Unassociated Document
As
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 2,
2009
Registration
No. 333-________
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON,
D. C. 20549
FORM
S-1
REGISTRATION
STATEMENT
UNDER
THE
SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
NEPHROS,
INC.
(Exact
name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware
|
3841
|
13-3971809
|
(State
or other jurisdiction of
incorporation
or organization)
|
(Primary
Standard Industrial
Classification
Code Number)
|
(I.
R. S. Employer
Identification
No. )
|
41
Grand Avenue
River
Edge, New Jersey 07661
(201)
343-5202
(Address,
including zip code, and telephone number,
including
area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)
Ernest
Elgin III
President
and Chief Executive Officer
Nephros,
Inc.
41
Grand Avenue
River
Edge, New Jersey 07661
(201)
343-5202
(Name,
address, including zip code, and telephone number,
including
area code, of agent for service)
Copies
to:
Alexander
M. Donaldson, Esq.
W. David
Mannheim, Esq.
Wyrick
Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP
4101
Lake Boone Trail, Suite 300
Raleigh,
North Carolina 27607
Telephone:
(919) 781-4000
Facsimile:
(919) 781-4865
Approximate date of commencement of
proposed sale to the public: As promptly as practicable after this
registration statement becomes effective and the satisfaction or waiver of
certain other conditions described herein.
If any of
the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or
continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, check the
following box. x
If this
Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule
462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities
Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration
statement for the same offering. ¨
If
this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the
Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration
statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same
offering. ¨
If
this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the
Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration
statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same
offering. ¨
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an
accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company.
See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated
filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange
Act.
Large
accelerated filer ¨
|
Accelerated
filer ¨
|
Non-accelerated
filer ¨ (Do not check if
smaller reporting company)
|
Smaller
reporting company x
|
CALCULATION
OF REGISTRATION FEE
Title of each class of
securities to be registered
|
|
Amount to be
registered(1)
|
|
|
Proposed maximum
aggregate
offering price
per unit (2)
|
|
|
Proposed
maximum
aggregate
offering price(2)
|
|
|
Amount of
registration fee(3)
|
|
Common
stock, $0.001 par value per share
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
Preferred
stock, $0.001 par value per share
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Warrants
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Units
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Total
|
|
$ |
100,000,000 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
$ |
100,000,000 |
|
|
$ |
5,580 |
|
(1)
|
There
are being registered hereunder such indeterminate number of shares of
common stock and preferred stock, such indeterminate number of warrants to
purchase common stock or preferred stock, and such indeterminate number of
units as shall have an aggregate initial offering price not to exceed
$100,000,000, less the aggregate dollar amount of all securities
previously issued hereunder. Any securities registered
hereunder may be sold separately or as units with the other securities
registered hereunder. The proposed maximum offering price per
unit will be determined, from time to time, by the Registrant in
connection with the issuance by the Registrant of the securities
registered hereunder. The securities registered hereunder also
include such indeterminate number of shares of common stock and preferred
stock as may be issued upon conversion of or exchange for preferred stock
that provide for conversion or exchange, upon exercise of warrants or
pursuant to the antidilution provisions of any of such
securities. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416 under the
Securities Act, the shares being registered hereunder include such
indeterminate number of shares of common stock and preferred stock as may
be issuable with respect to the shares being registered hereunder as a
result of stock splits, stock dividends or similar
transaction.
|
(2)
|
The
proposed maximum offering price per unit will be determined from time to
time by the Registrant in connection with, and at the time of, the
issuance of the securities and is not specified as to each class of
security pursuant to General Instruction II.D. of Form S-3, as
amended.
|
(3)
|
Calculated
pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
based on the proposed maximum aggregate offering price of all securities
listed.
|
The registrant hereby amends this
registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its
effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which
specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become
effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until
the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the
Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may
determine.
The
information in this prospectus is not complete and may be
changed. We may not sell these securities until the
registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell
these securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities
in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale is not
permitted.
|
SUBJECT
TO COMPLETION — DATED OCTOBER 2, 2009
PROSPECTUS
$100,000,000
Common
Stock
Preferred
Stock
Warrants
Units
From time to time, we may offer up to
$100,000,000 of any combination of the securities described in this prospectus,
either individually or in units, in one or more offerings
in amounts, at prices and on the terms that we will determine at the time of
offering. We may also offer common stock upon conversion of
preferred stock, or common stock or preferred stock upon the exercise of
warrants.
Each time we sell securities, we will
provide specific terms of the securities offered in a supplement to this
prospectus. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change
information contained in this prospectus. We will specify in any
accompanying prospectus supplement the terms of any offering. You
should read this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement, as well as
any documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus and any prospectus
supplement, carefully before you invest in any securities. This prospectus may not be used to
consummate a sale of securities unless accompanied by the applicable prospectus
supplement.
We will sell these securities directly
to our stockholders or to other purchasers or through agents on our behalf or
through underwriters or dealers as designated from time to time. If
any agents or underwriters are involved in the sale of any of these securities,
the applicable prospectus supplement will provide the names of the agents or
underwriters and any applicable fees, commissions or discounts.
Our
shares of common stock are quoted on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under
the symbol “NEPH.OB.” On September 30, 2009, the last reported sale
price of our common stock on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board was $1.42 per
share. We recommend that you obtain current market quotations for our
common stock prior to making an investment decision.
You are urged to carefully read this
prospectus, the prospectus supplement relating to any specific offering of
securities and all information incorporated by reference herein and
therein.
Investing in our securities involves a
high degree of risk. These risks are discussed in this prospectus
under “Risk Factors” beginning on page [6] and in the documents incorporated by
reference into this prospectus.
Neither the Securities and Exchange
Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of
these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The date
of this prospectus is [●], 2009.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS
|
1
|
PROSPECTUS SUMMARY
|
2
|
RISK FACTORS
|
6
|
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
|
21
|
USE OF PROCEEDS
|
22
|
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION
|
22
|
DESCRIPTION OF COMMON STOCK
|
23
|
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
STOCK
|
25
|
DESCRIPTION OF WARRANTS
|
26
|
DESCRIPTION OF UNITS
|
27
|
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
AND MANAGEMENT
|
28
|
LEGAL MATTERS
|
29
|
EXPERTS
|
29
|
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE
INFORMATION
|
29
|
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY
REFERENCE
|
29
|
DISCLOSURE OF SEC POSITION ON INDEMNIFICATION FOR
SECURITIES LAW VIOLATIONS
|
30
|
OLpur™
and H2H™ are
among our trademarks for which U.S. registrations are pending. H2H is a
registered European Union trademark. We have assumed that the reader understands
that these terms are source-indicating. Accordingly, such terms appear
throughout the remainder of this prospectus without trademark notices for
convenience only and should not be construed as being used in a descriptive or
generic sense.
ABOUT THIS
PROSPECTUS
This
prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, or SEC, utilizing a “shelf” registration
process. Under this shelf
registration process, we may offer shares of our common stock and preferred
stock and/or warrants to purchase any of such securities, either individually or
in units, in one or more offerings, up to a total dollar amount of
$100,000,000. This prospectus provides you with a general
description of the securities we may offer. Each time we offer a type
or series of securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus
supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that
offering.
This
prospectus does not contain all of the information included in the registration
statement. For a more complete understanding of the offering of the
securities, you should refer to the registration statement, including its
exhibits. Prospectus supplements may also add, update or change
information contained or incorporated by reference in this
prospectus. However, no prospectus supplement will fundamentally
change the terms that are set forth in this prospectus or offer a security that
is not registered and described in this prospectus at the time of its
effectiveness. This prospectus, together with the applicable
prospectus supplements and the documents incorporated by reference into this
prospectus, includes all material information relating to this
offering. You should carefully read this prospectus, the applicable
prospectus supplement, the information and documents incorporated herein by
reference and the additional information under the heading “Where You Can Find
More Information” before making an investment decision.
You
should rely only on the information we have provided or incorporated by
reference in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. We have
not authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that
contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. No dealer,
salesperson or other person is authorized to give any information or to
represent anything not contained or incorporated by reference in this
prospectus. You must not rely on any unauthorized information or
representation. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the
securities offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions
where it is lawful to do so. You should assume that the information
in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the date
on the front of the document and that any information we have incorporated
herein by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated
by reference, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any sale
of a security.
This
prospectus may not be used to consummate sales of our securities, unless it is
accompanied by a prospectus supplement. To the extent there are
inconsistencies between any prospectus supplement, this prospectus and any
documents incorporated by reference, the document with the most recent date will
control.
Unless
the context otherwise requires, “Nephros,” “the company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and
similar names refer to Nephros, Inc. and our subsidiary, Nephros International
Limited.
PROSPECTUS
SUMMARY
This
summary highlights information contained in other parts of this
prospectus. Because it is a summary, it does not contain all of the
information that is important to you. You should carefully read the
more detailed information contained or incorporated by reference in this
prospectus, including the section entitled “Risk Factors” on page [6 ] and
our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008, and the
quarter ended June 30, 2009, and related notes, which are
incorporated by reference. We refer to Nephros, Inc. and its
consolidated subsidiary as “Nephros”, the “Company”, “we”, “our”, and
“us”.
About
the Company
We are a
medical device company developing and marketing filtration products for
therapeutic applications, infection control, and water
purification.
Our
hemodiafiltration, or HDF, system is designed to improve the quality of life for
the End-Stage Renal Disease, or ESRD, patient while addressing the critical
financial and clinical needs of the care provider. ESRD is a disease state
characterized by the irreversible loss of kidney function. The Nephros HDF
system removes a range of harmful substances more effectively, and with greater
capacity, than existing ESRD treatment methods, particularly with respect to
substances known collectively as “middle molecules.” These molecules
have been found to contribute to such conditions as dialysis-related
amyloidosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, degenerative bone disease and, ultimately,
mortality in the ESRD patient. Nephros ESRD products are sold and distributed
throughout Europe and are currently being used in over 50 clinics in
Europe.
We
currently have three HDF products in various stages of development to deliver
improved therapy to ESRD patients:
|
·
|
OLpur
MDHDF filter series (which we sell in various countries in Europe and
currently consists of our MD190 and MD220 diafilters), which is, to our
knowledge, the only filter designed expressly for HDF therapy and
employing our proprietary Mid-Dilution Diafiltration
technology;
|
|
·
|
OLpur
H2H,
our add-on module designed to allow the most common types of hemodialysis
machines to be used for HDF therapy;
and
|
|
·
|
OLpur
NS2000 system, our stand-alone HDF machine and associated filter
technology.
|
We have
also developed our OLpur HD 190 high-flux dialyzer cartridge, which incorporates
the same materials as our OLpur MD series, but does not employ our proprietary
Mid-Dilution Diafiltration technology. Our OLpur HD190 was designed for use with
either hemodialysis or hemodiafiltration machines, and received its approval in
June 2005 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA , under Section
510(k) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or the FDC Act.
We
believe that products in our OLpur MDHDF filter series are more effective than
any products currently available for ESRD therapy because they are better at
removing certain larger toxins (known in the industry as “middle molecules”
because of their heavier molecular weight) from blood. The accumulation of
middle molecules in the blood has been related to such conditions as
malnutrition, impaired cardiac function, carpal tunnel syndrome, and
degenerative bone disease in the ESRD patient. We also believe that OLpur H2H will,
upon introduction, expand the use of HDF as a cost-effective and attractive
alternative for ESRD therapy, and that, if approved in 2009, our OLpur H2H and MDHDF
filters will be the first, and only, HDF therapy available in the United States
at that time.
We
submitted a 501(k) application for our OLpur H2H
hemodiafiltration module and OLpur MD220 hemodiafilter to the FDA in November
2008. Following its review of the application, the FDA requested
additional information from us. We replied to the FDA inquiries on
March 13, 2009. Per FDA guidelines, the FDA generally reviews
additional information within 90 days. As of the date of this
prospectus, we have not received a response from the FDA.
We
believe that our products will reduce hospitalization, medication and care costs
as well as improve patient health (including reduced drug requirements and
improved blood pressure profiles), and therefore, quality of life, by removing a
broad range of toxins through a more patient-friendly, better-tolerated process.
In addition, independent studies in Europe have indicated that, when compared
with dialysis as it is currently offered in the United States, HDF can reduce
the patient’s mortality risk by up to 35%. We believe that the OLpur MDHDF
filter series and the OLpur H2H will
provide these benefits to ESRD patients at competitive costs and without the
need for ESRD treatment providers to make significant capital expenditures in
order to use our products. We also believe that the OLpur NS2000 system, if
successfully developed, will be the most cost-effective stand-alone
hemodiafiltration system available.
In
January 2006, we introduced our new Dual Stage Ultrafilter, or DSU, water
filtration system. Our DSU represents a new and complementary product line to
our existing ESRD therapy business. The DSU incorporates our unique and
proprietary dual stage filter architecture and is, to our knowledge, the only
water filter that allows the user to sight-verify that the filter is properly
performing its cleansing function. Our research and development work on the
OLpur H2H and MD
Mid-Dilution filter technologies for ESRD therapy provided the foundation for a
proprietary multi-stage water filter that we believe is cost effective,
extremely reliable, and long-lasting. We believe our DSU can offer a robust
solution to a broad range of contaminated water and disease prevention issues.
Hospitals are particularly stringent in their water quality requirements;
transplant patients and other individuals whose immune systems are compromised
can face a substantial infection risk in drinking or bathing with standard tap
water that would generally not present a danger to individuals with normal
immune function. The DSU is designed to remove a broad range of bacteria, viral
agents and toxic substances, including salmonella, hepatitis, cholera, HIV,
Ebola virus, ricin toxin, legionella, fungi and e-coli. With over 5,000
registered hospitals in the United States alone (as reported by the American
Hospital Association in Fast Facts of October 20, 2006), we believe the hospital
shower and faucet market can offer us a valuable opportunity as a first step in
water filtration.
Due to
the ongoing concerns of maintaining water quality, on October 7, 2008, we filed
a 510(k) application for approval to market our DSU to dialysis clinics for
in-line purification of dialysate water. On July 1, 2009, the FDA approved
the DSU to be used to filter biological contaminants from water and dialysate
concentrate used in hemodialysis procedures.
In 2006,
the U.S. Defense Department budget included an appropriation for the U.S. Marine
Corps for development of a dual stage water ultra filter. In
connection with this Federal appropriation of approximately $1 million, we are
developing a personal potable water purification system for use by soldiers.
Work on this project commenced in January 2008 and we billed $196,000 during the
year ended December 31, 2008. In December 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense
Appropriations Act appropriated an additional $2 million to continue the
development of a dual stage ultra reliable personal water filtration
system. In August 2009, we were awarded a new $2 million research
contract from the Office of Naval Research, or ONR, for development of a potable
dual-stage military water purifying filter. The research contract was an
expansion of our current ONR contract which is being performed as part of the
Marine Corps Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) project. The primary
objective of this expanded research program is to select concepts and functional
prototype filter/pump units which were developed during the first phase of the
project, and further develop them into smaller field-testable devices that can
be used for military evaluation purposes. An advantage of the Nephros
ultrafilter is the removal of viruses which are not removed with commercially
available off-the-shelf microfilter devices. Such devices generally rely on a
secondary chemical disinfection step to make the water safe to drink. The
expanded ONR contract also includes research geared toward improving membrane
performance, improving device durability, developing larger squad-level water
purifier devices, and investigating desalination filter/pump devices for
emergency-use purposes. We have also introduced the DSU to various
government agencies as a solution to providing potable water in certain
emergency response situations. We believe that the military product
development efforts will have broad consumer applications as well and have begun
investigating a range of commercial, industrial and retail opportunities for our
DSU technology.
Recent
Developments
On July
24, 2009, we raised gross proceeds of $1,251,000 through the private placement
to eight accredited investors of an aggregate of 1,345,161 shares of our common
stock and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 672,581 shares of our common
stock, representing 50% of the shares of common stock purchased by each
investor. We sold the shares to investors at a price per share equal
to $0.93. The warrants have an exercise price of $1.12, are
exercisable immediately and will terminate on July 24, 2014. Each
investor agreed that it will not sell, pledge, sell short or otherwise dispose
of any of the purchased shares until January 31, 2010. The proceeds
from the private placement will be used for ongoing operations and other general
corporate purposes, including the launch of our recently FDA-approved Dual Stage
Ultrafilters and, if approved by the FDA, the preparation to launch our OLpur
MD220 Dialyzers and H2H Hemodiafiltration Module in the United
States.
Corporate
Information
We are
incorporated in Delaware and our principal executive offices are located at 41
Grand Avenue, River Edge, New Jersey 07661. Our telephone number is
(201) 343-5202 and our website address is
www.nephros.com. Information contained in, or accessible
through, our website does not constitute part of this prospectus.
Offerings
Under This Prospectus
We
may offer shares of our common stock and preferred stock and/or warrants to
purchase any of such securities, either individually or in units, with a total
value of up to $100,000,000 from time to time under this prospectus at prices
and on terms to be determined by market conditions at the time of any
offering. This prospectus provides you with a general description of
the securities we may offer. Each time we offer a type or series of
securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that
will describe the specific amounts, prices and other important terms of the
securities.
The
prospectus supplement also may add, update or change information contained in
this prospectus or in documents we have incorporated by reference into this
prospectus. However, no prospectus supplement will fundamentally change the
terms that are set forth in this prospectus or offer a security that is not
registered and described in this prospectus at the time of its
effectiveness.
This prospectus may not be used to
consummate a sale of any securities unless it is accompanied by a prospectus
supplement.
We may
sell the securities directly to investors or to or through agents, underwriters
or dealers. We, and our agents or underwriters, reserve the right to accept or
reject all or part of any proposed purchase of securities. If we offer
securities through agents or underwriters, we will include in the applicable
prospectus supplement:
|
·
|
the
names of those agents or
underwriters;
|
|
·
|
applicable
fees, discounts and commissions to be paid to
them;
|
|
·
|
details
regarding over-allotment options, if any;
and
|
|
·
|
the
net proceeds to us.
|
We
may issue shares of our common stock from time to time. The holders of common
stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by
stockholders. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding
preferred stock, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive ratably any
dividends that may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out
of funds legally available for that purpose. In the event of our liquidation,
dissolution or winding up, the holders of common stock are entitled to share
ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior
distribution rights of any preferred stock then outstanding.
Preferred
Stock
We may
issue shares of our preferred stock from time to time, in one or more
series. Our board of directors will determine the rights,
preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock, including
dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption,
liquidation preferences, sinking fund terms and the number of shares
constituting any series or the designation of such series, without any further
vote or action by stockholders. Convertible preferred stock will be convertible
into our common stock or exchangeable for our other securities. Conversion may
be mandatory or at your option or both and would be at prescribed conversion
rates.
If we
sell any series of preferred stock under this prospectus and applicable
prospectus supplements, we will fix the rights, preferences, privileges and
restrictions of the preferred stock of such series in the certificate of
designation relating to that series. We will file as an exhibit to
the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or will
incorporate by reference from reports that we file with the SEC, the form of any
certificate of designation that describes the terms of the series of preferred
stock we are offering before the issuance of the related series of preferred
stock. We urge you to read the applicable prospectus supplement related to the
series of preferred stock being offered, as well as the complete certificate of
designation that contains the terms of the applicable series of preferred
stock.
We
may issue warrants for the purchase of common stock or preferred stock in one or
more series. We may issue warrants independently or together with common stock
or preferred stock, and the warrants may be attached to or separate from these
securities. We will evidence each series of warrants by warrant
certificates that we will issue under a separate agreement. We may
enter into warrant agreements with a bank or trust company that we select to be
our warrant agent. We will indicate the name and address of the
warrant agent in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to a particular
series of warrants.
In this
prospectus, we have summarized certain general features of the warrants. We urge
you, however, to read the applicable prospectus supplement related to the
particular series of warrants being offered, as well as the warrant agreements
and warrant certificates that contain the terms of the warrants. We will file as
exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or
will incorporate by reference from a current report on Form 8-K that we file
with the SEC, the form of warrant agreement or warrant certificate containing
the terms of the warrants we are offering before the issuance of the
warrants.
We
may issue units consisting of common stock, preferred stock and/or warrants for
the purchase of common stock or preferred stock in one or more
series. In this prospectus, we have summarized certain general
features of the units. We urge you, however, to read the applicable
prospectus supplement related to the series of units being offered, as well as
the unit agreements that contain the terms of the units. We will file
as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part, or
will incorporate by reference reports that we file with the SEC, the form of
unit agreement and any supplemental agreements that describe the terms of the
series of units we are offering before the issuance of the related series of
units.
RISK
FACTORS
An
investment in shares of our common stock involves a high degree of
risk. You should consider carefully the following information about
these risks, together with the other information contained or incorporated by
reference in this prospectus, before you decide whether to buy our common
stock. The occurrence of any of the following risks could have a
material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
Risks
Related to Our Company
Our
independent registered public accountants, in their audit report related to our
financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2008, expressed substantial
doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
Our
independent registered public accounting firm has included an explanatory
paragraph in their report on our financial statements included in our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2008, expressing doubt as
to our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements included
in our Form 10-K were prepared assuming that we will continue as a going
concern, however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so. Our
recurring losses and difficulty in generating sufficient cash flow to meet our
obligations and sustain our operations, raises substantial doubt about our
ability to continue as a going concern, and our consolidated financial
statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of
this uncertainty. Based on our current cash flow projections, we will need to
raise additional funds through either the licensing or sale of our technologies
or the additional public or private offerings of our securities. However, there
is no guarantee that we will be able to obtain further financing, or do so on
reasonable terms. If we are unable to raise additional funds on a timely basis,
or at all, we would be materially adversely affected.
We
might require additional financing to fund operations or potential
acquisitions. If financing is not available, we might not be able to
grow as we plan.
At June
30, 2009, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling
approximately $890,000 million and tangible assets of approximately $2,340,000
million. In the future, we might be required to seek additional
financing to fund operations or potential acquisition
opportunities. Despite our recent private placement from which we
raised gross proceeds of $1,251,000, as described above under “Recent
Developments,” the recent downturn in the capital markets and the
general economic slowdown could prevent us from raising additional capital or
obtaining additional financing on favorable terms, if at all. If we
cannot raise sufficient capital, our ability to operate and to grow through
acquisitions or otherwise respond to competitive pressures would be
significantly limited.
We
have a history of operating losses and a significant accumulated deficit, and we
may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We have
not been profitable since our inception in 1997. As of June 30, 2009, we had an
accumulated deficit of $89,097,000 primarily as a result of our research and
development expenses and selling, general and administrative expenses and
non-cash expenses related to converted bonds in 2007. We expect to continue to
incur additional losses for the foreseeable future as a result of a high level
of operating expenses, significant up-front expenditures including the cost
of clinical trials, production and marketing activities and very limited revenue
from the sale of our products. We began sales of our first product in March
2004, and we may never realize sufficient revenues from the sale of our products
or be profitable. Each of the following factors, among others, may influence the
timing and extent of our profitability, if any:
|
·
|
the
completion and success of additional clinical trials and of our regulatory
approval processes for each of our ESRD therapy products in our target
territories;
|
|
·
|
the
market acceptance of HDF therapy in the United States and of our
technologies and products in each of our target
markets;
|
|
·
|
our
ability to effectively and efficiently manufacture, market and distribute
our products;
|
|
·
|
our
ability to sell our products at competitive prices which exceed our per
unit costs; and
|
|
·
|
the
consolidation of dialysis clinics into larger clinical
groups.
|
We
have limited experience selling our DSU water filtration system to dialysis
clinics, and we might be unsuccessful in increasing our sales.
Our
business strategy depends in part on our ability to sell our DSU water
filtration system to hospitals and other healthcare facilities that include
dialysis clinics. On July 1, 2009, we received approval from the FDA
to market our DSU to dialysis clinics. If we are unsuccessful at
manufacturing, marketing and selling our DSU, our operations and potential
revenues might be adversely affected.
Certain
customers individually account for a large portion of our product sales, and the
loss of any of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our
sales.
For the
year ended December 31, 2008, one of our customers accounted for 78% of our
product sales. Also, this customer represented 66% of our accounts receivable as
of December 31, 2008. We believe that the loss of this customer would have a
material adverse effect on our product sales, at least temporarily, while we
seek to replace such customer and/or self-distribute in the territories
currently served by such customer.
We
cannot sell our ESRD therapy products, including certain modifications thereto,
until we obtain the requisite regulatory approvals and clearances in the
countries in which we intend to sell our products. We have not obtained FDA
approval for any of our ESRD therapy products, except for our HD190 filter, and
cannot sell any of our other ESRD therapy products in the United States unless
and until we obtain such approval. If we fail to receive, or experience a
significant delay in receiving, such approvals and clearances then we may not be
able to get our products to market and enhance our revenues.
Our
business strategy depends in part on our ability to get our products into the
market as quickly as possible. We obtained the Conformité Européene, or CE,
mark, which demonstrates compliance with the relevant European Union
requirements and is a regulatory prerequisite for selling our products in the
European Union and certain other countries that recognize CE marking
(collectively, “European Community”), for our OLpur MDHDF filter series product
in 2003 and received CE marking in November 2006 for our water filtration
product, the Dual Stage Ultrafilter, or DSU. We have not yet obtained the CE
mark for any of our other products. Similarly, we cannot sell our ESRD therapy
products in the United States until we receive FDA clearance. Although we
received approval of our Investigational Device Exemption in March 2007 to begin
clinical trials in the United States, until we complete the requisite U.S. human
clinical trials and submit pre-market notification to the FDA pursuant to
Section 510(k) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, or FDC Act, or otherwise
comply with FDA requirements for a 510(k) approval, we will not be eligible for
FDA approval for any of our products, except for our HD190 filter.
In
addition to the pre-market notification required pursuant to Section 510(k) of
the FDC Act, the FDA could require us to obtain pre-market approval of our ESRD
therapy products under Section 515 of the FDC Act, either because of legislative
or regulatory changes or because the FDA does not agree with our determination
that we are eligible to use the Section 510(k) pre-market notification process.
The Section 515 pre-market approval process is a significantly more costly,
lengthy and uncertain approval process and could materially delay our products
coming to market. If we do obtain clearance for marketing of any of our devices
under Section 510(k) of the FDC Act, then any changes we wish to make to such
device that could significantly affect safety and effectiveness will require
clearance of a notification pursuant to Section 510(k), and we may need to
submit clinical and manufacturing comparability data to obtain such approval or
clearance. We could not market any such modified device until we received
FDA clearance or approval. We cannot guarantee that the FDA would timely, if at
all, clear or approve any modified product for which Section 510(k) is
applicable. Failure to obtain timely clearance or approval for changes to
marketed products would impair our ability to sell such products and generate
revenues in the United States.
The
clearance and/or approval processes in the European Community and in the United
States can be lengthy and uncertain, and each requires substantial commitments
of our financial resources and our management’s time and effort. We may not be
able to obtain further CE marking or any FDA approval for any of our ESRD
therapy products in a timely manner or at all. Even if we do obtain regulatory
approval, approval may be only for limited uses with specific classes of
patients, processes or other devices. Our failure to obtain, or delays in
obtaining, the necessary regulatory clearance and/or approvals with respect to
the European Community or the United States would prevent us from selling our
affected products in these regions. If we cannot sell some of our products in
these regions, or if we are delayed in selling while awaiting the necessary
clearance and/or approvals, our ability to generate revenues from these products
will be limited.
If we are
successful in our initial marketing efforts in some or all of our Target
European Market (consisting of France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the United
Kingdom (U.K.), as well as Cyprus, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) and the United States, then we plan to
market our ESRD therapy products in several countries outside of our Target
European Market and the United States, including Korea, China, Canada and
Mexico. Requirements pertaining to the sale of medical devices vary
widely from country to country. It may be very expensive and
difficult for us to meet the requirements for the sale of our ESRD therapy
products in many of these countries. As a result, we may not be able to obtain
the required approvals in a timely manner, if at all. If we cannot sell our ESRD
therapy products outside of our Target European Market and the United States,
then the size of our potential market could be reduced, which would limit our
potential sales and revenues.
Clinical
studies required for our ESRD therapy products are costly and time-consuming,
and their outcome is uncertain.
Before
obtaining regulatory approvals for the commercial sale of any of our ESRD
therapy products in the United States and elsewhere, we must demonstrate through
clinical studies that our products are safe and effective. We received
conditional approval for our IDE application from the FDA to begin human
clinical trials of our OLpur H2H
hemodiafiltration module and OLpur MD220 hemodiafilter. We were granted this
approval on the condition that, by March 5, 2007, we submit a response to two
informational questions from the FDA. We have responded to these questions. We
obtained approval from Western IRB, Inc., which enabled us to proceed with our
clinical trial. We completed the patient treatment phase of our
clinical trial during the second quarter of 2008. We submitted our data to the
FDA in November 2008 with our 510(k) application for these
products. Following its review of the application, the FDA requested
additional information from us. We replied to the FDA inquiries on
March 13, 2009. Per FDA guidelines, the FDA generally reviews
additional information within 90 days. As of the date of this
prospectus, we have not received a response from the FDA.
For
products other than those for which we have already received marketing approval,
if we do not prove in clinical trials that our ESRD therapy products are safe
and effective, we will not obtain marketing approvals from the FDA and other
applicable regulatory authorities. In particular, one or more of our ESRD
therapy products may not exhibit the expected medical benefits, may cause
harmful side effects, may not be effective in treating dialysis patients or may
have other unexpected characteristics that preclude regulatory approval for any
or all indications of use or limit commercial use if approved. The length of
time necessary to complete clinical trials varies significantly and is difficult
to predict. Factors that can cause delay or termination of our clinical trials
include:
|
·
|
slower
than expected patient enrollment due to the nature of the protocol, the
proximity of subjects to clinical sites, the eligibility criteria for the
study, competition with clinical trials for similar devices or other
factors;
|
|
·
|
lower
than expected retention rates of subjects in a clinical
trial;
|
|
·
|
inadequately
trained or insufficient personnel at the study site to assist in
overseeing and monitoring clinical
trials;
|
|
·
|
delays
in approvals from a study site’s review board, or other required
approvals;
|
|
·
|
longer
treatment time required to demonstrate
effectiveness;
|
|
·
|
lack
of sufficient supplies of the ESRD therapy
product;
|
|
·
|
adverse
medical events or side effects in treated subjects;
and
|
|
·
|
lack
of effectiveness of the ESRD therapy product being
tested.
|
Even if
we obtain positive results from clinical studies for our products, we may not
achieve the same success in future studies of such products. Data obtained from
clinical studies are susceptible to varying interpretations that could delay,
limit or prevent regulatory approval. In addition, we may encounter delays or
rejections based upon changes in FDA policy for device approval during the
period of product development and FDA regulatory review of each submitted new
device application. We may encounter similar delays in foreign countries.
Moreover, regulatory approval may entail limitations on the indicated uses of
the device. Failure to obtain requisite governmental approvals or failure to
obtain approvals of the scope requested will delay or preclude our licensees or
marketing partners from marketing our products or limit the commercial use of
such products and will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial
condition and results of operations.
In
addition, some or all of the clinical trials we undertake may not demonstrate
sufficient safety and efficacy to obtain the requisite regulatory approvals,
which could prevent or delay the creation of marketable products. Our product
development costs will increase if we have delays in testing or approvals, if we
need to perform more, larger or different clinical trials than planned or if our
trials are not successful. Delays in our clinical trials may harm our financial
results and the commercial prospects for our products. Additionally, we may be
unable to complete our clinical trials if we are unable to obtain additional
capital.
We
may be required to design and conduct additional clinical trials.
We may be
required to design and conduct additional clinical trials to further demonstrate
the safety and efficacy of our ESRD therapy product, which may result in
significant expense and delay. The FDA and foreign regulatory authorities may
require new or additional clinical trials because of inconclusive results from
current or earlier clinical trials, a possible failure to conduct clinical
trials in complete adherence to FDA good clinical practice standards and similar
standards of foreign regulatory authorities, the identification of new clinical
trial endpoints, or the need for additional data regarding the safety or
efficacy of our ESRD therapy products. It is possible that the FDA or foreign
regulatory authorities may not ultimately approve our products for commercial
sale in any jurisdiction, even if we believe future clinical results are
positive.
We
cannot assure you that our ESRD therapy products will be safe, and we are
required under applicable law to report any product-related deaths or serious
injuries or product malfunctions that could result in deaths or serious
injuries, and such reports could trigger recalls, class action lawsuits and
other events that could cause us to incur expenses and may also limit our
ability to generate revenues from such products.
We cannot
assure you that our ESRD therapy products will be safe. Under the FDC Act, we
are required to submit medical device reports, or MDRs, to the FDA to report
device-related deaths, serious injuries and product malfunctions that could
result in death or serious injury if they were to recur. Depending on their
significance, MDRs could trigger events that could cause us to incur expenses
and may also limit our ability to generate revenues from such products, such as
the following:
|
·
|
information
contained in the MDRs could trigger FDA regulatory actions such as
inspections, recalls and patient/physician
notifications;
|
|
·
|
because
the reports are publicly available, MDRs could become the basis for
private lawsuits, including class actions;
and
|
|
·
|
if
we fail to submit a required MDR to the FDA, the FDA could take
enforcement action against us.
|
If any of
these events occur, then we could incur significant expenses, and it could
become more difficult for us to gain market acceptance of our ESRD therapy
products and to generate revenues from sales. Other countries may impose
analogous reporting requirements that could cause us to incur expenses and may
also limit our ability to generate revenues from sales of our ESRD therapy
products.
Product
liability associated with the production, marketing and sale of our products,
and/or the expense of defending against claims of product liability, could
materially deplete our assets and generate negative publicity which could impair
our reputation.
The
production, marketing and sale of kidney dialysis and water-filtration products
have inherent risks of liability in the event of product failure or claim of
harm caused by product operation. Furthermore, even meritless claims of product
liability may be costly to defend against. Although we have acquired product
liability insurance in the amount of $5,000,000 for our products, we may not be
able to maintain or obtain this insurance on acceptable terms or at all. Because
we may not be able to obtain insurance that provides us with adequate protection
against all potential product liability claims, a successful claim in excess of
our insurance coverage could materially deplete our assets. Moreover, even if we
are able to obtain adequate insurance, any claim against us could generate
negative publicity, which could impair our reputation and adversely affect the
demand for our products, our ability to generate sales and our
profitability.
Some of
the agreements that we may enter into with manufacturers of our products and
components of our products may require us:
|
·
|
to
obtain product liability insurance;
or
|
|
·
|
to
indemnify manufacturers against liabilities resulting from the sale of our
products.
|
For
example, the agreement with our contract manufacturer, or CM, requires that we
obtain and maintain certain minimum product liability insurance coverage and
that we indemnify our CM against certain liabilities arising out of our products
that they manufacture, provided they do not arise out of our CM’s breach of the
agreement, negligence or willful misconduct. If we are not able to obtain and
maintain adequate product liability insurance, then we could be in breach of
these agreements, which could materially adversely affect our ability to produce
our products and generate revenues. Even if we are able to obtain and maintain
product liability insurance, if a successful claim in excess of our insurance
coverage is made, then we may have to indemnify some or all of our manufacturers
for their losses, which could materially deplete our assets.
If
we violate any provisions of the FDC Act or any other statutes or regulations,
then we could be subject to enforcement actions by the FDA or other governmental
agencies.
We face a
significant compliance burden under the FDC Act and other applicable statutes
and regulations which govern the testing, labeling, storage, record keeping,
distribution, sale, marketing, advertising and promotion of our ESRD therapy
products. If we violate the FDC Act or other regulatory requirements at any time
during or after the product development and/or approval process, we could be
subject to enforcement actions by the FDA or other agencies,
including:
|
·
|
recalls
or seizures of products;
|
|
·
|
total
or partial suspension of the production of our
products;
|
|
·
|
withdrawal
of any existing approvals or pre-market clearances of our
products;
|
|
·
|
refusal
to approve or clear new applications or notices relating to our
products;
|
|
·
|
recommendations
by the FDA that we not be allowed to enter into government contracts;
and
|
Any of
the above could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial
condition and results of operations.
Significant
additional governmental regulation could subject us to unanticipated delays
which would adversely affect our sales and revenues.
Our
business strategy depends in part on our ability to get our products into the
market as quickly as possible. Additional laws and regulations, or changes to
existing laws and regulations that are applicable to our business may be enacted
or promulgated, and the interpretation, application or enforcement of the
existing laws and regulations may change. We cannot predict the nature of any
future laws, regulations, interpretations, applications or enforcements or the
specific effects any of these might have on our business. Any future laws,
regulations, interpretations, applications or enforcements could delay or
prevent regulatory approval or clearance of our products and our ability to
market our products. Moreover, changes that result in our failure to comply with
the requirements of applicable laws and regulations could result in the types of
enforcement actions by the FDA and/or other agencies as described above, all of
which could impair our ability to have manufactured and to sell the affected
products.
Access
to the appropriations from the U.S. Department of Defense regarding the
development of a dual-stage water ultrafilter could be subject to unanticipated
delays or non-renewal which could adversely affect our potential
revenues.
Our
business strategy with respect to our DSU products depends in part on the
successful development of DSU products for use by the military. Beginning in
January 2008, we have contracted with the U.S. Office of Naval Research to
develop a personal potable water purification system for warfighters under a
first contract in an amount not to exceed $866,000. In August 2009,
we entered into a second contract with a value not to exceed $2
million. These contracts would utilize the Federal appropriations
from the U.S. Department of Defense in an aggregate amount of $3 million that
have been approved for this purpose. If there are unanticipated delays in
receiving the appropriations from the U.S. Department of Defense, our operations
and potential revenues may be adversely affected. Further, if we do
not successfully complete the contract work or renew the contract work in the
event that the research and development needs additional work to reach
completion, our operations and potential revenues may be adversely
affected.
Protecting
our intellectual property in our technology through patents may be costly and
ineffective. If we are not able to adequately secure or enforce protection of
our intellectual property, then we may not be able to compete effectively and we
may not be profitable.
Our
future success depends in part on our ability to protect the intellectual
property for our technology through patents. We will only be able to protect our
products and methods from unauthorized use by third parties to the extent that
our products and methods are covered by valid and enforceable patents or are
effectively maintained as trade secrets. Our 13 granted U.S. patents will expire
at various times from 2018 to 2022, assuming they are properly
maintained.
The
protection provided by our patents, and patent applications if issued, may not
be broad enough to prevent competitors from introducing similar products into
the market. Our patents, if challenged or if we attempt to enforce them, may not
necessarily be upheld by the courts of any jurisdiction. Numerous publications
may have been disclosed by, and numerous patents may have been issued to, our
competitors and others relating to methods and devices for dialysis of which we
are not aware, and additional patents relating to methods and devices for
dialysis may be issued to our competitors and others in the future. If any of
those publications or patents conflict with our patent rights, or cover our
products, then any or all of our patent applications could be rejected and any
or all of our granted patents could be invalidated, either of which could
materially adversely affect our competitive position.
Litigation
and other proceedings relating to patent matters, whether initiated by us or a
third party, can be expensive and time-consuming, regardless of whether the
outcome is favorable to us, and may require the diversion of substantial
financial, managerial and other resources. An adverse outcome could subject us
to significant liabilities to third parties or require us to cease any related
development, product sales or commercialization activities. In addition, if
patents that contain dominating or conflicting claims have been or are
subsequently issued to others and the claims of these patents are ultimately
determined to be valid, then we may be required to obtain licenses under patents
of others in order to develop, manufacture, use, import and/or sell our
products. We may not be able to obtain licenses under any of these patents on
terms acceptable to us, if at all. If we do not obtain these licenses, we could
encounter delays in, or be prevented entirely from using, importing,
developing, manufacturing, offering or selling any products or practicing any
methods, or delivering any services requiring such licenses.
If we
file patent applications or obtain patents in foreign countries, we will be
subject to laws and procedures that differ from those in the United States. Such
differences could create additional uncertainty about the level and extent of
our patent protection. Moreover, patent protection in foreign countries may be
different from patent protection under U.S. laws and may not be as favorable to
us. Many non-U.S. jurisdictions, for example, prohibit patent claims covering
methods of medical treatment of humans, although this prohibition may not
include devices used for such treatment.
If
we are not able to secure and enforce protection of our trade secrets through
enforcement of our confidentiality and non-competition agreements, then our
competitors may gain access to our trade secrets, we may not be able to compete
effectively and we may not be profitable. Such protection may be costly and
ineffective.
We
attempt to protect our trade secrets, including the processes, concepts, ideas
and documentation associated with our technologies, through the use of
confidentiality agreements and non-competition agreements with our current
employees and with other parties to whom we have divulged such trade secrets. If
these employees or other parties breach our confidentiality agreements and
non-competition agreements or if these agreements are not sufficient to protect
our technology or are found to be unenforceable, then our competitors could
acquire and use information that we consider to be our trade secrets and we may
not be able to compete effectively. Policing unauthorized use of our trade
secrets is difficult and expensive, particularly because of the global nature of
our operations. The laws of other countries may not adequately protect our trade
secrets.
If
our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, then we may not be
able to build brand loyalty and our sales and revenues may suffer.
Our
registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged,
cancelled, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be
infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these
trademarks and trade names, which we need to build brand loyalty. Over the long
term, if we are unable to establish a brand based on our trademarks and trade
names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our sales and revenues
may suffer.
If
we are not able to successfully scale-up production of our products, then our
sales and revenues will suffer.
In order
to commercialize our products, we need to be able to produce them in a
cost-effective way on a large scale to meet commercial demand, while maintaining
extremely high standards for quality and reliability. If we fail to successfully
commercialize our products, then we will not be profitable.
We expect
to rely on a limited number of independent manufacturers to produce our OLpur
MDHDF filter series and our other products, including the DSU. Our
manufacturers’ systems and procedures may not be adequate to support our
operations and may not be able to achieve the rapid execution necessary to
exploit the market for our products. Our manufacturers could experience
manufacturing and control problems as they begin to scale-up our future
manufacturing operations, and we may not be able to scale-up manufacturing in a
timely manner or at a commercially reasonable cost to enable production in
sufficient quantities. If we experience any of these problems with respect to
our manufacturers’ initial or future scale-ups of manufacturing operations, then
we may not be able to have our products manufactured and delivered in a timely
manner. Our products are new and evolving, and our manufacturers may encounter
unforeseen difficulties in manufacturing them in commercial quantities or at
all.
We
will not control the independent manufacturers of our products, which may affect
our ability to deliver our products in a timely manner. If we are not able to
ensure the timely delivery of our products, then potential customers may not
order our products, and our sales and revenues would be adversely
affected.
Independent
manufacturers of medical devices will manufacture all of our products and
components. We have contracted with our CM to assemble and produce our OLpur
MD190, MD220 and possibly other filters, including our DSU, and have an
agreement with a fiber supplier, or FS, a manufacturer of medical and technical
membranes for applications like dialysis, to produce the fiber for the OLpur
MDHDF filter series. As with any independent
contractor, these manufacturers will not be employed or otherwise controlled by
us and will be generally free to conduct their business at their own discretion.
For us to compete successfully, among other things, our products must be
manufactured on a timely basis in commercial quantities at costs acceptable to
us. If one or more of our independent manufacturers fails to deliver our
products in a timely manner, then we may not be able to find a substitute
manufacturer. If we are not or if potential customers believe that we are not
able to ensure timely delivery of our products, then potential customers may not
order our products, and our sales and revenues would be adversely
affected.
The
loss or interruption of services of any of our manufacturers could slow or stop
production of our products, which would limit our ability to generate sales and
revenues.
Because
we are likely to rely on no more than two contract manufacturers to manufacture
each of our products and major components of our products, a stop or significant
interruption in the supply of our products or major components by a single
manufacturer, for any reason, could have a material adverse effect on us. We
expect most of our contract manufacturers will enter into contracts with us to
manufacture our products and major components and that these contracts will be
terminable by the contractors or us at any time under certain circumstances. We
have not made alternative arrangements for the manufacture of our products or
major components and we cannot be sure that acceptable alternative arrangements
could be made on a timely basis, or at all, if one or more of our manufacturers
failed to manufacture our products or major components in accordance with the
terms of our arrangements. If any such failure occurs and we are unable to
obtain acceptable alternative arrangements for the manufacture of our products
or major components of our products, then the production and sale of our
products could slow down or stop and our cash flow would suffer.
If
we are not able to maintain sufficient quality controls, then the approval or
clearance of our ESRD therapy products by the European Union, the FDA or other
relevant authorities could be delayed or denied and our sales and revenues will
suffer.
Approval
or clearance of our ESRD therapy products could be delayed by the European
Union, the FDA and the relevant authorities of other countries if our
manufacturing facilities do not comply with their respective manufacturing
requirements. The European Union imposes requirements on quality control systems
of manufacturers, which are inspected and certified on a periodic basis and may
be subject to additional unannounced inspections. Failure by our manufacturers
to comply with these requirements could prevent us from marketing our ESRD
therapy products in the European Community. The FDA also imposes requirements
through quality system requirements, or QSR, regulations, which include
requirements for good manufacturing practices, or GMP. Failure by our
manufacturers to comply with these requirements could prevent us from obtaining
FDA approval of our ESRD therapy products and from marketing such products in
the United States. Although the manufacturing facilities and processes that we
use to manufacture our OLpur MDHDF filter series have been inspected and
certified by a worldwide testing and certification agency (also referred to as a
notified body) that performs conformity assessments to European Union
requirements for medical devices, they have not been inspected by the FDA.
Similarly, although some of the facilities and processes that we expect to use
to manufacture our OLpur H2H and OLpur
NS2000 have been inspected by the FDA, they have not been inspected by any
notified body. A “notified body” is a group accredited and monitored by
governmental agencies that inspects manufacturing facilities and quality control
systems at regular intervals and is authorized to carry out unannounced
inspections. We cannot be sure that any of the facilities or processes we use
will comply or continue to comply with their respective requirements on a timely
basis or at all, which could delay or prevent our obtaining the approvals we
need to market our products in the European Community and the United
States.
Even with
approval to market our ESRD therapy products in the European Community, the
United States and other countries, manufacturers of such products must continue
to comply or ensure compliance with the relevant manufacturing requirements.
Although we cannot control the manufacturers of our ESRD therapy products, we
may need to expend time, resources and effort in product manufacturing and
quality control to assist with their continued compliance with these
requirements. If violations of applicable requirements are noted during
periodic inspections of the manufacturing facilities of our manufacturers, then
we may not be able to continue to market the ESRD therapy products manufactured
in such facilities and our revenues may be materially adversely
affected.
If
our products are commercialized, we may face significant challenges in obtaining
market acceptance of such products, which could adversely affect our potential
sales and revenues.
Our
products are new to the market, and we do not yet have an established market or
customer base for our products. Acceptance of our ESRD therapy products in the
marketplace by both potential users, including ESRD patients, and potential
purchasers, including nephrologists, dialysis clinics and other health care
providers, is uncertain, and our failure to achieve sufficient market acceptance
will significantly limit our ability to generate revenue and be profitable.
Market acceptance will require substantial marketing efforts and the expenditure
of significant funds by us to inform dialysis patients and nephrologists,
dialysis clinics and other health care providers of the benefits of using our
ESRD therapy products. We may encounter significant clinical and market
resistance to our products and our products may never achieve market acceptance.
We may not be able to build key relationships with physicians, clinical groups
and government agencies, pursue or increase sales opportunities in Europe or
elsewhere, or be the first to introduce hemodiafiltration therapy in the United
States. Product orders may be cancelled, patients or customers currently using
our products may cease to do so and patients or customers expected to begin
using our products may not. Factors that may affect our ability to achieve
acceptance of our ESRD therapy products in the marketplace include
whether:
|
·
|
such
products will be safe for use;
|
|
·
|
such
products will be effective;
|
|
·
|
such
products will be cost-effective;
|
|
·
|
we
will be able to demonstrate product safety, efficacy and
cost-effectiveness;
|
|
·
|
there
are unexpected side effects, complications or other safety issues
associated with such products; and
|
|
·
|
government
or third party reimbursement for the cost of such products is available at
reasonable rates, if at all.
|
Acceptance
of our water filtration products in the marketplace is also uncertain, and our
failure to achieve sufficient market acceptance and sell such products at
competitive prices will limit our ability to generate revenue and be profitable.
Our water filtration products and technologies may not achieve expected
reliability, performance and endurance standards. Our water filtration products
and technology may not achieve market acceptance, including among hospitals, or
may not be deemed suitable for other commercial, military, industrial or retail
applications.
Many of
the same factors that may affect our ability to achieve acceptance of our ESRD
therapy products in the marketplace will also apply to our water filtration
products, except for those related to side effects, clinical trials and third
party reimbursement.
If
we cannot develop adequate distribution, customer service and technical support
networks, then we may not be able to market and distribute our products
effectively and/or customers may decide not to order our products, and, in
either case, our sales and revenues will suffer.
Our
strategy requires us to distribute our products and provide a significant amount
of customer service and maintenance and other technical service. To provide
these services, we have begun, and will need to continue, to develop a network
of distribution and a staff of employees and independent contractors in each of
the areas in which we intend to operate. We cannot assure you we will be able to
organize and manage this network on a cost-effective basis. If we cannot
effectively organize and manage this network, then it may be difficult for us to
distribute our products and to provide competitive service and support to our
customers, in which case customers may be unable, or decide not, to order our
products and our sales and revenues will suffer.
We
may face significant risks associated with international operations, which could
have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results
of operations.
We expect
to manufacture and to market our products in our Target European Market and
elsewhere outside of the United States. We expect that our revenues from our
Target European Market will initially account for a significant portion of our
revenues. Our international operations are subject to a number of risks,
including the following:
|
·
|
fluctuations
in exchange rates of the United States dollar could adversely affect our
results of operations;
|
|
·
|
we
may face difficulties in enforcing and collecting accounts receivable
under some countries’ legal
systems;
|
|
·
|
local
regulations may restrict our ability to sell our products, have our
products manufactured or conduct other
operations;
|
|
·
|
political
instability could disrupt our
operations;
|
|
·
|
some
governments and customers may have longer payment cycles, with resulting
adverse effects on our cash flow;
and
|
|
·
|
some
countries could impose additional taxes or restrict the import of our
products.
|
Any one
or more of these factors could increase our costs, reduce our revenues, or
disrupt our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition and results of operations.
If
we are unable to keep our key management and scientific personnel, then we are
likely to face significant delays at a critical time in our corporate
development and our business is likely to be damaged.
Our
success depends upon the skills, experience and efforts of our management and
other key personnel, including our chief executive officer, certain members of
our scientific and engineering staff and our marketing executives. As a
relatively new company, much of our corporate, scientific and technical
knowledge is concentrated in the hands of these few individuals. We do not
maintain key-man life insurance on any of our management or other key personnel.
The loss of the services of one or more of our present management or other key
personnel could significantly delay the development and/or launch of our
products as there could be a learning curve of several months or more for any
replacement personnel. Furthermore, competition for the type of highly skilled
individuals we require is intense and we may not be able to attract and retain
new employees of the caliber needed to achieve our objectives. Failure to
replace key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition and operations.
Risks
Related to the ESRD Therapy Industry
We
expect to face significant competition from existing suppliers of renal
replacement therapy devices, supplies and services. If we are not able to
compete with them effectively, then we may not be profitable.
We expect
to compete in the ESRD therapy market with existing suppliers of hemodialysis
and peritoneal dialysis devices, supplies and services. Our competitors include
Fresenius Medical Care AG and Gambro AB, currently two of the primary machine
manufacturers in hemodialysis, as well as B. Braun Biotech International GmbH,
and Nikkiso Corporation and other smaller machine manufacturers in hemodialysis.
B. Braun Biotech International GmbH, Fresenius Medical Care AG, Gambro AB and
Nikkiso Corporation also manufacture HDF machines. These companies and most of
our other competitors have longer operating histories and substantially greater
financial, marketing, technical, manufacturing and research and development
resources and experience than we have. Our competitors could use these resources
and experiences to develop products that are more effective or less costly than
any or all of our products or that could render any or all of our products
obsolete. Our competitors could also use their economic strength to influence
the market to continue to buy their existing products.
We do not
have a significant established customer base and may encounter a high degree of
competition in further developing one. Our potential customers are a limited
number of nephrologists, national, regional and local dialysis clinics and other
healthcare providers. The number of our potential customers may be further
limited to the extent any exclusive relationships exist or are entered into
between our potential customers and our competitors. We cannot assure you that
we will be successful in marketing our products to these potential customers. If
we are not able to develop competitive products and take and hold sufficient
market share from our competitors, we will not be profitable.
Some
of our competitors own or could acquire dialysis clinics throughout the United
States, our Target European Market and other regions of the world. We may not be
able to successfully market our products to the dialysis clinics under their
ownership. If our potential market is materially reduced in this manner, then
our potential sales and revenues could be materially reduced.
Some of
our competitors, including Fresenius Medical Care AG and Gambro AB, manufacture
their own products and own dialysis clinics in the United States, our Target
European Market and/or other regions of the world. In 2005, Gambro AB divested
its U.S. dialysis clinics to DaVita, Inc. and entered a preferred, but not
exclusive, ten-year supplier arrangement with DaVita, Inc., whereby DaVita, Inc.
will purchase a significant amount of renal products and supplies from Gambro AB
Renal Products. Because these competitors have historically tended to use their
own products in their clinics, we may not be able to successfully market our
products to the dialysis clinics under their ownership. According to the
Fresenius Medical Care AG 2007 Form 20-F annual report, Fresenius Medical Care
AG provides treatment in its own dialysis clinics to approximately 173,863
patients in approximately 2,238 facilities around the world of which
approximately 1,602 facilities are located in the North America. According to
DaVita, Inc.’s 2007 Annual Report, DaVita, Inc. provides treatment in 1,359
outpatient dialysis centers serving approximately 107,000 patients in the United
States.
We believe
that there is currently a trend among ESRD therapy providers towards greater
consolidation. If such consolidation takes the form of our competitors acquiring
independent dialysis clinics, rather than such dialysis clinics banding together
in independent chains, then more of our potential customers would also be our
competitors. If our competitors continue to grow their networks of dialysis
clinics, whether organically or through consolidation, and if we cannot
successfully market our products to dialysis clinics owned by these competitors
or any other competitors and do not acquire clinics ourselves, then our revenues
could be adversely affected.
If
the size of the potential market for our products is significantly reduced due
to pharmacological or technological advances in preventative and alternative
treatments for ESRD, then our potential sales and revenues will
suffer.
Pharmacological
or technological advances in preventative or alternative treatments for ESRD
could significantly reduce the number of ESRD patients needing our products.
These pharmacological or technological advances may include:
|
·
|
the
development of new medications, or improvements to existing medications,
which help to delay the onset or prevent the progression of ESRD in
high-risk patients (such as those with diabetes and
hypertension);
|
|
·
|
the
development of new medications, or improvements in existing medications,
which reduce the incidence of kidney transplant rejection;
and
|
|
·
|
developments
in the use of kidneys harvested from genetically-engineered animals as a
source of transplants.
|
If these
or any other pharmacological or technological advances reduce the number of
patients needing treatment for ESRD, then the size of the market for our
products may be reduced and our potential sales and revenues will
suffer.
If
government and other third party reimbursement programs discontinue their
coverage of ESRD treatment or reduce reimbursement rates for ESRD products, then
we may not be able to sell as many units of our ESRD therapy products as
otherwise expected, or we may need to reduce the anticipated prices of such
products and, in either case, our potential revenues may be
reduced.
Providers
of renal replacement therapy are often reimbursed by government programs, such
as Medicare or Medicaid in the United States, or other third-party reimbursement
programs, such as private medical care plans and insurers. We believe that the
amount of reimbursement for renal replacement therapy under these programs has a
significant impact on the decisions of nephrologists, dialysis clinics and other
health care providers regarding treatment methods and products. Accordingly,
changes in the extent of coverage for renal replacement therapy or a reduction
in the reimbursement rates under any or all of these programs may cause a
decline in recommendations or purchases of our products, which would materially
adversely affect the market for our products and reduce our potential sales.
Alternatively, we might respond to reduced reimbursement rates by reducing the
prices of our products, which could also reduce our potential
revenues.
As
the number of managed health care plans increases in the United States, amounts
paid for our ESRD therapy products by non-governmental programs may decrease and
we may not generate sufficient revenues to be profitable.
We expect
to obtain a portion of our revenues from reimbursement provided by
non-governmental programs in the United States. Although non-governmental
programs generally pay higher reimbursement rates than governmental programs, of
the non-governmental programs, managed care plans generally pay lower
reimbursement rates than insurance plans. Reliance on managed care plans for
dialysis treatment may increase if future changes to the Medicare program
require non-governmental programs to assume a greater percentage of the total
cost of care given to dialysis patients over the term of their illness, or if
managed care plans otherwise significantly increase their enrollment of these
patients. If the reliance on managed care plans for dialysis treatment
increases, more patients join managed care plans or managed care plans reduce
reimbursement rates, we may need to reduce anticipated prices of our ESRD
therapy products or sell fewer units, and, in either case, our potential
revenues would suffer.
If
HDF does not become a preferred therapy for ESRD, then the market for our ESRD
therapy products may be limited and we may not be profitable.
A
significant portion of our success is dependent on the acceptance and
implementation of HDF as a preferred therapy for ESRD. There are several
treatment options currently available and others may be developed. HDF may not
increase in acceptance as a preferred therapy for ESRD. If it does not, then the
market for our ESRD therapy products may be limited and we may not be able to
sell a sufficient quantity of our products to be profitable.
If
the per-treatment costs for dialysis clinics using our ESRD therapy products are
higher than the costs of clinics providing hemodialysis treatment, then we may
not achieve market acceptance of our ESRD therapy products in the United States
and our potential sales and revenues will suffer.
If the
cost of our ESRD therapy products results in an increased cost to the dialysis
clinic over hemodialysis therapies and such cost is not separately reimbursable
by governmental programs or private medical care plans and insurers outside of
the per-treatment fee, then we may not gain market acceptance for such products
in the United States unless HDF therapy becomes the standard treatment method
for ESRD. If we do not gain market acceptance for our ESRD therapy products in
the United States, then the size of our market and our anticipated sales and
revenues will be reduced.
Proposals
to modify the health care system in the United States or other countries could
affect the pricing of our products. If we cannot sell our products at the prices
we plan to, then our margins and our profitability will be adversely
affected.
A
substantial portion of the cost of treatment for ESRD in the United States is
currently reimbursed by the Medicare program at prescribed rates. Proposals to
modify the current health care system in the United States to improve access to
health care and control its costs are continually being considered by
the federal and state governments. We anticipate that the U.S. Congress and
state legislatures will continue to review and assess alternative health care
reform proposals. We cannot predict whether these reform proposals will be
adopted, when they may be adopted or what impact they may have on us if they are
adopted. Any spending decreases or other significant changes in the Medicare
program could affect the pricing of our ESRD therapy products. As we are not yet
established in our business and it will take some time for us to begin to recoup
our research and development costs, our profit margins are likely initially to
be lower than those of our competitors and we may be more vulnerable to small
decreases in price than many of our competitors.
Health
administration authorities in countries other than the United States may not
provide reimbursement for our products at rates sufficient for us to achieve
profitability, or at all. Like the United States, these countries have
considered health care reform proposals and could materially alter their
government-sponsored health care programs by reducing reimbursement rates for
dialysis products.
Any
reduction in reimbursement rates under Medicare or foreign health care programs
could negatively affect the pricing of our ESRD therapy products. If we are not
able to charge a sufficient amount for our products, then our margins and our
profitability will be adversely affected.
If
patients in our Target European Market were to reuse dialyzers, then our
potential product sales could be materially adversely affected.
In the
United States, a majority of dialysis clinics reuse dialyzers — that
is, a single dialyzer is disinfected and reused by the same patient. However,
the trend in our Target European Market is towards not reusing dialyzers, and
some countries (such as France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands) actually
forbid the reuse of dialyzers. As a result, each patient in our Target European
Market can generally be expected to purchase more dialyzers than each United
States patient. The laws forbidding reuse could be repealed and it may become
generally accepted to reuse dialyzers in our Target European Market, just as it
currently is in the United States. If reuse of dialyzers were to become more
common among patients in our Target European Market, then there would be demand
for fewer dialyzer units and our potential product sales could be materially
adversely affected.
Risks
Related to Our Common Stock
There currently is a limited market
for our common stock.
Our
common stock is quoted on the Over-the-Counter, or OTC, Bulletin
Board. Prior to January 22, 2009, our common stock was listed on the
AMEX. Trading in our common stock on both AMEX and the OTC Bulletin
Board has been very limited, which could affect the price of our stock. We have
no plans, proposals, arrangements or understandings with any person with regard
to the development of an active trading market for our common stock, and no
assurance can be given that an active trading market will develop.
Future
sales of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to
decline.
The
market price of our common stock could decline due to sales of a large number of
shares in the market, including sales of shares by our large stockholders, or
the perception that such sales could occur. These sales could also make it more
difficult or impossible for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time
and price that we deem appropriate to raise funds through future offerings of
common stock.
The prices at which shares of our
common stock trade have been and will likely continue to be
volatile.
In
the two years ended September 30, 2009, our common stock has traded at prices
ranging from a high of $2.63 to a low of $0.01 per share. Due to the
lack of an active market for our common stock, you should expect the prices at
which our common stock might trade to continue to be highly volatile. The
expected volatile price of our stock will make it difficult to predict the value
of your investment, to sell your shares at a profit at any given time, or to
plan purchases and sales in advance. A variety of other factors might also
affect the market price of our common stock. These include, but are not limited
to:
|
·
|
publicity
regarding actual or potential clinical or regulatory results relating to
products under development by our competitors or us;
|
|
·
|
delays
or failures in initiating, completing or analyzing clinical trials or the
unsatisfactory design or results of these trials;
|
|
·
|
achievement
or rejection of regulatory approvals by our competitors or
us;
|
|
·
|
announcements
of technological innovations or new commercial products by our competitors
or us;
|
|
·
|
developments
concerning proprietary rights, including patents;
|
|
·
|
regulatory
developments in the United States and foreign countries;
|
|
·
|
economic
or other crises and other external factors;
|
|
·
|
period-to-period
fluctuations in our results of operations;
|
|
·
|
changes
in financial estimates by securities analysts; and
|
|
·
|
sales
of our common stock.
|
We are
not able to control many of these factors, and we believe that period-to-period
comparisons of our financial results will not necessarily be indicative of our
future performance.
In
addition, the stock market in general, and the market for biotechnology
companies in particular, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations
in recent years that might have been unrelated or disproportionate to the
operating performance of individual companies. These broad market and industry
factors might seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of
our operating performance.
We have never paid dividends and do
not intend to pay cash dividends.
We
have never paid dividends on our common stock and currently do not anticipate
paying cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.
Consequently, any returns on an investment in our common stock in the
foreseeable future will have to come from an increase in the value of the stock
itself. As noted above, the lack of an active trading market for our common
stock will make it difficult to value and sell our common stock. While our
dividend policy will be based on the operating results and capital needs of our
business, it is anticipated that all earnings, if any, will be retained to
finance our future operations.
Our
directors, executive officers and principal stockholders control a significant
portion of our stock and, if they choose to vote together, could have sufficient
voting power to control the vote on substantially all corporate
matters.
As of
September 30, 2009, our directors and executive officers and their affiliates
beneficially owned approximately 44.7% of our outstanding common
stock. As of September 30, 2009, Lambda Investors LLC beneficially
owned 44.2% of our outstanding common stock. To our knowledge, as of
September 30, 2009, AFS Holdings One LLC beneficially owned 7.6% of our
outstanding common stock and Stagg Capital Group LLC beneficially owned 9.0% of
our outstanding common stock, based on their respective most recent filings with
the SEC. See “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and
Management.”
Our
principal stockholders may have significant influence over our policies and
affairs, including the election of directors. Should they act as a group, they
will have the power to elect all of our directors and to control the vote on
substantially all other corporate matters without the approval of other
stockholders. Furthermore, such concentration of voting power could enable those
stockholders to delay or prevent another party from taking control of our
company even where such change of control transaction might be desirable to
other stockholders.
As
a relatively new company with little or no name recognition and with several
risks and uncertainties that could impair our business operations, we are not
likely to generate widespread interest in our common stock. Without widespread
interest in our common stock, our common stock price may be highly volatile and
an investment in our common stock could decline in value.
Unlike
many companies with publicly traded securities, we have little or no name
recognition in the investment community. We are a relatively new company and
very few investors are familiar with either our company or our products. We do
not have an active trading market in our common stock, and one might never
develop, or if it does develop, might not continue.
Additionally,
the market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly in response to
many factors, many of which are beyond our control. Risks and uncertainties,
including those described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section could impair
our business operations or otherwise cause our operating results or prospects to
be below expectations of investors and market analysts, which could adversely
affect the market price of our common stock. As a result, investors in our
common stock may not be able to resell their shares at or above their purchase
price and could lose all of their investment.
Securities
class action litigation is often brought against public companies following
periods of volatility in the market price of such company’s securities. As a
result, we may become subject to this type of litigation in the future.
Litigation of this type could be extremely expensive and divert management’s
attention and resources from running our company.
We
may use our financial resources in ways with which you do not agree and in ways
that may not yield a favorable return.
Our
management has broad discretion over the use of our financial resources,
including the net proceeds from any financing, including any sales made pursuant
to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Stockholders
may not deem such uses desirable. Our use of our financial resources may vary
substantially from our currently planned uses. We cannot assure you that we will
apply such proceeds effectively or that we will invest such proceeds in a manner
that will yield a favorable return or any return at all.
Several
provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our fourth amended and
restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our second amended and
restated bylaws could discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition,
which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Several
provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our fourth amended and
restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our second amended and
restated bylaws could discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that
stockholders may consider favorable, and the market price of our common stock
could be reduced as a result. These provisions include:
|
·
|
authorizing
our board of directors to issue “blank check” preferred stock without
stockholder approval;
|
|
·
|
providing
for a classified board of directors with staggered, three-year
terms;
|
|
·
|
prohibiting
us from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested
stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction
in which the person became an interested stockholder unless certain
provisions are met;
|
|
·
|
prohibiting
cumulative voting in the election of
directors;
|
|
·
|
limiting
the persons who may call special meetings of stockholders;
and
|
|
·
|
establishing
advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our board of
directors or for proposing matters that can be acted on by stockholders at
stockholder meetings.
|
Our
fourth amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, limits
liability of our directors and officers, which could discourage you or other
stockholders from bringing suits against our directors or officers in
circumstances where you think they might otherwise be warranted.
Our
fourth amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, provides,
with specific exceptions required by Delaware law, that our directors are not
personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for any action
or failure to take any action. In addition, we have agreed to, and our fourth
amended and restated certificate of incorporation, as amended, and our second
amended and restated bylaws provide for, mandatory indemnification of directors
and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. These provisions
may discourage stockholders from bringing suit against a director or officer for
breach of duty and may reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation brought by
stockholders on our behalf against any of our directors or
officers.
If
we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial
reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, which
could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and
the market value of our securities.
Effective
internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide
reliable financial reports. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports, our
reputation and operating results may be harmed.
As of
December 31, 2007, management reported a material weakness in the company’s
internal control over financial reporting due to an insufficient number of
resources in the accounting and finance department that does not allow for a
thorough review process. Throughout fiscal year 2008, we implemented
the following measures which resulted in the remediation of this material
weakness as of December 31, 2008:
|
·
|
developed
procedures to implement a formal quarterly closing calendar and process
and held quarterly meetings to address the quarterly closing
process;
|
|
·
|
established
a detailed timeline for review and completion of financial reports to be
included in our Forms 10-Q and
10-K;
|
|
·
|
enhanced
the level of service provided by outside accounting service providers to
further support and provide additional resources for internal preparation
and review of financial reports and supplemented our internal staff in
accounting and related areas; and
|
|
·
|
employed
the use of appropriate supplemental SEC and U.S. GAAP checklists in
connection with our closing process and the preparation of our Forms 10-Q
and 10-K.
|
SPECIAL
NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain
statements in this prospectus constitute “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. The words or phrases “can be,” “may,” “could,” “would,”
“expects,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “projects” and similar words and
phrases are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements may include, among other
things, statements concerning the expectations of Nephros regarding its
business, growth prospects, revenue trends, operating costs, working capital
requirements, competition, results of operations, and other statements of
expectations, beliefs, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or
trends, and similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical
facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various known
and unknown risks and uncertainties, including those described on the preceding
pages, and we caution you that any forward-looking information provided by or on
behalf of us is not a guarantee of future performance. Our actual
results could differ materially from those anticipated by such forward-looking
statements due to a number of factors, some of which are beyond our
control. All such forward-looking statements are current only as of
the date on which such statements were made. Unless required by law,
we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which any such
statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
USE
OF PROCEEDS
We cannot
assure you that we will receive any proceeds in connection with securities
offered pursuant to this prospectus. Unless otherwise provided in the applicable
prospectus supplement, we intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the
securities under this prospectus for general corporate purposes, including
further development of our product candidates, clinical trials, research and
development expenses, general and administrative expenses. We will
set forth in the prospectus supplement our intended use for the net proceeds
received from the sale of any securities. Pending the application of the net
proceeds, we intend to invest the net proceeds generally in short-term,
investment grade, interest bearing securities.
PLAN
OF DISTRIBUTION
We may
offer securities under this prospectus from time to time pursuant to
underwritten public offerings, negotiated transactions, block trades or a
combination of these methods. We may sell the securities (1) through
underwriters or dealers, (2) through agents or (3) directly to one or
more purchasers, or through a combination of such methods. We may distribute the
securities from time to time in one or more transactions at:
|
·
|
a
fixed price or prices, which may be
changed;
|
|
·
|
market
prices prevailing at the time of
sale;
|
|
·
|
prices
related to the prevailing market prices;
or
|
We may
directly solicit offers to purchase the securities being offered by this
prospectus. We may also designate agents to solicit offers to purchase the
securities from time to time. We will name in a prospectus supplement any
underwriter or agent involved in the offer or sale of the
securities.
If we
utilize a dealer in the sale of the securities being offered by this prospectus,
we will sell the securities to the dealer, as principal. The dealer may then
resell the securities to the public at varying prices to be determined by the
dealer at the time of resale.
If we
utilize an underwriter in the sale of the securities being offered by this
prospectus, we will execute an underwriting agreement with the underwriter at
the time of sale, and we will provide the name of any underwriter in the
prospectus supplement that the underwriter will use to make resales of the
securities to the public. In connection with the sale of the securities, we, or
the purchasers of the securities for whom the underwriter may act as agent, may
compensate the underwriter in the form of underwriting discounts or commissions.
The underwriter may sell the securities to or through dealers, and the
underwriter may compensate those dealers in the form of discounts, concessions
or commissions.
With
respect to underwritten public offerings, negotiated transactions and block
trades, we will provide in the applicable prospectus supplement any compensation
we pay to underwriters, dealers or agents in connection with the offering of the
securities, and any discounts, concessions or commissions allowed by
underwriters to participating dealers. Underwriters, dealers and agents
participating in the distribution of the securities may be deemed to be
underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which
we refer to herein as the Securities Act, and any discounts and commissions
received by them and any profit realized by them on resale of the securities may
be deemed to be underwriting discounts and commissions. We may enter into
agreements to indemnify underwriters, dealers and agents against civil
liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act, or to contribute to
payments they may be required to make in respect thereof.
We do not
expect that shares of our common stock sold pursuant to the registration
statement of which this prospectus is a part will be authorized for quotation
and trading on any stock exchange. Such shares will be quoted on the
Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. The applicable prospectus supplement will
contain information, where applicable, as to any listing, if any, on any
securities market or other securities exchange of the securities covered by the
prospectus supplement. To facilitate the offering of the securities, certain
persons participating in the offering may engage in transactions that stabilize,
maintain or otherwise affect the price of the securities. This may include
over-allotments or short sales of the securities, which involve the sale by
persons participating in the offering of more securities than we sold to them.
In these circumstances, these persons would cover such over-allotments or short
positions by making purchases in the open market or by exercising their
over-allotment option. In addition, these persons may stabilize or maintain the
price of the securities by bidding for or purchasing the applicable security in
the open market or by imposing penalty bids, whereby selling concessions allowed
to dealers participating in the offering may be reclaimed if the securities sold
by them are repurchased in connection with stabilization transactions. The
effect of these transactions may be to stabilize or maintain the market price of
the securities at a level above that which might otherwise prevail in the open
market. These transactions may be discontinued at any time.
The
underwriters, dealers and agents may engage in other transactions with us, or
perform other services for us, in the ordinary course of their
business.
DESCRIPTION
OF COMMON STOCK
Our
authorized common stock consists of 60,000,000 shares, $0.001 par value per
share. As of September 30, 2009, there were 41,604,798 shares of
common stock outstanding and no shares of preferred stock
outstanding.
Holders
of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held of record on
all matters submitted to a vote of the stockholders and do not have cumulative
voting rights. Accordingly, holders of a majority of the shares of our common
stock entitled to vote in any election of directors may elect all of the
directors standing for election. Our certificate of incorporation
provides for the division of our board of directors into three classes of
directors, with each class as nearly equal in number as possible, serving
staggered, three-year terms. See “Anti-Takeover Effects of Provisions
of Our Charter Documents” below for a further discussion of this
provision.
Apart
from preferences that may be applicable to any holders of preferred stock
outstanding at the time, holders of our common stock are entitled to receive
dividends, if any, ratably as may be declared from time to time by the Board out
of funds legally available therefor. Upon our liquidation, dissolution or
winding up, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive ratably our
net assets available after the payment of all liabilities and liquidation
preferences on any outstanding preferred stock. Holders of our common stock have
no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights, and there are no
redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to our common stock. The
rights, preferences and privileges of holders of our common stock are subject
to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of shares of any
series of preferred stock which we may designate and issue in the
future.
Transfer Agent and
Registrar
The
transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Continental Stock Transfer
& Trust Company.
Over-the-Counter Bulletin
Board
Our
common stock is not listed for quotation on any stock exchange. Our
common stock is quoted on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol
“NEPH.OB.” On September 30, 2009, the last reported sale price of our
common stock was $1.42 per share.
Anti-Takeover
Effects of Provisions of Our Charter Documents
Our
certificate of incorporation and bylaws may have anti-takeover effects. These
provisions are intended to avoid costly takeover battles, lessen our
vulnerability to a hostile change of control and enhance the ability of our
board of directors to maximize stockholder value in connection with any
unsolicited offer to acquire us. However, these anti-takeover provisions, which
are summarized below, could also discourage, delay or prevent the merger or
acquisition of our company by means of a tender offer, a proxy contest or
otherwise, that a stockholder may consider in its best interest, and the removal
of incumbent officers and directors.
Blank Check Preferred
Stock
As
discussed above, under the terms of our certificate of incorporation, our board
of directors has authority, without any further vote or action by our
stockholders, to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of blank check preferred stock.
Our board of directors may issue shares of preferred stock on terms calculated
to discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or the
removal of our management.
Classified Board of
Directors
As noted
above, our certificate of incorporation provides for the division of our board
of directors into three classes of directors, with each class as nearly equal in
number as possible, serving staggered, three-year terms. Approximately one-third
of our board of directors will be elected each year. This classified board
provision could discourage a third party from making a tender offer for our
shares or attempting to obtain control of our company. It could also delay
stockholders who do not agree with the policies of the board of directors from
removing a majority of the board of directors for two years.
Removal of
Directors
Our
certificate of incorporation provides that our directors may be removed only for
cause and only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority
of the outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote for such
directors. This provision may discourage, delay or prevent the
removal of incumbent officers and directors.
Limited Actions by
Stockholders
Our
certificate of incorporation and our by-laws provide that any action required or
permitted to be taken by our stockholders must be effected at an annual or
special meeting of stockholders or by the unanimous written consent of our
stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation provides that, subject to certain
exceptions, only our board of directors, the chairman of our board of directors,
our president, vice president or secretary may call special meetings of our
stockholders. Accordingly, a stockholder may be prevented from
calling a special meeting for stockholder consideration of a proposal over the
opposition of our board of directors and stockholder consideration of a proposal
may be delayed until the next annual meeting.
Investor
Rights Agreement
In
September 2007, in connection with a convertible debt financing, we entered into
an Investor Rights Agreement with Lambda Investors LLC, Southpaw Credit
Opportunity Master Fund LP, 3V Capital Master Fund Ltd, Distressed/High Yield
Trading Opportunities, Ltd., Kudu Partners, L.P. and LJHS Company, referred to
collectively as the Investors, all of whom became holders of our common stock
upon the conversion of the notes purchased by them in that
offering. Pursuant to that agreement:
|
·
|
we agreed to take such corporate
actions as may be required to, among other things, entitle Lambda to (i)
nominate the Lambda Nominees (as defined in the Investor Rights Agreement)
to our board of directors to serve as directors until their respective
successor(s) are elected and qualified, (ii) nominate each successor to
such Lambda nominees, provided that any successor shall have reasonably
appropriate experience and background, and (iii) direct the removal from
the board of any director nominated under the foregoing clauses (i) or
(ii). Under the agreement, we are required to convene meetings
of our board at least once every three months. If we fail to do
so, a Lambda director will be empowered to convene such meeting;
and
|
|
·
|
the Investors other than Lambda
agreed to vote all shares of our common stock, and any other capital stock
or other securities of ours, that they hold for the election to our board
of the Lambda nominees and for the removal from the Board of the Lambda
nominees proposed to be removed in accordance with clause (iii) above, and
not to vote for the removal of any Lambda director except pursuant to
direction from Lambda pursuant to clause (iii)
above.
|
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
STOCK
Our
authorized preferred stock consists of 5,000,000 shares, $0.001 par value per
share. As of September 30, 2009, there were no shares of preferred
stock outstanding.
Our board
of directors has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to
issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series and to fix
the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions thereof, including dividend
rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, liquidation
preferences, sinking fund terms and the number of shares constituting any series
or the designation of such series, without any further vote or action by our
stockholders. As of the date of this prospectus, no shares of
preferred stock were outstanding. The issuance of preferred stock
could adversely affect the voting power of holders of common stock and the
likelihood that such holders will receive dividend payments and payments upon
liquidation and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a
change in control of our company.
We will
fix the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the preferred stock
of each series in the certificate of designation relating to that
series. We will file as an exhibit to the registration statement of
which this prospectus is a part, or will incorporate by reference from reports
that we file with the SEC, the form of any certificate of designation that
describes the terms of the series of preferred stock we are offering before the
issuance of the related series of preferred stock. This description
will include any or all of the following, as required:
|
·
|
the
title and stated value;
|
|
·
|
the
number of shares we are offering;
|
|
·
|
the
liquidation preference per share;
|
|
·
|
the
dividend rate, period and payment date and method of calculation for
dividends;
|
|
·
|
whether
dividends will be cumulative or non-cumulative and, if cumulative, the
date from which dividends will
accumulate;
|
|
·
|
the
procedures for any auction and remarketing, if
any;
|
|
·
|
the
provisions for a sinking fund, if
any;
|
|
·
|
the
provisions for redemption or repurchase, if applicable, and any
restrictions on our ability to exercise those redemption and repurchase
rights;
|
|
·
|
any
listing of the preferred stock on any securities exchange or
market;
|
|
·
|
whether
the preferred stock will be convertible into our common stock, and, if
applicable, the conversion price, or how it will be calculated, and the
conversion period;
|
|
·
|
voting
rights, if any, of the preferred
stock;
|
|
·
|
preemptive
rights, if any;
|
|
·
|
restrictions
on transfer, sale or other assignment, if
any;
|
|
·
|
whether
interests in the preferred stock will be represented by depositary
shares;
|
|
·
|
a
discussion of any material or special United States federal income tax
considerations applicable to the preferred
stock;
|
|
·
|
the
relative ranking and preferences of the preferred stock as to dividend
rights and rights if we liquidate, dissolve or wind up our
affairs;
|
|
·
|
any
limitations on issuance of any class or series of preferred stock ranking
senior to or on a parity with the series of preferred stock as to dividend
rights and rights if we liquidate, dissolve or wind up our affairs;
and
|
|
·
|
any
other specific terms, preferences, rights or limitations of, or
restrictions on, the preferred
stock.
|
If we
issue shares of preferred stock under this prospectus, the shares will be fully
paid and non-assessable.
The
General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, the state of our
incorporation, provides that the holders of preferred stock will have the right
to vote separately as a class on any proposal involving fundamental changes in
the rights of holders of that preferred stock. This right is in
addition to any voting rights that may be provided for in the applicable
certificate of designation.
Our board
of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or
conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights
of the holders of our common stock. Preferred stock could be issued
quickly with terms designed to delay or prevent a change in control of our
company or make removal of management more difficult. Additionally,
the issuance of preferred stock may have the effect of decreasing the market
price of our common stock.
Transfer Agent and
Registrar
The
transfer agent and registrar for any shares of preferred stock will be set forth
in the applicable prospectus supplement.
The
following description, together with the additional information we may include
in any applicable prospectus supplement, summarizes the material terms and
provisions of any warrants that we may offer under this prospectus and the
related warrant agreements and warrant certificates. While the terms
summarized below will apply generally to any warrants that we may offer, we will
describe the particular terms of any series of warrants in more detail in the
applicable prospectus supplement. The terms of any warrants offered
under a prospectus supplement may differ from the terms described
below. With respect to any warrants that we offer, specific warrant
agreements will contain additional important terms and provisions and will be
incorporated by reference as an exhibit to the registration statement that
includes this prospectus or as an exhibit to a current report on Form 8-K,
incorporated by reference in this prospectus:
|
·
|
the
specific designation and aggregate number of, and the price at which we
will issue, the warrants;
|
|
·
|
the
currency or currency units in which the offering price, if any, and the
exercise price are payable;
|
|
·
|
if
applicable, the exercise price for shares of our common stock or preferred
stock and the number of shares of common stock or preferred stock to be
received upon exercise of the
warrants;
|
|
·
|
the
date on which the right to exercise the warrants will begin and the date
on which that right will expire or, if you may not continuously exercise
the warrants throughout that period, the specific date or dates on which
you may exercise the warrants;
|
|
·
|
whether
the warrants will be issued in fully registered form or bearer form, in
definitive or global form or in any combination of these forms, although,
in any case, the form of a warrant included in a unit will correspond to
the form of the unit and of any security included in that
unit;
|
|
·
|
any
applicable material U.S. federal income tax
consequences;
|
|
·
|
the
identity of the warrant agent for the warrants and of any other
depositaries, execution or paying agents, transfer agents, registrars or
other agents;
|
|
·
|
the
proposed listing, if any, of the warrants or the common stock issuable
upon exercise of the warrants on any securities
exchange;
|
|
·
|
if
applicable, the date from and after which the warrants and the common
stock will be separately
transferable;
|
|
·
|
if
applicable, the minimum or maximum amount of the warrants that may be
exercised at any one time;
|
|
·
|
information
with respect to book-entry procedures, if
any;
|
|
·
|
the
anti-dilution provisions of the warrants, if
any;
|
|
·
|
any
redemption or call provisions;
|
|
·
|
whether
the warrants are to be sold separately or with other securities as parts
of units; and
|
|
·
|
any
additional terms of the warrants, including terms, procedures and
limitations relating to the exchange and exercise of the
warrants.
|
Before
exercising their warrants, holders of warrants will not have any of the rights
of holders of the securities purchasable upon such exercise, including the right to receive
dividends, if any, or, payments upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding up
or to exercise voting rights, if any.
Transfer Agent and
Registrar
The
transfer agent and registrar for any warrants will be set forth in the
applicable prospectus supplement.
DESCRIPTION
OF UNITS
We might
issue units comprised of shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock and
warrants in any combination. Each unit will be issued so that the
holder of the unit is also the holder of each security included in the
unit. Thus, the holder of a unit will have the rights and obligations
of a holder of each included security. The unit agreement under which
a unit is issued may provide that the securities included in the unit may not be
held or transferred separately, at any time or at any time before a specified
date. We will file as exhibits to the registration statement of
which this prospectus is a part, the form of unit agreement, warrant and any
supplemental agreements that describe the terms of the series of units we are
offering before the issuance of the related series of units.
We may
choose to evidence each series of units by unit certificates that we would issue
under a separate agreement. If we choose to evidence the units by
unit certificates, we will enter into the unit agreements with a unit agent and
will indicate the name and address of the unit agent in the applicable
prospectus supplement relating to the particular series of
units.
SECURITY
OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT
The
following table sets forth the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of
September 30, 2009, by (i) each person known to us to own beneficially more
than five percent (5%) of our common stock, based on such persons’ or entities’
most recent filings with the SEC; (ii) each director, director nominee and
executive officer; and (iii) all directors, director nominees and executive
officers as a group:
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner
|
|
Amount and Nature of
Beneficial Ownership
|
|
|
Percentage of
class (1)
|
|
Lambda
Investors LLC (2)
|
|
|
21,572,432 |
|
|
|
44.2 |
% |
Stagg
Capital Group LLC(3)
|
|
|
3,749,558 |
|
|
|
9.0 |
% |
AFS
Holdings One LLC (4)
|
|
|
3,150,597 |
|
|
|
7.6 |
% |
Arthur
H. Amron (5)
|
|
|
15,000 |
|
|
|
* |
|
Lawrence
J. Centella (6)
|
|
|
63,410 |
|
|
|
* |
|
Ernest
Elgin III (7)
|
|
|
187,500 |
|
|
|
* |
|
Gerald
J. Kochanski (8)
|
|
|
62,500 |
|
|
|
* |
|
Paul
A. Mieyal (9)
|
|
|
15,000 |
|
|
|
* |
|
James
S. Scibetta (10)
|
|
|
26,667 |
|
|
|
* |
|
All
executive officers and directors as a group (5-10)
|
|
|
370,077 |
|
|
|
* |
|
* Represents
less than 1% of the outstanding shares of our common stock.
(1)
|
Percentages are based on
41,604,798 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of September
30, 2009.
|
(2)
|
Based in part on information
provided in Schedule 13D filed on October 1, 2007. The shares beneficially
owned by Lambda Investors LLC may be deemed beneficially owned by Wexford
Capital LLC, which is the managing member of Lambda Investors LLC, by
Charles E. Davidson in his capacity as chairman and managing member of
Wexford Capital LLC and by Joseph M. Jacobs in his capacity as president
and managing member of Wexford Capital LLC. The address of each of Lambda
Investors LLC, Wexford Capital LLC, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Jacobs is c/o
Wexford Capital LLC, 411 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. Each of
Wexford Capital LLC, Mr. Davidson and Mr. Jacobs disclaims beneficial
ownership of the shares of Common Stock owned by Lambda Investors LLC
except, in the case of Mr. Davidson and Mr. Jacobs, to the extent of their
respective interests in each member of Lambda Investors LLC. Includes
7,190,811 shares issuable on or prior to November 14, 2012 upon exercise
of warrants held by Lambda Investors LLC having an exercise price of $0.90
per share.
|
(3)
|
Based in part on information
provided in Schedule 13/D filed with the SEC on August 21, 2008. Stagg
Capital Group, LLC (“Stagg Capital”) serves as the investment advisor to
an investment fund that holds the shares and Scott A. Stagg is the
managing member of Stagg Capital. By reason of such
relationships, Stagg Capital and Mr. Stagg may be deemed to be indirect
beneficial owners of the
shares.
|
(4)
|
Based
in part on information provided in Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on
January 8, 2009 by AFS Holdings One LLC. AFS reported that it
beneficially owns 3,150,597 shares of our common stock and has sole voting
and dispositive power with respect to those
shares.
|
(5)
|
Mr. Amron’s address is c/o
Wexford Capital LLC, 411 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. The
shares identified as being beneficially owned by Mr. Amron consist of
15,000 shares issuable upon exercise of options granted under the 2004
Plan.
|
(6)
|
Mr.
Centella’s address is 3331 N. Ridge Ave, Arlington Heights, IL 60004. The
shares identified as being beneficially owned by Mr. Centella include
35,000 shares issuable upon exercise of options granted under the 2004
Plan.
|
(7)
|
Mr.
Elgin’s address is the Company address. The shares identified
as being beneficially owned by Mr. Elgin consist of 187,500 shares
issuable upon exercise of options granted under the 2004
Plan. Does not include 637,500 shares issuable upon the
exercise of options which have been granted under our Stock Option Plans
but will not vest within 60 days of September 30,
2009.
|
(8)
|
Mr.
Kochanski’s address is the Company address. The shares
identified as being beneficially owned by Mr. Kochanski consist of 62,500
shares issuable upon exercise of options granted under the 2004
Plan. Does not include 212,500 shares issuable upon the
exercise of options which have been granted under our Stock Option Plans
but will not vest within 60 days of September 30,
2009.
|
(9)
|
Mr. Mieyal’s address is c/o
Wexford Capital LLC, 411 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. The
shares identified as being beneficially owned by Mr. Mieyal consist of
15,000 shares issuable upon exercise of options granted under the 2004
Plan.
|
(10)
|
Mr. Scibetta’s address is the
Company address. The shares identified as being beneficially owned by Mr.
Scibetta consist of 26,667 shares issuable upon exercise of options
granted under the 2004 Plan. Does not include 13,333 shares issuable upon
the exercise of options which have been granted under our Stock Option
Plans but will not vest within 60 days of September 30,
2009.
|
LEGAL
MATTERS
The
legality of the securities being offered hereby will be passed upon for us by
Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton, LLP, Raleigh, North Carolina.
EXPERTS
Our
financial statements at and for the years ended December 31, 2007 and 2008,
incorporated in this prospectus by reference from our Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, have been audited by
Rothstein Kass & Company P.C., an independent registered public
accounting firm, as stated in their report, which is incorporated herein by
reference, which report includes an explanatory paragraph related to the
Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Such financial statements have
been so incorporated in reliance upon the report of such firm given upon their
authority as experts in accounting and auditing.
WHERE
YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION
We file
annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information
with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s public
reference room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C.
20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the
public reference room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public free of
charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov
and on our website at www.nephros.com.
INCORPORATION
OF CERTAIN INFORMATION BY REFERENCE
The
information incorporated by reference is an important part of this prospectus.
We incorporate by reference the following documents that have been filed with
the SEC by us (except for information furnished to the SEC that is not deemed to
be “filed” for purposes of the Exchange Act):
|
·
|
Our
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2008, filed March 31, 2008;
|
|
·
|
Our
Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2008, filed April 30, 2009;
|
|
·
|
Our
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first and second fiscal quarters of
2009, filed May 15, 2009 and August 14, 2009, respectively;
and
|
|
·
|
Our
Current Reports on Form 8-K filed January 14, January 26,
February 4, June 24, July 30, August 20 and August 31,
2009.
|
We will,
at no cost, furnish each person, including any beneficial owner, to whom this
prospectus is delivered, a copy of the information we incorporate by reference
in this prospectus at no cost by writing or telephoning us at Nephros, Inc. at
41 Grand Avenue, River Edge, New Jersey 07661, telephone (201) 343-5202. We
maintain a website at www.nephros.com. Information contained on our website is
not incorporated by reference into this prospectus and you should not consider
information contained on our website to be a part of this
prospectus.
DISCLOSURE OF SEC POSITION ON
INDEMNIFICATION FOR SECURITIES LAW VIOLATIONS
Our
Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, provides
for indemnification of directors and officers of the Registrant to the fullest
extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL. We
have obtained liability insurance for each director and officer for certain
losses arising from claims or charges made against them while acting in their
capacities as directors or officers of the registrant. Our Second Amended and
Restated By-Laws provide for indemnification of our officers, directors and
others who become a party to an action on our behalf by us to the fullest extent
not prohibited under the DGCL. However, insofar as indemnification for
liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors,
officers, and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions or
otherwise, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC 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 of expenses incurred or paid by
a director, officer or controlling person in a successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, we will, unless in the
opinion of our counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent,
submit to the court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such
indemnification by us is against public policy as expressed in the Securities
Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such
issue.
PART
II
INFORMATION
NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
Item 13. Other
Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.
The
following table sets forth the costs and expenses payable by the registrant in
connection with the sale of the securities being registered. All amounts are
estimates.
SEC
Filing Fee
|
|
$ |
5,580 |
|
Printing
expenses
|
|
$ |
3,000 |
|
Legal
Fees and Expenses
|
|
$ |
20,000 |
|
Accounting
Fees and Expenses
|
|
$ |
5,000 |
|
Miscellaneous
|
|
$ |
2,000 |
|
Total
|
|
$ |
35,580 |
|
Item
14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Section 145
of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, permits a corporation, under
specified circumstances, to indemnify its directors, officers, employees or
agents against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and
amounts paid in settlements actually and reasonably incurred by them in
connection with any action, suit or proceeding brought by third parties by
reason of the fact that they were or are directors, officers, employees or
agents of the corporation, if such directors, officers, employees or agents
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 or proceeding, had no reason to believe their conduct was
unlawful. In a derivative action, that is one by or in the right of
the corporation, indemnification may be made only for expenses actually and
reasonably incurred by directors, officers, employees or agents in connection
with the defense or settlement of an action or suit, and only with respect to a
matter as to which they will have acted in good faith and in a manner they
reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
corporation, except that no indemnification will be made if such person will
have been adjudged liable to the corporation, unless and only to the extent that
the court in which the action or suit was brought will determine upon
application that the defendant directors, officers, employees or agents are
fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses despite such
adjudication of liability.
Our
Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, provides
for indemnification of our directors and officers of the registrant to the
fullest extent permitted by the DGCL. Our Second Amended and Restated By-Laws
provides that the we will generally indemnify our directors, officers, employees
or agents to the fullest extent permitted by the law against all losses, claims,
damages or similar events. We have obtained liability insurance for each
director and officer for certain losses arising from claims or charges made
against them while acting in their capacities as directors or officers of our
company.
Item
15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.
On July
24, 2009, we raised gross proceeds of $1,251,000 through the private placement
to eight accredited investors of an aggregate of 1,345,161 shares of our common
stock and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 672,581 shares of our common
stock, representing 50% of the shares of common stock purchased by each
investor. We sold the shares to investors at a price per share equal
to $0.93. The warrants have an exercise price of $1.12, are
exercisable immediately and will terminate on July 24, 2014.
In
September 2007, we entered into a Subscription Agreement with Lambda Investors
LLC, or Lambda, GPC 76, LLC, Lewis P. Schneider and Enso Global Equities
Partnership LP (collectively, the “New Investors”) pursuant to which the New
Investors purchased an aggregate of approximately $12.7 million principal amount
of Series A 10% Secured Convertible Notes due 2008 (the “Purchased Notes”) of
Nephros, for the face value thereof (the “Offering”).
Concurrently
with the Offering, Nephros entered into an Exchange Agreement with each of
Southpaw Credit Opportunity Master Fund LP, 3V Capital Master Fund Ltd,
Distressed/High Yield Trading Opportunities, Ltd., Kudu Partners, L.P. and LJHS
Company (collectively, the “Exchange Investors” and together with the New
Investors, the “Investors”), pursuant to which the Exchange Investors agreed to
exchange the principal and accrued but unpaid interest in an aggregate amount of
approximately $5.6 million under the 6% Secured Convertible Notes due 2012 (“Old
Notes”) of Nephros, for new Series B 10% Secured Convertible Notes due 2008 in
an aggregate principal amount of $5.3 million (the “Exchange
Notes”).
All
principal and accrued but unpaid interest under the New Notes automatically
converted into (i) an aggregate of 18,255,128 shares of our common stock, par
value $0.001 per share at a conversion price per share equal to $0.706 and (ii)
in the case of Purchased Notes, but not Exchange Notes, Class D Warrants to
purchase an aggregate of 9,112,566 shares of common stock with an exercise price
per share equal to $0.706.
National
Securities Corporation, or NSC, and Dinosaur Securities, LLC, or Dinosaur, acted
as co-placement agents in connection with the Financing pursuant to an
Engagement Letter, dated June 6, 2007 and a Placement Agent Agreement dated
September 18, 2007. The co-placement agents received (i) an aggregate
cash fee equal to 8% of the face amount of the Purchased Notes, allocated and
paid 6.25% to NSC and 1.75% to Dinosaur, and (ii) warrants with a term of five
years from the date of issuance to purchase an aggregate of 1,756,374 shares of
common stock at an exercise price of $0.706 per share.
All of
the securities described above were issued under the exemption from registration
provided by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act.
(a) Exhibits. The
following exhibits are filed as part of this registration
statement:
Exhibit No.
|
|
Description
|
3.1
|
|
Fourth
Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant.(5)
|
3.2
|
|
Certificate
of Amendment to the Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation of the Registrant.
(13)
|
3.3
|
|
Certificate
of Amendment to the Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation of the Registrant.
(13)
|
3.4
|
|
Certificate
of Amendment to the Fourth Amended and Restated Certificate of
Incorporation of the Registrant as filed with the Delaware Secretary of
State on November 13, 2007.
(14)
|
3.5
|
|
Second Amended and Restated
By-Laws of the Registrant.(16)
|
4.1
|
|
Specimen
of Common Stock Certificate of the Registrant.(1)
|
4.2
|
|
Form
of Underwriter’s Warrant.(1)
|
4.3
|
|
Warrant
for the purchase of shares of common stock dated January 18, 2006, issued
to Marty Steinberg, Esq., as Court-appointed Receiver for Lancer Offshore,
Inc.(17)
|
4.4
|
|
Form
of Series A 10% Secured Convertible Note due 2008 convertible into Common
Stock and Warrants.
(15)
|
4.5
|
|
Form
of Series B 10% Secured Convertible Note due 2008 convertible into Common
Stock.(15)
|
4.6
|
|
Form
of Class D Warrant.(15)
|
4.7
|
|
Form
of Placement Agent Warrant.(15)
|
4.8
|
|
Form
of Investor Warrant issued on July 24, 2009.
(20)
|
5.1*
|
|
Opinion
of Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP as to the legality of the
securities being registered.
|
10.1
|
|
Amended
and Restated 2000 Nephros Equity Incentive Plan.(1)(2)
|
10.2
|
|
2004
Nephros Stock Incentive Plan.(1)(2)
|
10.3
|
|
Amendment
No. 1 to 2004 Nephros Stock Incentive Plan.(2)(5)
|
10.4
|
|
Amendment
No. 2 to the Nephros, Inc. 2004 Stock Incentive Plan.(14)
|
10.5
|
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement dated as of June 1997 between the Registrant and
each Purchaser of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock.
(1)
|
10.6
|
|
Amendment and Restatement to
Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of May 17, 2000 and amended and
restated as of June 26, 2003, between the Registrant and the holders of a
majority of Registrable Shares (as defined therein).
(1)
|
10.7
|
|
Employment
Agreement dated as of November 21, 2002 between Norman J. Barta and
the Registrant.
(1)(2)
|
10.8
|
|
Amendment
to Employment Agreement dated as of March 17, 2003 between Norman J. Barta
and the Registrant.
(1)(2)
|
10.9
|
|
Amendment
to Employment Agreement dated as of May 31, 2004 between Norman J. Barta
and the Registrant.
(1)(2)
|
10.10
|
|
Employment
Agreement effective as of July 1, 2007 between Nephros, Inc. and Norman J.
Barta.
(14)
|
10.11
|
|
Form
of Employee Patent and Confidential Information Agreement.(1)
|
10.12
|
|
Form
of Employee Confidentiality Agreement.(1)
|
10.13
|
|
Settlement
Agreement and Mutual Release dated June 19, 2002 between Plexus Services
Corp. and the Registrant.(1)
|
10.14
|
|
Settlement
Agreement dated as of January 31, 2003 between Lancer Offshore, Inc. and
the Registrant.
(1)
|
10.15
|
|
Settlement
Agreement dated as of February 13, 2003 between Hermitage Capital
Corporation and the Registrant.
(1)
|
10.16
|
|
Supply
Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and Membrana GmbH, dated as of December
17, 2003.
(1)(3)
|
10.17
|
|
Amended
Supply Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and Membrana GmbH dated as of June
16, 2005.
(3)(7)
|
10.18
|
|
Manufacturing
and Supply Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and Medica s.r.l., dated as of
May 12, 2003.
(1)(3)
|
10.19
|
|
Manufacturing
and Supply Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and Medica s.r.l., dated as of
March 22, 2005 supercedes prior Agreement dated May 12, 2003.
(3)(8)
|
10.20
|
|
HDF-Cartridge
License Agreement dated as of March 2, 2005 between Nephros, Inc. and
Asahi Kasei Medical Co., Ltd.
(4)
|
10.21
|
|
Subscription
Agreement dated as of March 2, 2005 between Nephros, Inc. and Asahi Kasei
Medical Co., Ltd.
(4)
|
10.22
|
|
Non-employee
Director Compensation Summary.(2)(6)
|
10.23
|
|
Named
Executive Officer Summary of Changes to Compensation.(2)(6)
|
10.24
|
|
Stipulation
of Settlement Agreement between Lancer Offshore, Inc. and Nephros, Inc.
approved on December 19, 2005.
(8)
|
10.25
|
|
Consulting
Agreement, dated as of January 11, 2006, between the Company and Bruce
Prashker.
(2)(8)
|
10.26
|
|
Summary
of Changes to Chief Executive Officer’s Compensation.(2)(8)
|
10.27
|
|
Offer
of Employment Agreement, dated as of February 24 2006, between the Company
and Mark W. Lerner.
(2)(8)
|
10.28
|
|
Form
of 6% Secured Convertible Note due 2012 for June 1, 2006 Investors.(9)
|
10.29
|
|
Form
of Common Stock Purchase Warrant.(9)
|
10.30
|
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement, dated as of June 1, 2006.(9)
|
10.31
|
|
Form
of Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of June 1, 2006.(9)
|
10.32
|
|
Form
of 6% Secured Convertible Note due 2012 for June 30, 2006 Investors.(10)
|
10.33
|
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement, dated as of June 30, 2006.(10)
|
10.34
|
|
Employment
Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and William J. Fox, entered into on August
2, 2006.
(2)(11)
|
10.35
|
|
Addendum
to the Commercial Contract between Nephros, Inc. and Bellco S.p.A,
effective as of January 1, 2007.
(3)(12)
|
10.36
|
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement between Nephros and Subscriber.(15)
|
10.37
|
|
Exchange
Agreement, dated as of September 19, 2007, between Nephros and the
Holders.
(15)
|
10.38
|
|
Registration
Rights Agreement, dated as of September 19, 2007, among Nephros and the
Investors.
(15)
|
10.39
|
|
Investor
Rights Agreement, dated as of September 19, 2007, among Nephros and the
Covered Holders as defined therein.
(15)
|
10.40
|
|
Placement
Agent Agreement, dated as of September 18, 2007, among Nephros, NSC and
Dinosaur. (15)
|
10.41
|
|
License
Agreement, dated October 1, 2007, between the Trustees of Columbia
University in the City of New York, and Nephros.
(17)
|
10.42
|
|
Employment
Agreement, dated as of April 1, 2008, between Nephros, Inc. and Gerald
Kochanski. (2)
(18)
|
10.43
|
|
Separation
Agreement, dated as of April 28, 2008, between Nephros, Inc. and Mark W.
Lerner. (2)
(18)
|
10.44
|
|
Separation
Agreement and Release, dated as of September 15, 2008, between Nephros,
Inc. and Norman J. Barta. (2)
(19)
|
10.45
|
|
Employment
Agreement, dated as of September 15, 2008, between Nephros, Inc. and
Ernest A. Elgin III. (2)
(19)
|
10.46
|
|
Distribution
Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and OLS, dated as of November 26,
2008.(20)
|
10.47
|
|
Lease
Agreement between Nephros International LTD and Coldwell Banker Penrose
& O’Sullivan dated November 30, 2008.(20)
|
10.48
|
|
Distribution
Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and Aqua Services, Inc., dated as of
December 3, 2008.(20)
|
10.49
|
|
Sales
Management Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and Steve Adler, dated as of
December 16, 2008.(20)
|
10.50
|
|
Amendment
No. 3 to the Nephros, Inc. 2004 Stock Incentive Plan.(20)
|
10.51
|
|
Form
of Subscription Agreement between Nephros, Inc. and various investors,
dated July 24, 2009. (20)
|
21.1
|
|
Subsidiaries
of Registrant.(12)
|
23.1*
|
|
Consent
of Rothstein Kass, Certified Public Accountants.
|
23.2*
|
|
Consent
of Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP (contained in Exhibit
5.1).
|
(1)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, File
No. 333-116162.
|
(2)
|
|
Management
contract or compensatory plan arrangement.
|
(3)
|
|
Portions
omitted pursuant to a request for confidential
treatment.
|
(4)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K Filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on March 3, 2005.
|
(5)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Registration Statement on Form S-8 (No.
333-127264), as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on
August 5, 2005.
|
(6)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB, filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 16,
2005.
|
(7)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB, filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 15,
2005.
|
(8)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB, filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 20,
2006.
|
(9)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on June 2, 2006.
|
(10)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on July 7, 2006.
|
(11)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on August 4, 2006.
|
(12)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year
ended December 31, 2006, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on April 10, 2007.
|
(13)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for the
quarter ended June 30, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on August 13, 2007.
|
(14)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-QSB for the
quarter ended September 30, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on November 13,
2007.
|
(15)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on September 25,
2007.
|
(16)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on December 3, 2007.
|
(17)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year
ended December 31, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
on March 31, 2008.
|
(18)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on May 15, 2008.
|
(19)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2008, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on November 14, 2008.
|
(20)
|
|
Incorporated
by reference to Nephros, Inc.’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended June 30, 2009, filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on August 14,
2009.
|
Item
17. Undertakings.
(a) The
undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) 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
of 1933 (the “Act”); (ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events
arising after the effective date of this registration statement (or the most
recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information in this
registration statement; and (iii) to include any material information
with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this
registration statement or any material change to such information in this
registration statement;
(2) That,
for the purpose of determining any liability under the Act, each such
post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering
thereof.
(3) 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.
(4) That,
for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any
purchaser:
(i) Each
prospectus filed by the Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be
deemed to be part of the registration statement as of the date the filed
prospectus was deemed part of and included in the registration statement;
and
(ii) Each
prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5) or
(b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B
relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii) or
(x) for the purpose of providing the information required by
Section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and
included in the registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form
of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first
contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As
provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person
that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new
effective date of the registration statement relating to the securities in the
registration statement to which that prospectus relates, and the offering of
such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide
offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration
statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement or made in a
document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into the registration
statement or prospectus that is part of the registration statement will, as to a
purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date,
supersede or modify any statement that was made in the registration statement or
prospectus that was part of the registration statement or made in any such
document immediately prior to such effective date.
(5) That,
for the purpose of determining liability of the Registrant under the Securities
Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities:
The
undersigned Registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of
the undersigned Registrant pursuant to this Registration Statement, regardless
of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the
securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the
following communications, the undersigned Registrant will be a seller to the
purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such
purchaser:
(i) Any
preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned Registrant relating to
the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424;
(ii) Any
free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the
undersigned Registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned
Registrant;
(iii) The
portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing
material information about the undersigned Registrant or its securities provided
by or on behalf of the undersigned Registrant; and
(iv) Any
other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned
Registrant to the purchaser.
(b) Insofar
as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Act may be permitted to
directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the
foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the
opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, such indemnification
is against public policy as expressed in the 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 Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of
such issue.
(c) The
undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes to deliver or cause to be delivered
with the prospectus, to each person to whom the prospectus is sent or given, the
latest annual report to security holders that is incorporated by reference in
the prospectus and furnished pursuant to and meeting the requirements of Rule
14a-3 or Rule 14c-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and, where
interim financial information required to be presented by Article 3 of
Regulation S-X are not set forth in the prospectus, to deliver, or cause to be
delivered to each person to whom the prospectus is sent or given, the latest
quarterly report that is specifically incorporated by reference in the
prospectus to provide such interim financial information.
(d) The
undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that:
(1) For
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the information
omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement
in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by
the Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the
Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of
the time it was declared effective; and
(2) For
purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each
post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus 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.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant has duly
caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the City of River Edge, State of New
Jersey, on October 2, 2009.
|
|
NEPHROS,
INC.
|
Date: October
2, 2009
|
By:
|
/s/
Ernest A. Elgin III |
|
|
Name:
Ernest A. Elgin III
|
|
|
Title:
President, Chief Executive Officer and
Director
|
POWER
OF ATTORNEY AND SIGNATURES
KNOW ALL
PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that the persons whose signatures appear below each
severally constitutes and appoints Ernest A. Elgin, III and Gerald J. Kochanski,
and each of them, his true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full
powers of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and
stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including
pre-effective and post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and
to file the same, with all exhibits, and other documents in connection
therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said
attorney-in-fact and agent, 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 he might or could do in
person, hereby ratifying and confirming all which said attorney-in-fact and
agent, or his substitute or 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
|
|
|
President,
Chief Executive Officer
|
|
October
2, 2009
|
/s/ Ernest A. Elgin III
|
|
(Principal
Executive Officer) and Director
|
|
|
Ernest
A. Elgin III
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chief
Financial Officer (Principal
|
|
October
2, 2009
|
/s/ Gerald
J. Kochanski
|
|
Financial
and Accounting
Officer)
|
|
|
Gerald
J. Kochanski
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Director
|
|
October
2, 2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arthur
H. Amron
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Director
|
|
October
2, 2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lawrence
J. Centella
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Director
|
|
October
2, 2009
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paul
A. Mieyal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Director
|
|
October
2, 2009
|
/s/
James S. Scibetta
|
|
|
|
|
James
S. Scibetta
|
|
|
|
|