AXLA Axcella Health Inc

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d)
of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 18, 2023

 

AXCELLA HEALTH INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware		001-38901		26-3321056
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)		(Commission File Number)		(IRS Employer Identification No.)

 

P.O. Box 1270 Littleton, Massachusetts	01460
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

 

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (857) 320-2200

 

Not Applicable

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

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions ( see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

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

 

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

 

Title of each class		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.001 Par Value		AXLA		Nasdaq Global Market

 

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

 

Emerging growth company x

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

 

  

 

Item 5.03.

Amendments to Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws; Change in Fiscal Year.

 

On September 18, 2023, Axcella Health Inc. (the “Company”) filed an amendment (the “Certificate of Amendment”) to its Restated Certificate of Incorporation to effectuate a reverse stock split of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock, par value of $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”).

 

As previously disclosed, at its annual meeting of stockholders held on September 11, 2023 (the “Annual Meeting”), the stockholders of the Company approved a proposal to authorize the Company’s Board of Directors, in its discretion following the Annual Meeting to amend the Company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), to effect a reverse stock split of all of the outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock, at a ratio ranging from any whole number between 1-for-2 and 1-for-25, as determined by the Company’s Board of Directors in its discretion. On September 11, 2023, following the Annual Meeting, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock at a ratio of 1-for-25. Effective as of at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time on September 18, 2023, the Company filed the Certificate of Amendment and effected a 1-for-25 reverse stock split of its shares of common stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”).

 

As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, every twenty-five shares of the Company’s common stock issued or outstanding were automatically reclassified into one validly issued, fully-paid and non-assessable share new share of common stock, subject to the treatment of fractional shares as described below, without any action on the part of the holders. Proportionate adjustments will be made to the exercise prices and the number of shares underlying the Company’s outstanding equity awards, as applicable, and certain existing agreements. The common stock issued pursuant to the Reverse Stock Split remain fully paid and non-assessable. The Reverse Stock Split did not affect the number of authorized shares of common stock or the par value of the common stock.

 

No fractional shares will be issued in connection with the Reverse Stock Split. Stockholders who would otherwise be entitled to receive fractional shares as a result of the Reverse Stock Split will be entitled to a cash payment in lieu thereof at a price equal to the fraction to which the stockholder would otherwise be entitled multiplied by the closing sales price per share of the common stock (as adjusted for the Reverse Stock Split) on The Nasdaq Global Market on September 18, 2023, the last trading day immediately preceding the effective time of the Reverse Stock Split.

 

Trading of the Company’s common stock on The Nasdaq Global Market is expected to commence on a split-adjusted basis when the market opens on September 19, 2023, under the existing trading symbol “AXLA.” The new CUSIP number for the Company’s common stock following the Reverse Stock Split is 05454B204.

 

The foregoing description of the Certificate of Amendment is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Certificate of Amendment, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 3.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference. A copy of the new form of stock certificate for the Company’s post-reverse stock split shares of common stock is attached hereto as Exhibit 4.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Forward Looking Statements

 

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains forward-looking statements, including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Reverse Stock Split and related timing. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended June 30, 2023, and our other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K. While we may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

 

Item 9.01

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits.

 

Exhibit  Number		Description
3.1		Certificate of Amendment to Amended & Restated Certificate of Incorporation, dated September 18, 2023
4.1		Form of Common Stock Certificate
104		Cover Page Interactive Data (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

 

SIGNATURE

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

	Axcella Health Inc.
Date: September 18, 2023	By:	/s/ William R. Hinshaw, Jr.
	Name:	/s/ William R. Hinshaw, Jr.
	Title:	President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

 

 

 

Exhibit 3.1

 

CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT 

TO 

RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION 

OF 

AXCELLA HEALTH INC.

 

Axcella Health Inc., a corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “Corporation”), does hereby certify as follows:

 

FIRST: That the Board of Directors of the Corporation duly adopted resolutions recommending and declaring advisable that the Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Corporation be amended and that such amendment be submitted to the stockholders of the Corporation for their consideration, as follows:

 

RESOLVED, that the first sentence of Article FOURTH of the Restated Certificate of Incorporation be, and hereby is, amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

 

“That, effective at 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, on the date this Certificate of Amendment to the Restated Certificate of Incorporation is filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (the “Effective Time”), a one-for-twenty-five reverse stock split of the Common Stock (as defined below) shall become effective, pursuant to which each 25 shares of Common Stock issued and held of record by each stockholder of the Corporation (including treasury shares) immediately prior to the Effective Time shall be reclassified and combined into one validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable share of Common Stock automatically and without any action by the holder thereof upon the Effective Time and shall represent one share of Common Stock from and after the Effective Time (such reclassification and combination of shares, the “Reverse Stock Split”). No fractional shares of Common Stock shall be issued as a result of the Reverse Stock Split and, in lieu thereof, (a) with respect to holders of one or more certificates, if any, which formerly represented shares of Common Stock that were issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, upon surrender after the Effective Time of such certificate or certificates, any holder who would otherwise be entitled to a fractional share of Common Stock as a result of the Reverse Stock Split, following the Effective Time, shall be entitled to receive a cash payment (the “Fractional Share Payment”) equal to the fraction of which such holder would otherwise be entitled multiplied by the closing price per share of Common Stock on the date of the Effective Time as reported by The Nasdaq Global Market (as adjusted to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split); provided that, whether or not fractional shares would be issuable as a result of the Reverse Stock Split shall be determined on the basis of (i) the total number of shares of Common Stock that were issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time formerly represented by certificates that the holder is at the time surrendering and (ii) the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock after the Effective Time into which the shares of Common Stock formerly represented by such certificates shall have been reclassified; and (b) with respect to holders of shares of Common Stock in book-entry form in the records of the Corporation’s transfer agent that were issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time, any holder who would otherwise be entitled to a fractional share of Common Stock as a result of the Reverse Stock Split (after aggregating all fractional shares), following the Effective Time, shall be entitled to receive the Fractional Share Payment automatically and without any action by the holder.

 

The total number of shares of all classes of stock which the Corporation shall have authority to issue is 160,000,000 shares, consisting of (a) 150,000,000 shares of Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share (“Common Stock”), and (b) 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, $0.001 par value per share (“Preferred Stock”).”

 

SECOND: That, at a meeting of stockholders of the Corporation, the aforesaid amendment was duly adopted by the stockholders of the Corporation.

 

THIRD: That the aforesaid amendment was duly adopted in accordance with the applicable provisions of Section 242 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.

 

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Corporation has caused this Certificate of Amendment to be signed by its Chief Executive Officer on this 18^th day of September, 2023.

 

	AXCELLA HEALTH INC.
	By:	/s William Hinshaw, Jr.
	Name:	William Hinshaw, Jr.
	Title:	President & Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

v3.23.3

Cover	Sep. 18, 2023
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 18, 2023
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity File Number	001-38901
Entity Registrant Name	AXCELLA HEALTH INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0001633070
Entity Tax Identification Number	26-3321056
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Address, Address Line One	P.O. Box 1270
Entity Address, City or Town	Littleton
Entity Address, State or Province	MA
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	01460
City Area Code	857
Local Phone Number	320-2200
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, $0.001 Par Value
Trading Symbol	AXLA
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Entity Emerging Growth Company	true
Elected Not To Use the Extended Transition Period	false

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