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): June 11, 2021

Akoya Biosciences, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(855) 896-8401

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

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 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company   x      

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.   ¨

Effective June 11, 2021, the board of directors (the “Board”) of Akoya Biosciences Inc. (the “Company”) approved an increase in the size of the Board from six (6) directors to seven (7) directors and elected Scott Mendel as a member of the Board’s third class of directors. In connection with the foregoing Board changes, on June 11, 2021, the Board determined to reconstitute its committees as follows:

Mr. Mendel has over 25 years of financial and operational leadership experience. Mr. Mendel served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors at GenMark Diagnostics, Inc. (“Genmark”), a molecular diagnostics company from May 2020 until its acquisition by Roche in April 2021. From May 2014 to May 2020, Mr. Mendel also served in various roles of ascending responsibility with GenMark, including as interim Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining GenMark, Mr. Mendel served as the Chief Financial Officer of The Active Network, Inc., a global software as a service (SaaS) company that provides technology to organizers of events and activities, from March 2010 through its acquisition by the private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners in December 2013. Prior to joining The Active Network, Mr. Mendel held finance positions at General Electric, a diversified technology, media and financial services company, for over 20 years, including chief financial officer from March 2003 to March 2010 for General Electric’s Healthcare IT division, a leading provider of medical technologies and services. Mr. Mendel earned a B.S. in finance from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The Board believes Mr. Mendel’s financial expertise and experience in the medical technology industry qualify him to serve as a director.

There is no arrangement or understanding between Mr. Mendel and any other person pursuant to which she or he was selected as a director of the Company, and there is no family relationship between Mr. Mendel and any of the Company’s other directors or executive officers.

Mr. Mendel will enter into the Company’s standard form of indemnification agreement with the Company, which will provide indemnification protection for Mr. Mendel in connection with his service as a member of the Board. 

The Board has determined that Mr. Mendel is an “independent director” as defined in the NASDAQ listing standards and applicable SEC rules. There are no transactions between the Company and Mr. Mendel that are subject to disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

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.