Annual report [Section 13 and 15(d), not S-K Item 405]

LICENSE/SUPPLIER AGREEMENTS

v3.25.1
LICENSE/SUPPLIER AGREEMENTS
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2024
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
LICENSE/SUPPLIER AGREEMENTS

NOTE 12 – LICENSE/SUPPLIER AGREEMENTS

 

License Agreement Relating to Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB)

 

In 2016, the Company entered into two licensing agreements between the Company and The Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University (“Stanford”) to develop EB-101 (LZRSE-Col7A1 Engineered Autologous Epidermal Sheets (LEAES)) and EB-201 (AAV DJ COL7A1) and to license the invention “Gene Therapy for Recessive Dystrophic EB using Genetically Corrected Autologous Keratinocytes”. Under the terms of the licensing agreements, the Company paid an upfront of licensing fees in cash and is subject to annual license maintenance fees. In addition, the Company is subject to the achievement of certain milestones, regulatory approval milestone payments, and royalty payments in the low single digits on annual net sales of the licensed product. As of December 31, 2024, the Company is subject to remaining milestone payments totaling approximately $0.2 million which is due upon FDA approval of pz-cel.

 

License Agreement Relating to Novel AAV Capsids (“AIM™ capsids”)

 

In 2016, the Company licensed an international patent family from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC”) covering novel AAV capsids (“AIM™ capsids”) that may potentially be used to deliver a wide variety of therapeutic transgenes to human cells to treat genetic diseases. Under the terms of the licensing agreements, the Company paid an upfront licensing fees in cash and is subject to on-going patent expenses incurred in relation to the patents licensed under this agreement and annual license maintenance fees. In addition, the Company is subject to the achievement of certain milestones, regulatory approval milestone payments, and royalty payments in the low single digits on annual net sales of the licensed product. As of December 31, 2024, no milestone or royalty payments under this agreement have been made.

 

 

License Agreement Relating to CLN1 Disease

 

In 2016, the Company licensed from UNC rights to two patent families directed to treating CLN1 disease (also known as infantile Batten disease). Under the terms of the licensing agreements, the Company paid an upfront of licensing fees in cash and is subject to on-going patent expenses incurred in relation to the patents licensed under this agreement and annual license maintenance fees. In addition, the Company is subject to the achievement of certain milestones, regulatory approval milestone payments, and royalty payments in the low single digits on annual net sales of the licensed product. As of December 31, 2024, no milestone or royalty payments under this agreement have been made. The Company subsequently sublicensed the license to Taysha Gene Therapies (“Taysha”), see detail of the sublicense agreement below. As part of the agreement with UNC, the Company is obligated to pay to UNC a percentage of any sublicense revenue that the Company receives under the agreement. The Company recognizes any payments under this agreement as royalties in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income.

 

License Agreement Relating to Rett Syndrome

 

In 2019, the Company licensed rights to one patent family from UNC and two patent families from The University Court of the University of Edinburgh (“U. Edinburgh”) and The University Court of the University of Glasgow (“U. Glasgow”) relating to gene therapy for the treatment of Rett Syndrome. Under the terms of the licensing agreements, the Company paid an upfront of licensing fees in cash and is subject to on-going patent expenses incurred in relation to the patents licensed under this agreement and annual license maintenance fees. In addition, the Company is subject to the achievement of certain milestones, regulatory approval milestone payments, and royalty payments in the low single digits on annual net sales of the licensed product. As of December 31, 2024, no milestone or royalty payments under this agreement have been made. The Company subsequently sublicensed the license to Taysha, see detail of the sublicense agreement below. As part of the agreement with UNC, the Company is obligated to pay to UNC and U. Edinburgh a percentage of any sublicense revenue that the Company receives under the agreement. The Company recognizes any payments under this agreement as royalties in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive income.

 

Sublicense and Inventory Purchase Agreements Relating to CLN1 Disease

 

In August 2020, the Company entered into sublicense and inventory purchase agreements with Taysha relating to a potential gene therapy for CLN1 disease. Under the sublicense agreement, Taysha received worldwide exclusive rights to intellectual property and know-how relating to the research, development, and manufacture of the potential gene therapy, which the Company had referred to as ABO-202. Under the inventory purchase agreement, the Company sold to Taysha certain inventory and other items related to ABO-202. The Company assessed the nature of the promised license to determine whether the license has significant stand-alone functionality and evaluated whether such functionality can be retained without ongoing activities by the Company and determined that the license has significant stand-alone functionality. Furthermore, the Company has no ongoing activities associated with the license to support or maintain the license’s utility. Based on this, the Company determined that the pattern of transfer of control of the license to Taysha was at a point in time.

 

The transaction price of the contract includes (i) $7.0 million of fixed consideration, (ii) up to $26.0 million of variable consideration in the form of event-based milestone payments, (iii) up to $30.0 million of variable consideration in the form of sales-based milestone payments, and (iv) high single-digit royalty-based payments based on net sales. The Company is obligated to pay a portion of milestone payments and royalties on net sales received from Taysha to the UNC.. The event-based milestone payments are based on certain development and regulatory events occurring. At inception, the Company evaluated whether the milestone conditions had been achieved and if it was probable that a significant cumulative revenue reversal would not occur before recognizing the associated revenue and determined that these milestone payments were not within the Company’s control or the licensee’s control, such as regulatory approvals, and were not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals were received. Accordingly, at inception, the Company fully constrained the $26.0 million of event-based milestone payments until such time that it is probable that significant cumulative revenue reversal would not occur. The sales-based milestone payments and other royalty-based payments are based on a level of sales for which the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate. The Company will recognize revenue for these payments at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied or partially satisfied. To date, the Company has not recognized any sales-based or royalty revenue resulting from this licensing arrangement.

 

Under this arrangement, the Company has not recognized any revenue during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively based on event-based-milestone payments. The Company has no contract assets or liabilities as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 as a result of this transaction.

 

 

Sublicense Agreement Relating to Rett Syndrome

 

In October 2020, the Company entered into a sublicense agreement with Taysha for a gene therapy for Rett syndrome, including intellectual property related to MECP2 gene constructs and regulation of their expression. The agreement grants Taysha worldwide exclusive rights to intellectual property developed by scientists at UNC, U. Edinburgh and the Company, and the Company’s know-how relating to the research, development, and manufacture of the gene therapy for Rett syndrome and MECP2 gene constructs and regulation of their expression.

 

The Company assessed the nature of the promised license to determine whether the license has significant stand-alone functionality and evaluated whether such functionality can be retained without ongoing activities by the Company and determined that the license has significant stand-alone functionality. Furthermore, the Company has no ongoing activities associated with the license to support or maintain the license’s utility. Based on this, the Company determined that the pattern of transfer of control of the license to Taysha was at a point in time.

 

The transaction price of the contract includes (i) $3.0 million of fixed consideration, (ii) up to $26.5 million of variable consideration in the form of event-based milestone payments, (iii) up to $30.0 million of variable consideration in the form of sales-based milestone payments, and (iv) high single-digit royalty-based payments based on net sales. The Company is obligated to pay a portion of milestone payments and royalties on net sales received from Taysha to the UNC and U. Edinburgh. The event-based milestone payments are based on certain development and regulatory events occurring. The Company evaluated whether the milestone conditions have been achieved and if it is probable that a significant cumulative revenue reversal would not occur before recognizing the associated revenue. The Company determined that these milestone payments are not within the Company’s control or the licensee’s control, such as regulatory approvals, and are not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals are received. Accordingly, the Company has fully constrained the $26.5 million in event-based milestone payments until such time that it is probable that a significant cumulative revenue reversal would not occur. The sales-based milestone payments and other royalty-based payments are based on a level of sales for which the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate. The Company will recognize revenue for these payments at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied or partially satisfied. To date, the Company has not recognized any sales-based or royalty revenue resulting from this licensing arrangement.

 

Under this arrangement, the Company recognized nil and $3.5 million in revenue during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. The revenue recognized was related to clinical milestones achieved by our sublicensor as per the sublicense agreement noted above. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company does not have any contract assets or contract liabilities as a result of this transaction.

 

Ultragenyx License Agreement

 

On May 16, 2022, the Company and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (“Ultragenyx”) entered into an exclusive license agreement (the “License Agreement”) for AAV gene therapy, ABO-102, for the treatment of Sanfilippo syndrome type A (MPS IIIA). Under the License Agreement, Ultragenyx assumed responsibility for the ABO-102 program from the Company, with the exclusive right to develop, manufacture, and commercialize ABO-102 worldwide. Also pursuant to the License Agreement, following regulatory approval, the Company is eligible to receive tiered royalties from mid-single-digit up to 10% on net sales and up to $30.0 million in commercial milestone payments. Both forms of consideration comprise the transaction price to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring the related intellectual property and certain, contractually-specified, transition services to Ultragenyx. The sales-based royalty and milestone payments are subject to the royalty recognition constraint. As such, these fees are not recognized as revenue until the later of: (a) the occurrence of the subsequent sale, and (b) the performance obligation to which they relate has been satisfied.

 

Additionally, pursuant to the License Agreement, Ultragenyx will reimburse the Company for certain development and transition costs actually incurred by the Company. These costs are passed through to Ultragenyx without mark-up. The Company has determined that these costs are not incurred for the purpose of satisfying any performance obligation under the License Agreement. Accordingly, the reimbursement of these costs is recognized as a reduction of research and development costs. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company does not have any contract assets or contract liabilities as a result of this transaction.