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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
ACP - Archemix Corp.
The Company is party to an agreement with Archemix Corp. (“Archemix”) under which the Company in-licensed rights in certain patents, patent applications and other intellectual property related to ACP and pursuant to which the Company may be required to pay sublicense fees and make milestone payments (the “C5 License Agreement”). Under the C5 License Agreement, for each anti-C5 aptamer product that the Company may develop under the agreement, including ACP, the Company is obligated to make additional payments to Archemix of up to an aggregate of $50.5 million if the Company achieves specified development, clinical and regulatory milestones, with $24.5 million of such payments relating to a first indication, $23.5 million of such payments relating to second and third indications and $2.5 million of such payments relating to sustained delivery applications. Under the C5 License Agreement, the Company is also obligated to make additional payments to Archemix of up to an aggregate of $22.5 million if the Company achieves specified commercial milestones based on net product sales of all anti-C5 products licensed under the agreement. The Company is also obligated to pay Archemix a double-digit percentage of specified non-royalty payments the Company may receive from any sublicensee of its rights under the C5 License Agreement. The Company is not obligated to pay Archemix a running royalty based on net product sales in connection with the C5 License Agreement.
ACP Sustained Release Delivery Technology - DelSiTech
Under the DelSiTech License Agreement with DelSiTech, the Company is obligated to make payments up to an aggregate of €35.0 million, if the Company achieves specified clinical and development milestones with respect to a Licensed Product. In addition, the Company is also obligated to pay DelSiTech up to an aggregate of €60.0 million if the Company achieves specified commercial sales milestones with respect to worldwide net sales of the Licensed Product. The Company is also obligated to pay DelSiTech royalties at a low single-digit percentage of net sales of the Licensed Product. The royalties payable by the Company are subject to reduction under specified circumstances.
miniCEP290 Program - University of Massachusetts
Under its exclusive license agreement with the University of Massachusetts (“UMass”) for its miniCEP290 program, which targets LCA10, which is associated with mutations in the CEP290 gene, the Company is obligated to pay UMass up to an aggregate of $14.75 million in cash and issue up to 75,000 shares of common stock of the Company if the Company achieves specified clinical and regulatory milestones with respect to a licensed product. In addition, the Company is obligated to pay UMass up to an aggregate of $48.0 million if the Company achieves specified commercial sales milestones with respect to a licensed product. The Company is also obligated to pay UMass royalties at a low single-digit percentage of net sales of licensed products. If the Company or any of its affiliates sublicenses any of the licensed patent rights or know-how to a third party, the Company will be obligated to pay UMass a high single-digit to a mid-tens percentage of the consideration received in exchange for such sublicense, with the applicable percentage based upon the stage of development of the licensed products at the time the Company or the applicable affiliate enters into the sublicense. If the Company receives a priority review voucher from the FDA in connection with obtaining marketing approval for a licensed product, and the Company subsequently uses such priority review voucher in connection with a different product candidate outside the scope of the agreement, the Company
will be obligated to pay UMass a low-tens percentage of the fair market value of the priority review voucher at the time of approval of such product candidate and a low-twenties percentage of the fair market value of the priority review voucher at the time of achievement of a specified commercial sales milestone for such product candidate. In addition, if the Company sells such a priority review voucher to a third party, the Company will be obligated to pay UMass a low-thirties percentage of any consideration received from such third party in connection with such sale.
IC-500 - Former Equityholders of Inception 4
Under the agreement and plan of merger between the Company and Inception 4, Inc. (“Inception 4”), pursuant to which the Company acquired IC-500 and its other HtrA1 inhibitors (the “Inception 4 Merger Agreement”), the Company is obligated to make payments to the former equityholders of Inception 4 of up to an aggregate of $105 million, subject to the terms and conditions of the Inception 4 Merger Agreement, if the Company achieves certain specified clinical and regulatory milestones with respect to IC-500 or any other product candidate from its HtrA1 inhibitor program, with $45 million of such potential payments relating to GA and $60 million of such potential payments relating to wet AMD. Under the Inception 4 Merger Agreement, the Company does not owe any commercial milestones or royalties based on net sales. The future milestone payments will be payable in the form of shares of the Company's common stock, calculated based on the price of its common stock over a five-trading day period preceding the achievement of the relevant milestone, unless and until the issuance of such shares would, together with all other shares issued in connection with the acquisition, exceed an overall maximum limit of approximately 7.2 million shares, which is equal to 19.9% of the number of issued and outstanding shares of the Company's common stock as of the close of business on the business day prior to the closing date of the Inception 4 acquisition, and will be payable in cash thereafter. The Inception 4 Merger Agreement also includes customary indemnification obligations to the former equityholders of Inception 4, including for breaches of the representations and warranties, covenants and agreements of the Company and its subsidiaries (other than Inception 4) in the Inception 4 Merger Agreement.
Employment Contracts
The Company also has letter agreements with certain employees that require the funding of a specific level of payments if certain events, such as a termination of employment in connection with a change in control or termination of employment by the employee for good reason or by the Company without cause, occur.
 Contract Service Providers
In addition, in the course of normal business operations, the Company has agreements with contract service providers to assist in the performance of the Company’s research and development and manufacturing activities. Expenditures to CROs and CDMOs represent significant costs in preclinical and clinical development. Subject to required notice periods and the Company’s obligations under binding purchase orders and any cancellation fees that the Company may be obligated to pay, the Company can elect to discontinue the work under these agreements at any time. 
Legal Proceedings
On January 11, 2017, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company and certain of its current and former executive officers in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, captioned Frank Micholle v. Ophthotech Corporation, et al., No. 1:17-cv-00210. On March 9, 2017, a related putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company and the same group of its current and former executive officers in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, captioned Wasson v. Ophthotech Corporation, et al., No. 1:17-cv-01758. These cases were consolidated on March 13, 2018. On June 4, 2018, the lead plaintiff filed a consolidated amended complaint (the “CAC”). The CAC purports to be brought on behalf of shareholders who purchased the Company’s common stock between March 2, 2015 and December 12, 2016. The CAC generally alleges that the Company and certain of its officers violated Sections 10(b) and/or 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by making allegedly false and/or misleading statements concerning the results of the Company’s Phase 2b trial and the prospects of the Company’s Phase 3 trials for Fovista in combination with anti-VEGF agents for the treatment of wet AMD. The CAC seeks unspecified damages, attorneys’ fees, and other costs. The Company and individual defendants filed a motion to dismiss the CAC on July 27, 2018. On September 18, 2019, the court issued an order dismissing some, but not all, of the allegations in the CAC. On November 18, 2019, the Company and the individual defendants filed an answer to the complaint. On June 12, 2020, the lead plaintiff filed a motion for class certification. On August 11, 2020, the defendants filed a notice of non-opposition to lead plaintiff's motion for
class certification. On April 23, 2021, the court issued an order staying the action until July 1, 2021, 10 days after a mediation scheduled for June 21, 2021. On July 1, 2021, following the June 21, 2021 mediation, the parties notified the court that they had reached an agreement in principle to settle the class action. On September 8, 2021, the parties executed a settlement agreement and submitted the agreement to the court for approval. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the Company agreed to pay $29 million, which includes the attorneys' fees and costs and expenses for the plaintiffs' counsel. On March 17, 2022, the court provided a preliminary approval of the settlement. In April 2022, the Company’s insurance carriers paid the full amount of the settlement directly to the plaintiffs’ escrow account. On September 16, 2022, the court granted final approval of the settlement. This settlement did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition.
On August 31, 2018, a shareholder derivative action was filed against current and former members of the Company's board of directors and certain current and former officers of the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, captioned Luis Pacheco v. David R. Guyer, et al., Case No. 1:18-cv-07999. The complaint, which is based substantially on the facts alleged in the CAC, alleges that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the Company and wasted the Company's corporate assets by failing to oversee the Company's business, and also alleges that the defendants were unjustly enriched as a result of the alleged conduct, including through receipt of bonuses, stock options and similar compensation from the Company, and through sales of the Company's stock between March 2, 2015 and December 12, 2016. The complaint purports to seek unspecified damages on the Company's behalf, attorneys’ fees, and other costs, as well as an order directing the Company to reform and improve its corporate governance and internal procedures to comply with applicable laws, including submitting certain proposed amendments to the Company's corporate charter, bylaws and corporate governance policies for vote by the Company's stockholders. On December 14, 2018, the Company filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. On September 19, 2019, the court denied its motion to dismiss this complaint. This matter was subsequently referred to a special litigation committee (“SLC”) of the Company's board of directors. On February 18, 2020, the Company filed an answer to the complaint. The Company and the plaintiff agreed to stay this litigation while the SLC conducts its investigation. On May 4, 2020, the court approved the stipulation and stayed the litigation through November 1, 2020. By agreement of the parties, the court has since extended the stay through June 26, 2021. The Company also entered into tolling agreements with the defendant directors to December 2022. On January 27, 2022, the parties executed a settlement agreement (the “Stipulation of Settlement”). On November 3, 2022, the court issued an order preliminarily approving the settlement. On January 27, 2023, the court granted final approval of the settlement. This settlement did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition.
On October 16, 2018, the Company’s board of directors received a shareholder demand to investigate and commence legal proceedings against certain members of the Company’s board of directors. The demand alleges facts that are substantially similar to the facts alleged in the CAC and the Pacheco complaint and asserts claims that are substantially similar to the claims asserted in the Pacheco complaint. On January 30, 2019, the Company’s board of directors received a second shareholder demand from a different shareholder to investigate and commence legal proceedings against certain current and former members of the Company’s board of directors based on allegations that are substantially similar to the allegations contained in the first demand letter. These shareholder demands were referred to a demand review committee of the Company's board of directors. On May 6, 2021, the shareholders who served the October 16, 2018 demand filed a shareholder derivative action against current and former members of the Company’s board of directors and certain current and former officers of the Company in the New York Supreme Court, captioned Brian Ferber et al., derivatively on behalf of Ophthotech Corporation v. Axel Bolte et al., Index No. 154462/2021. The complaint asserts the same claims as those asserted in the Pacheco complaint and is based on factual allegations that are materially similar to the allegations in the Pacheco complaint. On June 22, 2021, the parties filed a stipulation staying the Ferber action until 60 days after the SLC concludes its investigation. On January 27, 2022, the parties executed the Stipulation of Settlement referred to above, settling the matter. On November 3, 2022, the court issued an order preliminarily approving the settlement. On January 27, 2023, the court granted final approval of the settlement. The settlement did not have a material impact on the Company's financial condition.