Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Related Party Transactions

v3.21.1
Related Party Transactions
9 Months Ended
Feb. 28, 2021
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions

Note 14. Related Party Transactions

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, comprised of independent directors, or the full Board of Directors, reviews and approves all related party transactions.

On March 11, 2021, the Company appointed its former Vice President, Clinical Operations, Dr. Christopher P. Recknor, M.D. as its Chief Operating Officer (“COO”), an executive position of the Company. The Center for Advanced Research & Education, LLC (“CARE”), owned by Dr. Christopher Recknor’s spouse, Julie Recknor, Ph.D., (and previously owned by Dr. Christopher Recknor until March 11, 2021) is one of several clinical locations for the Company’s ongoing NASH and COVID-19 long-hauler clinical trials, and was a clinical location for the Company’s completed Phase 2b/3 mild-to-moderate and severe-to-critical COVID-19 clinical trials. Dr. Julie Recknor serves as the Site Director of CARE and manages its day-to-day operations. The Company entered into a Clinical Trial Agreement (“CTA”) with CARE for each of these clinical trials. Each CTA was negotiated in the ordinary course of business by Amarex, the Company’s clinical research organization, prior to Dr. Recknor’s appointment as COO, and the operational and financial terms of the CTAs with CARE are comparable to the terms available to unrelated clinical locations. Dr. Recknor was not involved in the Company’s decision to choose CARE as a clinical location for its ongoing trials, and he is not involved in patient

treatment at the CARE site. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2020, the Company made no payments to CARE, as it had not yet received any services under the one CTA in effect prior to this time. The Company expects to make payments to CARE during the fiscal year ending May 31, 2021 and thereafter of approximately $2.5 million, which is based upon the total number of patients that enrolled in the Company’s previously completed trials and the number of patients that may enroll in the Company’s current clinical trials. As of February 28, 2021, the Company had approximately $0.3 million in accounts payable due to CARE, a related party. On November 17, 2020, the Company conducted a private equity offering, in which Dr. Recknor, who was a non-executive at the time of the offering, purchased unregistered common stock at $1.50 per share. Pursuant to the offering, the Company sold approximately 0.7 million shares of common stock, $0.001 par value, for aggregate proceeds of $1.0 million. The transaction was approved by the Company’s Board of Directors.