UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM  i 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):  i February 15, 2024

 

 i Alaunos Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

i Delaware		i 001-33038		i 84-1475642
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)		(Commission File Number)		(IRS Employer Identification No.)

 i 2617 Bissonnet St

 i Suite 225

 i Houston,  i TX  i 77005

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

 i (346)  i 355-4099

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not applicable

(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:

 

i ☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

i ☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

i ☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

i ☐	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
i Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share		i TCRT		i The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company 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  i ☐

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 5.02.

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On February 15, 2024, Michael Wong gave notice of his resignation as Vice President, Finance, of Alaunos Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), effective February 23, 2024.

On February 22, 2024, the Company and Ferdinand Groenewald entered into a consulting agreement (the “Consulting Agreement”), effective February 22, 2024, pursuant to which Mr. Groenewald will lead accounting and financial reporting activities of the Company. Mr. Groenewald will serve as the Company’s Vice President, Finance. The Consulting Agreement will continue indefinitely until terminated by either party upon 30 days’ advance notice. The Consulting Agreement provides for compensation at a fixed rate of $15,000 per month and reimbursement by the Company for any usual and customary business expenses incurred by Mr. Groenewald in connection with performing services pursuant to the Consulting Agreement. In addition, the Consulting Agreement provides for the Company to indemnify Mr. Groenewald on terms customary for officers.

Since July 2022, Mr. Groenewald, age 39, has served in several capacities at the CFO Squad, which provides outsourced accounting and consulting services. From January 2, 2022 to July 31, 2022, Mr. Groenewald had served as the Chief Accounting Officer of Muscle Maker, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company. From September 2018 to January 2, 2022, Mr. Groenewald served as the Chief Financial Officer of Muscle Maker, Inc. From January 25, 2018 through May 29, 2018, Mr. Groenewald served as the Vice President of Finance, Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer of Muscle Maker, Inc., Muscle Maker Development, LLC and Muscle Maker Corp., LLC. In addition, from October 2017 through May 29, 2018, he served as the controller of Muscle Maker, Inc. Mr. Groenewald is a certified public accountant with significant experience in finance and accounting. From July 2018 through August 2018, he served as senior financial reporting accountant of Wrinkle Gardner & Company, a full-service tax, accounting and business consulting firm. From February 2017 to October 2017, Mr. Groenewald served as Senior Financial Accounting Consultant at Pharos Advisors, Inc. serving a broad range of industries. From November 2013 to February 2017, he served as a Senior Staff Accountant at Financial Consulting Strategies, LLC, where he provided a broad range of accounting, financial reporting, and pre-auditing services to various industries. From August 2015 to December 2015, Mr. Groenewald served as a Financial Reporting Analyst at Valley National Bank. Mr. Groenewald holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of South Africa. Mr. Groenewald has served as a member of the Board of Directors of (i) HeartCore Enterprises, Inc., a company listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, since January 24, 2022; (ii) SYLA Technologies Co., Ltd., a publicly reporting company that is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, since December 1, 2022; and (iii) Sushi Ginza Onodera, Inc., a company that has publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 in connection with its initial public offering, since July 1, 2023.

The foregoing description of the Consulting Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of such agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

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.

 

		Alaunos Therapeutics, Inc.
Date: February 22, 2024		By:		/s/ Dale Curtis Hogue, Jr.
		Name:		Dale Curtis Hogue, Jr.
		Title:		Interim Chief Executive Officer