UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 21, 2023

MATINAS BIOPHARMA HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (908) 484-8805

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2).

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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 3.01 Notice of Delisting or Failure to Satisfy a Continued

On September 21, 2023, Matinas Biopharma Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) received a deficiency letter (the “Letter”) from the NYSE American LLC (the “NYSE American” or the “Exchange”) indicating that the Company is not in compliance with the NYSE American continued listing standard set forth in Section 1003(f)(v) of the NYSE American Company Guide due to its shares of common stock selling for a substantial period of time at a low price per share, which NYSE American determined to be a 30 trading day average price of less than $0.20 per share. The Letter has no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock and the common stock will continue to trade on the NYSE American under the symbol “MTNB”. Additionally, the Letter does not result in the immediate delisting of the Company’s common stock from the NYSE American.

Pursuant to Section 1003(f)(v) of the NYSE American Company Guide, the NYSE American staff determined that the Company’s continued listing is predicated on it demonstrating sustained price improvement within a reasonable period of time or effecting a reverse stock split of its common stock no later than March 21, 2024. The Letter further stated that as a result of the foregoing, the Company has become subject to the procedures and requirements of Sections 402(g) and 1009 of the NYSE American Company Guide, which could, among other things, result in the initiation of delisting proceedings, unless the Company cures the deficiency in a timely manner. The Company intends to regain compliance with the NYSE American’s continued listing standards by undertaking a measure or measures that are for the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.

The Company intends to closely monitor the price of its common stock and consider available options if its common stock does not trade at a consistent level likely to result in the Company regaining compliance by March 21, 2024. The Company’s receipt of the Letter does not affect the Company’s business, operations or reporting requirements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is actively engaged in discussions with the Exchange and is developing plans to regain compliance with the NYSE American’s continued listing standards within the cure period.

Item 8.01 Other Events

On September 22, 2023, the Company issued a press release disclosing receipt of the Letter. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and incorporated in this Item 8.01 by reference.

In light of the Letter, the Company is also supplementing the risk factors previously disclosed in Item 1A of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 15, 2023, to add the following new risk factor:

We are subject to the continued listing requirements of the NYSE American. If we are unable to comply with such requirements, our common stock would be delisted from the NYSE American, which would limit investors’ ability to effect transactions in our common stock and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

Shares of our common stock are currently listed on the NYSE American. In order to maintain our listing, we must maintain certain share prices, financial and share distribution targets, including maintaining a minimum amount of stockholders’ equity and a minimum number of public stockholders. In addition to these objective standards, the NYSE American may delist the securities of any issuer if, in its opinion, the issuer’s financial condition and/or operating results appear unsatisfactory; if it appears that the extent of public distribution or the aggregate market value of the security has become so reduced as to make continued listing on the NYSE American inadvisable; if the issuer sells or disposes of principal operating assets or ceases to be an operating company; if an issuer fails to comply with the NYSE American’s listing requirements; if an issuer’s common stock sells at what the NYSE American considers a “low selling price” (generally trading below $0.20 per share for an extended period of time); or if any other event occurs or any condition exists which makes continued listing on the NYSE American, in its opinion, inadvisable. On September 21, 2023, we received a deficiency letter from the NYSE American indicating that we are not in compliance with Section 1003(f)(v) of the NYSE American Company Guide, because shares of our common stock have been selling for a low price per share for a substantial period time. If we fail to regain compliance with the NYSE American continued listing standards by March 21, 2024, the NYSE American will commence delisting proceedings.

If the NYSE American delists our shares of common stock from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our common stock would qualify to be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:

The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our shares of common stock are listed on the NYSE American, our shares of common stock qualify as covered securities under such statute. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of our securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. If we were no longer listed on the NYSE American, our securities would not be covered securities and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities.

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.