Commitments and Contingencies
License Agreement with Mitsubishi Tanabe
In July 2020, the Company entered into a license agreement (the Mitsubishi License) with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharmaceutical Company (Mitsubishi Tanabe), pursuant to which Mitsubishi Tanabe granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-bearing, sublicensable license under Mitsubishi Tanabe’s patent and other intellectual property rights to exploit products incorporating lorundrostat (formerly MT-4129) (Lorundrostat Products) for the prevention, treatment, diagnosis, detection, monitoring, or predisposition testing with respect to indications, diseases, and conditions in humans. Pursuant to the Mitsubishi License, the Company paid Mitsubishi Tanabe a $1.0 million upfront fee and development milestone payments of $9.0 million in the aggregate. The Company has remaining obligations to pay Mitsubishi Tanabe commercial milestone payments of up to $155.0 million in the aggregate upon first commercial sale and upon meeting certain annual sales targets, as well as additional commercial milestone payments of up to $10.0 million for a second indication. Additionally, the Company is obligated to pay Mitsubishi Tanabe tiered royalties at percentages ranging from the mid-single-digits to ten percent (10%) of aggregate net sales of each Lorundrostat Product on a Lorundrostat Product-by-Lorundrostat Product and country-by-country basis, until the later of (i) the expiration of the last-to-expire valid Mitsubishi Tanabe patent claim covering a Lorundrostat Product, (ii) ten years from the first commercial sale of a Lorundrostat Product, or (iii) the expiration of regulatory exclusivity in such country. Such royalties are subject to reduction under specified conditions, including lack of patent coverage and generic competition.
The Company is obligated to use commercially reasonable efforts to conduct and complete the development activities and to file for regulatory approval for at least one Lorundrostat Product in a major market country and consider in good faith developing at least one Lorundrostat Product in a non-major market country. If the Company elects to sublicense its rights under the Mitsubishi License to a third party with respect to exploitation of lorundrostat or any Lorundrostat Product in certain countries in Asia, the Company has agreed to negotiate such a sublicense first, for a specified period of time, with Mitsubishi Tanabe, if Mitsubishi Tanabe notifies the Company that it would like to obtain such a sublicense. The Company also agreed not to commercialize any competing product prior to three years following the first commercial sale of the first Lorundrostat Product in any country without Mitsubishi Tanabe’s prior consent.
Unless terminated earlier, the Mitsubishi License will continue until the expiration of all of the Company’s royalty obligations to Mitsubishi Tanabe. The Company may terminate the Mitsubishi License for any or no reason upon 90 or 180 days’ prior written notice to Mitsubishi Tanabe depending on whether the Lorundrostat Product has received regulatory approval. Mitsubishi Tanabe may terminate the Mitsubishi License if the Company has not initiated regulatory consultation for the first global clinical trials of lorundrostat in at least one major market country within a specified amount of time or if the Company or its affiliates or sublicensees initiate a challenge to the patent rights licensed to the Company by Mitsubishi Tanabe. In addition, either party may terminate the Mitsubishi License in the event of an uncured material breach by or bankruptcy of the other party, subject to certain notice and cure periods, or upon the other party’s bankruptcy or insolvency.
The Company incurred $0 and $9.0 million of research and development expenses pursuant to the Mitsubishi License during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, that related to the Company’s initiation of its pivotal clinical program of lorundrostat in 2023. As of December 31, 2024, the
Company has paid an aggregate of $9.0 million in development milestone payments and has no remaining development milestone obligations under the Mitsubishi License.
Litigation
Liabilities for loss contingencies arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines, penalties, and other sources are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. From time to time, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. The Company was not subject to any material legal proceedings during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, and no material legal proceedings are currently pending or threatened.
Indemnification Agreements
In the ordinary course of business, the Company may provide indemnification of varying scope and terms to vendors, lessors, business partners, and other parties with respect to certain matters including, but not limited to, losses arising from breach of such agreements or intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with officers of the Company and members of its board of directors that will require the Company, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is, in many cases, unlimited. To date, the Company has not incurred any material costs as a result of such indemnifications. The Company is not aware of any claims under indemnification arrangements, and it has not accrued any liabilities related to such obligations in its financial statements as of December 31, 2024 and 2023.