Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

LICENSED TECHNOLOGY

v3.21.1
LICENSED TECHNOLOGY
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]  
LICENSED TECHNOLOGY

NOTE 3 – LICENSED TECHNOLOGY

 

On November 4, 2018, we entered into a license agreement with REGENXBIO Inc. (“REGENXBIO”) to obtain rights to an exclusive worldwide license (subject to certain non-exclusive rights previously granted for MPS IIIA), with rights to sublicense, to REGENXBIO’s NAV AAV9 vector for gene therapies for treating MPS IIIA, MPS IIIB, CLN1 Disease and CLN3 Disease. Consideration for the rights granted under the original agreement included fees totaling $180 million and a running royalty on net sales, including: (i) an initial fee of $20 million, $10 million of which was due to REGENXBIO shortly after the effective date of the agreement, and $10 million of which was to be due on the first anniversary of the effective date of the agreement in November 2019, (ii) annual fees totaling up to $100 million, payable in $20 million annual installments beginning on the second anniversary of the effective date (the first of which was to remain payable if the agreement were terminated before the second anniversary in November 2020), (iii) sales milestone payments totaling $60 million, and (iv) royalties payable in the low double digits to low teens on net sales of products covered under the agreement. The license was being amortized over the life of the patent of eight years. On November 1, 2019, we entered into an amendment of the original license agreement. The amended agreement replaced the $10 million payment due on November 4, 2019 with a $3 million payment due on November 4, 2019 and an additional $8 million payment (which included $1 million of interest) that would have been due no later than April 1, 2020. That $8 million payment had been scheduled to be paid by April 1, 2020 and the $20 million that had been due to be paid on November 4, 2020, and both were recorded as payable to licensor on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company has disputed that it is responsible for the $8 million and $20 million payments, and those payments are the subject of a current arbitration between the Company and REGENXBIO.

 

Prior to the April 1, 2020 deadline, we engaged REGENXBIO in discussions in an attempt to renegotiate the financial terms of the agreement, but we were unable to reach a mutual understanding that we believed would have been favorable for the Company or our programs, and we did not make the $8 million payment due by April 1, 2020. On April 17, 2020, REGENXBIO sent us a written demand for the $8 million fee, payable within a 15-day cure period after receipt of the demand letter. The license terminated on May 2, 2020, when the 15-day period expired. There were no penalties for early termination of the license. On May 25, 2020, we filed an arbitration claim with the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) alleging that REGENXBIO materially breached the license agreement prior to termination and seeking, among other things, a declaration that as a result of REGENXBIO’s material breach, we are not responsible for payments totaling $28 million (which would otherwise have been due in 2020) plus accrued interest ($4.9 million as of March 31, 2021). REGENXBIO disputes our arbitration claim and has filed a counterclaim seeking payment of the $28 million plus interest, which REGENXBIO argues remains due. An arbitration hearing before a tribunal of three AAA arbitrators was held on March 8 and March 9, 2021. The tribunal has not yet issued its opinion, and based on the post-hearing schedule, an opinion is expected in early third quarter 2021. Additional information is included in Note 7.

 

 

We considered the status of our discussions with REGENXBIO in March 2020 as a potential indicator of impairment in accordance with ASC 360-10-35-21. Our impairment test indicated that the carrying value of the license agreement exceeded its fair value and we recorded a $32.9 million non-cash impairment charge during the three months ended March 31, 2020.

 

On May 15, 2015, we acquired Abeona Therapeutics LLC, which had an exclusive license through Nationwide Children’s Hospital to the AB-101 and AB-102 patent portfolios for developing treatments for patients with Sanfilippo Syndrome Type A and Type B. The license is amortized over the life of the license of 20 years.

 

Licensed technology consists of the following:

 

    March 31, 2021     December 31, 2020  
Licensed technology   $ 2,156,000     $ 2,156,000  
Less accumulated amortization     685,000       656,000  
Licensed technology, net   $ 1,471,000     $ 1,500,000  

 

The aggregate estimated amortization expense for intangible assets remaining as of March 31, 2021 is as follows:

 

         
2021, remainder   $ 87,000  
2022     117,000  
2023     117,000  
2024     117,000  
2025     117,000  
Thereafter     916,000  
Total   $ 1,471,000  

 

Amortization on licensed technology was $29,000 and $1.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.