The rights of holders of our common stock will be subject to, and could be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of our outstanding preferred stock and any stock that may be issued in the future.
Our board of directors has authority, without further stockholder approval, to issue additional shares of preferred stock with such rights, preferences and privileges as our board may determine. These rights, preferences and privileges may include dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights and liquidation rights that may be greater than the rights of our common stock.
Our board of directors has previously approved, pursuant to this authority, the issuance of preferred stock, and we have 435 shares of Series F Preferred Stock and 488,090 shares of Series H Preferred Stock outstanding as of April 30, 2020. As described therein, upon liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the Company, holders of our Series F Preferred Stock have the right to receive, out of the assets, whether capital or surplus, of the Company an amount equal to the par value, plus any accrued and unpaid dividends thereon, for each share of such preferred stock held by such holder before any distribution or payment shall be made to the holders of our common stock, and, following such payment, such holders are entitled to receive the same amount that a holder of common stock would receive if such preferred stock was fully converted, pari passu with all the holders of common stock.
Our board of directors may issue additional series of preferred stock. As a result, the rights of holders of our capital stock will be subject to, and could be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of any stock that may be issued in the future.
We have a large number of authorized but unissued shares of stock, which could negatively affect a potential investor if they purchase our common stock.
On January 2, 2019, we effected a 1-for-14 reverse split of our outstanding common stock. This reverse stock split did not change the par value of our common stock or the number of common or preferred shares authorized by the Certificate of Incorporation. Because the number of authorized shares of our common stock was not reduced proportionately, the reverse stock split increased our board of directors’ ability to issue authorized and unissued shares without further stockholder action. As of April 30, 2020, our Certificate of Incorporation provides for 100,000,000 shares of authorized common stock and 40,000,000 shares of authorized preferred stock, 30,000 of which are designated Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock, 435 of which are designated Series F Preferred Stock and 488,090 of which are designated Series H Preferred Stock, and we have 35,071,753 shares of common stock outstanding, 62,755,135 shares reserved for issuance upon the conversion, exercise or vesting of outstanding preferred stock, warrants and options, and shares of common stock reserved for future grant under the Company’s equity incentive plans.
With respect to authorized but unissued and unreserved shares, we could also use such shares to oppose a hostile takeover attempt or delay or prevent changes in control or changes in or removal of management. The issuance of additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into common stock may have a dilutive effect on earnings per share and relative voting power and may cause a decline in the trading price of our common stock. We could use the shares that are available for future issuance in dilutive equity financing transactions, or to oppose a hostile takeover attempt or delay or prevent changes in control or changes in or removal of management, including transactions that are favored by a majority of the stockholders or in which the stockholders might otherwise receive a premium for their shares over then-current market prices or benefit in some other manner.
The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly, which may make it difficult for you to resell shares of common stock at prices you find attractive, or at all.
The price of our common stock constantly changes. The price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly for many reasons, including the following:
• | future announcements concerning us, including our clinical and product development strategy, or our competitors; |
• | regulatory developments, disclosure regarding completed, ongoing or future clinical studies and enforcement actions bearing on advertising, marketing or sales; |
• | reports and recommendations of analysts and whether or not we meet the milestones and metrics set forth in such reports; |