Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stockholders' Equity

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Stockholders' Equity
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Equity [Abstract]  
Stockholders' Equity Stockholders’ Equity
The Company had 300,000,000 shares authorized and 66,679,223 and 56,002,815 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, with a par value of $0.001 per share.
The Company had 10,000,000 shares authorized and 15,617 shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2021. The Company had 10,000,000 shares authorized and 14,429 shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020. Preferred stock has a par value of $0.001 per share, and consists of the following:
Series A Convertible, 85 and 2,907 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
Series B Convertible, 4,026 and 5,000 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
Series C Convertible, 3,506 and 3,522 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
Series D Convertible, 3,000 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
Series E Convertible, 5,000 and 0 shares issued and outstanding at June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
2020 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan

At the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Company's stockholders approved the 2020 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2020 Plan. The 2020 Plan permits the Company to issue up to 3,500,000 shares of common stock pursuant to awards granted under the 2020 Plan. Upon approval of the 2020 Plan, the 2019 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2019 Plan, was terminated; all unissued options were canceled and no additional
awards will be made thereunder. All outstanding awards under the 2019 Plan will remain in effect and any awards forfeited from the outstanding awards will be allocated back into the 2020 Plan. There were approximately 1,579,678 shares remaining and available for grant under the 2019 Plan that terminated upon original approval of the 2020 Plan.

At the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on June 25, 2021, the Company's stockholders approved the first amendment to the 2020 Plan to add 2,250,000 shares for issuance under the 2020 Plan.

Series D Preferred Stock Conversion

On March 31, 2020, the Company and certain entities affiliated with Biotechnology Value Fund, L.P., or BVF, entered into an exchange agreement pursuant to which, on April 1, 2020, BVF exchanged an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock owned by BVF for an aggregate of 3,000 shares of Series D Preferred Stock. The Company designated 3,000 shares of its authorized and unissued preferred stock as Series D Preferred Stock and filed a Certificate of Designation of Series D Convertible Preferred Stock of Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Series E Preferred Stock Conversion

On May 20, 2021, the Company and certain entities affiliated with BVF entered into an exchange agreement pursuant to which, BVF exchanged an aggregate of 5,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock owned by BVF for an aggregate of 5,000 shares of Series E Preferred Stock. The Company designated 5,000 shares of its authorized and unissued preferred stock as Series E Preferred Stock and filed a Certificate of Designation of Series E Convertible Preferred Stock of Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or the Series E Certificate of Designation, with the Nevada Secretary of State.

As described below, the Series E Preferred Stock has substantially the same terms as the Company’s Series D Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share, issued in April 2020; Series C Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share, issued in November 2019; Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share, issued in January 2019; and Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share, issued in June 2016, all currently held by entities affiliated with BVF.

Each share of Series E Preferred Stock is convertible into 1,000 shares of Common Stock (subject to adjustment as provided in the Series E Certificate of Designation) at any time at the option of the holder, provided that the holder is prohibited from converting the Series E Preferred Stock into shares of Common Stock if, as a result of such conversion, the holder, together with its affiliates, would own more than 9.99% of the total number of shares of Common Stock then issued and outstanding, or the Beneficial Ownership Limitation. The holder may reset the Beneficial Ownership Limitation to a higher or lower number (not to exceed 19.99% of the total number of Common Shares issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to a conversion) upon providing written notice to the Company. Any such notice providing for an increase to the Beneficial Ownership Limitation will be effective 61 days after delivery to the Company. In the event of the Company’s liquidation, dissolution, or winding up, subject to the rights of holders of Senior Securities (defined below), holders of Series E Preferred Stock are entitled to receive a payment equal to $0.001 per share of Series E Preferred Stock before any proceeds are distributed to the holders of Common Stock and Junior Securities (defined below) and pari passu with any distributions to the holders of the Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock and Series D Preferred Stock, plus an additional amount equal to any dividends declared but unpaid on such shares. However, if the assets of the Company are insufficient to comply with the preceding sentence, then all remaining assets of the Company shall be distributed ratably to holders of the shares of the Series E Preferred Stock and Parity Securities (defined below). Shares of Series E Preferred Stock generally have no voting rights, except as required by law and except that the consent of holders of a majority of the then outstanding Series E Preferred Stock is required to amend the terms of the Series E Certificate of Designation. Holders of Series E Preferred Stock are entitled to receive any dividends payable to holders of Common Stock, and rank:
senior to all of the Common Stock;
senior to any class or series of capital stock of the Company created after the designation of the Series E Preferred Stock specifically ranking by its terms junior to the Series E Preferred Stock, or the Junior Securities;
on parity with all shares of Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock and any class or series of capital stock of the Company created after the designation of the Series E Preferred Stock specifically ranking by its terms on parity with the Series E Preferred Stock, or the Parity Securities; and
junior to any class or series of capital stock of the Company created after the designation of the Series E Preferred Stock specifically ranking by its terms senior to the Series E Preferred Stock, or the Senior Securities,
in each case, as to distributions of assets upon the Company’s liquidation, dissolution or winding up whether voluntarily or involuntarily and/or the right to receive dividends.
Open Market Sales Agreement
In August 2019, the Company entered into a sales agreement pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of gross sales proceeds of $50.0 million through the ATM Program under a shelf registration statement on Form S-3. Through June 30, 2021, the Company has sold $22.7 million of common shares under the ATM Program of which 3.0 million shares were sold during the quarter ending June 30, 2021 at an average stock price of $4.24.