S-8 1 ea0206518-s8_ysbio.htm REGISTRATION STATEMENT

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 20, 2024

Registration No. 333-

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

YS BIOPHARMA CO., LTD.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Cayman Islands		Not Applicable
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

Building No. 2, 38 Yongda Road

Daxing Biomedical Industry Park

Daxing District, Beijing, PRC

Tel: 010-89202086

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

2024 Share Incentive Plan
(Full title of the plan)

Cogency Global Inc.

122 East 42^nd Street, 18^th Floor

New York, NY 10168

+1 800-221-0102

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”).

Large accelerated filer ☐	Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒	Smaller reporting company ☒
	Emerging growth company ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). ☐

Copies to:

Hui Shao

Co-Chief Executive Officer

Building No. 2, 38 Yongda Road

Daxing Biomedical Industry Park

Daxing District, Beijing

People’s Republic of China

Telephone: 010-89202086

Will H. Cai, Esq.

Cooley LLP

c/o 35th Floor

Two Exchange Square

8 Connaught Place

Central, Hong Kong

+852 3758-1200

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

Item 1.

Plan Information*

Item 2.

Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information*

Information required by Part I to be contained in the Section 10(a) prospectus is omitted from this registration statement in accordance with Rule 428 under the Securities Act and the Note to Part I of Form S-8. The documents containing information specified in this Part I will be separately provided to the participants covered by the plan, as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.

Incorporation of Documents by Reference

The following documents filed or to be filed (other than portions of these documents furnished or otherwise not deemed filed) by YS Biopharma Co., Ltd. (the “Registrant”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) are incorporated by reference as of their respective dates and deemed to be a part hereof:

(a)

The Registrant’s annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 (File No. 001-41598) filed with the Commission on July 26, 2023;

(b)

All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; and

(c)

The description of the Registrant’s ordinary shares in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-41598) filed with the Commission under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act on January 20, 2023, including any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, after the date of this registration statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this registration statement which indicates that all securities offered have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to be part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. Any statement in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement will be deemed to be modified or superseded to the extent that a statement contained in this registration statement or in any other later filed document that also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded will not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to be a part of this registration statement.

Item 4.

Description of Securities

Not applicable.

Item 5.

Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

Not applicable.

II-1

Item 6.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Cayman Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of directors and officers, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. The Registrant’s currently effective amended and restated articles of association, adopted by its shareholders on September 23, 2022, and became effective on March 16, 2023, provides that the Registrant shall indemnify and secure harmless of its directors and officers against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, expenses, losses, damages or liabilities incurred or sustained by such persons, other than by reason of such person’s own dishonesty, willful default or fraud, in or about the conduct of the Company’s business or affairs (including as a result of any mistake of judgment) or in the execution or discharge of such person’s duties, powers, authorities or discretions, including without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any costs, expenses, losses or liabilities incurred by such person in defending (whether successfully or otherwise) any civil proceedings concerning the Company or its affairs in any court whether in the Cayman Islands or elsewhere.

Pursuant to the indemnification agreements, the form of which was filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the Registrant’s registration statement on Form F-4 (File No. 333-269031) filed with the Commission on December 28, 2022, the Registrant has agreed to indemnify its directors and officers against certain liabilities and expenses incurred by such persons in connection with claims made by reason of their being such a director or officer.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, the Registrant has been informed that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

The Registrant also maintains a directors and officers liability insurance policy for its directors and officers.

Item 7.

Exemption from Registration Claimed

Not applicable.

Item 8.

Exhibits

See the Index to Exhibits attached hereto.

Item 9.

Undertakings

(a)

The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1)

To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

(i)

to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii)

to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

II-2

(iii)

to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to that information in the registration statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this registration statement;

(2)

That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3)

To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b)

The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c)

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

II-3

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit Number		Description
4.1		Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Registrant (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s registration statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-271221) filed with the Commission on April 12, 2023)
4.2		Registrant’s Specimen Certificate for Ordinary Shares (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 4.5 to the Registrant’s registration statement on Form F-4 (File No. 333-269031) filed with the Commission on December 28, 2022, as amended)
5.1*		Opinion of Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP, regarding the validity of the ordinary shares being registered
10.3		2024 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated herein by reference to Exhibit 99.5 to the Registrant’s current report on Form 6-K (File No. 001-41598) filed with the Commission on May 7, 2024)
23.1*		Consent of Wei, Wei & Co., LLP
23.2*		Consent of Maples and Calder (Hong Kong) LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24.1*		Power of Attorney (included on the signature page hereto)
107*		Filing Fee Table

Filed herewith.

II-4

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Beijing, China, on May 20, 2024.

	YS Biopharma Co., Ltd.

	By:	/s/ Hui Shao
	Name:	Hui Shao
	Title:	Co-Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints, severally and not jointly, Hui Shao, with full power to act alone, as his true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with the power of substitution, for and in such person’s name, place, and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto each said attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each said attorney-in-fact may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities on May 20, 2024.

Signature		Title

/s/ Hui Shao		Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director
Hui Shao		(Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ Ajit Shetty		Chairperson of the Board of Directors
Ajit Shetty

/s/ Chunyuan (Brenda) Wu		Chief Financial Officer and Director
Chunyuan (Brenda) Wu		(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)

/s/ Pierson Yue Pan		Director
Pierson Yue Pan

/s/ Henry Chen		Director
Henry Chen

/s/ Haitao Zhao		Director
Haitao Zhao

/s/ Jin Wang		Director
Jin Wang

/s/ Viren T Mehta		Director
Viren T Mehta

/s/ Rachel Yu		Director
Rachel Yu

/s/ Yuntao Cui		Director
Yuntao Cui

II-5

SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES

Pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of YS Biopharma Co., Ltd. has signed this registration statement or amendment thereto in New York, New York on May 20, 2024.

	Authorized U.S. Representative Cogency Global Inc.

	By:	/s/ Colleen A. De Vries
	Name:	Colleen A. De Vries
	Title:	Senior Vice-President

II-6

SEC Form S-8 filed by YS Biopharma Co. Ltd.