Lightwave Logic, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2019 June (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

_____________________

FORM 10-Q

____________________

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended June 30, 2019

OR

For the transition period from _____________to _____________

Commission File Number 0-52567

Lightwave Logic, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, 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 Exchange Act:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by checkmark 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. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.) Yes ¨ No þ

The number of shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of August 8, 2019 was 84,088,840.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

i

Forward-Looking Statements

This report on Form 10-Q contains, and our officers and representatives may from time to time make, “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “seek,” “believe,” “project,” “estimate,” “expect,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “strategy,” “future,” “likely,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “will” and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding expected operating results, such as anticipated revenue; anticipated levels of capital expenditures for our current fiscal year; our belief that we have, or will have, sufficient liquidity to fund our business operations during the next 12 months; strategy for gaining customers, growth, product development, market position, financial results and reserves.

Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: lack of available funding; general economic and business conditions; competition from third parties; intellectual property rights of third parties; regulatory constraints; changes in technology and methods of marketing; delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; success in technological advances and delivering technological innovations; shortages in components; production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components; and other factors beyond the Company's control.

The ultimate correctness of these forward-looking statements depends upon a number of known and unknown risks and events. We discuss our known material risks under Item 1.A “Risk Factors” contained in our Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. Many factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and, except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

ii

PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1

Financial Statements

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019

(UNAUDITED)

1

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

BALANCE SHEETS

See accompanying notes to these financial statements.

2

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE THREE MONTHS AND SIX MONTHS ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

(UNAUDITED)

See accompanying notes to these financial statements.

3

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

JUNE 30, 2019

SIX-MONTH PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2019

SIX-MONTH PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2018

See accompanying notes to these financial statements.

4

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (CONTINUED)

JUNE 30, 2019

THREE-MONTH PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2019

THREE-MONTH PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2018

See accompanying notes to these financial statements.

5

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOW

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDING JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

(UNAUDITED)

See accompanying notes to these financial statements.

6

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 1 – NATURE OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Financial Statements

The accompanying unaudited financial statements have been prepared by Lightwave Logic, Inc. (the Company). These statements include all adjustments (consisting only of its normal recurring adjustments) which management believes necessary for a fair presentation of the statements and have been prepared on a consistent basis using the accounting polices described in the Summary of Accounting Policies included in the 2018 Annual Report. Certain financial information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, although the Company firmly believes that the accompanying disclosures are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. The financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The interim operating results for the three and six months ending June 30, 2019 may not be indicative of operating results expected for the full year.

Nature of Business

Lightwave Logic, Inc. is a technology company focused on the development of next generation photonic devices and non-linear optical polymer materials systems for applications in high speed fiber-optic data communications and optical computing markets. Currently the Company is in various stages of photonic device and materials development and evaluation with potential customers and strategic partners. The Company expects to obtain a revenue stream from datacom and telecom devices, sales of non-linear optical polymers, and product development agreements prior to moving into full-scale production.

The Company’s current development activities are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including failing to secure additional funding to operationalize the Company’s technology now under development.

Stock-based Payments

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation under the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 718, "Compensation - Stock Compensation", which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all stock-based awards made to employees and directors based on estimated fair values on the grant date. The Company estimates the fair value of stock-based awards on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes model. The value of the portion of the award that is ultimately expected to vest is recognized as expense over the requisite service periods using the straight-line method. In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718), Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The amendments in this Update expand the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees. Prior to this Update, Topic 718 applied only to share-based transactions to employees. Consistent with the accounting requirement for employee share-based payment awards, nonemployee share-based payment awards within the scope of Topic 718 are measured at grant-date fair value of the equity instruments that an entity is obligated to issue when the good has been delivered or the service has been rendered and any other conditions necessary to earn the right to benefit from the instruments have been satisfied. The adoption of this pronouncement on June 30, 2018 had no material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

7

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 1 – NATURE OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)

Loss per Share

The Company follows FASB ASC 260, “Earnings per Share”, resulting in the presentation of basic and diluted earnings per share. Because the Company reported a net loss in 2019 and 2018, common stock equivalents, including stock options and warrants were anti-dilutive; therefore, the amounts reported for basic and dilutive loss per share were the same.

Comprehensive Income

The Company follows FASB ASC 220.10, “Reporting Comprehensive Income.” Comprehensive income is a more inclusive financial reporting methodology that includes disclosure of certain financial information that historically has not been recognized in the calculation of net income (loss). Since the Company has no items of other comprehensive income, comprehensive income (loss) is equal to net income (loss).

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

As of June 30, 2019, there are no recently issued accounting standards not yet adopted which would have a material effect on the Company’s financial statements.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) and subsequent related updates. The core principle of Topic 842 is that a lessee should recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from operating leases. The Company adopted the standard effective January 1, 2019 under the optional transition method which allows the entity to apply the new lease standard at the adoption date and recognize a cumulative-effect adjustment, if any, to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. The standard had a material impact on the balance sheet (see Note 7).

Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications have been made to the 2018 financial statement in order to conform to the 2019 financial statement presentation.

NOTE 2 – MANAGEMENT’S PLANS

As a technology company focusing on the development of the next generation photonic devices and non-linear optical polymer materials systems, substantial net losses have been incurred since inception. The Company has satisfied capital requirements since inception primarily through the issuance and sale of its common stock. In January 2019, the Company signed a purchase agreement (“Purchase Agreement”) with an institutional investor to sell up to $25,000,000 of common stock. Under the Purchase Agreement and at Company's sole discretion, the institutional investor has committed to invest up to $25,000,000 in common stock over a 36-month period with the remaining available amount of $23,192,375 as of June 30, 2019. Since June 30, 2019, the Company has sold an additional $643,750 of common stock pursuant to the Purchase Agreement. As of August 9, 2019, the Company has a cash position of approximately $2,290,000. Based upon the current cash position and expected expenditures over subsequent periods and no debt service, management believes the Company has sufficient funds to finance its operations through November 2019 before the Company may need to replenish cash reserves pursuant to the Purchase Agreement.

8

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 3 – PREPAID EXPENSES AND OTHER CURRENT ASSETS

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of the following:

NOTE 4 – PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT

Property and equipment consists of the following:

9

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 4 – PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT (CONTINUED)

Depreciation expense for the six months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018 was $258,318 and $156,683. Depreciation expense for the three months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018 was $139,897 and $110,053. During the three and six months ending June 30, 2019, the Company did not retire property and equipment. During the six months ending June 30, 2018, the Company sold equipment for proceeds of $2,500 and a gain of $2,500. During the six months ending June 30, 2018, the Company retired property and equipment and recorded a loss on the retirement of $12,584. During the three months ending June 30, 2018, the Company did not sell or retire property and equipment.

NOTE 5 – INTANGIBLE ASSETS

This represents legal fees and patent fees associated with the prosecution of patent applications. The Company has recorded amortization expense on patents granted, which are amortized over the remaining legal life. Maintenance patent fees are paid to a government patent authority to maintain a granted patent in force. Some countries require the payment of maintenance fees for pending patent applications. Maintenance fees paid after a patent is granted are expensed, as these are considered ongoing costs to “maintain a patent”. Maintenance fees paid prior to a patent grant date are capitalized to patent costs, as these are considered “patent application costs”. No amortization expense has been recorded on the remaining patent applications since patents have yet to be granted.

On June 11, 2018, the Company purchased patents for $315,000.

Patents consist of the following:

Amortization expense for the six months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018 was $40,574 and $24,897. Amortization expense for the three months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018 was $20,164 and $13,153. There were no patent costs written off for the three and six months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018.

NOTE 6 – LONG TERM EQUIPMENT PURCHASE PAYABLE

Outstanding long term equipment purchase payable is comprised of the following:

10

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 7 – LEASES

On October 30, 2017, the Company entered into a new lease to lease approximately 13,420 square feet of office, laboratory and research and development space located in Colorado for the Company’s new principal executive offices and research and development facility. The term of the lease is sixty- one (61) months, beginning on November 1, 2017 and ending on November 30, 2022. The term shall be extended for an additional twenty-four (24) months, subject to certain conditions, waivable solely by Landlord in its sole and absolute discretion. Base rent for the first year of the lease term is approximately $168,824, with an increase in annual base rent of approximately 3% in each subsequent year of the lease term. As specified in the lease, the Company paid the landlord (i) all base rent for the period November 1, 2017 and ending on October 31, 2019, in the sum of $347,045; and (ii) the estimated amount of tenant’s proportionate share of operating expenses for the same period in the sum of $186,293. Commencing on November 1, 2019, monthly installments of base rent and one-twelfth of landlord’s estimate of tenant’s proportionate share of annual operating expenses shall be due on the first day of each calendar month. The lease also provides that (i) on November 1, 2019 landlord shall pay the Company for the cost of the cosmetic improvements in the amount of $3.00 per rentable square foot of the premises, and (ii) on or prior to November 1, 2019, the Company shall deposit with Landlord the sum of $36,524 as a security deposit which shall be held by landlord to secure the Company’s obligations under the lease. The lease contains an option to extend the term to October 31, 2024. On October 30, 2017, the Company entered into an agreement with the tenant leasing the premise from the landlord (“Original Lessee”) whereby the Original Lessee agreed to pay the Company the sum of $260,000 in consideration of the Company entering into the lease and landlord agreeing to the early termination of the Original Lessee’s lease agreement with landlord. The consideration of $260,000 was received on November 1, 2017.

Due to the adoption of the new lease standard, the Company has capitalized the present value of the minimum lease payments commencing November 1, 2019, including the additional option period using an estimated incremental borrowing rate of 6.5%. The minimum lease payments do not include common area annual expenses which are considered to be nonlease components.

As of January 1, 2019 the operating lease right-of-use asset and operating lease liability amounted to $885,094 with no cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings/accumulated deficit. The Company has elected not to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities arising from short-term leases.

There are no other material operating leases.

The Company is obligated under an operating lease for office and laboratory space. The aggregate minimum future lease payments under the operating leases, including the extended term are as follows:

Rent expense amounting to $56,818 and $18,939 is included in research and development and general and administrative expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2019. Rent expense amounting to $96,527 and $34,256 is included in research and development and general and administrative expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2018. Rent expense amounting to $28,409 and $9,470 is included in research and development and general and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2019. Rent expense amounting to $36,462 and $15,541 is included in research and development and general and administrative expenses for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

11

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 8 – INCOME TAXES

There is no income tax benefit for the losses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 since management has determined that the realization of the net deferred tax asset is not assured and has created a valuation allowance for the entire amount of such benefits.

The Company’s policy is to record interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax benefits as additional income taxes in the statement of operations. As of January 1, 2019, the Company had no unrecognized tax benefits, or any tax related interest or penalties. There were no changes in the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits during the period ended June 30, 2019. The Company did not recognize any interest or penalties during 2018 related to unrecognized tax benefits. With few exceptions, the U.S. and state income tax returns filed for the tax years ending on December 31, 2015 and thereafter are subject to examination by the relevant taxing authorities. However, there are currently no audits for any tax periods in progress.

NOTE 9 – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Preferred Stock

Pursuant to the Company’s Articles of Incorporation, the Company’s board of directors is empowered, without stockholder approval, to issue series of preferred stock with any designations, rights and preferences as they may from time to time determine. The rights and preferences of this preferred stock may be superior to the rights and preferences of the Company’s common stock; consequently, preferred stock, if issued could have dividend, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the common stock. Additionally, preferred stock, if issued, could be utilized, under special circumstances, as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company’s business or a takeover from a third party.

Common Stock Options and Warrants

In January 2016, the Company signed a Purchase Agreement with an institutional investor to sell up to $20,000,000 of common stock. The Company also entered into a registration rights agreement with the institutional investor whereby the Company agreed to file a registration statement related to the transaction with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registering 5,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The registration statement was filed on March 25, 2016. The registration statement became effective April 7, 2016. The Company registered an additional 5,000,000 shares pursuant to a registration statement filed on April 19, 2017 which became effective June 15, 2017. The Company registered an additional 5,000,000 shares pursuant to a registration statement filed on May 2, 2018 which became effective May 11, 2018. Under the Purchase Agreement and at Company's sole discretion, the institutional investor has committed to invest up to $20,000,000 in common stock over a 36-month period. The Company issued 350,000 shares of restricted common stock to the institutional investor as an initial commitment fee valued at $237,965, fair value, and 650,000 shares of common stock are reserved for additional commitment fees to the institutional investor in accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement. During the period August 2016 through June 30, 2019, the institutional investor purchased 14,000,000 shares of common stock for proceeds of $13,150,370 and the Company issued 427,405 shares of common stock as additional commitment fee, valued at $456,367, fair value, leaving 222,595 in reserve for additional commitment fees. During the six month period ending June 30, 2019, the institutional investor purchased 1,550,000 shares of common stock for proceeds of $1,011,585 and the Company issued 32,879 shares of common stock as additional commitment fee, valued at $24,162, fair value. During the three month period ending June 30, 2019, the institutional investor did not purchase shares of common stock. The 2016 Purchase Agreement expired April, 2019. In January 2019, the Company signed a Purchase Agreement with the institutional investor to sell up to $25,000,000 of common stock. The Company registered 9,500,000 shares pursuant to a registration statement filed on January 30, 2019 which became effective February 13, 2019. The Company issued 350,000 shares of common stock to the institutional investor as an initial commitment fee valued at $258,125, fair value, and 812,500 shares of common stock are reserved for additional commitment fees to the institutional investor in accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement. During the six month period ending June 30, 2019, the institutional investor purchased 2,025,000 shares of common stock for proceeds of $1,807,625 and the Company issued 58,749 shares of common stock as additional commitment fee, valued at $58,273, fair value. During the three month period ending June 30, 2019, the institutional investor purchased 1,575,000 shares of common stock for proceeds of $1,399,625 and the Company issued 45,489 shares of common stock as additional commitment fee, valued at $42,204, fair value. During July and August 2019, the institutional investor purchased 875,000 shares of common stock for proceeds of $643,750 and the Company issued 20,922 shares of common stock as additional commitment fee, valued at $16,819, fair value, leaving 732,829 in reserve for additional commitment fees.

12

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 10 – STOCK BASED COMPENSATION

During 2007, the Board of Directors of the Company adopted the 2007 Employee Stock Plan (“2007 Plan”) that was approved by the shareholders. Under the Plan, the Company is authorized to grant options to purchase up to 10,000,000 shares of common stock to directors, officers, employees and consultants who provide services to the Company. The Plan is intended to permit stock options granted to employees under the 2007 Plan to qualify as incentive stock options under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Incentive Stock Options”). All options granted under the 2007 Plan, which are not intended to qualify as Incentive Stock Options are deemed to be non-qualified options (“Non-Statutory Stock Options”). Effective June 24, 2016, the 2007 Plan was terminated. As of June 30, 2019, options to purchase 4,450,000 shares of common stock have been issued and are outstanding.

During 2016, the Board of Directors of the Company adopted the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (“2016 Plan”) that was approved by the shareholders at the 2016 annual meeting of shareholders on May 20, 2016. Under the 2016 Plan, the Company is authorized to grant awards of incentive and non-qualified stock options and restricted stock to purchase up to 3,000,000 shares of common stock to employees, directors and consultants. Effective May 16, 2019, the number of shares of the Company’s common stock available for issuance under the 2016 Plan was increased from 3,000,000 to 8,000,000 shares. As of June 30, 2019, options to purchase 2,888,750 shares of common stock have been issued and are outstanding and 5,111,250 shares of common stock remain available for grants under the 2016 Plan.

Both plans are administered by the Board of Directors or its compensation committee which determines the persons to whom awards will be granted, the number of awards to be granted, and the specific terms of each grant. Subject to the provisions regarding Ten Percent Shareholders, the exercise price per share of each option cannot be less than 100% of the fair market value of a share of common stock on the date of grant. Options granted under the 2016 Plan are generally exercisable for a period of 10 years from the date of grant and may vest on the grant date, another specified date or over a period of time.

The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to calculate the grant-date fair value of an award, with the following assumptions for 2019: no dividend yield in all years, expected volatility, based on the Company’s historical volatility, 60% to 80.5%, risk-free interest rate between 2.15% to 2.71% and expected option life of 5.0 to 10 years. The expected life is based on the estimated average of the life of options using the “simplified” method, as prescribed in FASB ASC 718, due to insufficient historical exercise activity during recent years.

As of June 30, 2019, there was $456,892 of unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested market-based share awards that is expected to be recognized through June 10, 2021.

Share-based compensation was recognized as follows:

13

LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 10 – STOCK BASED COMPENSATION (CONTINUED)

The following tables summarize all stock option and warrant activity of the Company during the six months ended June 30, 2019:

The aggregate intrinsic value of options and warrants outstanding and exercisable as of June 30, 2019 was $379,938. The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the underlying options and warrants and the closing stock price of $0.75 for the Company’s common stock on June 30, 2019. No options or warrants were exercised during the six and three month period ending June 30, 2019. During the six and three month period ending June 30, 2018, 100,000 warrants were exercised for proceeds of $61,500.

NOTE 11 – RELATED PARTY

At June 30, 2019 the Company had a legal accrual to related party of $30,630, expense reimbursement to a related party of $13,700 and travel and office expense accruals of officers in the amount of $8,073. At December 31, 2018 the Company had a legal and accounting service accrual to related party of $10,999 and travel and office expense accruals of officers in the amount of $2,825.

During July 2018, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $1.15 per share for professional services to be rendered over a twelve month period commencing July 1, 2018. The warrant was valued at $62,637, fair value upon issuance, using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Formula. The expense is being recognized based on service terms of the agreement over a twelve month period. For the six and three months ending June 30, 2019, the Company recognized $31,319 and $15,660 of expense.

During July 2017, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 150,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $1.48 per share for professional services to be rendered over a twelve month period commencing July 1, 2017. The warrant was valued at $124,788, fair value upon issuance, using the Black-Scholes Option Pricing Formula. The expense is being recognized based on service terms of the agreement over a twelve month period. For the six and three months ending June 30, 2018, the Company recognized $47,072 and $21,735 of expense.

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LIGHTWAVE LOGIC, INC.

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

JUNE 30, 2019 AND 2018

NOTE 12 – RETIREMENT PLAN

The Company established a 401(k) retirement plan covering all eligible employees beginning November 15, 2013. For the six months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018, a contribution of $21,157 and $9,763 was charged to expense for all eligible non-executive participants. For the three months ending June 30, 2019 and 2018, a contribution of $11,614 and $4,156 was charged to expense for all eligible non-executive participants.

15

Item 2

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements, included herewith. This discussion should not be construed to imply that the results discussed herein will necessarily continue into the future, or that any conclusion reached herein will necessarily be indicative of actual operating results in the future. Such discussion represents only the best present assessment of our management. This information should also be read in conjunction with our audited historical financial statements which are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 18, 2019.

Overview

Lightwave Logic, Inc. is a development stage company moving toward commercialization of next generation electro-optic photonic devices made on its P²IC^TM technology platform which uses in-house proprietary high-activity and high-stability organic polymers. Electro-optical devices convert data from electric signals into optical signals for multiple applications.

Our differentiation at the device level is in higher speed, lower power consumption, simplicity of manufacturing and reliability. We have demonstrated higher speed and lower power consumption in packaged devices, and during 2019, we developed new materials that promise to further lower power consumption. We are currently focused on testing and demonstrating the simplicity of manufacturability and reliability of our devices.

We are initially targeting applications in data communications and telecommunications markets and are exploring other applications for our polymer technology platform.

Materials Development

Our Company designs and synthesizes organic chromophores for use in its own proprietary electro-optic polymer systems and photonic device designs. A polymer system is not solely a material, but also encompasses various technical enhancements necessary for its implementation. These include host polymers, poling methodologies, and molecular spacer systems that are customized to achieve specific optical properties. Our organic electro-optic polymer systems compounds are mixed into solution form that allows for thin film application. Our proprietary electro-optic polymers are designed at the molecular level for potentially superior performance, stability and cost-efficiency. We believe they have the potential to replace more expensive, higher power consuming, slower-performance materials and devices used in fiber-optic communication networks.

Our patented and patent pending molecular architectures are based on a well-understood chemical and quantum mechanical occurrence known as aromaticity. Aromaticity provides a high degree of molecular stability that enables our core molecular structures to maintain stability under a broad range of operating conditions.

We expect our patented and patent-pending optical materials along with trade secrets and licensed materials, to be the core of and the enabling technology for future generations of optical devices, modules, sub-systems and systems that we will develop or potentially out-license to electro-optic device manufacturers. Our Company contemplates future applications that may address the needs of semiconductor companies, optical network companies, Web 2.0 media companies, high performance computing companies, telecommunications companies, aerospace companies, and government agencies. 

Device Design and Development

Electro-optic Modulators

Our Company designs its own proprietary electro-optical modulation devices. Electro-optical modulators convert data from electric signals into optical signals that can then be transmitted over high-speed fiber-optic cables. Our modulators are electro-optic, meaning they work because the optical properties of the polymers are affected by electric fields applied by means of electrodes. Modulators are key components that are used in fiber optic telecommunications, data communications, and data centers networks etc., to convey the high data flows that have been driven by applications such as pictures, video streaming, movies etc., that are being transmitted through the Internet. Electro-optical modulators are expected to continue to be an essential element as the appetite and hunger for data increases every year.

16

Polymer Photonic Integrated Circuits (P²IC^TM)

Our Company also designs its own proprietary polymer photonic integrated circuits (otherwise termed a polymer PIC). A polymer PIC is a photonic device that integrates several photonic functions on a single chip. We believe that our technology can enable the ultra-miniaturization needed to increase the number of photonic functions residing on a semiconductor chip to create a progression like what was seen in the computer integrated circuits, commonly referred to as Moore’s Law. One type of integration is to combine several instances of the same photonic functions such as a plurality of modulators to create a 4 channel polymer PIC. In this case, the number of photonic components would increase by a factor of 4. Another type is to combine different types of devices including from different technology bases such as the combination of a semiconductor laser with a polymer modulator. Our P²IC™ platform encompasses both these types of architecture.

Current photonic technology today is struggling to reach faster device speeds. Our modulator devices, enabled by our electro-optic polymer material systems, work at extremely high frequencies (wide bandwidths) and possess inherent advantages over current crystalline electro-optic material contained in most modulator devices such as lithium niobate (LiNbO3), indium phosphide (InP), silicon (Si), and gallium arsenide GaAs). Our advanced electro-optic polymer platform is creating a new class of modulators and associated PIC platforms that can address higher data rates in a lower cost, lower power consuming manner, with much simpler modulation techniques.

Our electro-optic polymers can be integrated with other materials platforms because they can be applied as a thin film coating in a fabrication clean room such as may be found in semiconductor foundries. Our polymers are unique in that they are stable enough to seamlessly integrate into existing CMOS, Indium Phosphide (InP), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), and other semiconductor manufacturing lines.

Business Strategy

Our business strategy anticipates that our revenue stream will be derived from one or some combination of the following: (i) technology licensing for specific product application; (ii) joint venture relationships with significant industry leaders; or (iii) the production and direct sale of our own electro-optic device components. Our objective is to be a leading provider of proprietary technology and know-how in the electro-optic device market. In order to meet this objective, we intend to:

Create Organic Polymer-Enabled Electro-Optic Modulators

We intend to utilize our proprietary optical polymer technology to create an initial portfolio of commercial electro-optic polymer product devices with applications for various markets, including telecommunications, data communications and data centers. These product devices will be part of our proprietary photonics integrated circuit (PIC) technology platform.  

We expect our initial modulator products will operate at data rates at least 50 Gbaud (capable of 50 Gbps with standard data encoding of NRZ and 100 Gbps with more complex PAM-4 encoding). Our devices are highly linear, enabling the performance required to take advantage of the more advance complex encoding schemes. We are currently developing our polymer technology to operate at the next industry node of 100Gbaud.

Our Proprietary Products in Development

As part of a two-pronged marketing strategy, our Company is developing several optical devices, which are in various stages of development and that utilize our polymer optical materials. They include:

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Ridge Waveguide Modulator

Our ridge electro-optic waveguide modulator was designed and fabricated in our in-house laboratory. The fabrication of our first in-house device is significant to our entire device program and is an important starting point for modulators that are being developed for target markets. We have multiple generations of new materials that we will soon be optimizing for this specific design. In September 2017 we announced that our initial alpha prototype ridge waveguide modulator, enabled by our P²IC™ polymer system, demonstrated bandwidth performance levels that will enable 50 Gbaud modulation in fiber-optic communications. This device demonstrated true amplitude (intensity) modulation in a Mach-Zehnder modulator structure incorporating our polymer waveguides. This important achievement will allow users to utilize arrays of 4 x 50 Gbaud (4x 100 Gbps) polymer modulators using PAM-4 encoding to access 400 Gbps data rate systems. These ridge waveguide modulators are currently being packaged with our partner into prototype packages. We showed an example packaged modulator at our Annual Shareholders Meeting in May 2018.

These prototype packages will enable potential customers to evaluate the performance at 50 Gbaud. Once a potential customer generates technical feedback on our prototype, we expect to be asked to optimize the performance to their specifications. Assuming this is successful, we expect to enter a qualification phase where our prototypes will be evaluated more fully.

In parallel, we are developing modulators for scalability to higher data rates above 50 Gbaud. In September 2018, we showed in conference presentations the potential of our polymer modulator platform to operate at over 100 GHz bandwidth. This preliminary result corresponds to 100 Gbaud data rates using a simple NRZ data encoding scheme or 200 Gbps with PAM-4 encoding. With 4 channel arrays in our P²IC™ platform, the Company thus has the potential to address both 400 Gbps and 800 Gbps markets. While customers may start the engagement at 50 Gbaud, we believe potential customers recognize that scalability to higher speeds is an important differentiator of the polymer technology.

We believe the ridge waveguide modulator represents our first commercially viable device and targets the fiber optics communications market. We have completed internal market analysis and are initially targeting interconnect reach distances of greater than 10km. In these markets, the system network companies are looking to implement modulator-based transceivers that can handle aggregated data rates 100 Gbps and above. The market opportunity for greater than 10km is worth over $1B over the next decade.

Advanced Modulator Structures

As part of supporting further improvement and scalability of our platform, we continue to explore more advanced device structures. Our functional polymer photonics slot waveguide modulator utilizes an existing modulator structure with one of our proprietary electro-optic polymer material systems as the enabling material layer and is functional as an operating prototype device.

Preliminary testing and initial data on our polymer photonics slot waveguide modulators demonstrated several promising characteristics. The tested polymer photonic chip had a 1-millimeter square footprint, enabling the possibility of sophisticated integrated optical circuits on a single silicon substrate. In addition, the waveguide structure was approximately 1/20 the length of a typical inorganic-based silicon photonics modulator waveguide.

With the combination of our proprietary electro-optic polymer material and the extremely high optical field concentration in the slot waveguide modulator, the test modulators demonstrated less than 2.2 volts to operate. Initial speeds exceeded 30-35 GHz in the telecom, 1550 nanometer frequency band. This is equivalent to 4 x 10Gbps, inorganic, lithium niobate modulators that would require approximately 12-16 volts to move the same amount of information.

We continued with our collaborative development of our polymer photonic slot waveguide modulator in 2014 and continued our collaboration with an associated third-party research group in 2017 and 2018. We are now designing slot modulators to operate at data rates greater than 50 Gbaud.

Our Long-Term Device Development Goal - Multichannel Polymer Photonic Integrated Circuit (P²IC™)

Our P²IC™ platform is positioned to address markets with aggregated data rates of 100 Gbaud, 400 Gbaud, 800 Gbaud and beyond. Our P²IC™ platform will contain a number of photonic devices that may include, over and above polymer-based modulators, photonic devices such as lasers, multiplexers, demultiplexers, detectors, fiber couplers.

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While our polymer-based ridge waveguide and slot modulators are currently under development to be commercially viable products, our long-term device development goal is to produce a platform for the 400 Gbps and beyond transceiver market. This has been stated in our photonics product roadmap that is publicly available on our website. The roadmap shows a progression from: 10 Gbaud ridge waveguide modulators; to 25 Gbaud based ridge waveguide modulators; to 50 Gbaud based ridge waveguide modulators, and potentially 100 Gbaud based ridge waveguide modulators. These modulators are then arrayed to create a multichannel P²IC™ platform for the 100 Gbps, 400 Gbps, 800 Gbps, and potentially 1.6 Tbps aggregated data-rate markets. As the performance of the modulator is capable of up to 100 Gbaud, the next major milestone on our roadmap will be to create a multichannel polymer-based P²IC™ platform for the 400 Gbps market. This will be composed of either 4 channels each carrying 100 Gbps, implemented either with NRZ modulation on 100 Gbaud modulators or PAM-4 modulation on 50 Gbaud modulators.