Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.
Amendment of AF Chemicals Technology License Agreement
On December 30, 2020, we and AF Chemicals, LLC ("AF Chemicals") entered into a
Second Addendum to Technology License Agreement (the "Second Addendum"). The
Second Addendum provides for further additions and amendments to the Technology
License Agreement and Addendum we have previously entered into with AF Chemicals
for the exclusive license of global patent rights from AF Chemicals for the
treatment of cancer in humans for our product candidates LP-100 (Irofulven) and
LP-184. The Technology License Agreement, Addendum and Second Addendum are
collectively referred to as the "AFC License Agreement".
The Second Addendum provides that, from December 30, 2020 until January 15,
2025, we will have no obligation to pay annual licensing fees, development
diligence extension payments, or patent maintenance fee payments to AF Chemicals
under the AFC License Agreement. The Second Addendum also provides for us to
make specified payments to AF Chemicals within 10 days after signing and by
March 31, 2021.
As part of the Second Addendum, we have agreed to apply for specified orphan
drug designations for LP-184 in the US and EU. The Second Addendum also amends
and clarifies other provisions of the Technology License Agreement, and provides
us with the ability to recover a portion of initial payments made under the
Second Addendum from sublicense fees or royalty payments that may be made to AF
Chemicals by us or third parties prior to January 15, 2025. The AFC License
Agreement, as amended by the Second Addendum, provides that the term of the
agreement shall continue until the later of the expiration of the last patent
licensed to us under the agreement, and the last to expire orphan drug
designation, if any, relating to our product candidate LP-184 or other specified
licensed technology under the agreement.
Item 8.01 Other Events.
Califia Pharma
On December 30, 2020, we entered into an Evaluation and Limited Use Agreement
(the "Evaluation Agreement") with Califia Pharma, Inc. ("Califia"). Califia's
founder, Michael J. Kelner, M.D., is a widely published researcher with
recognized expertise in the areas of illudofulvene chemistry and antibody drug
conjugates. Califia has developed novel transcriptional-coupled repair
inhibitors that have demonstrated potential for an improved therapeutic index
compared to traditional antibody drug conjugate (ADC) payloads.
The Evaluation Agreement provides for Lantern Pharma and Califia to collaborate
on the in vitro and in vivo testing and evaluation of novel Califia payloads
conjugated to a Lantern Pharma targeting entity. The Evaluation Agreement also
provides us with the right to negotiate with Califia for exclusive license
rights to use LP-184 and related analogs as the payload with an affinity drug
conjugate or small molecule drug conjugate targeting entity supplied by Lantern
Pharma. We also have the right under the Evaluation Agreement to negotiate for
non-exclusive license rights to use a Lantern Pharma targeting entity with a
payload and linker combination selected from novel specified Califia payloads
and linkers.
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