Unicycive Therapeutics, Inc. Commitments Disclosure
8. Commitments and Contingencies
Contingencies
The Company is subject to claims and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Such matters are inherently uncertain, and there can be no guarantee that the outcome of any such matter will be decided favorably to the Company or that the resolution of any such matter will not have a material adverse effect upon the Company’s financial statements. The Company currently has no pending claims or legal proceedings.
In December 2022, the Company signed an advisory services agreement with Maxim Group LLC (“Maxim”) pursuant to which the Company will pay Maxim $100,000 upon the closing of a private placement of the Company’s equity or equity-linked securities. Maxim provided advisory services with respect to a private placement securities purchase agreement with certain healthcare-focused institutional investors, which closed in March of 2023. The Company paid the $100,000 advisory fee in March 2023.
Indemnifications
In the normal course of business, the Company enters into contracts and agreements that contain a variety of representations and warranties and provide for general indemnifications, including for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party, in connection with any trade secret, copyright, patent or other intellectual property infringement claim by any third party with respect to its technology. The terms of these indemnification agreements are generally perpetual any time after the execution of the agreements. The Company’s exposure under these agreements is unknown because it involves claims that may be made against the Company in the future, but that have not yet been made. To date, the Company has not paid any claims or been required to defend any action related to its indemnification obligations.
The Company believes that the likelihood of conditions arising that would trigger these indemnities is remote and, historically, the Company has not made any significant payment under such indemnification provisions. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded any liabilities relating to these agreements. However, the Company may record charges in the future as a result of these indemnification obligations.
Additionally, the Company has agreed to indemnify its directors and officers for certain events or occurrences while the director or officer is, or was serving, at the Company’s request in such a capacity. The indemnification period covers all pertinent events and occurrences during the director’s or officer’s service.
Employee Benefit Plan
In December 2021, the Company implemented a 401(k) Plan which covers all eligible employees of the Company (the “401(k) Plan”). Employer matching contributions are immediately 100% vested. The Company’s 401(k) Plan provides that the Company matches each participant’s contribution at 100% up to 4% of the employee’s eligible compensation. Company contributions to the 401(k) Plan totaled approximately $107,000 and $136,000 for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2024, respectively.
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.