SER Serina Therapeutics Inc

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

 

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): November 26, 2024

 

Serina Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware		1-38519		82-1436829
(State or other jurisdiction		(Commission		(IRS Employer
of incorporation)		File Number)		Identification No.)

 

601 Genome Way, Suite 2001

Huntsville, Alabama 35806

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

(256) 327-9630

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

Not applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class		Trading Symbol		Name of exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share		SER		NYSE American

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☒

 

 

 

Item 1.01

Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement

 

On November 26, 2024, Serina Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) with Juvenescence Limited and JuvVentures (UK) Limited (including its successors and assigns, “Juvenescence”) pursuant to which Juvenescence purchased shares of the Company’s common stock, $0.0001 par value (the “Common Stock”) and warrants to purchase Common Stock for cash and the surrender by Juvenescence of certain previously issued warrants. The Agreement also provided for certain amendments to that certain Letter Agreement, dated August 29, 2023, between the Company and Juvenescence (the “Letter Agreement”), as described below.

 

Purchase and Sale of Common Stock and Incentive Warrants

 

Pursuant to the Agreement, Juvenescence agreed to purchase from the Company 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock at the purchase price of $10.00 per share, for an aggregate amount of $10 million in two tranches as described below, along with warrants to purchase an additional 755,728 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $18.00 per share (the “Replacement Incentive Warrants”). The Replacement Incentive Warrants expire on March 26, 2028, and have substantially the same terms and conditions as the surrendered Incentive Warrants (as defined below).

 

The closing on the first tranche of 500,000 shares of Common Stock for an aggregate of $5 million occurred on November 27, 2024. In connection with the first tranche closing, Juvenescence pledged 122,136 shares of Common Stock to the Company as security for the closing of the second tranche. If the second tranche closing does not occur on or before January 31, 2025, due to Juvenescence’s failure to comply with the terms of the Agreement, then the pledged shares will be transferred to the Company.

 

Under the Agreement, Juvenescence also agreed to purchase the second tranche of 500,000 shares of Common Stock and the corresponding Replacement Incentive Warrants for a second aggregate payment of $5 million.

 

The Agreement requires that the Company file a registration statement on or before April 2, 2025, to register Juvenescence’s resale of the shares issued pursuant to the Agreement and upon the exercise of the Replacement Warrants.

 

Surrender of Post-Merger Warrants

 

In consideration for the Agreement, Juvenescence surrendered to the Company 755,728 warrants (the “Post-Merger Warrants”) issued to Juvenescence pursuant to that certain warrant agreement, dated March 19, 2024, by and between the Company and Equiniti Trust Company, LLC (the “Warrant Agreement”), including all underlying Incentive Warrants (as defined in the Warrant Agreement) issuable upon exercise thereof. Upon surrender, the Company cancelled of the surrendered Post-Merger and Incentive Warrants.

 

Amendment to Letter Agreement

 

The stock purchases by Juvenescence under the Agreement are in lieu of future required exercises by Juvenescence of the Post-Merger Warrants pursuant to the Letter Agreement, which would have resulted in similar proceeds to the Company but at later dates. Accordingly, the Letter Agreement was amended to delete the requirements for Juvenescence to exercise the Post-Merger Warrants in Section 2 of the Letter Agreement.

 

Relationships between the Company and Juvenescence

 

Juvenescence is the largest holder of the Company’s Common Stock and, under the Letter Agreement, has appointed Greg Bailey and Richard Marshall as its designees to the Company’s Board of Directors. Additional information about the relationships among the Company, Juvenescence, and Messrs. Bailey and Marshall is described under note 4, Related Party Transactions, in the Notes to Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2024, which description is hereby incorporated by reference.

 

 

Because of the relationships among the Company, Juvenescence, and Messrs. Bailey and Marshall, in considering the Agreement, the Company’s Board of Directors established and delegated to a special committee comprised solely of independent and disinterested directors (the “Special Committee”) the power and authority to evaluate, negotiate and approve, or decline to approve, the Agreement and the related transactions. On November 26, 2024, the Special Committee approved the execution and delivery by the Company of the Agreement and the related transactions, including for purposes of the Company’s Related Person Transaction Policy.

 

Item 3.02

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

 

The disclosures set forth in Item 1.01 above are incorporated by reference into this Item 3.02. The shares of Common Stock issued under the Agreement were, and the shares of Common Stock issuable under the Agreement and upon exercise of the Replacement Incentive Warrants will be, issued pursuant to the exemption from securities registration afforded by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Rule 506(b) of Regulation D as promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act.

 

Item 8.01

Other Events

 

On December 2, 2024, the Company issued a press release, a copy of which is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and incorporated by reference into this Item 8.01, announcing that the Company had entered into the Agreement.

 

Item 9.01

Financial Statements and Exhibits

 

(d) Exhibits

 

Exhibit Number		Exhibit Description
99.1		Press Release, dated December 2, 2024, issued by Serina Therapeutics, Inc.
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

 

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 hereunto duly authorized.

 

	SERINA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
Date: December 2, 2024	By:	/s/ Steve Ledger
		Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

Serina Therapeutics Secures $10 Million Financing to Continue Advancing Lead IND Candidate

into Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Advanced Parkinson’s Disease Patients

 

HUNTSVILLE, December 2, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Serina Therapeutics, Inc. (“Serina”) (NYSE American: SER), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, today announced a $10 million equity financing with strategic shareholder JuvVentures (UK) Limited. The transaction provides Serina with funding to continue advancing SER-252 (POZ-apomorphine), enabled by its proprietary POZ Platform™ drug optimization technology, into a Phase 1 clinical trial in advanced Parkinson’s disease patients in the second half of 2025.

 

Under the terms of the funding agreement, Serina will issue one million shares of common stock at $10 per share, a 120% premium to the closing price on November 26, 2024. The financing will be delivered in two tranches: the first $5.0 million tranche was received November 27, 2024, and the second $5.0 million tranche by January 31, 2025. Serina filed a Form 8-K with the SEC on December 2, 2024 that provides additional information regarding this transaction.

 

About SER-252 (POZ-apomorphine)

 

SER 252 is an investigational apomorphine therapy developed with Serina’s POZ platform and designed to provide continuous dopaminergic stimulation (CDS). CDS has been shown to reduce the severity of levodopa-related motor complications (dyskinesia) and enable greater on time, with reduced off time, in advanced Parkinson’s patients. SER-252 leverages strategic partner Enable Injections’ enFuse™ wearable drug delivery platform to enhance patient comfort and convenience, providing CDS to patients via an easy-to-administer, long-acting subcutaneous injection without skin reactions.

 

About the POZ Platform™

 

Serina’s proprietary POZ technology is based on a synthetic, water soluble, low viscosity polymer called poly(2-oxazoline). Serina’s POZ technology is engineered to provide greater control in drug loading and more precision in the rate of release of attached drugs delivered via subcutaneous injection. The therapeutic agents in Serina’s product candidates are typically well-understood and marketed drugs that are effective but are limited by pharmacokinetic profiles that can include toxicity, side effects and short half-life. Serina believes that by using POZ technology, drugs with narrow therapeutic windows can be designed to maintain more desirable and stable levels in the blood.

 

Serina’s POZ platform delivery technology has potential for use across a broad range of payloads and indications. Serina intends to advance additional applications of the POZ platform via out-licensing, co-development, or other partnership arrangements, including the non-exclusive license agreement with Pfizer, Inc. to use Serina’s POZ polymer technology for use in lipid nanoparticle drug (LNP) delivery formulations.

 

About Serina Therapeutics

 

Serina is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of wholly owned drug product candidates to treat neurological diseases and other indications. Serina’s POZ Platform^TM provides the potential to improve the integrated efficacy and safety profile of multiple modalities including small molecules, RNA-based therapeutics and antibody-based drug conjugates (ADCs). Serina is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama on the campus of the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology.

 

For more information, please visit https://serinatherapeutics.com.

 

 

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statement

 

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements are based on management’s current expectations, plans, beliefs or forecasts for the future, and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Any express or implied statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about the potential of Serina’s POZ polymer technology, are forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical endpoints, commencement and/or completion dates for clinical trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; the risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and results from our clinical studies; whether and when any applications may be filed for any drug or vaccine candidates in any jurisdictions; whether and when regulatory authorities may approve any potential applications that may be filed for any drug or vaccine candidates in any jurisdictions, which will depend on a myriad of factors, including making a determination as to whether the product’s benefits outweigh its known risks and determination of the product’s efficacy and, if approved, whether any such drug or vaccine candidates will be commercially successful; decisions by regulatory authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, safety and/or other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of any drug or vaccine candidates; and competitive developments. These risks as well as other risks are more fully discussed in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, the company’s Current Report on Form 8-K that was filed with the SEC on April 1, 2024, and the company’s other periodic reports and documents filed from time to time with the SEC.

 

The information contained in this release is as of the date hereof, and Serina assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.

 

For inquiries, please contact:

 

Investor.relations@serinatherapeutics.com

(256) 327-9630

 

 

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Cover	Nov. 26, 2024
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Entity Registrant Name	Serina Therapeutics, Inc.
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Entity Address, Address Line One	601 Genome Way
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