Asset Sale (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

Sale of Non-Financial Assets

Asset Sale

In September 2020, the Company completed the sale of its XERMELO® (telotristat ethyl) product and related assets (the “XERMELO sale”) to TerSera Therapeutics LLC (“TerSera”) pursuant to an Asset Purchase and Sale Agreement entered into in July 2020. The upfront consideration paid by TerSera, subject to a working capital adjustment as set forth in the Asset Purchase and Sale Agreement, was $160.4 million and the net gain recognized in connection with the XERMELO sale was $132.8 million. The gain is reflected on the condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income (loss) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.

The Company remains eligible to receive development, regulatory and sales milestone payments of up to an aggregate of $65 million for the development and commercialization of telotristat ethyl in patients with biliary tract cancer and mid-teens royalty payments on net sales of XERMELO in biliary tract cancer. The Company has determined that these amounts are constrained until the achievement, if any, of specific events. If or when the constraint is determined to be resolved, the Company will re-evaluate the overall gain in connection with the XERMELO sale and recognize an adjustment on a cumulative catch-up basis in the period that the determination is made.

The XERMELO sale did not meet the criteria for reporting discontinued operations as there was not a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on the Company’s operations. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the pretax net loss on the condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income (loss) for the Company’s XERMELO operations is $2.1 million and $12.1 million, respectively, and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the pretax net loss for the Company’s XERMELO operations is $4.1 million and $10.8 million, respectively.

As a result of the XERMELO sale, the Company implemented a reduction in force which reduced its workforce by approximately fifty percent. The Company currently expects severance charges to approximate $5.7 million, of which $5.5 million was incurred through September 30, 2020. Of this charge, $2.5 million was recorded in research and development expense and $3.0 million was recorded in selling, general and administrative expense in the accompanying condensed consolidated statement of comprehensive income (loss) for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020.