UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 13D

(Amendment No. 5)

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

VACCINEX, INC.

(Name of Issuer)

Common Stock, Par Value $0.0001 per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

918640 103

(CUSIP Number)

Thomas J. Rice

Baker & McKenzie LLP

452 Fifth Avenue

New York NY 10018

(212) 626-4100

(Name, Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

November 23, 2022

(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)

If the filing person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of §§240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following box  ☐.

Note: Schedules filed in paper format shall include a signed original and five copies of the schedule, including all exhibits. See §240.13d-7 for other parties to whom copies are to be sent.

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be “filed” for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).

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The Statement on Schedule 13D filed on August 24, 2018 (the “Statement”) by FCMI Parent Co. (“FCMI Parent”), FCMI Financial Corporation (“FCMI”), Pan Atlantic Bank and Trust Limited, Friedberg Global-Macro Hedge Fund Ltd. (“G-M Fund”), Friedberg Mercantile Group, Ltd. (“FMG”) and Albert D. Friedberg (collectively, the “Filing Persons” and each, individually, a “Filing Person”), relating to the common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock”) of Vaccinex, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Issuer”), as amended by Amendment No. 1 to the Statement filed July 31, 2019, Amendment No. 2 to the Statement filed January 27, 2020, Amendment No. 3 to the Statement filed July 16, 2020, and Amendment No. 4 to the Statement filed February 14, 2022, is hereby further amended with respect to the matters set forth below in this Amendment. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein have the meanings set forth in the Statement.

Preliminary Note: All Common Stock share amounts and percentage interests in this Schedule 13D (Amendment No. 5) give effect to the 1-for-10 reverse stock split effected by the Issuer on August 7, 2018 in connection with the Issuer’s initial public offering (“IPO”) completed on August 13, 2018.

Item 3 of the Statement is hereby amended by the addition of the following information:

The aggregate amount paid by FCMI Parent for the shares of Common Stock it acquired pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement referred to in Items 4 and 6 below and reported in Item 5 of this Amendment, was approximately $2,000,000.00. FCMI Parent acquired the funds for such purchase from their working capital.

Item 4 of the Statement is hereby amended by the addition of the following information:

FCMI Parent Co. and the Issuer entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement dated November 18, 2022 (the ” Stock Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which, FCMI Parent Co. purchased 3,778,575 shares of Common Stock from the Issuer at a purchase price of $0.5293 per share, resulting in a total purchase price of $1,999,999.75. In the Stock Purchase Agreement, the Issuer states that it intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of the Common Stock to fund the ongoing development and clinical trials of pepinemab, the adopted name for VX15, the Issuer’s lead product candidate, which is being developed for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, osteosarcoma, melanoma and Huntington’s disease. The Issuer will also use such proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes. FCMI Parent acquired the Common Stock reported herein for investment and to support the Issuer’s research and development activities. For additional information regarding the Stock Purchase Agreement, see Item 6.

The Filing Persons do not have any present intention or arrangements to acquire additional shares of Common Stock. The Filing Persons do not have any present intention to sell any Common Stock that will be included in such Registration Statement, and note that their ability to effect dispositions of Common Stock, other than pursuant to the Registration Statement, or prior shelf registration statements filed by the Company, may be limited by their status as “affiliates” of the Issuer.

Subject to the foregoing, the Filing Persons reserve the right to take, in the future, such actions with respect to their investment in the Issuer as they deem appropriate. Except as described herein, the Filing Persons do not have any plans or proposals which relate to, or could result in, any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) through (j), inclusive, of the instructions to Item 4 of Schedule 13D. The Filing Persons may, at any time and from time to time, review or reconsider their position and/or change their purpose and/or formulate plans or proposals with respect thereto.

See the Preliminary Note in Item 1 of this Schedule 13D (Amendment No. 5).

The table in Item 5 of the Statement showing beneficial ownership of the Issuer’s Common Stock by each of the Filing Persons, together with the introductory paragraph to such table and the paragraph immediately following such table, as well as the information regarding ownership of the Issuer’s Common Stock by the directors and officers of the Filing Persons, are hereby amended and restated in their entirety as follows:

On the date of this Schedule 13D (Amendment No. 5), the Filing Persons are the beneficial owners of a total of 19,348,093 shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock, representing 38.8% of the Issuer’s outstanding Common Stock.

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Each Filing Person’s direct ownership and beneficial ownership has been computed as a percentage of 49,876,600 shares outstanding or deemed outstanding. The following table shows the number of shares of Common Stock and the percentage of the Issuer’s Common Stock directly owned and beneficially owned by each Filing Person:

All shares reported as beneficially owned by the Filing Persons are presently outstanding. Mr. Friedberg, directly and through his control over FCMI Parent shares held by members of his family and trusts for the benefit of members of his family, may be considered the beneficial owner of all of the Common Stock beneficially owned by FCMI Parent. By virtue of his control of FCMI Parent, Mr. Friedberg also may be deemed to possess voting and dispositive power over the shares owned directly by its wholly-owned subsidiaries, FCMI and PAHL. By virtue of his control of FMG, which exercises voting and dispositive power over the shares owned directly by G-M Fund, Mr. Friedberg also may be deemed to possess voting and dispositive power over the shares owned directly by G-M Fund.

As of November 23, 2022, Enrique Zauderer, Vice President and a Director of FMG and Mr. Daniel A. Gordon, Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and a Director of FMG, are the beneficial owners of 16,700 shares and 13,621 shares, respectively, of the Issuer’s Common Stock.

Except for (i) the Common Stock beneficially owned by Mr. Friedberg, (ii) the Common Stock beneficially owned by each of Messrs. Zauderer and Gordon, to the knowledge of the Filing Persons, none of the directors or officers of any of the Filing Persons beneficially owns any Common Stock.

Except for FCMI Parent’s purchase of 3,778,575 shares of Common Stock pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement none of the Filing Persons and, to their knowledge, none of their respective directors or officers has effected any transactions in the Issuer’s Common Stock in the 60 days preceding the filing of this Schedule 13D (Amendment No. 5).

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Item 6 of the Statement is hereby amended by the addition of the following information:

Stock Purchase Agreement

FCMI Parent Co. and the Issuer entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement dated November 18, 2022 (the “Stock Purchase Agreement”), pursuant to which, FCMI Parent Co. purchased 3,778,575 shares of Common Stock from the Issuer at a purchase price of $0.5293 per share, resulting in a total purchase price of $1,999,999.75. The closing under the Stock Purchase Agreement occurred on November 23, 2022. The Stock Purchase Agreement contains, among other provisions, certain representations, warranties and agreements by FCMI Parent customarily included in agreements for the issuance and sale of securities without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), including representations and warranties by FCMI Parent with respect to their status as an “accredited investor” within the meaning of Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the 1933 Act, acknowledgment by FCMI Parent that the shares of Common Stock issued pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement constitute “restricted securities” under the 1933 Act, and agreement by FCMI Parent to sell the Common Stock issued pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement only in accordance with either the registration requirements of the 1933 Act or an exemption therefrom, and that certificates evidencing the Common Stock purchased pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement will bear a legend reflecting such resale restrictions. The Issuer made certain representations and warranties to FCMI Parent with respect to, among other matters, its business, its authorization of the issuance of the Common Stock, the compliance in all material respects at the time of filing of the periodic reports and other documents that the Issuer has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the 1933 Act or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as applicable, and the rules and regulations thereunder, the absence (except as disclosed in such SEC filings) of any material adverse change affecting the Issuer, and the preparation and presentation of the Issuer’s financial statements included in its SEC filings. The Stock Purchase Agreement also contains certain customary conditions to FCMI Parent’s obligation to purchase the shares of the Issuer’s Common Stock, including the absence of any stop order or suspension of trading imposed by Nasdaq, the SEC or any other governmental or regulatory body with respect to public trading in the Common Stock.

The foregoing descriptions of certain material provisions of the Stock Purchase Agreement are qualified, in each case, by the full text of such agreements, each of which is an exhibit to this Schedule 13D (Amendment No. 5).

The following document is filed as an exhibit to this Schedule 13D (Amendment No. 5):

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Signatures

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of each of the undersigned’s knowledge and belief, each of the undersigned certify that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

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