9. Commitments and Contingencies

Consulting Services Agreement:

On November 20, 2014, the Company entered into a ten-year consulting services agreement with Dr. Joshua Hare, its CSO, under which the Company has agreed to pay the CSO $265,000 annually for his part-time services. The initial term of the agreement ended on November 22, 2024; however, with regard to the annual compensation paid to Dr. Hare, the Company continues at present to operate under the same terms on a month-to-month basis (as adjusted by the Compensation Committee in 2026 - see below).

In addition, the Company entered into a deferred compensation agreement with the CSO to defer payment of the consulting fees earned for services rendered during 2024, which fees will be paid in a lump sum distribution in February 2027. A similar arrangement was also entered into for 2025. On March 4, 2025 and April 11, 2025, the Company entered into stock option agreements with the CSO as part of a Cash-for-Equity Program. These agreements represent settlement of (i) approximately $45,000 in previously accrued consulting fees, and (ii) the CSO's 2024 performance bonus of approximately $131,000, respectively. Pursuant to the Company's Cash-for-Equity Program, the CSO elected to receive this amount in the form of options to purchase 71,254 and 184,878 shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock, respectively. Each award fully vested on July 1, 2025, following stockholder approval at the Company's 2025 annual meeting of stockholders on June 13, 2025, increasing the pool of the shares available for awards under the

2021 Incentive Plan. On July 1, 2025, the Company entered into an additional stock option agreement with the CSO as part of the Cash-for-Equity Program, with such agreement representing settlement of $30,000 in consulting fees earned for services rendered during the three months ended June 30, 2025. Pursuant to the Cash-for-Equity Program, the CSO elected to receive this amount in the form of fully vested options to purchase 49,219 shares of the Company’s Class A Common Stock. On July 15, 2025, the Company granted the CSO options to purchase 109,000 shares of the Company's Class A Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.47 per share, as part of his annual compensation package, with the options vesting quarterly over three years.

The Compensation Committee increased Dr. Hare's annual compensation to $350,000 effective January 2026. Dr. Hare elected to defer $112,000 of his 2026 compensation to the Company's non-qualified deferred compensation plan.

As of March 31, 2026, the Company had accrued balances due to the CSO of approximately $0.3 million, included in other current liabilities in the condensed balance sheet. The accrued balance as of December 31, 2025 of $0.3 million was included in other long-term liabilities in the condensed balance sheet.

Manufacturing Services Agreement:

On February 21, 2024, the Company entered into a five-year Supply Agreement with a third-party biotechnology company developing multiple, novel secretomes (“Secretome”), to address a spectrum of diseases driven by pathological processes, to manufacture, test, release, and supply Secretome with cardiac stem cells (the “Product”) to be used in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials (the “Secretome Agreement”). The Company bills Secretome on a variable fee basis for quality control, in process, release, and stability testing service items. Secretome also pays a monthly manufacturing suite reservation fee and hourly fee for project management services.

Following the initial five-year term, the Secretome Agreement may be renewed for additional successive two-year terms upon the mutual written agreement of the parties. Either party may terminate the agreement for cause and upon notice in the event of a material breach, within (i) 30 days of an uncured material breach that is not a payment default or (ii) 10 days for an uncured payment default. The Secretome Agreement further provides that either party may terminate the agreement at any time upon 90 days’ notice to the other party.

During 2025, activities under the Secretome Agreement substantially decreased. No additional manufacturing or development activities are planned, and the Company does not anticipate significant future revenue under this arrangement.

For the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, the Company has earned revenues of $20,000 and $0.1 million, respectively, under the Secretome Agreement.

Exclusive Licensing Agreements:

UM Agreements

On November 20, 2014, the Company entered into an Exclusive License Agreement with UM (the “UM License”) for the use of certain Aging-related Frailty Mesenchymal Stem Cell (“MSC”) technology rights developed by our CSO at UM. The UM License is a worldwide, exclusive license, with right to sublicense, with respect to any and all know-how specifically related to the development of the culture-expanded mesenchymal stem cells for Aging-related Frailty used at the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute of UM (“IMSCs”), all standard operating procedures used to create the IMSCs, and all data supporting isolation, culture, expansion, processing, cryopreservation and management of the IMSCs.

The Company is required to pay UM (i) a license issue fee of $5,000, (ii) a running royalty in an amount equal to three percent of annual net sales on products or services developed from the technology, payable on a country-by-country basis beginning on the date of first commercial sale through termination of the UM License Agreement, and which may be reduced to the extent we are required to pay royalties to a third party for the same product or process, (iii) escalating annual cash payments of up to $50,000, subject to offset. The agreement extends for up to 20 years from the last date a product or process is commercialized from the technology and was amended in 2017 to modify certain milestone completion dates as detailed below. In 2021 the license fee was increased by an additional $100,000, to defray patent costs. In addition, the Company issued 11,039 unregistered shares of Class A common stock to UM.

The milestone payment amendments shifted the triggering payments to three payments of $500,000, to be paid within six months of: (a) the completion of the first Phase 3 clinical trial of the products (based upon the final data unblinding); (b) the receipt by the Company of approval for the first new drug application (“NDA”), BLA, or other marketing or licensing application for the product; and (c) the first sale following product approval.

The Company has the right to terminate the UM License upon 60 days’ prior written notice, and either party has the right to terminate upon a breach of the UM License. To date, the Company has made payments totaling $0.5 million to UM, and as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, in the accompanying balance sheets, the Company had accrued $7,500 in milestone fees payable to UM, respectively.

The Company also entered into an additional Exclusive License Agreement with UM, signed and effective as of July 18, 2024, for technology rights developed by our CSO at UM. This License is a worldwide, exclusive license, with right to sublicense, with respect to any and all know-how, SOPs, data and other all other rights related to UMP-144, entitled “A method to derive GHRHR+ cardiomyogenic cells from pluripotent stem cells ("PSCs") for therapeutic and pharmacologic applications”. UM retained a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide right to practice, make, and use the Patent Rights or Technology for any non-profit purposes, including educational, and research purposes. In addition to those certain other royalty payments that would be due should the Company’s sublicense of the technology result in revenue, the Company also agreed to the following additional milestones and payments: $150,000 upon completion of the first Phase 3 Clinical Trial; and $250,000 upon issuance of a biologics license application or new drug application based on the licensed technology. The Company has the right to terminate the new UM License for convenience upon 90 days’ prior written notice, and both parties have additional termination rights for material breach of the agreement.

To date, the Company has made payments totaling $5,000 to UM, and as of March 31, 2026, the Company had not yet accrued any milestone fees payable to UM.

CD271

On December 22, 2016, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with an affiliated entity of Dr. Joshua Hare, JMH MD Holdings, LLC (“JMHMD”), for the use of CD271 cellular therapy technology, pursuant to which the Company is required to pay JMHMD a running royalty in an amount equal to one percent of the annual net sales of the licensed product(s) used, leased, or sold by or for the Company by any sub-licensees, payable on a country-by-country basis beginning on the date of first commercial sale and ending on the latter of expiration of the last to expire patent rights in such country or ten years from the first commercial sale in such country (provided that if all claims within the patent rights have expired or been finally deemed invalid then the royalty will be reduced by 50%), and which may also be reduced to the extent the Company is required to pay royalties to a third party for the same product or process.

Under the agreement, the Company is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to achieve the following milestones: (i) submit an investigational new drug application to FDA (or international equivalent) within one year of the effective date of agreement, (ii) initiate a clinical trial utilizing bone marrow derived CD271+ Precursor Cells within three years of the effective date; provided, that any of the milestones may be extended for up to six months for a total of three times by notice and payment of a five thousand dollar extension fee. The agreement is to remain in effect until either the date all issued patents and filed patent applications have expired or been abandoned, or 20 years after the date of FDA approval of the last commercialized product or process arising from the patent rights whichever comes later. If the Company sublicenses the technology, it is also required to pay an amount equal to 10% of the net sales of the sub-licensees.

There were no license fees due as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025 pertaining to this agreement.

Other Royalty

Under the grant award agreement with the Alzheimer’s Association, the Company may be required to make revenue sharing or distribution of revenue payments for products or inventions generated or resulting from this clinical trial program. The potential payments, although not currently defined, could result in a maximum payment of five times (5x) the award amount of $3.0 million.

Contingencies – Legal

From time to time, the Company could become involved in disputes and various litigation matters that arise in the normal course of business. These may include disputes and lawsuits related to intellectual property, licensing, contract law and employee relations matters. As of March 31, 2026, the Company is not aware of any legal proceedings or material developments requiring disclosure.