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LICENSE AND COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
LICENSE AGREEMENTS [Abstract]  
LICENSE AND COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS LICENSE AND COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS
The Company licenses certain technologies that are, or may be, incorporated into its technology under several license agreements, as well as the rights to commercialize certain diagnostic tests through collaboration agreements. Generally, the license agreements require the Company to pay single-digit royalties based on net revenues received using the technologies and may require minimum royalty amounts, milestone payments, or maintenance fees.
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
In June 2009, the Company entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (“Mayo”), under which Mayo granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide license to certain Mayo patents and patent applications, as well as a non-exclusive, worldwide license with regard to certain Mayo know-how. The scope of the license covers any screening, surveillance or diagnostic test or tool for use in connection with any type of cancer, pre-cancer, disease or condition. The Company’s license agreement with Mayo was most recently amended and restated in September 2020.
The licensed Mayo patents and patent applications contain both method and composition claims that relate to sample processing, analytical testing and data analysis associated with nucleic acid screening for cancers and other diseases. The jurisdictions covered by these patents and patent applications include the U.S., Australia, Canada, the European Union, China, Japan and Korea. Under the license agreement, the Company assumed the obligation and expense of prosecuting and maintaining the licensed Mayo patents and is obligated to make commercially reasonable efforts to bring to market products using the licensed Mayo intellectual property.
Pursuant to the Company’s agreement with Mayo, the Company is required to pay Mayo a low-single-digit royalty on the Company’s net sales of current and future products using the licensed Mayo intellectual property each year during the term of the Mayo agreement.
The Company is also required to pay Mayo up to $3.0 million in sales-based milestone payments upon cumulative net sales of each product using the licensed Mayo intellectual property reaching specified levels.
The license agreement will remain in effect, unless earlier terminated by the parties in accordance with the agreement, until the last of the licensed patents expires in 2039 (or later, if certain licensed patent applications are issued). However, if the Company is still using the licensed Mayo know-how or certain Mayo-provided biological specimens or their derivatives on such expiration date, the term shall continue until the earlier of the date the Company stops using such know-how and materials and the date that is five years after the last licensed patent expires. The license agreement contains customary termination provisions and permits Mayo to terminate the license agreement if the Company sues Mayo or its affiliates, other than any such suit claiming an uncured material breach by Mayo of the license agreement.
In addition to granting the Company a license to the covered Mayo intellectual property, Mayo provides the Company with product development and research and development assistance pursuant to the license agreement and other collaborative arrangements. In September 2020, Mayo also agreed to make available certain personnel to provide such assistance through January 2025. In connection with this collaboration, the Company has incurred insignificant charges for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The charges incurred in connection with this collaboration are recorded in research and development expenses in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations.
Johns Hopkins University
Through the acquisition of Thrive, the Company acquired a worldwide exclusive license agreement with Johns Hopkins University (“JHU”) for use of several JHU patents and licensed know-how. The license is designed to enable the Company to leverage JHU intellectual property in the development and commercialization of a blood-based, multi-cancer screening test. The agreement terms would require the Company to pay single-digit sales-based royalties and up to $45.0 million in sales-based milestone payments for each JHU licensed product that reaches specified net sales levels. The Company will record the sales-based royalties once sales of licensed products have occurred and sales-based milestones once achievement is deemed probable. The Company has not incurred charges related to the achievement of any sales-based royalties or sales-based milestones as of September 30, 2024.
Targeted Digital Sequencing (“TARDIS”) License Agreement
In January 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive, worldwide license to the proprietary TARDIS technology from The Translational Genomics Research Institute (“TGen”). Under the agreement, the Company acquired a royalty-free, worldwide exclusive license to proprietary TARDIS patents and know-how. Under the agreement, the Company was obligated to make milestone payments to TGen of up to $45.0 million in sales-based milestone payments upon cumulative net sales related to molecular residual disease (“MRD”) detection and/or treatment reaching specified levels. These payments were contingent upon achievement of these cumulative revenues on or before December 31, 2030, which was not achieved prior to the termination.
Effective May 1, 2024, the Company entered into termination agreements (the “Termination Agreements”) with TGen for the purpose of terminating the license and sponsored research agreement relating to the TARDIS technology and an additional sponsored research agreement with a broader scope (collectively, the “Original Agreements”). As part of the Termination Agreements, the Company will pay TGen $27.6 million in compensation for the termination of the Original Agreements, which will be allocated into three annual installments of $9.2 million per year beginning in the second quarter of 2024. The fair value of the termination payments as of the date of the Termination Agreements was $25.8 million, which was recorded as research and development expense in the condensed consolidated statement of operations in the second quarter of 2024. The remaining $1.8 million in expense is being recognized ratably through the date of the final payment in the second quarter of 2026. The Company has recorded a liability of $17.1 million representing the fair value of the remaining payments, of which $8.8 million is included in accrued liabilities and $8.3 million is included in other long-term liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 2024. The termination payments eliminate the Company’s obligation to pay TGen any further payments, equities, fees, costs, or other amounts that would have been due under the Original Agreements, including the milestone payments. The Company’s ongoing development efforts for its pipeline tests are not impacted by the Termination Agreements.
Broad Institute, Inc.
In June 2023, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with Broad Institute, Inc. (“Broad Institute”) to utilize the Minor Allele Enriched Sequencing Through Recognition Oligonucleotides (“MAESTRO”) technology in the Company’s MRD testing. Under the license agreement, the Company is obligated to make development milestone payments to Broad Institute of up to $6.5 million upon achievement of certain development milestones related to prospective MRD tests that use the MAESTRO technology. In addition, the Company is obligated to make sales-based milestone payments to Broad Institute that equate up to a mid-single-digit royalty upon the achievement of certain cumulative net sales targets of licensed products using the MAESTRO technology beginning at $500.0 million. The Company will record the development milestones once achieved and the sales milestones once achievement is deemed probable. The Company has not incurred charges related to the achievement of development milestones or sales milestones as of September 30, 2024.
Watchmaker Genomics, Inc.
In July 2023, the Company entered into a co-exclusive development and license agreement with Watchmaker Genomics, Inc. (“Watchmaker”) under which the Company granted Watchmaker a co-exclusive license to the non-bisulfite technology for the detection of methylated DNA and other epigenetic modifications (“TAPS”). TAPS is based on patents obtained by the Company through an exclusive license agreement with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Under the agreement, both parties have the right to use and develop TAPS for commercial purposes. The Company has the potential to receive up to $82.0 million in sales-based milestone payments and mid-single-digit royalties based on future Watchmaker net sales of licensed products including TAPS. Additionally, Watchmaker has the right to sublicense TAPS, and the Company has the potential to receive royalties based on future Watchmaker sublicense receipts.
TwinStrand Biosciences, Inc.
On July 1, 2024, the Company entered into an agreement with TwinStrand Biosciences, Inc. (“TwinStrand”), under which TwinStrand licensed to the Company intellectual property related to the error correction technology in next-generation sequencing. The Company’s rights are broadly exclusive with respect to cell-free nucleic acid sequencing, subject to certain non-exclusive relationships in the field. Under the license agreement, the Company made upfront payments to TwinStrand totaling $45.0 million in July 2024. The upfront payments were capitalized as a patent and license intangible asset in the condensed consolidated balance sheet, which is amortized through amortization of acquired intangible assets in the condensed consolidated statement of operations over its estimated useful life of 10 years. In addition, the Company agreed to pay TwinStrand a low-single-digit royalty on the Company’s net sales of certain licensed products and services. The Company will record the sales-based royalties once sales using relevant licensed products and services have occurred. The Company has not incurred charges related to the sales-based royalties as of September 30, 2024.