Note 7 - Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Commitments and Contingencies

Significant Contracts and Agreements

In February 2002, the Company entered into an agreement to license certain intellectual property with Johns Hopkins University. The agreement calls for payments to be made by the Company upon the commencement of product sales, in the form of a royalty of 2.5% on net sales of the product. As of December 31, 2015 the Company has not commenced product sales and therefore has recognized no royalties on product sales.

In July 2015, the Company entered into a manufacturing services agreement with Lonza Ltd for the processing, development and manufacture of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”) in its lead product candidate, vonapanitase. Under the agreement, the Company will execute purchase orders authorizing Lonza to manufacture the batches and will pay for the services and batches in accordance with terms and assumptions in the agreement and to be set forth in a project plan. As of December 31, 2015, the Company has executed one purchase order of $1.9 million for the manufacturing of one batch to commence in July 2016. In addition, management expects to pay $0.3 million to Lonza in the second quarter of 2016 for Lonza’s acquisition of raw materials in connection with this purchase order.

Operating Leases

The Company has various non-cancellable operating leases for facilities and office equipment that expire at various dates through 2018. In August 2014, the Company entered into an Amendment (the "Lease Amendment") to the existing Lease Agreement dated July 13, 2009 (the "Lease Agreement"), with Boston Properties Limited Partnership ("Lessor") pursuant to which the Company has agreed to extend the lease for approximately 5,000 square feet of property to be used for office space (the "Leased Property") located at 200 West St., Waltham, Massachusetts. The term of the Lease Amendment commences on January 1, 2015 (the "Commencement Date") and expires in June 2018, approximately three years and six months from the Commencement Date. The Company has the option to extend the term for an additional one-year period upon the Company's written notice to the Lessor at least nine months in advance of the extension. Rental expense for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $0.2 million, $0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively.

Future minimum payments required under operating leases as of December 31, 2015 are summarized as follows (in thousands):

Year Ending December 31:	Amount

2016	$	168
2017		168
2018		84
Total minimum lease payments	$	420

In addition to the base rent, the Company is also responsible for its share of operating expenses and real estate taxes, in accordance with the terms of the lease agreement. As of December 31, 2015, the Company has provided a security deposit in the amount of $14,000 to the lessor.

Restricted cash related to facilities leases

At December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company had $14,000 and $38,000, respectively, in an outstanding letter of credit to be used as collateral for leased premises. At December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company pledged an aggregate of $14,000 and $39,000, respectively, to the bank as collateral for the letter of credit, which is included in long-term assets and both short-term deposits and long-term assets, respectively.