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Commitments and Contingencies | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies. |
Commitments and Contingencies |
(8) | Commitments and Contingencies
(a)Operating Lease In December 2022, the Company signed an agreement to sublease 4,837 square feet of laboratory and office space in Newton, Massachusetts, from another biopharmaceutical company. The Company considered this sublease an operating lease with estimated right-of-use assets and lease liabilities of $874,957 recorded upon lease commencement on February 1, 2023. The sublease had an initial term of 24 months, and the Company had the option to extend the sublease for an additional 12 months but did not elect to exercise the option. Because the Company did not believe that the exercise of this option was probable, it did not include it in determination of the lease amounts. The base monthly rent was $37,285 during the first 12 months of the lease and $38,403 in the second 12 months. In addition, the Company was responsible for its share of operating expenses, real estate taxes, and utilities based on the actual costs of these items. Upon termination of this lease on January 31, 2025, the Company relocated its business operations to another location under a six-month agreement for $3,520 per month. Rent expense for the three months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, was $11,715 and $38,480, respectively, and $57,278 and $147,964, respectively, for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024. (b)License Agreements In November 2018, the Company licensed the exclusive rights to certain intellectual property to support development of its therapeutic candidates (“License”). The intellectual property licensed by the Company is owned by The General Hospital Corporation, d/b/a Massachusetts General Hospital, (“Licensor”). Payments by the Company under the license agreement included a one-time non-refundable fee of $50,000 paid after execution of the License; reimbursement of Licensor’s patent costs which, at execution of the License, were approximately $145,000; a minimum annual license fee of $25,000 payable within 60 days of each anniversary of the effective date of the License prior to the first commercial sale of a product or process covered by the License; milestone payments upon attainment of certain milestone events; royalties based on net sales of products covered by the patent-related rights; and a portion of any sublicense income received by the Company. The Company is responsible for the development and commercialization of the licensed assets and for meeting certain milestones set forth in the License. The milestone payments the Company shall pay to Licensor shall not exceed $1,550,000 based upon and subject to the attainment of each milestone event indicated below. These payments are generally due within 60 days of achievement of the milestone. ​
​ | ​ | ​ | ​
Milestone Event |  | Amount
Enrollment of first patient in a phase II clinical trial of a therapeutic product or process | ​ | $ | 100,000
Enrollment of first patient in a phase III clinical trial of a therapeutic product or process | ​ | $ | 200,000
First commercial sale of a therapeutic product or process | ​ | $ | 1,000,000
Filing of an application for regulatory approval of a clinical diagnostic product or process | ​ | $ | 100,000
First regulatory approval of a clinical diagnostic product or process | ​ | $ | 150,000
​ As of June 30, 2025, and December 31, 2024, no milestone events had been achieved. The royalties to be paid to Licensor shall be assessed on net sales of licensed products on a country-by-country basis in an amount equal to 3.0% for therapeutic products or processes, and 6.0% for clinical diagnostic products and processes. The Company shall pay Licensor 30% of any and all sublicense income. The Company has the right to terminate the License at any time by giving 90 days’ advance notice subject to the payment of any amounts due under the License at that time. The License may also be terminated for cause by either party upon the breach of the material obligations of the other party or the bankruptcy or liquidation of the other party. If the Company does not terminate the License, the term of the License shall continue until the latest of (i) the date on which all issued patents and filed patent applications subject to the License have expired or been abandoned; (ii) expiration of the last to expire regulatory exclusivity covering a covered product or process; or (iii) 10 years after the first commercial sale. The License requires the Company to make royalty payments beyond the term of the License at 1.5%. In November 2020, the Company and Licensor amended the November 2018 license. Under the amendment, the intellectual property licensed in 2018 was categorized as “Patent Family 1” and a provisional patent filing related to the Company’s nanoparticle technology was added to Patent Family 1. A second patent family (“Patent Family 2”) was created which includes Licensor intellectual property targeting PD-L1. The minimum annual license fee prior to the first commercial sale of a product or process covered by the License was increased from $25,000 per year to $30,000 per year for Patent Family 1 and a minimum annual license fee of $10,000 per year was added related to Patent Family 2. All other terms of the License including milestone payments, royalties and payment terms related to sublicense income received by the Company remain the same as in the original License. Accrued License Obligations At June 30, 2025, and December 31, 2024, the Company had accrued $14,868 and $697, respectively, in license payments under the foregoing arrangements included in accounts payable and accrued expenses.
(c) | Collaboration Agreement
On July 29, 2022, the Company signed a five-year strategic collaboration agreement with The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (“MD Anderson”). Under the collaboration, the Company anticipated making certain expenditures with respect to Phase I and Phase II clinical trials which it expected would be conducted in part through MD Anderson as a clinical trial site. MD Anderson was also to provide preclinical work under the collaboration. The details of clinical and preclinical work were to be mutually agreed by the parties prior to commencing work. The Company committed to fund up to $10 million over the term of the collaboration. Of this amount, the initial payment schedule called for $500,000 to be paid within the first year. Subsequent payments were scheduled to be $2 million on the first anniversary of the effective date of the agreement and $2.5 million on each of the second, third and fourth anniversaries thereof. Payments to MD Anderson are initially recorded as Prepaid Expenses. As work under the collaboration is performed by MD Anderson, the Company records research and development costs in its statements of operations. The $250,000 first payment made by the Company to MD Anderson in January 2023 was recorded as a Prepaid Expense pending such time as payments under the collaboration became due. In late 2024, the Company and MD Anderson agreed to amend the collaboration agreement in favor of MD Anderson focusing solely on participation in the Company’s Phase 1/II clinical trial. This amendment relieves the Company from the obligation to make up to $10 million of collaboration payments. The Company is obligated to pay charges incurred by MD Anderson in connection with the clinical trial. Initial expenses of the clinical trial have been charged against the initial payment made to MD Anderson. For the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, these charges were $138,439 and $0, respectively.
(d) | Employment Agreements
Prior to the IPO, the Company entered into employment agreements with its executive officers which became effective on completion of the IPO. The employment agreements provide the employee with, among other things, severance payments upon termination of the agreement by the Company for any reason other than for cause, death or disability or by the employee for good reason. The maximum aggregate severance payments under the remaining agreement, which arise in the event of termination involving a Change of Control (as defined in the agreement), are approximately $1,296,000.
(e) | Litigation
The Company may from time to time be subject to claims by others under various legal disputes. The defense of such claims, or any adverse outcome relating to any such claims, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s liquidity, financial condition, and cash flows. At June 30, 2025, and December 31, 2024, the Company did not know of any claims or actions pending against it or threatened, the ultimate disposition of which could have a material adverse effect on its results of operations or financial condition except claims by an investment bank that it is entitled to fees, claims which the Company rigorously disputes.
(f) | Indemnification Agreements
In the ordinary course of business, the Company may provide indemnification of varying scope and terms to vendors, lessors, business partners, and other parties with respect to certain matters including, but not limited to, losses arising out of breach of such agreements or from intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with members of its Board and executive officers that require the Company, among other things, to indemnify the parties against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under indemnification agreements is, in many cases, unlimited. To date, the Company has not incurred any costs as a result of payments required by such indemnifications. The Company is not aware of any claims for indemnification that could have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows, and it has not accrued any liabilities related to such obligations in its financial statements, as of June 30, 2025, or December 31, 2024.
(g) | Risks and Uncertainties
As geopolitical events such as wars in the Ukraine and the Middle East and major health issues such as SARS-CoV-2, or the coronavirus, continues to evolve, the extent to which it affects the Company’s operations directly or through parties on whom the Company depends is highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence. The outcomes resulting from these events could delay the Company’s plans, increase its operating expenses and have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

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