Goodwill and Intangible Assets
Goodwill
The net book value of goodwill was solely related to the Enteris acquisition in 2019. The Company reviews goodwill for impairment on an annual basis or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company decreased its financial expectations for the License Agreement with Cara and elected to bypass the qualitative goodwill impairment assessment and proceed directly with a quantitative assessment. The goodwill impairment test concluded that the fair value of the Company's Pharmaceutical Development reporting unit did not exceed the carrying amount and the Company recorded an impairment charge of $8.4 million. An income valuation approach was used to estimate the fair value of the Enteris reporting unit which was estimated through a probability-adjusted discounted cash flow analysis. As of December 31, 2024, certain assets of the Enteris reporting unit are classified as held for sale, including intangible assets net, of $0.2 million - see Note 7 for further details.
Intangible Assets
As of December 31, 2023, the gross book value, accumulated amortization, net book value and estimated useful life of acquired intangible assets were as follows (in thousands, except estimated useful life data):
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| As of December 31, 2023 |
| Gross Book Value | | Accumulated Amortization | | Net Book Value | | Estimated Useful Life |
License Agreement (1) | $ | 29,400 | | | $ | 23,167 | | | $ | 6,233 | | | 10 |
| Trade names and trademarks | 210 | | | 92 | | | 118 | | | 10 |
| Customer relationships | 240 | | | 104 | | | 136 | | | 10 |
| Total | $ | 29,850 | | | $ | 23,363 | | | $ | 6,487 | | | |
(1) Prior to the Company's acquisition of Enteris, Enteris entered into the License Agreement with Cara, for oral formulation rights to Enteris’ technology to develop and commercialize Oral KORSUVATM in any indication worldwide, excluding South Korea and Japan. Cara is obligated to pay Enteris certain development, regulatory and tiered commercial milestone payments, as well as low single-digit royalties based on net sales in the licensed territory. During 2024, the Company concluded that the milestones and royalties pursuant to the License Agreement would not be realized as a result of non-viability of product covered by the License Agreement. The Company has recognized a full impairment on the license of its remaining net book value of $5.8 million which is included in the "Loss on impairment of intangible assets" section of our consolidated statements of income.
Amortization expense related to intangible assets was $0.5 million and $1.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
About Goodwill & Intangibles Disclosures
Goodwill and intangible asset disclosures reveal the premium paid in acquisitions and how management assesses whether that premium retains its value. Since goodwill is no longer amortized under US GAAP, the annual impairment test is the only mechanism that adjusts carrying values downward — making the assumptions behind that test critically important for investors.
Key signals: a history of goodwill impairments suggests management consistently overpays for acquisitions. Watch the gap between reporting unit fair value and carrying amount — when fair value exceeds carrying amount by less than 10-20%, a small decline in business performance could trigger a write-down. For finite-lived intangibles, examine useful life assumptions across customer relationships, technology, and trade names; aggressive estimates inflate near-term earnings. Compare total intangibles-to-total-assets ratios against peers to assess acquisition dependency. Rising goodwill as a percentage of equity can signal balance sheet fragility.