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Related Party Transactions
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]  
Related Party Transactions
7.
Related Party Transactions

Collaboration with Vineti Inc.

On July 9, 2020, the Company entered into a master service agreement and statement of work with Vineti, Inc. ("Vineti"). Pursuant to the agreement, Vineti has been developing a software platform to coordinate and orchestrate the order, cell collection and manufacturing process for the Company’s T-cell therapy, or TCR-T, clinical programs. Heidi Hagen, who became a director of the Company in June 2019 and resigned November 2, 2021 and the Company's Interim Chief Executive Officer on February 25, 2021 and resigned on August 30, 2021, is a co-founder and former officer of Vineti. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, the Company recorded no expenses for Vineti, compared to $0.1 million of expenses for the three and six months ended June 30, 2021.

WaterMill Settlement Agreement

On February 4, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement, or the Settlement Agreement, with WaterMill Asset Management Corp. and Robert W. Postma (collectively, the "WaterMill Parties"). Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, the Company increased the size of its board of directors from eight to nine directors and appointed Mr. Postma to fill the newly created directorship.

In accordance with the Settlement Agreement, the Company agreed to reimburse the WaterMill Parties for up to $0.4 million of their reasonable out-of-pocket expenses out of a total of approximately $0.7 million in fees and expenses actually incurred by the WaterMill Parties in connection with (i) the WaterMill Parties' solicitation of written consents from the Company's stockholders to vote in favor of certain proposals, as set forth in the definitive consent statement filed by the WaterMill Parties on October 30, 2020, and (ii) the negotiation, execution, and effectuation of the Settlement Agreement. As of February 19, 2021, the Company has fully reimbursed the WaterMill Parties an aggregate amount of $0.4 million.

Joint Venture with TriArm Therapeutics/Eden BioCell

On December 18, 2018, the Company and TriArm Therapeutics, Ltd. (“TriArm”) launched Eden BioCell, Ltd. (“Eden BioCell”) as a joint venture to lead commercialization of the Company’s Sleeping Beauty-generated CAR-T therapies in the People’s Republic of China (including Macau and Hong Kong), Taiwan and Korea. The Company licensed to Eden BioCell the rights in Greater China for its third-generation Sleeping Beauty-generated CAR-T therapies targeting the CD19 antigen. Eden BioCell is owned equally by the Company and TriArm and the parties share decision-making authority. TriArm has contributed $10.0 million to Eden BioCell and has committed up to an additional $25.0 million to this joint venture. TriArm also manages all clinical development in the territory pursuant to a master services agreement between TriArm and Eden BioCell. James Huang was the founder and serves as managing partner of Panacea Venture, which is an investor in TriArm. Mr. Huang is the Chair of the Company's board of directors and has been a director since July 2020. He also serves as a member of Eden BioCell’s board of directors.

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, Eden BioCell incurred a net loss and the Company continues to have no commitment to fund its operations. In September 2021, TriArm and Alaunos mutually agreed to dissolve the Eden BioCell joint venture. Refer to Note 12 - Joint Venture, for further details.