Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Development Awards and Deferred Revenue

v3.19.1
Development Awards and Deferred Revenue
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Development Awards And Deferred Revenue  
Development Awards and Deferred Revenue

9. DEVELOPMENT AWARDS AND DEFERRED REVENUE

 

2015 CFFT Award

 

On April 20, 2015, the Company entered into an award agreement (the “2015 CFFT Award Agreement “) with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Inc (“CFFT”), a non-profit drug discovery and development affiliate of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (“CFF”) pursuant to which the Company received a development award (the “2015 CFFT Award”) for up to $5 million in funding. The funding from the 2015 CFFT Award supported a first-in-patient Phase 2 clinical trial of the Company’s oral anti-inflammatory drug lenabasum in adults with cystic fibrosis (“CF”). The Company received $5.0 million in payments under the 2015 CFFT Award as outlined below. The payments received under the 2015 CFFT Award were recorded as deferred revenue when the triggering event to receive those amounts had occurred and were amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected duration of the remaining performance period under the 2015 CFFT Award which concluded in the third quarter of 2017.

 

Upon the execution of the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement, the Company received a payment of $1,250,000 in May 2015. In November 2015, the Company received a second payment of $1,250,000 upon the achievement of a milestone for dosing the first patient. In August 2016, the Company received a third payment from the CFFT in the amount of $1,000,000 for achieving a milestone in July 2016 related to dosing the median clinical trial patient. In January 2017, the Company received a fourth payment from the CFFT in the amount of $1,000,000 for achieving a milestone in December 2016 related to completing the final visit for the final patient, which was billed by the Company to CFFT in December 2016 and was classified in grants receivable as of December 31, 2016. The Company received the final payment from CFFT in the amount of $500,000 in November 2017 for achieving the final milestone in September 2017 related to the issuance to CFFT of the final integrated statistical report for to the Phase 2 CF clinical trial. At that time the Company had completed all its performance obligations under the contract and therefore the performance period had concluded.

 

In accordance with ASC 605, the Company recorded $2,440,195 of revenue during the year ended December 31, 2017 under the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement. No revenue was recorded under the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement during the year ended December 31, 2018 as the final performance period concluded in the third quarter of 2017. Under ASC 605, milestone payments were initially recognized only in the period that the payment-triggering event occurred or was achieved. Effective January 1, 2018, ASC 605 was superseded by ASC 606 (See Note 3). The Company adopted ASC 606 in the first quarter of 2018 using the modified retrospective method according to which the cumulative effect of initially applying ASC 606 is recognized at the date of initial application. Since the Company concluded its performance obligations and completed recognizing revenue under the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement in the third quarter of 2017, there was no cumulative effect to record at the date of the Company’s adoption of ASC 606.

  

Pursuant to the terms of the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement, the Company is obligated to make royalty payments to CFFT contingent upon commercialization of lenabasum in the Field of Use (as defined in the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement) as follows: (i) a royalty payment equal to five times the amount the Company receives under the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement, up to $25 million, payable in three equal annual installments following the first commercial sale of lenabasum, the first of which is due within 90 days following the first commercial sale of lenabasum, (ii) a royalty payment to CFFT equal to the amount the Company receives under the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement, up to $5 million, due in the first calendar year in which the aggregate cumulative net sales of lenabasum in the Field of Use exceed $500 million, and (iii) royalty payment(s) to CFFT of up to approximately $15 million if the Company transfers, sells or licenses lenabasum in the Field of Use other than for certain clinical or development purposes, or if the Company enters into a change of control transaction, with such payment(s) to be credited against the royalty payments due upon commercialization. The Field of Use is defined in the 2015 CFFT Award as the treatment in humans of CF, asbestosis, bronchiectasis, byssinosis, chronic bronchitis/COPD hypersensitivity pneumonitis, pneumoconiosis, primary ciliary dyskinesis, sarcoidosis and silicosis. Either CFFT or the Company may terminate the agreement for cause, which includes the Company’s material failure to achieve certain commercialization and development milestones. The Company’s payment obligations, if any, would survive the termination of the 2015 CFFT Award Agreement.

 

2018 CFF Award

 

On January 26, 2018, the Company entered into the Cystic Fibrosis Program Related Investment Agreement with the CFF (“Investment Agreement”), a non-profit drug discovery and development corporation, pursuant to which the Company received an award for up to $25 million in funding (the “2018 CFF Award”) to support a Phase 2b Clinical Trial (the “Phase 2b Clinical Trial”) of lenabasum in patients with cystic fibrosis, of which the Company has received $12.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2018 upon the Company’s achievement of milestones related to the progress of the Phase 2b Clinical Trial, as set forth in the Investment Agreement.

 

The Company expects that the remainder of the 2018 CFF Award will be paid incrementally upon the Company’s achievement of the remaining milestones related to the progress of the Phase 2b Clinical Trial, as set forth in the Investment Agreement.

 

Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Agreement, the Company is obligated to make certain royalty payments to CFF, including a royalty payment of one and one-half times the amount of the 2018 CFF Award, payable in cash within sixty days upon the first receipt of approval of lenabasum in the United States and a second royalty payment of one and one-half times the amount of the 2018 CFF Award upon approval in another major market, as set forth in the Investment Agreement (the “Approval Royalty”). At the Company’s election, the Company may satisfy the first of the two Approval Royalties in registered shares of the Company’s common stock.

 

Additionally, the Company is obligated to make (i) royalty payments to CFF of two and one-half percent of net sales from lenabasum due within sixty days after any quarter in which such net sales occur in the Field, as defined in the Investment Agreement, (ii) royalty payments to CFF of one percent of net sales of Non-Field Products, as defined in the Investment Agreement due within sixty days after any quarter in which such net sales occur, and (iii) royalty payments to CFF of ten percent of any amount the Company and its stockholders receive in connection with the license, sale, or other transfer to a third party of lenabasum, if indicated for the treatment or prevention of CF, or a change of control transaction, except that such payment shall not exceed five times the amount of the 2018 CFF Award, with such payments to be credited against any other net sales royalty payments due. Accordingly, we will owe to CFF a royalty payment equal to 10% of any amounts we receive as payment under the collaboration agreement with Kaken, provided that the total royalties that we will be required to pay under the Investment Agreement resulting from income from licenses or sales subject to the Investment Agreement are capped at five times the total amount of the 2018 CFF Award, and we may credit such royalties against any royalties on net sales otherwise owed to CFF under the Investment Agreement. Accordingly, we will be required to pay CFF $2,700,000 within 60 days of our receipt of the $27,000,000 upfront cash payment from Kaken.

 

Either CFF or the Company may terminate the Investment Agreement for cause, which includes the Company’s material failure to achieve certain commercialization and development milestones. The Company’s payment obligations survive the termination of the Investment Agreement.

  

Pursuant to the terms of the Investment Agreement, the Company issued a warrant to CFF to purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock (the “CFF Warrant”). The CFF Warrant is exercisable at a price equal to $13.20 per share and is immediately exercisable for 500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Upon completion of the final milestone set forth in the Investment Agreement and receipt of the final payment from CFF to the Company pursuant to the Investment Agreement, the CFF Warrant will be exercisable for the remaining 500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. The CFF Warrant expires on January 26, 2025. Any shares of the Company’s common stock issued upon exercise of the CFF Warrant will be unregistered and subject to a one-year lock-up.

 

The Company recorded $4,822,272 of revenue during the year ended December 31, 2018 under the Investment Agreement. The Company assessed the 2018 CFF Award for accounting under ASC 606, which it adopted in the first quarter of 2018 (Note 3). To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that an entity determines are within the scope of ASC 606, the entity performs the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation.

 

The Company assessed this arrangement in accordance with ASC 606 and concluded that the contract counterparty, CFF, is a customer. The Company identified the following material promise under the arrangement: research and development activities and related services under the Phase 2b Clinical Trial. Based on these assessments, the Company identified one performance obligation at the outset of the Investment Agreement, which consists of: Phase 2b Clinical Trial research and development activities and related services.

 

To determine the transaction price, the Company included the total aggregate payments under the Investment Agreement which amount to $25 million and reduced the revenue to be recognized by the payment to the customer of $6,215,225 in the form of the CFF Warrant representing its fair value, leaving the remaining $18,784,775 as the transaction price as of the outset of the arrangement, which will be recognized as revenue over the performance period as discussed below. The $6,215,225 fair value of the warrant was also recorded as an increase to additional paid in capital. The Company billed and collected $12,500,000 in milestone payments during the year ended December 31, 2018 which was recorded as an increase to deferred revenue. A roll forward of deferred revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 is presented below:

 

    December 31, 2018  
Beginning balance   $  
Billing to CFF upon achievement of milestones     12,500,000  
Fair value of CFF Warrant     (6,215,225 )
Recognition of revenue     (4,822,272 )
Ending balance   $ 1,462,503  

 

The CFF Warrant is accounted for as a payment to the customer under ASC 606. See Note 13 for further information related to the CFF Warrant. The Company notes that the Investment Agreement contains an initial payment that was received upon contract execution and subsequent milestone payments, which are a form of variable consideration that require evaluation for constraint considerations. The Company concluded that the related performance milestones are generally within the Company’s control and as result are considered probable. Revenue associated with the performance obligation is being recognized as revenue as the research and development services are provided using an input method, according to the costs incurred as related to the research and development activities on each program and the costs expected to be incurred in the future to satisfy the performance obligation. The transfer of control occurs over this time period and, in management’s judgment, is the best measure of progress towards satisfying the performance obligation. The research and development services related to this performance obligation are expected to be performed over an approximately two and a half year period expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020. The amounts received that have not yet been recognized as revenue are recorded in deferred revenue and the amounts recognized as revenue, but not yet received or invoiced are generally recognized as contract assets on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet.