Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stockholders' Equity

v3.22.1
Stockholders' Equity
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022
Stockholders' Equity  
Stockholders' Equity

Note 6 – Stockholders’ Equity

Common Stock

At the Company’s 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 9, 2021, its stockholders approved an amendment to its certificate of incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of common stock available to issue by 40,000,000 to 135,000,000 with a par value of $0.0001 per share, of which 7,000,000 shares are designated as “Class A common stock.” The amendment was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on June 10, 2021.

As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, there were 7,000,000 shares of Class A common stock issued and outstanding to Fortress. Dividends are to be distributed pro-rata to the Class A and common stockholders. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share of common stock held. The Class A common stockholders are entitled to a number of votes per share equal to 1.1 times a fraction, the numerator of which is the sum of the shares of outstanding common stock and the denominator of which is the number of shares of Class A common stock. Accordingly, the holder of shares of Class A common stock will be able to control or significantly influence all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers or other business combination transactions. Each share of Class A common stock is convertible, at the option of the holder thereof, into one (1) fully paid and non-assessable share of common stock subject to adjustment for stock splits and combinations.

In November 2020, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (the “S-3”), which was declared effective in December 2020. Under the S-3, the Company may sell up to a total of $100 million of its securities. In connection with the S-3, the Company entered into an ATM with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC (each an “Agent” and collectively, the “Agents”) relating to the sale of shares of common stock. Under the ATM, the Company pays the Agents a commission rate of up to 3.0% of the gross proceeds from the sale of any shares of common stock.

During the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company sold a total of 3,741,939 shares of common stock under the ATM, at an average selling price of $2.19 per share, resulting in aggregate total gross proceeds of approximately $8.2 million and net proceeds of approximately $8.0 million after deducting approximately $0.2 million in commissions and other transaction costs.

Pursuant to the Founders Agreement, the Company issued to Fortress 2.5% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock issued in the offering noted above. Accordingly, the Company issued 93,542 shares of common stock to Fortress and recorded expense of approximately $196,000 related to these stock grants, which is included in general and administrative expenses in the Company’s Condensed Statements of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Pursuant to the Founders Agreement, the Company issued 2,121,422 shares of common stock to Fortress for the Annual Equity Fee, representing 2.5% of the fully diluted outstanding equity of Checkpoint on January 1, 2022 (see Notes 2 and 4).

As of March 31, 2022, approximately $46.4 million of securities remain available for sale under the S-3. The Company may offer the securities under the S-3 from time to time in response to market conditions or other circumstances if it believes such a plan of financing is in the best interests of its stockholders.

Equity Incentive Plan

The Company has in effect the Amended and Restated 2015 Incentive Plan (“2015 Incentive Plan”). The 2015 Incentive Plan was adopted in March 2015 by our stockholders. Under the 2015 Incentive Plan, the compensation committee of the Company’s board of directors is authorized to grant stock-based awards to directors, officers, employees and consultants. An amendment to the 2015 Incentive Plan was approved by stockholders in June 2020 to increase the shares available for issuance to 9,000,000 shares. The plan expires 10 years from the effective date of the amendment and limits the term of each option to no more than 10 years from the date of grant.

As of March 31, 2022, 2,755,185 shares are available for issuance under the 2015 Incentive Plan.

Restricted Stock

Certain employees, directors and consultants have been awarded restricted stock. The restricted stock vesting consists of milestone and time-based vesting. The following table summarizes restricted stock award activity for the three months ended March 31, 2022:

Weighted Average

Number of

Grant Date Fair

    

Shares

    

Value  

Non-vested at December 31, 2021

4,512,701

$

3.35

Granted

968,500

2.53

Forfeited

(50,000)

2.53

Vested

(1,984,610)

3.67

Non-vested at March 31, 2022

3,446,591

$

2.95

As of March 31, 2022, there was $4.4 million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested restricted stock, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.1 years. This amount does not include, as of March 31, 2022, 513,334 shares of restricted stock outstanding which are performance-based and vest upon achievement of certain corporate milestones. The expense for time-based vesting awards is recognized over the vesting period of the award. Stock-based compensation for milestone awards will be measured and recorded if and when it is probable that the milestone will be achieved.

Stock Options

The following table summarizes stock option award activity for the three months ended March 31, 2022:

Weighted Average 

Remaining

Weighted Average 

 Contractual Life

    

Stock Options 

    

Exercise Price

    

(in years)

Outstanding as of December 31, 2021

270,000

$

3.14

7.44

Granted

Outstanding as of March 31, 2022

270,000

$

3.14

7.19

Vested and exercisable as of March 31, 2022

135,000

$

2.32

7.53

Upon the exercise of stock options, the Company will issue new shares of its common stock.

The Company used the Black-Scholes option pricing model for determining the estimated fair value of stock-based compensation related to stock options. The table below summarizes the assumptions used:

For the Three Months Ended March 31,

 

    

2022

    

2021

 

Risk-free interest rate

 

%

1.04

%

Expected dividend yield

 

Expected term in years

 

10.0

Expected volatility

 

%

102.71

%

Warrants

A summary of warrant activities for the three months ended March 31, 2022 is presented below:

Weighted Average 

Remaining

Weighted Average 

Contractual Life

    

Warrants 

    

Exercise Price 

    

(in years)

Outstanding as of December 31, 2021

12,493

$

0.00

3.83

Exercised

Outstanding as of March 31, 2022

12,493

$

0.00

3.58

Upon the exercise of warrants, the Company will issue new shares of its common stock.

Stock-Based Compensation

The following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 ($ in thousands):

For the three months ended March 31, 

    

2022

    

2021

Research and development

$

247

$

161

General and administrative

 

528

 

613

Total stock-based compensation expense

$

775

$

774