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Sponsored Research
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Sponsored Research [Abstract]  
SPONSORED RESEARCH

Note 16 SPONSORED RESEARCH

 

Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital

 

During the second quarter of 2022, the Company entered into an agreement and license option with The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc. (the “Hospital”) to conduct epigenetic profiling of associations between epigenetic aging and numerous behavioral, lifestyle, dietary and clinical risk factors, as well as major morbidity and mortality outcomes. The Company refers to this study as VECTOR. Specific aims of this research include: (i) to examine epigenetic association with lifestyle and dietary factors, including smoking history, physical activity, body mass index, alcohol intake, dietary patterns, dietary supplement use, and aspirin used; (ii) to examine epigenetic association with major morbidity including cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, liver disease, renal disease, and respiratory disease, (iii) to conduct an National Death Index Plus search to update and extend mortality follow up on Harvard University’s Physicians’ Health Study (“PHS’), and (iv) utilizing the newly expanded PHS mortality follow-up data, to examine epigenetic association with lifespan, longevity, and mortality. In addition, the epigenetic resources contained in the PHS studies have the potential to contribute and extend to large meta-analyses and validation studies of epigenetic association and understanding of these factors and their impact on human aging acceleration.

 

The Company is responsible for payments up to $849 related to the agreement, half of which was paid upon contract execution during the second quarter of 2022. Remaining payments are due as follows: (i) 20% upon the enrollment of the first patient, (ii) 20% upon the enrollment of the final patient and (iii) 10% upon lab receipt of shipments for all initially planned assays. In addition to the $424 payment upon execution, the Company incurred $272 of other costs related to VECTOR. Costs associated with the clinical trial agreement are being recorded as research and development expenses in the consolidated statements of operations. The research study associated with this arrangement is on hold and the Company will not be required to make payments until it resumes and milestones are met. See Note 4 for additional information related to the health study tool.

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

 

In June 2020, the Company entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (“CRADA) with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and agencies of U.S. Public Health Services within the HHS, as well as the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (“NIDCD”), to enhance understanding of epigenetic gene regulation in Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis (“RRP”).

 

Under the CRADA agreement, the Company is granted an exclusive option to elect an exclusive or nonexclusive commercialization license, with terms of the license that reflect the nature of the invention, the relative contributions of the respective parties, a plan for the development and marketing, and the costs of subsequent research and development needed to bring the invention to market. The Company is responsible for payment of all fees related to CRADA patents.

 

As part of the CRADA agreement, the Company agreed to provide funding totaling $200 under the two-year term of the agreement. The Company recognized $100 and $54 in sponsored research expenses related to this agreement during the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. These amounts are recorded within research and development expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

 

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

 

In February 2021, the Company entered into a sponsored research agreement with The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (“CHOP”) to develop new methods and software implementations for the processing and analysis of Illumina Infinium DNA methylation technology, including the Infinium EPIC+ Human Array and the infinium mouse methylation array. The intent of the research agreement is to create open-source software that will be able to import data from any Infinium DNA methylation array and conduct state-of-the-art processing and quality control of the data in an automated fashion.

 

In consideration for sponsoring the research, the Company shall have a first and exclusive option to negotiate for a revenue-bearing exclusive license to any patent rights or other intellectual property rights for CHOP intellectual property or CHOP’s interests in any joint intellectual property. Additionally, the Company agrees to reimburse CHOP for fees relating to maintaining the patents.

 

As part of the CHOP Agreement, the Company will provide funding totaling $311 over a two-year period, commencing February 1, 2021. The Company recognized $159 and $126 in sponsored research expenses during the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. These amounts are recorded within research and development expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

 

Parallel Run Study

 

During the third quarter of 2022, the Company executed a Memorandum of Understanding and Pilot Research Agreement (the “Agreement”) with both a life insurance carrier and a reinsurer. The purpose of the Agreement is to conduct a parallel run study, using a minimum of 2,500 participants, comparing traditional medical underwriting results to those obtained through use of the Company’s saliva-based epigenetic biomarker technology. The Agreement is intended to assess the value of the Company’s technology for a saliva-based next-generation underwriting protocol and will help determine whether the parties will later enter into a commercial agreement. The Agreement commenced in the third quarter of 2022 and will continue until the sooner of project completion, project termination, or the Company and the life insurance carrier entering into a commercial agreement for the scaled rollout of FOXO’s technology in the life insurance carrier’s underwriting processes. The Company has determined that costs associated with the agreement will be recorded as research and development expenses in the consolidated statements of operations in accordance with accounting standards codification guidance. The agreement stipulates that the life insurance carrier and reinsurer will share in costs equally with the Company up to $200 each. Cost sharing reimbursements received from the life insurance carrier and reinsurer have been recorded within parallel run advance in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022 and are being recognized as contra expenses in the consolidated statement of operations as the Company incurs costs related to the agreement.