from the date of grant.
5.PROVISIONS RELATING TO OPTIONS AND STOCK APPRECIATION RIGHTS.
Each Option or SAR will be in such form and will contain such terms and conditions as the Board deems appropriate. All Options will be separately designated Incentive Stock Options or Nonstatutory Stock Options at the time of grant, and, if certificates are issued, a separate certificate or certificates will be issued for shares of Common Stock purchased on exercise of each type of Option. If an Option is not specifically designated as an Incentive Stock Option, or if an Option is designated as an Incentive Stock Option but some portion or all of the Option fails to qualify as an Incentive Stock Option under the applicable rules, then the Option (or portion thereof) will be a Nonstatutory Stock Option. The provisions of separate Options or SARs need not be identical; provided, however, that each Award Agreement will conform to (through incorporation of provisions hereof by reference in the applicable Award Agreement or otherwise) the substance of each of the following provisions:
(a)Term. Subject to the provisions of Section 4(b) regarding Ten Percent Stockholders, no Option or SAR will be exercisable after the expiration of ten years from the date of its grant or such shorter period specified in the Award Agreement.
(b)Exercise Price. Subject to the provisions of Section 4(b) regarding Ten Percent Stockholders, the exercise or strike price of each Option or SAR will be not less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock subject to the Option or SAR on the date the Award is granted. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Option or SAR may be granted with an exercise or strike price lower than 100% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock subject to the Award if such Award is granted pursuant to an assumption of or substitution for another option or stock appreciation right pursuant to a Corporate Transaction and in a manner consistent with the provisions of Section 409A of the Code and, if applicable, Section 424(a) of the Code. Each SAR will be denominated in shares of Common Stock equivalents.
(c)Purchase Price for Options. The purchase price of Common Stock acquired pursuant to the exercise of an Option may be paid, to the extent permitted by applicable law and as determined by the Board in its sole discretion, by any combination of the methods of payment set forth below. The Board will have the authority to grant Options that do not permit all of the following methods of payment (or otherwise restrict the ability to use certain methods) and to grant Options that require the consent of the Company to use a particular method of payment. The permitted methods of payment are as follows:
(i)by cash, check, bank draft or money order payable to the Company;
(ii)pursuant to a program developed under Regulation T as promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board that, prior to the issuance of the stock subject to the Option, results in either the receipt of cash (or check) by the Company or the receipt of irrevocable instructions to pay the aggregate exercise price to the Company from the sales proceeds;
(iii)by delivery to the Company (either by actual delivery or attestation) of shares of Common Stock;
(iv)if an Option is a Nonstatutory Stock Option, by a “net exercise” arrangement pursuant to which the Company will reduce the number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise by the largest whole number of shares with a Fair Market Value that does not
exceed the aggregate exercise price; provided, however, that the Company will accept a cash or other payment from the Participant to the extent of any remaining balance of the aggregate exercise price not satisfied by such reduction in the number of whole shares to be issued. Shares of Common Stock will no longer be subject to an Option and will not be exercisable thereafter to the extent that (A) shares issuable upon exercise are used to pay the exercise price pursuant to the “net exercise,” (B) shares are delivered to the Participant as a result of such exercise, and (C) shares are withheld to satisfy tax withholding obligations; or
(v)in any other form of legal consideration that may be acceptable to the Board and specified in the applicable Award Agreement.
(d)Exercise and Payment of a SAR. To exercise any outstanding SAR, the Participant must provide written notice of exercise to the Company in compliance with the provisions of the Stock Appreciation Right Agreement evidencing such SAR. The appreciation distribution payable on the exercise of a SAR will be not greater than an amount equal to the excess of (A) the aggregate Fair Market Value (on the date of the exercise of the SAR) of a number of shares of Common Stock equal to the number of Common Stock equivalents in which the Participant is vested under such SAR, and with respect to which the Participant is exercising the SAR on such date, over (B) the aggregate strike price of the number of Common Stock equivalents with respect to which the Participant is exercising the SAR on such date. The appreciation distribution may be paid in Common Stock, in cash, in any combination of the two or in any other form of consideration, as determined by the Board and contained in the Award Agreement evidencing such SAR.
(e)Transferability of Options and SARs. The Board may, in its sole discretion, impose such limitations on the transferability of Options and SARs as the Board will determine. In the absence of such a determination by the Board to the contrary, the following restrictions on the transferability of Options and SARs will apply:
(i)Restrictions on Transfer. An Option or SAR will not be transferable except by will or by the laws of descent and distribution (or pursuant to subsections (ii) and (iii) below), and will be exercisable during the lifetime of the Participant only by the Participant. The Board may permit transfer of the Option or SAR in a manner that is not prohibited by applicable tax and securities laws. Except as explicitly provided in the Plan, neither an Option nor a SAR may be transferred for consideration.
(ii)Domestic Relations Orders. Subject to the approval of the Board or a duly authorized Officer, an Option or SAR may be transferred pursuant to the terms of a domestic relations order, official marital settlement agreement or other divorce or separation instrument as permitted by Treasury Regulations Section 1.421-1(b)(2). If an Option is an Incentive Stock Option, such Option may be deemed to be a Nonstatutory Stock Option as a result of such transfer.
(iii)Beneficiary Designation. Subject to the approval of the Board or a duly authorized Officer, a Participant may, by delivering written notice to the Company, in a form approved by the Company (or the designated broker), designate a third party who, on the death of the Participant, will thereafter be entitled to exercise the Option or SAR and receive the Common Stock or other consideration resulting from such exercise. In the absence of such a designation, upon the death of the Participant, the executor or administrator of the Participant’s estate will be entitled to exercise the Option or SAR and receive the Common Stock or other consideration resulting from such exercise. However, the Company may prohibit designation of a beneficiary at any time, including due to any conclusion by the Company that such designation would be inconsistent with the provisions of applicable laws.
(f)Vesting Generally. The total number of shares of Common Stock subject to an Option or SAR may vest and become exercisable in periodic installments that may or may not be equal. The Option or SAR may be subject to such other terms and conditions on the time or times when it may or may not be exercised (which may be based on the satisfaction of Performance Goals or other criteria) as the Board may deem appropriate. The vesting provisions of individual Options or
SARs may vary. The provisions of this Section 5(f) are subject to any Option or SAR provisions governing the minimum number of shares of Common Stock as to which an Option or SAR may be exercised.
(g)Termination of Continuous Service. Except as otherwise provided in the applicable Award Agreement or other agreement between the Participant and the Company, if a Participant’s Continuous Service terminates (other than for Cause and other than upon the Participant’s death or Disability), the Participant may exercise his or her Option or SAR (to the extent that the Participant was entitled to exercise such Award as of the date of termination of Continuous Service) within the period of time ending on the earlier of (i) the date that is 90 days following the termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service (or such longer or shorter period specified in the applicable Award Agreement), and (ii) the expiration of the term of the Option or SAR as set forth in the Award Agreement. If, after termination of Continuous Service, the Participant does not exercise his or her Option or SAR (as applicable) within the applicable time frame, the Option or SAR will terminate.
(h)Extension of Termination Date. If the exercise of an Option or SAR following the termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service (other than for Cause and other than upon the Participant’s death or Disability) would be prohibited at any time solely because the issuance of shares of Common Stock would violate the registration requirements under the Securities Act, then the Option or SAR will terminate on the earlier of (i) the expiration of a total period of time (that need not be consecutive) equal to the applicable post termination exercise period after the termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service during which the exercise of the Option or SAR would not be in violation of such registration requirements, and (ii) the expiration of the term of the Option or SAR as set forth in the applicable Award Agreement. In addition, unless otherwise provided in a Participant’s Award Agreement, if the sale of any Common Stock received on exercise of an Option or SAR following the termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service (other than for Cause) would violate the Company’s insider trading policy, then the Option or SAR will terminate on the earlier of (i) the expiration of a period of months (that need not be consecutive) equal to the applicable post-termination exercise period after the termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service during which the sale of the Common Stock received upon exercise of the Option or SAR would not be in violation of the Company’s insider trading policy, or (ii) the expiration of the term of the Option or SAR as set forth in the applicable Award Agreement.
(i)Disability of Participant. Except as otherwise provided in the applicable Award Agreement or other agreement between the Participant and the Company, if a Participant’s Continuous Service terminates as a result of the Participant’s Disability, the Participant may exercise his or her Option or SAR (to the extent that the Participant was entitled to exercise such Option or SAR as of the date of termination of Continuous Service), but only within such period of time ending on the earlier of (i) the date 12 months following such termination of Continuous Service (or such longer or shorter period specified in the Award Agreement), and (ii) the expiration of the term of the Option or SAR as set forth in the Award Agreement. If, after termination of Continuous Service, the Participant does not exercise his or her Option or SAR within the applicable time frame, the Option or SAR (as applicable) will terminate.
(j)Death of Participant. Except as otherwise provided in the applicable Award Agreement or other agreement between the Participant and the Company, if (i) a Participant’s Continuous Service terminates as a result of the Participant’s death, or (ii) the Participant dies within the period (if any) specified in the Award Agreement for exercisability after the termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service for a reason other than death, then the Option or SAR may be exercised (to the extent the Participant was entitled to exercise such Option or SAR as of the date of death) by the Participant’s estate, by a person who acquired the right to exercise the Option or SAR by bequest or inheritance or by a person designated to exercise the Option or SAR upon the Participant’s death, but only within the period ending on the earlier of (i) the date 18 months following the date of death (or such longer or shorter period specified in the Award Agreement), and (ii) the expiration of the term of such Option or SAR as set forth in the Award Agreement. If, after the Participant’s death, the Option or SAR is not exercised within the applicable time frame, the Option or SAR (as applicable) will terminate.
(k)Termination for Cause. Except as explicitly provided otherwise in a Participant’s Award Agreement or other individual written agreement between the Company and the Participant, if a Participant’s Continuous Service is terminated for Cause, the Option or SAR will terminate immediately upon such Participant’s termination of Continuous Service, and the Participant will be prohibited from exercising his or her Option or SAR from and after the time of such termination of Continuous Service.
(l)Non-Exempt Employees. If an Option or SAR is granted to an Employee who is a non-exempt employee for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, the Option or SAR will not be first exercisable for any shares of Common Stock until at least six months following the date of grant of the Option or SAR (although the Award may vest prior to such date). Consistent with the provisions of the Worker Economic Opportunity Act, (i) if such non-exempt Employee dies or suffers a Disability, (ii) upon a Corporate Transaction in which such Option or SAR is not assumed, continued, or substituted, (iii) upon a Change in Control, or (iv) upon the Participant’s retirement (as such term may be defined in the Participant’s Award Agreement in another agreement between the Participant and the Company, or, if no such definition, in accordance with the Company’s then current employment policies and guidelines), the vested portion of any Options and SARs may be exercised earlier than six months following the date of grant. The foregoing provision is intended to operate so that any income derived by a non-exempt employee in connection with the exercise or vesting of an Option or SAR will be exempt from his or her regular rate of pay. To the extent permitted and/or required for compliance with the Worker Economic Opportunity Act to ensure that any income derived by a non-exempt employee in connection with the exercise, vesting or issuance of any shares under any other Stock Award will be exempt from the employee’s regular rate of pay, the provisions of this Section 5(l) will apply to all Stock Awards and are hereby incorporated by reference into such Stock Award Agreements.
6.PROVISIONS OF STOCK AWARDS OTHER THAN OPTIONS AND SARS.
(a)Restricted Stock Awards. Each Restricted Stock Award Agreement will be in such form and will contain such terms and conditions as the Board will deem appropriate. To the extent consistent with the Company’s bylaws, at the Board’s election, shares of Common Stock may be (x) held in book entry form subject to the Company’s instructions until any restrictions relating to the Restricted Stock Award lapse; or (y) evidenced by a certificate, which certificate will be held in such form and manner as determined by the Board. The terms and conditions of Restricted Stock Award Agreements may change from time to time, and the terms and conditions of separate Restricted Stock Award Agreements need not be identical. Each Restricted Stock Award Agreement will conform to (through incorporation of the provisions hereof by reference in the agreement or otherwise) the substance of each of the following provisions:
(i)Consideration. A Restricted Stock Award may be awarded in consideration for (A) cash, check, bank draft or money order payable to the Company, (B) past or future services to the Company or an Affiliate, or (C) any other form of legal consideration that may be acceptable to the Board, in its sole discretion, and permissible under applicable law.
(ii)Vesting. Shares of Common Stock awarded under the Restricted Stock Award Agreement may be subject to forfeiture to the Company in accordance with a vesting schedule to be determined by the Board.
(iii)Termination of Participant’s Continuous Service. If a Participant’s Continuous Service terminates, the Company may receive through a forfeiture condition or a repurchase right any or all of the shares of Common Stock held by the Participant that have not vested as of the date of termination of Continuous Service under the terms of the Restricted Stock Award Agreement.
(iv)Transferability. Rights to acquire shares of Common Stock under the Restricted Stock Award Agreement will be transferable by the Participant only upon such terms and conditions as are set forth in the Restricted Stock Award Agreement, as the Board will determine in its sole discretion, so long as Common Stock awarded under the Restricted
Stock Award Agreement remains subject to the terms of the Restricted Stock Award Agreement.
(v)Dividends Subject to Vesting Conditions. Any Restricted Stock Award Agreement shall provide that any dividends with respect to Restricted Stock will be subject to the same vesting and forfeiture restrictions as apply to the shares subject to the Restricted Stock Award to which they relate.
(b)Restricted Stock Unit Awards. Each Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement will be in such form and will contain such terms and conditions as the Board will deem appropriate. The terms and conditions of Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreements may change from time to time, and the terms and conditions of separate Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreements need not be identical. Each Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement will conform to (through incorporation of the provisions hereof by reference in the Agreement or otherwise) the substance of each of the following provisions:
(i)Consideration. At the time of grant of a Restricted Stock Unit Award, the Board will determine the consideration, if any, to be paid by the Participant upon delivery of each share of Common Stock subject to the Restricted Stock Unit Award. The consideration to be paid (if any) by the Participant for each share of Common Stock subject to a Restricted Stock Unit Award may be paid in any form of legal consideration that may be acceptable to the Board, in its sole discretion, and permissible under applicable law.
(ii)Vesting. At the time of the grant of a Restricted Stock Unit Award, the Board may impose such restrictions on or conditions to the vesting of the Restricted Stock Unit Award as it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate.
(iii)Payment. A Restricted Stock Unit Award may be settled by the delivery of shares of Common Stock, their cash equivalent, any combination thereof or in any other form of consideration, as determined by the Board and contained in the Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement.
(iv)Additional Restrictions. At the time of the grant of a Restricted Stock Unit Award, the Board, as it deems appropriate, may impose such restrictions or conditions that delay the delivery of the shares of Common Stock (or their cash equivalent) subject to a Restricted Stock Unit Award to a time after the vesting of such Restricted Stock Unit Award.
(v)Dividend Equivalents Subject to Vesting Conditions. Dividend equivalents may be credited in respect of shares of Common Stock covered by a Restricted Stock Unit Award, as determined by the Board and contained in the Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement. Any dividend equivalents shall be subject to all of the same terms and conditions (including vesting and forfeiture provisions) of the underlying Restricted Stock Units to which they relate.
(vi)Termination of Participant’s Continuous Service. Except as otherwise provided in the applicable Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement, such portion of the Restricted Stock Unit Award that has not vested will be forfeited upon the Participant’s termination of Continuous Service.
(i)Performance Stock Awards. A Performance Stock Award is a Stock Award that is payable (including that may be granted, may vest or may be exercised) contingent upon the attainment during a Performance Period of certain Performance Goals. A Performance Stock Award may, but need not, require the Participant’s completion of a specified period of Continuous Service. The length of any Performance Period, the Performance Goals to be achieved during the Performance Period, and the measure of whether and to what degree such Performance Goals have been attained will be conclusively determined by the Board or Committee, in its sole discretion. In addition, to the extent permitted by applicable law and the applicable Award Agreement, the Board (or Committee, as the case may be) may determine that cash may be used in payment of Performance Stock Awards.
(ii)Performance Cash Awards. A Performance Cash Award is a cash award that is payable contingent upon the attainment during a Performance Period of certain Performance Goals. A Performance Cash Award may also require the completion of a specified period of Continuous Service. At the time of grant of a Performance Cash Award, the length of any Performance Period, the Performance Goals to be achieved during the Performance Period, and the measure of whether and to what degree such Performance Goals have been attained will be conclusively determined by the Board or Committee, in its sole discretion. The Board (or Committee, as the case may be) may specify the form of payment of Performance Cash Awards, which may be cash or other property, or may provide for a Participant to have the option for his or her Performance Cash Award, or such portion thereof as the Board (or Committee, as the case may be) may specify, to be paid in whole or in part in cash or other property.
(iii)Board Discretion. The Board (or Committee, as the case may be) retains the discretion to adjust or eliminate the compensation or economic benefit due upon attainment of Performance Goals and to define the manner of calculating the Performance Criteria it selects to use for a Performance Period. Partial achievement of the specified criteria may result in the payment or vesting corresponding to the degree of achievement as specified in the Stock Award Agreement or the written terms of a Performance Cash Award.
(d)Other Stock Awards. Other forms of Stock Awards valued in whole or in part by reference to, or otherwise based on, Common Stock, including the appreciation in value thereof (e.g., options or stock rights with an exercise price or strike price less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of the Common Stock at the time of grant) may be granted either alone or in addition to Stock Awards provided for under Section 5 and the preceding provisions of this Section 6. Subject to the provisions of the Plan, the Board will have sole and complete authority to determine the persons to whom and the time or times at which such Other Stock Awards will be granted, the number of shares of Common Stock (or the cash equivalent thereof) to be granted pursuant to such Other Stock Awards and all other terms and conditions of such Other Stock Awards.
7.COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY.
(a)Availability of Shares. The Company will keep available at all times the number of shares of Common Stock reasonably required to satisfy then-outstanding Awards.
(b)Securities Law Compliance. The Company will seek to obtain from each regulatory commission or agency, as necessary, such authority as may be required to grant Stock Awards and to issue and sell shares of Common Stock upon exercise or vesting of the Stock Awards; provided, however, that this undertaking will not require the Company to register under the Securities Act or other securities or applicable laws, the Plan, any Stock Award or any Common Stock issued or issuable pursuant to any such Stock Award. If, after reasonable efforts and at a reasonable cost, the Company is unable to obtain from any such regulatory commission or agency the authority that counsel for the Company deems necessary or advisable for the lawful issuance and sale of Common Stock under the Plan, the Company will be relieved from any liability for failure to issue and sell Common Stock upon exercise or vesting of such Stock Awards unless and until such authority is obtained. A Participant will not be eligible for the grant of an Award or the subsequent issuance of cash or Common Stock pursuant to the Award if such grant or issuance would be in violation of any applicable law.
(c)No Obligation to Notify or Minimize Taxes. The Company will have no duty or obligation to any Participant to advise such holder as to the tax treatment or time or manner of exercising such Stock Award. Furthermore, the Company will have no duty or obligation to warn or otherwise advise such holder of a pending termination or expiration of an Award or a possible period in which the Award may not be exercised. The Company has no duty or obligation to minimize the tax consequences of an Award to the holder of such Award.
(a)Use of Proceeds from Sales of Common Stock. Proceeds from the sale of shares of Common Stock pursuant to Awards will constitute general funds of the Company.
(b)Corporate Action Constituting Grant of Awards. Corporate action constituting a grant by the Company of an Award to any Participant will be deemed completed as of the date of such corporate action, unless otherwise determined by the Board, regardless of when the instrument, certificate, or letter evidencing the Award is communicated to, or actually received or accepted by, the Participant. In the event that the corporate records (e.g., Board consents, resolutions or minutes) documenting the corporate action constituting the grant contain terms (e.g., exercise price, vesting schedule or number of shares) that are inconsistent with those in the Award Agreement or related grant documents as a result of a clerical error in the papering of the Award Agreement or related grant documents, the corporate records will control and the Participant will have no legally binding right to the incorrect term in the Award Agreement or related grant documents.
(c)Stockholder Rights. No Participant will be deemed to be the holder of, or to have any of the rights of a holder with respect to, any shares of Common Stock subject to an Award unless and until (i) such Participant has satisfied all requirements for exercise of, or the issuance of shares of Common Stock under, the Award pursuant to its terms, and (ii) the issuance of the Common Stock subject to such Award has been entered into the books and records of the Company.
(d)No Employment or Other Service Rights. Nothing in the Plan, any Award Agreement or any other instrument executed thereunder or in connection with any Award granted pursuant thereto will confer upon any Participant any right to continue to serve the Company or an Affiliate in the capacity in effect at the time the Award was granted or will affect the right of the Company or an Affiliate to terminate (i) the employment of an Employee with or without notice and with or without cause, (ii) the service of a Consultant pursuant to the terms of such Consultant’s agreement with the Company or an Affiliate, or (iii) the service of a Director pursuant to the bylaws of the Company or an Affiliate, and any applicable provisions of the corporate law of the state or foreign jurisdiction in which the Company or the Affiliate is domiciled or incorporated, as the case may be.
(e)Change in Time Commitment. In the event a Participant’s regular level of time commitment in the performance of his or her services for the Company and any Affiliates is reduced (for example, and without limitation, if the Participant is an Employee of the Company and the Employee has a change in status from a full-time Employee to a part-time Employee or takes an extended leave of absence) after the date of grant of any Award to the Participant, the Board has the right in its sole discretion to (x) make a corresponding reduction in the number of shares or cash amount subject to any portion of such Award that is scheduled to vest or become payable after the date of such change in time commitment, and (y) in lieu of or in combination with such a reduction, extend the vesting or payment schedule applicable to such Award. In the event of any such reduction, the Participant will have no right with respect to any portion of the Award that is so reduced or extended.
(f)Incentive Stock Option Limitations. To the extent that the aggregate Fair Market Value (determined at the time of grant) of Common Stock with respect to which Incentive Stock Options are exercisable for the first time by any Optionholder during any calendar year (under all plans of the Company and any Affiliates) exceeds $100,000 (or such other limit established in the Code) or otherwise does not comply with the rules governing Incentive Stock Options, the Options or portions thereof that exceed such limit (according to the order in which they were granted) or otherwise do not comply with such rules will be treated as Nonstatutory Stock Options, notwithstanding any contrary provision of the applicable Option Agreement(s).
(g)Investment Assurances. The Company may require a Participant, as a condition of exercising or acquiring Common Stock under any Award, (i) to give written assurances satisfactory to the Company as to the Participant’s knowledge and experience in financial and business matters and/or to employ a purchaser representative reasonably satisfactory to the Company who is knowledgeable and experienced in financial and business matters and that such Participant is capable of evaluating, alone or together with the purchaser representative, the merits and risks of exercising the Award; and (ii) to give written assurances satisfactory to the Company stating that the Participant is acquiring Common Stock subject to the Award for the Participant’s own account
and not with any present intention of selling or otherwise distributing the Common Stock. The foregoing requirements, and any assurances given pursuant to such requirements, will be inoperative if (A) the issuance of the shares upon the exercise or acquisition of Common Stock under the Award has been registered under a then currently effective registration statement under the Securities Act, or (B) as to any particular requirement, a determination is made by counsel for the Company that such requirement need not be met in the circumstances under the then applicable securities laws. The Company may, upon advice of counsel to the Company, place legends on stock certificates issued under the Plan as such counsel deems necessary or appropriate in order to comply with applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, legends restricting the transfer of the Common Stock.
(h)Withholding Obligations. Unless prohibited by the terms of an Award Agreement, the Company may, in its sole discretion, satisfy any federal, state or local tax withholding obligation relating to an Award by any of the following means or by a combination of such means: (i) causing the Participant to tender a cash payment; (ii) withholding shares of Common Stock from the shares of Common Stock issued or otherwise issuable to the Participant in connection with the Award; provided, however, that no shares of Common Stock are withheld with a value exceeding the maximum amount of tax required to be withheld by law (or such lesser amount as may be necessary to avoid classification of the Stock Award as a liability for financial accounting purposes); (iii) withholding cash from an Award settled in cash; (iv) withholding payment from any amounts otherwise payable to the Participant; or (v) by such other method as may be set forth in the Award Agreement.
(i)Electronic Delivery. Any reference herein to a “written” agreement or document will include any agreement or document delivered electronically, filed publicly at www.sec.gov (or any successor website thereto) or posted on the Company’s intranet (or other shared electronic medium controlled by the Company to which the Participant has access).
(j)Deferrals. To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Board, in its sole discretion, may determine that the delivery of Common Stock or the payment of cash, upon the exercise, vesting or settlement of all or a portion of any Award may be deferred and may establish programs and procedures for deferral elections to be made by Participants. Deferrals by Participants will be made in accordance with Section 409A of the Code. Consistent with Section 409A of the Code, the Board may provide for distributions while a Participant is still an employee or otherwise providing services to the Company. The Board is authorized to make deferrals of Awards and determine when, and in what annual percentages, Participants may receive payments, including lump sum payments, following the Participant’s termination of Continuous Service, and implement such other terms and conditions consistent with the provisions of the Plan and in accordance with applicable law.
(k)Compliance with Section 409A of the Code. Unless otherwise expressly provided for in an Award Agreement, the Plan and Award Agreements will be interpreted to the greatest extent possible in a manner that makes the Plan and the Awards granted hereunder exempt from Section 409A of the Code, and, to the extent not so exempt, in compliance with Section 409A of the Code. If the Board determines that any Award granted hereunder is not exempt from and is therefore subject to Section 409A of the Code, the Award Agreement evidencing such Award will incorporate the terms and conditions necessary to avoid the consequences specified in Section 409A(a)(1) of the Code, and to the extent an Award Agreement is silent on terms necessary for compliance, such terms are hereby incorporated by reference into the Award Agreement. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Plan (and unless the Award Agreement specifically provides otherwise), if the shares of Common Stock are publicly traded, and if a Participant holding an Award that constitutes “deferred compensation” under Section 409A of the Code is a “specified employee” for purposes of Section 409A of the Code, no distribution or payment of any amount that is due because of a “separation from service” (as defined in Section 409A of the Code without regard to alternative definitions thereunder) will be issued or paid before the date that is six months following the date of such Participant’s “separation from service” (as defined in Section 409A of the Code without regard to alternative definitions thereunder) or, if earlier, the date of the Participant’s death, unless such distribution or payment
can be made in a manner that complies with Section 409A of the Code, and any amounts so deferred will be paid in a lump sum on the day after such six month period elapses, with the balance paid thereafter on the original schedule.
(l)Clawback/Recovery. All Awards granted under the Plan will be subject to recoupment in accordance with any clawback policy that the Company is required to adopt pursuant to the listing standards of any national securities exchange or association on which the Company’s securities are listed or as is otherwise required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act or other applicable law. In addition, the Board may impose such other clawback, recovery or recoupment provisions in an Award Agreement as the Board determines necessary or appropriate, including but not limited to a reacquisition right in respect of previously acquired shares of Common Stock or other cash or property upon the occurrence of an event constituting Cause. No recovery of compensation under such a clawback policy will be an event giving rise to a right to resign for “good reason” or “constructive termination” (or similar term) under any agreement with the Company.
9.ADJUSTMENTS UPON CHANGES IN COMMON STOCK; OTHER CORPORATE EVENTS.
(a)Capitalization Adjustments. In the event of a Capitalization Adjustment, the Board will appropriately and proportionately adjust: (i) the class(es) and maximum number of securities subject to the Plan pursuant to Section 3(a), (ii) the class(es) of securities by which the share reserve is to increase automatically each year pursuant to Section 3(a), (iii) the class(es) and maximum number of securities that may be issued pursuant to the exercise of Incentive Stock Options pursuant to Section 3(c) and (iv) the class(es) and number of securities and price per share of stock subject to outstanding Stock Awards. The Board will make such adjustments, and its determination will be final, binding and conclusive.
(b)Dissolution. Except as otherwise provided in the Stock Award Agreement, in the event of a Dissolution of the Company, all outstanding Stock Awards (other than Stock Awards consisting of vested and outstanding shares of Common Stock not subject to a forfeiture condition or the Company’s right of repurchase) will terminate immediately prior to the completion of such Dissolution, and the shares of Common Stock subject to the Company’s repurchase rights or subject to a forfeiture condition may be repurchased or reacquired by the Company notwithstanding the fact that the holder of such Stock Award is providing Continuous Service; provided, however, that the Board may, in its sole discretion, cause some or all Stock Awards to become fully vested, exercisable and/or no longer subject to repurchase or forfeiture (to the extent such Stock Awards have not previously expired or terminated) before the Dissolution is completed but contingent on its completion.
(c)Transaction. The following provisions shall apply to Stock Awards in the event of a Transaction unless otherwise provided in the instrument evidencing the Stock Award or any other written agreement between the Company or any Affiliate and the Participant or unless otherwise expressly provided by the Board at the time of grant of a Stock Award. In the event of a Transaction, then, notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan, the Board shall take one or more of the following actions with respect to Stock Awards, contingent upon the closing or completion of the Transaction:
(i)arrange for the surviving corporation or acquiring corporation (or the surviving or acquiring corporation’s parent company) to assume or continue the Stock Award or to substitute a similar stock award for the Stock Award (including, but not limited to, an award to acquire the same consideration paid to the stockholders of the Company pursuant to the Transaction);
(ii)arrange for the assignment of any reacquisition or repurchase rights held by the Company in respect of Common Stock issued pursuant to the Stock Award to the surviving corporation or acquiring corporation (or the surviving or acquiring corporation’s parent company);
(iii)accelerate the vesting, in whole or in part, of the Stock Award (and, if applicable, the time at which the Stock Award may be exercised) to a date prior to the effective time of such Transaction as the Board shall determine (or, if the Board shall not determine such a date, to the date that is
five days prior to the effective date of the Transaction), with such Stock Award terminating if not exercised (if applicable) at or prior to the effective time of the Transaction;
(iv)arrange for the lapse, in whole or in part, of any reacquisition or repurchase rights held by the Company with respect to the Stock Award;
(v)cancel or arrange for the cancellation of the Stock Award, to the extent not vested or not exercised prior to the effective time of the Transaction, in exchange for such cash consideration, if any, as the Board, in its sole discretion, may consider appropriate; and
(vi)make a payment, in such form as may be determined by the Board equal to the excess, if any, of (A) the value of the property the Participant would have received upon the exercise of the Stock Award immediately prior to the effective time of the Transaction, over (B) any exercise price payable by such holder in connection with such exercise. For clarity, this payment may be zero ($0) if the value of the property is equal to or less than the exercise price. Payments under this provision may be delayed to the same extent that payment of consideration to the holders of Common Stock in connection with the Transaction is delayed as a result of escrows, earn outs, holdbacks or other contingencies.
The Board need not take the same action or actions with respect to all Stock Awards or portions thereof or with respect to all Participants. The Board may take different actions with respect to the vested and unvested portions of a Stock Award.
(d)Change in Control. A Stock Award may be subject to additional acceleration of vesting and exercisability upon or after a Change in Control as may be provided in the Stock Award Agreement for such Stock Award or as may be provided in any other written agreement between the Company or any Affiliate and the Participant.
10.PLAN TERM; EARLIER TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF THE PLAN.
The Board may suspend or terminate the Plan at any time. No Incentive Stock Options may be granted after the tenth anniversary of the earlier of (i) the date the Plan is adopted by the Board (the “Adoption Date”), or (ii) the date the Plan is approved by the stockholders of the Company. No Awards may be granted under the Plan while the Plan is suspended or after it is terminated.
The Plan will become effective on the date that it is approved by the stockholders of the Company (the “Effective Date”).
The law of the State of Delaware will govern all questions concerning the construction, validity and interpretation of this Plan, without regard to that state’s conflict of laws rules.
13.DEFINITIONS. As used in the Plan, the following definitions will apply to the capitalized terms indicated below:
(a)“Affiliate” means, at the time of determination, any “parent” or “subsidiary” of the Company as such terms are defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. The Board will have the authority to determine the time or times at which “parent” or “subsidiary” status is determined within the foregoing definition.
(b)“Award” means a Stock Award or a Performance Cash Award.
(c)“Award Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and a Participant evidencing the terms and conditions of an Award.
(d)“Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.
(e)“Capitalization Adjustment” means any change that is made in, or other events that occur with respect to, the Common Stock subject to the Plan or subject to any Stock Award after the Adoption Date without the receipt of consideration by the Company through merger, consolidation, reorganization, recapitalization, reincorporation, stock dividend, dividend in
property other than cash, large nonrecurring cash dividend, stock split, reverse stock split, liquidating dividend, combination of shares, exchange of shares, change in corporate structure or any similar equity restructuring transaction, as that term is used in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (or any successor thereto). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the conversion of any convertible securities of the Company will not be treated as a Capitalization Adjustment.
(f)“Cause” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in any written agreement between the Participant and the Company defining such term and, in the absence of such agreement, such term means, with respect to a Participant, the occurrence of any of the following events: (i) such Participant’s commission of any felony or any crime involving fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude under the laws of the United States or any state thereof; (ii) such Participant’s attempted commission of, or participation in, a fraud or act of dishonesty against the Company; (iii) such Participant’s intentional, material violation of any contract or agreement between the Participant and the Company or of any statutory duty owed to the Company; (iv) such Participant’s unauthorized use or disclosure of the Company’s confidential information or trade secrets; or (v) such Participant’s gross misconduct. The determination that a termination of the Participant’s Continuous Service is either for Cause or without Cause shall be made by the Company, in its sole discretion. Any determination by the Company that the Continuous Service of a Participant was terminated with or without Cause for the purposes of outstanding Awards held by such Participant shall have no effect upon any determination of the rights or obligations of the Company or such Participant for any other purpose.
(g)“Change in Control” means the occurrence, in a single transaction or in a series of related transactions, of any one or more of the following events:
(i)any Exchange Act Person becomes the Owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 50% of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities other than by virtue of a merger, consolidation or similar transaction. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Change in Control will not be deemed to occur (A) on account of the acquisition of securities of the Company directly from the Company, (B) on account of the acquisition of securities of the Company by an investor, any affiliate thereof or any other Exchange Act Person that acquires the Company’s securities in a transaction or series of related transactions the primary purpose of which is to obtain financing for the Company through the issuance of equity securities, or (C) solely because the level of Ownership held by any Exchange Act Person (the “Subject Person”) exceeds the designated percentage threshold of the outstanding voting securities as a result of a repurchase or other acquisition of voting securities by the Company reducing the number of shares outstanding, provided that if a Change in Control would occur (but for the operation of this sentence) as a result of the acquisition of voting securities by the Company, and after such share acquisition, the Subject Person becomes the Owner of any additional voting securities that, assuming the repurchase or other acquisition had not occurred, increases the percentage of the then outstanding voting securities Owned by the Subject Person over the designated percentage threshold, then a Change in Control will be deemed to occur;
(ii)there is consummated a merger, consolidation or similar transaction involving (directly or indirectly) the Company and, immediately after the consummation of such merger, consolidation or similar transaction, the stockholders of the Company immediately prior thereto do not Own, directly or indirectly, either (A) outstanding voting securities representing more than 50% of the combined outstanding voting power of the surviving Entity in such merger, consolidation or similar transaction or (B) more than 50% of the combined outstanding voting power of the parent of the surviving Entity in such merger, consolidation or similar transaction, in each case in substantially the same proportions as their Ownership of the outstanding voting securities of the Company immediately prior to such transaction;
(iii)there is consummated a sale, lease, exclusive license or other disposition of all or substantially all of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries, other than a sale, lease, license or other disposition of all or substantially all of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries to an Entity, more than 50% of the combined voting power of the voting securities of which are Owned by stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their Ownership of the outstanding voting securities of the Company immediately prior to such sale, lease, license or other disposition;
(iv)the stockholders of the Company approve or the Board approves a plan of complete dissolution or liquidation of the Company, or a complete dissolution or liquidation of the Company will otherwise occur, except for a liquidation into a parent corporation; or
(v)individuals who, on the date the Plan is adopted by the Board, are members of the Board (the “Incumbent Board”) cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the members of the Board; provided, however, that if the appointment or election (or nomination for election) of any new Board member was approved or recommended by a majority vote of the members of the Incumbent Board then still in office, such new member will, for purposes of this Plan, be considered as a member of the Incumbent Board.
Notwithstanding the foregoing definition or any other provision of the Plan, the term Change in Control will not include a sale of assets, merger or other transaction effected exclusively for the purpose of changing the domicile of the Company and the definition of Change in Control (or any analogous term) in an individual written agreement between the Company or any Affiliate and the Participant will supersede the foregoing definition with respect to Awards subject to such agreement; provided, however, that if no definition of Change in Control or any analogous term is set forth in such an individual written agreement, the foregoing definition will apply.
(h)“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including any applicable regulations and guidance thereunder.
(i)“Committee” means a committee of one or more Directors to whom authority has been delegated by the Board in accordance with Section 2(c).
(j)“Common Stock” means the common stock of the Company, having one vote per share.
(k)“Company” means RAPT Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
(l)“Consultant” means any person, including an advisor, who is (i) engaged by the Company or an Affiliate to render consulting or advisory services and is compensated for such services, or (ii) serving as a member of the board of directors of an Affiliate and is compensated for such services. However, service solely as a Director, or payment of a fee for such service, will not cause a Director to be considered a “Consultant” for purposes of the Plan. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a person is treated as a Consultant under this Plan only if a Form S-8 Registration Statement under the Securities Act is available to register either the offer or the sale of the Company’s securities to such person.
(m)“Continuous Service” means that the Participant’s service with the Company or an Affiliate, whether as an Employee, Director or Consultant, is not interrupted or terminated. A change in the capacity in which the Participant renders service to the Company or an Affiliate as an Employee, Consultant or Director or a change in the entity for which the Participant renders such service, provided that there is no interruption or termination of the Participant’s service with the Company or an Affiliate, will not terminate a Participant’s Continuous Service; provided, however, that if the Entity for which a Participant is rendering services ceases to qualify as an Affiliate, as determined by the Board, in its sole discretion, such Participant’s Continuous Service will be considered to have terminated on the date such Entity ceases to qualify as an Affiliate. To the extent permitted by law, the Board or the chief executive officer of the Company, in that party’s sole discretion, may determine whether Continuous Service will be considered interrupted in the case of (i) any leave of absence approved by the Board or chief executive officer, including sick leave, military leave or any other personal leave, or (ii) transfers between the Company, an Affiliate, or their successors. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a leave of absence will be treated as Continuous Service for purposes of vesting in an Award only to such extent as may be provided in
the Company’s leave of absence policy, in the written terms of any leave of absence agreement or policy applicable to the Participant, or as otherwise required by law.
(n)“Corporate Transaction” means the consummation, in a single transaction or in a series of related transactions, of any one or more of the following events:
(i)a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all, as determined by the Board, in its sole discretion, of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries;
(ii)a sale or other disposition of more than 50% of the outstanding securities of the Company;
(iii)a merger, consolidation or similar transaction following which the Company is not the surviving corporation; or
(iv)a merger, consolidation or similar transaction following which the Company is the surviving corporation but the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately preceding the merger, consolidation or similar transaction are converted or exchanged by virtue of the merger, consolidation or similar transaction into other property, whether in the form of securities, cash or otherwise.
(o)“Director” means a member of the Board.
(p)“Disability” means, with respect to a Participant, the inability of such Participant to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or that has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, as provided in Sections 22(e)(3) and 409A(a)(2)(c)(i) of the Code, and will be determined by the Board on the basis of such medical evidence as the Board deems warranted under the circumstances.
(q)“Dissolution” means when the Company, after having executed a certificate of dissolution with the State of Delaware (or other applicable state), has completely wound up its affairs. Conversion of the Company into a Limited Liability Company (or any other pass-through entity) will not be considered a “Dissolution” for purposes of the Plan.
(r)“Employee” means any person employed by the Company or an Affiliate. However, service solely as a Director, or payment of a fee for such services, will not cause a Director to be considered an “Employee” for purposes of the Plan.
(s)“Entity” means a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity.
(t)“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
(u)“Exchange Act Person” means any natural person, Entity or “group” (within the meaning of Section 13(d) or 14(d) of the Exchange Act), except that “Exchange Act Person” will not include (i) the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company, (ii) any employee benefit plan of the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company or any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or any Subsidiary of the Company, (iii) an underwriter temporarily holding securities pursuant to a registered public offering of such securities, (iv) an Entity Owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their Ownership of stock of the Company; or (v) any natural person, Entity or “group” (within the meaning of Section 13(d) or 14(d) of the Exchange Act) that is the Owner, directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 50% of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities.
(v)“Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of the Common Stock determined as follows:
(i)If the Common Stock is listed on any established stock exchange or traded on any established market, the Fair Market Value of a share of Common Stock will be, unless otherwise determined by the Board, the closing sales price for such stock as quoted on such exchange or market (or the exchange or market with the greatest volume of trading in the
Common Stock) on the date of determination, as reported in a source the Board deems reliable.
(iii)Unless otherwise provided by the Board, if there is no closing sales price for the Common Stock on the date of determination, then the Fair Market Value will be the closing selling price on the last preceding date for which such quotation exists.
(iv)In the absence of such markets for the Common Stock, the Fair Market Value will be determined by the Board in good faith and in a manner that complies with Sections 409A and 422 of the Code.
(w)“Incentive Stock Option” means an option granted pursuant to Section 5 of the Plan that is intended to be, and qualifies as, an “incentive stock option” within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code.
(x)“Non-Employee Director” means a Director who is not an Employee.
(y)“Nonstatutory Stock Option” means any Option granted pursuant to Section 5 of the Plan that does not qualify as an Incentive Stock Option.
(z)“Officer” means a person who is an officer of the Company within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act.
(aa)“Option” means an Incentive Stock Option or a Nonstatutory Stock Option to purchase shares of Common Stock granted pursuant to the Plan.
(bb)“Option Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and an Optionholder evidencing the terms and conditions of an Option grant. Each Option Agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(cc)“Optionholder” means a person to whom an Option is granted pursuant to the Plan or, if applicable, such other person who holds an outstanding Option.
(dd)“Other Stock Award” means an award based in whole or in part by reference to the Common Stock which is granted pursuant to the terms and conditions of Section 6(d).
(ee)“Other Stock Award Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and a holder of an Other Stock Award evidencing the terms and conditions of an Other Stock Award grant. Each Other Stock Award Agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(ff)“Own,” “Owned,” “Owner,” “Ownership” means a person or Entity will be deemed to “Own,” to have “Owned,” to be the “Owner” of, or to have acquired “Ownership” of securities if such person or Entity, directly or indirectly, through any contract, arrangement, understanding, relationship or otherwise, has or shares voting power, which includes the power to vote or to direct the voting, with respect to such securities.
(gg)“Participant” means a person to whom an Award is granted pursuant to the Plan or, if applicable, such other person who holds an outstanding Stock Award.
(hh)“Performance Cash Award” means an award of cash granted pursuant to the terms and conditions of Section 6(c)(ii).
(ii)“Performance Criteria” means the one or more criteria that the Board or Committee (as applicable) will select for purposes of establishing the Performance Goals for a Performance Period. The Performance Criteria that will be used to establish such Performance Goals may be based on any one of, or combination of, the following as determined by the Board: (i) earnings (including earnings per share and net earnings); (ii) earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation; (iii) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; (iv) total stockholder return; (v) return on equity or average stockholder’s equity; (vi) return on assets, investment, or capital employed; (vii) stock price; (viii) margin (including gross margin); (ix) income (before or after taxes); (x) operating income; (xi) operating income after taxes; (xii) pre-tax profit; (xiii) operating cash flow; (xiv) sales or revenue targets; (xv) increases in revenue or
product revenue; (xvi) expenses and cost reduction goals; (xvii) improvement in or attainment of working capital levels; (xviii) economic value added (or an equivalent metric); (xix) market share; (xx) cash flow; (xxi) cash flow per share; (xxii) share price performance; (xxiii) debt reduction; (xxiv) customer satisfaction; (xxv) stockholders’ equity; (xxvi) capital expenditures; (xxvii) debt levels; (xxviii) operating profit or net operating profit; (xxix) workforce diversity; (xxx) growth of net income or operating income; (xxxi) billings; (xxxii) pre-clinical development related compound goals; (xxxiii) financing; (xxxiv) regulatory milestones, including approval of a compound; (xxxv) stockholder liquidity; (xxvi) corporate governance and compliance; (xxxvii) product commercialization; (xxxviii) intellectual property; (xxxix) personnel matters; (xl) progress of internal research or clinical programs; (xli) progress of partnered programs; (xlii) partner satisfaction; (xliii) budget management; (xliv) clinical achievements; (xlv) completing phases of a clinical study (including the treatment phase); (xlvi) announcing or presenting preliminary or final data from clinical studies; in each case, whether on particular timelines or generally; (xlvii) timely completion of clinical trials; (xlviii) submission of INDs and NDAs and other regulatory achievements; (xlix) partner or collaborator achievements; (l) internal controls, including those related to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; (li) research progress, including the development of programs; (lii) investor relations, analysts and communication; (liii) manufacturing achievements (including obtaining particular yields from manufacturing runs and other measurable objectives related to process development activities); (liv) strategic partnerships or transactions (including in-licensing and out-licensing of intellectual property; (lv) establishing relationships with commercial entities with respect to the marketing, distribution and sale of the Company’s products (including with group purchasing organizations, distributors and other vendors); (lvi) supply chain achievements (including establishing relationships with manufacturers or suppliers of active pharmaceutical ingredients and other component materials and manufacturers of the Company’s products); (lvii) co-development, co-marketing, profit sharing, joint venture or other similar arrangements; (lviii) individual performance goals; (lix) corporate development and planning goals; and (lx) other measures of performance selected by the Board or Committee.
(jj)“Performance Goals” means, for a Performance Period, the one or more goals established by the Board or Committee (as applicable) for the Performance Period based upon the Performance Criteria. Performance Goals may be based on a Company-wide basis, with respect to one or more business units, divisions, Affiliates, or business segments, and in either absolute terms or relative to the performance of one or more comparable companies or the performance of one or more relevant indices. Unless specified otherwise by the Board (i) in the Award Agreement at the time the Award is granted or (ii) in such other document setting forth the Performance Goals at the time the Performance Goals are established, the Board will appropriately make adjustments in the method of calculating the attainment of Performance Goals for a Performance Period as follows: (1) to exclude restructuring and/or other nonrecurring charges; (2) to exclude exchange rate effects; (3) to exclude the effects of changes to generally accepted accounting principles; (4) to exclude the effects of any statutory adjustments to corporate tax rates; (5) to exclude the effects of any items that are unusual in nature or occur infrequently as determined under generally accepted accounting principles; (6) to exclude the dilutive effects of acquisitions or joint ventures; (7) to assume that any business divested by the Company achieved performance objectives at targeted levels during the balance of a Performance Period following such divestiture; (8) to exclude the effect of any change in the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company by reason of any stock dividend or split, stock repurchase, reorganization, recapitalization, merger, consolidation, spin-off, combination or exchange of shares or other similar corporate change, or any distributions to common stockholders other than regular cash dividends; (9) to exclude the effects of stock based compensation and the award of bonuses under the Company’s bonus plans; (10) to exclude costs incurred in connection with potential acquisitions or divestitures that are required to be expensed under generally accepted accounting principles; (11) to exclude the goodwill and intangible asset impairment charges that are required to be recorded under generally accepted accounting principles; and (12) to exclude the effect of any other unusual, non-recurring gain or loss or other extraordinary item. In addition, the Board or Committee (as applicable) retains the discretion to adjust or eliminate the compensation or economic benefit due upon attainment of
Performance Goals and to define the manner of calculating the Performance Criteria it selects to use for such Performance Period. Partial achievement of the specified criteria may result in the payment or vesting corresponding to the degree of achievement as specified in the Stock Award Agreement or the written terms of a Performance Cash Award.
(kk)“Performance Period” means the period of time selected by the Board or Committee (as applicable) over which the attainment of one or more Performance Goals will be measured for the purpose of determining a Participant’s right to and the payment of a Stock Award or a Performance Cash Award. Performance Periods may be of varying and overlapping duration, at the sole discretion of the Board or Committee.
(ll)“Performance Stock Award” means a Stock Award granted under the terms and conditions of Section 6(c)(i).
(mm)“Plan” means this RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. 2025 Equity Incentive Plan.
(nn)“Pre-Funded Warrant” means any warrant to acquire shares of Common Stock for a nominal exercise price.
(oo)“Restricted Stock Award” means an award of shares of Common Stock which is granted pursuant to the terms and conditions of Section 6(a).
(pp)“Restricted Stock Award Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and a holder of a Restricted Stock Award evidencing the terms and conditions of a Restricted Stock Award grant. Each Restricted Stock Award Agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(qq)“Restricted Stock Unit Award” means a right to receive shares of Common Stock which is granted pursuant to the terms and conditions of Section 6(b).
(rr)“Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and a holder of a Restricted Stock Unit Award evidencing the terms and conditions of a Restricted Stock Unit Award grant. Each Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(ss)“Rule 16b-3” means Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act or any successor to Rule 16b-3, as in effect from time to time.
(tt)“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
(uu)“Stock Appreciation Right” or “SAR” means a right to receive the appreciation on Common Stock that is granted pursuant to the terms and conditions of Section 5.
(vv)“Stock Appreciation Right Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and a holder of a Stock Appreciation Right evidencing the terms and conditions of a Stock Appreciation Right grant. Each Stock Appreciation Right Agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(ww)“Stock Award” means any right to receive Common Stock granted under the Plan, including an Incentive Stock Option, a Nonstatutory Stock Option, a Restricted Stock Award, a Restricted Stock Unit Award, a Stock Appreciation Right, a Performance Stock Award or any Other Stock Award.
(xx)“Stock Award Agreement” means a written agreement between the Company and a Participant evidencing the terms and conditions of a Stock Award grant. Each Stock Award Agreement will be subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(yy)“Subsidiary” means, with respect to the Company, (i) any corporation of which more than 50% of the outstanding capital stock having ordinary voting power to elect a majority of the board of directors of such corporation (irrespective of whether, at the time, stock of any other class or classes of such corporation will have or might have voting power by reason of the happening of any contingency) is at the time, directly or indirectly, Owned by the Company, and (ii) any partnership, limited liability company or other entity in which the Company has a direct or
indirect interest (whether in the form of voting or participation in profits or capital contribution) of more than 50%.
(zz)“Ten Percent Stockholder” means a person who Owns (or is deemed to Own pursuant to Section 424(d) of the Code) stock possessing more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or any Affiliate.
(aaa)“Transaction” means a Corporate Transaction or a Change in Control.
Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting: The Combined Document is available at www.proxyvote.com RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC. Annual Meeting of Stockholders May 29, 2025 10:00 AM PDT This proxy is solicited by the Board of Directors The stockholder(s) hereby appoint(s) Brian Wong and Rodney Young, or either of them, as proxies, each with the power to appoint his substitute, and hereby authorize(s) them to represent and to vote, as designated on the reverse side of this ballot, all of the shares of Common Stock of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. that the stockholder(s) is/are entitled to vote at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held at 10:00 AM, Pacific Daylight Time on Thursday, May 29, 2025, virtually via live webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/RAPT2024, and any adjournment or postponement thereof. In their discretion, the proxies are authorized to vote upon such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting of Stockholders. THIS PROXY, WHEN PROPERLY EXECUTED, WILL BE VOTED AS DIRECTED BY THE STOCKHOLDER(S). IF NO SUCH DIRECTIONS ARE MADE, THIS PROXY WILL BE VOTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ RECOMMENDATIONS AND WITH RESPECT TO SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS MAY PROPERLY COME BEFORE THE MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENTS OR POSTPONEMENTS THEREOF, AS SAID PROXIES DEEM ADVISABLE.PLEASE MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THIS PROXY CARD PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED REPLY ENVELOPE Continued and to be signed on reverse side 0000636424_2 R1.0.0.6
EX-10.2 Exhibit 10.2
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
STOCK OPTION GRANT NOTICE
(2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN)
RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), pursuant to its 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), hereby grants to Optionholder an option to purchase the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock set forth below. This option is subject to all of the terms and conditions as set forth in this Stock Option Grant Notice, in the Option Agreement, the Plan and the Notice of Exercise, all of which are attached hereto and incorporated herein in their entirety. Capitalized terms not explicitly defined herein but defined in the Plan or the Option Agreement will have the same definitions as in the Plan or the Option Agreement. If there is any conflict between the terms in this Stock Option Grant Notice and the Plan, the terms of the Plan will control.
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Optionholder: | | | | |
Date of Grant: | | | | |
Vesting Commencement Date: | | | | |
Number of Shares Subject to Option: | | | | |
Exercise Price (Per Share): | | | | |
Total Exercise Price: | | | | |
Expiration Date: | | | | |
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Type of Grant: | | ☐ Incentive Stock Option1 | | ☐ Nonstatutory Stock Option |
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Exercise Schedule: | | Same as Vesting Schedule | | |
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Vesting Schedule: | | [______________, subject to Optionholder’s Continuous Service as of each such date] |
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Payment: | | By one or a combination of the following items (described in the Option Agreement): |
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| | ☐ By cash, check, bank draft or money order payable to the Company ☐ Pursuant to a Regulation T Program if the shares are publicly traded ☐ By delivery of already-owned shares if the shares are publicly traded ☐ If and only to the extent this option is a Nonstatutory Stock Option, and subject to the Company’s consent at the time of exercise, by a “net exercise” arrangement |
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1 | If this is an Incentive Stock Option, it (plus other outstanding Incentive Stock Options) cannot be first exercisable for more than $100,000 in value (measured by exercise price) in any calendar year. Any excess over $100,000 is a Nonstatutory Stock Option. |
Additional Terms/Acknowledgements: Optionholder acknowledges receipt of, and understands and agrees to, this Stock Option Grant Notice, the Option Agreement and the Plan. Optionholder acknowledges and agrees that this Stock Option Grant Notice and the Option Agreement may not be modified, amended or revised except as provided in the Plan. Optionholder further acknowledges that as of the Date of Grant, this Stock Option Grant Notice, the Option Agreement, and the Plan set forth the entire understanding between Optionholder and the Company regarding this option award and supersede all prior oral and written agreements, promises and/or representations on that subject with the exception of, if applicable, (i) equity awards previously granted and delivered to Optionholder, (ii) any compensation recovery policy that is adopted by the Company or is otherwise required by applicable law and (iii) any written employment agreement, severance agreement, offer letter or other written agreement entered into between the Company and Participant specifying the terms that should govern this specific option. By accepting this option, Optionholder consents to receive such documents by electronic delivery and to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or another third party designated by the Company.
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RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC. | | | | OPTIONHOLDER: |
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By: | | | | | | |
| | Signature | | | | Signature |
Title: | | | | | | Date: | | |
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Date: | | | | | | | | |
ATTACHMENTS: Option Agreement, 2025 Equity Incentive Plan and Notice of Exercise
ATTACHMENT I
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
OPTION AGREEMENT
(2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN)
(INCENTIVE STOCK OPTION OR NONSTATUTORY STOCK OPTION)
Pursuant to your Stock Option Grant Notice (“Grant Notice”) and this Option Agreement, RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) has granted you an option under its 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) to purchase the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock indicated in your Grant Notice at the exercise price indicated in your Grant Notice. The option is granted to you effective as of the date of grant set forth in the Grant Notice (the “Date of Grant”). If there is any conflict between the terms in this Option Agreement and the Plan, the terms of the Plan will control. Capitalized terms not explicitly defined in this Option Agreement or in the Grant Notice but defined in the Plan will have the same definitions as in the Plan.
The details of your option, in addition to those set forth in the Grant Notice and the Plan, are as follows:
1. VESTING. Subject to the provisions contained herein, your option will vest as provided in your Grant Notice. Vesting will cease upon the termination of your Continuous Service.
2. NUMBER OF SHARES AND EXERCISE PRICE. The number of shares of Common Stock subject to your option and your exercise price per share in your Grant Notice will be adjusted for Capitalization Adjustments.
3. EXERCISE RESTRICTION FOR NON-EXEMPT EMPLOYEES. If you are an Employee eligible for overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (that is, a “Non-Exempt Employee”), and except as otherwise provided in the Plan, you may not exercise your option until you have completed at least six (6) months of Continuous Service measured from the Date of Grant, even if you have already been an employee for more than six (6) months. Consistent with the provisions of the Worker Economic Opportunity Act, you may exercise your option as to any vested portion prior to such six (6) month anniversary in the case of (i) your death or disability, (ii) a Corporate Transaction in which your option is not assumed, continued or substituted, (iii) a Change in Control or (iv) your termination of Continuous Service on your “retirement” (as defined in the Company’s benefit plans).
4. METHOD OF PAYMENT. You must pay the full amount of the exercise price for the shares you wish to exercise. You may pay the exercise price in cash or by check, bank draft or money order payable to the Company or in any other manner permitted by your Grant Notice, which may include one or more of the following:
(a) Provided that at the time of exercise the Common Stock is publicly traded, pursuant to a program developed under Regulation T as promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board that, prior to the issuance of Common Stock, results in either the receipt of cash (or check) by the Company or the receipt of irrevocable instructions to pay the aggregate exercise price to the Company from the sales proceeds. This manner of payment is also known as a “broker-assisted exercise”, “same day sale”, or “sell to cover”.
(b) Provided that at the time of exercise the Common Stock is publicly traded, by delivery to the Company (either by actual delivery or attestation) of already-owned shares of Common Stock that are owned free and clear of any liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests, and that are valued at Fair Market Value on the date of exercise. “Delivery” for these purposes, in the sole discretion of the Company at the time you exercise your option, will include delivery to the Company of your attestation of ownership of such shares of Common Stock in a form approved by the Company. You may not exercise your option by delivery to the Company of Common Stock if doing so would violate the provisions of any law, regulation or agreement restricting the redemption of the Company’s stock.
(c) If this option is a Nonstatutory Stock Option, subject to the consent of the Company at the time of exercise, by a “net exercise” arrangement pursuant to which the Company will reduce the number of shares of Common Stock issued upon exercise of your option by the largest whole number of shares with a Fair Market Value that does not exceed the aggregate exercise price. You must pay any remaining balance of the aggregate exercise price not satisfied by the “net exercise” in cash or other permitted form of payment. Shares of Common Stock will no longer be outstanding under your option and will not be exercisable thereafter if those shares (i) are used to pay the exercise price pursuant to the “net exercise,” (ii) are delivered to you as a result of such exercise, and (iii) are withheld to satisfy your tax withholding obligations.
5. WHOLE SHARES. You may exercise your option only for whole shares of Common Stock.
6. SECURITIES LAW COMPLIANCE. In no event may you exercise your option unless the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise are then registered under the Securities Act or, if not registered, the Company has determined that your exercise and the issuance of the shares would be exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. The exercise of your option also must comply with all other applicable laws and regulations governing your option, and you may not exercise your option if the Company determines that such exercise would not be in material compliance with such laws and regulations (including any restrictions on exercise required for compliance with Treas. Reg. 1.401(k)-1(d)(3), if applicable).
7. TERM. You may not exercise your option before the Date of Grant or after the expiration of the option’s term. The term of your option expires, subject to the provisions of Section 5(h) of the Plan, upon the earliest of the following:
(a) immediately upon the termination of your Continuous Service for Cause;
(b) three (3) months after the termination of your Continuous Service for any reason other than Cause, your Disability or your death (except as otherwise provided in Section 8(d) below); provided, however, that if during any part of such three (3) month period your option is not exercisable solely because of the condition set forth in the section above regarding “Securities Law Compliance,” your option will not expire until the earlier of the Expiration Date or until it has been exercisable for an aggregate period of three (3) months after the termination of your Continuous Service; provided further, if during any part of such three (3) month period, the sale of any Common Stock received upon exercise of your option would violate the Company’s insider trading policy, then your option will not expire until the earlier of the Expiration Date or until it has been exercisable for an aggregate period of three (3) months after the termination of your Continuous Service during which the sale of the Common Stock received upon exercise of your option would not be in violation of the Company’s insider trading policy. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if (i) you are a Non-Exempt Employee, (ii) your Continuous Service terminates within six (6) months after the Date of Grant, and (iii) you have vested in a portion of your option at the time of your termination of Continuous Service, your option will not expire until the earlier of (x) the later of (A) the date that is seven (7) months after the Date of Grant, and (B) the date that is three (3) months after the termination of your Continuous Service, and (y) the Expiration Date;
(c) twelve (12) months after the termination of your Continuous Service due to your Disability (except as otherwise provided in Section 7(d)) below;
(d) eighteen (18) months after your death if you die either during your Continuous Service or within three (3) months after your Continuous Service terminates for any reason other than Cause;
(e) the Expiration Date indicated in your Grant Notice; or
(f) the day before the tenth (10th) anniversary of the Date of Grant.
If your option is an Incentive Stock Option, note that to obtain the federal income tax advantages associated with an Incentive Stock Option, the Code requires that at all times beginning on the Date of Grant and ending on the day three (3) months before the date of your option’s exercise, you must be an employee of the Company or an Affiliate, except in the event of your death or Disability. The Company has provided for extended exercisability of your option under certain circumstances for your benefit but cannot guarantee that your option will necessarily be treated as an Incentive Stock Option if you continue to provide services to the Company or an Affiliate as a Consultant or Director after your employment terminates or if you otherwise exercise your option more than three (3) months after the date your employment with the Company or an Affiliate terminates.
8. EXERCISE.
(a) You may exercise the vested portion of your option (and the unvested portion of your option if your Grant Notice so permits) during its term by (i) delivering a Notice of Exercise (in a form designated by the Company) or completing such other documents and/or procedures designated by the Company for exercise and (ii) paying the exercise price and any applicable withholding taxes to the Company’s Secretary, stock plan administrator, or such other person as the Company may designate, together with such additional documents as the Company may then require.
(b) By exercising your option you agree that, as a condition to any exercise of your option, the Company may require you to enter into an arrangement providing for the payment by you to the Company of any tax withholding obligation of the Company arising by reason of (i) the exercise of your option, (ii) the lapse of any substantial risk of forfeiture to which the shares of Common Stock are subject at the time of exercise, or (iii) the disposition of shares of Common Stock acquired upon such exercise.
(c) If your option is an Incentive Stock Option, by exercising your option you agree that you will notify the Company in writing within fifteen (15) days after the date of any disposition of any of the shares of the Common Stock issued upon exercise of your option that occurs within two (2) years after the Date of Grant or within one (1) year after such shares of Common Stock are transferred upon exercise of your option.
9. TRANSFERABILITY. Except as otherwise provided in this Section 9, your option is not transferable, except by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and is exercisable during your life only by you.
(a) Certain Trusts. Upon receiving written permission from the Board or its duly authorized designee, you may transfer your option to a trust if you are considered to be the sole beneficial owner (determined under Section 671 of the Code and applicable state law) while the option is held in the trust. You and the trustee must enter into transfer and other agreements required by the Company.
(b) Domestic Relations Orders. Upon receiving written permission from the Board or its duly authorized designee, and provided that you and the designated transferee enter into transfer and other agreements required by the Company, you may transfer your option pursuant to the terms of a domestic relations order, official marital settlement agreement or other divorce or separation instrument as permitted by Treasury Regulation 1.421-1(b)(2) that contains the information required by the Company to effectuate the transfer. You are encouraged to discuss the proposed terms of any division of this option with the Company prior to finalizing the domestic relations order or marital settlement agreement to help ensure the required information is contained within the domestic relations order or marital settlement agreement. If this option is an Incentive Stock Option, this option may be deemed to be a Nonstatutory Stock Option as a result of such transfer.
(c) Beneficiary Designation. Upon receiving written permission from the Board or its duly authorized designee, you may, by delivering written notice to the Company, in a form approved by the Company and any broker designated by the Company to handle option exercises, designate a third party who, on your death, will thereafter be entitled to exercise this option and receive the Common Stock or other consideration resulting from such exercise. In the absence of such a designation, your executor or administrator of your estate will be entitled to exercise this option and receive, on behalf of your estate, the Common Stock or other consideration resulting from such exercise.
10. OPTION NOT A SERVICE CONTRACT. Your option is not an employment or service contract, and nothing in your option will be deemed to create in any way whatsoever any obligation on your part to continue in the employ of the Company or an Affiliate, or of the Company or an Affiliate to continue your employment. In addition, nothing in your option will obligate the Company or an Affiliate, their respective stockholders, boards of directors, officers or employees to continue any relationship that you might have as a Director or Consultant for the Company or an Affiliate.
11. WITHHOLDING OBLIGATIONS.
(a) At the time you exercise your option, in whole or in part, and at any time thereafter as requested by the Company, you hereby authorize withholding from payroll and any other amounts payable to you, and otherwise agree to make adequate provision for (including by means of a “same day sale” pursuant to a program developed under Regulation T as promulgated by the Federal Reserve Board to the extent permitted by the Company), any sums required to satisfy the federal, state, local and foreign tax withholding obligations of the Company or an Affiliate, if any, which arise in connection with the exercise of your option.
(b) If this option is a Nonstatutory Stock Option, then upon your request and subject to approval by the Company, and compliance with any applicable legal conditions or restrictions, the Company may withhold from fully vested shares of Common Stock otherwise issuable to you upon the exercise of your option a number of whole shares of Common Stock having a Fair Market Value, determined by the Company as of the date of exercise, not in excess of the maximum amount of tax required to be withheld by law (or such lower amount as may be necessary to avoid classification of your option as a liability for financial accounting purposes). Notwithstanding the filing of such election, shares of Common Stock shall be withheld solely from fully vested shares of Common Stock determined as of the date of exercise of your option that are otherwise issuable to you upon such exercise. Any adverse consequences to you arising in connection with such share withholding procedure shall be your sole responsibility.
(c) You may not exercise your option unless the tax withholding obligations of the Company and/or any Affiliate are satisfied. Accordingly, you may not be able to exercise your option when desired even though your option is vested, and the Company will have no obligation to issue a certificate for such shares of Common Stock or release such shares of Common Stock from any escrow provided for herein, if applicable, unless such obligations are satisfied.
12. TAX CONSEQUENCES. You hereby agree that the Company does not have a duty to design or administer the Plan or its other compensation programs in a manner that minimizes your tax liabilities. You will not make any claim against the Company, or any of its Officers, Directors, Employees or Affiliates related to tax liabilities arising from your option or your other compensation. In particular, you acknowledge that this option is exempt from Section 409A of the Code only if the exercise price per share specified in the Grant Notice is at least equal to the “fair market value” per share of the Common Stock on the Date of Grant and there is no other impermissible deferral of compensation associated with the option.
13. NOTICES. Any notices provided for in your option or the Plan will be given in writing (including electronically) and will be deemed effectively given upon receipt or, in the case of notices delivered by mail by the Company to you, five (5) days after deposit in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to you at the last address you provided to the Company. The Company may, in its sole discretion, decide to deliver any documents related to participation in the Plan and this option by electronic means or to request your consent to participate in the Plan by electronic means. By accepting this option, you consent to receive such documents by electronic delivery and to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or another third party designated by the Company.
14. GOVERNING PLAN DOCUMENT. Your option is subject to all the provisions of the Plan, the provisions of which are hereby made a part of your option, and is further subject to all interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations, which may from time to time be promulgated and adopted pursuant to the Plan. If there is any conflict between the provisions of your option and those of the Plan, the provisions of the Plan will control. In addition, your option (and any compensation paid or shares issued under your option) is subject to recoupment in accordance with The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and any implementing regulations thereunder, any clawback policy adopted by the Company and any compensation recovery policy otherwise required by applicable law.
15. OTHER DOCUMENTS. You hereby acknowledge receipt of and the right to receive a document providing the information required by Rule 428(b)(1) promulgated under the Securities Act, which includes the Plan prospectus. In addition, you acknowledge receipt of the Company’s policy permitting certain individuals to sell shares only during certain “window” periods and the Company’s insider trading policy, in effect from time to time.
16. EFFECT ON OTHER EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS. The value of this option will not be included as compensation, earnings, salaries, or other similar terms used when calculating your benefits under any employee benefit plan sponsored by the Company or any Affiliate, except as such plan otherwise expressly provides. The Company expressly reserves its rights to amend, modify, or terminate any of the Company’s or any Affiliate’s employee benefit plans.
17. VOTING RIGHTS. You will not have voting or any other rights as a stockholder of the Company with respect to the shares to be issued pursuant to this option until such shares are issued to you. Upon such issuance, you will obtain full voting and other rights as a stockholder of the Company. Nothing contained in this option, and no action taken pursuant to its provisions, will create or be construed to create a trust of any kind or a fiduciary relationship between you and the Company or any other person.
18. SEVERABILITY. If all or any part of this Option Agreement or the Plan is declared by any court or governmental authority to be unlawful or invalid, such unlawfulness or invalidity will not invalidate any portion of this Option Agreement or the Plan not declared to be unlawful or invalid. Any Section of this Option Agreement (or part of such a Section) so declared to be unlawful or invalid shall, if possible, be construed in a manner which will give effect to the terms of such Section or part of a Section to the fullest extent possible while remaining lawful and valid.
19. MISCELLANEOUS.
(a) The rights and obligations of the Company under your option will be transferable to any one or more persons or entities, and all covenants and agreements hereunder will inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by the Company’s successors and assigns.
(b) You agree upon request to execute any further documents or instruments necessary or desirable in the sole determination of the Company to carry out the purposes or intent of your option.
(c) You acknowledge and agree that you have reviewed your option in its entirety, have had an opportunity to obtain the advice of counsel prior to executing and accepting your option, and fully understand all provisions of your option.
(d) This Option Agreement will be subject to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and to such approvals by any governmental agencies or national securities exchanges as may be required.
(e) All obligations of the Company under the Plan and this Option Agreement will be binding on any successor to the Company, whether the existence of such successor is the result of a direct or indirect purchase, merger, consolidation, or otherwise, of all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Company.
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This Option Agreement will be deemed to be signed by you upon the signing by you of the Stock Option Grant Notice to which it is attached.
ATTACHMENT II
2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
ATTACHMENT III
NOTICE OF EXERCISE
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
Date of Exercise: _______________
This constitutes notice to RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) under my stock option that I elect to purchase the below number of shares of Common Stock of the Company (the “Shares”) for the price set forth below.
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Type of option (check one): | | Incentive ☐ | | Nonstatutory ☐ | | |
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Stock option dated: | | _______________ | | _______________ | | |
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Number of Shares as to which option is exercised: | | _______________ | | _______________ | | |
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Certificates to be issued in name of: | | _______________ | | _______________ | | |
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Total exercise price: | | $______________ | | $______________ | | |
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Cash payment delivered herewith: | | $______________ | | $______________ | | |
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[Value of ________ Shares delivered herewith1: | | $______________ | | $______________] | | |
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[Value of ________ Shares pursuant to net exercise2: | | $______________ | | $______________] | | |
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[Regulation T Program (cashless exercise3): | | $______________ | | $______________] | | |
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1 | Shares must meet the public trading requirements set forth in the option. Shares must be valued in accordance with the terms of the option being exercised, and must be owned free and clear of any liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests. Certificates must be endorsed or accompanied by an executed assignment separate from certificate. |
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2 | The option must be a Nonstatutory Stock Option, and the Company must have established net exercise procedures at the time of exercise, in order to utilize this payment method. |
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3 | Shares must meet the public trading requirements set forth in the option. |
By this exercise, I agree (i) to provide such additional documents as you may require pursuant to the terms of the RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. 2025 Equity Incentive Plan, (ii) to provide for the payment by me to you (in the manner designated by you) of your withholding obligation, if any, relating to the exercise of this option, and (iii) if this exercise relates to an incentive stock option, to notify you in writing within fifteen (15) days after the date of any disposition of any of the Shares issued upon exercise of this option that occurs within two (2) years after the date of grant of this option or within one (1) year after such Shares are issued upon exercise of this option.
EX-10.3 Exhibit 10.3
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
RESTRICTED STOCK UNIT GRANT NOTICE
(2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN)
RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), pursuant to its 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), hereby awards to Participant a Restricted Stock Unit Award for the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock (“Restricted Stock Units”) set forth below (the “Award”). The Award is subject to all of the terms and conditions as set forth in this notice of grant (this “Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice”), and in the Plan and the Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement (the “Award Agreement”), both of which are attached hereto and incorporated herein in their entirety. Capitalized terms not explicitly defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Plan or the Award Agreement. In the event of any conflict between the terms in this Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice or the Award Agreement and the Plan, the terms of the Plan shall control.
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Participant: | | | | |
Date of Grant: | | | | |
Vesting Commencement Date: | | | | |
Number of Restricted Stock Units: | | | | |
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Vesting Schedule: | | [__________________, subject to Participant’s Continuous Service through each such vesting date.] |
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Issuance Schedule: | | Subject to any Capitalization Adjustment, one share of Common Stock (or its cash equivalent, at the discretion of the Company) will be issued for each Restricted Stock Unit that vests at the time set forth in Section 6 of the Award Agreement. |
Additional Terms/Acknowledgements: Participant acknowledges receipt of, and understands and agrees to, this Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice, the Award Agreement and the Plan. Participant further acknowledges that as of the Date of Grant, this Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice, the Award Agreement and the Plan set forth the entire understanding between Participant and the Company regarding the acquisition of the Common Stock pursuant to the Award specified above and supersede all prior oral and written agreements on the terms of this Award, with the exception, if applicable, of (i) restricted stock unit awards or options previously granted and delivered to Participant, (ii) the written employment agreement, offer letter or other written agreement entered into between the Company and Participant specifying the terms that should govern this specific Award, and (iii) any compensation recovery policy that is adopted by the Company or is otherwise required by applicable law.
By accepting this Award, Participant acknowledges having received and read the Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice, the Award Agreement and the Plan and agrees to all of the terms and conditions set forth in these documents. Participant consents to receive Plan documents by electronic delivery and to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or another third party designated by the Company.
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RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC. | | | | Participant |
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By: | | | | | | |
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Title: | | | | | | Date: | | |
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Date: | | | | | | | | |
ATTACHMENTS: Award Agreement and 2025 Equity Incentive Plan
ATTACHMENT I
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
RESTRICTED STOCK UNIT AWARD AGREEMENT
Pursuant to the Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice (the “Grant Notice”) and this Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement (the “Agreement”), RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) has awarded you (“Participant”) a Restricted Stock Unit Award (the “Award”) pursuant to the Company’s 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) for the number of Restricted Stock Units/shares indicated in the Grant Notice. Capitalized terms not explicitly defined in this Agreement or the Grant Notice shall have the same meanings given to them in the Plan. The terms of your Award, in addition to those set forth in the Grant Notice, are as follows.
1. GRANT OF THE AWARD. This Award represents the right to be issued on a future date one (1) share of Common Stock for each Restricted Stock Unit that vests on the applicable vesting date(s) (subject to any adjustment under Section 3 below) as indicated in the Grant Notice. As of the Date of Grant, the Company will credit to a bookkeeping account maintained by the Company for your benefit (the “Account”) the number of Restricted Stock Units/shares of Common Stock subject to the Award. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company reserves the right to issue you the cash equivalent of Common Stock, in part or in full satisfaction of the delivery of Common Stock in connection with the vesting of the Restricted Stock Units, and, to the extent applicable, references in this Agreement and the Grant Notice to Common Stock issuable in connection with your Restricted Stock Units will include the potential issuance of its cash equivalent pursuant to such right. This Award was granted in consideration of your services to the Company.
2. VESTING. Subject to the limitations contained herein, your Award will vest, if at all, in accordance with the vesting schedule provided in the Grant Notice. Vesting will cease upon the termination of your Continuous Service and the Restricted Stock Units credited to the Account that were not vested on the date of such termination will be forfeited at no cost to the Company and you will have no further right, title or interest in or to such Award or the shares of Common Stock to be issued in respect of such portion of the Award.
3. NUMBER OF SHARES. The number of Restricted Stock Units subject to your Award may be adjusted from time to time for Capitalization Adjustments, as provided in the Plan. Any additional Restricted Stock Units, shares, cash or other property that becomes subject to the Award pursuant to this Section 3, if any, shall be subject, in a manner determined by the Board, to the same forfeiture restrictions, restrictions on transferability, and time and manner of delivery as applicable to the other Restricted Stock Units and shares covered by your Award. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 3, no fractional shares or rights for fractional shares of Common Stock shall be created pursuant to this Section 3. Any fraction of a share will be rounded down to the nearest whole share.
4. SECURITIES LAW COMPLIANCE. You may not be issued any Common Stock under your Award unless the shares of Common Stock underlying the Restricted Stock Units are either (i) then registered under the Securities Act, or (ii) the Company has determined that such issuance would be exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Your Award must also comply with other applicable laws and regulations governing the Award, and you shall not receive such Common Stock if the Company determines that such receipt would not be in material compliance with such laws and regulations.
5. TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS. Prior to the time that shares of Common Stock have been delivered to you, you may not transfer, pledge, sell or otherwise dispose of this Award or the shares issuable in respect of your Award, except as expressly provided in this Section 5. For example, you may not use shares that may be issued in respect of your Restricted Stock Units as security for a loan. The restrictions on transfer set forth herein will lapse upon delivery to you of shares in respect of your vested Restricted Stock Units.
(a) Death. Your Award is transferable by will and by the laws of descent and distribution. At your death, vesting of your Award will cease and your executor or administrator of your estate shall be entitled to receive, on behalf of your estate, any Common Stock or other consideration that vested but was not issued before your death.
(b) Domestic Relations Orders. Upon receiving written permission from the Board or its duly authorized designee, and provided that you and the designated transferee enter into transfer and other agreements required by the Company, you may transfer your right to receive the distribution of Common Stock or other consideration hereunder, pursuant to a domestic relations order, marital settlement agreement or other divorce or separation instrument as permitted by applicable law that contains the information required by the Company to effectuate the transfer. You are encouraged to discuss the proposed terms of any division of this Award with the Company General Counsel prior to finalizing the domestic relations order or marital settlement agreement to verify that you may make such transfer, and if so, to help ensure the required information is contained within the domestic relations order or marital settlement agreement.
6. DATE OF ISSUANCE.
(a) The issuance of shares in respect of the Restricted Stock Units is intended to comply with Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) and will be construed and administered in such a manner. Subject to the satisfaction of the Withholding Obligation set forth in Section 11 of this Agreement, in the event one or more Restricted Stock Units vests, the Company shall issue to you one (1) share of Common Stock for each Restricted Stock Unit that vests on the applicable vesting date(s) (subject to any adjustment under Section 3 above, and subject to any different provisions in the Grant Notice). Each issuance date determined by this paragraph is referred to as an “Original Issuance Date”.
(b) If the Original Issuance Date falls on a date that is not a business day, delivery shall instead occur on the next following business day. In addition, if:
(i) the Original Issuance Date does not occur (1) during an “open window period” applicable to you, as determined by the Company in accordance with the Company’s then-effective policy on trading in Company securities, or (2) on a date when you are otherwise permitted to sell shares of Common Stock on an established stock exchange or stock market (including but not limited to under a previously established written trading plan that meets the requirements of Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act and was entered into in compliance with the Company’s policies (a “10b5-1 Arrangement”)), and
(ii) either (1) a Withholding Obligation does not apply, or (2) the Company decides, prior to the Original Issuance Date, (A) not to satisfy the Withholding Obligation by withholding shares of Common Stock from the shares otherwise due, on the Original Issuance Date, to you under this Award, and (B) not to permit you to enter into a “same day sale” commitment with a broker-dealer pursuant to Section 11 of this Agreement (including but not limited to a commitment under a 10b5-1 Arrangement) and (C) not to permit you to pay your Withholding Obligation in cash, then the shares that would otherwise be issued to you on the Original Issuance Date will not be delivered on such Original Issuance Date and will instead be delivered on the first business day when you are not prohibited from selling shares of the Company’s Common Stock in the open public market, but in no event later than December 31 of the calendar year in which the Original Issuance Date occurs (that is, the last day of your taxable year in which the Original Issuance Date occurs), or, if and only if permitted in a manner that complies with Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(b)(4), no later than the date that is the 15th day of the third calendar month of the applicable year following the year in which the shares of Common Stock under this Award are no longer subject to a “substantial risk of forfeiture” within the meaning of Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(d).
(c) The form of delivery (e.g., a stock certificate or electronic entry evidencing such shares) shall be determined by the Company.
7. DIVIDENDS. You shall receive no benefit or adjustment to your Award with respect to any cash dividend, stock dividend or other distribution that does not result from a Capitalization Adjustment; provided, however, that this sentence will not apply with respect to any shares of Common Stock that are delivered to you in connection with your Award after such shares have been delivered to you.
8. RESTRICTIVE LEGENDS. The shares of Common Stock issued in respect of your Award shall be endorsed with appropriate legends as determined by the Company.
9. EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS. You hereby acknowledge and agree that the manner selected by the Company by which you indicate your consent to your Grant Notice is also deemed to be your execution of your Grant Notice and of this Agreement. You further agree that such manner of indicating consent may be relied upon as your signature for establishing your execution of any documents to be executed in the future in connection with your Award.
10. AWARD NOT A SERVICE CONTRACT.
(a) Nothing in this Agreement (including, but not limited to, the vesting of your Award or the issuance of the shares in respect of your Award), the Plan or any covenant of good faith and fair dealing that may be found implicit in this Agreement or the Plan shall: (i) confer upon you any right to continue in the employ or service of, or affiliation with, the Company or an Affiliate; (ii) constitute any promise or commitment by the Company or an Affiliate regarding the fact or nature of future positions, future work assignments, future compensation or any other term or condition of employment or affiliation; (iii) confer any right or benefit under this Agreement or the Plan unless such right or benefit has specifically accrued under the terms of this Agreement or Plan; or (iv) deprive the Company of the right to terminate you at will and without regard to any future vesting opportunity that you may have.
(b) By accepting this Award, you acknowledge and agree that the right to continue vesting in the Award pursuant to the vesting schedule provided in the Grant Notice may not be earned unless (in addition to any other conditions described in the Grant Notice and this Agreement) you continue as an employee, director or consultant at the will of the Company and affiliate, as applicable (not through the act of being hired, being granted this Award or any other award or benefit) and that the Company has the right to reorganize, sell, spin-out or otherwise restructure one or more of its businesses or Affiliates at any time or from time to time, as it deems appropriate (a “reorganization”). You acknowledge and agree that such a reorganization could result in the termination of your Continuous Service, or the termination of Affiliate status of your employer and the loss of benefits available to you under this Agreement, including but not limited to, the termination of the right to continue vesting in the Award. You further acknowledge and agree that this Agreement, the Plan, the transactions contemplated hereunder and the vesting schedule set forth herein or any covenant of good faith and fair dealing that may be found implicit in any of them do not constitute an express or implied promise of continued engagement as an employee or consultant for the term of this Agreement, for any period, or at all, and shall not interfere in any way with the Company’s right to terminate your Continuous Service at any time, with or without your cause or notice, or to conduct a reorganization.
11. WITHHOLDING OBLIGATION.
(a) On each vesting date, and on or before the time you receive a distribution of the shares of Common Stock in respect of your Restricted Stock Units, and at any other time as reasonably requested by the Company in accordance with applicable tax laws, you hereby authorize any required withholding from the Common Stock issuable to you and/or otherwise agree to make adequate provision, including in cash, for any sums required to satisfy the federal, state, local and foreign tax withholding obligations of the Company or any Affiliate that arise in connection with your Award (the “Withholding Obligation”).
(b) By accepting this Award, you acknowledge and agree that the Company or any Affiliate may, in its sole discretion, satisfy all or any portion of the Withholding Obligation relating to your Restricted Stock Units by any of the following means or by a combination of such means: (i) causing you to pay any portion of the Withholding Obligation in cash; (ii) withholding from any compensation otherwise payable to you by the Company; (iii) withholding shares of Common Stock from the shares of Common Stock issued or otherwise issuable to you in connection with the Award with a Fair Market Value (measured as of the date shares of Common Stock are issued pursuant to Section 6) equal to the amount of such Withholding Obligation; provided, however, that the number of such shares of Common Stock so withheld will not exceed the amount necessary to satisfy the Withholding Obligation using the maximum statutory withholding rates for federal, state, local and foreign tax purposes, including payroll taxes, that are applicable to supplemental taxable income; and provided, further, that to the extent necessary to qualify for an exemption from application of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, if applicable, such share withholding procedure will be subject to the express prior approval of the Board or the Company’s Compensation Committee; and/or (iv) permitting or requiring you to enter into a “same day sale” commitment, if applicable, with a broker-dealer that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (a “FINRA Dealer”), pursuant to this authorization and without further consent, whereby you irrevocably elect to sell a portion of the shares to be delivered in connection with your Restricted Stock Units to satisfy the Withholding Obligation and whereby the FINRA Dealer irrevocably commits to forward the proceeds necessary to satisfy the Withholding Obligation directly to the Company and/or its Affiliates. Unless the Withholding Obligation is satisfied, the Company shall have no obligation to deliver to you any Common Stock or any other consideration pursuant to this Award.
(c) In the event the Withholding Obligation arises prior to the delivery to you of Common Stock or it is determined after the delivery of Common Stock to you that the amount of the Withholding Obligation was greater than the amount withheld by the Company, you agree to indemnify and hold the Company harmless from any failure by the Company to withhold the proper amount.
12. TAX CONSEQUENCES. The Company has no duty or obligation to minimize the tax consequences to you of this Award and shall not be liable to you for any adverse tax consequences to you arising in connection with this Award. You are hereby advised to consult with your own personal tax, financial and/or legal advisors regarding the tax consequences of this Award and by signing the Grant Notice, you have agreed that you have done so or knowingly and voluntarily declined to do so. You understand that you (and not the Company) shall be responsible for your own tax liability that may arise as a result of this investment or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.
13. UNSECURED OBLIGATION. Your Award is unfunded, and as a holder of a vested Award, you shall be considered an unsecured creditor of the Company with respect to the Company’s obligation, if any, to issue shares or other property pursuant to this Agreement. You shall not have voting or any other rights as a stockholder of the Company with respect to the shares to be issued pursuant to this Agreement until such shares are issued to you pursuant to Section 6 of this Agreement. Upon such issuance, you will obtain full voting and other rights as a stockholder of the Company. Nothing contained in this Agreement, and no action taken pursuant to its provisions, shall create or be construed to create a trust of any kind or a fiduciary relationship between you and the Company or any other person.
14. NOTICES. Any notice or request required or permitted hereunder shall be given in writing (including electronically) and will be deemed effectively given upon receipt or, in the case of notices delivered by mail by the Company to you, five (5) days after deposit in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed to you at the last address you provided to the Company. The Company may, in its sole discretion, decide to deliver any documents related to participation in the Plan and this Award by electronic means or to request your consent to participate in the Plan by electronic means. By accepting this Award, you consent to receive such documents by electronic delivery and to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or another third party designated by the Company.
15. HEADINGS. The headings of the Sections in this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and shall not be deemed to constitute a part of this Agreement or to affect the meaning of this Agreement.
16. MISCELLANEOUS.
(a) The rights and obligations of the Company under your Award shall be transferable by the Company to any one or more persons or entities, and all covenants and agreements hereunder shall inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by, the Company’s successors and assigns.
(b) You agree upon request to execute any further documents or instruments necessary or desirable in the sole determination of the Company to carry out the purposes or intent of your Award.
(c) You acknowledge and agree that you have reviewed your Award in its entirety, have had an opportunity to obtain the advice of counsel prior to executing and accepting your Award and fully understand all provisions of your Award.
(d) This Agreement shall be subject to all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and to such approvals by any governmental agencies or national securities exchanges as may be required.
(e) All obligations of the Company under the Plan and this Agreement shall be binding on any successor to the Company, whether the existence of such successor is the result of a direct or indirect purchase, merger, consolidation, or otherwise, of all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Company.
17. GOVERNING PLAN DOCUMENT. Your Award is subject to all the provisions of the Plan, the provisions of which are hereby made a part of your Award, and is further subject to all interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations which may from time to time be promulgated and adopted pursuant to the Plan. Your Award (and any compensation paid or shares issued under your Award) is subject to recoupment in accordance with The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and any implementing regulations thereunder, any clawback policy adopted by the Company and any compensation recovery policy otherwise required by applicable law. No recovery of compensation under such a clawback policy will be an event giving rise to a right to voluntarily terminate employment upon a resignation for “good reason,” or for a “constructive termination” or any similar term under any plan of or agreement with the Company.
18. EFFECT ON OTHER EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS. The value of the Award subject to this Agreement shall not be included as compensation, earnings, salaries, or other similar terms used when calculating benefits under any employee benefit plan (other than the Plan) sponsored by the Company or any Affiliate except as such plan otherwise expressly provides. The Company expressly reserves its rights to amend, modify, or terminate any or all of the employee benefit plans of the Company or any Affiliate.
19. SEVERABILITY. If all or any part of this Agreement or the Plan is declared by any court or governmental authority to be unlawful or invalid, such unlawfulness or invalidity shall not invalidate any portion of this Agreement or the Plan not declared to be unlawful or invalid. Any Section of this Agreement (or part of such a Section) so declared to be unlawful or invalid shall, if possible, be construed in a manner which will give effect to the terms of such Section or part of a Section to the fullest extent possible while remaining lawful and valid.
20. OTHER DOCUMENTS. You hereby acknowledge receipt or the right to receive a document providing the information required by Rule 428(b)(1) promulgated under the Securities Act. In addition, you acknowledge receipt of the Company’s policy permitting certain individuals to sell shares only during certain “window” periods and the Company’s insider trading policy, in effect from time to time.
21. AMENDMENT. This Agreement may not be modified, amended or terminated except by an instrument in writing, signed by you and by a duly authorized representative of the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Agreement may be amended solely by the Board by a writing which specifically states that it is amending this Agreement, so long as a copy of such amendment is delivered to you, and provided that, except as otherwise expressly provided in the Plan, no such amendment materially adversely affecting your rights hereunder may be made without your written consent. Without limiting the foregoing, the Board reserves the right to change, by written notice to you, the provisions of this Agreement in any way it may deem necessary or advisable to carry out the purpose of the Award as a result of any change in applicable laws or regulations or any future law, regulation, ruling, or judicial decision, provided that any such change shall be applicable only to rights relating to that portion of the Award which is then subject to restrictions as provided herein.
22. COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 409A OF THE CODE. This Award is intended to be exempt from the application of Section 409A of the Code, including but not limited to by reason of complying with the “short-term deferral” rule set forth in Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) and any ambiguities herein shall be interpreted accordingly. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if it is determined that the Award fails to satisfy the requirements of the short-term deferral rule and is otherwise not exempt from, and determined to be deferred compensation subject to Section 409A of the Code, this Award shall comply with Section 409A to the extent necessary to avoid adverse personal tax consequences and any ambiguities herein shall be interpreted accordingly. If it is determined that the Award is deferred compensation subject to Section 409A and you are a “Specified Employee” (within the meaning set forth in Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code) as of the date of your “Separation from Service” (as defined in Section 409A), then the issuance of any shares that would otherwise be made upon the date of your Separation from Service or within the first six (6) months thereafter will not be made on the originally scheduled date(s) and will instead be issued in a lump sum on the date that is six (6) months and one day after the date of the Separation from Service, with the balance of the shares issued thereafter in accordance with the original vesting and issuance schedule set forth above, but if and only if such delay in the issuance of the shares is necessary to avoid the imposition of adverse taxation on you in respect of the shares under Section 409A of the Code. Each installment of shares that vests is intended to constitute a “separate payment” for purposes of Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-2(b)(2).
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This Restricted Stock Unit Award Agreement shall be deemed to be signed by the Company and the Participant upon the signing by the Participant of the Restricted Stock Unit Grant Notice to which it is attached.
ATTACHMENT II
2025 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
EX-10.4 Exhibit 10.4
RAPT THERAPEUTICS, INC.
AMENDED AND RESTATED 2019 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: MARCH 25, 2025
APPROVED BY THE STOCKHOLDERS: MAY 29, 2025
EFFECTIVE DATE: MAY 29, 2025
(a)The Plan provides a means by which Eligible Employees of the Company and certain designated Related Corporations may be given an opportunity to purchase shares of Common Stock. The Plan permits the Company to grant a series of Purchase Rights to Eligible Employees under an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
(b)The Company, by means of the Plan, seeks to retain the services of such Employees, to secure and retain the services of new Employees and to provide incentives for such persons to exert maximum efforts for the success of the Company and its Related Corporations.
(a)The Board will administer the Plan unless and until the Board delegates administration of the Plan to a Committee or Committees, as provided in Section 2(c).
(b)The Board will have the power, subject to, and within the limitations of, the express provisions of the Plan:
(i)To determine how and when Purchase Rights will be granted and the provisions of each Offering (which need not be identical).
(ii)To designate from time to time which Related Corporations of the Company will be eligible to participate in the Plan.
(iii)To construe and interpret the Plan and Purchase Rights, and to establish, amend and revoke rules and regulations for its administration. The Board, in the exercise of this power, may correct any defect, omission or inconsistency in the Plan, in a manner and to the extent it deems necessary or expedient to make the Plan fully effective.
(iv)To settle all controversies regarding the Plan and Purchase Rights granted under the Plan.
(v)To suspend or terminate the Plan at any time as provided in Section 12.
(vi)To amend the Plan at any time as provided in Section 12.
(vii)Generally, to exercise such powers and to perform such acts as it deems necessary or expedient to promote the best interests of the Company and its Related Corporations and to carry out the intent that the Plan be treated as an Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
(viii)To adopt such rules, procedures and sub-plans relating to the operation and administration of the Plan as are necessary or appropriate under applicable local laws, regulations and procedures to permit or facilitate participation in the Plan by Employees who are foreign nationals or employed or located outside the United States.
(c)The Board may delegate some or all of the administration of the Plan to a Committee or Committees. If administration is delegated to a Committee, the Committee will have, in connection with the administration of the Plan, the powers theretofore possessed by the Board that have been delegated to the Committee, including the power to delegate to a subcommittee any of the administrative powers the Committee is authorized to exercise (and references in this Plan to the Board will thereafter be to the Committee or subcommittee), subject, however, to such resolutions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan, as may be adopted from time to time by the Board. The Board may retain the authority to concurrently administer the Plan with the Committee and may, at any time, revest in the Board some or all of the powers previously delegated. Whether or not the Board has delegated administration of the Plan to a Committee, the Board will have the final power to determine all questions of policy and expediency that may arise in the administration of the Plan.
(d)All determinations, interpretations and constructions made by the Board in good faith will not be subject to review by any person and will be final, binding and conclusive on all persons.
3.Shares of Common Stock Subject to the Plan; Termination of Evergreen.
(a)Subject to the provisions of Section 11(a) relating to Capitalization Adjustments, the maximum number of shares of Common Stock that may be issued under the Plan will not exceed 530,042 shares of Common Stock, (representing (a) 500,000 new shares and (b) the original 30,042 shares of Common Stock reserved under the Plan) plus the number of shares of Common Stock that were automatically added on January 1st of each year, commencing on January 1, 2020 and ending on (and including) January 1, 2025, in an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 1% of the total number of shares of Capital Stock outstanding on December 31st of the preceding calendar year, and (ii) 30,042 shares of Common Stock. For the avoidance of doubt, no shares will be automatically added to the Plan pursuant to the foregoing provision following the Effective Date.
(b)If any Purchase Right granted under the Plan terminates without having been exercised in full, the shares of Common Stock not purchased under such Purchase Right will again become available for issuance under the Plan.
(c)The stock purchasable under the Plan will be shares of authorized but unissued or reacquired Common Stock, including shares repurchased by the Company on the open market.
4.Grant of Purchase Rights; Offering.
(a)The Board may from time to time grant or provide for the grant of Purchase Rights to Eligible Employees under an Offering (consisting of one or more Purchase Periods) on an Offering Date or Offering Dates selected by the Board. Each Offering will be in such form and will contain such terms and conditions as the Board will deem appropriate, and will comply with the requirement of Section 423(b)(5) of the Code that all Employees granted Purchase Rights will have the same rights and privileges. The terms and conditions of an Offering shall be incorporated by reference into the Plan and treated as part of the Plan. The provisions of separate Offerings need not be identical, but each Offering will include (through incorporation of the provisions of this Plan by reference in the document comprising the Offering or otherwise) the period during which the Offering will be effective, which period will not exceed 27 months beginning with the Offering Date, and the substance of the provisions contained in Sections 5 through 8, inclusive.
(b)If a Participant has more than one Purchase Right outstanding under the Plan, unless he or she otherwise indicates in forms delivered to the Company: (i) each form will apply to all of his or her Purchase Rights under the Plan, and (ii) a Purchase Right with a lower exercise price (or an earlier-granted Purchase Right, if different Purchase Rights have identical exercise prices) will be exercised to the fullest possible extent before a Purchase Right with a higher exercise price (or a later-granted Purchase Right if different Purchase Rights have identical exercise prices) will be exercised.
(c)The Board will have the discretion to structure an Offering so that if the Fair Market Value of a share of Common Stock on the first Trading Day of a new Purchase Period within that Offering is less than or equal to the Fair Market Value of a share of Common Stock on the Offering Date for that Offering, then (i) that Offering will terminate immediately as of that first Trading Day, and (ii) the Participants in such terminated Offering will be automatically enrolled in a new Offering beginning on the first Trading Day of such new Purchase Period.
(a)Purchase Rights may be granted only to Employees of the Company or, as the Board may designate in accordance with Section 2(b), to Employees of a Related Corporation. Except as provided in Section 5(b), an Employee will not be eligible to be granted Purchase Rights unless, on the Offering Date, the Employee has been in the employ of the Company or the Related Corporation, as the case may be, for such continuous period preceding such Offering Date as the Board may require, but in no event will the required period of continuous employment be equal to or greater than two years. In addition, the Board may (unless prohibited by law) provide that no Employee will be eligible to be granted Purchase Rights under the Plan unless, on the Offering Date, such Employee’s customary employment with the Company or the Related Corporation is more than 20 hours per week and more than five months per calendar year or such other criteria as the Board may determine consistent with Section 423 of the Code. The Board may also exclude from participation in the Plan or any Offering Employees who are "highly compensated employees" (within the meaning of Section 414(q) of the Code) of the Company or a Related Corporation or a subset of such highly compensated employees.
(b)The Board may provide that each person who, during the course of an Offering, first becomes an Eligible Employee will, on a date or dates specified in the Offering which coincides with the day on which such person becomes an Eligible Employee or which occurs thereafter, receive a Purchase Right under that Offering, which Purchase Right will thereafter be deemed to be a part of that Offering. Such Purchase Right will have the same characteristics as any Purchase Rights originally granted under that Offering, as described herein, except that:
(i)the date on which such Purchase Right is granted will be the “Offering Date” of such Purchase Right for all purposes, including determination of the exercise price of such Purchase Right;
(ii)the period of the Offering with respect to such Purchase Right will begin on its Offering Date and end coincident with the end of such Offering; and
(iii)the Board may provide that if such person first becomes an Eligible Employee within a specified period of time before the end of the Offering, he or she will not receive any Purchase Right under that Offering.
(c)No Employee will be eligible for the grant of any Purchase Rights if, immediately after any such Purchase Rights are granted, such Employee owns stock possessing five percent or more of the total combined voting power or value of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Related Corporation. For purposes of this Section 5(c), the rules of Section 424(d) of the Code will apply in determining the stock ownership of any Employee, and stock which such Employee may purchase under all outstanding Purchase Rights and options will be treated as stock owned by such Employee.
(d)As specified by Section 423(b)(8) of the Code, an Eligible Employee may be granted Purchase Rights only if such Purchase Rights, together with any other rights granted under all Employee Stock Purchase Plans of the Company and any Related Corporations, do not permit such Eligible Employee’s rights to purchase stock of the Company or any Related Corporation to accrue at a rate which, when aggregated, exceeds US $25,000 of Fair Market Value of such stock (determined at the time such rights are granted, and which, with respect to the Plan, will be determined as of their respective Offering Dates) for each calendar year in which such rights are outstanding at any time.
(e)Officers of the Company and any designated Related Corporation, if they are otherwise Eligible Employees, will be eligible to participate in Offerings under the Plan. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Board may (unless prohibited by law) provide in an Offering that Employees who are highly compensated Employees within the meaning of Section 423(b)(4)(D) of the Code will not be eligible to participate.
6.Purchase Rights; Purchase Price.
(a)On each Offering Date, each Eligible Employee, pursuant to an Offering made under the Plan, will be granted a Purchase Right to purchase up to that number of shares of Common Stock purchasable either with a percentage or with a maximum dollar amount, as designated by the Board, but in either case not exceeding 15% of such Employee’s earnings (as defined by the Board in each Offering) during the period that begins on the Offering Date (or such later date as the Board determines for a particular Offering) and ends on the date stated in the Offering, which date will be no later than the end of the Offering.
(b)The Board will establish one or more Purchase Dates during an Offering on which Purchase Rights granted for that Offering will be exercised and shares of Common Stock will be purchased in accordance with such Offering.
(c)In connection with each Offering made under the Plan, the Board may specify (i) a maximum number of shares of Common Stock that may be purchased by any Participant on any Purchase Date during such Offering, (ii) a maximum aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be purchased by all Participants pursuant to such Offering and/or (iii) a maximum aggregate number of shares of Common Stock that may be purchased by all Participants on any Purchase Date under the Offering. If the aggregate purchase of shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of Purchase Rights granted under the Offering would exceed any such maximum aggregate number, then, in the absence of any Board action otherwise, a pro rata (based on each Participant’s accumulated Contributions) allocation of the shares of Common Stock (rounded down to the nearest whole share) available will be made in as nearly a uniform manner as will be practicable and equitable.
(d)The purchase price of shares of Common Stock acquired pursuant to Purchase Rights will be not less than the lesser of:
(i)an amount equal to 85% of the Fair Market Value of the shares of Common Stock on the Offering Date; or
(ii)an amount equal to 85% of the Fair Market Value of the shares of Common Stock on the applicable Purchase Date.
7.Participation; Withdrawal; Termination.
(a)An Eligible Employee may elect to participate in an Offering and authorize payroll deductions as the means of making Contributions by completing and delivering to the Company, within the time specified in the Offering, an enrollment form provided by the Company. The enrollment form will specify the amount of Contributions not to exceed the maximum amount specified by the Board. Each Participant’s Contributions will be credited to a bookkeeping account for such Participant under the Plan and will be deposited with the general funds of the Company except where applicable law or regulations requires that Contributions be deposited with a third party. If permitted in the Offering, a Participant may begin such Contributions with the first payroll occurring on or after the Offering Date (or, in the case of a payroll date that occurs after the end of the prior Offering but before the Offering Date of the next new Offering, Contributions from such payroll will be included in the new Offering). If permitted in the Offering, a Participant may thereafter reduce (including to zero) or increase his or her Contributions. If required under applicable law or regulations or if specifically provided in the Offering, in addition to or instead of making Contributions by payroll deductions, a Participant may make Contributions through the payment by cash, check or wire transfer prior to a Purchase Date.
(b)During an Offering, a Participant may cease making Contributions and withdraw from the Offering by delivering to the Company a withdrawal form provided by the Company. The Company may impose a deadline before a Purchase Date for withdrawing. Upon such withdrawal, such Participant’s Purchase Right in that Offering will immediately terminate and the Company will distribute as soon as practicable to such Participant all of his or her accumulated but unused Contributions and such Participant’s Purchase Right in that Offering shall thereupon terminate. A Participant’s withdrawal from that Offering will have no effect upon his or her eligibility to participate in any other Offerings under the Plan, but such Participant will be required to deliver a new enrollment form to participate in subsequent Offerings.
(c)Unless otherwise required by applicable law or regulations, Purchase Rights granted pursuant to any Offering under the Plan will terminate immediately if the Participant either (i) is no longer an Employee for any reason or for no reason (subject to any post-employment participation period required by law) or (ii) is otherwise no longer eligible to participate. The Company will distribute as soon as practicable to such individual all of his or her accumulated but unused Contributions.
(d)During a Participant’s lifetime, Purchase Rights will be exercisable only by such Participant. Purchase Rights are not transferable by a Participant, except by will, by the laws of descent and distribution, or, if permitted by the Company, by a beneficiary designation as described in Section 10.
(e)Unless otherwise specified in the Offering or required by applicable law or regulations, the Company will have no obligation to pay interest on Contributions.
8.Exercise of Purchase Rights.
(a)On each Purchase Date, each Participant’s accumulated Contributions will be applied to the purchase of shares of Common Stock, up to the maximum number of shares of Common Stock permitted by the Plan and the applicable Offering, at the purchase price specified in the Offering. No fractional shares will be issued unless specifically provided for in the Offering.
(b)Unless otherwise provided in the Offering, if any amount of accumulated Contributions remains in a Participant’s account after the purchase of shares of Common Stock on the final Purchase Date of an Offering, then such remaining amount will not roll over to the next Offering and will instead be distributed in full to such Participant after the final Purchase Date of such Offering without interest (unless otherwise required by applicable law or regulations).
(c)No Purchase Rights may be exercised to any extent unless the shares of Common Stock to be issued upon such exercise under the Plan are covered by an effective registration statement pursuant to the Securities Act and the Plan is in material compliance with all applicable federal, state, foreign and other securities and other laws applicable to the Plan. If on a Purchase Date the shares of Common Stock are not so registered or the Plan is not in such compliance, no Purchase Rights will be exercised on such Purchase Date, and the Purchase Date will be delayed until the shares of Common Stock are subject to such an effective registration statement and the Plan is in material compliance, except that the Purchase Date will in no event be more than 27 months from the Offering Date. If, on the Purchase Date, as delayed to the maximum extent permissible, the shares of Common Stock are not registered and the Plan is not in material compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, no Purchase Rights will be exercised and all accumulated but unused Contributions will be distributed to the Participants without interest.
9.Covenants of the Company.
The Company will seek to obtain from each federal, state, foreign or other regulatory commission or agency having jurisdiction over the Plan such authority as may be required to grant Purchase Rights and issue and sell shares of Common Stock thereunder unless the Company determines, in its sole discretion, that doing so would cause the Company to incur costs that are unreasonable. If, after commercially reasonable efforts, the Company is unable to obtain the authority that counsel for the Company deems necessary for the grant of Purchase Rights or the lawful issuance and sale of Common Stock under the Plan, and at a commercially reasonable cost, the Company will be relieved from any liability for failure to grant Purchase Rights and/or to issue and sell Common Stock upon exercise of such Purchase Rights.
10.Designation of Beneficiary.
(a)The Company may, but is not obligated to, permit a Participant to submit a form designating a beneficiary who will receive any shares of Common Stock and/or Contributions from the Participant’s account under the Plan if the Participant dies before such shares and/or Contributions are delivered to the Participant. The Company may, but is not obligated to, permit the Participant to change such designation of beneficiary. Any such designation and/or change must be on a form approved by the Company.
(b) If a Participant dies, and in the absence of a valid beneficiary designation, the Company will deliver any shares of Common Stock and/or Contributions to the executor or administrator of the estate of the Participant. If no executor or administrator has been appointed (to the knowledge of the Company), the Company, in its sole discretion, may deliver such shares of Common Stock and/or Contributions, without interest, to the Participant’s spouse, dependents or relatives, or if no spouse, dependent or relative is known to the Company, then to such other person as the Company may designate.
11.Adjustments upon Changes in Common Stock; Corporate Transactions.
(a)In the event of a Capitalization Adjustment, the Board will appropriately and proportionately adjust: (i) the class(es) and maximum number of securities subject to the Plan pursuant to Section 3(a), (ii) the class(es) and maximum number of securities by which the share reserve is to increase automatically each year pursuant to Section 3(a), (iii) the class(es) and number of securities subject to, and the purchase price applicable to outstanding Offerings and Purchase Rights, and (iv) the class(es) and number of securities that are the subject of the purchase limits under each ongoing Offering. The Board will make these adjustments, and its determination will be final, binding and conclusive.
(b)In the event of a Corporate Transaction, then: (i) any surviving corporation or acquiring corporation (or the surviving or acquiring corporation’s parent company) may assume or continue outstanding Purchase Rights or may substitute similar rights (including a right to acquire the same consideration paid to the stockholders in the Corporate Transaction) for outstanding Purchase Rights, or (ii) if any surviving or acquiring corporation (or its parent company) does not assume or continue such Purchase Rights or does not substitute similar rights for such Purchase Rights, then the Participants’ accumulated Contributions will be used to purchase shares of Common Stock (rounded down to the nearest whole share) within ten business days prior to the Corporate Transaction under the outstanding Purchase Rights, and the Purchase Rights will terminate immediately after such purchase.
12.Amendment, Termination or Suspension of the Plan.
(a)The Board may amend the Plan at any time in any respect the Board deems necessary or advisable. However, except as provided in Section 11(a)relating to Capitalization Adjustments, stockholder approval will be required for any amendment of the Plan for which stockholder approval is required by applicable law, regulations or listing requirements.
(b)The Board may suspend or terminate the Plan at any time. No Purchase Rights may be granted under the Plan while the Plan is suspended or after it is terminated.
(c)Any benefits, privileges, entitlements and obligations under any outstanding Purchase Rights granted before an amendment, suspension or termination of the Plan will not be materially impaired by any such amendment, suspension or termination except (i) with the consent of the person to whom such Purchase Rights were granted, (ii) as necessary to comply with any laws, listing requirements, or governmental regulations (including, without limitation, the provisions of Section 423 of the Code and the regulations and other interpretive guidance issued thereunder relating to Employee Stock Purchase Plans) including without limitation any such regulations or other guidance that may be issued or amended after the date the Plan is adopted by the Board, or (iii) as necessary to obtain or maintain favorable tax, listing, or regulatory treatment. To be clear, the Board may amend outstanding Purchase Rights without a Participant’s consent if such amendment is necessary to ensure that the Purchase Right and/or the Plan complies with the requirements of Section 423 of the Code.
13.Effective Date of Plan.
The Plan will become effective on the Effective Date. No Purchase Rights will be exercised unless and until the Plan has been approved by the stockholders of the Company, which approval must be within 12 months before or after the date the Plan is adopted (or if required under Section 12(a) above, materially amended) by the Board.
14.Miscellaneous Provisions.
(a)Proceeds from the sale of shares of Common Stock pursuant to Purchase Rights will constitute general funds of the Company.
(b)A Participant will not be deemed to be the holder of, or to have any of the rights of a holder with respect to, shares of Common Stock subject to Purchase Rights unless and until the Participant’s shares of Common Stock acquired upon exercise of Purchase Rights are recorded in the books of the Company (or its transfer agent).
(c)The Plan and Offering do not constitute an employment contract. Nothing in the Plan or in the Offering will in any way alter the at will nature of a Participant’s employment, if applicable, or be deemed to create in any way whatsoever any obligation on the part of any Participant to continue in the employ of the Company or a Related Corporation, or on the part of the Company or a Related Corporation to continue the employment of a Participant.
(d)The provisions of the Plan will be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware without resort to that state’s conflicts of laws rules.
(e)If any particular provision of the Plan is found to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, such provision will not affect the other provisions of the Plan, but the Plan will be construed in all respects as if such invalid provision were omitted.
(f)If any provision of the Plan does not comply with applicable law or regulations, such provision shall be construed in such a manner as to comply with applicable law or regulations.
As used in the Plan, the following definitions will apply to the capitalized terms indicated below:
(a)“Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.
(b)“Capital Stock” means each and every class of common stock of the Company, regardless of the number of votes per share.
(c)“Capitalization Adjustment” means any change that is made in, or other events that occur with respect to, the Common Stock subject to the Plan or subject to any Purchase Right after the date the Plan is adopted by the Board without the receipt of consideration by the Company through merger, consolidation, reorganization, recapitalization, reincorporation, stock dividend, dividend in property other than cash, large nonrecurring cash dividend, stock split, liquidating dividend, combination of shares, exchange of shares, change in corporate structure or other similar equity restructuring transaction, as that term is used in Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 (or any successor thereto). Notwithstanding the foregoing, the conversion of any convertible securities of the Company will not be treated as a Capitalization Adjustment.
(d)“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, including any applicable regulations and guidance thereunder.
(e)“Committee” means a committee of one or more members of the Board to whom authority has been delegated by the Board in accordance with Section 2(c).
(f)“Common Stock” means, the common stock of the Company, having one vote per share.
(g)“Company” means RAPT Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
(h)“Contributions” means the payroll deductions and other additional payments specifically provided for in the Offering that a Participant contributes to fund the exercise of a Purchase Right. A Participant may make additional payments into his or her account if specifically provided for in the Offering, and then only if the Participant has not already had the maximum permitted amount withheld during the Offering through payroll deductions.
(i)“Corporate Transaction” means the consummation, in a single transaction or in a series of related transactions, of any one or more of the following events:
(i)a sale or other disposition of all or substantially all, as determined by the Board in its sole discretion, of the consolidated assets of the Company and its Subsidiaries;
(ii)a sale or other disposition of more than 50% of the outstanding securities of the Company;
(iii)a merger, consolidation or similar transaction following which the Company is not the surviving corporation; or
(iv)a merger, consolidation or similar transaction following which the Company is the surviving corporation but the shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately preceding the merger, consolidation or similar transaction are converted or exchanged by virtue of the merger, consolidation or similar transaction into other property, whether in the form of securities, cash or otherwise.
(j)“Director” means a member of the Board
(k)“Effective Date” means the date on which the Plan is approved by the Company’s stockholders.
(l)“Eligible Employee” means an Employee who meets the requirements set forth in the document(s) governing the Offering for eligibility to participate in the Offering, provided that such Employee also meets the requirements for eligibility to participate set forth in the Plan.
(m)“Employee” means any person, including an Officer or Director, who is “employed” for purposes of Section 423(b)(4) of the Code by the Company or a Related Corporation. However, service solely as a Director, or payment of a fee for such services, will not cause a Director to be considered an “Employee” for purposes of the Plan.
(n)“Employee Stock Purchase Plan” means a plan that grants Purchase Rights intended to be options issued under an “employee stock purchase plan,” as that term is defined in Section 423(b) of the Code.
(o)“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
(p)“Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of the Common Stock determined as follows:
(i)If the Common Stock is listed on any established stock exchange or traded on any established market, the Fair Market Value of a share of Common Stock will be the closing sales price for such stock as quoted on such exchange or market (or the exchange or market with the greatest volume of trading in the Common Stock) on the date of determination, as reported in such source as the Board deems reliable. Unless otherwise provided by the Board, if there is no closing sales price for the Common Stock on the date of determination, then the Fair Market Value will be the closing sales price on the last preceding date for which such quotation exists.
(ii)In the absence of such markets for the Common Stock, the Fair Market Value will be determined by the Board in good faith in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and in a manner that complies with Sections 409A of the Code.
(q)“Offering” means the grant to Eligible Employees of Purchase Rights, with the exercise of those Purchase Rights automatically occurring at the end of one or more Purchase Periods. The terms and conditions of an Offering will generally be set forth in the “Offering Document” approved by the Board for that Offering.
(r)“Offering Date” means a date selected by the Board for an Offering to commence.
(s)“Officer” means a person who is an officer of the Company or a Related Corporation within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act.
(t)“Participant” means an Eligible Employee who holds an outstanding Purchase Right.
(u)“Plan” means this Amended and Restated RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
(v)“Purchase Date” means one or more dates during an Offering selected by the Board on which Purchase Rights will be exercised and on which purchases of shares of Common Stock will be carried out in accordance with such Offering.
(w)“Purchase Period” means a period of time specified within an Offering, generally beginning on the Offering Date or on the first Trading Day following a Purchase Date, and ending on a Purchase Date. An Offering may consist of one or more Purchase Periods.
(x)“Purchase Right” means an option to purchase shares of Common Stock granted pursuant to the Plan.
(y)“Related Corporation” means any “parent corporation” or “subsidiary corporation” of the Company whether now or subsequently established, as those terms are defined in Sections 424(e) and (f), respectively, of the Code.
(z)“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
(aa)“Trading Day” means any day on which the exchange(s) or market(s) on which shares of Common Stock are listed, including but not limited to the NYSE, Nasdaq Global Select Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Capital Market or any successors thereto, is open for trading.
EX-10.5 Exhibit 10.5
RAPT Therapeutics, Inc.
Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy
July 9, 2025
Each member of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) who is a non-employee director of the Company (each such member, a “Non-Employee Director”) will receive the compensation described in this Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy (the “Director Compensation Policy”) for his or her Board service.
The Director Compensation Policy will be effective as of July [ • ], 2025 (the “Effective Date”). The Director Compensation Policy may be amended at any time in the sole discretion of the Board.
A Non-Employee Director may decline all or a portion of his or her compensation by giving notice to the Company prior to the date cash is to be paid or equity awards are to be granted, as the case may be.
Annual Cash Compensation
Commencing at the beginning of the first calendar quarter following the Effective Date, each Non-Employee Director will receive the cash compensation set forth below for service on the Board. The annual cash compensation amounts will be payable in equal quarterly installments, in arrears no later than 30 days following the end of each quarter in which the service occurred, prorated for any partial quarter of service. In addition, each Non-Employee Director may elect to receive all of the annual cash compensation set forth below that the Non-Employee Director is eligible to earn in the form of stock options granted pursuant to the Company’s 2025 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time, or any successor plan (the “Plan”) subject to the terms and conditions as set forth below.
1.Annual Board Service Retainer:
(a)All Non-Employee Directors: $40,000
(b)Chair of the Board (as applicable): $30,000 (in addition to above)
2.Annual Committee Member Service Retainer:
•Member of the Audit Committee: $12,500
•Member of the Compensation Committee: $7,500
•Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee: $5,000
•Member of the Science & Technology Committee: $7,500
3. Annual Committee Chair Service Retainer (in lieu of Committee Member Service Retainer):
(a)Chair of the Audit Committee: $25,000
(b)Chair of the Compensation Committee: $15,000
(c)Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee: $10,000
(d)Chair of the Science & Technology Committee: $15,000
Timing of Elections Regarding Annual Cash Compensation; Time and Form of Payment
1. Current Non-Employee Directors: If a Non-Employee Director’s service as a Non-Employee Director commences prior to the beginning of a fiscal year, then the Non-Employee Director must make an election, prior to the beginning of such fiscal year, to receive the Non-Employee Director’s (i) Annual Board Service Retainer(s) for such fiscal year and (ii) any Annual Committee Member Service Retainer(s) or Annual Committee Chair Service Retainer(s) that is or may become payable for such fiscal year (each, a “Retainer”) in the form of either cash or stock options. The Retainer(s) will be paid or granted as follows:
▪Cash: If the Non-Employee Director elects to receive the Retainers in cash, the Retainers will be paid in the form of cash in arrears in equal installments over the applicable number of fiscal quarters during such fiscal year, with payment occurring on the last day of the applicable fiscal quarter (i.e., March 31st, June 30th, September 30th or December 31st), prorated for any partial quarter of service.
▪Stock Options: If the Non-Employee Director elects to receive the Retainers in the form of stock options, such stock options will automatically, and without further action by the Board or Committee of the Board, be granted on the last business day in March of such fiscal year. Any such award will vest as follows: (i) 25% will vest on the last day of the first fiscal quarter during such fiscal year; and (ii) 25% will vest on the last day of each subsequent fiscal quarter during such fiscal year, provided that the Non-Employee Director is in service as a Director on such date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Non-Employee Director becomes a member of a Committee, Chair of a Committee or Chair of the Board after the last business day in March of such fiscal year, then, if such Non-Employee Director has elected to receive his or her Retainers in the form of stock options, the pro rata portion of his or her Annual Committee Member Service Retainer, Annual Committee Chair Service Retainer or Chair of the Board Service Retainer for the remaining portion of such fiscal year, as applicable, will automatically, and without further action by the Board or Committee of the Board, be granted on the third business day after the date that the Non-Employee Director becomes a member of a Committee, Chair of a Committee or Chair of the Board, as applicable. Any such award will vest in equal installments as follows: (i) the first installment will vest on the last day of the fiscal quarter of the date of grant; and (ii) any remaining installment(s) will vest on the last day of any subsequent fiscal quarter(s) during such fiscal year, provided that the Non-Employee Director is in service as a Director on such date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Non-Employee Director terminates service with the Company or ceases service as a committee member or Chair prior to the relevant quarterly vesting date, vesting for such partial quarter of service shall be prorated through such Non-Employee Director’s last date of service as a Director with the Company (or as committee member or Chair) and such prorated portion shall vest on an accelerated basis as of such last date of service.
2. New Non-Employee Directors: If a Non-Employee Director’s service as a Non-Employee Director commences on or after the beginning of a fiscal year, then the Non-Employee Director must make an election, within 30 days following the commencement of such service, with respect to his or her Retainers that are or may become payable for such fiscal year; provided, however, that (a) such election will be applicable only to the portion of the applicable Retainer payable for any fiscal quarter during such fiscal year that begins after the date of such election, and (b) no such election may be made if such service commences during the final fiscal quarter of such fiscal year. Each such Retainer will be paid or granted as follows:
▪Cash: If the Non-Employee Director elects to receive the Retainers in cash, Retainers with respect to any fiscal quarter during such fiscal year that begins after the date of such election
will be paid in the form of cash in arrears in equal installments over the applicable number of fiscal quarters during such fiscal year, with payment occurring on the last day of the applicable fiscal quarter, prorated for any partial quarter of service.
▪Stock Options: If the Non-Employee Director elects to receive the Retainers in the form of stock options, with respect to any fiscal quarter during such fiscal year that begins after the date of such election, such stock options will automatically, and without further action by the Board or Committee of the Board, be granted on the first business day of the first fiscal quarter that begins after the date of such election. Any such award will vest in equal installments as follows: (i) the first installment will vest on the last day of the fiscal quarter of the date of grant; and (ii) any remaining installment(s) will vest on the last day of any subsequent fiscal quarter(s) during such fiscal year, provided that the Non-Employee Director is in service as a Director on such date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Non-Employee Director becomes a member of a Committee, Chair of a Committee or Chair of the Board after the first business day of the first fiscal quarter that begins after the date of such election, then the pro rata portion (if any) of his or her Annual Committee Member Service Retainer, Annual Committee Chair Service Retainer or Chair of the Board Service Retainer for the remaining portion of such fiscal year, as applicable, that is to be granted in the form of stock options, will automatically, and without further action by the Board or Committee of the Board, be granted on the third business day after the date that the Non-Employee Director becomes a member of a Committee, Chair of a Committee or Chair of the Board, as applicable. Any such award will vest in equal installments as follows: (i) the first installment will vest on the last day of the fiscal quarter of the date of grant; and (ii) any remaining installment(s) will vest on the last day of any subsequent fiscal quarter(s) during such fiscal year, provided that the Non-Employee Director is in service as a Director on such date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Non-Employee Director terminates service with the Company or ceases service as a committee member or Chair prior to the relevant quarterly vesting date, vesting for such partial quarter of service shall be prorated through such Non-Employee Director’s last date of service as a Director (or as committee member or Chair) with the Company and such prorated portion shall vest on an accelerated basis as of such last date of service.
Terms of Elections Regarding Annual Cash Compensation:
• Once an election is submitted for a fiscal year, it will be irrevocable with respect to such fiscal year.
• A Non-Employee Director must submit a new election for each fiscal year.
• Elections with respect to a Non-Employee Director’s Retainers must be allocated 100% in either cash or stock options. A Non-Employee Director may not make an election to receive cash or stock options with respect to an individual Retainer or any portion thereof.
Terms of Stock Options Granted Pursuant to Elections:
• Any stock options granted pursuant to a Non-Employee Director’s election will be granted under the Plan and will be subject to the terms and conditions of (i) this Director Compensation Policy, (ii) the Plan and (iii) the form stock option grant notices and agreements approved by the Board for the grant of such awards to Non-Employee Directors.
• The actual number of shares subject to any stock options granted pursuant to this Director Compensation Policy and a Non-Employee Director’s election to receive the Retainers in the form of stock options will be determined by dividing the Retainers by the “fair value” of a share of the
Company’s common stock on the grant date, determined using a Black-Scholes model based on the average closing price of the Company’s common stock over the 30 calendar days prior to the grant date and with such number of shares rounded down to the nearest whole share.
• The shares subject to any stock options granted pursuant to a Non-Employee Director’s election will vest in installments subject to the Non-Employee Director’s Continuous Service (as defined in the Plan) through such vesting dates on the terms specified above; provided, however, that all unvested shares subject to such stock options will accelerate and vest in full upon a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan), subject in each case to the Non-Employee Director’s Continuous Service as of immediately prior to the Change in Control.
• Any stock options granted pursuant to this Director Compensation Policy will be Nonstatutory Stock Options (as defined in the Plan), will have an exercise price per share equal to 100% of the Fair Market Value (as defined in the Plan) of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and will have a term of ten years from the date of grant (subject to earlier termination in connection with the Non-Employee Director’s termination of service or certain corporate transactions and in accordance with the terms of the Plan). Any such stock option will become exercisable when vested and the vested portion of any such stock option will remain exercisable in accordance with the stock option grant notice and agreement governing the stock option.
Equity Compensation
Equity awards will be granted under the Plan. All stock options granted under the Director Compensation Policy will be Nonstatutory Stock Options, with a term of ten years from the date of grant (subject to earlier termination upon a termination of the Non-Employee Director’s Continuous Service (as defined in the Plan)) and an exercise price per share equal to 100% of the Fair Market Value (as defined in the Plan) of a share of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant.
1.Automatic Equity Grants.
(a)Initial Grant for New Directors. Without any further action of the Board, each person who, on or after the Effective Date, is elected or appointed for the first time to be a Non-Employee Director will automatically, upon the date of his or her initial election or appointment to be a Non-Employee Director, be granted a Nonstatutory Stock Option to purchase 25,000 shares of Company common stock (the “Initial Grant”). Each Initial Grant will vest in a series of three successive equal annual installments over the three-year period measured from the date of grant, subject to the Non-Employee Director’s Continuous Service through each applicable vesting date.
(b)Annual Grant. Without any further action of the Board, at the close of business on the date of each annual meeting of the Company’s stockholders (each, an “Annual Meeting”) following the Effective Date, each person who is then a Non-Employee Director will automatically be granted a Nonstatutory Stock Option to purchase shares of Company common stock with a value of $200,000, determined using a Black-Scholes valuation methodology based on the average closing price of the Company’s common stock over the 30 calendar days prior to the grant date and with such number of shares rounded down to the nearest whole share (the “Annual Grant”). Each Annual Grant will vest monthly in twelve equal installments, subject to the Non-Employee Director’s Continuous Service through the vesting date.
2.Change in Control. Notwithstanding the foregoing vesting schedules, for each Non-Employee Director who remains in Continuous Service with the Company until immediately prior to the closing of a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan), the shares subject to his or her then-outstanding equity awards
that were granted pursuant to the Director Compensation Policy will become fully vested immediately prior to the closing of such Change in Control.
3.Remaining Terms. The remaining terms and conditions of each stock option, including transferability, will be as set forth in the Company’s standard Option Agreement, in the form adopted from time to time by the Board.
Expenses
The Company will reimburse Non-Employee Directors for ordinary, necessary and reasonable out-of-pocket travel expenses to cover in-person attendance at and participation in Board and committee meetings; provided, that the Non-Employee Director timely submits to the Company appropriate documentation substantiating such expenses in accordance with the Company’s travel and expense policy, as in effect from time to time.
EX-31.1 Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Brian Wong, certify that:
1.I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc.;
2.Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
a)All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
b)Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
| | | |
Date: August 7, 2025 | | By: | /s/ Brian Wong |
| | | Brian Wong |
| | | President and Chief Executive Officer |
| | | (Principal Executive Officer) |
EX-31.2 Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Rodney Young, certify that:
1.I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc.;
2.Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5.The registrant’s other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
a)All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
b)Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
| | | |
Date: August 7, 2025 | | By: | /s/ Rodney Young |
| | | Rodney Young |
| | | Chief Financial Officer |
| | | (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) |
EX-32.1 Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
Pursuant to the requirement set forth in Rule 13a-14(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”) and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code (18 U.S.C. §1350), Brian Wong, Chief Executive Officer of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), and Rodney Young, Chief Financial Officer of the Company, each hereby certifies that, to the best of his or her knowledge:
1.The Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2025, to which this Certification is attached as Exhibit 32.1 (the “Periodic Report”), fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act; and
2.The information contained in the Periodic Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
In Witness Whereof, the undersigned have set their hands hereto as of the 7th day of August, 2025.
| | |
/s/ Brian Wong | | /s/ Rodney Young |
Brian Wong | | Rodney Young |
President and Chief Executive Officer | | Chief Financial Officer |
(Principal Executive Officer) | | (Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) |
This certification accompanies the Form 10-Q to which it relates, is not deemed filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (whether made before or after the date of the Form 10-Q), irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.