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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies 
Litigation  
The Company is subject to potential liabilities generally incidental to our business arising out of present and future lawsuits and claims related to product liability, personal injury, contract, commercial, intellectual property, tax, employment, compliance and other matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company accrues for potential liabilities when it is probable that future costs (including legal fees and expenses) will be incurred and such costs can be reasonably estimated. At March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there were no contingent liabilities with respect to any litigation, arbitration or administrative or other proceeding that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial position, results of operations, cash flows or liquidity.   

Litigation Related to Noctiva

Note 3: Subsidiary Bankruptcy and Deconsolidation briefly describes the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case which our subsidiary Specialty Pharma commenced on February 6, 2019, and which on April 26, 2019 resulted in the bankruptcy court-approved sale of all of Specialty Pharma’s intangible assets and inventory to an unaffiliated third party. As a result of such sale, Specialty Pharma has completed its divestment of the assets of the Noctiva business. During the pendency of the bankruptcy case, all pending litigation against Specialty Pharma is automatically stayed and any new litigation against Specialty Pharma is precluded unless the bankruptcy court orders otherwise. Below are descriptions of a litigation to which Specialty Pharma is a party and a contract dispute involving Specialty Pharma, both of which matters are subject to the automatic stay during the bankruptcy case.

Ferring Litigation. Some of the patents covering the Noctiva product (the “Noctiva Patents”) are the subject of litigation initiated by Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. and two of its foreign affiliates, Ferring B.V. and Ferring International Center S.A., who manufacture a competing product known as Nocdurna.  Nocdurna was approved by the FDA in June 2018 and commercially launched in the U.S. in November 2018.  Ferring initiated this litigation initially against Serenity Pharmaceuticals, LLC (“Serenity”) (the licensor of the Noctiva Patents) and Reprise Biopharmaceutics, LLC (“Reprise”) on April 28, 2017.  Avadel subsequently joined the litigation on June 28, 2018, shortly after Ferring received FDA approval for Nocdurna.  In this litigation, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Ferring seeks to invalidate and disputes the inventorship of the Noctiva Patents, seeks damages for various alleged breaches of contractual and common law duties, and seeks damages for alleged infringement by Noctiva of Ferring’s “Nocdurna” trademark.  Specialty Pharma, Serenity, and Reprise have defended this litigation, and have made counterclaims against Ferring, including for infringement of the Noctiva Patents and a declaratory judgment of noninfringement with respect to Ferring’s “Nocdurna” trademark. The court dismissed Ferring’s inventorship claim and its claims for alleged breaches of contractual and common law duties, although these dismissals may be appealed by Ferring.  On February 15, 2019, Specialty Pharma and its co-defendants moved to stay the litigation pending completion of the bankruptcy proceeding of Specialty Pharma. On May 15, 2019, that motion was denied due to a pending settlement of the litigation with respect to just Ferring and Specialty Pharma. On February 25, 2020, Ferring and Specialty Pharma jointly moved for bankruptcy court approval of a settlement agreement with respect to the claims alleged in the litigation.  In accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement, promptly following bankruptcy court approval of the settlement agreement, the parties would dismiss with prejudice their respective claims against each other in the litigation.  On March 13, 2020, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order approving the settlement with Ferring.  Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, the parties are to dismiss their respective claims against each other in the District Court litigation in the Southern District of New York, with such dismissals to be effective concurrently.  The joint dismissal has not yet been filed with District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Contract Dispute. On January 21, 2019, Serenity gave notice to Specialty Pharma of an alleged breach of the parties’ Noctiva license agreement. Serenity alleges that Specialty Pharma breached its contractual obligation to devote commercially reasonable efforts to the commercialization of Noctiva and seeks unspecified damages. On January 27, 2019, Specialty Pharma notified Serenity of a claim for $1.7 million in damages as a result of Serenity’s breach of its contractual obligation to pay the costs of the Ferring Litigation. Serenity’s notice to Specialty Pharma invoked the dispute resolution provisions of the Noctiva license agreement, which culminate in arbitration, but neither party has yet initiated an arbitration proceeding or filed suit.

Exela Litigation.  On January 7, 2020, Exela filed a complaint against us and our subsidiary, Avadel Legacy, in the United States District for the District of Delaware. The complaint alleges infringement of a certain Exela patent related to its cysteine hydrochloride product. Exela is most notably seeking i) a declaratory judgment that the Nouress product infringes its patent, ii) an injunction (both preliminary and permanent) precluding the launch of Nouress, and iii) monetary damages (including enhanced damages, prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees) in the event Nouress is commercially launched and found to infringe Exela’s patent.  The current deadline for Avadel to respond to Exela’s complaint is May 29, 2020.

Material Commitments

Other than commitments disclosed in Note 16: Contingent Liabilities and Commitments to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of the Company’s 2019 Annual Report on Form 10-K, there were no other material commitments outside of the normal course of business. Material commitments in the normal course of business include long-term debt obligations which are disclosed in Note 10: Long-Term Debt and long-term contingent consideration payable as disclosed in Note 9: Contingent Consideration Payable, to the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this report.

Guarantees

Deerfield Guarantee

The fair values of our guarantee to Deerfield and the guarantee received by us from Armistice largely offset and when combined are not material.

In connection with our February 2018 divestiture of our pediatric assets, we have guaranteed to Deerfield the quarterly royalty payment of 15% on net sales of the FSC products through February 6, 2026 (“FSC Product Royalties”), in an aggregate amount of up to approximately $10,300. Given our explicit guarantee to Deerfield, the Company recorded the guarantee in accordance with ASC 460. The balance of this guarantee liability was $1,713 at March 31, 2020. This liability is being amortized proportionately based on undiscounted cash outflows through the remainder of the contract with Deerfield.

Armistice Guarantee

In connection with our February 2018 divestiture of the pediatric assets, Armistice Capital Master Fund, Ltd., the majority shareholder of Cerecor, guaranteed to us the FSC Product Royalties. The Company recorded the guarantee in accordance with ASC 460. The balance of this guarantee asset was $1,708 at March 31, 2020. This liability is being amortized proportionately based on undiscounted cash outflows through the remainder of the contract with Deerfield.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of March 31, 2020, we did not have any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K.