Patent and Technology License Agreements	9 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2023
Patent and Technology License Agreements [Abstract]
PATENT AND TECHNOLOGY LICENSE AGREEMENTS	3. PATENT AND TECHNOLOGY LICENSE AGREEMENTS *Patent and Technology License Agreement – Mino-Lok* LMB has a patent and technology license agreement with Novel Anti-Infective Therapeutics, Inc. (“NAT”) to develop and commercialize Mino-Lok on an exclusive, worldwide sub licensable basis, as amended. LMB pays an annual maintenance fee each June until commercial sales of a product subject to the license commence. The Company recorded an annual maintenance fee of $90,000 in June 2022 and 2021. LMB will also pay annual royalties on net sales of licensed products, with royalties ranging from the mid-single digits to the low double digits. In limited circumstances in which the licensed product is not subject to a valid patent claim and a competitor is selling a competing product, the royalty rate is in the low- to mid-single digits. After a commercial sale is obtained, LMB must pay minimum aggregate annual royalties of $100,000 in the first commercial year which is prorated for a less than 12-month period, increasing $25,000 per year to a maximum of $150,000 annually. LMB must also pay NAT up to an aggregate of $1,100,000 upon achieving specified regulatory and sales milestones. Finally, LMB must pay NAT a specified percentage of payments received from any sub-licensees. Unless earlier terminated by NAT, based on the failure to achieve certain development and commercial milestones, the license agreement remains in effect until the date that all patents licensed under the agreement have expired and all patent applications within the licensed patent rights have been cancelled, withdrawn, or expressly abandoned. *Patent and Technology License Agreement – Mino-Wrap* On January 2, 2019, we entered into a patent and technology license agreement with the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System on behalf of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (“Licensor”), whereby we in-licensed exclusive worldwide rights to the patented technology for any and all uses relating to breast implants. We intend to develop Mino-Wrap as a liquefying gel-based wrap containing minocycline and rifampin for the reduction of infections associated with breast implants following breast reconstructive surgeries. We are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize Mino-Wrap under several regulatory scenarios and achieve milestones associated with these regulatory options leading to an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Under the license agreement, the Company paid an annual maintenance fee of $75,000 and $60,000 in January 2023 and 2022, respectively. The annual maintenance fee increases by $15,000 per year up to a maximum of $90,000. Annual maintenance fees cease on the first sale of product. We also must pay up to an aggregate of $2.1 million in milestone payments, contingent on the achievement of various regulatory and commercial milestones. Under the terms of the license agreement, we also must pay a royalty of mid- to upper-single digit percentages of net sales, depending on the amount of annual sales, and subject to downward adjustment to lower- to mid-single digit percentages in the event there is no valid patent for the product in the United States at the time of sale. After the first sale of product, we will owe an annual minimum royalty payment of $100,000 that will increase annually by $25,000 for the duration of the term. We will be responsible for all patent expenses incurred by Licensor for the term of the agreement although Licensor is responsible for the filing, prosecution and maintenance of all patents. Unless earlier terminated by Licensor, based upon the failure by us to achieve certain development and commercial milestones or for various breaches by us, the agreement expires on the later of the expiration of the patents or January 2, 2034. *License Agreement with Novellus* On October 6, 2020, our subsidiary, NoveCite, signed an exclusive license agreement with a subsidiary of Novellus Inc. (“Novellus”). Upon execution of the license agreement, we paid $5,000,000 to Novellus, which was charged to research and development expense during the year ended September 30, 2021, and issued Novellus shares of NoveCite’s common stock representing 25% of the outstanding equity. We own the other 75% of NoveCite’s outstanding equity. Pursuant to the terms of the original stock subscription agreement between Novellus and NoveCite, if NoveCite issued additional equity, subject to certain exceptions, NoveCite had to maintain Novellus’s ownership at 25% by issuing additional shares to Novellus. In July 2021, Novellus was acquired by Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics, Inc. (“Brooklyn”). In connection with that transaction, the stock subscription agreement between Novellus and NoveCite was amended to assign to Brooklyn all of Novellus’s right, title, and interest in the stock subscription agreement and delete the anti-dilution protection and replace it with a right of first refusal whereby Brooklyn will have the right to purchase all or a portion of the securities that NoveCite intends to sell or in the alternative, at the option of NoveCite, Brooklyn may purchase that amount of the securities proposed to be sold by NoveCite to allow Brooklyn to maintain its then percentage ownership. In October 2022, Brooklyn changed its name to Eterna Therapeutics Inc. (“Eterna”). Citius is responsible for the operational activities of NoveCite and bears all costs necessary to operate NoveCite. Citius’s officers are also the officers of NoveCite and oversee the business strategy and operations of NoveCite. As such, NoveCite is accounted for as a consolidated subsidiary with a noncontrolling interest. Eterna has no contractual rights in the profits or obligations to share in the losses of NoveCite, and the Company has not allocated any losses to the noncontrolling interest. NoveCite is obligated to pay Eterna up to $51,000,000 upon the achievement of various regulatory and developmental milestones. NoveCite also must pay a royalty equal to low double-digit percentages of net sales, commencing upon the sale of a licensed product. This royalty is subject to downward adjustment to an upper-single digit percentage of net sales in any country in the event of the expiration of the last valid patent claim or if no valid patent claim exists in that country. The royalty will end on the earlier of (i) the date on which a biosimilar product is first marketed, sold, or distributed in the applicable country or (ii) the 10-year anniversary of the date of expiration of the last-to-expire valid patent claim in that country. In the case of a country where no licensed patent ever exists, the royalty will end on the later of (i) the date of expiry of such licensed product’s regulatory exclusivity and (ii) the 10-year anniversary of the date of the first commercial sale of the licensed product in the applicable country. In addition, NoveCite will pay to Eterna an amount equal to a mid-twenties percentage of any sublicensee fees it receives. Under the terms of the license agreement, if Eterna receives any revenue involving the original cell line included in the licensed technology, then Eterna shall remit to NoveCite 50% of such revenue. The term of the license agreement continues on a country-by-country and licensed product-by-licensed product basis until the expiration of the last-to-expire royalty term. Either party may terminate the license agreement upon written notice if the other party is in material default. NoveCite may terminate the license agreement at any time without cause upon 90 days prior written notice. Eterna will be responsible for preparing, filing, prosecuting, and maintaining all patent applications and patents included in the licensed patents in the territory, provided however, that if Eterna decides that it is not interested in maintaining a particular licensed patent or in preparing, filing, or prosecuting a licensed patent, NoveCite will have the right, but not the obligation, to assume such responsibilities in the territory at NoveCite’s sole cost and expense. *License Agreement with Eisai* In September 2021, the Company entered into a definitive agreement with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories SA, a subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ltd. (collectively, “Dr. Reddy’s”) to acquire its exclusive license of Lymphir (denileukin diftitox), a late-stage oncology immunotherapy for the treatment of CTCL, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Under the terms of this agreement, Citius acquired Dr. Reddy’s exclusive license of Lymphir from Eisai Co., Ltd. (“Eisai”) and other related assets owned by Dr. Reddy’s. Citius’s exclusive license include rights to develop and commercialize Lymphir in all markets except for Japan and certain parts of Asia. Additionally, Citius retained an option on the right to develop and market the product in India. Eisai retains exclusive development and marketing rights for denileukin diftitox in Japan and most Asian countries. Citius paid $40 million upfront payment which represents the acquisition date fair value of the in-process research and development acquired from Dr. Reddy’s. Dr. Reddy’s is entitled to up to $40 million in development milestone payments related to CTCL approvals in the U.S. and other markets, up to $70 million in development milestones for additional indications, as well as commercial milestone payments and low double-digit tiered royalties on net product sales, and up to $300 million for commercial sales milestones. We also must pay on a fiscal quarter basis tiered royalties equal to low double-digit percentages of net product sales. The royalties will end on the earlier of (i) the 15-year anniversary of the first commercial sale of the latest indication that received regulatory approval in the applicable country and (ii) the date on which a biosimilar product results in the reduction of net sales in the applicable product by 50% in two consecutive quarters, as compared to the four quarters prior to the first commercial sale of the biosimilar product. We will also pay to Dr. Reddy’s an amount equal to a low-thirties percentage of any sublicense upfront consideration or milestone payments (or the like) received by us and the greater of (i) a low-thirties percentage of any sublicensee sales-based royalties or (ii) a mid-single digit percentage of such licensee’s net sales. Under the license agreement, Eisai is to receive a $6.0 million development milestone payment upon initial approval and additional commercial milestone payments related to the achievement of net product sales thresholds (which increases to $7 million in the event we have exercised our option to add India to the licensed territory prior to FDA approval) and an aggregate of up to $22 million related to the achievement of net product sales thresholds. We also are required to reimburse Eisai for up to $2.65 million of its costs to complete the ongoing Phase 3 pivotal clinical trial for Lymphir for the CTCL indication and reimburse Eisai for all reasonable costs associated with the preparation of a biologics license application (“BLA”) for Lymphir. Eisai will be responsible for completing the current CTCL clinical trial, and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) activities through the filing of the BLA for Lymphir with the FDA (which was filed in September 2022). Citius will be responsible for development costs associated with potential additional indications. The term of the license agreement will continue until (i) if there has not been a commercial sale of a licensed product in the territory, until the 10-year anniversary of the original license effective date, March 30, 2016, or (ii) if there has been a first commercial sale of a licensed product in the territory within the 10-year anniversary of the original license effective date, the 10-year anniversary of the first commercial sale on a country-by-country basis. The term of the license may be extended for additional 10-year periods for all countries in the territory by notifying Eisai and paying an extension fee equal to $10 million. Either party may terminate the license agreement upon written notice if the other party is in material breach of the agreement, subject to cure within the designated time periods. Either party also may terminate the license agreement immediately upon written notice if the other party files for bankruptcy or takes related actions or is unable to pay its debts as they become due. Additionally, either party will have the right to terminate the agreement if the other party directly or indirectly challenges the patentability, enforceability or validity of any licensed patent. Also under the agreement with Dr. Reddy’s, we are required to (i) use commercially reasonable efforts to make commercially available products in the CTCL indication, (ii) initiate two investigator initiated immuno-oncology trials (which we initiated in June 2021 and September 2022, respectively), (iii) use commercially reasonable efforts to achieve each of the approval milestones, and (iv) complete each specified immuno-oncology investigator trial on or before the four-year anniversary of the effective date of the definitive agreement. Additionally, we are required to commercially launch a product in a territory within six months of receiving regulatory approval for such product in each such jurisdiction.

Patent and Technology License Agreements

9 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2023

Patent and Technology License Agreements [Abstract]

PATENT AND TECHNOLOGY LICENSE AGREEMENTS

3. PATENT AND TECHNOLOGY LICENSE AGREEMENTS

Patent and Technology License Agreement – Mino-Lok

LMB has a patent and technology license agreement with Novel Anti-Infective Therapeutics, Inc. (“NAT”) to develop and commercialize Mino-Lok on an exclusive, worldwide sub licensable basis, as amended. LMB pays an annual maintenance fee each June until commercial sales of a product subject to the license commence. The Company recorded an annual maintenance fee of $90,000 in June 2022 and 2021.

LMB will also pay annual royalties on net sales of licensed products, with royalties ranging from the mid-single digits to the low double digits. In limited circumstances in which the licensed product is not subject to a valid patent claim and a competitor is selling a competing product, the royalty rate is in the low- to mid-single digits. After a commercial sale is obtained, LMB must pay minimum aggregate annual royalties of $100,000 in the first commercial year which is prorated for a less than 12-month period, increasing $25,000 per year to a maximum of $150,000 annually. LMB must also pay NAT up to an aggregate of $1,100,000 upon achieving specified regulatory and sales milestones. Finally, LMB must pay NAT a specified percentage of payments received from any sub-licensees.

Unless earlier terminated by NAT, based on the failure to achieve certain development and commercial milestones, the license agreement remains in effect until the date that all patents licensed under the agreement have expired and all patent applications within the licensed patent rights have been cancelled, withdrawn, or expressly abandoned.

Patent and Technology License Agreement – Mino-Wrap

On January 2, 2019, we entered into a patent and technology license agreement with the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System on behalf of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (“Licensor”), whereby we in-licensed exclusive worldwide rights to the patented technology for any and all uses relating to breast implants. We intend to develop Mino-Wrap as a liquefying gel-based wrap containing minocycline and rifampin for the reduction of infections associated with breast implants following breast reconstructive surgeries. We are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to commercialize Mino-Wrap under several regulatory scenarios and achieve milestones associated with these regulatory options leading to an approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).

Under the license agreement, the Company paid an annual maintenance fee of $75,000 and $60,000 in January 2023 and 2022, respectively. The annual maintenance fee increases by $15,000 per year up to a maximum of $90,000. Annual maintenance fees cease on the first sale of product. We also must pay up to an aggregate of $2.1 million in milestone payments, contingent on the achievement of various regulatory and commercial milestones. Under the terms of the license agreement, we also must pay a royalty of mid- to upper-single digit percentages of net sales, depending on the amount of annual sales, and subject to downward adjustment to lower- to mid-single digit percentages in the event there is no valid patent for the product in the United States at the time of sale. After the first sale of product, we will owe an annual minimum royalty payment of $100,000 that will increase annually by $25,000 for the duration of the term. We will be responsible for all patent expenses incurred by Licensor for the term of the agreement although Licensor is responsible for the filing, prosecution and maintenance of all patents. Unless earlier terminated by Licensor, based upon the failure by us to achieve certain development and commercial milestones or for various breaches by us, the agreement expires on the later of the expiration of the patents or January 2, 2034.

License Agreement with Novellus

On October 6, 2020, our subsidiary, NoveCite, signed an exclusive license agreement with a subsidiary of Novellus Inc. (“Novellus”). Upon execution of the license agreement, we paid $5,000,000 to Novellus, which was charged to research and development expense during the year ended September 30, 2021, and issued Novellus shares of NoveCite’s common stock representing 25% of the outstanding equity. We own the other 75% of NoveCite’s outstanding equity. Pursuant to the terms of the original stock subscription agreement between Novellus and NoveCite, if NoveCite issued additional equity, subject to certain exceptions, NoveCite had to maintain Novellus’s ownership at 25% by issuing additional shares to Novellus.

In July 2021, Novellus was acquired by Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics, Inc. (“Brooklyn”). In connection with that transaction, the stock subscription agreement between Novellus and NoveCite was amended to assign to Brooklyn all of Novellus’s right, title, and interest in the stock subscription agreement and delete the anti-dilution protection and replace it with a right of first refusal whereby Brooklyn will have the right to purchase all or a portion of the securities that NoveCite intends to sell or in the alternative, at the option of NoveCite, Brooklyn may purchase that amount of the securities proposed to be sold by NoveCite to allow Brooklyn to maintain its then percentage ownership. In October 2022, Brooklyn changed its name to Eterna Therapeutics Inc. (“Eterna”).

Citius is responsible for the operational activities of NoveCite and bears all costs necessary to operate NoveCite. Citius’s officers are also the officers of NoveCite and oversee the business strategy and operations of NoveCite. As such, NoveCite is accounted for as a consolidated subsidiary with a noncontrolling interest.

Eterna has no contractual rights in the profits or obligations to share in the losses of NoveCite, and the Company has not allocated any losses to the noncontrolling interest.

NoveCite is obligated to pay Eterna up to $51,000,000 upon the achievement of various regulatory and developmental milestones. NoveCite also must pay a royalty equal to low double-digit percentages of net sales, commencing upon the sale of a licensed product. This royalty is subject to downward adjustment to an upper-single digit percentage of net sales in any country in the event of the expiration of the last valid patent claim or if no valid patent claim exists in that country. The royalty will end on the earlier of (i) the date on which a biosimilar product is first marketed, sold, or distributed in the applicable country or (ii) the 10-year anniversary of the date of expiration of the last-to-expire valid patent claim in that country. In the case of a country where no licensed patent ever exists, the royalty will end on the later of (i) the date of expiry of such licensed product’s regulatory exclusivity and (ii) the 10-year anniversary of the date of the first commercial sale of the licensed product in the applicable country. In addition, NoveCite will pay to Eterna an amount equal to a mid-twenties percentage of any sublicensee fees it receives.

Under the terms of the license agreement, if Eterna receives any revenue involving the original cell line included in the licensed technology, then Eterna shall remit to NoveCite 50% of such revenue.

The term of the license agreement continues on a country-by-country and licensed product-by-licensed product basis until the expiration of the last-to-expire royalty term. Either party may terminate the license agreement upon written notice if the other party is in material default. NoveCite may terminate the license agreement at any time without cause upon 90 days prior written notice.

Eterna will be responsible for preparing, filing, prosecuting, and maintaining all patent applications and patents included in the licensed patents in the territory, provided however, that if Eterna decides that it is not interested in maintaining a particular licensed patent or in preparing, filing, or prosecuting a licensed patent, NoveCite will have the right, but not the obligation, to assume such responsibilities in the territory at NoveCite’s sole cost and expense.

License Agreement with Eisai

In September 2021, the Company entered into a definitive agreement with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories SA, a subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, Ltd. (collectively, “Dr. Reddy’s”) to acquire its exclusive license of Lymphir (denileukin diftitox), a late-stage oncology immunotherapy for the treatment of CTCL, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Under the terms of this agreement, Citius acquired Dr. Reddy’s exclusive license of Lymphir from Eisai Co., Ltd. (“Eisai”) and other related assets owned by Dr. Reddy’s. Citius’s exclusive license include rights to develop and commercialize Lymphir in all markets except for Japan and certain parts of Asia. Additionally, Citius retained an option on the right to develop and market the product in India. Eisai retains exclusive development and marketing rights for denileukin diftitox in Japan and most Asian countries. Citius paid $40 million upfront payment which represents the acquisition date fair value of the in-process research and development acquired from Dr. Reddy’s. Dr. Reddy’s is entitled to up to $40 million in development milestone payments related to CTCL approvals in the U.S. and other markets, up to $70 million in development milestones for additional indications, as well as commercial milestone payments and low double-digit tiered royalties on net product sales, and up to $300 million for commercial sales milestones. We also must pay on a fiscal quarter basis tiered royalties equal to low double-digit percentages of net product sales. The royalties will end on the earlier of (i) the 15-year anniversary of the first commercial sale of the latest indication that received regulatory approval in the applicable country and (ii) the date on which a biosimilar product results in the reduction of net sales in the applicable product by 50% in two consecutive quarters, as compared to the four quarters prior to the first commercial sale of the biosimilar product. We will also pay to Dr. Reddy’s an amount equal to a low-thirties percentage of any sublicense upfront consideration or milestone payments (or the like) received by us and the greater of (i) a low-thirties percentage of any sublicensee sales-based royalties or (ii) a mid-single digit percentage of such licensee’s net sales.

Under the license agreement, Eisai is to receive a $6.0 million development milestone payment upon initial approval and additional commercial milestone payments related to the achievement of net product sales thresholds (which increases to $7 million in the event we have exercised our option to add India to the licensed territory prior to FDA approval) and an aggregate of up to $22 million related to the achievement of net product sales thresholds. We also are required to reimburse Eisai for up to $2.65 million of its costs to complete the ongoing Phase 3 pivotal clinical trial for Lymphir for the CTCL indication and reimburse Eisai for all reasonable costs associated with the preparation of a biologics license application (“BLA”) for Lymphir. Eisai will be responsible for completing the current CTCL clinical trial, and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) activities through the filing of the BLA for Lymphir with the FDA (which was filed in September 2022). Citius will be responsible for development costs associated with potential additional indications.

The term of the license agreement will continue until (i) if there has not been a commercial sale of a licensed product in the territory, until the 10-year anniversary of the original license effective date, March 30, 2016, or (ii) if there has been a first commercial sale of a licensed product in the territory within the 10-year anniversary of the original license effective date, the 10-year anniversary of the first commercial sale on a country-by-country basis. The term of the license may be extended for additional 10-year periods for all countries in the territory by notifying Eisai and paying an extension fee equal to $10 million. Either party may terminate the license agreement upon written notice if the other party is in material breach of the agreement, subject to cure within the designated time periods. Either party also may terminate the license agreement immediately upon written notice if the other party files for bankruptcy or takes related actions or is unable to pay its debts as they become due. Additionally, either party will have the right to terminate the agreement if the other party directly or indirectly challenges the patentability, enforceability or validity of any licensed patent.

Also under the agreement with Dr. Reddy’s, we are required to (i) use commercially reasonable efforts to make commercially available products in the CTCL indication, (ii) initiate two investigator initiated immuno-oncology trials (which we initiated in June 2021 and September 2022, respectively), (iii) use commercially reasonable efforts to achieve each of the approval milestones, and (iv) complete each specified immuno-oncology investigator trial on or before the four-year anniversary of the effective date of the definitive agreement. Additionally, we are required to commercially launch a product in a territory within six months of receiving regulatory approval for such product in each such jurisdiction.