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Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments Contingencies and Guarantees [Text Block]

10. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Litigation and Regulatory

 

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 ASC 460, Guarantees. Accordingly, we have recorded no liability for such obligations as of December 31, 2025 or 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 care 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 March 30, 2026.

 

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 December 31, 2025 or 2024.

 

Employee Compensation

 

Effective March 28, 2022, we entered into an Amended and Restated Separation and Deferred Compensation Agreement (the “Deferred Compensation Agreement”) with Mr. Brigham (our former President and CEO) that superseded and replaced in its entirety a March 2020 severance agreement between the Company and Mr. Brigham. Upon separation from the Company during January of 2026, Mr. Brigham’s Deferred Compensation Agreement allowed Mr. Brigham to be paid, among other amounts, all earned and unused paid time off. Accordingly, a related accrual of $239,369 and $230,162 was included in accounts payable and accrued expenses as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Additionally, Mr. Brigham was paid $300,000 in deferred compensation during the first quarter of 2025, which was included in accounts payable and accrued expenses on the accompanying balance sheet as of  December 31, 2024. As of December 31, 2025, the Company had $100,000 recorded in accounts payable and accrued expenses related to a retention bonus and performance bonus in equal amounts, due to Mr. Brigham in the first quarter of 2026.

 

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 were negotiated between Mr. te Boekhorst and the Compensation and Stock Option Committee in the first quarter of 2026. 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). 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.

 

Other Commitments

 

   In addition to the commitments discussed above, we had committed $46,000 to increase our production capacity for the First Defense® product line, $1,326,000 to the purchase of inventory, $269,000 to information technology services, $312,000 to cold storage services, and $527,000 for other obligations as of December 31, 2025.