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License and Collaboration Agreements
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
License and Collaboration Agreements

12. License and Collaboration Agreements

 

Sobi License and Collaboration Agreement

In October 2020, the Company and its subsidiaries Apellis International GmbH (f/k/a Apellis Switzerland GmbH) and APL DEL Holdings, LLC entered into a Collaboration and License Agreement with Sobi, concerning the development and commercialization of pegcetacoplan and specified other structurally and functionally similar compstatin analogues or derivatives for use systemically or for local non-ophthalmological administration (collectively referred to as the “Licensed Products”).

Under the Sobi collaboration agreement, the Company granted Sobi an exclusive (subject to certain retained rights of the Company), sublicensable license of certain patent rights and know-how to develop and commercialize Licensed Products in all countries outside of the United States.

The Company retains the right to commercialize Licensed Products in the United States, and, subject to specified limitations, to develop Licensed Products worldwide for commercialization in the United States.

Under the Sobi collaboration agreement, the Company and Sobi have agreed to collaborate to develop Licensed Products for the treatment of PNH, CAD, HSCT-TMA, C3G, IC-MPGN and ALS, or collectively the “Initial Indications”, and any other indications subsequently agreed upon by the parties, for commercialization by or on behalf of the Company in the United States and by or on behalf of Sobi outside of the United States. If the parties do not agree to jointly pursue any development activities for the Licensed Products (whether for an Initial Indication or otherwise), the party proposing to pursue such activities may conduct such activities at its sole expense (with the non-proposing party having the right to obtain rights to the data generated by such development activities by paying a specified percentage of that expense), subject to agreed-upon exceptions that limit each party’s unilateral development rights.

The initial development plan sets forth the initial development activities to be conducted by each of the Company and Sobi, with the Company bearing all costs incurred in conducting the activities set forth in such initial development plan, as well as certain specified additional costs that are not included in the initial development plan that may be incurred by the parties in developing Licensed Products for PNH in the European Union and the United Kingdom. The Company and Sobi have formed several governance committees to oversee the development and manufacture, and to review and discuss the commercialization, of Licensed Products. The Company and SOBI have discontinued to development programs in ALS and CAD.

The Company shall supply Licensed Products to Sobi for development and for commercialization outside of the United States in accordance with a supply agreement to be negotiated by the parties. The collaboration agreement grants Sobi the right to perform or have performed drug product manufacturing of Licensed Products for development and for commercialization outside the United States and to manufacture or have manufactured drug substance under certain circumstances.

Sobi paid the Company an upfront payment of $250.0 million in November 2020 and has agreed to pay up to an aggregate of $915.0 million upon the achievement of specified one-time regulatory and commercial milestone events, of which the Company received $50.0 million in April 2022 for the achievement of a regulatory development milestone in Europe and $5.0 million in October 2023 for the achievement of a regulatory development milestone in Japan. Sobi also agreed to reimburse the Company for up to $80.0 million in development costs, of which the Company received $25.0 million in January 2021, $20.0 million in January 2022 and $20.0 million in January 2023. In January 2024, the Company waived the remaining reimbursement payment of $15.0 million in connection with the to discontinue the CAD program. The Company is also entitled to receive tiered, double-digit royalties (ranging from high teens to high twenties) on sales of Licensed Products outside of the United States, subject to customary deductions and third-party payment obligations, until the latest to occur of: (i) expiration of the last-to-expire of specified licensed patent rights; (ii) expiration of regulatory exclusivity; and (iii) ten (10) years after the first commercial sale of the applicable Licensed Product, in each case on a Licensed Product-by-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis. The Company received $10.0 million in royalties from Sobi during 2023. Under the Sobi collaboration agreement, the Company remains responsible for its license fee obligations (including royalty obligations) to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”), as a licensor of the Company and for its payment obligations to SFJ.

Sobi Accounting Analysis

The Company has determined that the agreement is within the scope of ASC 808 as a contractual arrangement that involves a joint operating activity whereby both parties are (i) active participants in the activity and (ii) exposed to certain significant risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of the activity. ASC Topic 808 does not address measurement or recognition matters but allows for analogizing to ASC 606. Pursuant to ASC 606, the Company performed the following five steps: (i) identified the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identified the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determined the transaction price; (iv) allocated the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognized revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

The Company identified the following material distinct promises under the Sobi Agreement: (1) licenses to develop and commercialize pegcetacoplan or, Licenses to IP, and (2) performance of research and development services. The Company determined the promises to be distinct because Sobi can benefit from each of the license and the development services on their own or with readily available services. The Company could have provided the license without any development services and Sobi would have been able to benefit from it by obtaining development services from another provider as the Licensed Products are at a more mature stage in their life cycle.

Under the agreement, Sobi agreed to pay the Company

i)
a fixed amount of $250.0 million in an upfront payment in November 2020;
ii)
a fixed amount of an additional $80.0 million in development reimbursements, payable yearly in four tranches in amounts determined based upon actual expenses incurred by the Company;
iii)
up to an aggregate of $915.0 million upon the achievement of specified one-time regulatory and commercial milestone events; and
iv)
tiered, double-digit royalties, ranging from high teens to high twenties, on sales of Licensed Products outside of the United States, subject to customary deductions and third-party payment obligations.

At contract inception, the $250.0 million non-refundable payment and the $80.0 million reimbursements were fixed proceeds. The Company evaluated whether Sobi is a customer for either of the distinct promises in the agreement. Under the Licenses to IP, the Company determined that Sobi is a customer as the know-how provided and the right granted by the Company to Sobi are outputs of the Company’s business activities for which the Company will receive consideration. With respect to research and development activity, management determined that there is no vendor relationship as performing research and development activities for others is not a part of the Company’s ongoing central operations. Based upon the evaluation of the relative fair values, the Company allocated the purchase price of $250.0 million and the related milestones and royalties to the license of IP and $80.0 million to performance of research and development activities.

The milestone and royalty payments are subject to activities outside the control of the Company. Per ASC 606, the Company considers this to be a customer/ vendor relationship, therefore, the Company will include the regulatory milestone payments in the total transaction price when it is probable that a significant reversal of revenue would not occur in a future period. The Company will recognize commercial milestone and royalty revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur or (ii) when the performance obligation to which the commercial milestone or royalty has been allocated has been satisfied. In case of commercial milestone or royalty payments, the Company will recognize revenue in the same period that the sales are completed for which the Company is contractually entitled to the milestone or percentage-based royalty payment. Management will periodically assess the elements of the contract and re-evaluate revenue recognition as necessary.

Pursuant to ASC 606, during the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company has recognized the $250.0 million in revenue as this is the amount allocated to the license. The $80.0 million reimbursement for research and development activities does not constitute a customer/vendor relationship and thus is not in the scope of ASC 606. As ASC 808 does not include recognition guidance, the Company has established an accounting policy to recognize the payments under the reimbursement as a receivable on the balance sheet in an amount that is to be reimbursed based upon expense incurred by the Company, with a contra- research and development expense recognized in the statement of operations, over time as the expenses are incurred.

Under the Sobi collaboration agreement, for the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recognized $10.0 million of royalty revenue. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recognized $3.0 million of royalty revenue. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company did not recognize any contra-research and development expense in the consolidated statement of operations related to the $80.0 million reimbursement commitment from Sobi. For the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recognized $5.0 million for contra-research and development expense in the consolidated statement of operations related to the $80.0 million reimbursement commitment from Sobi.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company recorded $15.0 million in current assets, which represents the receivable for contra-research and development expenses incurred but not yet reimbursed from Sobi. The total receivable balance as of December 31, 2023 was for contra-research and development expenses incurred but not yet reimbursed from Sobi. In January 2024, the Company waived the remaining reimbursement payment of $15.0 million in connection with the decision to discontinue the CAD program.

As of December 31, 2022, the Company recorded a receivable of $35.0 million, with $20.0 million in other current assets and $15.0 million in other assets on the consolidated balance sheet. The total receivable balance as of December 31, 2022 is for contra-research and development expenses incurred but not yet reimbursed from Sobi. The Company received the $20.0 million recorded in other current assets in January 2023.

 

University of Pennsylvania License Agreement

 

The Company is a party to a license agreement with the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) for an exclusive, worldwide license to specified patent rights. The Company is required to pay annual maintenance fees of $0.1 million until the first sale of a licensed product. The Company is also required to make milestone payments aggregating up to $3.2 million based upon the achievement of specified development and regulatory milestones and up to $5.0 million based upon the achievement of specified annual sales milestones with respect to each licensed product, and to pay low single-digit royalties based on net sales of each licensed product and with minimum quarterly royalty thresholds. In addition, the Company is obligated to pay a specified portion of income it receives from sublicensees.

 

In April 2023, the Company paid $2.3 million for the achievement of a regulatory milestone as a result of the FDA approval of SYFOVRE in February 2023. In 2023 the Company incurred $5.0 million as a result of the achievement of sales milestones for SYFOVRE of which $2.0 million the Company paid in October 2023 and remaining of $3.0 million is accrued for as of December 31, 2023.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company has incurred an aggregate royalty expense of $8.9 million on sales of SYFOVRE.

 

In addition, the Company is also party to a license agreement with Penn for an exclusive, worldwide license to specified patent rights for the development and commercialization of products in fields of use, as defined therein. The Company is required to pay annual maintenance fees of $0.1 million until the first sale of a licensed product. The Company is required to make milestone payments aggregating up to $1.7 million, based upon the achievement of development and regulatory approval milestones, and up to $2.5 million, based upon the achievement of annual sales milestones with respect to each of the first two licensed products. The license agreement also requires the Company to pay low single digit royalties based on net sales of each licensed product, subject to minimum quarterly royalty thresholds. In addition, the Company is obligated to pay a specified portion of income it receives from sublicensees.

 

In January 2021, the Company paid $25.0 million for sublicense fee owed to Penn related to the Sobi Agreement and another licensing transaction. In August 2021, the Company paid $1.0 million to Penn upon the achievement of a development milestone, net of a credit for the annual license maintenance payment. In June 2022, the Company paid an additional $5.0 million to Penn upon the achievement of a development milestone. In January 2023, the Company paid $1.0 million to Penn upon the achievement of a sales milestone for EMPAVELI in 2022. As December 31, 2023, the Company recorded in accrued expenses $0.5 million for a sublicense fee owed to Penn related to Sobi obtaining regulatory approval in Japan. Additionally, as of December 31, 2023, the Company recorded in accrued expenses $1.5 million as a result of the achievement of a sales milestone for EMPAVELI and Aspaveli.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company has incurred an aggregate royalty expense of $7.9 million on sales of EMPAVELI and Aspaveli.

 

Beam Research Collaboration

 

In June 2021, the Company entered into an exclusive five-year research collaboration with Beam Therapeutics, Inc. (“Beam”) focused on the use of Beam’s proprietary base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement-driven diseases. The Company and Beam agreed to collaborate on up to six research programs focused on C3 and other complement targets in the eye, liver and brain. Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Apellis is responsible for selecting specific genes within the complement system in various organs including the eye, liver and brain (the “Target List”) and providing analytical support while Beam will apply its base editing technology and conduct preclinical research on up to six base editing programs for the Target List. During the first five years of the collaboration agreement, Beam is prohibited from developing on its own or with a third party any base editing therapies associated with the items on the Target List but does not prevent Beam from licensing its intellectual property to a third-party for another purpose outside of the Target List. The Company will have exclusive rights to license each of the six programs and will assume responsibility for subsequent development and commercialization. Beam may elect to enter a 50-50 co-development and U.S. co-commercialization agreement with the Company with respect to any one program licensed under the collaboration and upon such election any license agreement in place at that time, would be terminated.

 

As part of the Beam collaboration agreement, the Company agreed to pay a $50.0 million up-front, non-refundable payment to Beam, which the Company paid in July 2021. In June 2022, the Company paid $25.0 million, which was recorded as a cost of research collaboration expense for the year ended December 31, 2021, as it was considered probable of achievement. The Company and Beam are each responsible for their own costs during the research collaboration. If and after the opt-in license rights are exercised for each of the up to six programs, Beam will be eligible to receive development, regulatory and sales milestones from the Company, as well as royalty payments on sales. The Beam collaboration agreement has an initial term of five years and may be extended up to two years on a per year program-by-program basis.

 

The Company analyzed the research collaboration agreement pursuant to ASC 808 to assess whether the agreement involved joint operating activities performed by parties that are both active participants in the activities and exposed to significant risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of such activities. Since each party is actively participating in this activity and exposed to significant risks and rewards related to the activity through each party’s costs will be accounted for under ASC 808.

 

Since ASC 808 does not provide recognition guidance, the Company referred to the guidance under ASC 730 to arrangements involving payments by the Company. ASC 730 requires the Company to recognize research and developments costs as expense as incurred since the payment was made for the use of Beam’s intellectual property and research and development services and there is no alternative use.