Severance and Retention Costs related to our Restructured Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Severance and Retention Costs related to our Restructured Operations [Abstract]

Severance and Retention Costs related to our Restructured Operations

8. Severance and Retention Costs related to our Restructured Operations

Restructured European Operations

In the fourth quarter of 2020, we entered into a distribution agreement with Sobi to commercialize TEGSEDI and WAYLIVRA in Europe. Under the distribution agreement, Sobi took over all material distribution operations at the end of January 2021. We remain the marketing authorization holder for TEGSEDI and WAYLIVRA in Europe. We will continue to maintain limited European operations including regulatory, manufacturing, and the management of relationships with key opinion leaders. We will also continue to lead the TEGSEDI and WAYLIVRA global commercial strategy.

As a result of this change, we incurred severance and retention expenses of $14.2 million. During 2021 and 2020, we recorded $1.7 million and $12.5 million of severance and retention related costs in operating expenses, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we have recognized all severance and retention costs related to this agreement.

The following table summarizes the severance and retention expenses related to our restructured European operations that we recognized for the periods indicated (in millions):

	Year Ended December 31, 2021		Year Ended December 31, 2020
R&D expenses	$	0.6	$	4.2
SG&A expenses		1.1		8.3
Total	$	1.7	$	12.5

The following table summarizes the severance and retention reserve amounts related to our restructured European operations that we included in accrued compensation for the period indicated (in millions):

	Year Ended December 31, 2021
Beginning balance as of January 1, 2021	$	12.4
Amount expensed during the year		2.6
Reserve adjustments during the year		(0.9	)
Net amount expensed during the year		1.7
Amounts paid during the year		(14.1	)
Ending balance as of December 31, 2021	$	—

The reserve adjustments during the period primarily related to tax expense adjustments.

Restructured North American TEGSEDI Operations

In April 2021, we entered into a distribution agreement with Sobi for TEGSEDI in North America. Under the terms of the distribution agreement, we will retain the marketing authorizations for TEGSEDI in the U.S. and Canada. We will continue to supply commercial product to Sobi and manage regulatory and manufacturing processes, as well as relationships with key opinion leaders. We will also continue to lead the TEGSEDI global commercial strategy. Sobi will otherwise have responsibility for commercializing TEGSEDI in the U.S. and Canada.

In connection with restructuring our North American TEGSEDI operations, or Restructured North American TEGSEDI Operations, we enacted a plan to reorganize our Akcea workforce in North America to better align with the needs of our business and to focus on our wholly owned pipeline.

The following table summarizes the severance expenses related to our Restructured North American TEGSEDI Operations that we recognized for the period indicated (in millions):

	Year Ended December 31, 2021
R&D expenses	$	2.3
SG&A expenses		7.1
Total	$	9.4

We recognized all severance expenses related to our Restructured North American TEGSEDI Operations during the three months ended June 30, 2021.

The following table summarizes the severance reserve amounts related to our Restructured North American TEGSEDI Operations that we included in accrued compensation for the period indicated (in millions):

	Year Ended December 31, 2021
Beginning balance as of January 1, 2021	$	—
Net amount expensed during the year		9.4
Amounts paid during the year		(9.4	)
Ending balance as of December 31, 2021	$	—