Company: OCEA
Filing Date: 2025-04-08
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001641172-25-003155
Chunk: 1579

Company: Ocean Biomedical, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-08
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 11
Chunk 1579
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 a result, we are a “controlled company” within the meaning of
the corporate governance standards of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual,
group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements,
including:

(i)
the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consist of “independent directors” as defined under the rules of
Nasdaq;

167

(ii)
the requirement that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of directors who meet the Nasdaq independence standards
for compensation committee members; and

(iii)
the requirement that our director nominations be made, or recommended to our full board of directors, by our independent directors or
by a nominations committee that consists entirely of independent directors.

We
currently rely on these exemptions. If we continue to utilize such exemptions available to controlled companies, we may not have a majority
of independent directors, our nominations committee and compensation committee may not consist entirely of independent directors and
such committees may not be subject to annual performance evaluations. Accordingly, under these circumstances, you may not have the same
protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.

Our
independent directors, as such term is defined by the applicable rules and regulations of Nasdaq, are William Owens,
Michael Peterson and Amy Griffith. Martin Angle passed away in September 2024.

Under
applicable Nasdaq rules, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of the listed company’s
board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying
out the responsibilities of a director. Our board of directors has determined that all members of the Board, except Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria,
Elizabeth Ng, Dr. Jake Kurtis, Dr. Jack Elias, and Suren Ajjarapu are independent directors, including for purposes of the rules of Nasdaq
and the SEC. In making such independence determination, our board of directors considered the relationships that each non-employee director
has with us and all other facts and circumstances that our board of directors deemed relevant in determining his or her independence,
including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director. In considering the independence of the directors
listed above, our board of directors considered the association of our directors with the holders of more