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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | 9. Commitments and Contingencies Exclusive License Agreement with Precigen On October 5, 2018, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement, or License Agreement, with PGEN Therapeutics, or PGEN, a wholly owned subsidiary of Precigen Inc., or Precigen, which was formerly known as Intrexon Corporation. The Company refers to PGEN and Precigen together as Precigen. Pursuant to the terms of the License Agreement, the Company had exclusive, worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize (i) TCR products designed for neoantigens for the treatment of cancer, (ii) products utilizing Precigen’s RheoSwitch® gene switch, or RTS, for the treatment of cancer, referred to as IL-12 Products and (iii) CAR products directed to (A) CD19 for the treatment of cancer, referred to as CD19 Products, and (B) BCMA for the treatment of cancer, subject to certain obligations to pursue such target under the License and Collaboration Agreement effective March 27, 2015 between the Company, Precigen and ARES TRADING S.A., a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, as assigned by Precigen to PGEN. Under the License Agreement, the Company also had exclusive, worldwide rights for certain patents relating to the Sleeping Beauty technology to research, develop and commercialize TCR products for both neoantigens and shared antigens for the treatment of cancer, referred to as TCR Products. The Company was responsible for all aspects of the research, development and commercialization and was required to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop certain products. In consideration of the licenses and other rights granted by Precigen, the Company was required to pay Precigen an annual license fee of $0.1 million, reimburse Precigen for certain historical costs, pay Precigen milestones up to an additional $52.5 million for each exclusively licensed program upon the achievement of certain milestones, and pay Precigen tiered royalties up to a maximum royalty amount of $100.0 million in the aggregate. The Company was also obligated to pay Precigen 20% of any sublicensing income received by us relating to the licensed products. The Company was responsible for all development costs associated with each of the licensed products. Precigen was obligated to pay the Company royalties up to a maximum royalty amount of $100.0 million. No royalty amounts were incurred during the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022. On April 3, 2023, the Company entered into the Amended and Restated Exclusive License Agreement with Precigen, or the A&R License Agreement, which restated and amended the License Agreement in full. Under the A&R License Agreement, the Company still has exclusive, worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize TCR products designed for neoantigens or driver mutations for the treatment of cancer and non-exclusive rights to use non-driver mutation TCRs. The Company further maintains its exclusive, worldwide rights for certain patents relating to the Sleeping Beauty technology to research, develop and commercialize TCR products for both neoantigens and shared antigens for the treatment of cancer, referred to as TCR Products. The Company remains solely responsible for all aspects of the research, development and commercialization of the exclusively licensed products for the treatment of cancer. The (i) products utilizing Precigen’s RheoSwitch® gene switch, or RTS, for the treatment of cancer, referred to as IL-12 Products and (ii) CAR products directed to (A) CD19 for the treatment of cancer, referred to as CD19 Products, and (B) BCMA for the treatment of cancer, subject to certain obligations to pursue such target under the License and Collaboration Agreement effective March 27, 2015 between the Company, Precigen and ARES TRADING S.A., a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, as assigned by Precigen to PGEN are no longer exclusively licensed to the Company. The Company is no longer obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts for the exclusively licensed products. The A&R License Agreement further eliminates any royalty or milestone obligations to Precigen, with an annual license fee of $75 thousand due on the anniversary of the A&R License Agreement effective date. Precigen is no longer obligated to pay the Company royalties on the net sales derived from the sale of Precigen's CAR products. License Agreement and 2015 Research and Development Agreement —The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center On January 13, 2015, the Company, together with Precigen, entered into a license agreement, or the MD Anderson License, with MD Anderson (which Precigen subsequently assigned to PGEN). Pursuant to the MD Anderson License, the Company, together with Precigen, holds an exclusive, worldwide license to certain technologies owned and licensed by MD Anderson including technologies relating to novel CAR T-cell therapies, non-viral gene transfer systems, genetic modification and/or propagation of immune cells and other cellular therapy approaches, Natural Killer, or NK Cells, and TCRs. On August 17, 2015, the Company, Precigen and MD Anderson entered into the 2015 R&D Agreement to formalize the scope and process for the transfer by MD Anderson, pursuant to the terms of the MD Anderson License, of certain existing research programs and related technology rights, as well as the terms and conditions for future collaborative research and development of new and ongoing research programs. The rights and obligations of Precigen under the 2015 R&D Agreement were assigned to the Company pursuant to the Fourth Amendment to 2015 R&D Agreement which was entered into on September 19, 2019 (the “Fourth Amendment”) with an effective date of October 5, 2018. The activities under the 2015 R&D Agreement are directed by a joint steering committee comprised of two members from the Company and one member from MD Anderson. As provided under the MD Anderson License, the Company provided funding for research and development activities in support of the research programs under the 2015 R&D Agreement for a period of three years and in an amount of no less than $15.0 million and no greater than $20.0 million per year. On November 14, 2017, the Company entered into an amendment to the 2015 R&D Agreement, extending its term until April 15, 2021. In connection with the execution of the 2019 R&D Agreement described below, on October 22, 2019, the Company amended the 2015 R&D Agreement to extend the term of the 2015 R&D Agreement until December 31, 2026 and to allow cash resources on hand at MD Anderson under the 2015 R&D Agreement to be used for development costs under the 2019 Research and Development Agreement, or the 2019 R&D Agreement, which the Company entered into on October 22, 2019, with MD Anderson, pursuant to which the Company agreed to collaborate with respect to the TCR program. The term of the MD Anderson License expires on the last to occur of (a) the expiration of all patents licensed thereunder, or (b) the twentieth anniversary of the date of the MD Anderson License; provided, however, that following the expiration of the term of the MD Anderson License, the Company, together with Precigen, shall then have a fully-paid up, royalty free, perpetual, irrevocable and sublicensable license to use the licensed intellectual property thereunder. After ten years from the date of the MD Anderson License and subject to a 90-day cure period, MD Anderson will have the right to convert the MD Anderson License into a non-exclusive license if the Company and Precigen are not using commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize the licensed intellectual property on a case-by-case basis. After five years from the date of the MD Anderson License and subject to a 180-day cure period, MD Anderson will have the right to terminate the MD Anderson License with respect to specific technology(ies) funded by the government or subject to a third-party contract if the Company and Precigen are not meeting the diligence requirements in such funding agreement or contract, as applicable. MD Anderson may also terminate the agreement with written notice upon material breach by the Company and Precigen, if such breach has not been cured within 60 days of receiving such notice. In addition, the MD Anderson License will terminate upon the occurrence of certain insolvency events for both the Company and Precigen and may be terminated by the mutual written agreement of the Company, Precigen, and MD Anderson. 2019 Research and Development Agreement—The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Under the 2019 R&D Agreement, the Company and MD Anderson will, among other things, collaborate on programs to expand the Company's TCR library and conduct clinical trials. The activities under the 2019 R&D Agreement are directed by a joint steering committee comprised of two members from the Company and one member from MD Anderson. The Company will own all inventions and intellectual property developed under the 2019 R&D Agreement and the Company will retain all rights to all intellectual property, patentable or not, for oncology products manufactured using non-viral gene transfer technologies under the 2019 R&D Agreement, including the Company's Sleeping Beauty technology. The Company has granted MD Anderson an exclusive license for such intellectual property to develop and commercialize autologous TCR products manufactured using viral gene transfer technologies and any products outside the field of oncology and a non-exclusive license for allogenic TCR products manufactured using viral-based technologies. Under the 2019 R&D Agreement, the Company agreed, beginning on January 1, 2021, to reimburse MD Anderson up to a total of $20.0 million for development costs under the 2019 R&D Agreement, after the funds from the 2015 R&D Agreement are exhausted. In addition, the Company will pay MD Anderson royalties on net sales of its TCR products. The Company is required to make performance-based payments upon the successful completion of clinical and regulatory benchmarks relating to its TCR products. The aggregate potential benchmark payments are $36.5 million, of which only $3.0 million will be due prior to the first marketing approval of the Company's TCR products. The royalty rates and benchmark payments owed to MD Anderson may be reduced upon the occurrence of certain events. The Company also agreed to sell its TCR products to MD Anderson at preferential prices and will sell the Company's TCR products in Texas exclusively to MD Anderson for a limited period of time following the first commercial sale of the Company's TCR products. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company incurred clinical expenses of $0.2 million from MD Anderson related to this agreement compared to $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022. The 2019 R&D Agreement will terminate on December 31, 2026 and either party may terminate the 2019 R&D Agreement following written notice of a material breach. The 2019 R&D Agreement also contains customary provisions related to indemnification obligations, confidentiality and other matters. In connection with the execution of the 2019 R&D Agreement, on October 22, 2019, the Company issued MD Anderson a warrant to purchase 3,333,333 shares of the Company's common stock, which is referred to as the MD Anderson Warrant. The MD Anderson Warrant has an initial exercise price of $0.001 per share, expires on December 31, 2026, and vests upon the occurrence of certain clinical milestones. As of March 31, 2023, the milestones have not been met. License Agreement with the NCI On May 28, 2019, the Company entered into a patent license agreement, or the Patent License, with the National Cancer Institute, or the NCI. Pursuant to the Patent License, the Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to certain intellectual property to develop and commercialize patient-derived (autologous), peripheral blood T-cell therapy products engineered by transposon-mediated gene transfer to express TCRs reactive to mutated KRAS, TP53 and EGFR neoantigens. In addition, pursuant to the Patent License, the Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to certain intellectual property for manufacturing technologies to develop and commercialize autologous, peripheral blood T-cell therapy products engineered by non-viral gene transfer to express TCRs, as well as a non-exclusive, worldwide license to certain additional manufacturing technologies. On May 29, 2019, January 8, 2020, September 28, 2020, April 16, 2021, May 4, 2021, and August 13, 2021 the Company amended the Patent License to expand its TCR library to include additional TCRs reactive to mutated KRAS and TP53 neoantigens licensed from the NCI. The terms of the Patent License require the Company to pay the NCI minimum annual royalties in the amount of $0.3 million, which will be reduced to $0.1 million once the aggregate minimum annual royalties paid by the Company equals $1.5 million. The Company is also required to make performance-based payments upon successful completion of clinical and regulatory benchmarks relating to the licensed products. Of such payments, the aggregate potential benchmark payments are $4.3 million, of which aggregate payments of $3.0 million are due only after marketing approval in the United States or in Europe, Japan, Australia, China or India. The first benchmark payment of $0.1 million was paid during the year ended December 31, 2022 upon the initiation of the Company's TCR-T Library Phase 1/2 Trial, which was a qualifying Phase 1 clinical trial under the terms of the Patent License. In addition, the Company is required to pay the NCI one-time benchmark payments following aggregate net sales of licensed products at certain aggregate net sales ranging from $250.0 million to $1.0 billion. The aggregate potential amount of these benchmark payments is $12.0 million. The Company must also pay the NCI royalties on net sales of products covered by the Patent License at rates in the low to mid-single digits depending upon the technology included in a licensed product. To the extent the Company enters into a sublicensing agreement relating to a licensed product, the Company is required to pay the NCI a percentage of all consideration received from a sublicensee, which percentage will decrease based on the stage of development of the licensed product at the time of the sublicense. The Patent License will expire upon expiration of the last patent contained in the licensed patent rights, unless terminated earlier. The NCI may terminate or modify the Patent License in the event of a material breach, including if the Company does not meet certain milestones by certain dates, or upon certain insolvency events that remain uncured following the date that is 90 days following written notice of such breach or insolvency event. The Company may terminate the Patent License, or any portion thereof, in the Company's sole discretion at any time upon 60 days’ written notice to the NCI. In addition, the NCI has the right to: (i) require the Company to sublicense the rights to the product candidates covered by the Patent License upon certain conditions, including if the Company is not reasonably satisfying required health and safety needs and (ii) terminate or modify the Patent License, including if the Company is not satisfying requirements for public use as specified by federal regulations. For each of the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company recognized $0.3 million in license payments to the NCI under this agreement. Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the NCI On January 9, 2017, the Company entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or the CRADA, with the NCI. The purpose of this collaboration was to advance a personalized TCR-T approach for the treatment of solid tumors. Using the Company's Sleeping Beauty technology, the NCI would analyze a patient’s own cancer cells, identify their unique neoantigens and TCRs reactive against those neoantigens and then use the Company's Sleeping Beauty technology to transpose one or more TCRs into T cells for re-infusion. Research conducted under the CRADA will be at the direction of Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Surgery Branch at the NCI, in collaboration with the Company's researchers. The Company is responsible for providing the NCI with the test materials necessary for them to conduct their studies, and eventually, clinical trials pursuant to the CRADA. Inventions, data and materials discovered or produced in connection with performance of the research plan under the CRADA will remain the sole property of the party who produced the discovery. The parties will jointly own all inventions jointly discovered under the research plan. The owner of any invention under the CRADA will make the decision to file a patent covering the invention, or in the case of a jointly owned invention, the Company will have the first opportunity to file a patent covering the invention. If the Company fails to provide timely notice of its decision to the NCI or decides not to file a patent covering the joint invention, the NCI has the right to make the filing. For any invention solely owned by the NCI or jointly made by the NCI and the Company for which a patent application was filed, the U.S. Public Health service grants the Company an exclusive option to elect an exclusive or non-exclusive commercialization license. For inventions owned solely by the NCI or jointly owned by the NCI and the Company, which are licensed according to the terms described above, the Company agreed to grant to the U.S. government a non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable and paid up license to practice the invention or have the invention practiced on its behalf throughout the world. The Company is also required to grant the U.S. government a non-exclusive, non-transferable, irrevocable and paid up license to practice the invention or have the invention practiced on its behalf throughout the world for any of the Company's solely owned inventions. The agreement may be terminated by any of the parties upon 60 days prior written consent. The NCI has a cleared Investigational New Drug Application, or IND, that would permit them to begin this trial. To the Company's knowledge, the trial has not yet enrolled. The progress and timeline for this trial, including the timeline for dosing patients, are under control of the NCI. In February 2019, the Company extended the CRADA with the NCI until January 9, 2022, committing an additional $5.0 million to this program; however, for the third and fourth quarters of 2021, the Company was not required to make payments toward the program as agreed with the NCI. In March 2022, the Company entered into an amendment to the CRADA that is retroactive, effective January 9, 2022 to extend the term of the CRADA until January 9, 2023. In June 2022, the Company entered into the Fourth Amendment to the CRADA, or the CRADA Fourth Amendment, which, among other things, extended the term of the CRADA until January 9, 2025. In connection with the CRADA Fourth Amendment, the Company agreed to contribute $1.0 million per year, payable on a quarterly basis, beginning in the first quarter of 2023. The Company recorded expenses of $0.3 million under the CRADA for the three months ended March 31, 2023, as compared to $0 for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Patent and Technology License Agreement—The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Texas A&M University System On August 24, 2004, the Company entered into a patent and technology license agreement with MD Anderson and the Texas A&M University System, which the Company refers to, collectively, as the Licensors. Under this agreement, the Company was granted an exclusive, worldwide license to rights (including rights to U.S. and foreign patent and patent applications and related improvements and know-how) for the manufacture and commercialization of two classes of organic arsenicals (water- and lipid-based) for human and animal use. The class of water-based organic arsenicals includes darinaparsin. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company may be required to make additional payments to the Licensors upon achievement of certain milestones in varying amounts which, on a cumulative basis could total up to an additional $4.5 million. In addition, the Licensors are entitled to receive royalty payments on sales from a licensed product and will also be entitled to receive a portion of any fees that the Company may receive from a possible sublicense under certain circumstances. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company did no t incur any milestone expenses or royalty expenses on sales under this agreement. Collaboration Agreement with Solasia Pharma K.K. On March 7, 2011, the Company entered into a License and Collaboration Agreement with Solasia Pharma K. K., or Solasia, which was amended on July 31, 2014 to include an exclusive worldwide license and amended on October 14, 2021 to revise certain payment schedule details, or, as so amended, the Solasia License and Collaboration Agreement. Pursuant to the Solasia License and Collaboration Agreement, the Company granted Solasia an exclusive license to develop and commercialize darinaparsin in both intravenous and oral forms and related organic arsenic molecules, in all indications for human use. As consideration for the license, the Company is eligible to receive from Solasia development- and sales-based milestones, a royalty on net sales of darinaparsin, once commercialized, and a percentage of any sublicense revenue generated by Solasia. Solasia will be responsible for all costs related to the development, manufacturing and commercialization of darinaparsin. The Company’s licensors, as defined in the Solasia License and Collaboration Agreement, will receive a portion of all milestone and royalty payments made by Solasia to the Company in accordance with the terms of the Solasia License and Collaboration Agreement with the licensors, as described above. In June 2022, Solasia announced that darinaparsin had been approved from relapsed or refractory Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan. During the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company did no t earn collaboration revenue or royalty revenues on net sales under the Solasia License and Collaboration Agreement.

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