(6) Commitments and Contingencies

The Company has or is subject to the following commitments and contingencies:

Employment Agreements

The Company maintains employment agreements with several key executive employees. The agreements may be terminated at any time by the Company with or without cause upon written notice to the employee, and entitle the employee to wages in lieu of notice for periods not exceeding one calendar year from date of termination without cause or by the employee for good reason. Certain of these agreements also provide for payments to be made under certain conditions related to a change in control of the Company.

Operating Lease

On August 1, 2013 the Company entered into a lease agreement for approximately 5,300 square feet of office facilities in Westminster, Colorado which has served as the Company’s primary business office since October 1, 2013.

Effective March 2, 2016, the lease was renewed for an additional 38 month term beginning October 1, 2016 and expiring on November 30, 2019. Minimum lease payments committed under the renewal from October 1, 2016 through November 2019 are approximately $261,000, of which approximately $7,000 will be paid in 2016, $83,000 in 2017, $88,000 in 2018 and $83,000 in 2019.

Below is a summary of the future minimum lease payments committed for the Company’s facility in Westminster, Colorado as of December 31, 2015 (in thousands):

2016	$	62
Total future minimum lease payments	$	62

Rent expense under these leases for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 was $81,000 and $78,000, respectively.

Duke University

In November 2013, the Company entered into a clinical research agreement with Duke University (Duke) to serve as the clinical research organization for the Company’s GENETIC-AF clinical study. Under the agreement the Company is responsible to pay Duke for their work managing certain aspects of the clinical study. Upon completion of the clinical study, the agreement will terminate. The agreement can be terminated earlier by the Company for any reason with 90 days written notice to Duke. In the event of an early termination, the Company and Duke would coordinate efforts for an orderly wind-down of the study, and the Company would be responsible to pay Duke for time and effort incurred through the date of termination and through the wind-down period.

University of Cincinnati

In April 2011, the Company entered into a license agreement with the University of Cincinnati to license exclusive worldwide rights to a portfolio of U.S. and international patents, which includes certain U.S. and international diagnostic patents covering genetic markers for ARCA’s lead drug candidate, Gencaro. These patents provide the basis for exclusive worldwide development, use and commercialization of the genetic test which may indicate a patient’s likely response to Gencaro as a treatment for chronic HF, AF, and other indications. Under the terms of the agreement, ARCA agreed to pay the University of Cincinnati annual license fees and is obligated to future milestone payments for each United States patent issued subsequent to the date of the agreement. The agreement also requires royalty payments on net sales from genetic testing performed expressly for the purpose of prescribing bucindolol.

Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Engineering Consultants, LLC, or CPEC

ARCA has licensed worldwide rights to Gencaro, including all preclinical and clinical data from Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Engineering Consultants, LLC, or CPEC, who has licensed rights in Gencaro from Bristol Myers Squib (BMS). CPEC is a licensing subsidiary of Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Endo Pharmaceuticals), holding ownership rights to certain clinical trial data of Gencaro. Under the terms of its license agreement with CPEC, the Company will incur milestone and royalty obligations upon the occurrence of certain events. If the FDA grants marketing approval for Gencaro, the license agreement states that the Company will owe CPEC a milestone payment of $8.0 million within six months after FDA approval. The license agreement states that a milestone payment of up to $5.0 million in the aggregate shall be paid upon regulatory marketing approval in Europe and Japan. The license agreement also states that the Company’s royalty obligation ranges from 12.5% to 25% of revenue from the related product based on achievement of specified product sales levels, including a 5% royalty that CPEC is obligated to pay under its original license agreement for Gencaro. The agreement states that the Company has the right to buy down the royalties to a range of 12.5% to 17% by making a payment to CPEC within six months of regulatory approval.