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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

10. Commitments and Contingencies

Collaborations and License Agreements

 

In August 2014, as amended December 2015, Annapurna entered into a master service agreement with Cornell University for assistance in regulatory affairs, overall project management and parameter development. Per the amended agreement, Annapurna will pay Cornell $13.3 million ratably over 4 years for these services.

 

The Company is a party to various agreements, principally relating to licensed technology that requires payment of annual maintenance fees and future payments relating to milestones or royalties on future sales of specified products. Refer to Note 6 for further details. The Company expenses the annual maintenance fees on a straight-line basis and accrues the aggregate balances until invoiced or paid. Through September 30, 2016, none of the goals had been achieved under the license agreements and no cash milestones were accrued or payable. Since the achievement of these milestones is not fixed and determinable, such commitments have not been included in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Guarantees and 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 indemnification for certain liabilities. The exposure under these agreements is unknown because it involves claims that may be made against the Company in the future but 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. However, the Company may record charges in the future as a result of these indemnification obligations. The Company also has indemnification obligations to its directors and executive officers for specified events or occurrences, subject to some limits, while they are serving at the Company’s request in such capacities. There have been no claims to date and the Company believes the fair value of these indemnification agreements is minimal. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded any liabilities for these agreements as of September 30, 2016.

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, the Company may become involved in litigation and other legal actions. The Company estimates the range of liability related to any pending litigation where the amount and range of loss can be estimated. The Company records its best estimate of a loss when the loss is considered probable. Where a liability is probable and there is a range of estimated loss with no best estimate in the range, the Company records a charge equal to at least the minimum estimated liability for a loss contingency when both of the following conditions are met: (i) information available prior to issuance of the financial statements indicates that it is probable that a liability had been incurred at the date of the financial statements and (ii) the range of loss can be reasonably estimated.

In July 2015, three securities class action lawsuits were filed against the Company and certain of its officers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, each on behalf of a purported class of persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired its publicly traded securities between July 31, 2014 and June 15, 2015. The lawsuits assert claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act) and allege that the defendants made materially false and misleading statements and omitted allegedly material information related to, among other things, the Phase 2a clinical trial for AVA-101 and the prospects of AVA-101. The complaints seek unspecified damages, attorneys’ fees and other costs. An amended consolidated complaint was filed in February 2016. On November 3, 2016, the Court granted the Company’s motion to dismiss the consolidated complaint.  It set a deadline of December 2, 2016 for plaintiffs to file an amended consolidated complaint.

In December 2015, a securities class action lawsuit was filed against the Company, its board of directors, underwriters of its January 13, 2015, follow-on public stock offering, and two of its institutional stockholders, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Mateo. The complaint alleges that, in connection with the Company’s follow-on stock offering, the defendants violated the Securities Act in essentially the same manner alleged by the consolidated federal action: by allegedly making materially false and misleading statements and by allegedly omitting material information related to the Phase 2a clinical trial for AVA-101 and the prospects of AVA-101. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and rescissory damages, attorneys’ fees and other costs. The plaintiff has dismissed the two institutional stockholder defendants. In August 2016, the Court denied the Company’s motion to stay without prejudice, denied the Company’s demurrer, and dismissed with leave to amend certain claims against the underwriter defendants.

 

The Company believes that the claims in the asserted actions are without merit and intends to defend the lawsuits vigorously. The Company expects to incur costs associated with defending the actions. While the Company has various insurance policies related to the risks associated with its business, including directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies, there is no assurance that the Company will be successful in its defense of the actions, that its insurance coverage, which contains a self-insured retention, will be sufficient, or that its insurance carriers will cover all claims or litigation costs. Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation, the Company cannot reasonably predict at this time the timing or outcomes of these matters or estimate the amount of losses, or range of losses, if any, or their effect, if any, on its condensed consolidated financial statements.