COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 6 – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Leases – The Company leases office space under an operating lease commencing December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2019 and a first lease extensions commencing December 1, 2019 through May 31, 2020. The second lease extension extends the lease for twenty-four months, beginning on June 1, 2020 and ended on May 31, 2022. The third lease extension extends the lease for twenty-four months, beginning on June 1, 2022 and ending on May 31, 2024. The monthly rent is $3,750. On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASC Topic 842, Leases, requiring this lease to be recorded as an asset and corresponding liability on its condensed consolidated balance sheet. The Company records rent expense associated with this lease on the straight-line basis in conjunction with the terms of the underlying lease. During both the nine-month periods ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, rents paid totaled $33,750.

Future minimum rental payments required under the lease are as follows: 

2023	$	11,250
2024		18,750
Total minimum lease payments:		30,000
Less amount representing interest		(4,520	)
Present value of minimum lease payments:	$	25,480

As of September 30, 2023, the Company had recorded a right of use asset of $28,676, and current and non-current lease liabilities of $10,757 and $14,723, respectively.

Legal Matters – The Company is currently not a defendant in any litigation or threatened litigation that could have a material effect on the Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements.

University of Pittsburgh Option Agreement – On April 29, 2022, the Company entered into an exclusive option agreement with University of Pittsburgh for rights to three chimeric antigen receptor T cell (“CAR-T”) technologies that offer the potential to address a range of hematologic and solid tumors. Among the initial cancer indications under development are pre-clinical programs targeting breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The exclusive option agreement involves the intellectual property rights to three technologies jointly developed in the laboratories of Jason Lohmueller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Immunology; Alexander Deiters, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry; and Olivera Finn, Ph.D., Professor of Immunology: 1) mSA2 affinity-enhanced biotin-binding CAR, 2) universal self-labeling SynNotch and CARs for programable antigen-targeting, and 3) conditional control of universal CAR-T cells through stimulus-reactive adaptors. Per the option agreement, the Company paid the University of Pittsburgh a non-refundable fee of $5,000 for the exclusive option to license the patent rights to each of the three technologies. On October 16, 2023, the Company terminated the remaining portion of the option agreement with the University of Pittsburgh.

CAR T License – On August 31, 2022, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for certain intellectual property rights related to the universal self-labeling SynNotch and CARs for programable antigen-targeting technology platform. The Company paid the University of Pittsburgh a non-refundable fee in the amount of $75,000 for the exclusive patent rights to the licensed technology. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company has been assigned the worldwide development and commercialization rights to the licensed technology in the field of human treatment of cancer with antibody or antibody fragments using SNAP-CAR T cell technology, along with (i) an intellectual property portfolio consisting of issued and pending patents and (ii) options regarding future add-on technologies and developments. In consideration of these rights, the Company paid an initial license fee of $75,000, and will have annual maintenance fees ranging between $15,000 and $25,000, as well as developmental milestone payments (as defined in the agreement) and royalties equal to 3.5% of net sales. On January 25, 2023, the Company entered into a corporate research agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for the pre-clinical development of SNAP-CART cells targeting HER2. The Company agreed to pay $716,714 for performance-based milestones.

In September 2023, the Company expanded its exclusive license agreement with the University of Pittsburgh to include the SNAP-CAR technology platform in natural killer (NK) cells. The Company agreed to pay $2,000 to amend the agreement.

Deverra Therapeutics, Inc. – On August 16, 2023, the Company entered into an exclusive licensing arrangement (the “License Agreement”) with Deverra Therapeutics Inc. (“Deverra”), pursuant to which the Company completed the exclusive license of key patent families and related intellectual property related to a proprietary allogeneic stem cell expansion and directed differentiation platform for the generation of multiple distinct immune effector cell types, including natural killer (NK) and monocyte/macrophages. The License Agreement provides the Company with exclusive rights to use the license patents and related intellectual property in connection with development and commercialization efforts in the defined field of use (the “Field”) of (a) use of unmodified NK cells as anti-viral therapeutic for viral infections, and/or as a therapeutic approach for treatment of relapsed/refractory AML and high-risk MDS; (b) use of Deverra’s cell therapy platform to generate NK cells for the purpose of engineering with Coeptis SNAP-CARs and/or Coeptis GEAR Technology; and (c) use of Deverra’s cell therapy platform to generate myeloid cells for the purpose of engineering with the Company’s current SNAP-CAR and GEAR technologies. In support of the exclusive license, the Company also entered into with Deverra (i) an asset purchase agreement (the “APA”) pursuant to which the Company purchased certain assets from Deverra, including but not limited to two Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and two Phase 1 clinical trial stage programs (NCT04901416, NCT04900454) investigating infusion of DVX201, an unmodified natural killer (NK) cell therapy generated from pooled donor CD34+ cells, in hematologic malignancies and viral infections and (ii) a non-exclusive sublicense agreement (the “Sublicense Agreement”), in support of the assets obtained by the exclusive license, pursuant to which the Company sublicensed from Deverra certain assets which Deverra has rights to pursuant a license agreement (“FHCRC Agreement”) by and between Deverra and The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (“FHCRC”).

As consideration for the transactions described above, the Company paid Deverra approximately $570,000 in cash, issued to Deverra 4,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock and assumed certain liabilities related to the ongoing clinical trials. Total consideration paid was $4,937,609, which was fully expensed in accordance with ASC 730, and is reflected within research and development in the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three and six month periods ended September 30, 2023. In addition, in accordance with the terms of the Sublicense Agreement, the Company agreed to pay FHCRC certain specified contingent running royalty payments and milestone payments under the FHCRC Agreement, in each case to the extent such payments are triggered by the Company’s development activities.

On October 26, 2023, the Company entered into a Shared Services Agreement (“SSA”) with Deverra, in accordance with requirements set forth in the APA. Under the terms of the SSA, Coeptis and Deverra will share resources and collaborate to further the development of Coeptis’ GEAR and SNAP-CAR platforms, as well as the purchased and licensed assets under the License Agreement and APA. The term of the SSA is six months from the effective date.

Registration Rights

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into on October 29, 2020, the holders of the founder shares, the Private Placement Warrants and underlying securities, and any securities issued upon conversion of Working Capital Loans (and underlying securities) would be entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of at least a majority in interest of the then-outstanding number of these securities were entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to the consummation of a Business Combination. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Imperial, I-Bankers and Northland did not exercise their demand and “piggyback” registration rights after five (5) and seven (7) years after the effective date of the registration statement and did not exercise its demand rights on more than one occasion. The registration rights agreement did not contain liquidating damages or other cash settlement provisions resulting from delays in registering the Company’s securities. The Company would bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.