Option Agreements and License Agreements	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Option Agreements and License Agreements [Abstract]
Option Agreements and License Agreements	10. Option Agreements and License Agreements Option Agreements – Paragon Therapeutics In March 2024, the Company entered into two antibody discovery and option agreements (“Option Agreements”) with Paragon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Paragon”) and Paruka. Under the terms of each agreement, Paragon identifies, evaluates, and develops antibodies directed against certain mutually agreed therapeutic targets of interest to the Company. From time to time, the Company can choose to add additional targets to the collaboration upon agreement with Paragon and Paruka. Under the Option Agreements, the Company has the exclusive option to, on a research program-by-research program basis, be granted an exclusive, worldwide license to all of Paragon’s right, title, and interest in and to the intellectual property resulting from the applicable research program to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the antibodies and products directed to the selected target(s). The Company has initiated certain research programs with Paragon that generally focus on discovering, generating, identifying and/or characterizing antibodies directed to a particular target (each, a “Research Program”), including for IL-23 and IL-17A/F for ORKA-001 and ORKA-002, respectively. The exclusive option with respect to each Research Program is exercisable at the Company’s sole discretion at such time as specified in the Option Agreements (the “Option Period”). There is no payment due upon exercise of an Option pursuant to the Option Agreements. For each of these agreements, once the Company enters into the corresponding license agreements, it will be required to make non-refundable milestone payments to Paragon of up to $12.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain clinical development milestones, up to $10.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain regulatory milestones, as well as a low single-digit percentage royalty for antibody products beginning on the first commercial sale in each program. The Company may terminate any Option Agreement or any Research Program at any time for any or no reason upon 30 days’ prior written notice to Paragon, provided that it must pay certain unpaid fees due to Paragon upon such termination, as well as any non-cancellable obligations reasonably incurred by Paragon in connection with its activities under any terminated Research Program. Paragon may terminate any Option Agreement or a Research Program immediately upon written notice to the Company if, as a result of any action or failure to act by the Company or its affiliates, such Research Program or all material activities under the applicable Research Plan are suspended, discontinued or otherwise delayed for a certain consecutive number of months. Each party has the right to terminate the Option Agreements or any Research Program upon material breach that remains uncured or the other party’s bankruptcy. License Agreements – Paragon Therapeutics In September 2024, the Company exercised its exclusive option to acquire certain rights to ORKA-001, and in December 2024, it entered into a corresponding license agreement with Paragon (the “ORKA-001 License Agreement”), pursuant to which Paragon granted the Company a royalty-bearing, world-wide, exclusive license to develop, manufacture, commercialize or otherwise exploit certain antibodies and products targeting IL-23 in all fields other than the field of inflammatory bowel disease (“ORKA-001 Field”). In December 2024, the Company exercised its exclusive option to acquire certain rights to ORKA-002, and in February 2025, it entered into the corresponding license agreement with Paragon (the “ORKA-002 License Agreement” and together with the ORKA-001 License Agreement, the “License Agreements”), pursuant to which Paragon granted the Company a royalty-bearing, world-wide, exclusive license to develop, manufacture, commercialize or otherwise exploit certain antibodies and products targeting IL-17A/F in all fields (“ORKA-002 Field” and together with the ORKA-001 Field, the “Fields”). Pursuant to each of the two License Agreements, Paragon has agreed not to conduct any new campaigns that generate anti-IL-23 monospecific antibodies or anti-IL-17A/F monospecific antibodies in the respective agreed-upon fields. The License Agreements provide the Company with exclusive licenses in the Fields to Paragon’s patent applications covering the related antibodies, their method of use and their method of manufacture and Paragon has agreed not to conduct any new campaigns that generate anti-IL-23 monospecific antibodies or anti-IL-17A/F monospecific antibodies for the ORKA-001 Field or the ORKA-002 Field, respectively, for at least five years. Each of the License Agreements may be terminated on 60 days’ notice to Paragon, on material breach without cure, and on a party’s insolvency or bankruptcy to the extent permitted by law. Pursuant to the terms of each of the License Agreements, the Company is obligated to pay Paragon non-refundable milestone payments of up to $12.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain clinical development milestones and up to $10.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain regulatory milestones. In addition, the Company is obligated to pay Paragon a low single-digit percentage royalty for antibody products for each of ORKA-001 and ORKA-002. For each of the License Agreements, the royalty term ends on the later of (i) the last-to-expire licensed patent or our patent directed to the manufacture, use or sale of a licensed antibody in the country at issue or (ii) 12 years from the date of first sale of a Company product. There is also a royalty step-down if there is no Paragon patent in effect during the royalty term for each program. Each of the License Agreements may be terminated on 60 days’ notice to Paragon, on material breach without cure, and on a party’s insolvency or bankruptcy to the extent permitted by law. As of March 31, 2025, the Company has incurred and expensed milestone payments of $4.0 million and $1.5 million for ORKA-001 License Agreement and ORKA-002 License Agreement, respectively. Additionally, as part of the Option Agreements, on December 31, 2024 the Company granted and on December 31, 2025, will grant Paruka a warrant to purchase a number of shares equal to 1.00% of outstanding shares as of the date of the grant on a fully-diluted basis, with an exercise price equal to the fair market value of the underlying shares on the grant date. Pursuant to the Option Agreements, on a research program-by-research program basis following the finalization of the research plan for each respective research program, the Company is required to pay certain initiation fees, development costs and milestone payments to Paragon. For the ORKA-001 program, the Company recognized research and development expenses related to the following milestones during the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to December 31, 2024: a one-time, nonrefundable research initiation fee of $0.8 million; $1.5 million related to exercising its option and achievement of development candidate; and $2.5 million related to completing the first dosing of a human subject in a Phase 1 trial. The Company was responsible for 50% of the development costs incurred through the completion of the IL-23 selection process which was completed in June 2024. For the ORKA-002 program, the Company recognized research and development expenses related to the following milestones during the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to December 31, 2024: a one-time, nonrefundable research initiation fee of $0.8 million and $1.5 million related to exercising its option and achievement of development candidate. The Company was responsible for the development costs incurred through the completion of the IL-23 selection process which was completed in December 2024. Pursuant to the Option Agreements, during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to March 31, 2024, the Company’s share of development costs incurred for ORKA-001 program for the periods were nil and $0.8 million, respectively, which were recorded as research and development expenses. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, nil and $2.8 million, respectively, related to ORKA-001 were included in related party accounts payable and other current liabilities. Pursuant to the Option Agreements, the Company recognized $0.1 million and $4.2 million as research and development expenses for ORKA-002 program during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to March 31, 2024, respectively. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, $0.1 million and $2.7 million, respectively, related to ORKA-002 were included in related party accounts payable and other current liabilities. For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to March 31, 2024, the Company recognized $1.5 million and $5.0 million, respectively, of expenses in connection with services provided by Paragon and Paruka under the Option Agreements. The Company expenses the service fees as the associated costs are incurred when the underlying services are rendered. Such amounts are classified within research and development expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The Company concluded that the rights obtained under the Option Agreements represent an asset acquisition whereby the underlying assets comprise in-process research and development assets with no alternative future use. The Option Agreements did not qualify as a business combination because substantially all of the fair value of the assets acquired was concentrated in the exclusive license options, which represent a group of similar identifiable assets. The research initiation fee represents a one-time cost on a research program-by-research program basis for accessing research services or resources with benefits that are expected to be consumed in the near term, therefore the amounts paid are expensed as part of research and development costs immediately. Amounts paid as reimbursements of ongoing development cost, monthly development cost fee and additional development expenses incurred by Paragon due to work completed for selected targets prior to the effective date of the Option Agreements that is associated with services being rendered under the related Research Programs are recognized as research and development expense when incurred.

Option Agreements and License Agreements

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2025

Option Agreements and License Agreements [Abstract]

Option Agreements and License Agreements

10. Option Agreements and License Agreements

Option Agreements – Paragon Therapeutics

In March 2024, the Company entered into two antibody discovery and option agreements (“Option Agreements”) with Paragon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Paragon”) and Paruka. Under the terms of each agreement, Paragon identifies, evaluates, and develops antibodies directed against certain mutually agreed therapeutic targets of interest to the Company. From time to time, the Company can choose to add additional targets to the collaboration upon agreement with Paragon and Paruka. Under the Option Agreements, the Company has the exclusive option to, on a research program-by-research program basis, be granted an exclusive, worldwide license to all of Paragon’s right, title, and interest in and to the intellectual property resulting from the applicable research program to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the antibodies and products directed to the selected target(s). The Company has initiated certain research programs with Paragon that generally focus on discovering, generating, identifying and/or characterizing antibodies directed to a particular target (each, a “Research Program”), including for IL-23 and IL-17A/F for ORKA-001 and ORKA-002, respectively. The exclusive option with respect to each Research Program is exercisable at the Company’s sole discretion at such time as specified in the Option Agreements (the “Option Period”). There is no payment due upon exercise of an Option pursuant to the Option Agreements. For each of these agreements, once the Company enters into the corresponding license agreements, it will be required to make non-refundable milestone payments to Paragon of up to $12.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain clinical development milestones, up to $10.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain regulatory milestones, as well as a low single-digit percentage royalty for antibody products beginning on the first commercial sale in each program.

The Company may terminate any Option Agreement or any Research Program at any time for any or no reason upon 30 days’ prior written notice to Paragon, provided that it must pay certain unpaid fees due to Paragon upon such termination, as well as any non-cancellable obligations reasonably incurred by Paragon in connection with its activities under any terminated Research Program. Paragon may terminate any Option Agreement or a Research Program immediately upon written notice to the Company if, as a result of any action or failure to act by the Company or its affiliates, such Research Program or all material activities under the applicable Research Plan are suspended, discontinued or otherwise delayed for a certain consecutive number of months. Each party has the right to terminate the Option Agreements or any Research Program upon material breach that remains uncured or the other party’s bankruptcy.

License Agreements – Paragon Therapeutics

In September 2024, the Company exercised its exclusive option to acquire certain rights to ORKA-001, and in December 2024, it entered into a corresponding license agreement with Paragon (the “ORKA-001 License Agreement”), pursuant to which Paragon granted the Company a royalty-bearing, world-wide, exclusive license to develop, manufacture, commercialize or otherwise exploit certain antibodies and products targeting IL-23 in all fields other than the field of inflammatory bowel disease (“ORKA-001 Field”). In December 2024, the Company exercised its exclusive option to acquire certain rights to ORKA-002, and in February 2025, it entered into the corresponding license agreement with Paragon (the “ORKA-002 License Agreement” and together with the ORKA-001 License Agreement, the “License Agreements”), pursuant to which Paragon granted the Company a royalty-bearing, world-wide, exclusive license to develop, manufacture, commercialize or otherwise exploit certain antibodies and products targeting IL-17A/F in all fields (“ORKA-002 Field” and together with the ORKA-001 Field, the “Fields”). Pursuant to each of the two License Agreements, Paragon has agreed not to conduct any new campaigns that generate anti-IL-23 monospecific antibodies or anti-IL-17A/F monospecific antibodies in the respective agreed-upon fields.

The License Agreements provide the Company with exclusive licenses in the Fields to Paragon’s patent applications covering the related antibodies, their method of use and their method of manufacture and Paragon has agreed not to conduct any new campaigns that generate anti-IL-23 monospecific antibodies or anti-IL-17A/F monospecific antibodies for the ORKA-001 Field or the ORKA-002 Field, respectively, for at least five years. Each of the License Agreements may be terminated on 60 days’ notice to Paragon, on material breach without cure, and on a party’s insolvency or bankruptcy to the extent permitted by law.

Pursuant to the terms of each of the License Agreements, the Company is obligated to pay Paragon non-refundable milestone payments of up to $12.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain clinical development milestones and up to $10.0 million under each respective agreement upon the achievement of certain regulatory milestones. In addition, the Company is obligated to pay Paragon a low single-digit percentage royalty for antibody products for each of ORKA-001 and ORKA-002. For each of the License Agreements, the royalty term ends on the later of (i) the last-to-expire licensed patent or our patent directed to the manufacture, use or sale of a licensed antibody in the country at issue or (ii) 12 years from the date of first sale of a Company product. There is also a royalty step-down if there is no Paragon patent in effect during the royalty term for each program. Each of the License Agreements may be terminated on 60 days’ notice to Paragon, on material breach without cure, and on a party’s insolvency or bankruptcy to the extent permitted by law. As of March 31, 2025, the Company has incurred and expensed milestone payments of $4.0 million and $1.5 million for ORKA-001 License Agreement and ORKA-002 License Agreement, respectively.

Additionally, as part of the Option Agreements, on December 31, 2024 the Company granted and on December 31, 2025, will grant Paruka a warrant to purchase a number of shares equal to 1.00% of outstanding shares as of the date of the grant on a fully-diluted basis, with an exercise price equal to the fair market value of the underlying shares on the grant date.

Pursuant to the Option Agreements, on a research program-by-research program basis following the finalization of the research plan for each respective research program, the Company is required to pay certain initiation fees, development costs and milestone payments to Paragon. For the ORKA-001 program, the Company recognized research and development expenses related to the following milestones during the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to December 31, 2024: a one-time, nonrefundable research initiation fee of $0.8 million; $1.5 million related to exercising its option and achievement of development candidate; and $2.5 million related to completing the first dosing of a human subject in a Phase 1 trial. The Company was responsible for 50% of the development costs incurred through the completion of the IL-23 selection process which was completed in June 2024.

For the ORKA-002 program, the Company recognized research and development expenses related to the following milestones during the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to December 31, 2024: a one-time, nonrefundable research initiation fee of $0.8 million and $1.5 million related to exercising its option and achievement of development candidate. The Company was responsible for the development costs incurred through the completion of the IL-23 selection process which was completed in December 2024.

Pursuant to the Option Agreements, during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to March 31, 2024, the Company’s share of development costs incurred for ORKA-001 program for the periods were nil and $0.8 million, respectively, which were recorded as research and development expenses. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, nil and $2.8 million, respectively, related to ORKA-001 were included in related party accounts payable and other current liabilities.

Pursuant to the Option Agreements, the Company recognized $0.1 million and $4.2 million as research and development expenses for ORKA-002 program during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to March 31, 2024, respectively. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, $0.1 million and $2.7 million, respectively, related to ORKA-002 were included in related party accounts payable and other current liabilities.

For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and the period from February 6, 2024 (inception) to March 31, 2024, the Company recognized $1.5 million and $5.0 million, respectively, of expenses in connection with services provided by Paragon and Paruka under the Option Agreements.

The Company expenses the service fees as the associated costs are incurred when the underlying services are rendered. Such amounts are classified within research and development expenses in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

The Company concluded that the rights obtained under the Option Agreements represent an asset acquisition whereby the underlying assets comprise in-process research and development assets with no alternative future use. The Option Agreements did not qualify as a business combination because substantially all of the fair value of the assets acquired was concentrated in the exclusive license options, which represent a group of similar identifiable assets. The research initiation fee represents a one-time cost on a research program-by-research program basis for accessing research services or resources with benefits that are expected to be consumed in the near term, therefore the amounts paid are expensed as part of research and development costs immediately. Amounts paid as reimbursements of ongoing development cost, monthly development cost fee and additional development expenses incurred by Paragon due to work completed for selected targets prior to the effective date of the Option Agreements that is associated with services being rendered under the related Research Programs are recognized as research and development expense when incurred.