Alto Neuroscience Inc. filed SEC Form 8-K: Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities, Other Events, Financial Statements and Exhibits
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| Item 1.01 | Entry Into A Material Definitive Agreement. |
Private Placement of Common Stock and Warrants
On March 16, 2026, Alto Neuroscience, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with certain institutional investors (the “Purchasers”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell and issue to the Purchasers in a private placement transaction (the “Private Placement”) (i) 2,900,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 (“Common Stock”), and (ii) with respect to certain Purchasers, pre-funded warrants to purchase 3,100,000 shares of Common Stock (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”) in lieu of Shares. The purchase price per share of Common Stock is $20.00 per share (the “Purchase Price”) and the purchase price for the Pre-Funded Warrants is the Purchase Price minus $0.0001 per Pre-Funded Warrant. The Company anticipates receiving gross proceeds of approximately $120.0 million from the Private Placement, before deducting offering expenses payable by the Company.
The Pre-Funded Warrants have a per share exercise price of $0.0001, subject to proportional adjustments in the event of stock splits or combinations or similar events. The Pre-Funded Warrants will not expire until exercised in full. The Pre-Funded Warrants may not be exercised if the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned by the holder thereof immediately following such exercise would exceed a specified beneficial ownership limitation; provided, however, that a holder may increase or decrease the beneficial ownership limitation by giving 61 days’ notice to the Company, but not to any percentage in excess of 19.9%.
Also on March 16, 2026, the Company entered into a Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”) with the Purchasers. Under the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, the Company has agreed to prepare and file, within 30 days after the Closing (the “Filing Deadline”), one or more registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to register for resale the Common Stock issued under the Purchase Agreement and the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants (the “Warrant Shares”) issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement (together, the “Registrable Securities”), and to cause the applicable registration statements to become effective within a specified period set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement (the “Effectiveness Deadline”).
In the event the registration statement has not been filed by the Filing Deadline or has not been declared effective by the SEC by the Effectiveness Deadline, subject to certain limited exceptions, the Company has agreed to make pro rata payments to each Purchaser as liquidated damages in an amount equal to 1.0% of the aggregate amount paid pursuant to the Purchase Agreement by such Purchaser for the Purchaser’s Registrable Securities then held, per 30-day period or pro rata for any portion thereof for each such 30-day period during which such event continues, subject to certain caps set forth in the Registration Rights Agreement.
The Purchase Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and covenants that were made solely for the benefit of the parties to the Purchase Agreement. Such representations, warranties and covenants (i) are intended as a way of allocating risk between the parties to the Purchase Agreement and not as statements of fact, and (ii) may apply standards of materiality in a way that is different from what may be viewed as material by stockholders of, or other investors in, the Company. Accordingly, the Purchase Agreement is included with this filing only to provide investors with information regarding the terms of transaction and not to provide investors with any other factual information regarding the Company.
The Company has engaged Jefferies LLC, BofA Securities, Inc., TD Securities (USA) LLC, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, William Blair & Company, L.L.C. and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated as placement agents for the Private Placement. The Company has agreed to pay customary placement fees and reimburse certain expenses of the placement agents.
Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Company has agreed to expand the size of the Board of Directors to seven directors, effective March 16, 2026.
The Company has granted the Purchasers customary indemnification rights in connection with the registration statement. The Purchasers have also granted the Company customary indemnification rights in connection with the registration statement.
The foregoing is only a summary of the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement and the Pre-Funded Warrants issued under the Purchase Agreement, does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of (i) the form of the Purchase Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.1, (ii) the form of the Registration Rights Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K at Exhibit 10.2, and (iii) the form of Pre-Funded Warrant issued under the Purchase Agreement, a copy of which is attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 4.1.
| Item 3.02 | Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities. |
The disclosure regarding the securities to be sold and issued under the Purchase Agreement as set forth under Item 1.01 of this report is incorporated by reference under this Item 3.02.
The securities described above under Item 1.01 have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Based in part upon the representations of the Purchasers in the Purchase Agreement, the offering and sale of the securities described above are being offered and sold in a private placement under section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, and corresponding provisions of state securities or “blue sky” laws. Accordingly, such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and such applicable state securities laws. The sale of the securities did not involve a public offering and was made without general solicitation or general advertising.
Neither this Current Report on Form 8-K nor any exhibit attached hereto is an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of the Company.
| Item 8.01 | Other Events. |
On March 16, 2026, the Company issued a press release entitled “Alto Neuroscience Announces $120 Million Private Placement Financing.” The full text of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
| (d) | Exhibits. |
| Exhibit No. |
Description | |
| 4.1 | Form of Pre-Funded Warrant. | |
| 10.1 | Form of Securities Purchase Agreement, dated March 16, 2026, by and among Alto Neuroscience, Inc. and the Purchasers. | |
| 10.2 | Form of Registration Rights Agreement, dated March 16, 2026, by and among Alto Neuroscience, Inc. and the Purchasers. | |
| 99.1 | Press Release of Alto Neuroscience, Inc. | |
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document). |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| ALTO NEUROSCIENCE, INC. | ||
| Dated: March 16, 2026 | By: | /s/ Amit Etkin |
| Amit Etkin, M.D., Ph.D. | ||
| President and Chief Executive Officer | ||