Note 10. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital License Agreement

 

The Company is required to make certain payments related to the development of NRX-101 (the “Licensed Product”) in order to maintain the license agreement with the Sarah Herzog Memorial Hospital Ezrat Nashim (SHMH) (the “SHMH License Agreement”).

 

In April 2025, the Company and the Licensor entered into an Amendment to the Exclusive License Agreement (the “Amendment”), which resolved a dispute between the parties and modified certain payment and reporting terms of the License Agreement. The Amendment also modified certain milestone obligations related to NRX‑101. In full satisfaction of the milestone payments associated with the completion of Phase II and Phase III clinical trials for NRX‑101, the Company is required to pay the Licensor a single milestone payment of $187,500 upon the first approval of NRX‑101 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, including accelerated approval. All remaining milestone provisions under the License Agreement remain unchanged

 

Milestone Payments

 

End of Phase I Clinical Trials of Licensed Product (completed)

 $100,000 

End of Phase II Clinical Trials of Licensed Product (completed)

 $250,000 

End of Phase III Clinical Trials of Licensed Product

 $187,500 

First Commercial Sale of Licensed Product in U.S.

 $500,000 

First Commercial Sale of Licensed Product in Europe

 $500,000 

Annual Revenues Reach $100,000,000

 $750,000 

 

The milestone payments due above may be reduced by 25% in certain circumstances, and by the application of certain sub-license fees. As of December 31, 2025, the total cumulative payments made under the SHMH License Agreement were $0.3 million, with no payments made during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

 

Royalties

 

A royalty in an amount equal to: (a) 1% of revenues from the sale of any product incorporating a Licensed Product when at least one Licensed Patent remains in force, if such product is not covered by a Valid Claim (as defined below) in the country or region in which the sale occurs, or (b) 2.5% of revenues from the sale of any Licensed Product that is covered by at least one Valid Claim in the country or region in which such product is manufactured or sold. A “Valid Claim” means any issued claim in the Licensed Patents that remains in force and that has not been finally invalidated or held to be unenforceable. The royalty rates above may be doubled if we commence a legal challenge to the validity, enforceability, or scope of any of the Licensed Patents during the term of the SHMH License Agreement and do not prevail in such proceeding.

 

Royalties shall also apply to any revenues generated by sub-licensees from sale of Licensed Products subject to a cap of 8.5% of the payments received by us from sub-licensees in connection with such sales. During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, no royalty payments were due.

 

Annual Maintenance Fee

 

A fixed amount of $100,000 was paid on April 16, 2021 and, thereafter, a fixed amount of $150,000 was due on the anniversary of such date during the term of the SHMH License Agreement. The Company paid $150,000 in annual maintenance fees in the year ended December 31, 2024 expensed through Research and Development expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statement of Operations. Under the Amendment, during the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company made a payment to the Licensor $150,000 in cash in full satisfaction of the annual license maintenance fee that became due on April 16, 2024.

 

Beginning with the sixth anniversary of the effective date of the License Agreement (or April 16, 2025), future annual license maintenance fees of $150,000 are payable in the form of the Company’s common stock rather than cash. The number of shares to be issued each year is determined based on the volume‑weighted average closing price of the Company’s common stock for the 30 consecutive trading days immediately preceding April 16 of the applicable year, subject to adjustment for stock splits and similar events. On May 15, 2025, the Company granted 75,000 shares of fully vested common stock to a Licensor in accordance with a Amendment. The fair value of the shares granted was determined based on the quoted trading price of the Company’s common stock on the grant date of $2.08 per share, resulting in aggregate expense of approximately $0.2 million, which was recorded within the accompanying consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2025.

 

During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company recorded $0.1 million and $0 in related annual maintenance fees, respectively.

 

Exclusive License Agreement

 

In 2023, the Company entered into a license agreement with Apkarian Technologies LLC to in-license US patent 8,653,120 that claims the use of DCS for the treatment of chronic pain in exchange for a commitment to pay milestones and royalties as development milestones are reached in the field of chronic pain. The patent is supported by extensive nonclinical data and early clinical data that suggest the potential for NMDA antagonist drugs, such as NRX-101 to decrease both chronic pain and neuropathic pain while potentially decreasing craving for opioids. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company has recorded no expenses relating to the licensure of the patent. 

 

Kadima Purchase Agreement

 

On May 9, 2025, HOPE and its wholly-owned subsidiary, HTX, entered into an Asset Purchase and Contribution Agreement (the “Kadima Purchase Agreement”), with Kadima Medical, Kadima Holdings, Inc. (“Kadima Holdings”), and David Feifel, M.D., PH.D (“Feifel”, and collectively with Kadima Medical and Kadima Holdings, “Kadima”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to purchase and Kadima agreed to sell, certain assets of Kadima, subject to the satisfaction of certain closing conditions (the “Acquisition”).

 

The Kadima Purchase Agreement contains representations, warranties and covenants of the Company and Kadima that are customary for a transaction of this nature, including among others, covenants by Kadima regarding the validity of certain material contracts entered into between Kadima and third-parties being assigned to the Subsidiaries, title to the assets being sold by Kadima, the condition and sufficiency of the assets being purchased, and Kadima’s rights to its intellectual property, tax liabilities, and the investment representations of Kadima.

 

The Kadima Purchase Agreement also contains customary indemnification provisions whereby Kadima will indemnify the Company for certain losses arising out of inaccuracies in, or breaches of, the representations, warranties and covenants of Kadima, pre-closing taxes of Kadima, and certain other matters, subject to certain caps and thresholds.

 

As of the date of this Report, the parties have not closed the Acquisition and the matter has entered arbitration. At this stage of the arbitration, it is too early to determine if the matter would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

 

Operating Lease

 

The Company leases office space on a month-to-month basis. The rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 was $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively.

 

The Company also leases two healthcare clinical facilities and office space located in Naples, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers, Florida under non-cancelable operating lease agreements. Details regarding lease terms, future minimum lease payments, and right-of-use assets and liabilities are disclosed in Note 6.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

The Company is, from time to time, involved in various legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of our business. Historically, the outcome of nearly all such legal proceedings has not, in the aggregate, had a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity. There are no material pending or threatened legal proceedings at this time.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 23, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 14, 2025
2023Mar 29, 2024
2022Mar 31, 2023
2021Mar 31, 2022
2020Apr 1, 2021
2019Mar 30, 2020
2018Mar 15, 2019
2017Mar 23, 2018

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.