Item 1.01
Entry Into a Material Definitive Agreement.
On October 20, 2017, Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Sales Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Leerink Partners LLC (“Leerink”) with respect to an at the market offering program, under which the Company may, from time to time in its sole discretion, issue and sell through Leerink, acting as agent, up to $30.0 million of shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Placement Shares”). The issuance and sale, if any, of the Placement Shares by the Company under the Agreement will be made pursuant to a prospectus supplement to the Company’s registration statement on Form S-3, originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on December 1, 2016, and declared effective by the SEC on December 16, 2016.
Pursuant to the Agreement, Leerink may sell the Placement Shares by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at the market” offering as defined in Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), including, without limitation, sales made directly on or through the NASDAQ Global Market, on or through any other existing trading market for the Company’s common stock or to or through a market maker. Leerink will use commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices to sell the Placement Shares from time to time, based upon instructions from the Company (including any price or size limits or other customary parameters or conditions the Company may impose). Leerink shall not purchase any Placement Shares on a principal basis pursuant to the Agreement unless the Company and Leerink enter into a separate written agreement setting forth the terms of such sale.
The Company will pay Leerink a commission of 3.0% of the gross sales proceeds of any Placement Shares sold through Leerink, acting as agent, under the Agreement.
The Company is not obligated to make any sales of Placement Shares under the Agreement. The offering of Placement Shares pursuant to the Agreement will terminate upon the earlier to occur of (i) the issuance and sale, through Leerink, of all Placement Shares subject to the Agreement and (ii) termination of the Agreement in accordance with its terms.
The Agreement contains representations, warranties and covenants that are customary for transactions of this type. In addition, the Company has agreed to indemnify Leerink against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
The foregoing description of the Agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Agreement, a copy of which is filed herewith as Exhibit 1.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
The legal opinion of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP as to the legality of the Placement Shares is being filed as Exhibit 5.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
This Current Report on Form 8-K shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities discussed herein, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
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