Related Party Transactions |
12 Months Ended |
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Dec. 31, 2018 | |
Related Party Transactions [Abstract] | |
Related Party Transactions |
11. Related Party Transactions Caribou Biosciences In July 2014, the Company licensed from Caribou certain IP and entered into an arrangement under which Caribou provided research and development services. In addition, under the license agreement the Company agreed to pay 30 percent of Caribou’s patent prosecution, filing and maintenance costs under its IP license agreement with Caribou. Caribou owned 5.5 percent of the Company’s voting interests as of December 31, 2018. On October 17, 2018, the Company initiated an arbitration proceeding with JAMS against Caribou asserting that Caribou is violating the terms and conditions of the license agreement, as well as other contractual and legal rights, by using and seeking to license to third parties two patent families relating to specific structural or chemical modifications of guide RNAs, that were purportedly invented or controlled by Caribou, in the Company’s exclusive human therapeutic field. Caribou has asserted that the two families of IP are outside the scope of the license agreement. In accordance with the Caribou License, the Company has submitted a demand for arbitration seeking a declaration that the disputed IP is included within the scope of the Company’s license under the Caribou License, an award of compensatory, consequential and punitive damages based on Caribou’s conduct, and an injunction prohibiting Caribou from licensing or using this IP in the Company’s exclusive human therapeutics field, among other claims. The arbitration will take place in San Francisco, California. The Company recognized general and administrative expense of $0.9 million, $0.5 million and $0.9 million during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 related to the Company’s obligation to pay 30.0 percent of Caribou’s patent defense costs. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2016 the Company recognized research and development expense of $1.3 million related to license and service agreements entered into with Caribou. Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research In connection with its entry into the collaboration and license agreement and related equity transactions with Novartis, in 2015 the Company issued Novartis capital stock, and in May 2016, Novartis acquired 277,777 shares of the Company’s common stock in a private placement transaction concurrent with the Company’s IPO. As a result of these capital stock transactions, Novartis collectively owned 9.6 percent of the Company’s voting interests as of December 31, 2018. Refer to Note 7 for additional information regarding this collaboration agreement. The Company recognized collaboration revenue of $10.3 million, $9.3 million and $7.8 million in the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, related to this agreement. As of each of the periods ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had recorded accounts receivable of $6.0 million related to this collaboration. As of the periods ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company had deferred revenue of $14.5 million and $11.2 million, respectively, related to this collaboration. |