SEC Form PRE 14A filed by Synaptogenix Inc.

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No. )

Filed by the Registrant x

Filed by a Party other than the Registrant ¨

Check the appropriate box:

Synaptogenix, Inc.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check all boxes that apply):

SYNAPTOGENIX, INC.

1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10036

____________________, 2024

To Our Stockholders:

You are cordially invited to attend the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders of Synaptogenix, Inc. (the “Company”) to be held at 11:00 am Eastern Time on Friday, December 6, 2024. We have decided to hold this year’s annual meeting virtually via live audio webcast on the internet. You will be able to attend the annual meeting by first registering at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. You will receive a meeting invitation by e-mail with your unique join link along with a password prior to the meeting date. You will not be able to attend the annual meeting in person.

Details regarding the meeting, the business to be conducted at the meeting, and information about the Company that you should consider when you vote your shares are described in the accompanying proxy statement.

At the annual meeting, two persons will be elected to our board of directors. In addition, we will ask stockholders (i) to authorize, for purposes of complying with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(d), the issuance of shares of our common stock underlying shares of convertible preferred stock and warrants issued by us pursuant to the terms of that certain Securities Purchase Agreement, dated September 10, 2024, by and among us and the investors named therein, in an amount equal to or in excess of 20% of our common stock outstanding before the issuance of such convertible preferred stock and warrants (including upon the operation of anti-dilution provisions contained in such convertible preferred stock and warrants), (ii) to approve a proposed amendment to the Synaptogenix, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, and (iii) to ratify the appointment of Stephano Slack LLC as our independent registered public accounting firm for our fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. The board of directors recommends a vote in favor of the two directors nominated for election and the approval of each of these proposals. Such other business will be transacted as may properly come before the annual meeting.

We hope you will be able to attend the annual meeting. Whether you plan to attend the annual meeting or not, it is important that you cast your vote either in person or by proxy. You may vote over the Internet as well as by telephone or by mail. When you have finished reading the proxy statement, you are urged to vote in accordance with the instructions set forth in the proxy statement. We encourage you to vote by proxy so that your shares will be represented and voted at the meeting, whether or not you can attend.

Thank you for your continued support of the Company.

SYNAPTOGENIX, INC.

1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10036

__________, 2024

NOTICE OF 2024 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TIME: 11:00 am EST

DATE: December 6, 2024 

ACCESS:

You will be able to attend the annual meeting by first registering at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. You will receive a meeting invitation by e-mail with your unique join link along with a password prior to the meeting date. If you are a registered holder, your virtual control number will be on your proxy card. If you hold your shares beneficially through a bank or broker, you must provide a legal proxy from your bank or broker during registration and you will be assigned a virtual control number in order to vote your shares during the annual meeting. If you are unable to obtain a legal proxy to vote your shares, you will still be able to attend the 2024 annual meeting (but will not be able to vote your shares) so long as you demonstrate proof of stock ownership. Instructions on how to connect and participate via the Internet, including how to demonstrate proof of stock ownership, are posted at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. On the day of the annual meeting, you may only vote during the meeting by e-mailing a copy of your legal proxy to [email protected] in advance of the meeting.

PURPOSES:

WHO MAY VOTE:

You may vote if you were the record owner of Synaptogenix, Inc. common stock at the close of business on November 5, 2024. A list of stockholders of record will be available at the annual meeting and, during the 10 days prior to the annual meeting, at our principal executive offices located at 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10036.

All stockholders are cordially invited to attend the annual meeting. Whether you plan to attend the annual meeting or not, we urge you to vote and submit your proxy by the Internet, telephone or mail in order to ensure the presence of a quorum. You may change or revoke your proxy at any time before it is voted at the annual meeting.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Appendix

Appendix A

PRELIMINARY COPIES FILED PURSUANT TO RULE 14a-6(a)

SYNAPTOGENIX, INC.

1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10036

PROXY STATEMENT FOR THE SYNAPTOGENIX, INC.

2024 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 6, 2024

This proxy statement, along with the accompanying notice of 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, contains information about the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders of Synaptogenix, Inc., including any adjournments or postponements of the annual meeting. We are holding the annual meeting at 11:00 am, Eastern Time, on Friday, December 6, 2024. You will be able to attend the annual meeting by first registering at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. You will receive a meeting invitation by e-mail with your unique join link along with a password prior to the meeting date.

In this proxy statement, we refer to Synaptogenix, Inc. as “Synaptogenix,” “the Company,” “we” and “us.”

This proxy statement relates to the solicitation of proxies by our board of directors for use at the annual meeting.

On or about __________, 2024, we intend to begin sending this proxy statement, the attached notice of 2024 annual meeting of stockholders and the enclosed proxy card to all stockholders entitled to vote at the annual meeting. Although not part of this proxy statement, we are also sending, along with this proxy statement, our 2023 annual report, which includes our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE
STOCKHOLDER MEETING TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 6, 2024

This proxy statement, the notice of 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, our form of proxy card and our 2023 annual report to stockholders are available for viewing, printing and downloading at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. To view these materials please have your control number(s) available that appears on your proxy card. On this website, you can also elect to receive future distributions of our proxy statements and annual reports to stockholders by electronic delivery.

If you are a registered holder, your virtual control number will be on your proxy card. If you hold your shares beneficially through a bank or broker, you must provide a legal proxy from your bank or broker during registration and you will be assigned a virtual control number in order to access the annual meeting.

Additionally, you can find a copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which includes our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, at www.sec.gov, or in the “SEC Filings” section of the “Investors & Media” section of our website at www.synaptogen.com. You may also obtain a printed copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements, free of charge, from us by sending a written request to:

SYNAPTOGENIX, INC.

Attn: Investor Relations

1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor

New York, New York 10036

Exhibits will be provided upon written request and payment of an appropriate processing fee.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE ANNUAL MEETING AND VOTING

Why is the Company Soliciting My Proxy?

Our board of directors (the “Board”) is soliciting your proxy to vote at the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders to be held virtually, on Friday, December 6, 2024 at 11:00 am EST, and any adjournments or postponements of the meeting, which we refer to as the annual meeting. This proxy statement, along with the accompanying notice of 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, summarizes the purposes of the meeting and the information you need to know to vote at the annual meeting.

We have made available to you on the Internet or have sent you this proxy statement, the 2024 notice of annual meeting of stockholders, the proxy card and a copy of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 because you owned shares of our common stock on the record date. We intend to commence distribution of proxy materials to stockholders on or about __________, 2024.

Why Are You Holding a Virtual Annual Meeting?

This year’s annual meeting will be held in a virtual meeting format only. We have designed our virtual format to enhance, rather than constrain, stockholder access, participation and communication. For example, the virtual format allows stockholders to communicate with us in advance of, and during, the annual meeting so they can ask questions of our Board or management, as time permits.

How do I access the Virtual Annual Meeting?

The live webcast of the annual meeting will begin promptly at 11:00 am EST. Online access to the audio webcast will open 15 minutes prior to the start of the annual meeting to allow time for you to log-in and test your device’s audio system. The virtual annual meeting is running the most updated version of the applicable software and plugins. You should ensure you have a strong Internet connection wherever you intend to participate in the annual meeting. You should also allow plenty of time to log in and ensure that you can hear streaming audio prior to the start of the annual meeting.

Log-in Instructions. You will be able to attend the annual meeting by first registering at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. You will receive a meeting invitation by e-mail with your unique join link along with a password prior to the meeting date. If you are a registered holder, your virtual control number will be on your proxy card. If you hold your shares beneficially through a bank or broker, you must provide a legal proxy from your bank or broker during registration and you will be assigned a virtual control number in order to vote your shares during the annual meeting. If you are unable to obtain a legal proxy to vote your shares, you will still be able to attend the 2024 annual meeting (but will not be able to vote your shares) so long as you demonstrate proof of stock ownership. Instructions on how to connect and participate via the Internet, including how to demonstrate proof of stock ownership, are posted at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. On the day of the annual meeting, you may only vote during the meeting by e-mailing a copy of your legal proxy to [email protected] in advance of the meeting.

What Happens if There Are Technical Difficulties during the Annual Meeting?

There will be technicians ready to assist you with any technical difficulties you may have accessing the annual meeting live audio webcast. Please be sure to check in by 10:45 a.m. EST on December 6, 2024 (15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting is recommended) the day of the meeting, so that any technical difficulties may be addressed before the annual meeting live audio webcast begins. If you encounter any difficulties accessing the webcast during the check-in or meeting time, please email [email protected] or call 866-612-8937.

Who May Vote?

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on November 5, 2024 will be entitled to vote at the annual meeting. On this record date, there were __________ shares of our common stock outstanding and entitled to vote. Our common stock is our only class of voting stock.

If on November 5, 2024 your shares of our common stock were registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Pacific Stock Transfer Company, then you are a stockholder of record.

If on November 5, 2024, your shares were held, not in your name, but rather in an account at a brokerage firm, bank, dealer or other similar organization, then you are the beneficial owner of shares held in “street name” and the Notice and our proxy materials are being forwarded to you by that organization. The organization holding your account is considered to be the stockholder of record for purposes of voting at the annual meeting. As a beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your broker or other agent regarding how to vote the shares in your account. You are also invited to attend the annual meeting. However, since you are not the stockholder of record, you may not vote your shares at the annual meeting unless you request and obtain a valid proxy from your broker or other agent.

You do not need to attend the annual meeting to vote your shares. Shares represented by valid proxies, received in time for the annual meeting and not revoked prior to the annual meeting, will be voted at the annual meeting. For instructions on how to change or revoke your proxy, see “May I Change or Revoke My Proxy?” below.

How Many Votes Do I Have?

Each share of our common stock that you own entitles you to one vote.

How Do I Vote?

Whether you plan to attend the annual meeting or not, we urge you to vote by proxy. All shares represented by valid proxies that we receive through this solicitation, and that are not revoked, will be voted in accordance with your instructions on the proxy card or as instructed via the Internet or telephone. You may specify whether your shares should be voted FOR or WITHHELD for each nominee for director, and whether your shares should be voted for, against or abstain with respect to each of the other proposals. If you properly submit a proxy without giving specific voting instructions, your shares will be voted in accordance with our Board’s recommendations as noted below. Voting by proxy will not affect your right to attend the annual meeting.

If your shares are registered directly in your name through our stock transfer agent, Pacific Stock Transfer Company, or you have stock certificates registered in your name, you may vote:

Telephone and Internet voting facilities for stockholders of record will be available 24 hours a day and will close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on December 5, 2024.

If your shares are held in “street name” (held in the name of a bank, broker or other holder of record), you will receive instructions from the holder of record. You must follow the instructions of the holder of record in order for your shares to be voted. Telephone and Internet voting also will be offered to stockholders owning shares through certain banks and brokers. If your shares are not registered in your own name and you plan to vote your shares in person at the annual meeting, you should contact your broker or agent to obtain a legal proxy or broker’s proxy card and bring it to the annual meeting in order to vote.

How Does the Board Recommend that I Vote on the Proposals?

Our Board recommends that you vote as follows:

If any other matter is presented at the annual meeting, your proxy provides that your shares will be voted by the proxy holder listed in the proxy in accordance with the proxy holder’s best judgment. At the time this proxy statement was first made available, we knew of no matters that needed to be acted on at the annual meeting, other than those discussed in this proxy statement.

May I Change or Revoke My Proxy?

If you give us your proxy, you may change or revoke it at any time before the annual meeting. You may change or revoke your proxy in any one of the following ways:

Your most current vote, whether by telephone, Internet or proxy card is the one that will be counted.

What if I Receive More Than One Notice or Proxy Card?

You may receive more than one Notice or proxy card if you hold shares of our common stock in more than one account, which may be in registered form or held in street name. Please vote in the manner described above under “How Do I Vote?” for each account to ensure that all of your shares are voted.

Will My Shares be Voted if I Do Not Vote?

If your shares are registered in your name or if you have stock certificates, they will not be counted if you do not vote as described above under “How Do I Vote?” If your shares are held in street name and you do not provide voting instructions to the bank, broker or other nominee that holds your shares as described above, the bank, broker or other nominee that holds your shares has the authority to vote your unvoted shares only on the Auditor Ratification Proposal without receiving instructions from you. Therefore, we encourage you to provide voting instructions to your bank, broker or other nominee. This ensures your shares will be voted at the annual meeting and in the manner you desire. A “broker non-vote” will occur if your broker cannot vote your shares on a particular matter because it has not received instructions from you and does not have discretionary voting authority on that matter or because your broker chooses not to vote on a matter for which it does have discretionary voting authority.

What Vote is Required to Approve Each Proposal and How are Votes Counted?

Where Can I Find the Voting Results of the Annual Meeting?

The preliminary voting results will be announced at the annual meeting, and we will publish preliminary, or final results if available, in a Current Report on Form 8-K within four business days of the annual meeting. If final results are unavailable at the time we file the Form 8-K, then we will file an amended report on Form 8-K to disclose the final voting results within four business days after the final voting results are known.

What Are the Costs of Soliciting these Proxies?

We will pay all of the costs of soliciting these proxies. Our directors and employees may solicit proxies in person or by telephone, fax or email. We will pay these employees and directors no additional compensation for these services. We will ask banks, brokers and other institutions, nominees and fiduciaries to forward these proxy materials to their principals and to obtain authority to execute proxies. We will then reimburse them for their expenses.

We have engaged Campaign Management LLC to assist in the solicitation of proxies and provide related advice and informational support, for a services fee, plus customary disbursements, which are not expected to exceed $15,000 in total.

What Constitutes a Quorum for the Annual Meeting?

The presence, in person or by proxy, of the holders of one third of the voting power of all outstanding shares of our common stock entitled to vote at the annual meeting is necessary to constitute a quorum at the annual meeting. Votes of stockholders of record who are present at the annual meeting in person or by proxy, abstentions, and broker non-votes are counted for purposes of determining whether a quorum exists.

Attending the Annual Meeting

This year, our annual meeting will be held in a virtual meeting format only. You will be able to attend the annual meeting by first registering at https://web.viewproxy.com/synaptogenixinc/2024. You will receive a meeting invitation by e-mail with your unique join link along with a password prior to the meeting date.

Householding of Annual Disclosure Documents

Some brokers or other nominee record holders may be sending you a single set of our proxy materials if multiple Synaptogenix stockholders live in your household. This practice, which has been approved by the SEC, is called “householding.” Once you receive notice from your broker or other nominee record holder that it will be “householding” our proxy materials, the practice will continue until you are otherwise notified or until you notify them that you no longer want to participate in the practice. Stockholders who participate in householding will continue to have access to and utilize separate proxy voting instructions.

We will promptly deliver a separate copy of our Notice or, if applicable, our proxy materials to you if you write or call our corporate secretary at: 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3^rd Floor, New York, New York 10036. If you want to receive your own set of our proxy materials in the future or, if you share an address with another stockholder and together both of you would like to receive only a single set of proxy materials, you should contact your broker or other nominee record holder directly or you may contact us at the above address and phone number.

Electronic Delivery of Company Stockholder Communications

Most stockholders can elect to view or receive copies of future proxy materials over the Internet instead of receiving paper copies in the mail.

You can choose this option and save us the cost of producing and mailing these documents by:

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of October 21, 2024 for (a) the executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table included elsewhere in this proxy statement, (b) each of our directors and director nominees, (c) all of our current directors and executive officers as a group and (d) each stockholder known by us to own beneficially more than 5% of our common stock. Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and includes voting or investment power with respect to the securities. We deem shares of common stock that may be acquired by an individual or group within 60 days of October 21, 2024 pursuant to the exercise of options or warrants or the vesting of restricted stock units to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of such individual or group, but those shares are not deemed to be outstanding for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person shown in the table. Except as indicated in footnotes to this table, we believe that the stockholders named in this table have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock shown to be beneficially owned by them based on information provided to us by these stockholders. Percentage of ownership is based on 1,355,613 shares of common stock outstanding on October 21, 2024.

*Represents beneficial ownership of less than 1% of the outstanding shares.

MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our Board

Our Charter provides that our business is to be managed by or under the direction of our Board. Our Board is divided into three classes for purposes of election. One class is elected at each annual meeting of stockholders to serve for a three-year term. Our Board consists of six members classified into three classes as follows: (1) Joshua N. Silverman and William S. Singer constitute the Class III directors and their current terms will expire at the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, (2) Bruce T. Bernstein and Jonathan L. Schechter constitute the Class I directors and their current terms will expire at the 2025 annual meeting of stockholders, and (3) Alan Tuchman, M.D. and Daniel L. Alkon, M.D. constitute the Class II directors and their current terms will expire at the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders.

On October 26, 2024, our Board accepted the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and voted to nominate Alan Tuchman, M.D. and Daniel L. Alkon, M.D. for election at the annual meeting for a term of three years to serve until the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders, and until their respective successors have been elected and qualified.

Set forth below are the names of the persons nominated for election as directors and those directors whose terms do not expire this year, their ages, their offices in the Company, if any, their principal occupations or employment for at least the past five years, the length of their tenure as directors and the names of other public companies in which such persons hold or have held directorships during the past five years as of October 28, 2024. Additionally, information about the specific experience, qualifications, attributes or skills that led to our Board’s conclusion at the time of filing of this proxy statement that each person listed below should serve as a director is set forth below:

Our Board has reviewed the materiality of any relationship that each of our directors has with Synaptogenix, either directly or indirectly. Based upon this review, our Board has determined that the following members of our Board are “independent directors” as defined by The Nasdaq Stock Market:

Joshua N. Silverman

William S. Singer

Bruce T. Bernstein

Jonathan L. Schechter

Joshua N. Silverman — Director, Chairman of the Board. Mr. Silverman joined Neurotrope, Inc. (“Neurotrope”) as a Director and Chairman of the Board in August 2016. He is currently the Co-Founder and Managing Member of Parkfield Funding LLC; Interim Chief Executive Officer, Interim President and Chairman of PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (Nasdaq: PMCB); a member of the Board of Directors of Petros; and a former Principal and Managing Partner of Iroquois Capital Management, LLC (“Iroquois”). Mr. Silverman served as Co-Chief Investment Officer of Iroquois from 2003 until July 2016. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Silverman served as Co-Chief Investment Officer of Vertical Ventures, LLC, a merchant bank. Prior to forming Iroquois, Mr. Silverman was a Director of Joele Frank, a boutique consulting firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Silverman served as Assistant Press Secretary to The President of The United States. Mr. Silverman received his B.A. from Lehigh University in 1992. In the past five years, Mr. Silverman serves or has served on the boards of directors of Ayro Inc., Akers Bioscience, Inc., Marker Therapeutics, Inc., MGT Capital Investments Inc., National Holdings Corporation, Neurotrope, Inc., Petros Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Protagenic Therapeutics, Inc., PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. and TapImmune, Inc. Mr. Silverman was chosen as a director of Synaptogenix because of his impressive experience in investment banking, consulting and public relations, as well as his experience serving on boards of several other public companies.

William S. Singer — Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board. Mr. Singer served as a Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board for Neurotrope since August 23, 2019. Mr. Singer served as President of CRE until April 26, 2016 and served on its board of directors. He was a partner in the Chicago office of the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP from 1980 until 2006 and has been of counsel to that firm since that time, concentrating his practice on corporate, real estate, and legislative matters. He has been listed in Crain’s Who’s Who in Chicago Business in the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 editions. Mr. Singer has been prominently active in Chicago public service, serving as an Alderman for several years and as a candidate for Mayoral office. Mr. Singer was chosen as a director of Synaptogenix because of his notable legal expertise.

Daniel L. Alkon, M.D. — Director, President and Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Alkon was appointed as Neurotrope’s President on September 16, 2016 and he has continued to serve in that role for Synaptogenix following the complete legal and structural separation of Synaptogenix from Neurotrope on December 7, 2020 (the “Spin-Off”). Dr. Alkon served as the founding Scientific Director of the original Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (now known as CRE) from 1999 until September 23, 2016. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1965 at the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his M.D. at Cornell University and finishing an internship in medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, he joined the staff of the National Institutes of Health where during his 30-year career he became a Medical Director in the U.S. Public Health Service at the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Strokes and Chief of the Laboratory of Adaptive Systems. From June 2006 to September 23, 2016, Dr. Alkon was the Toyota Chair for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at CRE. In this position, he and his team conducted multidisciplinary research on the molecular and biophysical mechanisms of memory and memory dysfunction in psychiatric and neurological disorders, particularly AD. From October 2000 to September 28, 2016, Dr. Alkon was also a Professor at CRE and a Professor of Neurology at West Virginia University. Mr. Alkon was chosen as a director of Synaptogenix because of his many accomplishments in the field of neuroscience and his insight as our Chief Scientific Officer.

Bruce T. Bernstein — Director. Mr. Bernstein served as a Director for Neurotrope since November 14, 2016. Mr. Bernstein has over thirty years of experience in the securities industry, primarily as senior portfolio manager for two alternative finance funds as well as in trading and structuring of arbitrage strategies. Mr. Bernstein has served as President of Rockmore Capital, LLC since 2006, the manager of a direct investment and lending fund with peak assets under management of $140 million. Previously, he served as Co-President of Omicron Capital, LP, an investment firm based in New York, which he joined in 2001. Omicron Capital focused on direct investing and lending to public small cap companies and had peak assets under management of $260 million. Prior to joining Omicron Capital, Mr. Bernstein was with Fortis Investments Inc., where he was Senior Vice President in the bank’s Global Securities Arbitrage business unit, specializing in equity structured products and equity arbitrage and then President in charge of the bank’s proprietary investment business in the United States. Prior to Fortis, Mr. Bernstein was Director in the Equity Derivatives Group at Nomura Securities International specializing in cross-border tax arbitrage, domestic equity arbitrage and structured equity swaps. Mr. Bernstein started his career at Kidder Peabody, where he rose to the level of Assistant Treasurer. Mr. Bernstein also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of XpresSpa Holdings, the leading airport spa company in the world, based in New York and Petros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Bernstein is also a member of the board of Summit Digital Health, a laser based blood glucose monitor distributor, based in New Jersey. Mr. Bernstein holds a B.B.A. from City University of New York (Baruch). Mr. Bernstein was chosen as a director of Synaptogenix because of his extensive experience in the securities industry.

Jonathan L. Schechter — Director. Mr. Schechter served as a Director for Neurotrope since December 13, 2018. Mr. Schechter has served as the Director of Investment Banking at Chardan Capital Markets, a full service investment bank, since February 2008. He serves as a director of Oblong, Inc. since May 2023 and previously served as a director of DropCar, Inc. Mr. Schechter has worked with public companies for over two decades, including ten years of legal experience and eleven years of investment banking experience. He has received formal education in finance and accounting and has extensive experience analyzing and evaluating the financial statements of public companies. Mr. Schechter holds an A.B. in Public Policy/Political Science from Duke University and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. Mr. Schechter was chosen as a director of Synaptogenix because of his lengthy public company, legal and investment banking experience.

Alan J. Tuchman, M.D. — Director and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Tuchman joined Synaptogenix as our Chief Executive Officer in December 2020. He is also currently Clinical Professor of Neurology at New York Medical College and in the private practice of Neurology in Manhattan. He consults for a number of biotechnology and investment firms. Dr. Tuchman founded and was Managing Director of MedPro Investors LLC from 2011 to 2020. He has served as a partner of Xmark Opportunity Partners and as CEO and then Executive Chairman of Neurophysics, Inc. from 2002 to 2010. Dr. Tuchman served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. from 2012 to 2017. He was previously the President of the Epilepsy Society of Southern New York as well as Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at New York Medical College. Dr. Tuchman received his MD degree from the University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, and completed his Neurology Residency at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Tuchman received his MBA from Columbia University in 1996. He has authored over 30 scientific papers and book chapters. Mr. Tuchman was chosen as a director of Synaptogenix because of his lengthy experience and sterling reputation in the medical field, as well as his insight as our Chief Executive Officer.

The Board Diversity Matrix, below, provides the diversity statistics for our Board. To see our Board Diversity Matrix as of November 13, 2023, please see the proxy statement filed with the SEC on November 13, 2023.

Disclosure Pursuant to Rule 5605(f)(3) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules

Rule 5605(f)(2) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules requires us, as a smaller reporting company, to have, or explain why we do not have, at least two members of our Board who are “diverse,” as defined by Nasdaq, including at least one diverse director who self-identifies as female.

We acknowledge and support the general principles behind the diversity objectives set forth in Rule 5606(f)(2)(C) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. However, the Board does not believe that achieving Nasdaq’s diversity objectives is currently feasible given the Company’s circumstances. We believe that the composition of our Board is suitable for the current scale of and goals for our business and operations. Most of our directors have served as such for several years, and all of our directors have deep familiarity with our history and operations and hold unique skillsets. We intend to continually assess our industry and the status of our business and may decide in the future, should future circumstances make it appropriate, to seek to meet the diversity objectives contemplated by Rule 5606(f)(2)(C) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules.

Committees of our Board and Meetings

Meeting Attendance. During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, there were five meetings of our Board, and the various committees of our Board met a total of eight times. No director attended fewer than 75% of the total number of meetings of our Board and of committees of our Board on which he or she served during fiscal 2023. Our Board has adopted a policy under which each member of our Board makes every effort to but is not required to attend each annual meeting of our stockholders.

Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee met five times during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. This committee currently has three (3) members: Mr. Bernstein, as Chairman, Mr. Singer and Mr. Schechter. Our Board has determined that all members of the Audit Committee qualify as independent under the definition promulgated by The Nasdaq Stock Market. In addition, the Board has determined that each of Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Schechter is an “audit committee financial expert” within the meaning of Item 407(d)(5) of Regulation S-K and has designated each of them to fill that role.

The Audit Committee (a) assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight of: (i) the quality and integrity of the Company’s financial statements; (ii) the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements relating to the Company’s financial statements and related disclosures; (iii) the qualifications and independence of the Company’s independent auditors; and (iv) the performance of the Company’s independent auditors; and (b) prepares any reports that the rules of the SEC require be included in the Company’s annual proxy statement.

The Audit Committee is responsible for the oversight of the Company’s financial reporting process on behalf of the Board and such other matters as specified in the Committee’s charter or as directed by the Board. Our Audit Committee is directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of the work of any registered public accounting firm engaged by us for the purpose of preparing or issuing an audit report or performing other audit, review or attest services for us (or to nominate the independent registered public accounting firm for stockholder approval), and each such registered public accounting firm must report directly to the Audit Committee. Our Audit Committee must approve in advance all audit, review and attest services and all non-audit services (including, in each case, the engagement and terms thereof) to be performed by our independent auditors, in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.

A copy of the Audit Committee’s written charter is publicly available on our website at ir.synaptogen.com/corporate-governance.

Compensation Committee. Our Compensation Committee met three times during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. This committee currently has three (3) members: Mr. Silverman as Chairman, Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Singer. Our Board has determined that all members of the Compensation Committee qualify as independent under the definition promulgated by The Nasdaq Stock Market.

The Compensation Committee (i) assists the Board in discharging its responsibilities with respect to compensation of the Company’s executive officers and directors, (ii) evaluates the performance of the executive officers of the Company, and (iii) administers the Company’s stock and incentive compensation plans and recommends changes in such plans to the Board as needed.

A copy of the Compensation Committee’s written charter is publicly available on our website at ir.synaptogen.com/corporate-governance.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee did not meet during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. This committee currently has three (3) members: Mr. Singer, as Chairman, Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Silverman. Our Board has determined that all members of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee qualify as independent under the definition promulgated by The Nasdaq Stock Market.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee assists the Board in (i) identifying qualified individuals to become directors, (ii) determining the composition of the Board and its committees, (iii) developing succession plans for executive officers, (iv) monitoring a process to assess Board effectiveness, and (v) developing and implementing the Company’s corporate governance procedures and policies. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider issues of diversity among its members in identifying and considering nominees for director, and strive where appropriate to achieve a diverse balance of backgrounds, perspectives, experience, age, gender, ethnicity and country of citizenship on our Board and its committees.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee considers any timely submitted and qualified director candidates recommended by any security holder entitled to vote in an election of Directors. To date no security holders have made any such recommendations.

Generally, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee considers candidates recommended by stockholders as well as from other sources such as other directors or officers, third party search firms or other appropriate sources. Once identified, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will evaluate a candidate’s qualifications in accordance with its written charter. Threshold criteria include personal integrity and sound judgment, business and professional skills and experience, independence, knowledge of our industry, possible conflicts of interest, the extent to which the candidate would fill a present need on our board of directors, and concern for the long-term interests of our stockholders. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee has not adopted a formal diversity policy in connection with the consideration of director nominations or the selection of nominees. However, the nominating committee will consider issues of diversity among its members in identifying and considering nominees for director, and strive where appropriate to achieve a diverse balance of backgrounds, perspectives, experience, age, gender, ethnicity and country of citizenship on our board of directors and its committees.

Pursuant to our bylaws, nominations of persons for election to the Board at an annual meeting or at any special meeting of stockholders for the purpose of electing directors may be made by or at the direction of the Board, by any nominating committee or person appointed for such purpose by the Board, or by any stockholder of record entitled to vote for the election of directors at the meeting who complies with the following notice procedures. Such nominations, other than those made by, or at the direction of, or under the authority of the Board, shall be made pursuant to timely notice in writing to the Secretary of the Company by a stockholder of record at such time. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be delivered to or mailed and received at the principal executive offices of the Company (a) in the case of an annual meeting, not less than 90 nor more than 120 days prior to the one-year anniversary of the date of the annual meeting of the previous year; provided, however, that if the annual meeting is called for a date that is not within 30 days before or after such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder in order to be timely must be so received no earlier than 120 days prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the tenth day following the day on which notice of the date of the annual meeting was mailed or public disclosure of the date of the annual meeting was made, whichever first occurs; and (b) in the case of a special meeting of stockholders for the purpose of electing directors, not earlier than 120 days prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the tenth day following the day on which notice of the date of the special meeting was mailed or public disclosure of the date of the special meeting was made, whichever first occurs. Such stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must set forth (a) as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election or re-election as a director, (i) the name, age, business address and residence address of the person, (ii) the principal occupation or employment of the person, (iii) the class and number of shares of capital stock of the Company, if any, which are beneficially owned by the person and (iv) any other information relating to the person that is required to be disclosed in solicitations for proxies for election of directors pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act or other applicable law; and (b) as to the stockholder giving the notice (i) the name and record address of the stockholder and (ii) the class and number of shares of capital stock of the Company which are beneficially owned by the stockholder.

The chairman of the meeting may, if the facts warrant, determine and declare to the meeting that a nomination was not made in accordance with the foregoing procedures, and the defective nomination will be disregarded.

A copy of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee’s written charter, including its appendices, is publicly available on our website at ir.synaptogen.com/corporate-governance.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation.

The Compensation Committee consists of Mr. Silverman as Chairman, Mr. Singer and Mr. Bernstein. No member of the Compensation Committee has been an officer or employee of the Company. None of our executive officers serves on the Board or compensation committee of a company that has an executive officer that serves on our Board or Compensation Committee, except that Mr. Weinstein, our Chief Financial Officer, serves on the board of directors of PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. where Mr. Silverman, Chairman of our Compensation Committee and a member of our Board, is serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer, Interim President and Chairman.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight

Our Board has responsibility for establishing broad corporate policies and reviewing our overall performance rather than day-to-day operations. The primary responsibility of our Board is to oversee our management and, in doing so, serve our best interests and the best interests of our stockholders. Our Board selects, evaluates and provides for the succession of executive officers and, subject to stockholder election, directors. It reviews and approves corporate objectives and strategies, and evaluates significant policies and proposed major commitments of corporate resources. Our Board also participates in decisions that have a potential major economic impact on us. Management keeps the directors informed of company activity through regular communication, including written reports and presentations at Board and committee meetings.

Our corporate governance practices do not indicate a particular board structure, and our Board has the flexibility to select its chair and our chief executive officer in the manner that it believes is in the best interests of our stockholders. Accordingly, the positions of Chair and the Chief Executive Officer may be filled by either one individual or two individuals. The Board has elected to separate the positions of Chair and Chief Executive Officer.

Effective risk oversight is an important priority of the Board. Because risks are considered in virtually every business decision, the Board discusses risk throughout the year generally or in connection with specific proposed actions. The Board’s approach to risk oversight includes understanding the critical risks in our business and strategy, evaluating our risk management processes, allocating responsibilities for risk oversight among the full Board, and fostering an appropriate culture of integrity and compliance with legal responsibilities.

Our officers are appointed by our Board and hold office until they resign or are removed from office by the Board. Mr. Silverman, Mr. Singer, Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Schechter qualify as independent directors.

Stockholder Communications to our Board

Generally, stockholders who have questions or concerns should contact our Investor Relations team at 800-811-559. However, any stockholders who wish to address questions regarding our business directly with our Board, or any individual director, should direct his or her questions in writing to the Chairman of our Board at 1185 Avenue of the Americas 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036, or via e-mail at [email protected]. Communications will be distributed to our Board, or to any individual director or directors as appropriate, depending on the facts and circumstances outlined in the communications. Items that are unrelated to the duties and responsibilities of our Board may be excluded, such as:

In addition, any material that is unduly hostile, threatening, or illegal in nature may be excluded, in which case it will be made available to any outside director upon request.

Hedging Policy

The Company has a policy that prohibits executives and directors from engaging in any transaction in which they may profit from short-term speculative swings in the value of the Company’s securities. This includes “short sales” (selling borrowed securities that the seller hopes can be purchased at a lower price in the future) or “short sales against the box” (selling owned, but not delivered securities), and “put” and “call” options.

Our Insider Trading Policy provides that no employee, officer or director may acquire, sell or trade in any interest or position relating to the future price of Company securities, such as a put option, a call option or a short sale (including a short sale “against the box”), or engage in hedging transactions (including “cashless collars”).

Executive Officers

The following table sets forth certain information as of October 28, 2024 regarding our executive officer who is not also a director.

Robert Weinstein — Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. Mr. Weinstein joined Neurotrope in June 2013 as its acting Chief Financial Officer and has continued to serve in that role for Synaptogenix following the Spin-Off. In addition, Mr. Weinstein performs work as a consultant for Petros Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is the surviving company from the merger of Metuchen and Neurotrope. He has extensive accounting and finance experience, spanning more than 30 years, as a public accountant, investment banker, healthcare private equity fund principal and chief financial officer. From September 2011 to the present, Mr. Weinstein has been an independent consultant for several healthcare companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. From March 2010 to August 2011, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Green Energy Management Services Holdings, Inc., an energy consulting company. From August 2007 to February 2010, Mr. Weinstein served as Chief Financial Officer of Xcorporeal, Inc., a development-stage medical device company which was sold in March 2010 to Fresenius Medical USA, the largest provider of dialysis equipment and services worldwide. Mr. Weinstein also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Xwell, Inc. (Formerly Xpresspa Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: XWEL), a health and wellness company whose core asset, XpresSpa, is a leading airport retailer of spa services and related health and wellness products, Oblong, Inc. (Nasdaq: OBLG), a company providing multi-stream collaboration technologies and managed services for video collaboration and network applications, and PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc (Nasdaq: PMCB), a biotechnology company focusing on developing and commercializing cellular therapies for cancer, diabetes, and malignant ascites. Mr. Weinstein received his MBA degree in finance and international business from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive), and received his BS degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Albany.

EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

Summary Compensation Table 

The following table sets forth information concerning the total compensation paid or accrued by Synaptogenix during the last two fiscal years ended December 31, 2023, to (i) all individuals that served as our principal executive officer or acted in a similar capacity for us at any time during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023; (ii) the two most highly compensated executive officers other than the principal executive officer who were serving as executive officers at December 31, 2023; and (iii) up to two additional individuals for whom disclosure would have been required pursuant to clause (ii) above but for the fact that the individual was not serving as an executive officer at December 31, 2023 (collectively, the “named executive officers”).

The Compensation Committee of the Board is responsible for determining executive compensation.

Executive Employment Arrangements

We have no plans in place and have never maintained any plans that provide for the payment of retirement benefits or benefits that will be paid primarily following retirement including, but not limited to, tax qualified deferred benefit plans, supplemental executive retirement plans, tax-qualified deferred contribution plans and nonqualified deferred contribution plans.

Except as indicated below, we have no contracts, agreements, plans or arrangements, whether written or unwritten, that provide for payments to the named executive officers listed above.

Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table

Alan J. Tuchman, MD. Synaptogenix is party to an offer letter (as amended to date, the “Tuchman Agreement”) as of December 7, 2020 with Alan J. Tuchman, MD, pursuant to which Dr. Tuchman serves as Synaptogenix’s Chief Executive Officer. Under the terms of the Tuchman Agreement, Dr. Tuchman receives an annual base salary of $222,000, with an annual discretionary bonus of up to 50% of his base salary then in effect. The term of Dr. Tuchman’s employment pursuant to the offer letter was initially one year, which was to be extended automatically for six month periods unless either party gave timely written notice. On August 4, 2022, Synaptogenix entered into an amendment to the Tuchman Agreement to extend the term of Dr. Tuchman’s employment through June 7, 2023; on June 16, 2023, the Company entered into a second amendment to the Tuchman Agreement to extend the term of Dr. Tuchman’s employment through June 7, 2024; and on June 20, 2024, the Company entered into a third amendment to the Tuchman Agreement to extend the term of Dr. Tuchman’s employment through December 7, 2024, with automatic monthly renewals thereafter unless earlier terminated by either party. Pursuant to the Tuchman Agreement, if Dr. Tuchman is terminated without cause, Dr. Tuchman shall be entitled to severance equal to six months of Dr. Tuchman’s annual base salary.

Robert Weinstein. Upon the Spin-Off, Synaptogenix assumed Robert Weinstein’s employment agreement with Neurotrope, dated as of October 1, 2013, pursuant to which Mr. Weinstein serves as the Synaptogenix’s Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. Neurotrope agreed to pay Mr. Weinstein a discretionary annual bonus of up to 50% of his annual base salary for all years beginning January 1, 2015, to be earned and payable based upon attainment of annual performance goals as determined by the Neurotrope board of directors or a committee thereof. Mr. Weinstein’s annual bonus opportunity may be periodically reviewed and increased at the discretion of the Board or a committee thereof. Mr. Weinstein is also eligible to participate in all Synaptogenix benefits generally available to the Synaptogenix’s officers in accordance with the terms of those benefit plans and all retirement, life, disability, medical and dental plan benefits generally available to the Synaptogenix’s officers in accordance with the terms of those plans.

If Mr. Weinstein’s employment is terminated by Synaptogenix for a reason other than cause or by him for good reason, and subject to his compliance with other terms of Mr. Weinstein’s employment agreement, and certain other conditions, then Synaptogenix will pay him a severance amount equal to his annual base salary, payable in a single lump sum. In addition, if he elects health care continuation coverage under COBRA, Synaptogenix will pay for such health insurance coverage for a period of 18 months following the termination of his employment, as the same rate as it pays for health insurance coverage for its active employees (with Mr. Weinstein required to pay for any employee-paid portion of such coverage). If Mr. Weinstein’s employment is terminated by non-renewal or due to his death or disability, he will be entitled to any unpaid prorated annual bonus for the year in which his employment terminates. Subject to earlier termination by Mr. Weinstein’s death or disability, or by Synaptogenix for cause, the term of Mr. Weinstein’s employment agreement is four years and will be extended automatically for successive one-year periods, unless either party gives written notice of termination to the other party at least 90 days prior to the end of the then-current term.

Daniel L. Alkon, M.D. Effective September 23, 2016, Neurotrope appointed Dr. Daniel Alkon, M.D., as President of Neurotrope. Dr. Alkon continues to serve as Synaptogenix’s Chief Scientific Officer following the Spin-Off. On January 4, 2017, Neurotrope agreed to compensate Dr. Alkon with compensation of $25,000 per month until May 31, 2017. Since that time, Dr. Alkon has received annual compensation of $300,000.

Pension Benefits

We do not have any qualified or non-qualified defined benefit plans. 

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

We do not have any nonqualified defined contribution plans or other deferred compensation plan.

Potential Payments upon Termination or Change-In-Control

Pursuant to the Tuchman Agreement, if Dr. Tuchman is terminated without Cause, Dr. Tuchman shall be entitled to severance equal to six months of Dr. Tuchman’s annual base salary. Synaptogenix is party to an employment agreement dated as of October 1, 2013, with Robert Weinstein, pursuant to which he serves as Neurotrope’s Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. If Mr. Weinstein’s employment is terminated by the Company for a reason other than cause or by him for good reason, and subject to his compliance with other terms of Mr. Weinstein’s employment agreement, and certain other conditions, then Neurotrope will pay him a severance amount equal to his annual base salary, payable in a single lump sum. In addition, if he elects health care continuation coverage under COBRA, Neurotrope will pay for such health insurance coverage for a period of 18 months following the termination of his employment, as the same rate as it pays for health insurance coverage for its active employees (with Mr. Weinstein required to pay for any employee-paid portion of such coverage). If Mr. Weinstein’s employment is terminated by non-renewal or due to his death or disability, he will be entitled to any unpaid prorated annual bonus for the year in which his employment terminates.

2020 Equity Incentive Plan

In connection with the Spin-Off, we adopted the 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”) in November 2020. The purpose of the 2020 Plan is to allow non-employee directors and selected employees, officers and consultants (“Grantees”) to acquire equity ownership in the Company, thereby strengthening their commitment to the Company’s success and incentivizing their efforts on behalf of the Company. The 2020 Plan is also intended to assist the Company in attracting new employees and Board members and retaining existing ones. Finally, the 2020 Plan supports and increases our ability to facilitate the sustained progress, growth and profitability of the Company.

On April 7, 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2020 Plan to increase the total number of shares of common stock from 10,000 to an aggregate of 25,000 shares of common stock; on October 11, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2020 Plan to increase the total number of shares of common stock from 25,000 to an aggregate of 55,000 shares of common stock; and on December 20, 2023, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2020 Plan to increase the total number of shares of common stock from 55,000 to an aggregate of 175,000 shares of common stock

The Compensation Committee of our Board (the “Committee”) administers the 2020 Plan and has full power to grant stock options and common stock, construe and interpret the 2020 Plan, establish rules and regulations and perform all other acts, including the delegation of administrative responsibilities, as it believes reasonable and proper. Any decision made or action taken by the Committee arising out of or in connection with the interpretation and administration of the 2020 Plan will be final and conclusive. The Committee, in its absolute discretion, may award common stock to employees, consultants, and directors of the Company, and such other persons as the Committee may select, and permit holders of options to exercise such options prior to full vesting.

In the event that our outstanding common stock is changed into or exchanged for a different number or kind of shares or other securities of the Company by reason of merger, consolidation, other reorganization, recapitalization, combination of shares, stock split-up or stock dividend, equitable adjustment will be made to the aggregate number and kind of shares subject to stock options which may be granted under the 2020 Plan.

The Committee may at any time, and from time to time, suspend or terminate the 2020 Plan in whole or in part or amend it from time to time in such respects as it may deem appropriate and in our best interest.

Outstanding Equity Awards at 2023 Fiscal Year-End

The following table shows grants of stock options and grants of unvested stock awards outstanding on the last day of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, including both awards subject to performance conditions and non-performance-based awards, to each of the executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table.

Director Compensation

Synaptogenix reimburses all of its directors for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with their attendance at meetings of the Board. On March 29, 2023, the Board adopted an amended and restated non-employee director compensation policy (the “Director Compensation Policy”). The Director Compensation Policy provides for the annual automatic grant of nonqualified stock options to purchase up to 20,000 shares of Synaptogenix’s common stock to each of Synaptogenix’s non-employee directors. Such grants occur annually on the fifth business day after the filing of Synaptogenix’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and vest on the one-year anniversary from the date of grant subject to the director’s continued service on the Board on the vesting date. The Director Compensation Policy also provides for the automatic grant of nonqualified stock options to purchase up to 20,000 shares of Synaptogenix’s common stock to each newly appointed director following the date of his or her appointment. Such options vested as follows: fifty percent (50%) on the date of the grant, twenty-five percent (25%) on the one-year anniversary from the date of the grant, and twenty-five percent (25%) on the two-year anniversary from the date of the grant, subject to the director’s continued service on the Board on the applicable vesting dates. Each nonemployee director also receives an annual retainer in the amount of $120,000 for Synaptogenix’s Chairman of the Board, $100,000 for the Vice Chairman of the Board and $60,000 for each other nonemployee Board member.

The following table provides information concerning the compensation of Synaptogenix’s directors for the year ended December 31, 2023.

EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN INFORMATION

The following table provides certain aggregate information with respect to all of the Company’s equity compensation plans in effect as of December 31, 2023.

REPORT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE

The audit committee of our Board, which consists entirely of directors who meet the independence and experience requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market, has furnished the following report:

The audit committee assists our Board in overseeing and monitoring the integrity of our financial reporting process, compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and the quality of internal and external audit processes. This committee’s role and responsibilities are set forth in our charter adopted by our Board, which is available on our website at ir.synaptogen.com/corporate-governance. This committee reviews and reassesses its charter annually and recommends any changes to our Board for approval. The audit committee is responsible for overseeing our overall financial reporting process, and for the appointment, compensation, retention, and oversight of the work of Morison Cogen LLP (“Morison”), our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. In fulfilling its responsibilities for the financial statements for fiscal year 2023, the audit committee took the following actions:

Based on the audit committee’s review of the audited financial statements and discussions with management and Morison, the audit committee recommended to our Board that the audited financial statements be included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 for filing with the SEC.

Members of the Synaptogenix Audit Committee

Bruce T. Bernstein

William S. Singer

Jonathan L. Schechter 

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PERSON TRANSACTIONS

Our Audit Committee Charter requires all future transactions between us and any director, executive officer, holder of 5% or more of any class of our capital stock or any member of the immediate family of, or entities affiliated with, any of them, or any other related persons, as defined in Item 404 of Regulation S-K, or their affiliates, in which the amount involved is equal to or greater than $120,000, be approved in advance by our audit committee. Any request for such a transaction must first be presented to our audit committee for review, consideration and approval. In approving or rejecting any such proposal, our audit committee is to consider all available information deemed relevant by the audit committee, including, but not limited to, the extent of the related person’s interest in the transaction, and whether the transaction is on terms no less favorable to us than terms we could have generally obtained from an unaffiliated third party under the same or similar circumstances. Other than as disclosed below, since January 1, 2023, we have not engaged in any related party transactions.

We believe that the transactions and agreements discussed below (including renewals of any existing agreements) between us and related third parties are at least as favorable to us as could have been obtained from unrelated parties at the time they were entered into.

SMCM Consulting Agreement

On August 4, 2016, Neurotrope entered into a consulting agreement with SM Capital Management, LLC (“SMCM”), a limited liability company owned and controlled by the Company’s Chairman of the Board, Mr. Joshua N. Silverman (the “Consulting Agreement”). Pursuant to the Consulting Agreement, SMCM shall provide consulting services which shall include, but not be limited to, providing business development, financial communications and management transition services, for a one-year period, subject to annual review thereafter. SMCM’s annual consulting fee is $120,000, payable by the Company in monthly installments of $10,000. In addition, SMCM shall be reimbursed for (i) all pre-approved travel in connection with the consulting services to the Company, (ii) upon submission to the Company of appropriate vouchers and receipts, for all other out-of-pocket expenses reasonably incurred by SMCM in furtherance of the Company’s business. This contract was assigned to Synaptogenix on December 1, 2020.

Policy and Procedures Governing Related Person Transactions

Our Audit Committee utilizes procedures in evaluating the terms and provisions of proposed related party transactions or agreements in accordance with the fiduciary duties of directors under Delaware law. Our related party transaction procedures contemplate Audit Committee review and approval of all new agreements, transactions or courses of dealing with related parties, including any modifications, waivers or amendments to existing related party transactions. We will test to ensure that the terms of related party transactions are at least as favorable to us as could have been obtained from unrelated parties at the time of the transaction. The Audit Committee will consider, at a minimum, the nature of the relationship between us and the related party, the history of the transaction (in the case of modifications, waivers or amendments), the terms of the proposed transaction, our rationale for entering into the transaction and the terms of comparable transactions with unrelated third parties. In addition, management and internal audit will annually analyze all existing related party agreements and transactions and review them with the Audit Committee.

Proposal No. 1

DIRECTOR ELECTION PROPOSAL

On October 26, 2024, our Board nominated Joshua N. Silverman and William S. Singer for election at the annual meeting. Our Board currently consists of six members, classified into three classes as follows: Joshua N. Silverman and William S. Singer constitute a class with a term ending at the upcoming annual meeting; Bruce T. Bernstein and Jonathan L. Schechter constitute a class with a term ending in 2025; and Alan Tuchman, M.D. and Daniel L. Alkon, M.D. constitute a class with a term ending in 2026. At each annual meeting of stockholders, directors are elected for a full term of three years to succeed those directors whose terms are expiring.

Our Board has voted to nominate Joshua N. Silverman and William S. Singer for election at the annual meeting for a term of three years to serve until the 2027 annual meeting of stockholders, and until their respective successors are elected and qualified. The Class I directors (Bruce T. Bernstein and Jonathan L. Schechter) and the Class II directors (Alan Tuchman, M.D. and Daniel L. Alkon, M.D.) will serve until the annual meetings of stockholders to be held in 2025 and 2026, respectively, and until their respective successors have been elected and qualified.

Unless authority to vote for any of these nominees is withheld, the shares represented by the enclosed proxy will be voted FOR the election of Joshua N. Silverman and William S. Singer as directors. In the event that either nominee becomes unable or unwilling to serve, the shares represented by the enclosed proxy will be voted for the election of such other person as our Board may recommend in that nominee’s place. We have no reason to believe that either nominee will be unable or unwilling to serve as a director.

A plurality of the shares voted for each nominee at the annual meeting is required to elect each nominee as a director.

THE board Recommends The Election OF Joshua N. Silverman and William S. Singer As Directors, And Proxies Solicited By THE board Will Be Voted In Favor Thereof Unless A Stockholder Has Indicated Otherwise On The Proxy.

Proposal No. 2

ISSUANCE PROPOSAL

Background and Description of Proposal

Financing Transaction

On September 10, 2024, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with certain accredited investors (the “Investors”), pursuant to which we agreed to sell to the Investors (i) in a registered direct offering, an aggregate of 1,793 shares of newly-designated Series C convertible preferred stock, par value $0.0001, with a stated value of $1,000 per share (the “Series C Shares”), initially convertible into up to 448,250 shares of common stock (the “Registered Conversion Shares”) at an initial conversion price of $4.00 per share (the “Conversion Price”), and (ii) in a concurrent private placement (the “Private Placement” and together with the Registered Offering, the “Offering”), an aggregate of 3,207 Series C Shares, initially convertible into up to 801,750 shares of common stock (the “Unregistered Conversion Shares” and, together with the Registered Conversion Shares, the “Conversion Shares”) as well as warrants (the “Warrants”) to acquire up to an aggregate of 1,250,000 shares of common stock (the “Warrant Shares”) at an initial exercise price of $4.00 per share (the “Exercise Price”). The Series C Shares, the Conversion Shares, the Warrants and the Warrant Shares are herein collectively referred to as the “Securities.”

Rule 5635 of the Rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market requires that a listed company seek shareholder approval in certain circumstances, including, prior to the issuance, in a transaction other than a public offering, of more than 20% of the company’s outstanding common stock or voting power outstanding before the issuance, at a price that is less than the Minimum Price (as defined in Rule 5635 of the Rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market). In connection with the Offering, we agreed to seek approval of our stockholders for the issuance of the Securities.

Reasons for the Common Stock Financing

As of June 30, 2024, our cash and cash equivalents were approximately $25.0 million. In September 2024, our Board determined that it was necessary to raise additional funds for general corporate purposes.

We believe that the Offering, which yielded gross proceeds of $5 million, was necessary in light of the Company’s cash and funding requirements at the time. We also believe that the anti-dilution protections contained in the Series C Shares and Warrants were reasonable in light of market conditions and the size and type of the Offering, and that we would not have been able to complete the sale of the Series C Shares and Warrants unless such anti-dilution provisions were offered. In addition, at the time of the Offering, our Board considered numerous other alternatives to the transaction, none of which proved to be feasible or, in the opinion of our Board, would have resulted in aggregate terms equivalent to, or more favorable than, the terms obtained in the Offering.

Securities Purchase Agreement

The Purchase Agreement contains representations and warranties of us and the Investors, which are typical for transactions of this type. The Purchase Agreement obligates us to indemnify the Investors and various related parties for certain losses including those resulting from (i) any misrepresentation or breach of any representation or warranty made by us, (ii) any breach of any obligation of ours, and (iii) certain claims by third parties.

In addition, the Purchase Agreement contains customary covenants on our part that are typical for transactions of this type, as well as the following additional covenants: (i) until all Warrants are exercised, we agreed not to enter into any variable rate transactions; (ii) we agreed to offer to the Investors, until the later of no Series C Shares being outstanding and the maturity date of the Series C Shares, the opportunity to participate in any subsequent securities offerings by us; and (iii) we agreed to use our best efforts to hold a stockholder meeting, at which we would solicit our stockholders’ affirmative vote for approval of our issuance of the Securities in accordance with the applicable law and rules and regulations of Nasdaq, no later than December 31, 2024. This Issuance Proposal is intended to fulfill this final covenant.

Series C Shares

The terms of the Series C Shares are as set forth in a Certificate of Designations (the “Certificate of Designations”), which was filed with the Secretary of State for the State of Delaware on September 12, 2024. The Series C Shares will be convertible into Conversion Shares at the election of the holder at any time at the Conversion Price. The Conversion Price is subject to customary adjustments for stock dividends, stock splits, reclassifications and the like, and subject to price-based adjustment in the event of any issuances of common stock, or securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for common stock, at a price below the then-applicable Conversion Price (subject to certain exceptions). The Company will be required to redeem the Series C Shares in equal quarterly installments, commencing on October 31, 2024. The amortization payments due upon such redemption are payable in cash at 107% of the applicable Installment Amount (as defined in the Certificate of Designations).

The holders of the Series C Shares will be entitled to dividends of 5% per annum, compounded quarterly, which are payable in cash. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of a Triggering Event (as defined in the Certificate of Designations), the Series C Shares will accrue dividends at the rate of 15% per annum. The holders of Series C Shares are entitled to vote with holders of the common stock as a single class on all matters that holders of common stock are entitled to vote upon, with the number of votes per Series C Share equal to the stated value of such Series C Share divided by the “Minimum Price” (as defined in Rule 5635 of the Rule of the Nasdaq Stock Market) immediately prior to the date of the Purchase Agreement.

Following the first anniversary of the initial issuance of the Series C Shares through the date that is ten calendar days thereafter, holders of Series C Shares may require us to redeem all or any portion of their Series C Shares in cash, pursuant to the terms set forth in the Certificate of Designation.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, our ability to settle conversions is subject to certain limitations set forth in the Certificate of Designations, including a limit on the number of shares that may be issued until the time, if any, that our stockholders have approved the issuance of more than 19.99% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock in accordance with Nasdaq listing standards (the “Nasdaq Stockholder Approval”). We agreed to seek stockholder approval of these matters at a meeting to be held no later than December 31, 2024 and are now seeking such approval via this Issuance Proposal. Further, the Certificate of Designations contains a certain beneficial ownership limitation after giving effect to the issuance of shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the Series C Shares or Warrants.

The Certificate of Designations includes certain Triggering Events (as defined in the Certificate of Designations), including, among other things, the failure to file and maintain an effective registration statement covering the sale of the holder’s securities registrable pursuant to the Registration Rights Agreement (defined below) and the Company’s failure to pay any amounts due to the holders of the Series C Shares when due. In connection with a Triggering Event, each holder of Series C Shares will be able to require the Company to redeem in cash any or all of the holder’s Series C Shares at a premium set forth in the Certificate of Designations.

The Company will be subject to certain affirmative and negative covenants regarding the incurrence of indebtedness, acquisition and investment transactions, the existence of liens, the repayment of indebtedness, the payment of cash in respect of dividends (other than dividends pursuant to the Certificate of Designations), distributions or redemptions, and the transfer of assets, among other matters.

Warrants

The Warrants are exercisable immediately at the Exercise Price and expire five years from the date of issuance. The Exercise Price is subject to customary adjustments for stock dividends, stock splits, reclassifications and the like, and subject to price-based adjustment, on a “full ratchet” basis, in the event of any issuances of Common Stock, or securities convertible, exercisable or exchangeable for common stock, at a price below the then-applicable Exercise Price (subject to certain exceptions).

Registration Rights Agreement

In connection with the Purchase Agreement, on September 10, 2024, we and the Investors entered into a Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which we are required to file a resale registration statement (the “Registration Statement”) with the SEC to register for resale 200% of the Unregistered Conversion Shares and 200% of the Warrant Shares promptly following the closing of the Offering, but in no event later than 30 calendar days after the effective date of the Registration Rights Agreement, and to have such Registration Statement declared effective by the Effectiveness Date (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement). We filed a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-282589) on October 10, 2024 to satisfy this requirement, and such Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on October 21, 2024.

Effect of Issuance of Securities

In connection with the Offering, we agreed to seek approval of our stockholders for the issuance of the Securities. The Series C Shares are initially convertible into up to 448,250 shares of our common stock at the Conversion Price. The potential issuance of Conversion Shares and Warrant Shares would result in an increase in the number of shares of common stock outstanding, and our stockholders will incur dilution of their percentage ownership to the extent that the Investors convert their Series C Shares or exercise their Warrants, or additional shares of common stock are issued pursuant to the anti-dilution terms of the Series C Shares or the Warrants. Because of potential adjustments to the number of shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the Series C Shares and exercise of the Warrants to be issued in connection with the Offering, the exact magnitude of the dilutive effect of the Securities cannot be conclusively determined. However, the dilutive effect may be material to our current stockholders.

Proposal to Approve Financing Transaction

Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(d) requires us to obtain stockholder approval prior to the issuance of securities in connection with a transaction other than a public offering involving (i) the sale, issuance or potential issuance by us of our common stock (or securities convertible into or exercisable for our common stock) at a price less than the greater of book or market value which equals 20% or more of common stock or 20% or more of the voting power outstanding before the issuance; or (ii) the sale, issuance or potential issuance by us of our common stock (or securities convertible into or exercisable for our common stock) equal to 20% or more of the common stock or 20% or more of the voting power outstanding before the issuance for less than the greater of book or market value of the stock. In the case of the Offering, the 20% threshold is determined based on the shares of our common stock outstanding immediately preceding the Offering, which we signed on September 10, 2024.

Prior to closing the Offering, we had 1,355,613 shares of common stock outstanding. Therefore, the potential issuance of the Conversion Shares and Warrant Shares would have constituted greater than 20% of the shares of common stock outstanding prior to giving effect to the financing. We are seeking stockholder approval under Nasdaq Rule 5635(d) for the sale, issuance or potential issuance by us of our common stock (or securities convertible into or exercisable for our common stock) in excess of 20% of the shares of common stock outstanding on the original date of entry into the Purchase Agreement, including without limitation, as a result of the anti-dilution feature of the Series C Shares and Warrants, since such provisions may reduce the per share conversion price or exercise price, as the case may be, and result in the issuance of shares at less than the greater of market price or book value per share.

Effectively, stockholder approval of this Issuance Proposal is one of the conditions for us to receive up to an additional approximately $5 million upon the exercise of the Warrants, if exercised for cash. Loss of these potential funds could jeopardize our ability to execute our business plan.

We generally have no control over whether the holders of Series C Shares convert their Series C Shares (other than pursuant to the mandatory exercise feature of the Series C Shares) or whether the Warrant holders exercise their Warrants. For these reasons, we are unable to accurately forecast or predict with any certainty the total amount of Conversion Shares or Warrant Shares that may be issued. Under certain circumstances, however, it is possible that we may have to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock to holders of the Series C Shares and Warrants under the terms of the Offering. Therefore, we are seeking stockholder approval under this Issuance Proposal to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock, if necessary, to the holders of the Series C Shares Stock and Warrants under the terms of the Offering.

Any transaction requiring approval by our stockholders under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(d) would likely result in a significant increase in the number of shares of our common stock outstanding, and, as a result, our current stockholders will own a smaller percentage of our outstanding shares of common stock.

Future issuances of securities in connection with the Offering, if any, may cause a significant reduction in the percentage interests of our current stockholders in the voting power, any liquidation value, our book and market value, and in any future earnings. Further, the issuance or resale of common stock issued to the holders of the Series C Shares and Warrants could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. In addition to the foregoing, the increase in the number of issued shares of common stock in connection with the Offering may have an incidental anti-takeover effect in that additional shares could be used to dilute the stock ownership of parties seeking to obtain control of us. The increased number of issued shares could discourage the possibility of, or render more difficult, certain mergers, tender offers, proxy contests or other change of control or ownership transactions.

Under the Nasdaq Listing Rules, we are not permitted (without risk of delisting) to undertake a transaction that could result in a change in control of us without seeking and obtaining separate stockholder approval. We are not required to obtain stockholder approval for the Offering under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(b) because the Investors have agreed that, for so long as they hold any shares of our common stock, neither they nor any of their affiliates will acquire shares of our common stock which result in them and their affiliates, collectively, beneficially owning or controlling more than 4.99% (which percentage can be increased to 9.99%) of the total outstanding shares of our common stock.

Consequences of Not Approving this Proposal

After extensive efforts to raise capital on more favorable terms, we believed that the Offering was the only viable financing alternative available to us at the time. If our stockholders do not approve this proposal, we will not be able to issue more than 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock to the holders of the Series C Shares and Warrants in connection with the Offering. As a result, we may be unable to issue sufficient shares upon conversion of the Series C Shares or exercise of the Warrants which will, in lieu of those shares, require that we pay substantial cash amounts to the holders of the Series C Shares and Warrants. We do not anticipate having sufficient funds to make any substantial cash payments to the holders of Series C Shares and Warrants.

Required Vote

Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(d) generally requires us to obtain stockholder approval prior to issuing more than 20% of our outstanding shares of common stock under the Offering. The approval of this Issuance Proposal requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the total votes cast in person or by proxy at the special meeting. Abstentions will be treated as votes against this proposal. Brokerage firms do not have authority to vote customers’ unvoted shares held by the firms in street name on this proposal. As a result, any shares not voted by a customer will be treated as a broker non-vote. Such broker non-votes will have no effect on the results of this vote.

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS A VOTE TO APPROVE ISSUANCE PROPOSAL, AND PROXIES SOLICITED BY THE BOARD WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSAL UNLESS A STOCKHOLDER INDICATES OTHERWISE ON THE PROXY.

PROPOSAL NO. 3

PLAN AMENDMENT PROPOSAL

General

Our Board is requesting that our stockholders approve the adoption of an amendment, attached as Appendix A to this Proxy Statement, to our Synaptogenix, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), which amendment was approved by the Board on October 26, 2024 effective upon approval by our stockholders at the annual meeting. If this proposal is approved, the number of shares authorized for issuance of awards under the Plan will be increased from 175,000 to an aggregate of 675,000 shares of common stock.

The Plan was approved by our Board and stockholders in 2020, and subsequently amended in 2021, 2022 and 2023. By its terms, the Plan may be amended by the Compensation Committee provided that any amendment that the Compensation Committee determines requires stockholder approval is subject to receiving such stockholder approval. Approval by our stockholders is required by the listing rules of Nasdaq. In addition, stockholder approval is required in order to ensure favorable federal income tax treatment for grants of incentive stock options under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

As of October 21, 2024, 125,686 shares of our common stock remain available for issuance of future awards under the Plan; options to purchase a total of 32,874 shares of common stock remain outstanding; and restricted stock units for the issuance of a maximum of 16,440 shares of our common stock were converted to common shares and the availability of those shares were canceled. As of October 21, 2024, no shares of our common stock have been issued upon the exercise of options.

Reasons for Amendment of the Plan

Our Board, the Compensation Committee and management believe that the effective use of stock-based long-term incentive compensation is vital to our ability to achieve strong performance in the future. The Plan will maintain and enhance the key policies and practices adopted by our management and Board to align employee and stockholder interests and to link compensation to Company performance. In addition, our future success depends, in large part, upon our ability to maintain a competitive position in attracting, retaining and motivating key personnel. We believe that the increase in the number of shares available for issuance under our Plan is essential to permit our management to continue to provide long-term, equity-based incentives to present and future key employees, consultants and directors. Our Board believes that the number of shares currently remaining available for issuance pursuant to future awards under the Plan (as of October 21, 2024) is not sufficient for future granting needs. Our Board currently believes that if the amendment to the Plan is approved by stockholders, the 675,000 shares available for issuance under the Plan will result in an adequate number of shares of common stock being available for future awards under the Plan for two additional years following the current year.

The following is a brief summary of the Plan, as amended. This summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to the text of the Plan, a copy of which was attached as Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Summary of Material Features of our Plan.

Eligibility. The Plan allows us, under the direction of our Compensation Committee, to make grants of stock options, restricted and unrestricted stock awards and other stock-based awards to employees, consultants and directors who, in the opinion of the Compensation Committee, are in a position to make a significant contribution to our long-term success. All employees, directors and consultants of the Company and its affiliates are eligible to participate in the Plan. As of October 21, 2024, there were approximately nine individuals eligible to participate in the Plan.

Corporate Governance Aspects of the Plan. The Plan includes several provisions that we believe promote best practices by reinforcing alignment with stockholders’ interests. These provisions include, but are not limited to, the following:

Shares Available for Issuance. The Plan currently provides for the issuance of up to 175,000 shares of our common stock. Generally, shares of common stock reserved for awards under the Plan that lapse or are canceled (other than by exercise) will be added back to the share reserve available for future awards. However, shares of common stock tendered in payment for an award or shares of common stock withheld for taxes are not available again for future awards. In addition, shares of common stock reserved for awards under the Plan may be granted to non-employee directors having time-based vesting of less than one (1) year from the date of grant so long as no more than ten percent (10%) of the Shares reserved for issuance under the Plan may be granted in the aggregate pursuant to such awards.

Stock Options. Stock options granted under the Plan may either be incentive stock options, which are intended to satisfy the requirements of Section 422 of the Code, or non-qualified stock options, which are not intended to meet those requirements. Incentive Stock Options may be granted to employees of the Company and its affiliates. Non-qualified options may be granted to employees, directors and consultants of the Company and its affiliates. The exercise price of a stock option may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant and the term of the option may not be longer than ten years. If an incentive stock option is granted to an individual who owns more than 10% of the combined voting power of all classes of our capital stock, the exercise price may not be less than 110% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant and the term of the option may not be longer than five years.

Award agreements for stock options include rules for exercise of the stock options after termination of service. Options may not be exercised unless they are vested, and no option may be exercised after the end of the term set forth in the award agreement. Generally, stock options will be exercisable for three months after termination of service for any reason other than death or total and permanent disability, and for 12 months after termination of service on account of death or total and permanent disability but will not be exercisable if the termination of service was due to cause.

Other Stock-Based Awards. The Plan also authorizes the grant of other types of stock-based compensation including, but not limited to stock appreciation rights, phantom stock awards, and stock unit awards. Our Board or an authorized committee may award such stock-based awards subject to such conditions and restrictions as it may determine. These conditions and restrictions may include continued employment with us through a specified restricted period or achievement of one or more performance goals.

Plan Administration. In accordance with the terms of the Plan, our Board administers the Plan. The Board may delegate part of its authority and powers under the Plan to the Compensation Committee or one or more of our directors and/or officers, but only the Board or compensation committee can make awards to participants who are subject to the reporting and other requirements of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In accordance with the provisions of the Plan, our Board determines the terms of awards, including:

In addition, our Compensation Committee may, in its discretion, amend any term or condition of an outstanding award provided (i) such term or condition as amended is permitted by our Plan, and (ii) any such amendment shall be made only with the consent of the participant to whom such award was made, if the amendment is adverse to the participant unless such amendment is required by applicable law or necessary to preserve the economic value of such award; and provided, further, that, without the prior approval of our stockholders, options and stock appreciation rights will not be repriced, replaced or regranted through cancellation or by lowering the exercise price of a previously granted award.

Stock Dividends and Stock Splits. If our common stock shall be subdivided or combined into a greater or smaller number of shares or if we issue any shares of common stock as a stock dividend, the number of shares of our common stock deliverable upon exercise of an option issued or upon issuance of an award shall be appropriately increased or decreased proportionately, and appropriate adjustments shall be made in the exercise price per share of stock options or purchase price, if any, to reflect such subdivision, combination or stock dividend.

Corporate Transactions. Upon a merger or other reorganization event, our Board may, in its sole discretion, take any one or more of the following actions pursuant to our Plan, as to some or all outstanding awards:

Amendment and Termination. The Plan may be amended by our stockholders. It may also be amended by our Board, provided that any amendment approved by our Board which it determines is of a scope that requires shareholder approval shall be subject to obtaining such shareholder approval. In addition, other than in connection with stock dividends, stock splits, recapitalizations or reorganizations, the Board may not without stockholder approval reduce the exercise price or cancel any outstanding option in exchange for a replacement option having a lower exercise price, or for any other equity award or for cash. In addition, the Board may not take any other action that is considered a direct or indirect “repricing” for purposes of the stockholder approval rules of the applicable securities exchange or inter-dealer quotation system on which the Shares are listed, including any other action that is treated as a repricing under generally accepted accounting principles. However, no such action may adversely affect any rights under any outstanding award without the holder’s consent unless such amendment is required by applicable law or necessary to preserve the economic value of such award.

Duration of Plan. The Plan will expire by its terms on November 3, 2030.

Federal Income Tax Considerations

The material federal income tax consequences of the issuance and exercise of stock options and other awards under the Plan, based on the current provisions of the Code and regulations, are as follows. Changes to these laws could alter the tax consequences described below. This summary assumes that all awards granted under the Plan are exempt from or comply with, the rules under Section 409A of the Code related to nonqualified deferred compensation.

Plan Benefits

Since the adoption of the Plan through October 21, 2024, we have granted the following stock options and RSUs under the Plan to the individuals and groups listed below. In all cases, the securities underlying such stock options were shares of our common stock.

New Plan Benefits

The amounts of future grants under the Plan are not determinable and will be granted at the sole discretion of the Board or other delegated persons. We cannot determine at this time either the persons who will receive such awards under the Plan or the amount or types of any such awards.

On October 24, 2024, the closing market price per share of our common stock was $3.13, as reported by The Nasdaq Capital Market.

Required Vote

The affirmative vote of a majority of the shares cast affirmatively or negatively for this proposal is required to approve the Plan Amendment Proposal.

OUR BOARD RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THE PLAN AMENDMENT PROPOSAL, AND PROXIES SOLICITED BY OUR BOARD WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE AMENDMENT UNLESS A STOCKHOLDER HAS INDICATED OTHERWISE ON THE PROXY.

PROPOSAL NO. 4

AUDITOR RATIFICATION PROPOSAL

The audit committee has appointed Stephano Slack as our independent registered public accounting firm, to audit our financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024. Stephano Slack has served as our independent registered public accounting firm since October 4, 2024. Morison audited our financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. We expect that representatives of Stephano Slack and Morison will be present at the annual meeting, will be able to make a statement if they so desire, and will be available to respond to appropriate questions.

In deciding to appoint Stephano Slack, the audit committee reviewed auditor independence issues and existing commercial relationships with Stephano Slack and concluded that Stephano Slack has no commercial relationship with the Company that would impair its independence for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.

Morison served as our independent registered public accounting firm from September 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024, and Friedman LLP (“Friedman”) served as our independent registered public accounting firm from August 23, 2013 to August 15, 2022.

The following table presents fees for professional audit services rendered by Friedman and Morison during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2023. Fees for year ended December 31, 2022 consisted of payments to Friedman and Morison of $40,568 and $100,000, respectively, and fees for the year ended December 31, 2023 were paid exclusively to Morison.

Change in Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Friedman to Morison

We engaged Friedman as our independent registered public accounting firm from August 23, 2013 to August 15, 2022. On August 10, 2022, the Audit Committee and Friedman elected not to continue with Friedman as our independent registered public accounting firm, effective September 1, 2022 and the Company appointed Morison as its independent registered public accounting firm commencing September 1, 2022. The Audit Committee and Friedman mutually agreed to terminate Friedman’s engagement as our independent registered accounting firm as a result of the merger between Friedman and Marcum LLP (the “Merger”), because the Merger may have resulted in a conflict of interest between us and the public accounting firm surviving the Merger.

The audit reports of Friedman on our financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 did not contain any adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles.

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and the subsequent interim periods through March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, there were no “disagreements,” as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions, between the Company and Friedman, on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedures, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Friedman, would have caused Friedman to make reference in connection with their opinion to the subject matter of the disagreement.

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and the subsequent interim periods through March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, there were no “reportable events” as that term is defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and the subsequent interim periods through March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, neither the Company, nor anyone on its behalf, consulted Morison Cogen with respect to: (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s financial statements, and neither a written report was provided to the Company nor oral advice was provided to the Company that Morison Cogen concluded was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to the accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue; or (ii) any matter that was either the subject of a disagreement (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions) or a reportable event (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).

Morison to Stephano Slack

We engaged Morison as our independent registered public accounting firm from September 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024. On September 30, 2024, in conjunction with its exit from providing audit services to publicly traded companies, Morison resigned from its role as our independent registered public accounting firm.

Morison Cogen’s reports on the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 did not contain an adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion and were not qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope or accounting principles.

During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 and the subsequent interim period through September 30, 2024, (i) there were no disagreements within the meaning of Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K, between the Company and Morison Cogen on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, any of which that, if not resolved to Morison Cogen’s satisfaction, would have caused Morison Cogen to make reference to the subject matter of any such disagreement in connection with its reports for such years and interim period, and (ii) there were no reportable events within the meaning of Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

On October 4, 2024, the Company engaged Stephano Slack as the Company’s new independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024.

During the Company’s fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 and the subsequent interim period through September 30, 2024, neither the Company nor anyone on its behalf has consulted with Stephano Slack regarding (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed, or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on the Company’s financial statements, and neither a written report nor oral advice was provided to the Company that Stephano Slack concluded was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to any accounting, auditing, or financial reporting issue, (ii) any matter that was the subject of a disagreement within the meaning of Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K, or (iii) any reportable event within the meaning of Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K.

Policy on Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Permissible Non-Audit Services of Independent Public Accountant

Consistent with SEC policies regarding auditor independence, the Audit Committee has responsibility for appointing, setting compensation and overseeing the work of our independent registered public accounting firm. In recognition of this responsibility, the Audit Committee has established a policy to pre-approve all audit and permissible non-audit services provided by our independent registered public accounting firm.

Prior to engagement of an independent registered public accounting firm for the next year’s audit, management will submit an aggregate of services expected to be rendered during that year for each of four categories of services to the Audit Committee for approval.

Prior to engagement, the Audit Committee pre-approves these services by category of service. The fees are budgeted and the Audit Committee requires our independent registered public accounting firm and management to report actual fees versus the budget periodically throughout the year by category of service. During the year, circumstances may arise when it may become necessary to engage our independent registered public accounting firm for additional services not contemplated in the original pre-approval. In those instances, the Audit Committee requires specific pre-approval before engaging our independent registered public accounting firm.

The Audit Committee may delegate pre-approval authority to one or more of its members. The member to whom such authority is delegated must report, for informational purposes only, any pre-approval decisions to the Audit Committee at its next scheduled meeting.

THE board Recommends A Vote To Ratify The Appointment Of stephano slack As Our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, And Proxies Solicited By THE board Will Be Voted In Favor Of Such Ratification Unless A Stockholder Indicates Otherwise On The Proxy.

CODE OF CONDUCT AND ETHICS

We have adopted a code of conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees, including our chief executive officer and chief financial and accounting officers. The text of the code of conduct and ethics is posted on our website at ir.synaptogen.com/corporate-governance, is filed with the SEC as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form 10-K and will be made available to stockholders without charge, upon request, in writing to the Corporate Secretary at 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036. Disclosure regarding any amendments to, or waivers from, provisions of the code of conduct and ethics that apply to our directors, principal executive officer and principal financial officer will be included in a Current Report on Form 8-K within four business days following the date of the amendment or waiver, unless website posting or the issuance of a press release of such amendments or waivers is then permitted by the rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market.

OTHER MATTERS

Our Board knows of no other business which will be presented to the annual meeting. If any other business is properly brought before the annual meeting, proxies will be voted in accordance with the judgment of the persons named therein.

STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS AND NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTOR

To be considered for inclusion in the proxy statement relating to our 2025 annual meeting of stockholders, we must receive stockholder proposals (other than for director nominations) no later than July 11, 2025. To be considered for presentation at the 2025 annual meeting, although not included in the proxy statement, proposals (including director nominations that are not requested to be included in our proxy statement) must be received no later than September 24, 2025. In addition to satisfying the foregoing advance notice requirements, to comply with the universal proxy rules under the Exchange Act, stockholders who intend to solicit proxies in support of director nominees other than the Company’s nominees must follow the requirements set forth in Rule 14a-19 as promulgated under the Exchange Act.

Proposals that are not received in a timely manner or in accordance with applicable law will not be voted on at the 2025 annual meeting. If a proposal is received on time, the proxies that management solicits for the meeting may still exercise discretionary voting authority on the proposal under circumstances consistent with the proxy rules of the SEC. All stockholder proposals should be marked for the attention of Secretary, Synaptogenix, Inc., 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, New York 10036.

1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor

New York, New York 10036

_____________________, 2024