Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v3.20.2
Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Aug. 31, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies
Note 10 – Commitments and Contingencies
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, the Company entered into a Master Services Agreement and Product Specific Agreement (collectively, the “Samsung Agreement”) with Samsung BioLogics Co., Ltd. (“Samsung”), pursuant to which Samsung will perform technology transfer, process validation, manufacturing and supply services for the commercial supply of leronlimab. As of quarter ended
August 31,
202
0
, the Company delivered to Samsung purchase orders totaling approximately $45 million related to the manufacture of leronlimab and payments totaling $34 million, with additional payments scheduled to be made throughout calendar 2020. Under the Samsung Agreement, the purchase order is binding and the Company is obligated to pay the full amount of the purchase order. Under the terms of the Samsung Agreement, the Company is obligated to make specified minimum purchases of leronlimab from Samsung pursuant to forecasted requirements which the Company is required to provide to Samsung. The first forecast schedules 11 manufacturing batches
,
all beginning in the quarter
ended Au
gust 31, 2020
, setting forth the total quantity of commercial grade leronlimab the Company expects to require in the following years. The Company estimates initial
ramp-up
costs to manufacture commercial grade leronlimab at scale could total approximately $112 million, with approximately $65 million payable over the course of calendar 2020, of which $37 million has been paid as of the date of this filing, and approximately $24 million payable during calendar 2021, and approximately $23 million payable in January of 2022. Thereafter, the Company will pay Samsung per 15,000L batch according to the pricing terms specified in the Samsung Agreement. The Samsung Agreement has an initial term ending in December 2027 and will be automatically extended for additional
two-year
periods unless either party gives notice of termination at least six months prior to the then current term. Either party may terminate the Samsung Agreement in the event of the other party’s insolvency or uncured material breach, and the Company may terminate the agreement in the event of a voluntary or involuntary complete market withdrawal of leronlimab from commercial markets, with one and half year’s prior notice. Neither party may assign the agreement without the consent of the other, except in the event of a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of a party to which the agreement relates.
On May 22, 2020, the Company entered into a Drug Product Manufacturing Services Agreement with Samsung (the “Samsung Vial Filling Agreement”), pursuant to which Samsung will perform technology transfer, process validation, vial filling and storage services for clinical,
pre-approval
inspection, and commercial supply of leronlimab. Under the terms of the Samsung Vial Filling Agreement, the Company is obligated to have specified minimum quantities of vials filed with leronlimab by Samsung pursuant to forecasted requirements which the Company is required to provide to Samsung. The Company has not provided a forecast to Samsung, however based on
set-up
related costs and manufacturing commitments pursuant to the Samsung Agreement the Company expects to deliver commitments of approximately $2.6 million in the form of purchase orders related to the Samsung Vial Filling Agreement through January 2021.
In addition to our manufacturing agreement with Samsung, the Company also previously entered into an arrangement with another third-party contract manufacturer to provide process transfer, validation and manufacturing services for leronlimab. In the event that the Company terminates the agreement with this manufacturer, the Company may incur certain financial penalties which would become payable to the manufacturer. Conditioned upon the timing of termination, the financial penalties may total approximately $2.1 million. These amount and timing of the financial commitments under an agreement with our secondary contract manufacturer will depend on the timing of the anticipated approval of our BLA and the initial product demand forecast, which is critical to align the timing of capital resources in order to ensure availability of sufficient quantities of commercial product.
The Company has entered into project work orders, as amended, for each of its CRO and related laboratory vendors. Under the terms of these agreements, the Company incurs execution fees for direct services costs, which are recorded as a current asset. In the event the Company were to terminate any trial, it may incur certain financial penalties which would become payable to the CRO. Conditioned upon the form of termination of any one trial, the financial penalties may range up to $0.7 million. In the remote circumstance that the Company would terminate all clinical trials, the collective financial penalties may range from an approximate low of $1.9 million to an approximate high of $3.7 million.
On April 29, 2020, Torreya Capital LLC (“Torreya”) filed an arbitration claim against the Company demanding payment of a transaction fee in the amount of $600,000 plus attorney fees, for the Company’s alleged failure to pay a transaction fee to Torreya under the terms of the engagement letter with the Company. The Company denied Torreya’s right to a fee pursuant to the terms of the engagement. On September 17, 2020, Torreya amended its claim to add an additional transaction fee claim, increasing its demand to $1.74 million. The Company similarly denied Torreya’s contractual right to any fee.
The parties filed dispositive motions in August and September, which the arbitrator denied on October 5, 2020.
The Company continues to vigorously defend this action.
On June 29, 2020, the Company issued the note holder of the January 2019 Note 4,000,000 shares of common stock with a settlement value of $22.5 million. These shares were issued as settlement for a claim filed by the note holder against
the Company alleging that the note holder was owed additional shares upon conversion of the January 2019 Note, compared to the number of shares requested by the noteholder and issued by of the Company to the note holder upon conversion.
From time to time, the Company is involved in routine litigation that arises in the ordinary course of business. There are no pending significant legal proceedings to which the Company is a party for which management believes the ultimate outcome would have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position.