11. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

11. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENTS

We have had the following material changes to our contractual obligations and commitments outside the ordinary course of business during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021:

SEPARATION AGREEMENT

On October 30, 2020, we entered into a Separation Agreement with Timothy Rodell, M.D., our former Chief Executive Officer, or the Separation Agreement. Under this agreement, we agreed to pay Dr. Rodell a total of $444,729 and to cover his medical insurance costs over a twelve-month period that began on November 1, 2020, all in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement with the Company. We also paid Dr. Rodell accrued vacation in the amount of $20,260 in November 2020.

The total expense accrued at March 31, 2021 relating to the Separation Agreement, was $284,270 (see Note 7).

LEASE COMMITMENTS

We currently lease approximately 2,600 square feet of executive office space at 9635 Granite Ridge Drive, Suite 100, San Diego, California 92123 under a 39-month gross plus utilities lease that commenced on December 1, 2014 and expires on August 31, 2021. The current rental rate under the lease extension is $8,265 per month.

We also rent approximately 1,700 square feet of laboratory space at 11585 Sorrento Valley Road, Suite 109, San Diego, California 92121 at the rate of $6,148 per month on a one-year lease that originally was to expire on November 30, 2020. In December 2020, we entered into a short-term lease extension running from December 1, 2020 through the completion date of our construction of our planned new laboratory space which is adjacent to our current laboratory.

Rent expense, which is included in general and administrative expenses, approximated $192,000 and $178,000 for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments under the Granite Ridge Lease as of March 31, 2021, are as follows:

April 1, 2021 through August 31, 2021	$	43,670
Less: discount		(1,127	)
Total lease liability	$	42,543

During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, we adopted ASU Topic 842 on April 1, 2019 utilizing the alternative transition method allowed for under this guidance. As a result, we recorded lease liabilities and right-of-use lease assets of $228,694 on our balance sheet as of April 1, 2019. The lease liabilities represent the present value of the remaining lease payments of our corporate headquarters lease, discounted using our incremental borrowing rate as of April 1, 2019. The corresponding right-of-use lease assets are recorded based on the lease liabilities and the cumulative difference between rent expense and amounts paid under its corporate headquarters lease. We also elected the short-term lease recognition exemption for its laboratory lease. For the laboratory lease that qualified as short-term, we did not recognize right-of-use assets or lease liabilities at adoption.

In December 2020, we entered into an agreement to lease approximately 2,823 square feet of office space and 1,807 square feet of laboratory space. The agreement carries a term of 63 months and we will commence paying rent when we take occupancy of those spaces, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2021. Upon taking occupancy of the space, we will record lease liabilities and right-of-use lease assets related to this agreement on our balance sheet. We estimate that the present value of the contractual payments under the lease agreement to be approximately $806,000.

In addition, the new lease agreement required us to post a standby letter of credit in favor of the landlord in the amount of $46,726 in lieu of a security deposit. We arranged for our bank to issue the standby letter of credit in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021 and transferred a like amount to a restricted certificate of deposit which secured the bank’s risk in issuing that letter of credit. We have classified that restricted certificate of deposit on our balance sheet as restricted cash.

LEGAL MATTERS

From time to time, claims are made against us in the ordinary course of business, which could result in litigation. Claims and associated litigation are subject to inherent uncertainties and unfavorable outcomes could occur, such as monetary damages, fines, penalties or injunctions prohibiting us from selling one or more products or engaging in other activities.

The occurrence of an unfavorable outcome in any specific period could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for that period or future periods. We are not presently a party to any pending or threatened legal proceedings.