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Subsequent Events
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Subsequent events.  
Subsequent events

15. Subsequent events

Collaboration Agreement with AbbVie

On January 4, 2023, the Company entered into the Collaboration Agreement with AbbVie, pursuant to which the Company will use its proprietary discovery engine to discover and validate targets derived from patients with three specified tumor types, and antibodies that bind to such targets, which may be the subject of further development and commercialization by AbbVie. The research term is at least 66 months, subject to extension in certain circumstances by specified extension periods. Pursuant to the terms of the Collaboration Agreement, with respect to each novel target-antibody pair that the Company generates that meets certain mutually agreed criteria (each, a Validated Target Pair or VTP), the Company granted to AbbVie an exclusive option (up to a maximum of 10 in total) to purchase all rights in and to such Validated Target Pair, for all human and non-human diagnostic, prophylactic and therapeutic uses throughout the

world, including without limitation the development and commercialization of certain products derived from the assigned Validated Target Pair and directed to the target comprising such VTP (Products). No rights are granted by the Company to AbbVie under any of Company’s platform technology covering the Company’s discovery engine. Until the expiration of the research term, the Company is not permitted to conduct any activities in connection with targets or antibodies derived from patients with the specified tumor types, whether independently or with other third parties, except in limited circumstances with respect to certain target-antibody pairs that are no longer subject to the collaboration with AbbVie. In addition, during the term of the Collaboration Agreement, the Company is not permitted to develop products directed to targets that are included in VTPs purchased by AbbVie, or to which AbbVie still has rights under the Collaboration Agreement, whether independently or with other third parties.

Under the Collaboration Agreement, AbbVie will pay the Company an upfront payment of $30.0 million, plus certain additional platform access payments in the aggregate amount of up to $70.0 million based on the Company’s use of its discovery engine in connection with activities under each stage of the research plan, and delivery of VTPs to AbbVie. AbbVie will also pay an option exercise fee in the low single digit millions for each of the up to 10 VTPs for which it exercises an option. If AbbVie progresses development and commercialization of a Product, AbbVie will pay the Company development and first commercial sale milestones of up to $120.0 million per target, and sales milestones based on achievement of specified levels of net sales of Products of up to $150.0 million in the aggregate per target, in each case, subject to specified deductions in certain circumstances. On a Product-by-Product basis, AbbVie will pay the Company tiered royalties on net sales of Products at a percentage in the low single digits, subject to specified reductions and offsets in certain circumstances. AbbVie’s royalty payment obligation will commence, on a Product-by-Product and country-by-country basis, on the first commercial sale of such Product in such country and will expire on the earlier of (a) (i) the ten (10)-year anniversary of such first commercial sale for such Product in such country, or (ii) solely with respect to a Product that incorporates an antibody comprising a VTP (or certain other antibodies derived from such delivered antibody), the expiration of all valid claims of patent rights covering the composition of matter of any such antibody (whichever out of (i) or (ii) is later), and (b) the expiration of regulatory exclusivity for such Product in such country. The Company is potentially eligible to receive up to $2.8 billion from AbbVie under the Collaboration Agreement from the sources described above.

The Collaboration Agreement will expire upon the expiration of the last to expire royalty payment obligation with respect to all Products in all countries, subject to earlier expiration if all option exercise periods for all Validated Target Pairs expire without AbbVie exercising any option. In addition, the research term will terminate if AbbVie does not elect to make certain platform access payments at specified points during the research term, in order for the Company to continue the target discovery activities under the collaboration. The Collaboration Agreement may be terminated by (a) either party upon the other party’s uncured material breach, or upon any insolvency event of the other party, (b) AbbVie for convenience upon a specified period prior written notice, or (c) AbbVie for the Company’s breach of representations and warranties with respect to debarment or compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws. If AbbVie has the right to terminate the Collaboration Agreement for the Company’s uncured material breach or a breach of representations and warranties with respect to debarment or compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, AbbVie may elect to continue the Collaboration Agreement, subject to certain specified reductions applicable to certain of AbbVie’s payment obligations (with a specified floor on such reductions).

Whitehead Letter Agreement

On November 17, 2022, the Company entered into a Letter Agreement, or the Letter Agreement, with the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research, or Whitehead, which became effective on January 4, 2023 upon the satisfaction of the conditions described therein. The Letter Agreement supplements the Exclusive Patent License Agreement entered into between the Company and Whitehead on June 25, 2009 (as amended on December 17, 2009, March 21, 2013, August 21, 2017 and July 21, 2020, the License Agreement). Pursuant to the Letter Agreement, Whitehead and the Company agreed that certain payments received by the Company from the Collaborator (as defined in the Letter Agreement) (i.e., a corporate partner, as defined in the License Agreement) would be excluded from the Company’s payment obligations to Whitehead. The Company and Whitehead further agreed, among other things, that the Company will make certain payments to Whitehead (i) as Net Sales (as defined in the License Agreement) as long as the Company receives those payments from the Collaborator on a specified number of products purchased by the Collaborator and (ii) upon the achievement of certain milestones whether by the Company or the Collaborator.