Deferred Royalty Obligation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Advance Royalties [Abstract]

Deferred Royalty Obligation

DEFERRED ROYALTY OBLIGATION

On June 28, 2022, we and HealthCare Royalty Partners IV, L.P. (“HCR”) entered into a Royalty and Sales Milestone Interest Acquisition Agreement (the “HCR Agreement”). Under the terms of the HCR Agreement, HCR has agreed to pay us up to $20.0 million in exchange for the royalty payments and commercial milestone payments (collectively the “Royalty Interest Payments”) that we may receive under our 2017 License Agreement with KKC based upon KKC's net sales of tenapanor in Japan. As consideration for the sale of the Royalty Interest Payments, HCR paid to us a $10.0 million upfront payment, and we are eligible to receive a $5.0 million payment following KKC's receipt of regulatory approval to market tenapanor for hyperphosphatemia in Japan, and another $5.0 million payment in the event net sales by KKC in Japan exceed a certain annual target level by the end of 2025.

The HCR Agreement is effective until terminated by the mutual agreement of the parties and contains customary representations and warranties and customary affirmative and negative covenants, including, among others, requirements as to prosecution, maintenance, defense and enforcement of certain patent rights in Japan, restrictions regarding our ability to forgive, release or reduce any Royalty Interest Payments due to us under the 2017 KKC Agreement, to create or incur any liens with respect to the Royalty Interest Payments, the 2017 KKC Agreement or certain patents, or to sell, license or transfer certain patents in the field and territory described in the 2017 KKC Agreement.

In addition, the HCR Agreement contains customary events of default with respect to which we may incur indemnification obligations to HCR for any losses incurred by HCR and related parties as a result of the event of default, subject to a specified limitation of liability cap. Under the HCR Agreement, an event of default will occur if, among other things, any of the representations and warranties included in the HCR Agreement proves not to have been true and correct in all material respects, at the time it was made, we breach any of our covenants under the HCR Agreement, subject to specified cure periods with respect to certain breaches, we are in breach or default under the 2017 KKC Agreement in any manner which is likely to cause a material adverse effect on the Royalty Interest Payments, the occurrence of a termination of the 2017 KKC Agreement under certain circumstances or we or our assets become subject to certain legal proceedings, such as bankruptcy proceedings, or we are unable to pay our debts as they become due.

We received the $10.0 million upfront payment from HCR during June 2022 and recorded it as a deferred royalty obligation on our condensed balance sheet. As part of the sale, we incurred approximately $0.4 million in transaction costs, which, along with the deferred royalty obligation, will be amortized to non-cash interest expense over the estimated life of the HCR Agreement using the effective interest method. As future royalties are remitted to us by KKC, and subsequently from us to HCR, the balance of the deferred royalty obligation will be effectively repaid over the life of the HCR Agreement. To determine the amortization of the deferred royalty obligation, we are required to estimate the total amount of future royalty payments to be received from KKC for sales of tenapanor in Japan. There are a number of factors that could materially affect the amount and timing of royalty payments from KKC, most of which are not within our control. We will periodically assess the estimated royalty payments from KKC and, to the extent that the amount or timing of such payments is materially different than our original estimates, we will prospectively adjust the imputed interest rate and the related amortization of the deferred royalty obligation. As of June 30, 2022, our effective interest rate used to amortize the liability is 34.4%. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2022, we did not recognize a material amount of non-cash interest expense for the amortization of the deferred royalty obligation.