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Related Party Transactions
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Related Party Transactions  
Related Party Transactions

11. Related Party Transactions

On September 5, 2018, the Company entered into an agreement with CSMC for an investigator-sponsored Phase 2b clinical study of SYN‑010 to be co-funded by the Company and CSMC (the “Study”). The Study will provide further evaluation of the efficacy and safety of SYN‑010, the Company’s modified-release reformulation of lovastatin lactone, which is exclusively licensed to the Company by CSMC. SYN‑010 is designed to reduce methane production by certain microorganisms (M. smithii) in the gut to treat an underlying cause of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C).

In consideration of the support provided by CSMC for the Study, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement with CSMC pursuant to which the Company has agreed, upon the approval of the Study protocol by the Institutional Review Board, (IRB) to: (i) issue to CSMC fifty thousand (50,000) shares of common stock of the Company; and (ii) transfer to CSMC an additional two million four hundred twenty thousand  (2,420,000) shares of common stock of its subsidiary Synthetic Biomics, Inc. (“SYN Biomics”) owned by the Company, such that after such issuance CSMC will own an aggregate of seven million four hundred eighty thousand (7,480,000) shares of common stock of Synbiomics, representing seventeen percent  (17%) of the issued and outstanding shares of SynBiomics’ common stock.

The Agreement also provides CSMC with a right, commencing on the six month anniversary of issuance of the stock under certain circumstances in the event that the shares of stock of SYN Biomics are not then freely tradeable, and subject to NYSE American, LLC approval, to exchange its SYN Biomics shares for unregistered shares of the Company’s common stock, with the rate of exchange based upon the relative contribution of the valuation of SYN Biomics to the public market valuation of the Company at the time of each exchange. The Stock Purchase Agreement also provides for tag-along rights in the event of the sale by the Company of its shares of SYN Biomics.

In December 2013, through the Company’s subsidiary, SYN Biomics, Inc. the Company entered into a worldwide exclusive license agreement with CSMC and acquired the rights to develop products for therapeutic and prophylactic treatments of acute and chronic diseases, including the development of SYN‑010 to target IBS-C. The Company licensed from CSMC a portfolio of intellectual property comprised of several U.S. and foreign patents and pending patent applications for various fields of use, including IBS-C, obesity and diabetes. During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company paid CSMC $350,000 for milestone payments related this license agreement. There were no milestone payments made during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.

On November 18, 2016, a member of the board of directors, Scott Tarriff, acquired 8,572 shares of the Company’s common stock together with a Series A warrant to purchase 8,572 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $50.05 and a Series B warrant to purchase 8,572 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $60.20 for an aggregate purchase price of $8,572. The shares of stock and warrants were acquired in the Company’s public offering that was consummated on November 18, 2016. The Series A warrant may be exercised until the four year anniversary of the date of its issuance and the Series B warrant expired on December 31, 2017.