Asset Purchase and Merger Agreements |
6 Months Ended | ||||||||||||
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Jun. 30, 2025 | |||||||||||||
Asset Purchase and Merger Agreements | |||||||||||||
Asset Purchase and Merger Agreements |
3. Asset Purchase and Merger Agreements Checkpoint
On March 9, 2025, Checkpoint entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Sun Pharma” or “Parent”), and Snoopy Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”). The Merger Agreement provided that, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, Parent, Merger Sub and Checkpoint would effect a merger of Merger Sub with and into Checkpoint (the “Merger”), with Checkpoint continuing as the surviving corporation of the Merger and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. On April 23, 2025, Checkpoint filed a definitive proxy statement relating to the Merger Agreement and established May 28, 2025 as the date for a special meeting of Checkpoint stockholders to vote on the Merger. Following the approval of the Merger by requisite majorities of holders of Checkpoint shares at the special meeting, the transaction closed on May 30, 2025. As a result of the Merger, the Company deconsolidated Checkpoint as of May 2025. The Company received $25.1 million in cash proceeds from the sale in June 2025, and an additional $2.9 million in cash proceeds in July 2025 (see Note 19). After the effect of the deconsolidation of Checkpoint’s net liabilities of $10.8 million and non-controlling interests of $9.9 million, the Company recorded a $27.1 million gain on deconsolidation of Checkpoint in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three and six months ended June 30, 2025 (see Note 16). The Company considers the sale of Checkpoint to be consistent with its ongoing strategy to opportunistically monetize investments in biopharma companies and assets, and therefore concluded that the sale did not represent a strategic shift that would be accounted for as a discontinued operation. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the effective time of the Merger (the “Effective Time”), each share of common stock and each share of Class A common stock of Checkpoint (collectively, the “Shares”) (including each unvested Checkpoint restricted share) outstanding immediately prior to the Effective Time was canceled and ceased to exist and was converted into the right to receive (i) $4.10 in cash, without interest (the “Common Cash Amount”), and (ii) one non-tradable contingent value right (a “CVR”), which represents the right to receive a contingent cash payment of up to $0.70 upon the achievement of specified milestones, subject to and in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in a Contingent Value Rights Agreement that was entered into at the Effective Time (the “CVR Agreement”), as further described below (the foregoing clauses (i) and (ii), the “Merger Consideration”), in each case subject to applicable withholding taxes. CVR Agreement Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Parent and a rights agent (the “Rights Agent”) entered into the CVR Agreement governing the terms of the CVRs issued in connection with the Merger. The Rights Agent will maintain an up-to-date register of the holders of CVRs (the “Holders”). Holders shall not be permitted to transfer the CVRs (subject to certain limited exceptions as set forth in the CVR Agreement). Each CVR represents the right to receive one of the following contingent cash payments, without interest, subject to any applicable withholding taxes (such applicable payment, the “Milestone Payment”), conditioned upon the achievement of the corresponding milestone condition within the following specified time periods:
As used in the CVR Agreement, (a) the “Milestone Deadline Date” means the date that is 36 months after the date on which a marketing authorization application or equivalent for cosibelimab receives a positive validation outcome by the European Medicines Agency (the “EMA”) and (b) the “Milestone” means the receipt of regulatory approval of cosibelimab in (i) the European Union pursuant to the centralized approval procedure or (ii) any of Germany, France, Italy, Spain or the United Kingdom. Parent (directly or through its affiliates) is obligated to use, and to obligate its licensees to use, certain specified commercially reasonable efforts to (i) file a marketing authorization application for cosibelimab with the EMA within 12 months of the Closing Date or, to the extent any feedback or communications from, or expectations or requirements of, the EMA (including additional trial requirements) make it impracticable or inadvisable to file such marketing authorization application within such time period, as promptly thereafter as practicable, and (ii) achieve the Primary Milestone (as defined in the CVR Agreement) in its then-maximum value as promptly as practicable (including timely filing any appeals and curing any deficiencies identified in a relevant marketing authorization application by the relevant regulatory authority). Parent’s obligations to use such commercially reasonable efforts terminates on the earlier of (a) the Milestone Deadline Date and (b) the achievement of the Milestone. There can be no assurance that the Milestone will be achieved on or before the Milestone Deadline Date, or that any Milestone Payments will be made. The Company is treating the CVR as variable consideration that is constrained until the achievement of the specified milestones. Warrant Amendment
Additionally, in connection with the Checkpoint’s entry into the Merger Agreement, Checkpoint entered into a letter agreement (the “Warrant Amendment”), dated as of March 9, 2025, with Armistice Capital Master Fund Ltd., a Cayman Islands exempted company (“Armistice”). Pursuant to the Warrant Amendment, Checkpoint and Armistice agreed (i) to, immediately prior to the Effective Time, amend all outstanding Checkpoint Warrants held by or issued to Armistice or any of its affiliates other than the Specified Warrant (the “Armistice Warrants”) to provide that each such Armistice Warrant that remains outstanding and unexercised as of the Effective Time will automatically be converted into the right to receive an amount in cash equal to the product of (a) the number of shares of Checkpoint common stock underlying such Armistice Warrant, multiplied by (b) the excess, if any, of (1) $4.10 over (2) the per share exercise price for such Armistice Warrant, less any applicable tax withholdings and (ii) one CVR in respect of each share underlying such Armistice Warrants, and (ii) that at the Effective Time, to the extent that any portion of that certain warrant to purchase 5,853,659 Shares, dated as of July 2, 2024 (the “Specified Warrant”), remains outstanding and unexercised as of the Effective Time, the Specified Warrant will be converted into the right of Armistice to receive, for each Share underlying the Specified Warrant, a cash payment equal to $3.62. The Warrant Amendment also provides that Armistice will not be entitled to transfer the Armistice Warrants prior to the Effective Time unless the Merger Agreement is validly terminated in accordance with its terms prior to the Effective Time.
Royalty Agreement Concurrently with the execution of the Merger Agreement, Checkpoint entered into a Royalty Agreement (the “Royalty Agreement”) with Parent and Fortress pursuant to which Fortress will receive a royalty interest right based on worldwide net sales of certain products of Checkpoint and Parent. The royalty interest right represents the right to receive quarterly cash payments of 2.5% of net sales of such products during the royalty period set forth in the Royalty Agreement. Transition Services Agreement Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, as of the Effective Time, Checkpoint and Fortress entered into a Transition Services Agreement (the “Transition Services Agreement”), pursuant to which, from and after the Effective Time, Fortress will provide Checkpoint with certain transition services as set forth in the Transition Services Agreement, for the period of time and in exchange for the compensation set forth therein. Urica
On July 15, 2024, Urica entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “APA”), royalty agreement (the “Royalty Agreement”), and related agreements (collectively, the “Transaction Documents”) with Crystalys Therapeutics, Inc. (“Crystalys”). Crystalys is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 2022 and seeded by life sciences institutional investors. Under the Transaction Documents, Urica sold the rights to its URAT1 inhibitor product candidate, dotinurad, which is in development for the treatment of gout, together with related intellectual property, licenses and agreements to Crystalys. In return, Crystalys issued to Urica shares of its common stock equal to 35% of Crystalys’ outstanding equity. Urica’s equity position cannot be reduced below 15% of Crystalys’ fully-diluted equity capitalization until Crystalys raises $150 million from the sale of equity securities.
The Transaction Documents also granted Urica a secured three percent (3%) royalty on future net sales of dotinurad to be paid by Crystalys. Urica has the right to appoint one director to the board of directors of Crystalys. Crystalys is obliged to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize dotinurad.
The APA also gives Urica the right, but not the obligation, to repurchase the sold assets for a repurchase price not to exceed $6.4 million plus accrued interest; the repurchase option expires upon the consummation by Crystalys of a qualified financing of at least $120 million by July 15, 2026. Urica has recorded a liability for the $0.6 million received as reimbursement for clinical and development expenses, which is being accreted up to the repurchase price over the term of the repurchase option, and is not recognizing an asset for its ownership interest received in Crystalys until the expiration of the repurchase option. Accordingly, at June 30, 2025, for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2025, Urica recorded accretion of $(0.1) million and $0.6 million, respectively, of the repurchase option price, which is booked to interest expense and financing fee in the condensed consolidated statement of operations. There was no accretion booked in comparable periods in 2024.
In June 2025, Crystalys received capital and capital commitments from a syndicate of investors in a Series A financing to advance the development of dotinurad.
Avenue
Under a share repurchase agreement between Avenue and InvaGen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“InvaGen”) under which Avenue repurchased all of InvaGen’s shares in Avenue, Avenue agreed to pay InvaGen an additional amount as a contingent fee, payable in the form of seven and a half percent (7.5%) of the net proceeds of future financings, until $4.0 million in the aggregate is paid to InvaGen. In connection with equity financings in the three months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, Avenue made payments totaling nil and $0.3 million, respectively, to InvaGen. In the six months ended June 30, 2025 and 2024, Avenue made payments totaling $0.2 million and $0.6 million, respectively, to InvaGen. Approximately $1.4 million in aggregate has been paid to InvaGen under the share repurchase agreement through the six months ended June 30, 2025. |