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RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

LFB Biotechnologies

 

On January 30, 2012, we entered into an exclusive license agreement with LFB Biotechnologies, GTC Biotherapeutics and LFB/GTC LLC, all wholly-owned subsidiaries of LFB Group, relating to the development of ublituximab (the “LFB License Agreement”). In connection with the LFB License Agreement, LFB Group was issued 5,000,000 shares of common stock, and a warrant to purchase 2,500,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $0.001 per share. In addition, LFB Group maintained the right to nominate a board member until such time as LFB Group owns less than 10% of the outstanding common stock. As of April 2018, LFB no longer has the right to nominate a board member as LFB’s ownership had fallen below 10% of the outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock.

 

Under the terms of the LFB License Agreement, we utilize LFB Group for certain development and manufacturing services. We incurred approximately $0.2 million, $2.3 million and $8.1 million in expenses for such services during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which have been included in other research and development expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

 

Other Parties

  

In October 2014, we entered into an agreement (the “Office Agreement”) with FBIO to occupy approximately 45% (which shall be adjusted based on utilization as discussed below) of the 24,000 square feet of New York City office space leased by FBIO, which is now our corporate headquarters. The Office Agreement requires us to pay our respective share of the average annual rent and other costs of the 15-year lease. We approximate an average annual rental obligation of $1.1 million under the Office Agreement. We began to occupy this new space in April 2016, with rental payments beginning in the third quarter of 2016. During the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, we recorded rent expense of approximately $1.3 million and $1.2 million, and at December 31, 2018, have deferred rent of approximately $1.5 million. Mr. Weiss, our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is also Executive Vice Chairman of FBIO.

 

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we paid FBIO $0.1 million for our portion of the build-out costs (as required under the Desk Agreement), which have been allocated to us at the 45% rate mentioned above. The allocated build-out costs have been recorded in Leasehold Interest, net on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and will be amortized over the 15-year term of the Office Agreement. After an initial commitment period of the 45% rate for a period of three (3) years, we and FBIO will determine actual office space utilization annually and if our utilization differs from the amount we have been billed, we will either receive credits or be assessed incremental utilization charges. Also in connection with this lease, in October 2014 we pledged $0.6 million to secure a line of credit as a security deposit for the Office Agreement, which has been recorded as restricted cash in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Additional collateral of $0.6 million was pledged in April 2018 to increase the letter of credit for the office space.

 

In July 2015, we entered into a Shared Services Agreement (the “Shared Services Agreement”) with FBIO to share the cost of certain services such as facilities use, personnel costs and other overhead and administrative costs. This Shared Services Agreement requires us to pay our respective share of services utilized. In connection with the Shared Services Agreement, we incurred expenses of approximately $1.6 million, $1.2 million and $0.8 million for shared services for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, primarily related to shared personnel.

 

In May 2016, as part of a broader agreement with Jubilant, an India-based biotechnology company, we entered into a sublicense agreement with Checkpoint, a subsidiary of FBIO, for the development and commercialization of Jubilant’s novel BET inhibitor program in the field of hematological malignancies. We paid Checkpoint an up-front licensing fee of $1.0 million in July 2016 and incurred expenses of $0.2 million in March 2017 for the first milestone achievement as part of the JBET Agreement which is recorded in other research and development in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations.

 

In March 2015, we entered into a Global Collaboration Agreement (“Collaboration Agreement”) with Checkpoint for the development and commercialization of anti-PD-L1 and anti-GITR antibody research programs in the field of hematological malignancies. We incurred expenses of approximately $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 related mainly to manufacturing costs of PD-L1, while no costs were incurred during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016. The relevant expenses are recorded in other research and development in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations.