PART I

 

DISCLOSURE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

This Annual Report on Form 10-K of GB Sciences, Inc., a Nevada corporation and its subsidiaries (the “Company”), contains “forward-looking statements,” as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “expects”, “plans”, “intends”, “anticipates”, believes”, “estimates”, “predicts” or “continue”, which list is not meant to be all-inclusive and other such negative terms and comparable technology. These forward-looking statements, include, without limitation, statements about market opportunity, strategies, competition, expected activities and expenditures as we pursue business our plan, and the adequacy of available cash reserves. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Actual results may differ materially from the predictions discussed in these forward-looking statements. The economic environment within which we operate could materially affect actual results. Additional factors that could materially affect these forward-looking statements and/or predictions include among other things: (i) product demand, market and customer acceptance of any or all of the Company’s products, equipment and other goods, (ii) ability to obtain financing to expand its operations, (iii) ability to attract qualified personnel, (iv) competition pricing and development difficulties, (v) ability to increase cultivation production, (vi) the timing and extent of changes in prices for medical and adult-use cannabis, (vii) agricultural risks of growing and harvesting medical and adult-use cannabis, (viii) the availability of equipment, such as extraction equipment, (ix) the adequacy of capital reserves and liquidity including, but not limited to, access to additional borrowing capacity, (x) our ability to close the sale of the Company's Nevada cannabis cultivation and production facilities, (xi) and general industry and market conditions and growth rates, unexpected natural disasters, and other factors, which we have little or no control: and any other factors discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

 

Any forward-looking statements are based on information available to us today and we undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise.

 

COVID-19 EXPLANATORY DISCLOSURE

 

GB Sciences, Inc. (“the Company”) has relied on the March 4, 2020 order issued by the Commission under Section 36 (Release No. 3488318), as modified on March 25, 2020 (Release No. 3488465) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) granting exemptions from specified provisions of the Exchange Act and certain rules thereunder (the “Order”), as a result of the novel coronavirus (“COVID19”) pandemic, to delay the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2020 (the “Report”). A significant portion of the Company’s business operations are contracted in certain employees and independent contractors who have recently been under “lock-down” orders or “shelter in place” recommendations for the national health crisis, including key personnel responsible for assisting the Company in the development of its financial statements. As a result of the travel and work restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company was unable to file a timely and accurate Annual Report on Form 10-K for its year ended March 31, 2020 by the prescribed date without undue hardship and expense to the Company.

 

 

 

ITEM 1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

 

Unless the context indicates otherwise, all references to “GB” and “GB Sciences” refers solely to GB Sciences, Inc., a Nevada corporation, and all references to “the Company,” “we”, “us” or “our” in this Annual Report refers to GB Sciences and its consolidated subsidiaries.

 

Overview

 

GB Sciences, Inc. (“the Company”, “GB Sciences”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) seeks to be a biopharmaceutical research and cannabinoid-based drug development company whose goal is to create patented formulations for safe, standardized, cannabinoid therapies that target a variety of medical conditions in both the pharmaceutical and wellness markets. The Company is engaged in the research and development of cannabinoid medicines and plans to produce cannabinoid therapies for the wellness markets based on its portfolio of intellectual property.

 

Through its wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. (“GBSGB”), the Company is engaged in the research and development of cannabinoid medicines with virtual operations in North America and Europe. GBSGB assets include cannabinoid medicine intellectual property, research contracts and key supplier arrangements. GBSGB’s intellectual property covers a range of conditions and several programs are in pre-clinical animal stage of development; including Parkinson’s disease, neuropathic pain, and cardiovascular therapeutic programs. GBSGB runs a lean drug development program and takes effort to minimize expenses, including personnel, overhead, and fixed capital expenses  through strategic partnerships with Universities and Contract Research Organizations (“CROs”). GBSGB’s intellectual property portfolio includes two issued USPTO Patents, five USPTO patent applications, four provisional USPTO patent applications, and one USPTO application that we anticipate filing by the end of calendar year 2020, as well as licenses for three additional patents covering novel cannabinoid delivery systems. In addition to the USPTO patents and patent applications, the company has filed 28 patent applications internationally.

 

We were incorporated in the State of Delaware on April 4, 2001, under the name “Flagstick Venture, Inc.” On March 28, 2008, stockholders owning a majority of our outstanding common stock approved changing our then name “Signature Exploration and Production Corp.” as our business model had changed.

 

On March 13, 2014, we entered into a definitive assets purchase agreement for the acquisition of assets, including the Growblox™ cultivation technology which resulted in a change in our corporate name on April 4, 2014, from Signature Exploration and Production Corporation to Growblox Sciences, Inc.

 

 

Effective December 12, 2016, the Company amended its Certificate of Corporation pursuant to shareholder approval as reported in the Form 8-K filed on October 14, 2016.  Pursuant to the amendment the Company’s name was changed from Growblox Sciences, Inc. to GB Sciences, Inc.  

 

Effective April 8, 2018, Shareholders of the Company approved the change in corporate domicile from the State of Delaware to the State of Nevada and increase in the number of authorized capital shares from 250,000,000 to 400,000,000. Effective August 15, 2019, Shareholders of the Company approved an increase in authorized capital shares from 400,000,000 to 600,000,000.

 

Our Business Strategy

 

Drug Discovery and Development of Novel Cannabis-Based Therapies

 

Through its wholly-owned, Canadian subsidiary, GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. ("GBSGB"), the Company has conducted ground-breaking research embracing the complexity of the whole plant led by Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, the Company’s Chief Science Officer and Director, and Dr. Helen Turner, Vice President of Innovation and Dean of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Department at Chaminade University.  Small-Howard and Turner posited that complex mixtures of cannabinoids and terpenes that are derived from native mixtures in the cannabis plant, but with precise optimizations, would provide more targeted and effective treatments for specific disease conditions than either single cannabinoids or whole plant formulations.  They developed a rapid screening and assaying system which tested thousands of combinations of cannabinoids and terpenes in vitro against cell-based models of disease.  This process identified precise mixtures of cannabinoids and terpenes, many of which contained no THC, to treat categories of disease conditions, including neurological disorders, inflammation, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, chronic and neuropathic pain. 

 

GBSGB’s drug discovery process combines: 1) HTS: high throughput screening of tens of thousands of combinations of compounds derived from specific chemovars of the cannabis plant in well-established cellular models of diseases, and 2) NPP: a proprietary Network Pharmacology Platform algorithm for the prediction of complex therapeutic mixtures that the Company spent two-and-a-half-years training and testing against cell assay data. This combined approach to drug discovery increases research efficiency and accuracy reducing the time from ideation to patenting from 7 years to 1.5 years. Screening of cannabis-based mixtures for drug discovery involves the testing of specific combinations of plant chemicals from many naturally occurring cannabis chemovars and the use of live models for these diseases that have been well established by other researchers. First, the Company finds chemovars that show some therapeutic activity, and then refines these natural mixtures to optimize their effectiveness in cellular assays by removing compounds that do not act synergistically with the others in the mixtures.  The Company also use its internally-validated Network Pharmacology Platform to prioritize and eliminate some potential combinations, which reduces the time in the discovery period.

 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office allows complex mixtures to be claimed as Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients. GBSGB has two issued patents and a series of pending patents containing cannabis-derived complex mixtures that act as therapeutic agents for specific disease categories, as described below. GBSGB’s pending patents are protected whether the individual compounds are derived from the cannabis plant, another plant, synthetically produced, or derived from a combination of sources for the individual chemical compounds in these mixtures.

 

 

 

Annual Drug Development Progress Report 

 

GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. has made significant strides in the past year with respect to both its drug discovery research and product development programs. Our lead pharmaceutical programs in both Parkinson’s disease and chronic neuropathic pain are now in preclinical animal studies with Dr. Lee Ellis of the National Research Council (NRC) Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In addition, the two patents which protect GBSGB’s formulations in our lead development programs have been issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Achieving these significant milestones is driving interest in these novel therapeutic programs.

 

For its lead program in PD therapeutics, GBSGB announced that it has obtained the statistically significant reduction of Parkinson’s-disease like symptoms using its proprietary complex mixtures in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Several of GBSGB’s PD formulations significantly reduced the symptoms, while the most effective formula reduced the symptoms back to the baseline activity of normal animals. In addition, the toxicity studies for these PD formulas came back without any significant negative findings. These important preclinical results will be included in GBS’ Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the US FDA to enter human clinical trials as soon as possible. New therapies to address Parkinson’s disease symptoms are needed to help those afflicted with this debilitating disease. The combined direct and indirect costs associated with Parkinson’s disease are estimated at $52 billion in the U.S. alone.

 

For Parkinson’s disease, the initial clinical prototypes of GBSGB’s Cannabinoid-Containing Complex Mixtures (CCCM™) are being formulated by Catalent Pharma using Catalent’s Zydis® Orally Disintegrating Tablet (ODT) technology. This ODT format was selected for the PD formulas because it dissolves on the tongues of patients without the need to swallow for ease of use in patients with PD, who often have difficulties with swallowing. GBSGB selected Catalent as its development partner for the PD therapies due to Catalent’s prior experience in working on US FDA-approved, cannabinoid-containing drugs, their Schedule I drug manufacturing facilities, their familiarity with US FDA and international regulatory and manufacturing requirements, their expertise in tackling formulation challenges, and their ability to achieve the stability and dosing necessary for these novel complex mixtures. In addition to its Zydis® technology, Catalent has early drug development services and additional oral drug delivery solutions available for the efficient delivery of GBSGB's proprietary APIs.

 

For its lead chronic neuropathic pain program, GBSGB is testing its Cannabinoid-Containing Complex Mixtures (CCCM) and Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures (MCCM) both as encapsulated, time-released nanoparticles, as well as in non-encapsulated forms of these therapeutic mixtures in an animal model at the NRC in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In preparation for human clinical trials, our standard MCCM and the time-released MCCM are currently being compared in an animal model that demonstrates their potential effectiveness at treating chronic pain. The early results from this preclinical research project look very promising.

 

The two patents which protect formulations in the Company’s lead therapeutic programs have been issued by the USPTO. The issuance of U.S. Patent No. 10,653,640 entitled "Cannabinoid-Containing Complex Mixtures for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases" on May 19, 2020 protects methods of using GBSGB’s proprietary cannabinoid-containing complex mixtures (CCCM™) for treating Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This was an important milestone in the development of these vitally-important therapies and validates GBSGB’s drug discovery platform. In the US alone, the combined direct and indirect costs associated with Parkinson’s disease are estimated at $52 billion, and new therapies to address Parkinson’s disease symptoms are greatly needed. This was also the first time that a US patent has been awarded for a cannabis-based complex mixture defined using this type of drug discovery method. The first US patent for PD therapies validated our drug discovery platform and strengthened our intellectual property portfolio of unique CCCM’s™, each targeting one of up to 60 specific clinical applications. The issuance of GBSGB’s second US patent for active pharmaceutical ingredients that are complex mixtures identified by our biotech platform further confirms that GBSGB’s pharmaceutical compositions can be patent-protected for use as biopharmaceutical and nutraceutical products. The US Patent entitled “Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures Targeting TRPV1” protects methods of using GBSGB’s proprietary Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures (“MCCM”) for the treatment of pain disorders related to arthritis, shingles, irritable bowel syndrome, sickle cell disease, and endometriosis. In the US alone, chronic pain represents an estimated health burden of between $560 and $650 billion dollars, and an estimated 20.4% of U.S. adults suffer from chronic pain that significantly decreases their quality of life. Despite the widespread rates of addiction and death, opioids remain the standard of care treatment for most people with chronic pain. The Company believes that it is important to create safer, less addictive alternatives to opioids for the treatment of chronic pain disorders, like GBSGB’s myrcene-containing complex mixtures.

 

 

 

In this fiscal year, two new patent applications were filed, and two additional provisional patent applications were filed on August 18, 2020. In addition, several of our international patents have progressed to the country-specific phase of patent review. We are also raising awareness of our research and development work through peer-reviewed journal articles and presentations at national and international science and industry meetings.

Favorable Research Updates from our university collaborators reveal the promise in our discovery programs with Michigan State University (HIV-Associated Neurodegenerative Disorder and COVID-19 therapies), Chaminade University (Chronic Neuropathic Pain, Metabolic Syndrome, Cannabis Metabolomics with the University of Athens), the University of Athens, Greece (Cannabis Metabolomics), the University of Seville, Spain (Time-Released Nanoparticles), and the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada (Parkinson’s Disease, Chronic Neuropathic Pain).

 

Intellectual Property Portfolio

 

GBSGB retained Fenwick & West, a Silicon Valley based law firm focusing on life sciences and high technology companies with a nationally top-ranked intellectual property practice, to develop strategies for the protection of the Company's intellectual property. The status of the intellectual property portfolio is as follows.

 

Two USPTO Patents Issued/Allowed for Cannabinoid- and Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures

 

  Title:       CANNABINOID-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES FOR THE TREATMENT OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

 

U.S. Patent Number 10,653,640;                       Expiration date:     October 23, 2038

Issued:                   May 19, 2020;                      Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard et al.

Patent protection was granted for GBSGB’s Cannabinoid-Containing Complex Mixtures for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

 

Title:      MYRCENE-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES TARGETING TRPV1

 

U.S. Patent Number 10,709,670;                      Expiration date:    May 22, 2038

Issued:                   July 14, 2020;                     Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

 

On May 12, 2020, GBSGB received a Notice of Allowance for its Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures. The fee was paid, and the patent will issue soon.

GBSGB’s MCCMs are protected for use in the treatment of pain related to arthritis, shingles, irritable bowel syndrome, sickle cell disease, and endometriosis.

 

Five USPTO & Twenty-Three International Patent Applications Pending

 

Title:       CANNABINOID-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES FOR THE TREATMENT OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES

 

U.S. Patent Application No. 15/729,565;                       WIPO Application number: PCT/US2017/055989

Filed:                     October 10, 2017;                                Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard et al.

National stage applications entered in AU, CA, CN, EP, HK, IL, and JP on October 10, 2017.

On April 3, 2020, GBSGB Received a Notice of Allowance on our Cannabinoid-Containing Complex Mixtures for Parkinson’s Disease. On the same day as we paid the fee for the allowed patent claims, we filed a Continuation for Review of the non-Parkinson’s formulas within this application, which includes Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Lewy body dementia, and dementia. U.S. Continuation Application No. 16/844,713, filed on Apr 9, 2020, is pending. This application claims benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/406,764 filed October 11, 2016. 

 

Title:      CANNABINOID-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES FOR THE TREATMENT OF MAST CELL-ASSOCIATED OR BASOPHIL-MEDIATED INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS

 

U.S. Patent Application No.15/885,620;        WIPO Application number: PCT/US2018/016296

Filed:     January 31, 2018;                                                Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

National stage applications entered in AU, CA, CN, EP, HK, IL, and JP on January 31, 2018.

Claims benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/453,161 filed February 1, 2017.

 

 

 

Title:      MYRCENE-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES TARGETING TRPV1

 

U.S. Patent Application No. 15/986,316;       WIPO Patent Application No. PCT/US2018/033956

Filed:                     May 22, 2018;                      Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

National stage applications entered in AU, CA, CN, EP, HK, IL, and JP on May 22, 2018.

On May 12, 2020, GBSGB received a Notice of Allowance for its Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures. On the same day as we paid the fee for the allowed claims, we filed a Continuation for the review of the other formulations including those for heart disease and other TRPV1-related pathologies. U.S. Continuation Application No. 16/878,295, filed on May 19, 2020, is pending. Claims benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/509,546 filed May 22, 2017.

 

Title:      TRPV1 ACTIVATION-MODULATING COMPLEX MIXTURES OF CANNABINOIDS AND/OR TERPENES

 

U.S. Patent Application No.: 16/420,004;      WIPO Patent Application No.: PCT/US2019/033618

Filed:                     May 22, 2019;                      Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

Claims benefit of U.S. Patent Application Nos. 62/674,843 filed May 22, 2018; 62/769,743 filed November 20, 2018; and 62/849,719 filed May 17, 2019.

 

Title:      THERAPEUTIC NANOPARTICLES ENCAPSULATING TERPENOIDS AND/OR CANNABINOIDS

 

U.S. Patent Application No.:16/686,069        WIPO Patent Application No.: PCT/ES2019/070765

Filed:                     November 8, 2019;             Inventors:              Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

Claims benefit of U.S. Patent Application Nos. 62/757,660 filed November 8, 2018

 

Two Provisional USPTO Patent Applications Pending

 

Title:      TREATMENT OF PAIN USING ALLOSTERIC MODULATOR OF TRPV1

 

U.S. Patent Application No.: 62/868,794;       Inventors:            Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

Filed:                     June 28, 2019

 

Title:      THERAPEUTIC NANOPARTICLES ENCAPSULATING TERPENOIDS AND/OR

 

CANNABINOIDS

U.S. Patent Application No.: 62/897,235       Inventors: Andrea Small-Howard, et al.

Filed: September 6, 2019

 

Two Additional Provisional Patent Applications Filed on August 18, 2020

 

GBSGB has data sets for two new provisional patent applications filed on August 18, 2020, as follows:

 

Title:      CANNABINOID-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISORDERS

 

Filing Date:         August 18, 2020;                 Inventor:               Andrea Small-Howard

 

Title:      CANNABINOID-CONTAINING COMPLEX MIXTURES FOR THE TREATMENT OF CYTOKINE RELEASE SYNDROME WHILE PRESERVING KEY ANTI-VIRAL IMMUNE REACTIONS

 

Filing Date:       August 18, 2020;                    Inventor:               Andrea Small-Howard

 

 

Multiple Licensed Patents for GBSGB’s Intellectual Property Portfolio

 

Title:      METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CARDIAC HYPERTROPHY.

 

Inventor:               Alexander Stokes;               Assignee:              University of Hawai’i

Commercialization rights licensed to Makai Biotech, LLC

Sublicensed by Makai Biotech, LLC to GBS Global Biopharma, Inc.

Status: Granted in the following territories on the corresponding dates

U.S. Patent Number: 9,084,786;                      Issued: July 21, 2015

U.S. Patent Number: 10,137,123;                    Issued: November 27, 2018

U.S. Continuation Application:  16/181,204

European Union Patent Number: 2,635,281; Granted: March 14, 2018

Europe Patent Application: 3,348,267

Hong Kong Patent Number: 14102182.8; Granted: March 14, 2018

India Patent Application: 1404/KOLNP/2013

China Patent Application: 201180063998.4

 

Title:       METHOD FOR PRODUCING A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION OF POLYMERIC NANOPARTICLES FOR TREATING NEUROPATHIC PAIN CAUSED BY PERIPHERAL NERVE COMPRESSION

 

Inventors:              Martin Banderas, Lucia; Fernandez Arevala, Mercedes; Berrocoso, Dominguez, Esther; and Mico Segura, Juan Antonio

Assignees:             Universidad de Sevilla, Universidad de Cadiz, and Centro de Investigacion Biomedica En Red (CIBER)

Exclusive worldwide license held by GBS Global Biopharma, Inc.

WIPO/PCT Application: PCT/ES2016/000016 (Pub. No. WO 2016/128591)

Filed: August 18, 2016

Claims benefit of Spanish Patent Application no. P201500129 (Pub. No. ES 2582287)

Filed:  February 9, 2015

U.S. Patent Application: 15/549,653

Spain Patent ES2582287; Granted: September 29, 2017

Europe Patent Application: EP3257503

Canada Patent Application CA2976040

 

Partnering Strategy 

 

GBSGB runs a lean drug development program and minimizes expenses, including personnel, overhead, and fixed capital expenses (such as lab and diagnostic equipment), through strategic partnerships with Universities and Contract Research Organizations (“CROs”). Through these research and development agreements, GBSGB has created a virtual pipeline for the further development of novel medicines extracted from the cannabis plant. The partners bring both expertise and infrastructure at a reasonable cost to the life sciences program. In most instances, GBSGB has also negotiated with these partners to keep 100% of the ownership of the IP within GBSGB for original patent filings.

 

GBSGB currently has on-going research agreements with the following institutions covering the indicated areas of research:

 

Chaminade University: Broad-based research program to support the drug discovery platform that has yielded most of GBSGB’s original patents to date in the areas of neurodegenerative diseases, heart disease, inflammatory diseases, neuropathic pain and chronic pain. They have also performed the bioassay portion of the Cannabis Metabolomics study performed with the University of Athens, Greece and GBSGB.

 

University of Athens: Broad-based metabolomics analysis of over 100 cannabis genotypes including both hemp and THC-producing cannabis varieties, in combination with GBSGB’s bioassay data linking genotypes and potential disease-remediations. This project has the potential to define active ingredients from plant-derived mixtures beyond the standard cannabinoids and terpenoids. The discovery potential is huge, and novel agents have recently been discovered.

 

Michigan State University: Discovery work using a cutting-edge, multi-cellular model of the human immune system and a multi-cell model of the brain to explore CCCM™s for use in the prevention of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (HAND). Although combination antiretroviral therapy keeps symptoms for most HIV-patients well controlled, between 40% and 70% of these well-controlled HIV patients end up with HAND symptoms that range from movement disorders to dementia-like symptoms. The results from this work were included in a new patent application that was filed on August 18, 2020. In addition, MSU has performed experiments using their novel model of the human-immune system that have allowed GBSGB to prepare cannabis-based formulas for the potential treatment of virally-induced hyperinflammation/cytokine storm syndrome that has led to the majority of COVID-19 deaths. The new patent application for our novel, cannabinoid-containing complex mixtures (CCCM™) for the treatment of hyperinflammation and cytokine storm syndrome in COVID-19 patients was filed on August 18, 2020.

 

 

The University of Seville: Bringing their novel expertise to the development and functional testing of time-released and disease-targeted nanoparticles of cannabis-based complex mixtures for oral administration. These specialized nanoparticles are being used for the precise and time-released delivery of several of our therapies, including GBSGB’s MCCM™ and CCCM™’s used in the preclinical animal testing performed at the NRC Canada. The University of Seville has completed functional testing on nanoparticles containing myrcene, nerolidol, and beta-caryophyllene for our Myrcene-Containing Complex Mixtures. In these cell-based assays, the effectiveness and kinetics of the nanoparticle-forms of these terpenes were compared with the “naked” terpenes both individually and in mixtures. In all cases, the effectiveness of the nanoparticles were superior to the naked terpenes, however, the mixtures were dramatically more effective than the individuals. These results from Seville are very promising as these nanoparticles have entered the animal testing phase at the NRC in Halifax.

 

The National Research Center (NRC) of Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia: Two animal-phase studies are being performed by Dr. Lee Ellis’ group at the NRC. An animal safety and efficacy study was initiated in Q4 of 2018 for GBSGB’s Parkinson’s disease therapies, and the NRC has demonstrated that the company’s PD formulations were able to reduce behavioral changes associated with the loss of dopamine-producing neurons, which underlies the pathology of Parkinson’s disease in the animal model. Based on achieving the statistically significant reduction in Parkinson’s disease symptomology, GBSGB has signed an amendment to include a final phase of testing, which will study the mechanism of action for these promising formulations. In Q1 of 2019, GBSGB started a safety and efficacy study in animals for GBSGB’s Chronic Neuropathic Pain (CNP) formulas. The midterm results for these preclinical pain studies are promising.

 

The University of Cadiz: Testing the safety and efficacy of the above-mentioned time-released nanoparticles in rodent models of chronic pain. Proof of concept complete for one formulation.

 

University of Hawaii: Validating the efficacy of a complex cannabis-based mixture for the treatment of cardiac hypertrophy and cardiac disease in a rodent model. Proof of concept work is complete.

 

 

Path to Market: Drug Development Stages and Proposed Clinical Trials

 

GBSGB has cannabis-based therapeutic products in the following stages of drug development: Discovery, Pre-Clinical, and entering the Clinical Phase. It has also licensed therapeutic products that the Company intends to develop through partners, labeled Partner Programs.

 

The completion of pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, and obtaining FDA-approvals for pharmaceutical products is traditionally a long and expensive process. However, GBSGB asserts that its cannabis-based drug discovery engine, lean development program, novel regulatory strategy, experienced development partners, and aggressive licensing of these products at early clinical stages can mitigate some of the risks. The Company uses a combination of in silico discovery methods and automated screening of cellular models of disease to decrease the time in Discovery prior to filing novel patent applications for disease-specific therapeutics. GBSGB’s original patent applications cover new chemical entities (“NCE”) based on complex combinations of plant-derived compounds. Its Exploratory IND/Phase 0 Program gets the Company to First-in-Man sooner than traditional programs, which reduces translational risks, and includes preliminary efficacy measures for responsible development decisions. In contrast, a traditional phased-development path would not provide any efficacy measures until Phase II. After the completion of our Phase 0 study, which compares the efficacies of multiple related cannabis-based formulations, the Company plans to advance the lead drug candidate using an adaptive trial design that is more efficient than the traditional phased-development pathway. GBSGB has entered into research contracts, partnerships, and/or joint ventures with several respected, independent contract research organizations, medical schools, universities, and other scientific researchers to increase developmental efficiencies. If and when one or more of GBSGB’s drugs, therapies or treatments are approved by the FDA, GBSGB will seek to market them under licensing arrangements with major biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies.

 

GBSGB plans to use a combination of FDA-registered human clinical trials, as described in detail above, and pilot human studies in the development of its therapeutic product portfolio. Early in product development, human pilot studies that are fully compliant with state medical cannabis programs will be used to gather early data on safety and efficacy that can later be referenced in the next phase of product development. GBSGB may be able to produce and sell the early products that prove efficacious, through licensing agreements with cannabis companies in other US states and countries that have legalized cannabis programs.  GBSGB believes that these pilot studies will provide significant value by reducing the cost of commercialization, more rapidly putting effective drugs in the hands of patients, and accelerating by years the monetization of the research. GBSGB’s goal is to be the perfect partner to those companies with greater resources and experience in the marketing and distribution of medications worldwide.

 

There can be no assurance that we will ever be able to enter into any joint ventures or other arrangements with third parties to finance our drug development program or that if we are able to do so, that any of our projected therapies will ever be approved by the FDA. Even if we obtain FDA approval for a therapy, there can be no assurance that it could be successfully marketed or would not be superseded by another cannabis-based therapy produced by one or more of our competitors. It also may be anticipated that even if we enter into a joint venture development with a financially stable pharmaceutical or institutional partner, we will still be required to raise significant additional capital in the future to achieve the strategic goals of GBSGB. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain such additional capital on reasonable terms, if at all. If GBSGB fails to achieve its goal of producing one or more cannabis-based pharmaceuticals or therapies, it would have a material adverse effect on our future financial condition and business prospects.

 

  

 

 

Description of Operations

 

In addition to our biopharmaceutical research and development activities described in detail above, the Company has operated in the medical and adult-use cannabis markets under State-issued cultivation and production licenses.  Our wholly owned subsidiary GB Sciences Nevada, LLC (“GBSN”) leases a warehouse facility at 3550 W. Teco Avenue, Las Vegas Nevada (the "Teco Facility") and operates a cannabis cultivation facility under Nevada licenses for the medical and adult-use markets. Our wholly owned subsidiary GB Sciences Las Vegas, LLC ("GBLV") holds Nevada certificates for medical and adult-use cannabis production and produces extracts and concentrates for the wholesale market.

 

On September 18, 2017, our subsidiary GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC finalized its agreement with Louisiana State University (“LSU”) AgCenter to be the sole operator of LSU’s medical marijuana program. The LSU Board of Supervisors entered into a five-year agreement—that has an option to renew for two additional five-year terms—with GB Sciences.The contract included the Company’s commitment to make a minimum financial contribution to the LSU AgCenter in the amount of $3.4 million, or a 10% commission of gross receipts, in addition to annual research investments of $500,000 to the LSU AgCenter. The monetary contributions would be used to conduct research on plant varieties, compounds, extraction techniques and delivery methods that could generate additional revenue through discoveries that are subject to intellectual property rights, which AgCenter would retain 50% of those rights.

 

On November 15, 2019, the Company entered into the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ("MIPA") with the noncontrolling interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC ("GBSLA"). In consideration for the sale of its 50.01% membership interest in GBSLA, the Company received the $8,000,000 Promissory Note  ("Wellcana Note") and may receive up to an additional $8,000,000 in earn-out payments. On August 24, 2020, the Company entered into a letter of intent with the purchaser to discount the note receivable in exchange for accelerated payment. Pursuant to the letter of intent, the Company will receive payments totaling $5,224,423, including the forgiveness by purchaser of $324,423 in liabilities and the payment of $4,900,000 in cash, on or before October 15, 2020, less any cash payments made by the purchaser up to the date of the final payment. Upon receipt of the payment, all liabilities owed to the Company by the purchaser, including the $8,000,000 note receivable and any potential earn-out payments will be considered satisfied in full.

 

On November 15, 2019, we entered into a Binding Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to sell 75% of the Company's membership interest interests in GBSN and GBLV (together, the "Teco Subsidiaries") for $3.0 million cash upon close and up to an additional $3.0 million in earn-out payments after close. In connection with the LOI, we entered into a Management Agreement with the purchaser whereby the facilities will be managed by an affiliate of the purchaser until the close of the sale. On March 24, 2020, we entered into the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ("Teco MIPA") which formalized the sale of the Teco Subsidiaries and modified the terms of the sale. Pursuant to the Teco MIPA, the Company will sell 100% of its membership interests in GBSN and GBLV for $4.0 million cash upon close and will receive a $4.0 million 8% promissory note to be paid in monthly installments over 36 months.

 

The Company also holds a Nevada license for cultivation of medical marijuana located in Sandy Valley, Nevada (the “Nopah License”). The license is owned by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, GB Sciences Nopah, LLC ("Nopah"). Operations have not begun under the Nopah License. On November 27, 2019, the Company entered into a Binding Letter of Intent to sell its 100% interest in GB Sciences Nopah, LLC (the “Nopah LOI”), with the transaction closing upon transfer of the Nopah License. As consideration for the transfer of the license, the Company will receive $300,000 and the purchaser will pay all expenses related to the upkeep and maintenence of the Nopah License. The transfer of the Nopah License is subject to the same restrictions on license transfers currently in effect in the State of Nevada (see Note 16).

 

The sales of the Teco Facility and Nopah are expected to close upon the successful transfer of the Nevada cultivation and production licenses. The transfer of cannabis licenses in the State of Nevada has been subject to an indefinite moratorium since October 2019. In a meeting held on July 21, 2020, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board lifted the moratorium, however, the board has indicated that there are over 90 requests pending and it will take up to several months to process the entire backlog of pending license transfers. Based on this information, we cannot provide any assurances as to the timing of the close of the sale. The lifting of the moratorium and processing of cannabis license transfers have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and could be further delayed if the pandemic continues.

 

 

Competition

 

The medical cannabis industry is subject to intense and increasing competition. Some of our competitors may have substantially greater capital resources, facilities and infrastructure then we have, which may enable them to compete more effectively in this market. These competitors include GW Pharmaceuticals plc, TerraTech Corp., Cannabis Science, Inc., Peak Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cannabis-Rx, Inc. and Nemus Biosciences, Inc. In addition, the development of therapies and pharmaceutical products based on extracts from the cannabis plant is being undertaken by a number of medical and educational institutions, including the University of Mississippi, which is the only U.S. based entity authorized by the Federal government to cultivate cannabis for research. Such institutions have significantly greater financial resources and facilities than we have.

 

Government Regulation and Federal Policy

 

Under the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), the policies and regulations of the Federal government and its agencies are that cannabis (marijuana) is a Schedule 1 narcotic that is addictive and has no medical benefit. Accordingly, and a range of activities including cultivation and the personal use of cannabis is prohibited and subject to prosecution and criminal penalties. Unless and until Congress amends the CSA with respect to medical cannabis, there is a risk that the federal authorities may enforce current federal law, and we may be deemed to be engaged in producing, cultivating, or dispensing cannabis in violation of federal law, or we may be deemed to be facilitating the sale or distribution of drug paraphernalia in violation of federal law with respect to our Company’s business operations. Active enforcement of the current federal regulatory position on cannabis may thus indirectly and adversely affect our strategic goals, revenues and profits. The risk of strict enforcement of the CSA in light of Congressional activity, judicial holdings, and stated federal policy remains uncertain. See “Risk Factors” below. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by San Diego County, California that sought to establish federal preemption over state medical cannabis laws. The preemption claim was rejected by every court that reviewed the case. The California 4th District Court of Appeals wrote in its unanimous ruling, “Congress does not have the authority to compel the states to direct their law enforcement personnel to enforce federal laws.” However, in another case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, as long as the CSA contains prohibitions against cannabis, under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States may criminalize the production and use of cannabis even where states approve its use for medical purposes.

 

In an effort to provide guidance to federal law enforcement, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has issued Guidance Regarding Cannabis Enforcement to all United States attorneys in a memorandum from Deputy Attorney General David Ogden on October 19, 2009, in a memorandum from Deputy Attorney General James Cole on June 29, 2011 and in a memorandum from Deputy Attorney General James Cole on August 29, 2013. Each memorandum provides that the DOJ is committed to the enforcement of the CSA, but, the DOJ is also committed to using its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources to address the most significant threats in the most effective, consistent and rational way.

 

 

The August 29, 2013 memorandum provides updated guidance to federal prosecutors concerning cannabis enforcement in light of state laws legalizing medical and recreational cannabis possession in small amounts.

 

The memorandum sets forth certain enforcement priorities that are important to the federal government:

 

•

Distribution of cannabis to children;

•

Revenue from the sale of cannabis going to criminals;

•

Diversion of medical cannabis from states where it is legal to states where it is not;

•

Using state authorized cannabis activity as a pretext of another illegal drug activity;

•

Preventing violence in the cultivation and distribution of cannabis;

•

Preventing drugged driving;

•

Growing cannabis on federal property; and

•

Preventing possession or use of cannabis on federal property.

 

On January 4, 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked the Ogden Memo and the Cole Memos.

 

The DOJ has not historically devoted resources to prosecuting individuals whose conduct is limited to possession of small amounts of cannabis for use on private property but has relied on state and local law enforcement to address cannabis activity. In the event the DOJ reverses its stated policy and begins strict enforcement of the CSA in states that have laws legalizing medical cannabis and recreational cannabis in small amounts, there may be a direct and adverse impact to our business and our revenue and profits. Furthermore, H.R. 83, enacted by Congress on December 16, 2014, provides that none of the funds made available to the DOJ pursuant to the 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act may be used to prevent certain states, including Nevada and California, from implementing their own laws that authorized the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical cannabis.

 

In contrast to federal policy, thirty-three states, four U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have laws and/or regulations that recognize, in one form or another, legitimate medical uses for cannabis and consumer use of cannabis in connection with medical treatment. Many other states are considering similar legislation.

 

Employees

 

As of March 31, 2020, we employed twenty-three employees consisting of management and support staff.

 

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

 

You should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and other factors described below, in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and the related notes thereto. Any of these risks, uncertainties and other factors could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operation and cash flows. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. An investment in our securities is speculative and involves a high degree of risk. You should not invest in our securities if you cannot bear the economic risk of your investment for an indefinite period of time and cannot afford to lose your entire investment. There may be additional risks that we do not presently know of or that we currently believe are immaterial which could also impair our business and financial position. See also “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

 

 

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

 

 

An occurrence of an uncontrollable event such as the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively affect our operations.

 

A significant portion of the Company’s business operations are contracted in certain employees and independent contractors who have recently been under “lock-down” orders or “shelter in place” recommendations for the national health crisis, including key personnel responsible for assisting the Company in the development of its financial statements. As a result of the travel and work restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company was unable to file a timely and accurate Annual Report on Form 10-K for its year ended March 31, 2020 by the prescribed date without undue hardship and expense to the Company. 

 

We have a limited operating history, which may make it difficult for investors to predict future performance based on current operations.

 

We have a limited operating history upon which investors may base an evaluation of our potential future performance. In particular, we have not proven that we can supply growing equipment in a manner that enables us to be profitable and meet customer requirements, develop intellectual property to enhance our product lines, obtain the necessary permits to develop medical grade cannabis, develop and maintain relationships with key manufacturers and strategic partners to extract value from our intellectual property, raise sufficient capital in the public and/or private markets, or respond effectively to competitive pressures. As a result, there can be no assurance that we will be able to develop or maintain consistent revenue sources, or that our operations will be profitable and/or generate positive cash flows.

 

Any forecasts we make about our operations may prove to be inaccurate. We must, among other things, determine appropriate risks, rewards, and level of investment in our product lines, respond to economic and market variables outside of our control, respond to competitive developments and continue to attract, retain and motivate qualified employees. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in meeting these challenges and addressing such risks and the failure to do so could have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in the early stage of development. As a result of these risks, challenges and uncertainties, the value of your investment could be significantly reduced or completely lost.

 

Our independent auditors’ report for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 have expressed doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern;

 

Due to the uncertainty of our ability to meet our current operating and capital expenses, in our audited annual financial statements as of and for the years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 our independent auditors included a note to our financial statements regarding concerns about our ability to continue as a going concern. The Company has incurred recurring losses and has generated limited revenue since inception. These factors and the need for additional financing in order for the Company to meet its business plan, raise substantial doubt about the ability to continue as a going concern. The presence of the going concern note to our financial statements may have an adverse impact on the relationships we are developing and plan to develop with third parties as we continue the commercialization of our products and could make it challenging and difficult for us to raise additional financing, all of which could have a material adverse impact on our business and prospects and result in a significant or complete loss of your investment.

 

We have incurred significant losses in prior periods, and losses in the future could cause the quoted price of our Common Stock to decline or have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, our ability to pay our debts as they become due and on our cash flows.

 

We have incurred significant losses in prior periods. For the years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, we incurred net losses of $ (12,373,579) and $ (23,653,165) respectively, and we had an accumulated deficit of  $ (97,387,205) and $ (84,743,836) respectively. Any losses in the future could cause the quoted price of our common stock to decline or have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, our ability to pay our debts as they become due, and on our cash flows.

 

We will need additional capital to sustain our operations and will need to seek further financing, which we may not be able to obtain on acceptable terms or at all. If we fail to raise additional capital, as needed, our ability to implement our business plan could be compromised.

 

We have limited capital resources and operations. To date, our operations have been funded primarily from the proceeds of debt and equity financings. We expect to require substantial additional capital in the near future to implement our strategies, develop our intellectual property base, and establish our targeted levels of commercial production. There is no assurance that we will be able to raise the amount of capital needed for future growth plans.

 

 

Even if financing is available, it may not be on terms that are acceptable. If unable to raise the necessary capital at the times required, the Company may have to materially change the business plan, including delaying implementation of aspects of the business plan or curtailing or abandoning the business plan. Even if we obtain financing for our near-term operations, we expect that we will require additional capital thereafter, especially if we are to develop our Science division and start to conduct, individually or with joint venture partners, pre-clinical and clinical trials for potential pharmaceutical, or nutraceutical products derived from cannabis. Our capital needs will depend on numerous factors including: (i) our profitability; (ii) the release of competitive products by our competition; (iii) the level of our investment requirements for research and development; and (iv) the amount of our capital expenditures, including acquisitions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain capital in the future to meet our needs.

 

If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, the percentage ownership held by our existing stockholders will be reduced and our stockholders may experience significant dilution. In addition, new securities may contain rights, preferences or privileges that are senior to those of our common stock. If we raise additional capital by incurring debt, this will result in increased interest expense. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of securities, market fluctuations in the price of our shares of common stock could limit our ability to obtain equity financing.

 

We cannot give you any assurance that any additional financing will be available to us, or if available, will be on terms favorable to us. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, our business, financial condition, and results of operations would be materially adversely affected, and we could be forced to reduce or discontinue our operations.

 

Drug research and development programs typically involves huge expenditures, long periods to obtain FDA approvals and the potential that such prospective pharmaceutical products will not prove to be safe and effective.

 

The production of FDA-approved pharmaceutical products and related drug is typically a highly expensive a long and drawn out process, typically involving hundreds of millions of dollars and a decade or more to achieve. Although we believe that some, if not all, of our planned cannabinoid based pharmaceutical protocols can qualify for “orphan drug” status and be accelerated through the FDA approval process, there can be no assurance that this will be the case.

 

In addition, we do not now have, and do not expect in the foreseeable future to have, the capital resources to fund our drug discovery programs, nor do we have the infrastructure to conduct such program alone. For that reason, we intend to engage in joint ventures with third parties, including hospitals, clinics, foundations and other qualified sources. Although we are in preliminary discussions with various potential partners, to date, we have not entered into any definitive drug development joint venture or partnership agreement. Our failure or inability to enter into one or more drug development agreements will materially and adversely affect our ability to develop our Science division. Even if we are able to obtain such joint drug development agreements there can be no assurance that it will be on terms and conditions that will be favorable to us.

 

Although we believe that we can significantly reduce the costs of engaging in FDA certified pre-clinical and clinical trials, including traditional Phase IV human trials, by obtaining data from existing users of our medical cannabis protocols, there can be no assurance that such data will be available, or if it is, that the FDA will accept our data. There is the further risk that the anticipated costs of producing an FDA approved drug will not escalate to the point that will cause us and any of our prospective development partners to abandon such efforts.

 

Even if we do develop an FDA-approved pharmaceutical product, there is the risk that it will not be saleable to a major pharmaceutical company (either before or after completion of the FDA approval process), or that other competing drugs will not be produced providing the same medical benefits.

 

Accordingly, there is a significant risk that we will never be able to generate a return on our investment, and we could lose our entire investment in our Science division. Either of such events, would have a material adverse effect on our business prospects and equity value.

 

There has been limited study on the effects of medical cannabis and future clinical research studies may lead to conclusions that dispute or conflict with our understanding and belief regarding the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy, dosing and social acceptance of cannabis.

 

Research regarding the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy and dosing of cannabis or isolated cannabinoids (such as CBD and THC) remains in relatively early stages. There have been few clinical trials on the benefits of cannabis or isolated cannabinoids conducted by us or by others.

 

Future research and clinical trials may draw opposing conclusions to statements contained in the articles, reports and studies we have relied on or could reach different or negative conclusions regarding the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy, dosing or other facts and perceptions related to medical cannabis, which could adversely affect social acceptance of cannabis and the demand for our products.

 

 

Federal law prohibits the use of cannabis for the purposes in which the Company expects to engage.

 

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), cannabis is deemed to be a Schedule One narcotic that has no medical benefit. Therefore, a range of activities including cultivation and the personal use of cannabis is prohibited and is a criminal offense. Unless and until Congress amends the CSA with respect to medical cannabis, as to the timing or scope of any which amendments there can be no assurance, there is a risk that federal authorities may enforce current federal law. The risk of strict enforcement of the CSA in light of Congressional activity, judicial holdings, and stated federal policy remains uncertain.

 

The current policy and regulations of the Federal government and its agencies, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the FDA, are that cannabis has no medical benefit and a range of activities including cultivation and use of cannabis for personal use is prohibited on the basis of Federal law. Although thirty-three states and District of Columbia have passed legislation permitting the cultivation and dispensing of medical cannabis, these laws are, in many jurisdictions, subject to strict regulation and limitations and are still being developed. Active enforcement of the current federal regulatory position on cannabis on a regional or national basis may directly and adversely affect the ability of the Company to develop its business plan even though it is allowed by state regulation in the various states in which the Company intends to operate. Although research and development in the growing and processing of cannabis products for medicinal purposes and in seeking to obtain state permits for the cultivation and sale of cannabis products are not in violation of Federal law, our business plan to conduct our Solutions and Products divisions, even if conducted within the parameters of any state licenses or permits we are able to obtain, will violate federal laws, as currently in effect. Accordingly, although the Company was successful in obtaining a cultivation and production license in Nevada or other states and operates pursuant to such licenses, if federal law does not change, we believe the Company will at that time be in violation of federal law. If existing federal laws are enforced by the United States Department of Justice or the FDA, it is likely that our proposed business will be significantly and materially adversely affected.

 

Because the Company's sales are subject to IRC 280E, we may owe federal income taxes even though we are incurring losses.

 

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), cannabis is deemed to be a Schedule One narcotic that has no medical benefit. The production and distribution of Schedule One narcotics is subject to Internal Revvenue Code Section 280E, which prohibits the Company from deducting any ordinary and necessary business expenses from taxable gross profit related to the sale of cannabis products. Without the deduction of business expenses, it is possible that the Company will owe income taxes while generating losses. If we are unable to pay those taxes we may be subject to penalties and IRS enforcement action.

 

FDA regulation of marijuana and the possible registration of facilities where medical marijuana is grown could negatively affect the cannabis industry which would directly affect our financial condition.

 

Should the federal government legalize marijuana for medical use, it is possible that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would seek to regulate it under the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938. Additionally, the FDA may issue rules and regulations including cGMPs (current good manufacturing practices) related to the growth, cultivation, harvesting and processing of medical marijuana. Clinical trials may be needed to verify efficacy and safety. It is also possible that the FDA would require that facilities where medical marijuana is grown be registered with the FDA and comply with certain federally prescribed regulations. In the event that some or all of these regulations are imposed, we do not know what the impact would be on the medical marijuana industry, what costs, requirements and possible prohibitions may be enforced.

 

If no additional states allow the medicinal use of cannabis, or if one or more states that currently allow it reverse their position, we may not be able to continue our growth, or the market for our products and services may decline.

 

Currently, thirty-three states and the District of Columbia allow the use of medicinal cannabis.   While we believe that the number of states that allow the use of medicinal cannabis will grow, there can be no assurance that it will, and if it does not, there can be no assurance that the thirty-three existing states and/or the District of Columbia won’t reverse their position and disallow it.  If either of these things happens, then not only will the growth of our business be materially impacted, we may experience declining revenue as the market for our products and services declines.

 

 

Because the business activities of some of our customers are illegal under Federal law, we may be deemed to be aiding and abetting illegal activities through the services that we provide to those customers. As a result, we may be subject to actions by law enforcement authorities which would materially and adversely affect our business.

 

We provide services to customers that are engaged in businesses involving the possession, use, cultivation, and transfer of cannabis. As a result, law enforcement authorities may seek to bring an action or actions against us, including, but not limited, to a claim of aiding and abetting another’s criminal activities. Such an action would have a material effect on our business and operations.

 

In the states where medicinal cannabis is permitted, local laws and regulations could adversely affect our clients, including causing some of them to close, which would materially and adversely affect our business.

 

Even in areas where the medicinal use of cannabis is legal under state law, there are also local laws and regulations that affect our clients.  These local laws and regulations may cause some of our customers to close and having a material effect on our business and operations. In addition, the enforcement of identical rules or regulations as it pertains to medicinal cannabis may vary from municipality to municipality, or city to city.

 

Variations in state and local regulation and enforcement in states that have legalized medical cannabis that may restrict cannabis-related activities, including activities related to medical cannabis may negatively impact our revenues and profits. 

 

Individual state laws do not always conform to the federal standard or to other states laws. A number of states have decriminalized cannabis to varying degrees, other states have created exemptions specifically for medical cannabis, and several have both decriminalization and medical laws. Variations exist among states that have legalized, decriminalized, or created medical cannabis exemptions. For example, Colorado has limits on the number of cannabis plants that can be homegrown. In most states, the cultivation of cannabis for personal use continues to be prohibited except for those states that allow small-scale cultivation by the individual in possession of medical cannabis needing care or that person’s caregiver. Active enforcement of state laws that prohibit personal cultivation of cannabis may indirectly and adversely affect our business and our revenue and profits.

 

It is possible that federal or state legislation could be enacted in the future that would prohibit us from selling our products or any resulting cannabis products, and if such legislation were enacted, it could prevent us from generating revenue, leading to a loss in your investment.

 

We are not aware of any federal or state regulation that regulates the sale of indoor cultivation equipment to medical or recreational cannabis growers. The extent to which the regulation of drug paraphernalia under the CSA is applicable to our business and the sale of our products is found in the definition of “drug paraphernalia.” Drug paraphernalia means any equipment, product, or material of any kind that is primarily intended or designed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, concealing, producing processing, preparing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance, possession of which is unlawful.

 

If federal and/or state legislation is enacted which prohibits the sale of our growing equipment to medical cannabis growers, our revenues would decline, leading to a loss of a material portion of your investment.

  

Prospective customers may be deterred from doing business with a company with a significant nationwide online presence because of fears of federal or state enforcement of laws prohibiting possession and sale of medical or recreational cannabis.

 

Internet websites are visible by people everywhere, not just in jurisdictions where the medical or recreational use of cannabis is considered legal. Our website is visible in jurisdictions where medicinal and/or recreational use of cannabis is not permitted and, as a result, we may be found to be violating the laws of those jurisdictions. We could lose potential customers as they could fear federal prosecution. In most states in which the production and sale of cannabis have been legalized, there are additional laws or licenses required and some states altogether prohibit home cultivation, all of which could make the loss of potential customers more likely.

 

 

We may not obtain the necessary permits and authorizations to operate the cannabis business.

 

We may not be able to obtain or maintain the necessary licenses, permits, authorizations, or accreditations, or may only be able to do so at great cost, to operate its medical cannabis business. In addition, we may not be able to comply fully with the wide variety of laws and regulations applicable to the medical cannabis industry. Failure to comply with or to obtain the necessary licenses, permits, authorizations, or accreditations could result in restrictions on our ability to operate the medical cannabis business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

Any failure on our part to comply with applicable regulations could prevent us from being able to carry on our business.

 

Nevada Department of Taxation inspectors routinely assess the Teco Facility for compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Any failure by us to comply with the applicable regulatory requirements could require extensive changes to our operations; result in regulatory or agency proceedings or investigations, increased compliance costs, damage awards, civil or criminal fines or penalties or restrictions on our operations; and harm our reputation or give rise to material liabilities or a revocation of our licenses and other permits. There can be no assurance that any pending or future regulatory or agency proceedings, investigations or audits will not result in substantial costs, a diversion of management’s attention and resources or other adverse consequences to us and our business.

 

If we incur substantial liability from litigation, complaints, or enforcement actions, our financial condition could suffer.

 

Our participation in the medical cannabis industry may lead to litigation, formal or informal complaints, enforcement actions, and inquiries by various federal, state, or local governmental authorities against these subsidiaries. Litigation, complaints, and enforcement actions involving these subsidiaries could consume considerable amounts of financial and other corporate resources, which could have a negative impact on our sales, revenue, profitability, and growth prospects.

 

We are subject to risks inherent in an agricultural business, including the risk of crop failure.

 

We grow cannabis, which is an agricultural process. As such, our business is subject to the risks inherent in the agricultural business, including risks of crop failure presented by weather, insects, plant diseases and similar agricultural risks.

 

We have difficulty accessing the service of banks, which may make it difficult for us to operate.

 

Since the use of cannabis is illegal under Federal law, there is an argument that banks should not accept for deposit funds from businesses involved with the cannabis industry. Consequently, such businesses often have difficulty finding a bank willing to accept their business.

 

On February 14, 2014, the U.S. government issued rules allowing banks to legally provide financial services to state licensed marijuana businesses. A memorandum issued by the Justice Department to federal prosecutors re-iterated guidance previously given, this time to the financial industry that banks can do business with legal marijuana businesses and “may not” be prosecuted. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidelines to banks that “it is possible to provide financial services" to state-licensed marijuana businesses and still be in compliance with federal anti-money laundering laws.

 

Notwithstanding the above federal guidelines and in addition to potential federal sanctions, regulators in the states in which we are able to conduct business may make it difficult for local banks to do business with companies considered to be engaged in cultivating and dispensing cannabis. Failure to establish a permanent banking relationship could have a material and adverse effect on our future business operations.

 

We face intense competition and many of our competitors have greater resources that may enable them to compete more effectively.

 

The industry in which we operate is subject to intense and increasing competition. Some of our competitors have greater capital resources, facilities and diversity of product lines, which may enable them to compete more effectively in this market. Our competitors may devote their resources to developing and marketing products that will directly compete with our product lines. Due to this competition, there is no assurance that we will not encounter difficulties in obtaining revenues and market share or in the positioning of our products. There are no assurances that competition in our respective industries will not lead to reduced prices for our products. If we are unable to successfully compete with existing companies and new entrants to the market this will have a negative impact on our business and financial condition.

 

If we fail to protect or develop our intellectual property, our business could be adversely affected.

 

Our viability will depend, in part, on our ability to develop and maintain the proprietary aspects of our technology to distinguish our products from our competitors’ products. We will rely on patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and confidentiality provisions to establish and protect our intellectual property.

 

 

Any infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property could damage its value and limit our ability to compete. We may have to engage in litigation to protect the rights to our intellectual property, which could result in significant litigation costs and require a significant amount of our time. In addition, our ability to enforce and protect our intellectual property rights may be limited in certain countries outside the United States, which could make it easier for competitors to capture market position in such countries by utilizing technologies that are similar to those developed or licensed by us.

 

Competitors may also harm our sales by designing products that mirror the capabilities of our products or technology without infringing on our intellectual property rights. If we do not obtain sufficient protection for our intellectual property, or if we are unable to effectively enforce our intellectual property rights, our competitiveness could be impaired, which would limit our growth and future revenue.

 

We may also find it necessary to bring infringement or other actions against third parties to seek to protect our intellectual property rights. Litigation of this nature, even if successful, is often expensive and time-consuming to prosecute and there can be no assurance that we will have the financial or other resources to enforce our rights or be able to enforce our rights or prevent other parties from developing similar technology or designing around our intellectual property.

 

Although we believe that our intellectual property does not and will not infringe upon the patents or violate the proprietary rights of others, it is possible such infringement or violation has occurred or may occur, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

 

We are not aware of any infringement by us of any person’s or entity’s intellectual property rights. In the event that products we sell are deemed to infringe upon the patents or proprietary rights of others, we could be required to modify our products or obtain a license for the manufacture and/or sale of such products or cease selling such products. In such event, there can be no assurance that we would be able to do so in a timely manner, upon acceptable terms and conditions, or at all, and the failure to do any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect upon our business.

 

There can be no assurance that we will have the financial or other resources necessary to enforce or defend a patent infringement or proprietary rights violation action. If our products or proposed products are deemed to infringe or likely to infringe upon the patents or proprietary rights of others, we could be subject to injunctive relief and, under certain circumstances, become liable for damages, which could also have a material adverse effect on our business and our financial condition.

 

Our trade secrets may be difficult to protect.

 

Our success depends upon the skills, knowledge, and experience of our scientific and technical personnel, our consultants and advisors, as well as our licensors and contractors. Because we operate in several highly competitive industries, we rely in part on trade secrets to protect our proprietary technology and processes. However, trade secrets are difficult to protect. We enter into confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements with our corporate partners, employees, consultants, outside scientific collaborators, developers, and other advisors. These agreements generally require that the receiving party keep confidential and not disclose confidential information developed by the receiving party or made known to the receiving party by us during the course of the receiving party’s relationship with us. These agreements also generally provide that inventions conceived by the receiving party in the course of rendering services to us will be our exclusive property, and we enter into assignment agreements to perfect our rights.

 

These confidentiality, inventions and assignment agreements may be breached and may not effectively assign intellectual property rights to us. Our trade secrets also could be independently discovered by competitors, in which case we would not be able to prevent the use of such trade secrets by our competitors. The enforcement of a claim alleging that a party illegally obtained and was using our trade secrets could be difficult, expensive and time consuming and the outcome would be unpredictable. In addition, courts outside the United States may be less willing to protect trade secrets. The failure to obtain or maintain meaningful trade secret protection could adversely affect our competitive position.

 

 

Our future success depends on our key executive officers and our ability to attract, retain, and motivate qualified personnel.

 

Our future success largely depends upon the continued services of our executive officers and management team. If one or more of our executive officers are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them readily, if at all. Additionally, we may incur additional expenses to recruit and retain new executive officers. If any of our executive officers joins a competitor or forms a competing company, we may lose some of our potential customers. Finally, we do not maintain “key person” life insurance on any of our executive officers. Because of these factors, the loss of the services of any of these key persons could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and thereby an investment in our stock.

 

Our continuing ability to attract and retain highly qualified personnel will also be critical to our success because we will need to hire and retain additional personnel as our business grows. There can be no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain highly qualified personnel. We face significant competition for skilled personnel in our industry. This competition may make it more difficult and expensive to attract, hire, and retain qualified managers and employees. Because of these factors, we may not be able to effectively manage or grow our business, which could adversely affect our financial condition or business. As a result, the value of your investment could be significantly reduced or completely lost.

 

We may not be able to effectively manage our growth or improve our operational, financial, and management information systems, which would impair our results of operations.

 

In the near term, we intend to expand the scope of our operations activities significantly. If we are successful in executing our business plan, we will experience growth in our business that could place a significant strain on our business operations, finances, management and other resources. The factors that may place strain on our resources include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

●

The need for continued development of our financial and information management systems;

●

The need to manage strategic relationships and agreements with manufacturers, customers and partners; and

●

Difficulties in hiring and retaining skilled management, technical, and other personnel necessary to support and manage our business.

 

Additionally, our strategy could produce a period of rapid growth that may impose a significant burden on our administrative and operational resources. Our ability to effectively manage growth will require us to substantially expand the capabilities of our administrative and operational resources and to attract, train, manage, and retain qualified management and other personnel. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in recruiting and retaining new employees or retaining existing employees.

 

We cannot provide assurances that our management will be able to manage this growth effectively. Our failure to successfully manage growth could result in our sales not increasing commensurately with capital investments or otherwise materially adversely affecting our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

 

If we are unable to continually innovate and increase efficiencies, our ability to attract new customers may be adversely affected.

 

In the area of innovation, we must be able to develop new technologies and products that appeal to our customers. This depends, in part, on the technological and creative skills of our personnel and on our ability to protect our intellectual property rights. We may not be successful in the development, introduction, marketing, and sourcing of new technologies or innovations, that satisfy customer needs, achieve market acceptance, or generate satisfactory financial returns.

  

 

Litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

From time to time in the normal course of our business operations, we may become subject to litigation that may result in liability material to our financial statements as a whole or may negatively affect our operating results if changes to our business operations are required. The cost to defend such litigation may be significant and may require a diversion of our resources. There also may be adverse publicity associated with litigation that could negatively affect customer perception of our business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable. Insurance may not be available at all or in sufficient amounts to cover any liabilities with respect to these or other matters. A judgment or other liability in excess of our insurance coverage for any claims could adversely affect our business and the results of our operations.

 

If we fail to implement and maintain proper and effective internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements and public reports could be impaired, which could adversely affect our operating results, our ability to operate our business, and investors’ views of us.

 

As of March 31, 2020, management assessed the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Management concluded, as of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, that our internal controls and procedures were not effective to detect the inappropriate application of U.S. GAAP rules. Management concluded that our internal controls were adversely affected by deficiencies in the design or operation of our internal controls, which management considered to be material weakness; specifically, no member of our board of directors qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act.

 

The failure to implement and maintain proper and effective internal controls and disclosure controls could result in material weaknesses in our financial reporting such as errors in our financial statements and in the accompanying footnote disclosures that could require restatements. Investors may lose confidence in our reported financial information and disclosure, which could negatively impact our stock price.

 

We do not expect that our internal controls over financial reporting will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control system’s objectives will be met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. Over time, controls may become inadequate because changes in conditions or deterioration in the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may occur. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

 

Our insurance coverage may be inadequate to cover all significant risk exposures; because we are in the cannabis industry, we have a difficult time obtaining the various insurances that are desired to operate our business, which may expose us to additional risk and financial liabilities.

 

We will be exposed to liabilities that are unique to the products we provide. While we intend to maintain insurance for certain risks, the amount of our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover all claims or liabilities, and we may be forced to bear substantial costs resulting from risks and uncertainties of our business. It is also not possible to obtain insurance to protect against all operational risks and liabilities. The failure to obtain adequate insurance coverage on terms favorable to us, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We do not have any business interruption insurance. Any business disruption or natural disaster could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources. We do not have directors' and officers' liability insurance in place and could incur substantial costs to indemnify our directors and officers against any claims that may arise.

 

Currently we have insurance coverage in place for business personal properties located at 3550 W. Teco Avenue, Las Vegas, Nevada 89118, workers’ compensation insurance, and general liability insurance.

 

 

Insurance that is otherwise readily available is more difficult for us to find, and more expensive, because we engaged in the medicinal cannabis industry. There are no guarantees that we will be able to find such insurances in the future, or that the cost will be affordable to us. If we are forced to go without such insurances, it may prevent us from entering into certain business sectors, may inhibit our growth, and may expose us to additional risk and financial liabilities.

 

RISKS RELATED TO AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES

 

We expect to experience volatility in the price of our common stock, which could negatively affect stockholders’ investments.

 

The trading price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. The stock market in general has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of companies with securities traded in those markets. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of companies’ stock, including ours, regardless of actual operating performance. All of these factors could adversely affect your ability to sell your shares of common stock or, if you are able to sell your shares, to sell your shares at a price that you determine to be fair or favorable.

 

Our common stock is categorized as “penny stock,” which may make it more difficult for investors to sell their shares of common stock due to suitability requirements.

 

Our common stock is categorized as “penny stock”. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has adopted Rule 15g-9 which generally defines “penny stock” to be any equity security that has a market price (as defined) less than $5.00 per share or an exercise price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. The price of our common stock is significantly less than $5.00 per share and is therefore considered “penny stock.” This designation imposes additional sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell to persons other than established customers and accredited investors. The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer buying our securities to disclose certain information concerning the transaction, obtain a written agreement from the purchaser and determine that the purchaser is reasonably suitable to purchase the securities given the increased risks generally inherent in penny stocks. These rules may restrict the ability and/or willingness of brokers or dealers to buy or sell our common stock, either directly or on behalf of their clients, may discourage potential stockholders from purchasing our common stock, or may adversely affect the ability of stockholders to sell their shares.

 

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) sales practice requirements may also limit a stockholder’s ability to buy and sell our common stock, which could depress the price of our common stock.

 

In addition to the “penny stock” rules described above, FINRA has adopted rules that require a broker-dealer to have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer before recommending an investment to a customer. Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative, low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. Thus, the FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our shares of common stock, have an adverse effect on the market for our shares of common stock, and thereby depress our price per share of common stock.

 

The elimination of monetary liability against our directors, officers, and employees under Nevada law and the existence of indemnification rights for or obligations to our directors, officers, and employees may result in substantial expenditures by us and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers, and employees.

 

Our Articles of Incorporation contain a provision permitting us to eliminate the personal liability of our directors to us and our stockholders for damages for the breach of a fiduciary duty as a director or officer to the extent provided by Nevada law. We may also have contractual indemnification obligations under any future employment agreements with our officers. The foregoing indemnification obligations could result in us incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against directors and officers, which we may be unable to recoup. These provisions and the resulting costs may also discourage us from bringing a lawsuit against directors and officers for breaches of their fiduciary duties and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our stockholders against our directors and officers even though such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders. We do not have directors' and officers' liability insurance in place and could incur substantial costs to indemnify our directors and officers against any claims that may arise.

 

 

We may issue additional shares of common stock in the future, which could cause significant dilution to all stockholders.

 

Our Articles of of Incorporation authorize the issuance of up to 600,000,000 shares with a par value of $0.0001 per share. As of August 28, 2020, we had 280,532,686 shares of common stock outstanding. However, we require additional capital and will likely issue additional shares of Common Stock in the future in connection with one or more financings or an acquisition. Such issuances may not require the approval of our stockholders. In addition, certain of our outstanding rights to purchase additional shares of common stock or securities convertible into our common stock are subject to full-ratchet anti-dilution protection, which could result in the right to purchase significantly more shares of common stock being issued or a reduction in the purchase price for any such shares or both. Any issuance of additional shares of our common stock, or equity securities convertible into our common stock, including but not limited to, warrants, and options, will dilute the percentage ownership interest of all stockholders, may dilute the book value per share of our common stock, and may negatively impact the market price of our common stock. 

 

Because we do not intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock, our stockholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them.

 

We intend to retain any future earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Declaring and paying future dividends, if any, will be determined by our Board, based upon earnings, financial condition, capital resources, capital requirements, restrictions in our Articles of Incorporation, contractual restrictions, and such other factors as our Board deems relevant. Unless we pay dividends, our stockholders will not be able to receive a return on their shares unless they sell them. There is no assurance that stockholders will be able to sell shares when desired. 

 

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

 

None

 

ITEM 2. PROPERTY

 

Our executive offices, Science and Cultivation divisions are located at 3550 W. Teco Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89118 under a ten-year initial term with one option to extend the lease for five years, or until December 31, 2030. The monthly rent payments per the Amended Lease Agreement were $43,709 as of  March 31, 2020. Rent charges increase by 3% on January 1 of each year through the expiration of the lease.

 

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

 

Tara “Dee” Russell filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission ("NERC") against the Company on April 2, 2019, alleging that she was subjected to sexual harassment and retaliatory discharge. The Company received the Notice of Charge of Discrimination on or about May 15, 2019. The Company submitted its response to the Notice of Discrimination Charge on July 26, 2019. It is the Company's position that Ms. Russell was not an employee of the Company, but rather was an independent contractor. The Company intends to aggressively respond to the charge. To date, the NERC has not issued a ruling regarding the charge.

 

On April 22, 2020, the Company failed to repay any of the outstanding balance of the Convertible Promissory Note Payable to Iliad Research and Trading, L.P., resulting in a default. Pursuant to the terms of the Promissory Note, upon the default, the principal and accrued interest balances outstanding increased by 10% and the Company recorded expense of $286,059 related to the default. As of June 30, 2020, the total balance due under the note was $3,234,149.

 

On May 20, 2020, Iliad filed a lawsuit against the Company in the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County in the State of Utah demanding repayment of the note. The lawsuit further seeks to compel the Company to participate in arbitration pursuant to the arbitration provisions contained within the Note Purchase Agreement and to prohibit the Company to raise funds through the issuance of its common stock unless the note is paid in full simultaneously with such issuance. The Company filed a confession of judgment in response to the complaint and does not intend to defend the lawsuit. On July 14, 2020, the Court entered judgment in favor of Iliad in the amount of $3,264,594 and the judgment accrues interest at the default rate of 15% per annum. The Company will also be responsible for reasonable attorney's fees amd costs incurred by Iliad for obtaining and collecting on the judgment. The amount of such fees has not been established as of the date of this report. The Company believes it will have sufficient resources to repay the Iliad Note from the proceeds of the sale of the Teco Facility and the note receivable therefrom, along with the proceeds of the note receivable from Wellcana Group from the sale of the Company's membership interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC. 

 

On April 22, 2020, the Company was served notice of a lawsuit filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada, filed by a contractor who had been hired to perform architectural and design services. The lawsuit demands payment of $73,050 for the services provided. The Company is in the process of negotiating a settlement and the full amount demanded in the lawsuit of $73,050 is accrued in accounts payable as of March 31, 2020.

 

 

We are currently not involved in any other material legal proceedings.

 

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

 

Not Applicable

 

PART II

 

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

 

GB Sciences, Inc.’s common stock is quoted on the OTCQB under the symbol "GBLX".

 

For the periods indicated, the following table sets forth the high and low per share intra-day sales prices per share of common stock. These prices represent inter-dealer quotations without retail markup, markdown, or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

 

Fiscal Year 2020		High ($)				Low ($)
Fourth Quarter		$	0.05			$	0.02
Third Quarter			0.10				0.03
Second Quarter			0.15				0.08
First Quarter			0.19				0.12
Fiscal Year 2019
Fourth Quarter			0.28				0.15
Third Quarter			0.44				0.14
Second Quarter			0.45				0.24
First Quarter			0.82				0.41

 

As of August 24, 2020, there were 171 holders of record of our common stock. Because many of our shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of beneficial holders.

 

Dividend Policy

 

Cash dividends have never been declared or paid on common stock and dividends are not anticipated on common stock in the foreseeable future. Future earnings, if any, will be retained to finance the expansion business and for general corporate purposes. There is no assurance we will pay dividends in the future. Future dividend policy is within the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend upon various factors, including results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements and investment opportunities.

 

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

 

Stock Issued for Debt Conversions

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company issued a total of 7,583,333 shares of common stock for the conversion of notes payable:

 

On May 28, 2019, the Company received notice from CSW Ventures, L.P. of the conversion of a total of $170,000 of the principal balance of the 8% Senior Secured Promissory Note dated February 28, 2019. Accordingly, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of its common stock based on a $0.17 per share conversion price. In connection with the conversions, $17,225 in unamortized discount was recorded as interest expense and the Company has reduced the carrying amount of convertible notes payable by $152,775.

 

On August 1, 2019, the Company received notice from CSW Ventures, L.P. of the conversion of a total of $110,000 of the principal balance of the Amended CSW Note at $0.11 per share. Accordingly, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of its common stock. In connection with the conversions, $9,579 in unamortized discount was recorded as interest expense and the Company has reduced the carrying amount of convertible notes payable by $100,421. After conversion, the remaining balance outstanding was $1,361,863.

 

 

On December 16, 2019, the Company received notice from CSW Ventures, L.P. of the conversion of a total of $120,000 of the principal balance of the Amended CSW Note at $0.04 per share and we issued 3,000,000 shares of common stock. In connection with the conversions, $57,551 in unamortized discount was recorded as interest expense and the Company has reduced the carrying amount of convertible notes payable by $62,449. After conversion, the remaining balance outstanding was $1,271,863 and the carrrying amount of the note was $687,021, net of $584,842 in unamortized discount from the beneficial conversion feature.

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company has honored the conversion of a total of a total of $125,000 of debt owed under the Iliad Note at reduced conversion rates. On October 30, 2019, the Company received notice of the conversion of $75,000 at $0.06 per share and issued 1,250,000 shares of its common stock. The fair value of the shares issued exceeded the fair value of the shares issuable under the original terms of the Note by $64,706, and the Company recorded an expense in that amount. On November 18, 2019, the Company received notice of the conversion of $50,000 of the note balance at $0.0375 per share and issued 1,333,333 shares of its common stock. The fair value of the shares issued exceeded the fair value of the shares issuable under the original terms of the Note by $62,353, and the Company recorded an expense in that amount. In total, the Company recorded $127,059 in noncash expense for the two conversions of the Iliad note at below contractual conversion rates for the year ended March 31, 2020.

 

Exercise of Warrants for Stock

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company issued 17,563,000 shares of common stock for exercises of warrants:

 

In order to encourage the exercise of approximately 70.5 million warrants issued to investors in private placements of convertible notes and common stock having exercise prices ranging between $0.65 and $0.30, the Company effected a temporary decrease in the exercise price of the warrants to $0.10 per share until July 11, 2019. On July 12, 2019, the Company extended the repricing of the warrants through August 30, 2019, and on July 31, 2019, the Company extended the repricing of the warrants to December 31, 2019. As a result of the price reduction, the Company received notice of the exercise of 9,449,750 warrants and received proceeds of $850,478, net of brokerage fees of $94,498. In connection with the induced exercise of the warrants, the Company recorded an inducement dividend of $230,025.

 

In order to encourage the further exercise of the warrants, the Company effected a temporary decrease in the exercise price of the warrants to $0.03-$.05 per share beginning in December 2019. As a result of the price reduction, the Company received notice of the exercise of an additional 8,113,250 warrants and received proceeds of $296,834, net of brokerage fees of $32,982. In connection with the induced exercise of the warrants, the Company recorded an inducement dividend of $32,215.

 

Issuance of Stock for Services

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company issued 2,100,000 shares of common stock for consulting services and recorded related expense of $214,000 based on the fair value of the stock on the date of the related consulting agreements.

 

Issuance of Stock for Cash

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the company issued 7,668,167 shares of common stock for cash as follows:

 

On December 4, 2018, the Company entered into a Placement Agent’s Agreement to offer a total of 15,000,000 units at the price of $0.20 per unit up to a total of $3 million. Each unit consisted of one share of the Company’s common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s common stock at the price of $0.60 for a period of five years. On January 15, 2019, the Placement Agent’s Agreement was amended to decrease the unit price from $0.20 per unit to $0.15 per unit for a total of 20,000,000 units and decrease the exercise price of the warrants included in each unit from $0.60 to $0.30, applied retroactively to funds raised prior to the date of the amendment, with no other changes to the agreement. During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company received a total of $478,696 in proceeds from the private placement, net of $71,529 in brokerage fees and issued 3,668,167 shares of its common stock and 3,668,167 warrants to purchase one share of its common stock at $0.30 per share.

 

On October 10, 2019, the Company issued 4,000,000 shares of common stock and 2,000,000 warrants to purchase one share of common stock at $0.08 per share for a period of three years to an investor for $240,000 cash. The warrants were valued at $110,000 on the date of issuance using the Black-Scholes model.

 

 

 

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

 

As a "smaller reporting company" as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, the Company is not required to provide information required by this Item.

 

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANICAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATION

 

The following discussion of the plan of operation, financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the Company’s financial statements, and notes thereto, included elsewhere herein. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including, but not limited to, those discussed in this Annual Report.

 

Executive Overview

 

The Company seeks to be an innovative technology and solution company that converts the cannabis plant into medicines, therapies and treatments for a variety of ailments. The Company is developing and utilizing state of the art technologies in plant biology, cultivation and extraction techniques, combined with biotechnology, and plans to produce consistent and measurable medical-grade cannabis, cannabis concentrates and cannabinoid therapies.

 

We seek to become a trusted producer of consistent and efficacious medicinal strains and products, combining both cannabinoids and terpenes, which we intend to market in those states within the United States and in other countries where the sale of medical cannabis products are permitted. In addition, subject to obtaining Food and Drug Administrative (FDA) certification, we intend to market our cannabinoid-based drug discoveries on a world-wide basis.

 

We were incorporated in the State of Delaware on April 4, 2001, under the name “Flagstick Venture, Inc.” On March 28, 2008, stockholders owning a majority of our outstanding common stock approved changing our then name “Signature Exploration and Production Corp.” as our business model had changed.

 

On March 13, 2014, we entered into a definitive assets purchase agreement for the acquisition of assets, including the Growblox™ cultivation technology which resulted in a change in our corporate name on April 4, 2014, from Signature Exploration and Production Corporation to Growblox Sciences, Inc.

 

Effective December 12, 2016, the Company amended its Certificate of Corporation pursuant to shareholder approval as reported in the Form 8-K filed on October 14, 2016.  Pursuant to the amendment the Company’s name was changed from Growblox Sciences, Inc. to GB Sciences, Inc.  

 

Effective April 8, 2018, Shareholders of the Company approved the change in corporate domicile from the State of Delaware to the State of Nevada and increase in the number of authorized capital shares from 250,000,000 to 400,000,000. Effective August 15, 2019, Shareholders of the Company approved an additional increase in authorized capital shares from 400,000,000 to 600,000,000.

 

 

On September 21, 2018, the Company formed a wholly owned subsidiary, GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. ("GBS"), in the province of Ontario, Canada with plans to license and/or transfer some of Growblox Life Sciences LLC’s intellectual property to the newly formed entity. On March 15, 2019, the Company entered into the Asset Purchase Agreement with GBS Global Biopharma, Inc., whereby all of the assets and certain liabilities held by Growblox Life Sciences, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of  GB Sciences, Inc., were transferred to GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. in exchange for a promissory note in the amount of $1,435,700. The assets transferred include all intellectual property and intangible assets owned by the Company, consisting primarily of patents in process and research contracts with universities and researchers. It is anticipated that GBS Global Biopharma Inc. will pursue clinical development of the intellectual property, including clinical trials.

 

On April 7th, 2020, GB Sciences received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for claims protecting Cannabinoid Containing Complex Mixtures ("CCCMs") for the Treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD), which is owned by the Company’s Canadian entity, GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. (GBS). On May 19, 2020, the patent was issued as United States Patent 10,653,640.

 

On May 12th, 2020, GB Sciences received a Notice of Allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for claims protecting Myrcene Containing Complex Mixtures ("MCCMs") for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain. Intellectual property rights to this application and the MCCM contained within it are owned by the Company’s Canadian entity, GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. (GBS). The Company's MCCMs are protected for use in the treatment of pain related to arthritis, shingles, irritable bowel syndrome, sickle cell disease, and endometriosis. The patent was issued on July 14, 2020 as United States Patent 10,709,670.

 

On November 15, 2019, the Company entered into the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ("MIPA") with the noncontrolling interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC ("GBSLA"). In consideration for the sale of its 50.01% membership interest in GBSLA, the Company received the $8,000,000 Promissory Note  ("Wellcana Note") and may receive up to an additional $8,000,000 in earn-out payments. On August 24, 2020, the Company entered into a letter of intent with the purchaser to discount the note receivable in exchange for accelerated payment. Pursuant to the letter of intent, the Company will receive payments totaling $5,224,423, including the forgiveness by purchaser of $324,423 in liabilities and the payment of $4,900,000 in cash, on or before October 15, 2020, less any cash payments made by the purchaser up to the date of the final payment. Upon receipt of the payment, all liabilities owed to the Company by the purchaser, including the $8,000,000 note receivable and any potential earn-out payments will be considered satisfied in full.

 

The Company operates State-licensed cannabis cultivation and extraction facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, GB Sciences Nevada, LLV and GB Sciences Las Vegas, LLC (together, "Teco Subsisdiaries"). The facilities hold licenses for both medical and adult-use cannabis. On November 15, 2019, we entered into a Binding Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to sell 75% of the Company's membership interests in the Teco Subsidiaries. In connection with the LOI, we entered into a Management Agreement with the purchaser whereby the facilities will be managed by an affiliate of the purchaser until the close of the sale. On March 24, 2020, we entered into the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ("Teco MIPA") which formalized the sale of the Teco Subsidiaries and modified the terms of the sale. Pursuant to the Teco MIPA, the Company will sell 100% of its membership interests in GBSN and GBLV for $4.0 million cash upon close and will receive a $4.0 million 8% promissory note to be paid in monthly installments over 36 months.

 

The Company also holds a Nevada license for cultivation of medical marijuana located in Sandy Valley, Nevada (the “Nopah License”). The license is owned by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, GB Sciences Nopah, LLC ("Nopah"). Operations have not begun under the Nopah License. On November 27, 2019, the Company entered into a Binding Letter of Intent to sell its 100% interest in GB Sciences Nopah, LLC (the “Nopah LOI”), with the transaction closing upon transfer of the Nopah License. As consideration for the transfer of the license, the Company will receive $300,000 and the purchaser will pay all expenses related to the upkeep and maintenence of the Nopah License. The transfer of the Nopah License is subject to the same restrictions on license transfers currently in effect in the State of Nevada.

 

The sales of the Teco Facility and Nopah are expected to close upon the successful transfer of the Nevada cultivation and production licenses. The transfer of cannabis licenses in the State of Nevadahas been subject to an indefinite moratorium since October 2019. In a meeting held on July 21, 2020, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board lifted the moratorium, however, the board has indicated that there are over 90 requests pending and it will take up to several months to process the entire backlog of pending license transfers. Based on this information, we cannot provide any assurances as to the timing of the close of the sale. The lifting of the moratorium and processing of cannabis license transfers have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and could be further delayed if the pandemic continues.

 

 

Results of Operations

 

The following table sets forth selected data of our Statement of Operations:  

 

		For the Years Ended
		March 31,
		2020				2019
SALES REVENUE		$	3,120,620			$	3,454,552
COST OF GOODS SOLD			(4,002,083	)			(3,246,097	)
GROSS PROFIT (LOSS)			(881,463	)			208,455
GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES			6,483,513				13,399,524
LOSS ON IMPAIRMENT OF LONG-LIVED ASSETS			4,645,054				-
LOSS FROM OPERATIONS			(12,010,030	)			(13,191,069	)
OTHER INCOME/(EXPENSE)			461,402				(8,308,646	)
NET LOSS BEFORE INCOME TAX EXPENSE			(11,548,628	)			(21,499,715	)
INCOME TAX EXPENSE			(86,837	)			(526,145	)
LOSS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS			(11,635,465	)			(22,025,860	)
LOSS FROM DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS			(1,476,220	)			(2,654,427	)
NET LOSS			(13,111,685	)			(24,680,287	)
NET LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST			(738,106	)			(1,027,122	)
NET LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO GB SCIENCES, INC.		$	(12,373,579	)		$	(23,653,165	)

 

Gross Profit (Loss). The Company recorded a gross loss of $(881,463) for the year ended March 31, 2020 as compared to gross profit of $208,455 for the same period in prior year. The decrease in gross profit was driven by a decrease in revenue of $(333,932)  compared to the prior year and an increase of 755,986 in cost of goods sold.

 

General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expense decreased $(6,916,011) to $6,483,513 for the year ended March 31, 2020 as compared to $13,399,524 for the same period last year. The decrease is attributable to a company-wide initiative to reduce general and administrative costs, including a substantial reduction in the number of employees involved in administrative functions.

 

Loss on impairment of long-lived assets. The Company recorded a loss on impairment of long-lived assets of $4,645,054 as the result of the agreement to sell the Teco Facility during the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $0 in the prior year.

 

Other Income/(Expense). Other expense decreased by $(3,174,308) compared to the prior year. The decrease is primarily due to $3,140,925 in cash and noncash expense paid to Pacific Leaf in connection with the July 2018 Amendment and Termination Agreement.

 

Interest Expense. Interest expense decreased by $(3,314,886) compared to the prior year. The decrease is largely the result of total expense of $3,464,187 during the year ended March 31, 2019 related to unamortized debt discount on note conversions, compared to only $84,354 for the year ended March 31, 2020.

 

Loss on extinguishment. The Company recorded losses on extinguishment of $(216,954) for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $0 in the prior year. The current year losses relate to modifications of the note payable to CSW Ventures, L.P.

 

Loss on modification of note receivable. The Company recorded a loss of $(1,895,434) related to the modification of the $8,000,000 note receivable from the sale of the Company's membership interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC.

 

Gain on deconsolidation. The Company recorded a gain on deconsolidation of $4,393,242 related to the sale of its 50% membership interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC.

 

 

 

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

 

Current Liquidity

 

The Company will need additional capital to implement our strategies. There is no assurance that it will be able to raise the amount of capital needed for future growth plans. Even if financing is available, it may not be on terms that are acceptable. If unable to raise the necessary capital at the times required, the Company may have to materially change the business plan, including delaying implementation of aspects of the business plan or curtailing or abandoning the business plan. The Company represents a speculative investment and investors may lose all of their investment. In order to be able to achieve the strategic goals, the Company needs to further expand its business and financing activities. Based upon the cash position, it is necessary to raise additional capital by the end of the next quarter in order to continue to fund current operations. These factors raise substantial doubt about the ability to continue as a going concern.  The Company is pursuing several alternatives to address this situation, including the raising of additional funding through equity or debt financings. In order to finance existing operations and pay current liabilities over the next twelve months, the Company will need to raise additional capital. No assurance can be given that the Company will be able to operate profitably on a consistent basis, or at all, in the future.

 

The principal sources of liquidity to date have been cash generated from sales of debt and equity securities.

 

At March 31, 2020, the Company had a cash balance of $151,766, other current assets excluding cash were $6,849,114 and our working capital deficit was $(3,884,877). Current liabilities were $10,885,757, which consisted principally of $5,534,728 in notes and convertible notes payable, $2,559,914 in accounts payable, $1,285,664 in accrued liabilities, and $592,982 in income tax payable. At March 31, 2019, the Company had a cash balance of $182,055, other current assets excluding cash were $3,284,716, current assets from discontinued operations were $1,000,387, and our working capital deficit was $(3,245,409) including $(1,133,890) from discontinued operations. Current liabilities were $6,712,180, which consisted principally of $2,229,812 in notes payable, $1,374,771 in accounts payable, $467,175 in accrued liabilities, $506,145 of income tax payable, and $2,134,277 from discontinued operations.

 

Sources and Uses of Cash

 

Operating Activities

 

Cash flows used in operations were $(4,479,713) including $(1,244,720) from discontinued operations for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $(9,855,895) including $(1,271,177) from discontinued operations for the year ended March 31, 2019. We anticipate that cash flows from operations may be insufficient to fund business operations for the next twelve-month period. Accordingly, we will have to generate additional liquidity or cash flow to fund our current and anticipated operations. This will likely require the sale of additional common stock or other securities. There is no assurance that we will be able to realize any significant proceeds from such sales, if at all.

 

Investing Activities

 

Cash flows used in investing activities were $(538,784) including $(260,625) from discontinued operations for the year ended March 31, 2020, compared to $(10,996,544) including $(9,070,409) from discontinued operations for the year ended March 31, 2019. Cash used in investing activities primarily was spent to acquire property and equipment and to pay our attorneys and researchers to draft and file patent applications.

 

Financing Activities

 

During the years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 cash flows from financing activities were $4,988,208 including $282,835 from discontinued operations, and $17,500,497, including $7,248,480 from discontinued operations, respectively. Cash flows from financing activities for the year ended March 31, 2020 relate primarily to $790,225 in proceeds from the issuance of common stock, $1,274,790 from warrant exercises, $2,630,000 in proceeds from the issuance of debt securities, and $282,835 in proceeds from non-controlling interests, offset by brokerage fees of $(188,593), debt issuance fees of $(175,000), and principal payments on debt and lease obligations of $(106,049). Cash flows from financing activities for the year ended March 31, 2020 consisted of $11,402,464 proceeds from issuance of common stock and $1,500,000 proceeds from convertible notes, offset by $(959,620) in brokerage fees, $(690,827) of principal payments on debt and lease obligations, and $(1,000,000) paid to settle the Pacific Leaf Royalty Agreement.

 

 

0% Note Payable dated December 20, 2018

 

On December 20, 2018, GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC (“GBSLA") entered into a $300,000 Loan Agreement with BCM MED, LLC (“BCM MED”). BCM MED is a related party to Wellcana Group, LLC, the minority member in GBSLA. The purpose of the financing is to fund operating expenses incurred by or on behalf of medical marijuana operations of GBSLA.

 

Pursuant to the Loan Agreement, GBSLA began making eight (8) monthly installment payments in the amount of $33,333 on or before the 10^th business day of each month commencing in April 2019. The aggregate amount of the installment payments from GBSLA to BCM MED are equal to the loan amount. Through November 15, 2019, GBSLA made $266,667 in payments towards the loan and reduced the loan balance to $33,333. The remaining balance was deconsolidated upon close of the sale of the Company's controlling membership interest.

 

8% Line of Credit dated November 27, 2019

 

In connection with the Binding Letter of Intent dated November 27, 2019, the Company entered into a promissory note and received a line of credit for up to $470,000 from the purchaser of the Company's membership interest in its Nevada facilities. The purpose of the line of credit is to supply working capital for the Nevada operations. The note matures upon the close of the sale of membership interests. During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company received $480,000 in advances under the line of credit, reflecting an informal agreement with the lender to increase the Line of Credit limit by $10,000. The Company accrued interest of $10,444 on the line of credit for the year ended March 31, 2020 and the balance of the line of credit was $480,000 at March 31, 2020. Upon the close of the sale of the Teco Facility all principal and interest due under the line of credit will be considered satisfied in full.

 

March 2017 $2M Convertible Note Offering

 

In March 2017, the Company entered into a Placement Agent’s Agreement with a third-party brokerage firm to offer units consisting of a $1,000 6% promissory note convertible into 4,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at $0.25 per share and 4,000 warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s’ common stock at an exercise price of $0.60 per share for the period of three years. Between March 2017 and May 2017, the Company issued short-term Promissory Notes (“Notes”) to various holders with combined face value of $2,000,000. The Notes are payable within three years of issuance and are convertible into 8,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company also issued 8,000,000 common stock warrants to the Noteholders. The warrants are exercisable at any time and from time to time before maturity at the option of the holder. Each warrant gives the Noteholder the right to purchase one share of common stock of the Company at an exercise price of $0.60 per share for a period of three years.  The Company recorded an aggregate discount on convertible notes of $1,933,693, which included $904,690 related to the relative fair value of beneficial conversion features and $1,029,003 for the relative fair value of the warrants issued with each note. The fair value of warrants was derived using the Black-Scholes valuation model.

 

July 2017 $7.2M Convertible Note Offering

 

In July, 2017, the Company entered into a Placement Agent’s Agreement with a third-party brokerage firm to offer units consisting of a $1,000 6% promissory note convertible into 4,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at $0.25 per share and 4,000 warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s’ common stock at an exercise price of $0.65 per share for the period of three years. Between July 2017 and December 2017, the Company issued short-term Promissory Notes (“Notes”) to various holders with combined face value of $7,201,000. The Notes are payable within three years of issuance and are convertible into 28,804,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company also issued 28,804,000 common stock warrants to the Noteholders. The warrants are exercisable at any time and from time to time before maturity at the option of the holder. Each warrant gives the Noteholder the right to purchase one share of common stock of the Company at an exercise price of $0.60 per share for a period of three years.The Company recorded an aggregate discount on convertible notes of $7,092,796, which included $3,142,605 related to the relative fair value of beneficial conversion features and 3,950,191 for the relative fair value of the warrants issued with each note. The fair value of warrants was derived using the Black-Scholes valuation model.

 

As of March 31, 2020, convertible notes having a carrying value of $1,101,660, net of unamortized discount of $(155,340) remained outstanding from the March 2017 and July 2017 note offerings, and accrued interest on the notes is $197,185. Discount amortization was $409,589 for the year ended March 31, 2020.

 

 

8% Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note dated February 28, 2019

 

On February 28, 2019, the Company issued a $1,500,000 8% Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note and entered into the Note Purchase Agreement and Security Agreement with CSW Ventures, LP (together, “CSW Note”). The note matures on August 28, 2020 and is convertible at any time until maturity into 8,823,529 shares of the Company’s common stock at $0.17 per share. Collateral pledged as security for the note includes all of the Company’s 100% membership interests in GB Sciences, Nevada, LLC and GB Sciences Las Vegas, LLC, which together represent substantially all of the Company’s cannabis cultivation and production operations and assets located at the Teco facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

The intrinsic value of the beneficial conversion feature resulting from the market price of the Company’s common stock in excess of the conversion price was $176,471 on the date of issuance, and the Company recorded a discount on the CSW Note in that amount. During the nine months ended December 31, 2019, the Company recorded accrued interest on the CSW Note of $32,186 and recorded an additional $61,286 in interest expense as the result of amortization of the note discount.

 

On May 28, 2019, the Company received notice from CSW Ventures, L.P. of the conversion of a total of $170,000 of the principal balance of the 8% Senior Secured Promissory Note dated February 28, 2019. Accordingly, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of its common stock based on a $0.17 per share conversion price. In connection with the conversions, $ 17,225 in unamortized discount was recorded as interest expense and the Company reduced the carrying amount of convertible notes payable by $152,775. After conversion, the remaining balance outstanding was $1,330,000.

 

On July 12, 2019, the Company entered into the Amendment to Note Documents and the Amended and Restated 8% Senior Secured Promissory Note (together, “Amended CSW Note”). The Amended CSW Note increased the note balance by $100,000 to reflect an additional $100,000 advanced to the Company on July 12, 2019, by $41,863 to add accrued interest to date to the principal balance, and decreased the conversion price to $0.11 per share, with the remaining terms substantially unchanged from the original CSW Note.

 

We evaluated the modification under the guidance in ASC 470-50 and determined that the amendment represents an extinguishment because the change in the fair value of the conversion feature exceeded 10% of the carrying value of the CSW Note on the amendment date. The carrying value of the amended note on the date of extinguishment was $1,338,057, net of a beneficial conversion feature discount of $133,806, and we recorded a loss on extinguishment of $124,158.

 

 

On August 1, 2019, the Company received notice from CSW Ventures, L.P. of the conversion of a total of $ 110,000 of the principal balance of the Amended CSW Note at $0.11 per share. Accordingly, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of its common stock. In connection with the conversions, $9,579 in unamortized discount was recorded as interest expense and the Company has reduced the carrying amount of convertible notes payable by $100,421. After conversion, the remaining balance outstanding was $ 1,361,863.

 

On October 23, 2019, the Company entered into the Amendment to Promissory Note. The October 23, 2019 amendment decreased the conversion price to $0.08 per share, with the remaining terms substantially unchanged from the Amended CSW Note.

 

We evaluated the modification under the guidance in ASC 470-50 and determined that the amendment represents an extinguishment because the change in the fair value of the conversion feature exceeded 10% of the carrying value of the Amended CSW Note immediately prior to the 2nd Amended CSW Note. The carrying value of the Amended CSW Note on the date of extinguishment was $1,269,067, net of a beneficial conversion feature discount of $92,796, and we recorded a loss on extinguishment of $92,796.

 

On November 27, 2019, the Company entered into the Second Amendment to Note Documents and the Second Amended and Restated 8% Senior Secured Promissory Note (together, “2nd Amended CSW Note”). The 2nd Amended CSW Note decreased the conversion price to $0.04 per share and increased the note balance by $30,000 to reflect an advance received on that date, with the remaining terms substantially unchanged from the Amended CSW Note.

 

We evaluated the modification under the guidance in ASC 470-50 and determined that the 2nd Amended CSW Note represents an extinguishment because the change in the fair value of the conversion feature exceeded 10% of the carrying value of the Amended CSW Note immediately prior to the 2nd Amended CSW Note; however, no loss on extinguishment was recorded because the net consideration paid for the 2nd Amended CSW Note was equal to the extinguished carrying value of the Amended CSW Note. The carrying value of the Amended CSW Note on the date of extinguishment was $1,361,863.

 

On December 16, 2019, the Company received notice from CSW Ventures, L.P. of the conversion of a total of $120,000 of the principal balance of the Amended CSW Note at $0.04 per share and we issued 3,000,000 shares of common stock. In connection with the conversions, $57,551 in unamortized discount was recorded as interest expense and the Company has reduced the carrying amount of convertible notes payable by $62,449. After conversion, the remaining balance outstanding was $1,271,863 and the carrrying amount of the note was $687,021, net of $584,842 in unamortized discount from the beneficial conversion feature.

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, we recorded interest expense of $398,591 related to the CSW Note and its amendments consisting of $109,161 in accrued interest and $289,430 related to amortization of the note discount. As of March 31, 2020, the carrying amount of the CSW Note was $862,382, net of unamortized discount of $409,481.

 

The Company is in default on the amended CSW Note due to non-payment of the quarterly interest payments due on October 1, 2019, January 1, 2020, and March 1, 2020, and nonpayment of an income tax liability related to the March 31, 2018 tax year. The terms of the note provide that the Company has 5 days to cure a default caused by nonpayment of interest and ten days to cure a default caused by noncompliance with affirmative or negative debt covenants. The lender has agreed to provide forbearance of the defaults in connection with the sale of the Teco facilities, and the Company anticipates that the CSW Note will be settled in full upon close of the sale of the Company's interests in its Nevada operations to an entity affiliated with CSW Ventures, LP.

 

 

8% Convertible Promissory Note dated April 23, 2019

 

On April 23, 2019, the Company entered into the Note Purchase Agreement with Iliad Research and Trading, L.P. ("Iliad") and issued an 8% Convertible Promissory Note with a face value of $2,765,000. The Note was issued with original issue discount of $265,000 and is convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at a price of $0.17 per share at the option of the note holder at any time until the Note is repaid. The Note matures on April 22, 2020.

 

A total discount of $440,000 was recorded on the note, which includes $265,000 of original issue discount and $175,000 in fees paid to brokers. During the year ended March 31, 2020, interest expense related to the note was $617,430, of which $410,169 was amortization of the note discount.

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company has honored the conversion of a total of a total of $125,000 of accrued interest on the Iliad Note at reduced conversion rates. On October 30, 2019, the Company received notice of the conversion of $75,000 at $0.06 per share and issued 1,250,000 shares of its common stock. The fair value of the shares issued exceeded the fair value of the shares issuable under the original terms of the Note by $64,706, and the Company recorded an induced conversion expense. On November 18, 2019, the Company received notice of the conversion of $50,000 of the note balance at $0.0375 per share and issued 1,333,333 shares of its common stock. The fair value of the shares issued exceeded the fair value of the shares issuable under the original terms of the Note by $62,353, and the Company recorded an expense in that amount. In total, the Company recorded $127,059 in noncash expense for the two conversions of the Iliad note at below contractual conversion rates for the year ended March 31, 2020, which is included in other expense on the Company's consolidated statement of operations.

 

On April 22, 2020, the Company failed to make payment of the principal and accrued interest due under the Iliad Note, resulting in a default. Pursuant to the terms of the Promissory Note, upon the default, the principal and accrued interest balances outstanding increased by 10% and the Company recorded an expense of $286,059 related to the default. As of June 30, 2020, the total balance due under the note was $3,234,149.

 

On May 20, 2020, Iliad filed a lawsuit against the Company in the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County in the State of Utah demanding repayment of the note. The lawsuit further seeks to compel the Company to participate in arbitration pursuant to the arbitration provisions contained within the Note Purchase Agreement and to prohibit the Company to raise funds through the issuance of its common stock unless the note is paid in full simultaneously with such issuance. The Company filed a confession of judgment in response to the complaint and does not intend to defend the lawsuit. On July 14, 2020, the Court entered judgment in favor of Iliad in the amount of $3,264,594 and the judgment accrues interest at the default rate of 15% per annum. The Company will also be responsible for reasonable attorney's fees amd costs incurred by Iliad for obtaining and collecting on the judgment. The amount of such fees has not been established as of the date of this report. The Company believes it will have sufficient resources to repay the Iliad Note from the proceeds of the sale of the Teco Facility and the note receivable therefrom, along with the proceeds of the note receivable from Wellcana Group from the sale of the Company's membership interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC. 

 

Variables and Trends

 

We have limited operating history with respect to the current business plan. In the event we are able to obtain the necessary financing to move forward with the business plan, we expect business expenses to increase significantly as we go operational. Accordingly, the comparison of the financial data for the periods presented may not be a meaningful indicator of future performance and must be considered in light these circumstances.

 

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

 

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on the financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources that are material to investors.

 

 

Critical Accounting Policies

 

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company regularly evaluates estimates and assumptions related to allowances for doubtful accounts, inventory valuation, valuation of initial right-of-use assets and corresponding lease liabilities, valuation of beneficial conversion features in convertible debt, valuation of the assets and liabilities of discontinued operations, stock-based compensation expense, purchased intangible asset valuations, deferred income tax asset valuation allowances, uncertain tax positions, litigation and other loss contingencies. These estimates and assumptions are based on current facts, historical experience and various other factors that the Company believes to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities and the recording of costs and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. The actual results the Company experiences may differ materially and adversely from these estimates.

 

Discontinued Operations

 

Discontinued operations comprise those activities that were disposed of during the period or which were classified as held for sale at the end of the period and represent a separate major line of business or geographical area that can be clearly distinguished for operational and financial reporting purposes. Management has determined that the Company's controlling interest in GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC qualifies for presentation in discontinued operations as the result of the sale of the membership interest on November 15, 2019 (see Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).

 

The Company has also agreed to sell its 100% membership interests in GB Sciences Nevada, LLC and GB Sciences Las Vegas, LLC pursuant to the terms of the Membership Purchase Interest Agreement ("Teco MIPA") dated March 24, 2020. The Company also entered into a Binding Letter of Intent to sell its 100% interest in GB Sciences Nopah, LLC ("Nopah"), with the transaction closing upon transfer of the Nopah License (see Note 16 to the Consolidated Financial Statements). The sales of the Teco Facility and Nopah are expected to close upon the successful transfer of the Nevada cultivation and production licenses held by each respective entity.

 

The transfer of cannabis licenses in the State of Nevada has been subject to an indefinite moratorium since October 2019. In a meeting held on July 21, 2020, the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board lifted the moratorium, however, the board has indicated that there are over 90 requests pending and it will take up to several months to process the entire backlog of pending license transfers. Based on this information the timing of thhe license transfers continues to be subject to significant uncertainty. Because of these restrictions, which are not usual and customary, the Company is unable to estimate whether the sale will be completed within one year and management has determined that the Teco subsidiaries and Nopah do not meet the held for sale classification requirements and therefore do not meet the criteria for classification as discontinued operations. Accordingly, the Teco Facility and Nopah are classified in continuing operations for the years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019.

 

Inventory

 

We value our inventory at the lower of the actual cost of our inventory, as determined using the first-in, first-out method, or its net realizable value. We periodically review our physical inventory for excess, obsolete, and potentially impaired items and reserve accordingly. Our reserve estimate for excess and obsolete inventory is based on expected future use. The estimate of inventory's net realizable value is based on data published by the State of Nevada semiannually which reports average selling prices by category of cultivation products, as well as past sales of the same products and sales of our products that occurred subsequent to the balance sheet date. If future selling prices decline significantly, it may result in a lower net realizable value than management estimates.

 

Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets

 

Our indefinite-lived intangible assets primarily represent the value of our patents pending and includes the costs paid to draft and file patent applications. Upon issuance of the patents, the indefinite-lived intangible assets will have finite lives. We amortize our finite-lived intangible assets over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method, and we periodically evaluate the remaining useful lives of our finite-lived intangible assets to determine whether events or circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining period of amortization.

 

 

Long-Lived Assets

 

Property and equipment comprise a significant portion of our total assets. We evaluate the carrying value of property and equipment if impairment indicators are present or if other circumstances indicate that impairment may exist under authoritative guidance. The annual testing date is March 31. When management believes impairment indicators may exist, projections of the undiscounted future cash flows associated with the use of and eventual disposition of property and equipment are prepared. If the projections indicate that the carrying value of the property and equipment are not recoverable, we reduce the carrying values to fair value. These impairment tests are heavily influenced by assumptions and estimates that are subject to change as additional information becomes available.

 

During the year ended March 31, 2020, the Company entered into the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement ("Teco MIPA") to sell 100% of the membership interests in the Teco Facility. As a result of this agreement, the Company determined that the long-lived assets of the Teco Facility might be impaired due to the current expectation that the asset group will more likely than not be disposed of by sale significantly before the end of its previously estimated useful life. The Company estimated future undiscounted cash flows related to the Teco Facility to be $8.0 million, which was less than the carrying amount of the Teco Facility asset group of  $11.9 million. Using a discounted cash flow approach, the Company estimated the fair value of the asset group to be approximately $7.3 million, resulting in a write-down of $4,645,054 related to the Teco Facility asset group. Fair value was based on expected future cash flows using level 3 inputs under ASC 820. The cash flows are the proceeds expected to be generated from the sale of the assets under the Teco MIPA, discounted to present value at a rate of 17%.

 

Beneficial Conversion Feature of Convertible Notes Payable

 

The Company accounts for convertible notes payable in accordance with the guidelines established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 470-20, Debt with Conversion and Other Options and Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) 00-27, “Application of Issue No. 98-5 to Certain Convertible Instruments”.  A beneficial conversion feature (“BCF”) exists on the date a convertible note is issued when the fair value of the underlying common stock to which the note is convertible into is in excess of the remaining unallocated proceeds of the note after first considering the allocation of a portion of the note proceeds to the fair value of any attached equity instruments, if any related equity instruments were granted with the debt. In accordance with this guidance, the BCF of a convertible note is measured by allocating a portion of the note's proceeds to the warrants, if applicable, and as a reduction of the carrying amount of the convertible note equal to the intrinsic value of the conversion feature, both of which are credited to additional paid-in-capital. The Company calculates the fair value of warrants issued with the convertible notes using the Black-Scholes valuation model and uses the same assumptions for valuing any employee options in accordance with ASC Topic 718 Compensation – Stock Compensation. The only difference is that the contractual life of the warrants is used.

 

The value of the proceeds received from a convertible note is then allocated between the conversion features and warrants on a relative fair value basis. The allocated fair value is recorded in the financial statements as a debt discount (premium) from the face amount of the note and such discount is amortized over the expected term of the convertible note (or to the conversion date of the note, if sooner) and is charged to interest expense.

 

Equity-Based Compensation

 

The Company accounts for equity instruments issued to employees in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718 Stock Compensation (ASC 718) and Equity-Based Payments to Non-employees pursuant to ASC 505-50 (ASC 505-50). The computation of the expense associated with stock-based compensation requires the use of a valuation model. The FASB-issued accounting guidance requires significant judgment and the use of estimates, particularly surrounding Black-Scholes assumptions such as stock price volatility, expected option lives, and expected option forfeiture rates, to value equity-based compensation. We currently use a Black-Scholes option pricing model to calculate the fair value of our stock options. We primarily use historical data to determine the assumptions to be used in the Black-Scholes model and have no reason to believe that future data is likely to differ materially from historical data. However, changes in the assumptions to reflect future stock price volatility and future stock award exercise experience could result in a change in the assumptions used to value awards in the future and may result in a material change to the fair value calculation of stock-based awards. This accounting guidance requires the recognition of the fair value of stock compensation in net income. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of our estimates and assumptions, significant unanticipated changes in those estimates, interpretations and assumptions may result in recording stock option expense that may materially impact our financial statements for each respective reporting period.

 

Income Taxes

 

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in financial statements or tax returns. Deferred tax items are reflected at the enacted tax laws and statutory tax rates applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected reverse. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized. Due to the uncertainty regarding the success of future operations, management has valued the deferred tax asset allowance at 100% of the related deferred tax assets.

 

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

Recently Adopted Standards

 

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), (the "New Lease Standard"). This standard requires leases, other than short-term, to be recognized on the balance sheet as a lease liability and a corresponding right-of-use asset.

 

Lease payments include fixed payments, variable payments based on an index or rate, reasonably certain purchase options, termination penalties, and others as required by the standard. Lease payments do not include variable lease payments other than those that depend on an index or rate, any guarantee by the lessee of the lessor’s debt, or any amount allocated to non-lease components. This standard is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018 and the Company adopted the standard as of April 1, 2019. The Company also elected the package of practical expedients, which among other things, does not require reassessment of lease classification.

 

The Company adopted the New Lease Standard using the modified retrospective transition approach as of the effective date as permitted by the amendments in ASU 2018-11, "Targeted Improvements - Leases (Topic 842)." Under this method, the cumulative effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings is recognized at the adoption date. As a result, the Company was not required to adjust its comparative period financial information for effects of the standard or make the new required lease disclosures for periods before the date of adoption on April 1, 2019.

 

The Company's consolidated balance sheet was affected by this standard, but the consolidated statement of operations and consolidated statement of cash flows were not significantly impacted. The most significant change to the consolidated balance sheet upon adoption on April 1, 2019 relates to the recognition of new right-of-use (ROU) assets of $182,624, net of accumulated amortizations, and operating liabilities of $190,173 at the date of adoption. The Company's accounting for finance leases remains substantially unchanged.

 

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting” (“ASU 2018-07”). ASU No 2018-07 expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. The guidance also specifies that Topic 718 applies to all share-based payment transactions in which a grantor acquires goods or services to be used or consumed in a grantor’s own operations by issuing share-based payment awards. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and is effective for the Company as of April 1, 2019. The Company determined that all share-based payments were settled as of the date of the adoption, so there was no impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

 

All other newly issued accounting pronouncements but not yet effective have been deemed either immaterial or not applicable.

 

ITEM 7A QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

As a "smaller reporting company" as defined by Item 10 of Regulation S-K, the Company is not required to provide information required by this Item.

 

 

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

 

REPORTS OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRMS	39
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS AS OF MARCH 31, 2020 AND 2019	41
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - YEARS ENDED MARCH 31, 2020 AND 2019	42
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY/(DEFICIT) - YEARS ENDED MARCH 31, 2020 AND 2019	43
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS - YEARS ENDED MARCH 31, 2020 AND 2019	44
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	46

 

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Audit Committee
of GB Sciences, Inc.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of GB Sciences, Inc. (the Company) as of March 31, 2020 and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ deficit and cash flows for the year ended March 31, 2020 and the related notes (collectively referred to as the financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of March 31, 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended March 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Explanatory Paragraph- Going Concern

 

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses. For the year ended March 31, 2020 the Company had a net loss of $13,111,685 had net cash used in operating activities of $4,479,713, and had negative working capital of $3,884,877. These factors raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 2. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Basis for Opinion

 

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/ Assurance Dimensions

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.

Margate, Florida

August 27, 2020

 

 

 

 

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of GB Sciences, Inc.

 

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of GB Sciences, Inc. (the Company) as of March 31, 2019, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the year ended March 31, 2019, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of March 31, 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended March 31, 2019, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

 

Going Concern

The accompanying consolidated financials have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. As of March 31, 2019, the Company had accumulated losses of approximately $84.7 million, has generated limited revenue, and may experiences losses in the near term. These factors and the need for additional financing in order for the Company to meet its business plan, raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plan to continue as a going concern is also described in Note 2. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

/s/Soles, Heyn & Company LLP

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2014.

 

Soles, Heyn & Company, LLP
West Palm Beach, Florida
July 15, 2019

 

400 Executive Center Drive, Suite 203
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

561-429-6625

 

GB SCIENCES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

 

 

GB SCIENCES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

 

 

GB SCIENCES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY/(DEFICIT)

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

 

 

GB SCIENCES, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

 

 

 

GB SCIENCES, INC.

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements

 

 

 

 

GB SCIENCES, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

March 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES 

 

On August 10, 2019, the Company formally engaged Assurance Dimensions, Inc. as our independent registered public accounting firm. The engagement was due to the recent acquisition of Soles Heyn & Company, LLP’s (SHCPA) SEC practice by Assurance Dimensions, Inc.; SHCPA was our independent registered public accounting firm until the engagement of Assurance Dimensions, Inc. The decision to engage Assurance Dimensions, Inc. as our independent registered public accounting firm was approved by the Board of Directors on August 15, 2019.

 

SHCPA’s report on the Company’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles, except as set forth herein. SHCPA’s reports on the Company’s financial statements for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2018 contained an explanatory paragraph regarding the significant doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

 

During the Company’s two most recent fiscal years and to the date of this report, (i) there have been no disagreements with SHCPA, whether or not resolved, on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of SHCPA, would have caused SHCPA to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with its reports; (ii) no such disagreement was discussed with the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors or with our board of directors as a whole; and (iii) there have been no “reportable events” as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

 

During the two most recent fiscal years, we did not consult with Assurance Dimensions, Inc. regarding either (1) the application of accounting principles to any specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on our financial statements or (2) any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement or a reportable event as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) and (v) of Regulation S-K.

 

During the Company’s two most recent fiscal years and to the date of this report, (i) there have been no disagreements with Assurance Dimensions, Inc., whether or not resolved, on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Assurance Dimensions, Inc., would have caused Assurance Dimensions, Inc. to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreement in connection with its reports; (ii) no such disagreement was discussed with the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors or with our board of directors as a whole; and (iii) there have been no “reportable events” as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

 

There were no other changes in or disagreements with and no other changes in the accountants on accounting and financial disclosure during the last two fiscal years.

 

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

 

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

 

We conducted an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of disclosure controls and procedures. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the company in the reports it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures also include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company's management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on this evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer concluded as of March 31, 2020 that disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at the reasonable assurance level due to the material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting discussed below.

 

 

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

 

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as define in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.  The evaluation of internal control over financial reporting includes using the COSO framework, an integrated framework for the evaluation of internal controls issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, to identify the risks and control objectives related to the evaluation of the control environment.  The internal controls for the Company are provided by executive management’s review and approval of all transactions. Internal control over financial reporting also includes those policies and procedures that:

 

(1) pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of assets;

 

(2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with the authorization of management; and

 

(3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

 

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. 

 

Management assessed the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2020. This annual report does not include an attestation report of registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management's report was not subject to attestation by registered public accounting firm pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permits us to provide only management's report in this annual report.

 

Identified Material Weaknesses

 

A material weakness is a control deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the financial statements will not be prevented or detected. The matters involving internal controls over financial reporting that management considered to be material weaknesses under the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board were ineffective controls over period end financial disclosure and reporting processes as no member of our board of directors qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act.

 

Management’s Remediation Initiatives

 

As a result of findings, we have begun to remediate the deficiencies.  In an effort to remediate the identified material weaknesses and enhance internal controls, we have been evaluating possible candidates meeting definition of an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act. Due to a lack of resources it may not be possible to timely remediate the deficiencies. We anticipate our initiative will be at least partially implemented by March 31, 2021.  Additionally, we plan to test the updated controls in order to remediate the deficiencies by March 31, 2021.

 

Conclusion

 

As a result of management's assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of March 31, 2020, and the identification of the material weakness set forth above, management has concluded that the internal control over financial reporting is not effective.  It is reasonably possible that, if not remediated, the material weaknesses noted above, could result in a material misstatement in the reported financial statements that might result in a material misstatement in a future annual or interim period.  In light of the identified material weakness and the conclusion that the internal controls over financial reporting are not effective, management will take the remediation initiatives set forth above.  In addition, management performed (1) additional review of the area described above, and (2) performed additional analyses, including but not limited to a detailed balance sheet and statement of operations analytical review. These procedures were completed so management could gain assurance that the financial statements and schedules included in this Form 10-K fairly present, in all material respects, the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.

 

 

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

There were no changes made during the most recently completed fiscal quarter that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect, internal control over financial reporting, as required by Rules 13a-15(d) and 15d-15(d) under the exchange Act. 

 

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

 

None.

 

PART III

 

ITEM 10 DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

The names of the executive officers and directors of GB Sciences, their ages as of July 31, 2020, and the positions currently held by each are as follows:

 

Name		Age		Position
John Poss		72		Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard		51		Chief Science Officer and Director
Zach Swarts		32		Interim Chief Financial Officer
Leslie Bocskor		55		Chairman of the Audit and Compensation Committees and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Ed DeFrank		53		Member of the Audit and Compensation Committees and Director

 

Biographies

 

Set forth below are brief accounts of the business experience of each director an executive officer of the Company.

 

John Poss, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

 

Effective April 29, 2016, The Board of Directors elected John Poss to serve as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Poss served as the CFO of the Company beginning in August 2015, and its COO since December 31, 2015.  He resigned his position as CFO on August 4, 2016 and his position as COO on November 10, 2017.

 

Effective May 8, 2017, following the retirement of Craig Ellins, our Chief Innovation Officer and Chairman of the Board, Mr. Poss, replaced Mr. Ellins as Chairman of the Board.

 

Mr. Poss has over 30 years of experience working as a consultant to companies facing major transitions and transformations. Mr. Poss began his career in the Washington, D.C. office of Arthur Andersen & Co. and has served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer of both public and private companies in such diverse industries as homebuilding, mining, telecommunications, manufacturing, logistics, construction lending and mortgage banking. For the past twenty months prior to joining Growblox, Mr. Poss served as Chief Executive Officer of Experiential Teaching Online Corp., an educational content developer and for four years prior thereto owned and operated his own consulting firm. Mr. Poss has also worked extensively internationally, successfully negotiating agreements in countries throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas. Mr. Poss graduated from the University of Texas in 1974 with a degree in accounting.

 

Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, PhD, MBA, Chief Science Officer and Director

 

Dr. Small-Howard was appointed as our Chief Science Officer and as a member of our board of directors on June 10, 2014 and has served continuously in both positions since that time. As the Chief Science Officer, her goal is to create and maintain a novel cannabinoid therapy pipeline based on the Company's proprietary technology suite, direct research & development efforts, facilitate clinical research partnerships, guide product commercialization strategies, develop corporate cannabis education programming, and create corporate messaging around our novel drug discovery process.

 

 

From January, 2012 to present, she has served as a Director on the Board of Directors at The Center for Healthcare Innovation, "CHI". CHI is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization committed to serving as a catalyst for stimulating ideas, people, companies, and institutions to collaborate and achieve excellence in healthcare innovation, particularly in the biotechnology, medical device, nanotechnology, and pharmaceutical sectors. Her board level responsibilities at CHI have included shaping and supporting the evolving mission of this dynamic group. She has also been on the planning committee for their annual "Emerging Markets in the Life Sciences" seminar series, which is now in its 5th consecutive year.

 

From July 2011 to June 2014, Dr. Small-Howard was the Founder and President of International Biotechnology Solutions, a management consulting firm that created customized, cost-effective commercialization solutions for viable yet abandoned biopharmaceutical products. International Biotechnology Solutions provided management consulting with a focus on assisting US biotech companies with products that could be commercialized within the Asia-Pacific region. Dr. Small-Howard she successfully completed projects within the areas of business development, corporate alliance building, product commercialization, due diligence reporting on medical marijuana companies, corporate restructuring, and management of successful fund-raising campaigns.

 

From June 2011 to March 2013, she served as a Director on the Board of Directors (President for part of that time), for the Ceremax Investment Corporation. The Ceremax Investment Group was established by members of the USC EMBA Class XXV to pool its financial and intellectual resources to identify investment opportunities. During her tenure at Ceremax, Dr. Small Howard reviewed and approved capital and resource investments in promising start-up or scale-up phase private companies.

 

From November, 2008 to July, 2011, she served as the Vice President of Scientific Oversight for the Radient Pharmaceutical Corporation, a vertically-integrated biopharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing corporation with operations in both the US and China. Dr. Small-Howard provided oversight for global product development in multiple international business divisions. She authored and/or attained 12 patents & 3 trademarks on proprietary cancer tests, cancer (gene) therapies, cosmeceuticals, and animal models. She achieved numerous regulatory approvals for cancer tests, cancer therapies, pharmaceuticals, and cosmeceutical products with the United States FDA, Health Canada and other foreign ministries of health. She initiated and/or nurtured five international, collaborative, cancer research trial programs with universities and that yielded 7 publications supporting cancer products and supervised the Quality Management Systems for an ISO 13485/cGMP compliant medical device manufacturing facility in the US; as well as the regulated manufacturing facilities in China. She also led and participated in internal and US FDA, CDPH, CE Mark/ISO 13485, and CMDR audits of Radient’s Quality Management System.

 

Zach Swarts, Interim Chief Financial Officer

 

Mr. Swarts was appointed as Interim CFO in September 5, 2019.  He began employment with GB Sciences in October 2017 and served as Director of Finance and Accounting for the two years prior to his appointment as Interim CFO. Prior to October 2017, Mr. Swarts worked for a local public accounting firm as Manager of the litigation support department from April 2016 to October 2017. He has provided forensic accounting, expert witness, business valuation, and consulting services to clients in a wide variety of industries. From January 2013 to  April 2016, he worked as an auditor in the Las Vegas office of Ernst & Young LLP. His clients consisted primarily of SEC filers in the highly-regulated gaming industry. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of Nevada. 

 

Leslie Bocskor, Vice Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Audit and Compensation Committees

 

Effective May 8, 2017, Mr. Bocskor was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board.

 

In the burgeoning cannabis economy, Leslie Bocskor has emerged as one of the most influential and respected global advisors for business, policy and social reform, using his unique lens and understanding of what is, what will be, and what is needed -- based on decades of success in the trenches of investment banking and entrepreneurship in disruptive industries.  With his rare combination of financial market experience and business sensibilities, he is beloved by policy makers and growers, technologists and scientists, doctors and patients alike, curating the unrivaled network necessary to shepherd them all into achieving goals and prosperity.

 

 

The advisory firm he founded, Electrum Partners, works with leading companies around the globe in the hemp, legal medical cannabis, recreational cannabis, cannabis-based pharmaceuticals, cannabis-based nutraceuticals and supplements, technology, retails sales, processing, cultivation, ecommerce, unique brands, edibles manufacturing, intellectual property, finance and banking.  The firm is sought after to deliver high-level strategies for profitability and shareholder value, and to bring together critical partnerships and solutions that contribute positively to further develop the cannabis business ecosystem.  The company maintains relationships with key industry groups including MPP, DPA, NCIA, The ArcView Group, Red Estatal de Mujeres Antiprohibicionistas and Women Grow.

 

In position to provide perspective and guidance as to how the dots will be connected as the industry takes shape, Mr. Bocskor's contributions have already had substantial impact.  He was bestowed with the 2015 ArcView Group Outstanding Member Award and was named 2015 CEO of the Year by The Weed Blog, one of the industry's most-trafficked media sites.  Bocskor is the founding chairman of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association and in November 2014, Mr. Bocskor was ranked 58th of 100 Most Influential People in the Cannabis industry by Cannabis Business Executive Magazine and was soon after the subject of a Newsweek's Special Edition Weed 2.0. Magazine feature article, "A Future Gold Mine," and featured on CNBC's special coverage of the Marijuana business economy among hundreds of news features and commentaries.

 

Edmond DeFrank, Director

 

Mr. DeFrank was elected to the GB Sciences Board of Directors on October 23, 2019. He is a registered U.S. Patent Attorney and intellectual property specialist since 1993 with over 25 years’ experience as a computer engineer and a patent attorney in the high technology sector. He has written and prosecuted over one thousand patent applications and patents for large high technology companies and educational institutions.

In addition, Mr. DeFrank has worked with small start-up companies and “Fortune 100” companies on strategic patent counseling, including managing and exploiting patent portfolios worth from six figures to billions of dollars through audit, analysis, valuation and licensing; performing due diligence for intellectual property acquisition, licensing, prosecution and litigation; managing, structuring and negotiating relationships between high tech companies, including forming licensing opportunities to generate revenue from intellectual property; negotiating and creating complex licensing, outsourcing, software development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution agreements; and performing due diligence and managing all intellectual property aspects of multi-million-dollar mergers and acquisitions. Over his career, Mr. DeFrank has founded and sold several software companies. He is the named inventor on 5 issued patents and over 30 pending patents.

 

For the past five years prior to joining the Board of Directors, Mr. DeFrank has provided legal services in the field of patent and trademark law as the owner of the Law Office of Edmond DeFrank from January 2001 to present. He is the founder of Ergo Sum Healthcare, Inc., a software development company which helps physicians produce better patient outcomes using personalized healthcare software solutions, and served as its Chief Financial Officer from September 2013 to August of 2018.

 

 

During the past five years none of our directors, executive officers, promoters or control persons was:

 

	1)	the subject of any bankruptcy petition filed by or against any business of which such person was a general partner or executive officer either at the time of the bankruptcy or within two years prior to that time;
	2)	convicted in a criminal proceeding or is subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses);
	3)	subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting his involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities; or
	4)	found by a court of competent jurisdiction (in a civil action), the Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law.

 

 

 

Family Relationships

 

None.

 

Audit Committee

 

On July 6, 2016, the Board established the Audit Committee and approved and adopted a charter (the "Audit Committee Charter") to govern the Audit Committee. The audit committee is comprised of Leslie Bocskor, John Poss, and Andrea Small-Howard. Of the members of the Audit Committee, only Leslie Bocksor is independent under the rules governing OTC Market. Mr. Bocskor is designated the chairperson of the committee. In addition to the enumerated responsibilities of the Audit Committee in the Audit Committee Charter, the primary function of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board in its general oversight of our accounting and financial reporting processes, audits of our financial statements, and internal control and audit functions. The Audit Committee Charter is filed herewith as Exhibit 10.16.

 

Audit Committee Financial Expert

 

As of the date of filling of this Form 10-K, no member of our board of directors qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as defined in Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act.

 

Compensation Committee

 

On July 6, 2016, the Board established the Compensation Committee and approved and adopted a charter (the "Compensation Committee Charter"). The compensation committee is comprised of Leslie Bocskor and Ed DeFrank, each of whom is independent under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission standards. Leslie Bocskor is designated the chairperson of the committee. In addition to the enumerated responsibilities of the Compensation Committee in the Compensation Committee Charter, the primary function of the Compensation Committee is to oversee the compensation of our executives, produce an annual report on executive compensation for inclusion in our proxy statement, if and when required by applicable laws or regulations, and advise the Board on the adoption of policies that govern our compensation programs. The Compensation Committee Charter is filed herewith as Exhibit 10.17.

 

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance.

 

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers and directors and persons who directly or indirectly beneficially own more than 10% of our equity securities to file reports of ownerships on Forms 3, 4 and 5 with the SEC. Executive officers, directors and 10% stockholders are required by the SEC to furnish us with copies of all Forms 3, 4 and 5 they file. Based solely on our review of the copies of such forms we have received, we believe that each of our officers and directors is under a current obligation to file a Form 3.

 

Code of Ethics

 

We adopted the GB Sciences, Inc. Code of Ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers (the “finance code of ethics”), a code of ethics that applies to Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Science Officer and other finance organization employees. A copy of the finance code of ethics may be obtained from the Company, free of charge, upon written request delivered to GB Sciences, Inc. 3550 W. Teco Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89118. If we make any substantive amendments to the finance code of ethics or grant any waiver, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the code to the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver in a report on Form 8-K.

 

 

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

The following summary compensation table reflects all compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Science Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer for all services rendered to us in all capacities during each of the years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019.

 

Summary Compensation Table

 

											Stock				Option
											Awards				Awards
Name and Position	Year		Salary				Bonus				(1)				(2)				Total
John Poss, CEO and Chairman of the Board	2020		$	120,000			$	37,500			$	-			$	-			$	157,500
	2019			120,000				137,375				-				-				257,375
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, CSO and Director	2020			160,000				-				-				-				160,000
	2019			160,000				-				-				-				160,000
Ksenia Griswold, Former CFO and COO	2020			240,000				-				-				-				240,000
	2019			206,154				30,000				-				-				236,154
Zach Swarts, Interim CFO	2020			130,000				30,000				-				-				160,000
	2019			125,000				30,000				-				-				155,000

 

(1) Represents the grant date fair value of restricted stock awards granted, as calculated in accordance with stock-based compensation accounting standards.  The fair value of each of these awards is based on the closing share price of our stock on the grant date.  Although the table above indicates the full grant date value of the awards in the year which the compensation is considered, the restricted stock granted vests over a three-year period.   

(2) Represents the grant date fair value of option awards granted, as calculated in accordance with stock-based compensation accounting standards.  The fair value of these awards is determined under the Black-Scholes option pricing model. For the assumptions used for purposes of determining the value of the awards included in each year's compensation, please refer to Note 11. Although the table above indicates the full grant date value of the awards in the year which the compensation is considered, the options granted vest over a three-year period.  

 

 

Employment Agreements

 

John Poss, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors

 

On August 10, 2015, Mr. Poss, entered into an employment agreement with the Company. The term of employment is one-year subject to automatic extensions for additional one-year periods unless either party chooses to terminate such employment. The Company may terminate the Employment Agreement at any time with or without cause. If the Company terminates the Employment Agreement without cause, Mr. Poss is entitled to three months' severance if the termination takes place during the first year of employment, four months' severance if the termination takes place during the second year of employment and six months' severance if the termination takes place during the third year or a subsequent year of employment. No severance payments are due in the case of a termination for cause. Similar severance provisions apply to a termination by Mr. Poss for good reason but not to a termination by Mr. Poss without good reason. Mr. Poss receives a monthly salary of $10,000 per month. In addition, in August 2015, the Company issued 600,000 options to Mr. Poss under our 2014 Equity Incentive Plan. The options are exercisable upon vesting for a period of 10 years from issuance for the purchase of shares of our common stock at a price of $0.30 per share. The options vest ratably on a monthly basis in equal installments over the course of 30 months commencing on the seventh month of the employment period. In the event that Mr. Poss' employment is terminated for cause or by Mr. Poss without good reason, all unvested options at the time of termination will be cancelled. In the event of a Change of Control, as such term is defined in the 2014 Equity Incentive Plan, all of the options issued to Mr. Poss shall vest immediately. The number of options issuable to Mr. Poss is subject to increase within 6 months of the commencement of Mr. Poss' employment at the discretion of our Board of Directors. At the end of the third year of employment, the compensation payable to Mr. Poss shall be renegotiated in good faith by the parties.

 

 

Pursuant to the appointment of Mr. Poss as the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, effective June 1, 2016.  The agreement will end on May 1, 2017, which end date can be extended upon the mutual agreement of the parties.  Under the agreement Mr. Poss will receive an annual salary of not less than $120,000 and quarterly bonuses equal to the value of 125,000 shares of the Company’s common stock.  Bonuses are payable in S-8 stock or cash in the discretion of the Company.  Under the agreement, Mr. Poss will also receive options to acquire 1.4 million shares of the Company's common stock subject to certain vesting requirements.  The option strike price is the market value of the stock on the date the options were granted.

 

Effective May 8, 2017, following the retirement of Craig Ellins, our Chief Innovation Officer and Chairman of the Board, Mr. Poss, replaced Mr. Ellins as Chairman of the Board.

 

Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, PhD, MBA, Chief Science Officer and Director

 

On June 19, 2014, Dr. Andrea Small-Howard, Chief Science Officer, entered into a three-year employment agreement with the Company. Dr. Small-Howard received a salary at the annual rate of $78,000 and 450,000 shares of restricted common stock that vests over the three-year term of employment. The stock is restricted as defined by the Rules and Regulations promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Company may terminate the Employment Agreement at any time with or without cause. If the Company terminates the Employment Agreement without cause, Dr. Small-Howard is entitled any unpaid base salary accrued through the effective date of termination notice and pay in a lump sum of an amount equal to the product of the sum of the executive’s-based salary plus the amount of the highest annual bonus or other incentive compensation payment therefore made by the Company to the executive, multiplied by one. In the event of a Change of Control, as such term is defined in the 2014 Equity Incentive Plan, all of the restricted stock granted to Dr. Small-Howard shall vest immediately. Dr. Small-Howard also received 500,000 of stock options not in connection with her employment agreement, of which 100,000 vested immediately and the remainder vest over three years.

 

Effective on June 1, 2016, the Company amended its employment agreement with Dr. Small-Howard.  Pursuant to the amendment, Ms. Small-Howard surrendered a stock award for 450,000 shares of common stock in exchange for warrants to purchase 1.2 million common shares at the strike price of $0.30 per share.

 

Ksenia Griswold, Chief Financial Officer

 

On August 5, 2016, the Company's Board of Directors accepted the resignation of John Poss as Chief Financial Officer of the Company and appointed Ksenia Griswold as the Company's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Pursuant to the appointment of Ms. Griswold as the Company's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, effective October 7, 2016.  The agreement will end on November 1, 2017, which end date can be extended upon the mutual agreement of the parties.  Under the agreement Ms. Griswold will receive an annual salary of not less than $110,000 and options to acquire 350,000 shares of the Company's common stock subject to certain vesting requirements.  The option strike price is the market value of the stock on the date the options were granted.

 

Effective April 24, 2017, the Company amended its employment agreement with Ms. Griswold.  Pursuant to the amendment, Ms. Griswold would receive a base salary at the annual rate no less than $160,000 and a quarterly bonus equivalent to $15,000. On September 1, 2019, the Company and Ksenia Griswold terminated their relationship and entered into the Severance Agreement. Pursuant to the Severance Agreement, Ms. Griswold will receive severance payments of $20,000 per month for 9 months following the date of separation and will continue receive health insurance coverage for the same period.

 

Leslie Bocskor, Director

 

Effective June 1, 2016, the Board of Directors established compensation for Mr. Bocskor to be $25,000 annually with an additional $1,000 for each meeting attended.  The compensation is payable in cash or stock at the election of the Company.  Mr. Bocskor also received options to purchase 450,000 shares of stock which vest over 24 months.  The strike price of the options is $0.16 per share, the market value of the Company's common stock on the date the Mr. Bocskor was elected to the Board.

 

Effective May 8, 2017, Mr. Bocskor was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board.

 

Effective on December 1, 2017, the Company amended Mr. Bocskor’s compensation.  Pursuant to the amendment, Ms. Bocskor will receive $75,000 annually with an additional $1,000 for each meeting attended. Mr. Bocskor also received additional options to purchase 450,000 shares of stock which vest over 24 months.  The strike price of the options is $0.24 per share, the market value of the Company's common stock on the date the Mr. Bocskor was elected to the Board.

 

 

Share Terry, Director

 

Effective June 1, 2016, the Board of Directors established compensation for Mr. Terry to be $25,000 annually with an additional $1,000 for each meeting attended.  The compensation is payable in cash or stock at the election of the Company.  Mr. Terry also received options to purchase 450,000 shares of stock which vest over 24 months.  The strike price of the options was $0.16 per share, the market value of the Company's common stock on the date the Mr. Terry was elected to the Board. On September 19, 2019, the Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Mr. Terry as a member of the Board.  Mr. Terry stated that pressure from other commitments no longer allowed him serve. 

 

Outstanding Equity Awards

 

The following table summarizes the number of shares underlying outstanding equity incentive plan awards for each named executive officer as of March 31, 2020:

 

																Market
		Number of shares					Number of shares									value of
		underlying					underlying				Option			Option		shares not
		exercisable					unexercisable				exercise			expiration		vested ($)
Name		options/warrants (2)					options/warrants				price ($)			date		(1)
Andrea Small-Howard			500,000					-				$ 0.17		3/27/2025			$ -
			1,200,000		(3)							0.30		6/1/2026			-
			500,000					-				0.24		11/26/2027			-
John Poss			600,000					-				0.30		8/10/2025			-
			1,400,000					-				0.30		6/1/2023			-
			1,500,000					-				0.24		11/26/2027			-
Ksenia Griswold			100,000					-				0.29		11/4/2025			-
			100,000					-				0.30		6/1/2023			-
			350,000					-				0.32		10/7/2026			-
			450,000					-				0.24		11/26/2027			-
Leslie Bocskor			450,000					-				0.16		6/1/2023			-
			450,000					-				0.24		11/26/2027			-
Shane Terry			450,000									0.16		6/1/2023			-
Zach Swarts			150,000					-				0.25		10/1/2027			-

 

(1) There were no unvested options outstanding on March 31, 2020.

(2) These options were vested at March 31, 2020.

(3) Represents a warrant to purchase 1,200,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.30 per share.

 

Directors’ Compensation

 

All directors hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. There are no agreements with respect to the election of directors. Officers are appointed annually by the Board of Directors and each executive officer serves at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Directors are entitled to be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred on behalf of the Company. Outside directors are paid $2,000 monthly with an additional $1,000 for each meeting attended.  The compensation is payable in cash or stock at the election of the Company.  

 

 

ITEM 12 SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

 

The following table presents information known to us, as of June 29, 2020, relating to the beneficial ownership of common stock by:

 

●

each person who is known by us to be the beneficial holder of more than 5% of outstanding common stock;

●

each of named executive officers and directors; and

●

directors and executive officers as a group.

 

We believe that all persons named in the table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares beneficially owned by them, except as noted.

  

Percentage ownership in the following table is based on 280,532,686 shares of common stock outstanding as of the date of this report. A person is deemed to be the beneficial owner of securities that can be acquired by that person within 60 days from the date of this Annual Report upon the exercise of options, warrants or convertible securities. Each beneficial owner’s percentage ownership is determined by dividing the number of shares beneficially owned by that person by the base number of outstanding shares, increased to reflect the shares underlying options, warrants or other convertible securities included in that person’s holdings, but not those underlying shares held by any other person.

 

		No. of Shares					Percentage of Total Shares
Name of Beneficial Owner (1)		Owned					Owned
Officers and Directors
John Poss			3,725,000		(2)			1.29%
Dr. Andrea Small-Howard			2,316,000		(3)			*(9)
Zach Swarts			150,000		(4)			*(9)
Leslie Bocskor			900,000		(5)			*(9)
Ed DeFrank			-					*(9)
Directors and officers as a group (five) persons			7,091,000					2.42%
5% Holders:
Robert Moody, Jr.			20,005,000		(6)			6.82%
Dave Ruggieri			16,464,129		(7)			5.71%
Lawrence D. Ordower			16,011,418		(8)			5.49%

 

(1) Unless otherwise noted, the address of each person listed is GB Sciences, Inc. 3550 W. Teco Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89118.

(2) Includes (a) 225,000 shares of common stock currently owned of record by Mr. Poss, (b) options to purchase 2,000,000 shares of common stock at $0.30 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter, and (c) options to purchase 937,500 shares of common stock at $0.24 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter.

(3) Includes (a) 116,000 shares of common stock currently owned of record by Dr. Small-Howard, (b) options to purchase 481,250 shares of common stock at $0.17 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter, and (c) 1,500,000 additional shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of stock warrant at an exercise price of $0.24 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter.

(4) Includes options to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at $0.25 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter.

(5) Includes 450,000 options to purchase shares of common stock at $0.16 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter and options to purchase 450,000 shares of common at $0.24 per share exercisable as of the Record Date or within 60 days thereafter.

(6) Address is Robert Moody Jr, 2302 Post Office Street, Suite 601, Galveston, TX  77550. The total consists of 7,762,500 common shares held by Mr. Moody, 8,002,500 shares that may be acquired upon the exercise of warrants, and 4,240,000 may be acquired upon the conversion of notes.

(7) Address is David Ruggieri 1107 West Marion Ave, Unit 116, Punta Gorda, FL  33950. The total consists of 8,957,296 common shares held by Mr. Ruggieri and 7,506,833 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants.

(8) Address is Lawrence B. Ordower, 25 East Washington Street, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL  60602. The total consists of 5,227,418 common shares held by Mr. Ordower and 10,784,000 shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of warrants.

(9) Less than 1%.

 

 

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS, RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

 

At March 31, 2020, the Company had two independent directors serving on the Board of Directors. The definition the Company uses to determine whether a director is independent are the rules governing OTC market.

 

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

 

		Fiscal 2020				Fiscal 2019
Audit Fees(1)		$	78,710			$	70,617
Audit-Related Fees(2)			-				-
Tax Fees(3)			-				-
Subtotal			78,710				70,617
All other Fees(4)			-				-
Total		$	78,710			$	70,617

 

(1) Audit Fees – Audit fees billed to the Company in FY 2020 and 2019 include fees billed by Assurance Dimensions, Inc. and by Soles, Heyn & Company, LLP for auditing the Company's annual financial statements and reviewing the financial statements included in the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

(2) Audit-Related Fees – There were no other fees billed by Assurance Dimensions, Inc. or by Soles, Heyn & Company, LLP for the last two fiscal years for assurance and related services that were reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of the Company's financial statements and not reported under "Audit Fees" above.

(3) Tax Fees – No tax services were provided by the principal accountant during the past two fiscal years.

(4) All Other Fees – There were no other fees billed in the past two fiscal years for products and services provided. 

 

Pre-approval of Audit and Non-Audit Services

 

The Board of Director’s policy is to pre-approve all audit and non-audit services provided by the independent auditors. These services may include audit services, audit-related services, tax services and other services. Pre-approval is generally provided for up to 12 months from the date of pre-approval and any pre-approval is detailed as to the particular service or category of services. The Board of Directors may delegate pre-approval authority to one or more of its members when expedition of services is necessary.

 

 

PART IV

 

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

 

1.

GB Sciences, Inc. Consolidated Financial Statements (including related notes to Consolidated Financial Statements) filed in Part II of this report are listed below:

 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm – Assurance Dimensions, Inc.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm – Soles, Heyn & Company

 

Financial Statements:

Consolidated Balances Sheets as of March 31, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Statements of Operations – Years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 

Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) – Years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows – Years ended March 31, 2020 and 2019

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements

 

2.

All schedules for which provision is made in the applicable accounting regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission are not required under related instructions or are inapplicable and therefore have been omitted.

 

3.

Exhibits

 

 

No.		Description
3.1		Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to an exhibit to Form SB-2 No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on February 12, 2002)
3.2		Amendment to Articles of Incorporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to Form S-1/A No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on October 6, 2014 and Exhibit 3.2 to Form 10-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 27, 2014)
3.3		Articles of Incorporation
3.4		Amendment to Articles of Incorporation
3.5		Bylaws (Incorporated by reference to an exhibit to Form SB-2 No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on February 12, 2002
4.6		Description of Registrant's Securities
10.1		2005 Restricted Stock Plan (Incorporated by reference to Annex A to Schedule 14A No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 14, 2005)
10.2		2007 Restricted Stock Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to Form S-8/POS No. 333-141467 filed with the Commission on February 8, 2008)
10.3		Amended Employment Agreement between Registrant and Andrea Small-Howard dated June 19, 2014 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to Form 10-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 27, 2014)
10.4		Employment Agreement between Registrant and John Poss dated August 10, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q No. 000-55462 filed with the Commission on November 18, 2015)
10.5		Operating Agreement of GB Sciences Nevada LLC (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to Form S-1/A No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on October 6, 2014)
10.6		2014 Equity Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to Form S-1/A No. 333-198967 filed with the Commission on December 23, 2014)
10.7		Note Purchase Agreement between Growblox Sciences, Inc. and Pacific Leaf Ventures LP (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Form 8-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 15, 2015)
10.8		$1,750,000 6% senior secured convertible note issued to Pacific Leaf Ventures LP (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Form 8-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 15, 2015)
10.9		Security Agreement between GB Sciences Nevada LLC and Pacific Leaf Ventures LP (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to Form 8-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 15, 2015)

10.10

Royalty Agreement between Growblox Sciences, Inc. and Pacific Leaf Ventures LP (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to Form 8-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 15, 2015)

10.11		Pacific Leaf Ventures LP Amended and Restated 6% Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Form 8-K No. 000-55462 filed with the Commission on February 12, 2016)
10.12		Pacific Leaf Ventures LP Amended and Restated Royalty Agreement (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Form 8-K No. 000-55462 filed with the Commission on February 12, 2016)
10.13		Pacific Leaf Ventures LP Omnibus Amendment and Waiver (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to Form 8-K No. 000-55462 filed with the Commission on February 12, 2016)
10.14		Amended Employment Agreement between Registrant and John Poss dated June 1, 2016 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.23 to Form 10-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on July 14, 2016)
10.15		Amended Employment Agreement between Registrant and Andrea Small-Howard dated June 1, 2016 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.24 to Form 10-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on July 14, 2016)
10.16		Audit Committee Charter (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.25 to Form 10-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on July 14, 2016)
10.17		Compensation Committee Charter (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.26 to Form 10-K No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on July 14, 2016)
10.18		Pacific Leaf Ventures LP Second Omnibus Amendment and Waiver (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q No. 000-55462 filed with the Commission on August 15, 2016)
10.19		Amended Employment Agreement between Registrant and Ksenia Griswold dated October 7, 2016 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Form 10-Q No. 000-55462 filed with the Commission on November 14, 2016)
10.20		Agreement between Registrant and Pacific Leaf Ventures, LP dated February 28, 2018 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.21		Amendment and Termination Agreement between Registrant and Pacific Leaf Ventures, LP dated July 28, 2018 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.22		Note Purchase Agreement between Registrant and CSW Ventures, LP dated February 28, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.23		8% Convertible Promissory Note between Registrant and CSW Ventures, LP dated February 28, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.24		Security Agreement between Registrant and CSW Ventures, LP dated February 28, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.25		Asset Purchase Agreement between Registrant and GBS Global Biopharma, Inc. dated March 15, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.26		Note Purchase Agreement between Registrant and Iliad Research and Trading, LP dated April 23, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.27		8% Convertible Promissory Note between Registrant and Iliad Research and Trading, LP dated April 23, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 to March 31, 2019 Form 10-K filed with the Commission on July 15, 2019)
10.28		Membership Interest Purchase Agreement between Registrant, Wellcana Plus, LLC, and GB Sciences Louisiana, LLC, dated November 15, 2019 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to December 31, 2019 Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on February 18, 2020)

10.29		Membership Interest Purchase Agreement by and among Registrant, GB Sciences Nevada, LLC, GB Sciences Las Vegas, LLC, and AJE Management, LLC dated March 25, 2020
10.30		Management Services Agreement by and among Registrant, GB Sciences Nevada, LLC, GB Sciences Las Vegas, LLC, and AJE Management, LLC dated December 6, 2020
10.31		Amendment to Note Documents between Registrant and CSW Ventures, LP dated July 12, 2019
10.32		Amended and Restated 8% Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note payable to CSW Ventures, LP dated July 12, 2019
10.33		Amendment to Promissory Note between Registrant and CSW Ventures, LP dated July 12, 2019
10.34		Second Amendment to Note Documents between Registrant and CSW Ventures, LP dated November 27, 2019
10.35		Second Amended and Restated 8% Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note payable to CSW Ventures, LP dated November 27, 2019
10.36		Loan Agreement betrween Registrant and AJE Mangement, LLC dated December 3, 2020
10.37		8% Promissory Note payable to AJE Management, LLC
10.38		Promissory Note payable to John Davis dated November 15, 2019

14.1		Code of Ethics (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14.1 to Form 10-KSB No. 333-82580 filed with the Commission on June 22, 2004)
21.1		List of Subsidiaries
31.1		Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
31.2		Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
32.1		18 U.S.C. Section 1350 Certification of Chief Executive Officer
32.2		18 U.S.C. Section 1350 Certification of Chief Financial Officer
101		XBRL Instant Documents

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

In accordance with Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized in the city of Las Vegas, NV on August 28, 2020.

 

	GB Sciences, Inc.
	By:	/s/ John Poss
		Name: John Poss
		Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

	GB Sciences, Inc.
	By:	/s/ Zach Swarts
		Name: Zach Swarts
		Title: Chief Financial Officer