As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 30, 2022

Registration No. 333-            

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   33-0969592

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. employer

identification no.)

660 W. Germantown Pike, Suite 110

Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

  19462
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip code)

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2022 Inducement Plan

(Full title of plan)

Jacqueline Shea, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

660 West Germantown Pike, Suite 110

Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania 19462

(267) 440-4200

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Brian F. Leaf

Jeffrey Libson

Darah Protas

Cooley LLP

11951 Freedom Drive

Reston, VA 20190

(703) 456-8000

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer      Accelerated filer  
Non-accelerated filer      Smaller reporting company  
     Emerging growth company  

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

 

 

 


PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

 

Item 1.

Plan Information

Not required to be filed with this Registration Statement.

 

Item 2.

Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information

Not required to be filed with this Registration Statement.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

Item 3.

Incorporation of Documents by Reference

The following documents, which have previously been filed by Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Corporation”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), are incorporated by reference herein and shall be deemed to be a part hereof:

 

   

the Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022 (the “2021 Form 10-K”);

 

   

the Corporation’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on May 10, 2022;

 

   

the information specifically incorporated by reference into the 2021 Form 10-K from the Corporation’s definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the SEC on March 25, 2022;

 

   

the Corporation’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on May  10, 2022 (except for the information furnished under Items 2.02 and 7.01 therein) and May  17, 2022;

 

   

the description of the Corporation’s common stock set forth in the Corporation’s registration statement on Form 8-A filed with the SEC on September 12, 2014, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description, including Exhibit 4.3 to the 2021 Form 10-K.

The Corporation also incorporates by reference any future filings (other than current reports furnished under Item 2.02 or Item 7.01 of Form 8-K and exhibits filed on such form that are related to such items unless such Form 8-K expressly provides to the contrary) made with the SEC pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Information in such future filings updates and supplements the information provided in this prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Any statements in any such future filings will automatically be deemed to modify and supersede any information in any document the Corporation previously filed with the SEC that is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference to the extent that statements in the later filed document modify or replace such earlier statements.

 

Item 4.

Description of Securities

Not applicable.


Item 5.

Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

None.

 

Item 6.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Section 102 of the Delaware General Corporation Law allows a corporation to eliminate the personal liability of directors of a corporation to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for a breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except where the director breached his duty of loyalty, failed to act in good faith, engaged in intentional misconduct or knowingly violated a law, authorized the payment of a dividend or approved a stock repurchase in violation of Delaware corporate law or obtained an improper personal benefit.

Under Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, we have broad powers to indemnify our directors and officers against liabilities they may incur in such capacities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. Section 145 of the DGCL generally provides that a Delaware corporation has the power to indemnify its present and former directors, officers, employees and agents against expenses incurred by them in connection with any suit to which they are or are threatened to be made, a party by reason of their serving in such positions so long as they acted in good faith and in a manner they reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation and, with respect to any criminal action, they had no reasonable cause to believe their conduct was unlawful.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that, pursuant to the DGCL, our directors shall not be liable for monetary damages for breach of the directors’ fiduciary duty of care to us and our stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws provide that we will indemnify, to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of our company, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director or officer or in any other capacity while serving as a director or officer against all expenses, liability and loss reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith.

We believe that these provisions of our certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws are necessary to attract and retain qualified persons as directors and officers. These provisions do not eliminate our directors’ or officers’ duty of care, and, in appropriate circumstances, equitable remedies such as injunctive or other forms of non-monetary relief will remain available under the DGCL. In addition, each director will continue to be subject to liability pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, for breach of such director’s duty of loyalty to us, for acts or omissions not in good faith or involving intentional misconduct, for knowing violations of law, for acts or omissions that such director believes to be contrary to our best interests or the best interests of our stockholders, for any transaction from which such director derived an improper personal benefit, for acts or omissions involving a reckless disregard for such director’s duty to us or to our stockholders when such director was aware or should have been aware of a risk of serious injury to us or to our stockholders, for acts or omission that constitute an unexcused pattern of inattention that amounts to an abdication of such director’s duty to us or to our stockholders, for improper transactions between such director and us and for improper loans to directors and officers. These provisions also do not affect a director’s responsibilities under any other law, such as the federal securities law or state or federal environmental laws.

As permitted by Delaware law, we have entered into indemnification agreements with certain of our current directors and officers pursuant to the foregoing provisions. We have an insurance policy covering our officers and directors with respect to certain liabilities, including liabilities arising under the Securities Act or otherwise.

 

Item 7.

Exemption from Registration Claimed

Not applicable.


Item 8.

Exhibits

 

Exhibit
No.

   Description of Exhibit
    4.1    Certificate of Incorporation with all amendments (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the registrant’s registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-197584), filed on July 23, 2014).
    4.2    Amended and Restated Bylaws of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. dated August  10, 2011 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the registrant’s current report on Form 8-K filed on August 12, 2011).
    5.1    Opinion of Cooley LLP.
  23.1    Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting firm.
  23.2    Consent of Cooley LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).
  24.1    Powers of Attorney (included on signature page).
  99.1    Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2022 Inducement Plan.
  99.2    Form of Option Grant Package under 2022 Inducement Plan.
  99.3    Form of RSU Grant Package under 2022 Inducement Plan.
107    Filing Fee Table

 

Item 9.

Undertakings

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

(a) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

 

  i.

To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

 

  ii.

To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement.

 

  iii.

To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;

Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i) and (a)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to section 13 or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement.

(b) That for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.


The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Plymouth Meeting, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, on the 30th day of June, 2022.

 

INOVIO PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
By:  

/s/ Jacqueline Shea

  Jacqueline Shea
  President and Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Jacqueline Shea, Peter Kies and Robert Crotty, and each of them, as such person’s true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution, for such person, and in such person’s name, place and stead, in any and all capacities to sign any or all amendments or post-effective amendments to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises, as fully to all intents and purposes as such person might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them or their substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature    Title   Date

/s/ Jacqueline Shea

Jacqueline Shea

   President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
(Principal Executive Officer)
  June 30, 2022

/s/ Simon X. Benito

Simon X. Benito

   Chairman of the Board of Directors   June 30, 2022

/s/ Peter Kies

Peter Kies

   Chief Financial Officer (Principal Accounting Officer and Principal Financial Officer)   June 30, 2022

/s/ Roger D. Dansey

Roger D. Dansey

   Director   June 30, 2022

/s/ Ann C. Miller

Ann C. Miller

   Director   June 30, 2022

/s/ Jay Shepard

Jay Shepard

   Director   June 30, 2022

/s/ David B. Weiner

David B. Weiner

   Director   June 30, 2022

/s/ Wendy L. Yarno

Wendy L. Yarno

   Director   June 30, 2022

/s/ Lota S. Zoth

Lota S. Zoth

   Director   June 30, 2022
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