bdsx-ex45_270.htm



 

Exhibit 4.5

 

DESCRIPTION OF THE REGISTRANT’S SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED

The following summary describes the capital stock of Biodesix, Inc., (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our”) and the material provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, the amended and restated registration rights agreement to which we and certain stockholders are parties and of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. Because the following is only a summary, it does not contain all of the information that may be important to you. For a complete description, you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws, and amended and restated registration rights agreement, copies of which are incorporated by reference as exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 10-K.

As of December 31, 2020, Biodesix Inc. (the “Company”) had common stock, $0.001 par value per share, registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “BDSX.”

General

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of 205,000,000 shares of capital stock, consisting of (i) 200,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Common Stock”) and (ii) 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, the rights, preferences and privileges of which may be designated from time to time by our board of directors. 

Common Stock

Dividend Rights

Subject to preferences that may apply to shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of outstanding shares of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and only then at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine. 

Voting Rights

The holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote per share. Stockholders do not have the ability to cumulate votes for the election of directors. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide for a classified board of directors consisting of three classes of approximately equal size, each serving staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of our stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.

Preemptive or Other Rights

Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights and is not subject to redemption or sinking fund provisions.

Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions

 Upon our liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our common stock and any participating preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.

Preferred Stock

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that shares of preferred stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our Board is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional, special and other rights, if any, and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares of each series. Our Board is able, without stockholder approval, to issue preferred stock with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the Common Stock and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of the our Board to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of existing management. We have no preferred stock outstanding at the date hereof. Although we do not currently intend to issue any shares of preferred stock, we cannot assure you that we will not do so in the future.

 

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Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of Delaware Law, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

The provisions of the DGCL, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws could have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another person from acquiring control of our company. These provisions, which are summarized below, are expected to discourage certain types of coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and encourage persons seeking to acquire control of our company to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

Section 203 of the DGCL

We are subject to the provisions of Section 203 of the DGCL regulating corporate takeovers. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a three-year period following the date that this stockholder becomes an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Under Section 203, a business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:


	
 
	
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before the stockholder became interested, our board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction, which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;





	
 
	
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upon consummation of the transaction, which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the voting stock outstanding, shares owned by persons who are directors and also officers, and employee stock plans in some instances, but not the outstanding voting stock owned by the interested stockholder; or





	
 
	
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at or after the time the stockholder became interested, the business combination was approved by our board and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock, which is not owned by the interested stockholder.




Section 203 defines a business combination to include:


	
 
	
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any merger or consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder;





	
 
	
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any sale, transfer, lease, pledge or other disposition involving the interested stockholder of 10% or more of the assets of the corporation;





	
 
	
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subject to exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance of transfer by the corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder;





	
 
	
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subject to exceptions, any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; and





	
 
	
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the receipt by the interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees, pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the corporation.




In general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or controlled by the entity or person.

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaw Provisions

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws include a number of provisions that may have the effect of deterring hostile takeovers, or delaying or preventing changes in control of our management team or changes in our board of directors or our governance or policy, including the following:

Board Vacancies

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws authorize generally only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships resulting from any cause or created by the expansion of our board of directors. In addition, the number of directors 

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constituting our board of directors may be set only by resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees.

Classified Board

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. The existence of a classified board of directors could delay a successful tender offeror from obtaining majority control of our board of directors, and the prospect of that delay might deter a potential offeror. 

Directors Removed Only for Cause

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that stockholders may remove directors only for cause.

Supermajority Requirements for Amendments of Our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provide that the affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of our outstanding common stock is required to amend certain provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, including provisions relating to the classified board, the size of the board of directors, removal of directors, special meetings, actions by written consent and designation of our preferred stock. The affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the voting power of our outstanding common stock is required to amend or repeal our bylaws, although our bylaws may be amended by a simple majority vote of our board of directors.

Stockholder Action; Special Meetings of Stockholders

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not take action by written consent, but may only take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. As a result, holders of our capital stock are not be able to amend our bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our bylaws. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our bylaws provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors, our chief executive officer, our president or the lead independent director, thus prohibiting a stockholder from calling a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders to take any action, including the removal of directors.

Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations

Our bylaws provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice generally must be delivered to us not later than the close of business on the 90th day nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders. Our bylaws also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. With respect to nominations of persons for election to our board of directors, the notice shall provide information about the nominee, including, among other things, name, age, address, principal occupation, ownership of our capital stock and whether they meet applicable independence requirements. With respect to the proposal of other business to be considered by our stockholders at an annual meeting, the notice shall provide a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting, the text of the proposal or business, the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting and any material interest in such business by such stockholder and any beneficial owners and associated persons on whose behalf the notice is made, or the proposing persons. In addition, a stockholder’s notice must set forth certain information related to the proposing persons, including, among other things:


	
 
	
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the name and address of the proposing persons;





	
 
	
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information as to the ownership by the proposing persons of our capital stock and any derivative interest or short interest in any of our securities held by the proposing persons;





	
 
	
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information as to any material relationships and interest between the proposing persons and us, any of our affiliates and any of our principal competitors;





	
 
	
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a representation that the stockholder is a holder of record of our stock entitled to vote at that meeting and that the stockholder intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to propose such nomination or business; and




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a representation whether the proposing persons intend or are part of a group which intends to deliver a proxy statement or form of proxy to holders of at least the percentage of our outstanding capital stock required to elect the nominee or carry the proposal.




These provisions may preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. We expect that these provisions might also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

No Cumulative Voting

The DGCL provides that stockholders are not entitled to the right to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws will not provide for cumulative voting.

Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock

Our board has the authority, without further action by the stockholders, to issue up to 5,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by our board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock enables our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise.

Exclusive Forum

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for (1) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf under Delaware law, (2) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (3) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or bylaws, (4) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine or (5) any other action asserting an “internal corporate claim,” as defined in Section 115 of the DGCL, shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware) in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. These exclusive-forum provisions do not apply to claims under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers.

To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, contains a federal forum provision which provides that unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Trust Company, N.A.

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