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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 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): July 20, 2021

 

Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

 

California   001-12830   94-3127919

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

 

2173 Salk Avenue, Suite 200

Carlsbad, California

  92008
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

 

(442) 287-8990

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

 

 

(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 shares, no par value   LCTX   NYSE American

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in 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

 

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 4.01. Changes in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant.

 

On July 15, 2021, WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”), an independent registered public accounting firm, acquired certain assets of OUM & Co. LLP (“OUM”), the independent registered public accounting firm of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (“Lineage” or the “Company”), in a transaction pursuant to which the professional staff and the partners of OUM joined Withum either as employees or partners of Withum. As a result of this transaction, on July 20, 2021, OUM resigned as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm, and, with the approval of the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, Withum was engaged as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm.

 

The audit report of OUM on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, and was not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles, except that such audit report for the year ended December 31, 2019 included an explanatory paragraph relating to the Company’s change in its method of accounting for revenue in 2018 due to the adoption of Financial Accounting Standards Board (United States) Accounting Standard Codification Topic No. 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.

 

During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, and during the interim period from the end of the most recently completed fiscal year through July 20, 2021, the date of OUM’s resignation, there were no disagreements (as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and related instructions) with OUM on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of OUM, would have caused OUM to make reference to such disagreement in its reports, and there were no reportable events within the meaning set forth in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

 

During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, and during the interim period from the end of the most recently completed fiscal year through the date Withum was engaged by the Company, the Company did not consult with Withum regarding application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or regarding the type of audit opinion that might be rendered by Withum on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and Withum did not provide any written or oral advice that was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to any such accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue.

 

The Company provided OUM with a copy of this Current Report on Form 8-K prior to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and requested that OUM furnish the Company with a letter addressed to the SEC stating whether it agrees with above statements and, if it does not agree, the respects in which it does not agree. A copy of the letter, dated July 20, 2021, is filed as Exhibit 16.1 to this Current Report and incorporated by reference herein.

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits.

 

Exhibit No.   Description
16.1   OUM & Co., LLP letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, dated July 20, 2021

 

 
 

 

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.

 

  Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.
     
Date: July 21, 2021 By: /s/ Brian M. Culley
  Name: Brian M. Culley
  Title: Chief Executive Officer