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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017
Commitments and Contingencies

11. Commitments and Contingencies

Operating leases

Commitments relating to operating leases represent the minimum annual future payments under operating leases and subleases for a total of 40,188 square feet of office space for the Company’s headquarters at 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. that expire in 2026, the operating lease for 2,880 square feet of office space for the Company’s European headquarters in London that has a noncancellable lease term ending in 2021, and 1,249 square feet of office space in Berlin under a short-term operating lease. The following is a summary of the minimum annual future payments under operating leases and subleases for office space as of June 30, 2017:

 

     Cash payments due by year  
(in thousands)    Total      2017      2018      2019      2020      2021      Thereafter  

Operating leases

   $ 20,853      $ 1,100      $ 2,297      $ 2,285      $ 2,341      $ 2,172      $ 10,658  

In 2011, the Company entered into an operating lease for its headquarters at 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. A lease amendment in 2014 increased the office space under lease to 30,260 square feet, and a lease amendment in June 2016 extended the lease term from April 2023 to September 2026. Subject to the prior rights of other tenants, the Company has the right to renew the lease for five years following its expiration. The Company has the right to sublease or assign all or a portion of the premises, subject to standard conditions. The lease may be terminated early by the Company or the landlord under certain circumstances.

In June 2016, the Company entered into a sublease under which the Company leases 9,928 square feet of office space for its headquarters at 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. The sublease term began in January 2017 and ends in July 2026, but may be terminated earlier by either party under certain circumstances. The Company has the right to sublease or assign all or a portion of the premises, subject to standard conditions.

Rent expense under operating leases was $0.8 million and $0.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Rent expense under operating leases was $1.6 million and $1.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

 

Guarantees and Indemnifications

The Company has entered into a number of standard intellectual property indemnification agreements in the ordinary course of its business. Pursuant to these agreements, the Company indemnifies, holds harmless, and agrees to reimburse the indemnified party for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party, generally the Company’s business partners or customers, in connection with any U.S. patent or any copyright or other intellectual property infringement claim by any third party with respect to the Company’s products. The term of these indemnification agreements is generally perpetual from the date of execution of the agreement. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is unlimited. Since inception, the Company has not incurred costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification agreements. The Company also indemnifies its officers and directors for certain events or occurrences, subject to certain conditions.

License Agreements

The Company’s rights to develop and commercialize its products are subject to the terms and conditions of licenses granted to the Company by other pharmaceutical companies.

HETLIOZ®. In February 2004, the Company entered into a license agreement with BMS under which it received an exclusive worldwide license under certain patents and patent applications, and other licenses to intellectual property, to develop and commercialize HETLIOZ®. As a result of the FDA’s approval of the HETLIOZ® NDA in January 2014, the Company made an $8.0 million milestone payment to BMS in the first quarter of 2014 under the license agreement that was capitalized as an intangible asset and is being amortized over the expected HETLIOZ® patent life in the U.S. The Company is obligated to make a future milestone payment to BMS of $25.0 million when cumulative worldwide sales of HETLIOZ® reach $250.0 million, which is expected to be in 2018. The $25.0 million milestone obligation was capitalized as an intangible asset in the first quarter of 2015 and is being amortized over the expected HETLIOZ® patent life in the U.S. Additionally, the Company is obligated to make royalty payments on HETLIOZ® net sales to BMS in any territory where the Company commercializes HETLIOZ® for a period equal to the greater of 10 years following the first commercial sale in the territory or the expiry of the new chemical entity patent in that territory. During the period prior to the expiry of the new chemical entity patent in a territory, the Company is obligated to pay a 10% royalty on net sales in that territory. The royalty rate is decreased by half for countries in which no new chemical entity patent existed or for the remainder of the 10 years after the expiry of the new chemical entity patent. The Company is also obligated under the license agreement to pay BMS a percentage of any sublicense fees, upfront payments and milestone and other payments (excluding royalties) that it receives from a third party in connection with any sublicensing arrangement, at a rate which is in the mid-twenties. The Company has agreed with BMS in the license agreement for HETLIOZ® to use its commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize HETLIOZ®.

Either party may terminate the HETLIOZ® license agreement under certain circumstances, including a material breach of the agreement by the other. In the event the Company terminates the license, or if BMS terminates the license due to the Company’s breach, all rights licensed and developed by the Company under the license agreement will revert or otherwise be licensed back to BMS on an exclusive basis.

Fanapt ®. Pursuant to the terms of a Settlement Agreement with Novartis, Novartis transferred all U.S. and Canadian rights in the Fanapt® franchise to the Company on December 31, 2014. The Company was obligated to make royalty payments to Sanofi S.A. (Sanofi) and Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Titan) at a percentage rate equal to 23% on annual U.S. net sales of Fanapt® up to $200.0 million, and at a percentage rate in the mid-twenties on sales over $200.0 million through November 2016. In February 2016, the Company amended the agreement with Sanofi and Titan to remove Titan as the entity through which royalty payments from the Company are directed to Sanofi following the expiration of the new chemical entity (NCE) patent for Fanapt® in the U.S. on November 15, 2016. Under the amended agreement, the Company pays directly to Sanofi a fixed royalty of 3% of net sales from November 16, 2016 through December 31, 2019 related to manufacturing know-how. The Company made a $2.0 million payment during the year ended December 31, 2016 that applied to this 3% manufacturing know-how royalty and will make additional royalty payments only to the extent that the Company’s cumulative royalty obligations during this period exceed the amount of the pre-payment. No further royalties on manufacturing know-how are payable by the Company after December 31, 2019. This amended agreement did not alter Titan’s obligation under the license agreement to make royalty payments to Sanofi prior to November 16, 2016 or the Company’s obligations to pay Sanofi a fixed royalty on Fanapt® net sales equal up to 6% on Sanofi know-how not related to manufacturing under certain conditions for a period of up to 10 years in markets where the NCE patent has expired or was not issued.

 

Tradipitant. In April 2012, the Company entered into a license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) pursuant to which the Company acquired an exclusive worldwide license under certain patents and patent applications, and other licenses to intellectual property, to develop and commercialize an NK-1R antagonist, tradipitant, for all human indications. The patent describing tradipitant as a new chemical entity expires in April 2023, except in the U.S., where it expires in June 2024 absent any applicable patent term adjustments. Lilly is eligible to receive future payments based upon achievement of specified development and commercialization milestones as well as tiered-royalties on net sales at percentage rates up to the low double digits. These milestones include $4.0 million for pre-NDA approval milestones and up to $95.0 million for future regulatory approval and sales milestones. Of the $4.0 million of pre-NDA approval milestones, $2.0 million is due upon the initiation of a Phase III study. The Company is obligated to use its commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize tradipitant. Either party may terminate the license agreement under certain circumstances, including a material breach of the license agreement by the other. In the event that the Company terminates the license agreement, or if Lilly terminates due to the Company’s breach or for certain other reasons set forth in the license agreement, all rights licensed and developed by the Company under the license agreement will revert or otherwise be licensed back to Lilly on an exclusive basis, subject to payment by Lilly to the Company of a royalty on net sales of products that contain tradipitant.

AQW051. In connection with the settlement agreement with Novartis relating to Fanapt®, the Company received an exclusive worldwide license under certain patents and patent applications, and other licenses to intellectual property, to develop and commercialize AQW051, a Phase II alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist. Pursuant to the license agreement, the Company is obligated to use its commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize AQW051 and is responsible for all development costs under the AQW051 license agreement. The Company has no milestone obligations; however, Novartis is eligible to receive tiered-royalties on net sales at percentage rates up to the mid-teens.

Portfolio of CFTR activators and inhibitors. In March 2017, the Company entered into a license agreement with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), under which Vanda acquired an exclusive worldwide license to develop and commercialize a portfolio of CFTR activators and inhibitors. Pursuant to the license agreement, the Company will develop and commercialize the CFTR activators and inhibitors and is responsible for all development costs under the license agreement, including current pre-investigational new drug development work. The license agreement provides for an initial license fee of $1.0 million that was paid by the Company in the first quarter of 2017, annual maintenance fees and development, and up to $46.0 million in potential regulatory and sales milestone obligations. UCSF is eligible to receive single-digit tiered royalties on net sales.

Research and Development and Marketing Agreements

In the course of its business, the Company regularly enters into agreements with clinical organizations to provide services relating to clinical development and clinical manufacturing activities under fee service arrangements. The Company’s current agreements for clinical services may be terminated on generally 60 days’ notice without incurring additional charges, other than charges for work completed but not paid for through the effective date of termination and other costs incurred by the Company’s contractors in closing out work in progress as of the effective date of termination.