Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies [Text Block]

Commitments and Contingencies

Lease Commitments

The Company leases offices, of which certain have escalation clauses and renewal options, and also leases equipment under certain noncancelable operating leases that expire from time to time through 2018. In January 2014, the Company signed a new lease for a larger space at its New York office located at 420 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10170. This property is used as the Company's corporate headquarters. The new lease extends through 2018. In connection with the CSC Acquisition, the Company assumed a facility lease in Irvine, California, with a termination at the end of 2017. We recently signed an amendment expanding our office space in Irvine by 4,000 square feet, and extending the term through 2021. In accordance with the amendment, we plan to occupy the additional space by the second quarter of 2015.

We recently entered into an assignment agreement with an unaffiliated third party, effective February 19, 2015, for general office space located in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The space is approximately 18,000 rentable square feet. Pursuant to the agreement, we are not obligated to make any payments for the space until January 2016.The base monthly rent during the period ending January 31, 2016 is currently $25,000 and the lease term ends July 31, 2020. In addition, there are two (2) five (5) year renewal options. In connection with the assumption of the lease, the third party (a) conveyed its rights in various scheduled furniture and equipment and (b) paid the Company approximately $580,000 which will offset the future rental payments to be paid by NeoStem until mid 2016. The amount paid to the Company included a security deposit of approximately $115,000.

A summary of future minimum rental payments required under operating leases that have initial or remaining terms in excess of one year as of March 31, 2015 are as follows (in thousands):  

Years ended	Operating Leases
2015	$	1,439.3
2016	2,039.3
2017	1,841.0
2018	1,023.8
2019 and thereafter	1,909.2
Total minimum lease payments	$	8,252.6

Expense incurred under operating leases was approximately $0.4 million and 0.2 million for the three months endedMarch 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

Contingencies

Under license agreements with third parties the Company is typically required to pay maintenance fees, make milestone payments and/or pay other fees and expenses and pay royalties upon commercialization of products. The Company also sponsors research at various academic institutions, which research agreements generally provide us with an option to license new technology discovered during the course of the sponsored research.

From time to time, the Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims, either asserted or unasserted, that arise in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome of pending claims cannot be predicted with certainty, the Company does not believe that the outcome of any pending claims will have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition or operating results.