As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 20, 2020

Registration No. 333-        

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Aligos Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

2018 Equity Incentive Plan

2020 Incentive Award Plan

2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

(Full Title of the Plan)

Lawrence M. Blatt, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Aligos Therapeutics, Inc.

One Corporate Dr., 2nd Floor

South San Francisco, California 94080

(800) 466-6059

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

Copies to:

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 Exchange Act.

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.     ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Proposed sale to take place as soon after the effective date of the

registration statement as awards under the plans are exercised and/or vest.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

The information called for in Part I of Form S-8 is not being filed with or included in this Form S-8 (by incorporation by reference or otherwise) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

In this registration statement, Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. is sometimes referred to as “Registrant,” “we,” “us” or “our.”

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The SEC allows us to incorporate by reference the information we file with them, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this registration statement, and later information filed with the SEC will update and supersede this information. We hereby incorporate by reference into this registration statement the following documents previously filed with the SEC:

(a) The prospectus filed by the Registrant with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, on October  19, 2020, relating to the registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333-249077), which contains the Registrant’s audited financial statements for the latest fiscal year for which such statements have been filed;

(b) The Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K as filed with the SEC on October 20, 2020; and

(c) The description of the Registrant’s common stock contained in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-39617), filed by the Registrant with the SEC under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), on October 13, 2020 including any amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All documents that the Registrant subsequently files pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to the registration statement which indicates that all of the shares of common stock offered have been sold or which deregisters all of such shares then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to be a part hereof from the date of the filing of such documents, except as to any portion of any future annual or quarterly report to stockholders or document or current report furnished under current Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K, and exhibits furnished on such form that relate to such items, that is not deemed filed under such provisions. For the purposes of this registration statement, any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this registration statement.

Under no circumstances will any information filed under current Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Form 8-K, and exhibits furnished on such form that relate to such items, be deemed incorporated herein by reference unless such Form 8-K expressly provides to the contrary.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not applicable.

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Certain attorneys and investment funds affiliated with Latham & Watkins LLP own an aggregate of less than 1% of Registrant’s Common Stock.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

As permitted by Section 102 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, we have adopted provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”) filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware and our amended and restated bylaws (the “Bylaws”) that limit or eliminate the personal liability of our directors for a breach of their fiduciary duty of care as a director. The duty of care generally requires that, when acting on behalf of the corporation, directors exercise an informed business judgment based on all material information reasonably available to them. Consequently, a director will not be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability for:

These limitations of liability do not affect the availability of equitable remedies such as injunctive relief or rescission. Our Certificate of Incorporation also requires us to indemnify our officers and directors and authorizes us to indemnify our employees and other agents to the fullest extent permitted under Delaware law.

As permitted by Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our Bylaws provide that:

Our Certificate of Incorporation and our Bylaws provide for the indemnification provisions described above and elsewhere herein. We have entered or will enter into, and intend to continue to enter into, separate indemnification agreements with our directors and officers that may be broader than the specific indemnification provisions contained in the Delaware General Corporation Law. These indemnification agreements generally require us, among other things, to indemnify our officers and directors against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers, other than liabilities arising from willful misconduct. These indemnification agreements also generally require us to advance any expenses incurred by the directors or officers as a result of any proceeding against them as to which they could be indemnified. These indemnification provisions and the indemnification agreements may be sufficiently broad to permit indemnification of our officers and directors for liabilities, including reimbursement of expenses incurred, arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act.

We have purchased and currently intend to maintain insurance on behalf of each and every person who is or was a director or officer of the company against any loss arising from any claim asserted against him or her and incurred by him or her in any such capacity, subject to certain exclusions.

Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

Item 8. Exhibits.

Item 9. Undertakings.

1. The Registrant hereby undertakes:

Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this section do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-8 and 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement.

2. The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the 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.

3. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 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 Securities and Exchange 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 Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

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 the City of South San Francisco, State of California, on this 20^th day of October, 2020.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below does hereby constitute and appoint Lawrence M. Blatt, Ph.D., Lesley Ann Calhoun and Lucinda Quan, J.D., and each of them, with full power of substitution and full power to act without the other, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent to act for him or her in his or her 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 this registration statement, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in order to effectuate the same as fully, to all intents and purposes, as they or he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, 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 and on the date indicated.

Exhibit 5.1

		140 Scott Drive Menlo Park, California 94025 Tel: +1.650.328.4600 Fax: +1.650.463.2600 www.lw.com   FIRM / AFFILIATE OFFICES
October 20, 2020		Beijing Boston Brussels Century City Chicago Dubai Düsseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg Hong Kong Houston London Los Angeles Madrid Milan		Moscow Munich New York Orange County Paris Riyadh San Diego San Francisco Seoul Shanghai Silicon Valley Singapore Tokyo Washington, D.C.

Aligos Therapeutics, Inc.

One Corporate Dr., 2nd Floor

South San Francisco, California 94080

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have acted as special counsel to Aligos Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the registration by the Company of 7,091,679 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, of the Company (the “Shares”), issuable under the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”), 2020 Incentive Award Plan (the “2020 Plan”) and 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP” and, together with the 2018 Plan and the 2020 Plan, the “Plans”).

The Shares are included in a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on October 20, 2020 (the “Registration Statement”). This opinion is being furnished in connection with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K under the Act, and no opinion is expressed herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement or the related prospectus, other than as expressly stated herein with respect to the issuance of the Shares.

As such counsel, we have examined such matters of fact and questions of law as we have considered appropriate for purposes of this letter. With your consent, we have relied upon certificates and other assurances of officers of the Company and others as to factual matters without having independently verified such factual matters. We are opining herein as to the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), and we express no opinion with respect to any other laws.

Subject to the foregoing and the other matters set forth herein, it is our opinion that, as of the date hereof, when the Shares shall have been duly registered on the books of the transfer agent and registrar therefor in the name or on behalf of the purchasers and have been issued by

October 20, 2020

Page 2

the Company for legal consideration in excess of par value in the circumstances contemplated by the Plans, assuming in each case that the individual issuances, grants or awards under the Plans are duly authorized by all necessary corporate action and duly issued, granted or awarded and exercised in accordance with the requirements of law, and the applicable Plans (and the agreements and awards duly adopted thereunder and in accordance therewith), the issue and sale of the Shares will have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company, and the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. In rendering the foregoing opinion, we have assumed that the Company will comply with all applicable notice requirements regarding uncertificated shares provided in the DGCL.

This opinion is for your benefit in connection with the Registration Statement and may be relied upon by you and by persons entitled to rely upon it pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Act. We consent to your filing this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

Exhibit 23.2

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement (Form S-8) pertaining to the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, 2020 Incentive Award Plan, and 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan of Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. of our report dated August 25, 2020 (except for the effects of the reverse stock split described in Note 1, as to which the date is October 9, 2020), with respect to the consolidated financial statements of Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. included in its Registration Statement (Form S-1 No. 333-249077) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP                

Redwood City, California

October 20, 2020

A member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited