License and Collaboration Agreements

3 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Dec. 31, 2019

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

License and Collaboration Agreements

8. License and Collaboration Agreements

Kite Agreement

On May 30, 2019, the Company entered into a collaboration agreement (the “Kite Agreement”) with Kite Pharmaceuticals, Inc., pursuant to which the Company and Kite are conducting a multi-center Phase 1b/2 study of lenzilumab with Kite’s Yescarta in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma, including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (“DLBCL”). The primary objective of the Study is to determine the effect of lenzilumab on the safety of Yescarta.

Pursuant to the Kite Agreement, the Company shall supply lenzilumab to the collaboration for use in the study and will contribute up to approximately $8.0 million towards the out-of-pocket costs of the study, depending on the number of patients enrolled into the study.

Mayo Agreement

On June 19, 2019 the Company entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement (the “Mayo Agreement”) with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (“Mayo”) for certain technologies used to create CAR-T cells lacking GM-CSF expression through various gene-editing tools including CRISPR-Cas9 (GM-CSF knock-out). The license covers various patent applications and know-how developed by Mayo in collaboration with the Company. These licensed technologies complement and broaden the Company’s position in the GM-CSF neutralization space and expand the Company’s discovery platform aimed at improving CAR-T to include gene-edited CAR-T cells.

Pursuant to the Mayo Agreement, the Company will pay $200,000 to Mayo within six months of the effective date, or upon completion of a qualified financing, whichever is earlier. The Mayo Agreement also requires the payment of milestones and royalties upon the achievement of certain regulatory and commercialization milestones. The Company accrued the initial payment and interest through March 31, 2020 in Accrued expenses in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020.

Zurich Agreement

On July 19, 2019 the Company entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement (the “Zurich Agreement”) with the University of Zurich (“UZH”) for technology used to prevent or treat Graft versus Host Disease (“GvHD”) through GM-CSF neutralization. The Zurich Agreement covers various patent applications filed by UZH which complement and broaden the Company’s position in the application of GM-CSF and expands the Company’s development platform to include improving allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (“HSCT”).

Pursuant to the Zurich Agreement, the Company paid $100,000 to UZH in July 2019. The Zurich Agreement also requires the payment of milestones and royalties upon the achievement of certain regulatory and commercialization milestones. The license payment of $100,000 was recorded as expense in Research and development in July 2019.

13. License and Collaboration Agreements

Kite Agreement

On May 30, 2019, the Company entered into the Kite Agreement, pursuant to which the Company and Kite will conduct a multi-center Phase Ib/II study of lenzilumab with Kite’s Yescarta in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma, including DLBCL. The primary objective of the Study is to determine the effect of lenzilumab on the safety of Yescarta.

Pursuant to the Kite Agreement, the Company will supply lenzilumab to the collaboration for use in the study and will contribute up to approximately $8.0 million towards the out-of-pocket costs of the study.

Mayo Agreement

On June 19, 2019, the Company entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement (the “Mayo Agreement”) with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (“Mayo”) for certain technologies used to create CAR-T cells lacking GM-CSF expression through various gene-editing tools including CRISPR-Cas9 (“GM-CSF knock-out”). The license covers various patent applications and know-how developed by Mayo in collaboration with the Company. These licensed technologies complement and broaden the Company’s position in the GM-CSF neutralization space and expand the Company’s discovery platform aimed at improving CAR-T to include gene-edited CAR-T cells.

Pursuant to the Mayo Agreement, the Company was required to pay $200,000 to Mayo within six months of the effective date, or upon completion of a qualified financing, whichever is earlier. The Company did not pay the initial payment as of the due date and will incur interest on the unpaid balance at the prime rate plus 2%. The Mayo Agreement also requires the payment of milestones and royalties upon the achievement of certain regulatory and commercialization milestones. The Company accrued the initial payment in Accrued expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2019.

Zurich Agreement

On July 19, 2019, the Company entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement (the “Zurich Agreement”) with the University of Zurich (“UZH”) for technology used to prevent or treat Graft versus Host Disease (“GvHD”) through GM-CSF neutralization. The Zurich Agreement covers various patent applications filed by UZH which complement and broaden the Company’s position in the application of GM-CSF and expands the Company’s development platform to include improving allogeneic HSCT.

Pursuant to the Zurich Agreement, the Company paid $100,000 to UZH in July 2019. The Zurich Agreement also requires the payment of milestones and royalties upon the achievement of certain regulatory and commercialization milestones. The license payment of $100,000 was recorded as expense in Research and development in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss for the year ended December 31, 2019.