On March 1, 2018, the Company entered into a long-term lease agreement for approximately 19,275 square feet of office space in Jersey City, New Jersey, that the Company identified as an operating lease under ASC 842 (the “Lease”). The lease term is eleven years from August 1, 2018, the commencement date, with total lease payments of $7.3 million over the lease term. The Company has the option to renew for two consecutive five-year periods from the end of the first term and the Company is not reasonably certain that the option to renew the Lease will be exercised. Under the Lease, the Company furnished a security deposit in the form of a standby letter of credit in the amount of $0.3 million, which was reduced by fifty-five thousand dollars on the first anniversary of the commencement date. The security deposit will continue to be reduced by fifty-five thousand dollars every two years on the commencement date anniversary for eight years. The security deposit is classified as restricted cash in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The following table summarizes certain quantitative information associated with the amounts recognized in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the Lease (dollars in thousands):


	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2024			2023
Operating lease cost	$	166		$	166
Variable lease cost		(23	)		58
Total operating lease expense	$	143		$	224

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of operating lease liability	$	181		$	177

	March 31, 2024			December 31, 2023
Remaining Lease term (years)		5.34			5.59
Discount rate		15	%		15	%

Future minimum lease payments for the Lease as of March 31, 2024 are as follows (in thousands):


	March 31, 2024
2024	$	549
2025		744
2026		759
2027		774
2028		790
Thereafter		466
Total	$	4,082

The presentations of the operating lease liability as of March 31, 2024 are as follows (in thousands):


	March 31, 2024
Present value of future minimum lease payments	$	2,843

Operating lease liability, current portion	$	356
Operating lease liability, long-term portion		2,487
Total operating lease liability	$	2,843

Difference between future minimum lease payments and discounted cash flows	$	1,239

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had a license arrangement with Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., or Merck, as amended, that involves potential future expenditures. Under the license arrangement, executed in May 2013, the Company exclusively licensed from Merck its rights to ibrexafungerp in the field of human health. In January 2014, Merck assigned the patents related to ibrexafungerp that it had exclusively licensed to the Company. Ibrexafungerp is the Company's lead product candidate. Pursuant to the terms of the license agreement, Merck was originally eligible to receive milestone payments from the Company that could total $19.0 million upon occurrence of specific events, including initiation of a Phase 2 clinical study, new drug application, and marketing approvals in each of the U.S., major European markets, and Japan. In addition, Merck is eligible to receive tiered royalties from the Company based on a percentage of worldwide net sales of ibrexafungerp. The aggregate royalties are mid- to high-single digits.

In December 2014, the Company and Merck entered into an amendment to the license agreement that deferred the remittance of a milestone payment due to Merck, such that no amount would be due upon initiation of the first Phase 2 clinical trial of a product containing the ibrexafungerp compound (the “Deferred Milestone”). The amendment also increased, in an amount equal to the Deferred Milestone, the milestone payment that would be due upon initiation of the first Phase 3 clinical trial of a product containing the ibrexafungerp compound. In December 2016 and January 2018, the Company entered into second and third amendments to the license agreement with Merck which clarified what would constitute the initiation of a Phase 3 clinical trial for the purpose of milestone payment. In January 2019, a milestone payment became due to Merck as a result of the initiation of the VANISH Phase 3 VVC program and was paid in March 2019. On December 2, 2020, the Company entered into a fourth amendment to the license agreement with Merck. The amendment eliminates two cash milestone payments that the Company would have paid to Merck upon the first filing of an NDA, triggered by the FDA acceptance for filing of the Company’s NDA for ibrexafungerp for the treatment of VVC, and first marketing approval in the U.S. Such cash milestone payments would have been creditable against future royalties owed to Merck on net sales of ibrexafungerp. With the amendment, these milestones will not be paid in cash and, accordingly, credits will not accrue. Pursuant to the amendment, the Company will also forfeit the credits against future royalties that it had accrued from a prior milestone payment already paid to Merck. All other key terms of the license agreement are unchanged.

On November 7, 2023, a securities class action was filed by Brian Feldman against the Company and certain of the Company's executives in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, alleging that, during the period from March 31, 2023 to September 22, 2023, the Company made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects, alleging specifically that the Company failed to disclose to investors: (1) that the equipment used to manufacture ibrexafungerp was also used to manufacture a non-antibacterial beta-lactam drug substance, presenting a risk of cross-contamination; (2) that the Company did not have effective internal controls and procedures, as well as adequate internal oversight policies to ensure that its vendor complied with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP); (3) that, due to the substantial risk of cross-contamination, the Company were reasonably likely to recall its ibrexafungerp tablets and halt its clinical studies; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, the Company's statements about its business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. The complaint seeks unspecified damages, interest, fees and costs on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased and/or acquired shares of the Company's common stock between March 31, 2023 to September 22, 2023. On May 1, 2024, a purported shareholder derivative complaint was filed in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey. The complaint names the Company’s directors and certain of its officers and asserts state and federal claims based on the same alleged misstatements as the securities class action complaint. The Company disagrees with the allegations and intends to defend these litigations vigorously and the Company has not recognized any expense for these contingencies.