cvm_ex4b





 







Exhibit 4(b)


 



CEL-SCI CORPORATION



2020 NON-QUALIFIED STOCK OPTION PLAN


 



l.          

Purpose. This Non-Qualified
Stock Option Plan (the "Plan") is intended to advance the interests
of CEL-SCI Corporation (the “Company”) and its
shareholders, by encouraging and enabling selected officers,
directors, consultants and key employees upon whose judgment,
initiative and effort the Company is largely dependent for the
successful conduct of its business, to acquire and retain a
proprietary interest in the Company by ownership of its stock.
Options granted under the Plan are intended to be Options which do
not meet the requirements of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1954, as amended (the "Code").






 



2.          

Definitions.






 



(a)          

"Board" means the
Board of Directors of the Company.






 



(b)          

"Committee" means
the directors duly appointed to administer the Plan.






 



(c)          

"Common Stock"
means the Company's Common Stock.






 



(d)          

"Date of Grant"
means the date on which an Option is granted under the
Plan.






 



(e)          

"Option" means an
Option granted under the Plan.






 



(f)          

"Optionee" means a
person to whom an Option, which has not expired, has been granted
under the Plan.






 



(g)          

"Successor" means
the legal representative of the estate of a deceased optionee or
the person or persons who acquire the right to exercise an Option
by bequest or inheritance or by reason of the death of any
Optionee.






 



3.          

Administration of Plan. The
Plan shall be administered by the Company's Board of Directors or
in the alternative, by a committee of two or more directors
appointed by the Board (the "Committee"). If a Committee should be
appointed, the Committee shall report all action taken by it to the
Board. The Committee shall have full and final authority in its
discretion, subject to the provisions of the Plan, to determine the
individuals to whom and the time or times at which Options shall be
granted and the number of shares and purchase price of Common Stock
covered by each Option; to construe and interpret the Plan; to
determine the terms and provisions of the respective Option
agreements, which need not be identical, including, but without
limitation, terms covering the payment of the Option Price; and to
make all other determinations and take all other actions deemed
necessary or advisable for the proper administration of the Plan.
All such actions and determinations shall be conclusively binding
for all purposes and upon all persons.






 



4.          

Common Stock Subject to
Options. The aggregate number of shares of the Company's
Common Stock which may be issued upon the exercise of Options
granted under the Plan shall not exceed 3,600,000. The shares of
Common Stock to be issued upon the exercise of Options may be
authorized but unissued shares, shares issued and reacquired by the
Company or shares bought on the market for the purposes of the
Plan. In the event any Option shall, for any reason, terminate or
expire or be surrendered without having been exercised in full, the
shares subject to such Option but not purchased thereunder shall
again be available for Options to be granted under the
Plan.






 




 








 






   




5.          

Participants. Options may be
granted under the Plan to employees, directors and officers, and
consultants or advisors to the Company (or the Company’s
subsidiaries), provided however that bona fide services shall be
rendered by such consultants or advisors and such services must not
be in connection with the offer or sale of securities in a
capital-raising transaction and do not directly or indirectly
promote or maintain a market for the Company’s
securities.






 



6.          

Terms and Conditions of
Options. Any Option granted under the Plan shall be
evidenced by an agreement executed by the Company and the recipient
and shall contain such terms and be in such form as the Committee
may from time to time approve, subject to the following limitations
and conditions:






 




(a)


Option Price. The Option Price
per share with respect to each Option shall be determined by the
Committee. The option price of any
options granted pursuant to the Plan may not be changed, except in
the case of stock splits, reorganizations or
recapitalizations.






 



(b)          

Period of Option. The period
during which each option may be exercised, and the expiration date
of each Option shall be fixed by the Committee, but,
notwithstanding any provision of the Plan to the contrary, such
expiration date shall not be more than ten years from the date of
Grant.






 



(c)          

Vesting of Shareholder Rights.
Neither an Optionee nor his successor shall have any rights as a
shareholder of the Company until the certificates evidencing the
shares purchased are properly delivered to such Optionee or his
successor.






 



(d)          

Exercise of Option. Each Option
shall be exercisable from time to time during a period (or periods)
determined by the Committee, and ending upon the expiration or
termination of the Option; provided, however, (1) the Committee
may, by the provisions of any Option Agreement, limit the number of
shares purchasable thereunder in any period or periods of time
during which the Option is exercisable, and (2) no option may be
exercised until one year after the date of grant.






 



(e)          

Nontransferability of Option.
No Option shall be transferable or assignable by an Optionee,
otherwise than by will or the laws of descent and distribution and
each Option shall be exercisable, during the Optionee's lifetime,
only by him. No Option shall be pledged or hypothecated in any way
and no Option shall be subject to execution, attachment, or similar
process except with the express consent of the
Committee.






 



(f)          

Death of Optionee. In the event
of the death of an Optionee, all unvested options will vest and an
option theretofore granted to the Optionee shall be exercisable
only by the person or persons to whom the Optionee’s rights
under the option shall pass by the Optionee’s will or by the
laws of descent and distribution.






 



(g)          

Payment for Options. The
Corporation is not required to pay
cash for an option under any circumstances.






 




 








 






   




7.          

Reclassification, Consolidation, or
Merger. If and to the extent that the number of issued
shares of Common Stock of the Corporation shall be increased or
reduced by change in par value, split up, reclassification,
distribution of a dividend payable in stock, or the like, the
number of shares which may be issued upon the exercise of any
Options which may be granted pursuant to this Plan, the number of
shares issuable upon the exercise of any Option previously granted
and the Exercise Price of any Option previously granted, shall be
proportionately adjusted by the Committee, whose determination
shall be conclusive. If the Corporation is reorganized or
consolidated or merged with another corporation, an Optionee
granted an Option hereunder shall be entitled to receive Options
covering shares of such reorganized, consolidated, or merged
company in the same proportion, at an equivalent price, and subject
to the same conditions. The new Option or assumption of the old
Option shall not give Optionee additional benefits which he did not
have under the old Option, or deprive him of benefits which he had
under the old Option.






 



8.          

Restrictions on Issuing Shares.
The exercise of each Option shall be subject to the condition that
if at any time the Company shall determine in its discretion that
the satisfaction of withholding tax or other withholding
liabilities, or that the listing, registration, or qualification of
any shares otherwise deliverable upon such exercise upon any
securities exchange or under any state or federal law, or that the
consent or approval of any regulatory body, is necessary or
desirable as a condition of, or in connection with, such exercise
or the delivery or purchase of shares purchased thereto, then in
any such event, such exercise shall not be effective unless such
withholding, listing, registration, qualification, consent, or
approval shall have been effected or obtained free of any
conditions not acceptable to the Company.






 


Unless
the shares of stock covered by the Plan have been registered with
the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 5 of the
Securities Act of l933, each optionee shall, by accepting an
option, represent and agree, for himself and his transferees by
will or the laws of descent and distribution, that all shares of
stock purchased upon the exercise of the option will be acquired
for investment and not for resale or distribution. Upon such
exercise of any portion of an option, the person entitled to
exercise the same shall, upon request of the Company, furnish
evidence satisfactory to the Company (including a written and
signed representation) to the effect that the shares of stock are
being acquired in good faith for investment and not for resale or
distribution. Furthermore, the Company may, if it deems
appropriate, affix a legend to certificates representing shares of
stock purchased upon exercise of options indicating that such
shares have not been registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and may so notify the Company's transfer agent. Such
shares may be disposed of by an optionee in the following manner
only: (l) pursuant to an effective registration statement covering
such resale or reoffer, (2) pursuant to an applicable exemption
from registration as indicated in a written opinion of counsel
acceptable to the Company, or (3) in a transaction that meets all
the requirements of Rule l44 of the Securities and Exchange
Commission. If shares of stock covered by the Plan have been
registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, no such
restrictions on resale shall apply, except in the case of optionees
who are directors, officers, or principal shareholders of the
Company. Such persons may dispose of shares only by one of the
three aforesaid methods.


 




 








 






 

 


 



9.          

Use of Proceeds. The proceeds
received by the Company from the sale of Common Stock pursuant to
the exercise of Options granted under the Plan shall be added to
the Company's general funds and used for general corporate
purposes.






 



10.          

Amendment, Suspension, and Termination
of Plan. The Board of Directors may alter, suspend, or
discontinue the Plan at any time.






 


Unless
the Plan shall theretofore have been terminated by the Board, the
Plan shall terminate ten years after the adoption of the Plan. No
Option may be granted during any suspension or after the
termination of the Plan. No amendment, suspension, or termination
of the Plan shall, without an Optionee's consent, alter or impair
any of the rights or obligations under any Option theretofore
granted to such Optionee under the Plan.


 



11.          

Limitations. Every right of
action by any person receiving options pursuant to this Plan
against any past, present or future member of the Board, or any
officer or employee of the Company arising out of or in connection
with this Plan shall, irrespective of the place where such action
may be brought and irrespective of the place of residence of any
such director, officer or employee cease and be barred by the
expiration of one year from the date of the act or omission in
respect of which such right of action arises.






 



l2.          

Governing Law. The Plan shall
be governed by the laws of the State of Colorado.






 



13.          

Expenses of Administration. All
costs and expenses incurred in the operation and administration of
this Plan shall be borne by the Company.