Co-Development Agreement with SFJ Pharmaceuticals and Development Derivative Liability

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Co-Development Agreement with SFJ Pharmaceuticals and Development Derivative Liability

On February 12, 2021, we entered into a co-development agreement (the SFJ Agreement) with SFJ Pharmaceuticals XII, L.P., an SFJ Pharmaceuticals Group company (SFJ), pursuant to which SFJ will pay up to $150.0 million in committed funding to support a Phase 2/3 study of bempegaldesleukin in combination with Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (the SCCHN Clinical Trial) whose tumors express PD-L1 (the SCCHN Indication). SFJ Pharmaceuticals is a global drug development company backed by Blackstone Life Sciences and Abingworth. On February 11, 2021, we entered into a collaboration agreement with MSD International GmbH (MSD), an affiliate of Merck, Sharp & Dohme, pursuant to which MSD will provide Keytruda® at no cost for use in the SCCHN Clinical Trial but will not bear any other costs of the trial.

SFJ will have primary responsibility for the clinical trial management of the SCCHN Clinical Trial, and we will be the sponsor of the SCCHN Clinical Trial and will also have sole responsibility for regulatory interactions and filings for bempegaldesleukin. The SCCHN Clinical Trial provides for an interim futility analysis, and unless the futility criteria are met, SFJ is required to complete the SCCHN Trial, but if the futility criteria is met, SFJ has the responsibility to wind down the SCCHN Clinical Trial at its sole cost. We and BMS, pursuant to the BMS Collaboration Agreement, remain solely responsible for conducting the Phase 3 clinical trials of bempegaldesleukin in combination with Opdivo®, including the treatment of previously untreated unresectable or metastatic melanoma (the “Melanoma Indication” and the “Melanoma Clinical Trial”).

Other than the opportunity to receive Success Payments as outlined below, SFJ has no right to reimbursement of costs incurred by SFJ for the SCCHN Clinical Trial in the event that the Melanoma Clinical Trial and the SCCHN Clinical Trial do not achieve FDA approval. We will pay SFJ a series of success-based annual payments (collectively, the Success Payments) in the event of FDA approval of bempegaldesleukin for the Melanoma Indication, the SCCHN Indication, or both, and in the event of FDA approval of one additional bempegaldesleukin indication. The Success Payments do not begin until the substantial completion of the SCCHN Clinical Trial. The total success-based annual payments for the first indication approved by FDA, whether for the Melanoma Indication or the SCCHN Indication, is an aggregate of $450.0 million, paid in annual contractual payments over five years, with the first payment being $30.0 million, with the earliest possible payment expected to occur in late 2024 or early 2025, subject to the substantial completion of the SCCHN Clinical Trial. The total success-based payments for the second indication approved by FDA, whether for the Melanoma Indication or the SCCHN Indication, is an aggregate of $150.0 million, paid in annual contractual payments over seven years. Finally, in the event of FDA approval for bempegaldesleukin for any indication other than the Melanoma Indication or the SCCHN Indication, we will make a one-time payment of $37.5 million to SFJ. If the success criterion for the interim futility analysis is not met and SFJ winds down the SCCHN Clinical Trial, then the Success Payments, if any, for the Melanoma Indication and/or the additional bempegaldesleukin indication are reduced pro rata based on the costs incurred by SFJ for the SCCHN Clinical Trial over the aggregate commitment of $150.0 million.

The SFJ Agreement provides for certain positive and negative covenants, including restrictions on our ability to incur liens on our intellectual property related to bempegaldesleukin (the bempegaldesleukin IP), or assign or convey any right to receive income with respect to the bempegaldesleukin IP (other than royalty and other license fee obligations to licensors), except for the issuance of senior secured debt secured by all or substantially all of our assets, including the bempegaldesleukin IP.

The SFJ Agreement expires upon the payment of all Success Payments to SFJ, unless earlier terminated as provided under the SFJ Agreement. The SFJ Agreement may be terminated by either party for a safety or health concern for the patients, whether by the independent data monitoring company or by mutual agreement of both parties. The SFJ Agreement may also be terminated by either party for material breach or insolvency of the counterparty.

We present the SFJ Agreement as development derivative liability in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, which we remeasure to fair value at each reporting date. As SFJ conducts the SCCHN Clinical Trial, we record non-cash research and development expense with a corresponding increase to the development derivative liability, and as SFJ remits funding to us to support our internal costs of conducting the trial, we also record a corresponding increase to the development derivative liability. We present the gain (loss) from the remeasurement as Change in fair value of development derivative liability in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. The following table presents the changes in the development derivative liability from inception on February 12, 2021 to March 31, 2021:


	Three Months Ended March 31, 2021

Fair value at inception on February 12, 2021	$	—
Non-cash research and development expense	2,248
Cash receipts from SFJ	750
Change in the fair value of development derivative liability	1,599
Fair value at March 31, 2021	$	4,597

We valued the derivative using a scenario-based discounted cash flow method, whereby each scenario makes assumptions about the probability and timing of cash flows, and we discount such cash flows to present value using a risk-adjusted rate. The key inputs to the valuation include our estimates of the following: (i) the probability and timing of achieving FDA approval in the Melanoma Indication, the SCCHN Indication and any other bempegaldesleukin indication, (ii) the timing of the substantial completion of the SCCHN Clinical Trial that SFJ must achieve before receiving a Success Payment, (iii) the probability of termination of the study due to meeting the interim futility criteria, (iv) the amount of costs incurred by SFJ if the success criterion for the interim futility analysis is not met, (v) SFJ’s cost of borrowing (1.0%), and (vi) the Company’s imputed cost of borrowing for debt with similar terms (12.2%).