As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 19, 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

ACHIEVE LIFE SCIENCES, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

1040 West Georgia Street, Suite 1030

Vancouver, BC V6E 4H1

(604) 210-2217

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of Registrant’s principal executive offices)

2018 Equity Incentive Plan

(Full title of the plan)

Richard Stewart

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.

1040 West Georgia Street, Suite 1030

Vancouver, BC V6E 4H1

(604) 210-2217

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

Please send copies of all communications to:

Alan Smith, Esq.

Robert Freedman, Esq.

Amanda Rose, Esq.

Fenwick & West LLP

1191 Second Avenue, Floor 10

Seattle, WA 98101

(206) 389-4510 

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

EXPLANATORY NOTE

REGISTRATION OF ADDITIONAL SHARES PURSUANT TO GENERAL INSTRUCTION E

Pursuant to General Instruction E of Form S-8, Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (the “Registrant”) is filing this Registration Statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) to register 1,500,000 additional shares of common stock under the Registrant’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (“EIP”), in connection with the stockholder approval of an amendment to the 2018 Plan on May 12, 2020.

This Registration Statement hereby incorporates by reference the contents of the Registrant’s registration statements on Form S-8 filed with the Commission on November 7, 2018 (Registration No. 333-228253), May 15, 2019 (Registration No. 333-231520) and January 24, 2020 (Registration No. 333-236059). In accordance with the instructional note to Part I of Form S-8 as promulgated by the Commission, the information specified by Part I of Form S-8 has been omitted from this Registration Statement.

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

The following documents filed by the Registrant with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) are incorporated herein by reference:

All documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the filing of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing such documents, except as to specific sections of such documents as set forth therein. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained in any subsequently filed document which also is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement.

The following exhibits are filed herewith:

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, 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 Vancouver, Province of British Columbia, on this 19th day of May, 2020.

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Richard Stewart and John Bencich, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent with full power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorney-in-fact and agent full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully for all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, or his or her substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the date indicated.