3. Significant Agreements

With regards to manufacturing, testing and potential commercial supply of oxylanthanum carbonate, on October 31, 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with Shilpa Medicare Ltd (“Shilpa”) based in India. Pursuant to the Agreement, Shilpa provides certain development, manufacturing, supply and other CMC-related services related to the development and commercialization of oxylanthanum carbonate (“OLC”).

In June 2024, the Company entered into the First Amendment to Manufacturing and Supply Agreement with Shilpa (the “Amendment”). The Company has entered into the Amendment in anticipation of an increased manufacturing demand for OLC. Pursuant to the Amendment, the Company has agreed to make a binding purchase order for tablets of OLC and Shilpa has agreed to deliver such order by September 30, 2025. In addition, the Company has agreed to order additional tablets for delivery between December 31, 2025, and September 30, 2026. Further, the Company has agreed to make certain milestone payments and to provide certain funding to Shilpa for a new manufacturing line. The initial term of the Agreement shall continue until the eighth (8th) anniversary of the date of receipt by the Company of FDA approval of its NDA of OLC (the “Initial Term”). Following the Initial Term, the Agreement shall continue in effect for consecutive periods of four (4) years each unless earlier terminated pursuant to the terms of the Agreement.

In October 2017, the Company entered into an exclusive license agreement with Sphaera, a stockholder, for the rights to further develop the drug candidate, UNI 494, for commercialization. No payments were made upon execution of the agreement but payments for $50,000 will be due commencing with the initiation by the Company of a second clinical trial and $50,000 on completion of such trial. If the FDA accepts a NDA application submitted by the Company for the product, the Company will pay Sphaera $1.65 million. Upon commercialization and sale of the drug product, royalty payments will also be payable quarterly to Sphaera equal to 2% of net sales on the preceding quarter.

In September 2018, the Company entered into an Assignment and Asset Purchase Agreement with Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Spectrum Agreement”) pursuant to which the Company purchased certain assets from Spectrum, including Spectrum’s right, title, interest in and intellectual property related to Renazorb RZB 012, also known as RENALAN™ (“Renalan”) and RZB 014, also known as SPI 014 (“SPI” and together with Renalan, the “Compounds”), to further develop and commercialize oxylanthanum carbonate and related compounds. In partial consideration for the Spectrum Agreement, the Company issued 313,663 shares of common stock to Spectrum valued at approximately $4,000 which represented four percent of the Company on a fully-diluted basis at the date of the execution of the Spectrum Agreement. The Spectrum Agreement has an anti-dilution provision, which provides that Spectrum maintain its ownership interest in the Company at 4% of the Company’s shares on a fully-diluted basis. Fully-diluted shares of common stock for purposes of the oxylanthanum carbonate Purchase Agreement assumes conversion of any security convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for common stock or any combination thereof, including any common stock reserved for issuance under a stock option plan, restricted stock plan, or other equity incentive plan approved by the Board of Directors of the Company immediately following the issuance of additional shares of the Company’s common stock (but prior to the issuance of any additional shares of common stock to Spectrum). Spectrum’s ownership shall not be subject to dilution until the earlier of thirty-six months from the first date the Company’s stock trades on a public market, or the date upon which the Company attains a public market capitalization of at least $50 million. On July 13, 2021, the Company’s initial public offering resulted in a public market capitalization of at least $50 million, and as a result the Company was required to issue 438,374 anti-dilution shares of common stock. This issuance represented the final anti-dilution calculation required under the Spectrum Agreement, and no further anti-dilution shares will be issued. The Company calculated the fair value of the shares and recognized $2.2 million to research and development expenses as cost to issue those shares during the third quarter of 2021. In the event an NDA filing for oxylanthanum carbonate is accepted by the FDA, the Company will be required to pay $0.2 million to Altair Nanomaterials, Inc., (“Altair”) in accordance with the Spectrum Agreement. In addition, in the event FDA approval for oxylanthanum carbonate is received, the Company will be required to pay $4.5 million to Altair. The Company is also required to pay Spectrum 40% of all the Company’s sublicense income for any sublicense granted to certain sublicensees during the first 12 months after the Closing Date (as that term is defined in the Spectrum Agreement) and 20% of all other sublicense income. The Company’s payment obligations to Spectrum will expire on the twentieth (20th) anniversary of the Closing Date of the Spectrum Agreement. In August 2022, the Company received an upfront payment of approximately $1.0 million resulting from a sublicense development agreement with Lee’s Pharmaceutical (HK) Limited. In February 2023, the Company received an upfront payment of approximately $0.7 million resulting from a sublicense development agreement with Lotus International Pte Ltd. The payment represents sublicense income as described in the Spectrum Agreement, and 20% of the amount received has been accrued as an R&D expense in the accompanying statements of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. 

On July 19, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Syneos Health LLC (“Syneos”) pursuant to which Syneos will provide preclinical research and analysis services related to the development of UNI-494. The initial budget for the study, which includes clinical pharmacology, translational sciences, and bioanalytical services, was approximately $2.3 million. Approximately $2.0 million has been paid to Syneos and the research was completed during 2023.

On January 6, 2022, the Company entered into a Master Services Agreement with Quotient Sciences Limited (“Quotient”), a UK based company that provides drug development and analysis services, for the purpose of performing clinical research in support of UNI-494. The initial budget for the study is approximately $3.7 million, and subsequent revisions reduced the overall budget to $2.9 million. Related payments totaling approximately $2.8 million have been paid to Quotient as of September 30, 2024, approximately 2.8 million of related expense has been recorded, and approximately $0.6 million and $0.6 million has been recorded as prepaid expenses and other current assets in the accompanying balance sheets as of December 31, 2023 and September 30, 2024, respectively.

On February 9, 2022, the Company entered into a Master Services Agreement with CBCC Global Research Inc. (“CBCC”), a California based company that provides clinical trial and related services, for the purpose of performing clinical research in support of oxylanthanum carbonate. The budget for the initial study was approximately $1.4 million. Payments relating to the initial agreement totaling approximately $0.4 million have been paid to CBCC as of March 31, 2023, and approximately $0.4 million of related expense has been recorded. In September 2022, a statement of work revised the remaining services budget to approximately $0.1 million, and the research was completed as of March 31, 2023.

On June 29, 2022, the Company entered into an Agreement with Inotiv, an Indiana based company that provides preclinical trial and related services, for the purpose of performing research in support of oxylanthanum carbonate.

On April 10, 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with Inotiv that provides preclinical trial and related services, for the purpose of performing research in support of UNI-494. The budget for these services is approximately $2.9 million. Approximately $2.9 million has been paid to Inotiv as of September 30, 2024 and approximately $0.3 million and $0.1 million has been recorded as prepaid expenses and other current assets in the accompanying balance sheets as of December 31, 2023 and September 30, 2024, respectively.

On July 14, 2022, the Company entered into a license agreement with Lee’s Pharmaceutical (HK) Limited (see Note 4). Under the terms of the agreement, Lee’s Pharmaceutical will be responsible for development, registration filing and approval for oxylanthanum carbonate in China, Hong Kong, and certain other Asian markets. In addition, Lee’s Pharmaceutical will have sole responsibility for the importation of the drug product from the Company and for the costs of commercialization of oxylanthanum carbonate in the licensed territories. The Company has received an upfront payment of $1.0 million, expects to receive up to $1.0 million in milestone payments upon product launch in China and will be eligible for tiered royalties of between 7% and 10% upon achievement of prespecified regulatory and commercial achievements. 

On July 27, 2022, the Company entered into an Agreement with Celerion, a Nebraska based company that provides clinical trial and related services, for the purpose of performing research in support of oxylanthanum carbonate. The budget for the services is approximately $2.7 million, and approximately $2.7 million has been paid to Celerion as of December 31, 2023, and the research was completed during 2023.

On February 1, 2023, the Company entered into a license agreement with Lotus International Pte Ltd. (“Lotus”) (see Note 4). Under the terms of the agreement, Lotus will be responsible for development, registration filing and approval for oxylanthanum carbonate in the licensed territory of South Korea. In addition, Lotus will have sole responsibility for the importation of the drug product from the Company and for the costs of commercialization of oxylanthanum carbonate in the licensed territory. The Company has received an upfront payment of $0.7 million, may receive up to $3.7 million in future milestone payments and will be eligible for tiered royalties upon achievement of specified commercial achievements.

On June 29, 2023 and October 26, 2023, the Company entered into services agreements with Shilpa Medicare Ltd related to NDA filing support for oxylanthanum carbonate. The agreements provide for total payments of up to $3.7 million, and the Company has made $3.0 million in payments pursuant to the agreements as of September 30, 2024.