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License Obligations
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Text Block [Abstract]  
License Obligations

7. License Obligations:

Arcion License Agreement

On March 26, 2013, the Company entered into a license agreement with Arcion Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Arcion Agreement”) pursuant to which Arcion granted to the Company an exclusive commercial world-wide license, with rights of sublicense, under certain patent and other intellectual property rights related to in-process research and development to develop, manufacture, market, and sell gel products containing clonidine (or a derivative thereof) for the treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy (“PDN”) and other indications (the “Arcion Products”).

 

Pursuant to the Arcion Agreement, the Company is responsible for using commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize Arcion Products, including the use of such efforts to conduct certain clinical trials within certain time frames.

The Company is required to make the following payments to Arcion:

 

    $2.5 million payable upon filing and acceptance by the FDA of an NDA with respect to an Arcion Product, which will be payable, at the Company’s option, in cash or unregistered shares of Common Stock (with such shares being subject to a nine month lock-up and certain limitations on sale thereafter); and
    up to a potential $60 million in cash payments upon achieving certain pre-determined sales thresholds in the U.S., none of which occur prior to achieving at least $200 million in U.S. net sales.

In addition, the Company shall pay Arcion $35 million in cash on initial FDA approval of an Arcion Product, unless: (i) the Company does not receive at least $70 million in FDA approval-related milestone payments from its US sublicensees (if any sublicenses are involved) with respect to the Arcion Product, in which case the Company shall pay Arcion a prorated amount between $17.5 million and $35 million based on the total amount of such milestone payments received by the Company and its affiliates from its sublicenses (if any sublicenses are involved); or (ii) the FDA requires or recommends the performance of a capsaicin challenge test (to see if C-fiber function is present in the skin by determining if subjects experience pain, and to determine pain intensity if present) as a precondition or precursor to the prescribing of the Arcion Product (as a condition of approval, a labeling requirement, or otherwise), in which case such milestone shall be reduced to $17.5 million, but the first and second sales threshold payments (as part of the $60 million in cash payments) described above shall each be increased by $8 million.

All milestone payments due to Arcion under the Arcion Agreement are payable only once each.

In addition to the milestones set forth above, the Company will pay royalties to Arcion based upon sales of Arcion Products by the Company, its affiliate and sub-licensees (if any), all as defined in the Arcion Agreement.

In addition, in the event the amount due upon FDA approval of the Arcion Product in the U.S. is less than $35 million for any reason other than an FDA requirement or recommendation of a capsaicin challenge test, as described above, the Company shall pay Arcion a portion of any milestone payments received by the Company and its affiliates from their sublicensees on the basis of any events occurring in the U.S. following FDA approval but prior to (and including) the first commercial sale of an Arcion Product in the U.S., and certain of the payments to Arcion referred to above shall also be subject to upward adjustment (with such upward adjustments payable in the form of cash or unregistered shares of the Company’s Common Stock, as elected solely by the Company), until such time as the sum of all such additional payments and upward adjustments (including the value of any issuances of stock, if the Company elects to pay in stock) and the initial amount paid on the initial FDA approval totals $35 million.

The term of the Arcion Agreement continues, on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis, until the earlier of (i) the expiration of the royalty term for a particular Arcion Product in a particular country or (ii) the effective date of termination by either party pursuant to customary termination provisions. The royalty term for any given country is the later of (i) the first date there are no valid claims against any Arcion patent, (ii) the expiration of patent exclusivity or (iii) the tenth anniversary of the first commercial sale.

On March 30, 2015, the Company announced that the primary efficacy endpoint in its initial Phase 3 clinical study of Clonidine Topical Gel compared to placebo for the treatment of PDN did not meet statistical significance, although certain secondary endpoints showed statistically significant improvement over placebo. Final analysis of the study identified a sizeable patient population with a statistically significant improvement in pain score vs placebo. Following thorough analysis of the data and identification of the reasons behind the study results, the Company initiated a second study. The study incorporated significant learnings from previously conducted studies and involved tightened and additional inclusion criteria to improve assay sensitivity, reduce bias and ensure compliance with enrollment criteria. On August 4, 2016, the Company announced that it had reached its target number of subjects to be randomized in its multi-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b study assessing the efficacy and safety of Clonidine Topical Gel in the treatment of PDN. Based on the timing of randomization of the last patient, the Company now expects topline results of the study will be available by the end of this year, which puts it six to eight weeks ahead of schedule.

Evonik Development and Exclusive License Option Agreement:

On October 27, 2014, the Company entered into a definitive Development and Exclusive License Option Agreement (the “Development Agreement”) with Evonik Corporation (“Evonik”) to develop and commercialize an injectable, extended release, microparticle formulation of buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid dependence (the “Evonik Product”). Under the Development Agreement, the Company also has the right to pursue development of the Evonik Product for pain management and Evonik has also granted to the Company two exclusive options to acquire exclusive worldwide licenses, with rights of sublicense, to certain patents and other intellectual property rights of Evonik to develop and commercialize certain products containing buprenorphine. If such options are exercised, such licenses would be memorialized in the Evonik License Agreement (as defined below).

Pursuant to the Development Agreement, Evonik is responsible for using commercially reasonable efforts to develop a formulation for the Evonik Product in accordance with a work plan mutually agreed upon by the parties (the “Evonik Project”). Should the Evonik Project proceed past the formulation stage, Evonik also has the right to manufacture clinical and commercial supplies of the Evonik Product, such manufacturing arrangement to be negotiated by the parties in good faith in a formal License and Supply Agreement(s) (the “Evonik License Agreement”), with such Evonik License Agreement covering Evonik’s intellectual property rights to be entered into between the parties if certain conditions are met and terms are mutually agreed upon.

Upon execution of the Development Agreement and the delivery by Evonik to the Company of certain data and results achieved by Evonik from prior work performed by Evonik relating to the Product, the Company is obligated to pay to Evonik an initial, non-refundable, non-creditable, one-time payment as well as development service fees for work to be completed, together totaling up to $2.16 million in accordance with an estimated budget set out in the Development Agreement (the “Estimated Budget”) for the mutually agreed Project. Evonik shall not bill the Company for amounts greater than the Estimated Budget unless change orders are executed by both parties. As of June 30, 2016, the Company has paid $2 million towards the Estimated Budget.

Should Evonik and the Company enter into the Evonik License Agreement following the attainment of a Phase 1 ready formulation of the Evonik Product for one or both of the opioid dependence or pain management indications, the Company would pay Evonik a non-refundable, non-creditable one-time payment in conjunction with certain future regulatory filings and approvals and royalties on net sales of the Evonik Product.

The Development Agreement contains customary termination provisions, and the Company may additionally terminate the Development Agreement at any time after the completion of certain enumerated tasks as provided in the Development Agreement, for any reason or no reason, by providing written notice of termination to Evonik. Upon termination of the Development Agreement, Evonik will be paid any amounts owed to Evonik in accordance with the estimated budget for work performed under the Development Agreement through the effective date of termination, including any reasonable, documented, non-cancelable third party costs and any reasonable, documented wind-down costs reasonably incurred by Evonik in connection with the Evonik Project. Should the Company terminate for reasons other than for a material, uncured breach by Evonik or Evonik’s bankruptcy, Evonik shall have the right to use any and all data and intellectual property generated under the Evonik Project for any purpose.

This product candidate is currently in the pre-clinical stage of development with plans underway for an Investigational New Drug Application submission in early 2017.