NOTE 17 – COMMITMENTS

Contractual agreements

The Company has entered into contracts with various contract research organizations with outstanding commitments aggregating approximately $20.8 million at March 31, 2024 for future work to be performed.

Defined contribution plan

The Company established a qualified defined contribution plan (the “401(k) Plan”) pursuant to Section 401(k) of the Code, whereby all eligible employees may participate. Participants may elect to defer a percentage of their annual pretax compensation to the 401(k) Plan, subject to defined limitations. The Company is required to make contributions to the 401(k) Plan equal to 100 percent of each participant’s pretax contributions of up to six percent of his or her eligible compensation, and the Company is also required to make a contribution equal to three percent of each participant’s salary, on an annual basis, subject to limitations under the Code. For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company charged operations $300,000 for both periods for contributions under the 401(k) Plan.