Joint Venture	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]
Joint Venture	11. Joint Venture On December 18, 2018, the Company entered into a Framework Agreement with TriArm pursuant to which the parties agreed to launch Eden BioCell, to lead clinical development and commercialization of certain Sleeping Beauty-generated CAR-T therapies as set forth in a separate license agreement (see Note 6). On January 3, 2019, Eden BioCell was incorporated in Hong Kong as a private company. Eden BioCell, the Company and TriArm entered into a Share Subscription Agreement on January 23, 2019, where the Company and TriArm agreed to contribute certain intellectual property, services and cash (only with respect to TriArm) to Eden BioCell to subscribe for a certain number of newly issued ordinary shares in the share capital of Eden BioCell. On the closing date, upon the issuance and subscription of the shares, in respect of the aforementioned consideration, 10,000,000 ordinary shares were issued to the Company and 10,000,000 ordinary shares were issued to TriArm. The closing of the transaction occurred on July 5, 2019. The Framework Agreement and Share Subscription Agreements were each respectively amended to be effective as of this date. Upon consummation of the joint venture, Eden BioCell and the Company also entered into a license agreement, pursuant to which the Company licensed the rights to Eden BioCell for third-generation Sleeping Beauty-generated CAR-T therapies targeting the CD19 antigen for the territory of China (including Macau and Hong Kong), Taiwan and Korea. Eden BioCell will be responsible for certain milestone and royalty payments related to the Company’s license agreements with MD Anderson and PGEN (see Note 7). TriArm entered into a master services agreement with Eden BioCell and contributed $10.0 million of cash on the closing date. TriArm and the Company each received a 50% equity interest in the joint venture in exchange for their contributions to Eden BioCell. As of July 5, 2019, as a result of the design and purpose of Eden BioCell, the Company determined that Eden BioCell was considered a variable interest entity, or VIE, and concluded that it is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE as it did not have the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact its performance. Rather, the Company accounts for the equity interest in Eden BioCell under the equity method of accounting as it has the ability to exercise significant influence over the operations of Eden BioCell. The Company determined that Eden BioCell was not a customer and therefore, accounted for the transaction as the transfer of nonfinancial assets to be recognized at their fair value on the contribution date. The fair value of the intellectual property contributed to Eden BioCell had a de minimis value due to the early stage of the technology and the likelihood of clinical success. Due to the de minimis fair value of the intellectual property contributed, the Company did not record a gain or loss on this transaction and recognized no value for its equity-method investment. In March 2021 and as announced by the Company in April 2021, Eden BioCell, the Company’s Joint Venture in Taiwan with Tri-Arm Therapeutics, began treating patients in a clinical trial with the Company’s investigational CD19 RPM CAR-T cell therapy, under the IND cleared by the Taiwan FDA in December. Two patients have now been treated in this trial. The lead investigator at National Taiwan University in Taipei, has reported no serious adverse safety events in either of these patients. Laboratory results continue to support, as previously published, that non-viral Sleeping Beauty gene transfer is effective in genetically modifying autologous T-cells. Patients were infused two days after gene transfer, thus shortening the turnaround time and demonstrating an advantage over viral methods. Based on laboratory data from the first two patients generated between March and May 2021, the Tri-Arm/Eden team concluded, in concert with the investigator and the team at Ziopharm, that further process development work is required. This additional work will optimize and refine the manufacturing process in order to more consistently manufacture product in the desired clinical dose range seeking to be studied. The Tri-Arm/Eden team, per the terms of the JV agreement, will undertake the necessary process development work before infusing additional patients. This will take an unspecified amount of time. Additionally, the ongoing COVID outbreak in Taiwan presents additional uncertainty to the timeline, as the operational activities in the manufacturing suite are currently slowed due to employee restrictions related to the pandemic. These restrictions are impacting clinical trials broadly in Taiwan. For the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, Eden BioCell incurred a net loss and the Company continues to have no commitment to fund its operations.

Joint Venture

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

11. Joint Venture

On December 18, 2018, the Company entered into a Framework Agreement with TriArm pursuant to which the parties agreed to launch Eden BioCell, to lead clinical development and commercialization of certain Sleeping Beauty-generated CAR-T therapies as set forth in a separate license agreement (see Note 6).

On January 3, 2019, Eden BioCell was incorporated in Hong Kong as a private company. Eden BioCell, the Company and TriArm entered into a Share Subscription Agreement on January 23, 2019, where the Company and TriArm agreed to contribute certain intellectual property, services and cash (only with respect to TriArm) to Eden BioCell to subscribe for a certain number of newly issued ordinary shares in the share capital of Eden BioCell. On the closing date, upon the issuance and subscription of the shares, in respect of the aforementioned consideration, 10,000,000 ordinary shares were issued to the Company and 10,000,000 ordinary shares were issued to TriArm.

The closing of the transaction occurred on July 5, 2019. The Framework Agreement and Share Subscription Agreements were each respectively amended to be effective as of this date. Upon consummation of the joint venture, Eden BioCell and the Company also entered into a license agreement, pursuant to which the Company licensed the rights to Eden BioCell for third-generation Sleeping Beauty-generated CAR-T therapies targeting the CD19 antigen for the territory of China (including Macau and Hong Kong), Taiwan and Korea. Eden BioCell will be responsible for certain milestone and royalty payments related to the Company’s license agreements with MD Anderson and PGEN (see Note 7). TriArm entered into a master services agreement with Eden BioCell and contributed $10.0 million of cash on the closing date. TriArm and the Company each received a 50% equity interest in the joint venture in exchange for their contributions to Eden BioCell.

As of July 5, 2019, as a result of the design and purpose of Eden BioCell, the Company determined that Eden BioCell was considered a variable interest entity, or VIE, and concluded that it is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE as it did not have the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact its performance. Rather, the Company accounts for the equity interest in Eden BioCell under the equity method of accounting as it has the ability to exercise significant influence over the operations of Eden BioCell.

The Company determined that Eden BioCell was not a customer and therefore, accounted for the transaction as the transfer of nonfinancial assets to be recognized at their fair value on the contribution date. The fair value of the intellectual property contributed to Eden BioCell had a de minimis value due to the early stage of the technology and the likelihood of clinical success. Due to the de minimis fair value of the intellectual property contributed, the Company did not record a gain or loss on this transaction and recognized no value for its equity-method investment.

In March 2021 and as announced by the Company in April 2021, Eden BioCell, the Company’s Joint Venture in Taiwan with Tri-Arm Therapeutics, began treating patients in a clinical trial with the Company’s investigational CD19 RPM CAR-T cell therapy, under the IND cleared by the Taiwan FDA in December. Two patients have now been treated in this trial. The lead investigator at National Taiwan University in Taipei, has reported no serious adverse safety events in either of these patients. Laboratory results continue to support, as previously published, that non-viral Sleeping Beauty gene transfer is effective in genetically modifying autologous T-cells. Patients were infused two days after gene transfer, thus shortening the turnaround time and demonstrating an advantage over viral methods.

Based on laboratory data from the first two patients generated between March and May 2021, the Tri-Arm/Eden team concluded, in concert with the investigator and the team at Ziopharm, that further process development work is required. This additional work will optimize and refine the manufacturing process in order to more consistently manufacture product in the desired clinical dose range seeking to be studied.

The Tri-Arm/Eden team, per the terms of the JV agreement, will undertake the necessary process development work before infusing additional patients. This will take an unspecified amount of time. Additionally, the ongoing COVID outbreak in Taiwan presents additional uncertainty to the timeline, as the operational activities in the manufacturing suite are currently slowed due to employee restrictions related to the pandemic. These restrictions are impacting clinical trials broadly in Taiwan.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, Eden BioCell incurred a net loss and the Company continues to have no commitment to fund its operations.