Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v3.23.1
Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Leases
The Company leases its office facilities as well as other property under operating leases. In February 2022, the Company entered a lease for an office facility in Encinitas, California and took possession of the space May 1, 2022. The Company recorded an ROU asset and lease liability upon lease commencement in May 2022. On May 16, 2022, a nominal short-term lease commenced in Australia. Lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise the option. The remaining
lease terms range from less than 0.42 to 0.58 years. The Company’s Waltham, Massachusetts lease ended March 31, 2022.
Total operating lease cost for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 was $30,000 and $55,000, respectively and includes a nominal short-term and variable lease cost.
Future annual minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases as of March 31, 2023 are as follows:
Years Ending December 31,
2023 (remaining months) $ 74,074 
Total Lease Liabilities 74,074 
Less Amounts Representing Interest (785)
Total 73,289 
Less Current Portion (73,289)
$ — 
License and Exclusive Rights Agreements
The Company is a party to seven license agreements as described below. These license agreements require the Company to pay or receive royalties or fees to or from the licensor based on revenue or milestones related to the licensed technology.
On July 2, 2013, the Company (through its subsidiary, Kiora Pharmaceuticals, GmbH) entered into a patent and know-how assignment agreement with 4SC Discovery GmbH (“4SC”) transferring to the Company all patent rights and know-how to the compound KIO-101. The Company is responsible for paying royalties of 3.25% on net sales of KIO-101.
On July 2, 2013, the Company (through its subsidiary, Kiora Pharmaceuticals, GmbH) entered into an out-license agreement with 4SC granting 4SC the exclusive worldwide right to commercialize the compound KIO-101 for rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. The Company is eligible to receive milestone payments totaling up to €155 million, upon and subject to the achievement of certain specified developmental and commercial milestones. The Company has not received any milestones payments from 4SC. In addition, the Company is eligible to receive royalties of 3.25% on net sales of KIO-101.
On September 12, 2013, the Company (through its subsidiary, Jade Therapeutics, Inc.) entered into an agreement with Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (“Lineage”), formerly known as BioTime, Inc. granting to the Company the exclusive worldwide right to commercialize cross-linked thiolated carboxymethyl hyaluronic acid (“modified HA”) for ophthalmic treatments in humans. The agreement requires the Company to pay an annual fee of $30,000 and a royalty of 6% on net sales of KIO-201 to Lineage based on revenue relating to any product incorporating the modified HA technology. The agreement expires when patent protection for the modified HA technology lapses in August 2027.
On November 17, 2014, the Company (through its subsidiary Kiora Pharmaceuticals GmbH) entered into an intellectual property and know-how licensing agreement with Laboratoires Leurquin Mediolanum S.A.S. (“Mediolanum”) for the commercialization of KIO-101 (the “Mediolanum agreement”) in specific territories. Under the Mediolanum agreement, the Company out-licensed rights to commercialize KIO-101 for uveitis, dry eye and viral conjunctivitis in Italy, and France. This Agreement was amended on December 10, 2015 to also include Belgium and The Netherlands. Under the Mediolanum Agreement, Mediolanum is obligated to pay up to approximately €20 million in development and commercial milestones and a 7% royalty on net sales of KIO-101 in the territories through the longer of the expiry of the valid patents covering KIO-101 or 10 years from the first commercial sale. The royalty is reduced to 5% after patent expiry.
On September 26, 2018, the Company entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement (the “SentrX Agreement”) with SentrX, a veterinary medical device company that develops and manufactures veterinary wound care products. Under the SentrX Agreement, the Company in-licensed the rights to trade secrets and know-how related to the manufacturing of KIO-201. The SentrX Agreement enables the Company to pursue a different vendor with a larger capacity for manufacturing and an FDA-inspected facility for commercialization of a product for human use. Under the SentrX Agreement, SentrX is eligible to receive milestone payments totaling up to $4.75 million, upon and subject to the achievement of certain specified developmental and commercial milestones. The term of the agreement is until the product is no longer in the commercial marketplace.
On May 1, 2020, the Company (through its subsidiary, Bayon Therapeutics, Inc.) entered into an agreement with the University of California (“UC”) granting to the Company the exclusive rights to its pipeline of photoswitch molecules. The agreement requires the Company to pay an annual fee to UC of $5,000, as well as payments to UC upon the achievement of certain development milestone and royalties based on revenue relating to any product incorporating KIO-301. The Company is obligated to pay royalties on net sales of two percent (2%) of the first $250 million of net sales, one and a quarter percent (1.25%) of net sales between $250 million and $500 million, and one half of one percent (0.5%) of net sales over $500 million. The agreement expires on the date of the last-to-expire patent included in the licensed patent portfolio which is January 2030.
On May 1, 2020, the Company (through our subsidiary, Bayon Therapeutics, Inc.) entered into an agreement with Photoswitch Therapeutics, Inc. (“Photoswitch”) granting to the Company access to certain patent applications and IP rights with last-to-expire patent terms of January 2030. The agreement calls for payments to Photoswitch upon the achievement of certain development milestones and upon first commercial sale of the product.
Contingent Consideration
The purchase price of various acquisitions in prior periods included contingent consideration, which consisted of various cash earn-out payments upon the achievement of certain milestones. Below are the maximum obligation payments per the respective agreements and estimated fair value of contingent consideration payments remaining as of March 31, 2023.
Maximum Obligation
per Agreements
Current Fair
Value Estimated
Bayon $ 7,135,000  $ 1,195,124 
Panoptes 9,500,000  1,847,408 
Jade 2,164,451  797,954 
$ 18,799,451  $ 3,840,486 
Other
In the normal course of business, the Company periodically becomes involved in various claims and lawsuits, as well as governmental proceedings and investigations that are incidental to the business. The Company accrues a liability when a loss is considered probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. When a material loss contingency is reasonably possible but not probable, the Company does not record a liability, but instead discloses the nature and amount of the claim, and an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss, if such an estimate can be made. Legal fees are expensed as incurred. With respect to governmental proceedings and investigations, like other companies in the industry, the Company is subject to extensive regulation by national, state and local governmental agencies in the U.S. and in other jurisdictions in which the Company and its affiliates operate. As a result, interaction with governmental agencies is ongoing. The Company’s standard practice is to cooperate with regulators and investigators in responding to inquiries.
The Company currently maintains insurance for risks associated with the operation of its business, provision of professional services and ownership of property. These policies provide coverage for a variety of potential
losses, including loss or damage to property, bodily injury, general commercial liability, professional errors and omissions and medical malpractice.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was signed into law. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of the recently enacted law, including whether the Company is subject to the corporate alternative minimum tax. However, the Company does not expect the impact to be material to its accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.