Subsequent events

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Subsequent Events [Abstract]

Subsequent Events

12. Subsequent Events

On April 26, 2017, the Company entered into a worldwide license agreement around its proprietary lentiviral vector platform with Novartis Pharma AG (“Novartis”). Under the terms of the agreement with Novartis, Novartis will non-exclusively license certain patent rights related to lentiviral vector technology to develop and commercialize chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapies for oncology, including CTL019, Novartis’s anti-CD19 CAR T investigational therapy.  Financial terms of the agreement include a $7.5 million payment upon execution, $7.5 million of potential future milestone payments, and $1.1 million of payments for subsequently licensed products, as well as low single digit royalty payments on net sales of covered products.

On April 28, 2017, the Company entered into a worldwide license agreement around its proprietary lentiviral vector platform with GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property Development Limited (“GSK”). Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will non-exclusively license certain patent rights related to lentiviral vector technology to develop and commercialize gene therapies for Wiscott-Aldrich syndrome and metachromatic leukodystrophy, two rare genetic diseases. Financial terms of the agreement include an upfront payment of $3.0 million as well as $1.3 million of potential milestone payments for each marketing authorization for each indication in any country as well as low single digit royalties on net sales of covered products.