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Note 10 - Contingent Liabilities and Commitments
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments Contingencies and Guarantees [Text Block]

10. CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND COMMITMENTS

 

Our bylaws, as amended, in effect provide that the Company will indemnify its officers and directors against any liability arising from their responsibilities as officers and directors to the maximum extent permitted by Delaware law. In addition, we make similar indemnity undertakings with each director through a separate indemnification agreement with that director. The maximum payment that we may be required to make under such provisions is theoretically unlimited and is impossible to determine. We maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, which may provide reimbursement to the Company for payments made to, or on behalf of, officers and directors pursuant to the indemnification provisions. Our indemnification obligations were grandfathered under the provisions of Codification Topic 460, Guarantees. Accordingly, we have recorded no liability for such obligations as of September 30, 2025 or December 31, 2024. Since our incorporation, we have had no occasion to make any indemnification payment to any of our officers or directors for any reason.

 

The development, manufacturing and marketing of animal health and nutrition products entails an inherent risk that liability claims will be asserted against us during the normal course of business. We are aware of no such claims against us as of the time of this filing on November 13, 2025. We believe that we have reasonable levels of liability insurance to support our operations.

 

We enter into agreements with third parties in the ordinary course of business under which we are obligated to indemnify such third parties from and against various risks and losses. The precise terms of such indemnities vary with the nature of the agreement. In many cases, we limit the maximum amount of our indemnification obligations, but in some cases those obligations may be theoretically unlimited. We have not incurred material expenses in discharging any of these indemnification obligations and based on our analysis of the nature of the risks involved, we believe that the fair value of the liabilities potentially arising under these agreements is minimal. Accordingly, we recorded no liabilities for such obligations as of September 30, 2025 or December 31, 2024.

 

We plan to purchase certain key parts (syringes) and services (formulation, aseptic filling and final packaging) pertaining to Re-Tain® Drug Product (DP), our Nisin-based intramammary treatment of subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cows, exclusively from contractors. The contract for formulation, aseptic filling and final packaging of DP terminated on November 30, 2024. This contract was extended through March of 2026 for the purpose of final packaging of existing DP inventory, but this contract extension does not anticipate the production of new DP inventory. During 2019, we initiated an investment in the necessary equipment to perform the DP formulation and aseptic filling services in-house, but this investment is paused at the present time.

 

Effective March 28, 2022, we entered into an Amended and Restated Separation and Deferred Compensation Agreement (the “Deferred Compensation Agreement”) with Mr. Brigham (our then current CEO) that superseded and replaced in its entirety a March of 2020 severance agreement between the Company and Mr. Brigham. Upon separation from the Company for any reason, Mr. Brigham’s Deferred Compensation Agreement allows Mr. Brigham to be paid, among other amounts, all earned and unused paid time off. Accordingly, an expense of $222,379 for earned and unpaid sick time was accrued during the first quarter of 2022 and a related accrual of $239,369 and $230,162 was included in accounts payable and accrued expenses as of September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. Additionally, Mr. Brigham was paid $300,000 in deferred compensation during the first quarter of 2025 (which was accrued over the three-year period ending in December of 2024). This deferred compensation payment vested as to $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 on January 1, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Deferred compensation of $0 and $300,000 was included in accounts payable and accrued expenses on the accompanying balance sheets as of September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. In addition, upon termination of Mr. Brigham’s employment (a) by the Company other than for cause, (b) due to death or disability or (c) by Mr. Brigham for good reason, in each case as described and defined in the Deferred Compensation Agreement, the Company agrees to pay Mr. Brigham 100% of his then current annual base salary and a lump sum payment equal to the employer portion of the costs of continued health benefits for Mr. Brigham and his covered dependents for a twelve-month period following termination, and certain equity incentive awards granted to Mr. Brigham would continue to vest following such termination in accordance with the terms of the Deferred Compensation Agreement.

 

As of September 29, 2025, we entered into an employment agreement with Mr. te Boekhorst (effective upon commencement of employment as Company President and Chief Executive Officer starting November 1, 2025) under which he will receive an annual base salary of $450,000. He also will be entitled to earn annual cash bonuses of up to an additional $400,000 per year subject to the Company having achieved financial improvement targets from the prior year set in advance by the Company’s Board of Directors or its Compensation and Stock Option Committee. The targets for 2026 are anticipated to be negotiated between Mr. te Boekhorst and the Compensation and Stock Option Committee in the first quarter of 2026 after financial results for the 2025 fiscal year are available. Subsequent to September 30, 2025, he also received a one-time $100,000 signing bonus upon commencement of employment (subject to repayment by him in certain events involving cessation of employment within one year of commencement). As an inducement to employment, the Compensation and Stock Option Committee awarded him stock options, in two installments, to purchase 150,260 shares of the Company’s common stock, of which 75,983 were granted as of September 30, 2025 and 74,277 were granted on November 7, 2025. Neither grant of stock options is immediately exercisable but instead will vest on the basis of continued employment, in three equal annual increments starting on the first anniversary of their respective grant dates (except that upon a change in control, as defined, all then outstanding unvested equity awards, including these awards, will immediately vest in full). Both option issuances have a 10-year term. In the event the Company terminates Mr. te Boekhorst’s employment without cause or he terminates his employment for good reason (each as defined), he will become eligible for severance compensation consisting of one year’s base annual salary, up to 12 months of COBRA cost reimbursement, up to 12 months of accelerated vesting of his outstanding stock options, and an extended period (24 months) within which to exercise his vested stock options.

 

Incentive compensation agreements may be entered into with Mr. te Boekhorst (our President and Chief Executive Officer), Mr. Brigham, Ms. Brockmann (our Vice President of Sales and Marketing) and Mr. Fiori (our Chief Financial Officer), which, at times, allow these executives to earn incentive compensation if certain operational and financial objectives are met during the year to which the agreement relates, as specified in their agreements. Amounts related to these incentive compensation agreements are accrued over the period they are earned (when it is probable that the amounts will be earned) based on our best estimate of the amounts expected to be earned.

 

In addition to the commitments discussed above, we had committed $65,000 for the First Defense® product line, $1,318,000 to the purchase of inventory, $258,000 to information technology services and $614,000 for other obligations as of September 30, 2025.