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Significant Contracts
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Significant Contracts  
Significant Contracts

4                                     Significant Contracts

 

Distribution, Licensing and Research Agreements

 

The Company has entered into licensing agreements with academic and research organizations. Under the terms of these agreements, the Company has received licenses to technology and patent applications. The Company is required to pay royalties on future sales of product employing the technology or falling under claims of patent applications.

 

Pursuant to the Daiichi Sankyo license under which the Company licenses certain patent rights for sapacitabine, its lead drug candidate, the Company is under an obligation to use reasonable endeavors to develop a product and obtain regulatory approval to sell a product and has agreed to pay Daiichi Sankyo an up-front fee, reimbursement for Daiichi Sankyo’s enumerated expenses, milestone payments and royalties on a country-by-country basis. The up-front fee and certain past reimbursements have been paid and, as a result of the SEAMLESS trial entering Phase 3 during the first quarter of 2011, a milestone payment of $1.6 million was paid in April 2011. A further $10.0 million in aggregate milestone payments could be payable subject to achievement of all the specific contractual milestones and the Company’s decision to continue with these projects. Royalties are payable in each country for the term of patent protection in the country or for ten years following the first commercial sale of licensed products in the country, whichever is later. Royalties are payable on net sales. Net sales are defined as the gross amount invoiced by the Company or its affiliates or licensees, less discounts, credits, taxes, shipping and bad debt losses. The agreement extends from its commencement date to the date on which no further amounts are owed under it. If the Company wishes to appoint a third party to develop or commercialize a sapacitabine-based product in Japan, within certain limitations, Daiichi Sankyo must be notified and given a right of first refusal to develop and/or commercialize in Japan. In general, the license may be terminated by the Company for technical, scientific, efficacy, safety, or commercial reasons on six months notice, or twelve months, if after a launch of a sapacitabine-based product, or by either party for material default. Effective July 11, 2011, the license agreement was amended to irrevocably waive a termination right Daiichi Sankyo possessed under a provision of the agreement that required the Company to obtain regulatory approval to sell sapacitabine in at least one country by September 2011, and releases the Company from all claims and liability of any kind arising under such provision. The amendment further provides that the royalty due from the Company to Daiichi Sankyo on future net sales of sapacitabine be increased by a percentage between 1.25% and 1.50% depending on the level of net sales of sapacitabine realized.

 

In connection with the asset acquisition of ALIGN on October 5, 2007, the Company acquired distribution rights for the exclusive rights to sell and distribute three products in the United States. As described in Note 3, each of the agreements covering the three products was terminated as of September 30, 2012. The Company, as part of securing long term supply arrangements, had commitments to make payments totaling $1.3 million, $0.6 million of which was paid in 2009 and the remainder of $0.7 million was paid in 2010. Also, the Company had a minimum purchase obligation equivalent to the value of product purchased in the previous year. For the year ended December 31, 2011 this equated to $0.2 million.