Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Licenses and Collaborations

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Licenses and Collaborations
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Licenses and Collaborations

8. Licenses and Collaborations

 

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

 

On January 2, 2019, the Company entered into an Exclusive License and Research Collaboration Agreement (the “Collaboration Agreement”) with Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC (“Merck”) to discover and develop certain proprietary influenza A/B antiviral agents. Under the terms of the Collaboration Agreement, Merck funded research and development for the program, including clinical development, and was responsible for worldwide commercialization of any products derived from the collaboration. Under the Collaboration Agreement Cocrystal was eligible to receive payments related to designated development, regulatory and sales milestones with the potential to earn up to $156,000,000, as well as royalties on product sales. The Collaboration Agreement provided that Merck may terminate the Collaboration Agreement at any time prior to the first commercial sale of the first product developed under the Collaboration Agreement, in its sole discretion, without cause.

 

On December 15, 2023, the Company received written notice from Merck of Merck’s election to terminate the Collaboration Agreement. The termination of the Collaboration Agreement took effect on March 14, 2024. According to Merck’s termination notice, Merck determined there were no existing conditions to continue the collaboration. The termination resulted from the inability to develop the compounds to meet a specific aspect of Merck’s program. The pending patent applications on compounds covered by the Collaboration Agreement and previously filed by Merck on behalf of both companies remain in place.

 

Kansas State University Research Foundation

 

Cocrystal entered into two License Agreement with Kansas State University Research Foundation (the “Foundation”) on February 18, 2020 to further develop certain proprietary broad-spectrum antiviral compounds for the treatment of norovirus and coronavirus infections.

 

 

On February 28, 2024, the Company provided notice to the Foundation of the Company’s election to terminate the 2020 License Agreements. The terminations, which were made due to the Company’s determination that further development efforts under the License Agreements would be futile, took effect on March 29, 2024.