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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
6. Commitments and Contingencies
 
License Agreements
 
Exclusive License Agreement with Precigen, Inc.
 
 
On October 5, 2018, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement, or the License Agreement, with Precigen. As between the Company and Precigen, the terms of the License Agreement replace and supersede the terms of: (a) that certain Exclusive Channel Partner Agreement by and between the Company and Intrexon, dated January 6, 2011, as amended by the First Amendment to Exclusive Channel Partner Agreement effective September 13, 2011, the Second Amendment to the Exclusive Channel Partner Agreement effective March 27, 2015, and the Third Amendment to Exclusive Channel Partner Agreement effective June 29, 2016, which was subsequently assigned by Intrexon to Precigen; (b) certain rights and obligations pursuant to that certain License and Collaboration Agreement effective March 27, 2015 between
ZIOPHARM
, Intrexon and ARES TRADING S.A., or Ares Trading, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, or Merck, as assigned by Intrexon to Precigen, or the Ares Trading Agreement; (c) that certain License Agreement between the Company, Intrexon, and MD Anderson, with an effective date of January 13, 2015, or the MD Anderson License, which was subsequently assigned by Intrexon and assumed by Precigen effective as of January 1, 2018; and (d) that certain Research and Development Agreement between the Company, Intrexon and MD Anderson with an effective date of August 17, 2015, or the Research and Development Agreement, and any amendments or statements of work thereto.
 
Pursuant to the terms of the License Agreement, Precigen has granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sub-licensable license to research, develop and commercialize (i) products utilizing Precigen’s RheoSwitch® gene switch, or RTS, for the treatment of cancer, referred to as IL-12 Products, (ii) CAR products directed to (A) CD19 for the treatment of cancer, referred to as CD19 Products, and (B) a second target, subject to the rights of Merck to pursue such target under the Ares Trading Agreement, and (iii) TCR products designed for neoantigens for the treatment of cancer. Precigen has also granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sub-licensable license 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 will be solely responsible for all aspects of the research, development and commercialization of the exclusively licensed products for the treatment of cancer. The Company is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize IL-12 products and CD19 products and after a two-year period, the TCR Products.
 
Precigen has also granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sub-licensable license to research, develop and commercialize products utilizing an additional construct that expresses RTS IL-12 for the treatment of cancer, referred to as Gorilla IL-12 Products.
 
In consideration of the licenses and other rights granted by Precigen, the Company will pay Precigen an annual license fee of $0.1 million and has agreed to reimburse Precigen for certain historical costs of the licensed programs up to $1.0 million, payable quarterly.
 
The Company will make milestone payments totaling up to an additional $52.5 million for each exclusively licensed program upon the initiation of later stage clinical trials and upon the approval of exclusively licensed products in various jurisdictions. In addition, the Company will pay Precigen tiered royalties ranging from low-single digit to high-single digit on the net sales derived from the sales of any approved IL-12 products and CAR products. The Company will also pay Precigen royalties ranging from low-single digit to mid-single digit on the net sales derived from the sales of any approved TCR Products, up to a maximum royalty amount of $
100
.0 million in the aggregate. The Company will also pay Precigen
20
% of any sublicensing income received by the Company relating to the licensed products.
 
The Company is responsible for all development costs associated with each of the licensed products, other than Gorilla IL-12 products. The Company and Precigen will share the development costs and operating profits for Gorilla IL-12 products, with the Company responsible for 80% of the development costs and receiving 80% of the operating profits, and Precigen responsible for the remaining 20% of the development costs and receiving 20% of the operating profits.
 
Precigen will pay the Company royalties ranging from low-single digits to mid-single digits on the net sales derived from the sale of Precigen’s CAR products, up to $50.0 million.
 
In consideration of entering into the License Agreement, Intrexon has forfeited and returned to the Company all shares of Series 1 preferred stock held by or payable to Intrexon as of the date of the License Agreement (Note 7).
 
License Agreement—The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
 
On January 13, 2015, the Company, together with Intrexon, entered into the MD Anderson License with MD Anderson (which Intrexon subsequently assigned to Precigen). 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, arising from the laboratory of Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., who became the Company’s Chief Executive Officer in
May 2015
and was formerly a tenured professor of pediatrics at MD Anderson and is now currently a visiting scientist under that institution’s policies.
 
On August 17, 2015, the Company, Precigen and MD Anderson entered into the Research and Development 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.
 
 
Pursuant to the Research and Development Agreement, the Company, Precigen and MD Anderson formed a joint steering committee to oversee and manage the new and ongoing research programs. Under the License Agreement with Precigen, the Company and Precigen agreed that Precigen would no longer participate on the joint steering committee after the date of the License Agreement. As provided under the MD Anderson License, the Company provided funding for research and development activities in support of the research programs under the Research and Development 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 Research and Development Agreement extending its term until April 15, 2021. During the three months ended March 31, 2019, the Company expensed approximately $1.4 million for its research programs being conducted in Houston. The net balance of cash resources on hand at MD Anderson available to offset expenses and future costs is $
26.4
 million, of which $19.8 million is included in other current assets and the remaining $6.6 million is included in non-current assets at March 31, 2019.
 
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.
 
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute
 
On January 10, 2017, the Company announced the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, with the National Cancer Institute, or NCI for the development of adoptive cell transfer, or ACT,-based immunotherapies genetically modified using the
Sleeping Beauty
transposon/transposase system to express TCRs for the treatment of solid tumors. The principal goal of the CRADA is to develop and evaluate ACT for patients with advanced cancers using autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes, or PBL, genetically modified using the non-viral
Sleeping Beauty
system to express TCRs that recognize neoantigens expressed within a patient’s cancer. 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.
 
In February 2019, the Company extended the CRADA with the NCI for two years, committing an additional $5.0 million to this
program through January 2022. The
remaining obligation, as of March 31, 2019, to the
NCI under the CRADA is
$6.9 million over the next two years, payable in $625 thousand payments on a quarterly basis. The Company made one payment of $625 thousand, during the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
 
Exclusive Channel Partner Agreement with Precigen for the Cancer Programs
 
From 2011 to 2018, the Company was party to various arrangements with Intrexon (now Precigen) in which the Company used Precigen’s technology to research and develop cancer treatments in return for various future profit sharing and royalty arrangements. These agreements were modified or terminated by the License Agreement described in Note 7.
 
Ares Trading License and Collaboration Agreement
 
On March 27, 2015, 
the Company, together with Intrexon (now Precigen), signed the Ares Trading Agreement, with Ares Trading, through which the parties established a collaboration for the research and development and commercialization of certain products for the prophylactic, therapeutic, palliative or diagnostic use for cancer in humans.
 
Precigen was entitled to receive $5.0 million, from Ares Trading, payable in equal quarterly installments over two years for each identified product candidate, which will be used to fund discovery work. The Company was responsible for costs exceeding the quarterly installments and all other costs of the preclinical research and development. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company expensed $1.6 million under the Ares Trading Agreement. The Company did not incur any costs under the agreement for the three months ended March 31, 2019 as there are no continuing obligations to reimburse 
Precigen for expenses under the Ares Trading Agreement following the October 2018 license.
 
Ares Trading paid a non-refundable upfront fee of $115.0 
million to Intrexon as consideration for entry into the Ares Trading Agreement. Pursuant to the Third Amendment to Exclusive Channel Partner Agreement, or the 2016 ECP Amendment, the Company was entitled to receive
50% of the upfront fee, or $57.5 million, which was received from Intrexon in July 2015.
 
Under the License Agreement, Precigen agreed to perform all future obligations of the Company under the Ares Trading Agreement other than certain payment obligations. Accordingly, the Company recognized the remaining deferred revenue as part of the settlement of related party relationships as described in Note 7.
 
 
Patent and Technology License Agreement—The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Texas A&M University System
 
On August 24, 200
4, 
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.
 
The Company issued options to purchase 50,222 shares outside of its stock option
plans. The options vested upon completion of certain clinical milestones, all of which have occurred and the options are now fully vested. An expense of
$87 
thousand was charged to research and development expense for the final vesting event which occurred in March 2016 upon enrollment of the first patient in a multi-center pivotal clinical trial
i.e.
a human clinical trial intended to provide the substantial evidence of efficacy necessary to support the filing of an approvable New Drug Application, or NDA. This trial was initiated by Solasia Pharma K.K., or Solasia, on March 28, 2016 and triggered a
$1.0 
million milestone payment to the Company from Solasia which was received in May 2016. An equivalent
$1.0 
million milestone payment was subsequently made to MD Anderson and reported net. In addition, the Company may be required to make additional payments to the Licensors upon achievement of certain other 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 single digit percentage 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.
 
Collaboration Agreement with Solasia Pharma K.K.
 
On March 7, 2011, the Company entered into a License and Collaboration Agreement with Solasia. Pursuant to the 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 in a pan-Asian/Pacific territory comprising Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.
 
As consideration for the license, the Company received an upfront payment of $5.0 million to be used exclusively for further clinical development of darinaparsin outside of the pan-Asian/Pacific territory and will be entitled to receive additional payments of up to $32.5 million in development-based milestones and up to $53.5 million in sales-based milestones. The Company will also be entitled to receive double digit royalty payments from Solasia based upon net sales of licensed products in the applicable territories, once commercialized, and a percentage of sublicense revenues generated by Solasia. The $5.0 million upfront payment received in March 2011 was amortized over the period of the research and development effort, which was completed in March 2016.
 
On July 31, 2014, the Company entered into an amendment and restatement of the License and Collaboration Agreement granting Solasia an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize darinaparsin, and related organoarsenic molecules, in both intravenous and oral forms in all indications for human use. In exchange, the Company will be 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 revenues 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 agreement, will receive a portion of all milestone and royalty payments made by Solasia to the Company in accordance with the terms of the license agreement with the Licensors.
 
On March 28, 2016, Solasia initiated a multi-center pivotal clinical trial intended to provide substantial evidence of efficacy necessary to support the filing of an application for an NDA for darinaparsin in certain of the territories assigned to Solasia. The initiation of the trial on March 28, 2016 triggered a $1.0 million milestone payment from Solasia to the Company which was received in May 2016. The Company subsequently made an equivalent payment to MD Anderson as the ultimate licensor of darinaparsin (see above).