Related-Party Transactions

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions [Abstract]

Related-Party Transactions

12. Related-Party Transactions

At December 31, 2012, Synecor, LLC owned 37% of the common stock of TransEnterix Surgical. In addition, at December 31, 2012, Synecor, LLC and its shareholders and officers collectively owned approximately 85% of the common stock of TransEnterix Surgical, as well as 17% of the preferred stock of TransEnterix Surgical. At December 31, 2013, Synecor, LLC and its shareholders and officers collectively owned approximately 12% of the Company’s common stock. Various research and development services were purchased from Synecor LLC and its wholly owned subsidiary Synchrony Labs  LLC and totaled approximately $90,000 and $108,000 for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

The Company’s directors Dr. Hsiao and Dr. Frost are each significant stockholders and/or directors of Non-Invasive Monitoring Systems, Inc. (“NIMS”), a publicly-traded medical device company, Tiger X Medical, Inc. (“Tiger X”) (formerly known as Cardo Medical, Inc.), a publicly-traded medical device company, and TigerMedia, Inc. (“TigerMedia) (formerly known as SearchMedia Holdings Limited), a publicly-traded media company operating primarily in China. Director Richard Pfenniger is also a shareholder of NIMS. The Company’s Chief Legal Officer serves under a Board-approved cost sharing arrangement as Corporate Counsel of TigerMedia and as the Chief Legal Officer of each of NIMS and Tiger X. Additionally, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer, also serves as the Chief Financial Officer and supervises the accounting staff of NIMS under a Board-approved cost sharing arrangement whereby the total salaries of the accounting staffs of the companies are shared. The Company has recorded reductions to  general and administrative expenses for the years ended December 31, 2013 of $55,000, to account for the sharing of accounting and legal administrative costs under this arrangement. Aggregate accounts receivable from NIMS, Tiger X and TigerMedia were approximately $14,000 as of December 31, 2013 and are included in other receivable – related party.

SafeStitch entered into a five-year lease for office space in Miami, Florida with a company controlled by Dr. Frost. The current rental payments under the Miami office lease, which commenced January 1, 2008 and expired on December 31, 2012, are approximately $12,000 per month and are currently on a month-to-month basis. The Company recorded $48,000 of rent expense related to the Miami lease for the year ended December 31, 2013.