| Commitments and contingencies | 8. Commitments and contingencies Significant Agreements Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement Summary of Agreement In January 2019, the Company signed the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement for the research, development and commercialization of certain of its AAV gene therapy products. The Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement became effective in March 2019. Under the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, the Company agreed to collaborate on the conduct of four collaboration programs (the “Neurocrine Programs”) which include: (i) the VY-AADC (NBIb-1817) for Parkinson’s disease (the “VY-AADC Program”), (ii) the VY-FXN01 for Friedreich’s ataxia (the “FA Program”) (collectively with the VY-AADC Program, the “Legacy Programs”), and (iii) two programs to be determined by the Company and Neurocrine at a later date (the “Discovery Programs”) In June 2019, in conjunction with the termination of the collaboration agreement with Sanofi Genzyme (the “Sanofi Genzyme Collaboration Agreement”), the Company gained ex-U.S. rights to the FA Program . The Company’s ex-U.S. rights to the FA Program were subsequently transferred to Neurocrine under the terms of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement. To facilitate the transfer of the ex-U.S. rights to the FA Program to Neurocrine, the Company and Neurocrine executed an amendment to the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement (the “June 2019 Modification”), and Neurocrine paid $5.0 million to the Company . There were no other changes in pricing or scope of the obligations required to be performed under the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement In February 2021, Neurocrine notified the Company that it had elected to terminate the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement solely with regards to the VY-AADC Program, effective August 2, 2021 (the “Neurocrine VY-AADC Program Termination Effective Date”). The Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement remains in full force and effect for each other program thereunder. As a result of the termination, subsequent to the Neurocrine VY-AADC Program Termination Effective Date, Neurocrine will no longer be obligated to reimburse the Company for research and development activities related to the VY-AADC Program. Under the terms of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, the Company originally agreed to collaborate with Neurocrine on, and to grant, exclusive, royalty-bearing, non-transferable, sublicensable licenses to certain of its intellectual property rights, for all human and veterinary diagnostic, prophylactic, and therapeutic uses, for the research, development, and commercialization of gene therapy products (the “Collaboration Products”) on a worldwide basis under (i) the VY-AADC Program; (ii) the FA Program; and (iii) each Discovery Program. As a result of the termination of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement with regards to the VY-AADC Program, in accordance with the terms of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, the licenses granted by the Company to Neurocrine regarding the VY-AADC Program have expired, and the Company has regained worldwide intellectual property rights regarding the VY-AADC Program, in each case as of the VY-AADC Termination Effective Date. Pursuant to development plans agreed by the parties, which are overseen by a joint steering committee (“JSC”), the Company has operational responsibility, subject to certain exceptions, for the conduct of each Neurocrine Program prior to the occurrence of a specified event for such Neurocrine Program (a “Transition Event”), as described below, and is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop the corresponding Collaboration Products. Neurocrine has agreed to be responsible for all costs incurred by the Company in conducting these activities for each Neurocrine Program, in accordance with an agreed budget for each Neurocrine Program. If the Company breaches its development responsibilities or in certain circumstances upon a change in control, Neurocrine has the right but not the obligation to assume the activities under such Neurocrine Program. U pon the occurrence of a Transition Event for each Neurocrine Program, Neurocrine has agreed to assume responsibility for development, manufacturing and commercialization activities for such Neurocrine Program from the Company and to pay milestones and royalties on future net sales as described further below. As a result of Neurocrine’s termination of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement with respect to the VY-AADC Program, the Transition Event with respect to the VY-AADC Program is no longer applicable. The Transition Events for the remaining programs are (i) with respect to the FA Program, the Company’s receipt of topline data for the initial Phase 1 clinical trial for an FA Program product candidate; and (ii) with respect to each Discovery Program, the preparation by the Company and the approval by Neurocrine of an investigational new drug (“IND”) application to be filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the “FDA”) by Neurocrine for the first development candidate in such Discovery Program. For the FA Program, the Company was granted the option (the “FA Co-Co Option”) to co-develop and co-commercialize the FA Program upon the occurrence of a specified event (a “FA Co-Co Trigger Event”). The Company agreed, upon its exercise of the FA Co-Co Option, to enter into a cost- and profit-sharing arrangement with Neurocrine (the “FA Co-Co Agreement”), and (i) jointly develop and commercialize the Collaboration Products for the FA Program (“FA Collaboration Products”), (ii) share in its costs, profits and losses, and (iii) forfeit certain milestones and royalties on net sales in the United States during the effective period of the FA Co-Co Agreement. The FA Co-Co Trigger Event is the receipt of topline data for the initial Phase 1 clinical trial for an FA Program product candidate. Under the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, subject to exceptions specified therein, the Company and Neurocrine agreed that profits and losses under the Company’s FA Co-Co Option would be allocated 60% to Neurocrine and 40% to the Company for any FA Collaboration Product. The parties agreed that FA Co-Co Agreement would provide the Company the right to terminate for any reason upon prior written notice to Neurocrine and Neurocrine the right to terminate in certain circumstances upon change of control. The Company’s research and development activities under the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement are to be conducted pursuant to plans agreed to by the parties, on a program-by-program basis, and overseen by the JSC, as detailed in the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement. The parties have agreed on a list of up to eight target genes (the “Targets”) from which Neurocrine had the right to nominate Targets for the two Discovery Programs. The Targets nominated for the Discovery Programs were approved by a consensus of the JSC or the executive officers. The Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement provides for an upfront non-refundable payment of $115.0 million, as well as for aggregate development and regulatory milestone payments from Neurocrine to the Company for Collaboration Products under (i) the VY-AADC Program of up to $170.0 million; (ii) the FA Program of up to $195.0 million, and (iii) each of the two Discovery Programs of up to $130.0 million per Discovery Program. The Company may be entitled to receive aggregate commercial milestone payments for each Collaboration Product of up to $275.0 million, subject to an aggregate cap on commercial milestone payments across all Neurocrine Programs of $1.1 billion. As a result of Neurocrine’s termination of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement with respect to the VY-AADC Program, the Company is no longer entitled to receive the development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments related to the VY-AADC Program upon the achievement of specified milestones. Furthermore, in connection with the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, Neurocrine purchased 4,179,728 shares of the Company’s common stock at a price of $11.9625 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $50.0 million. Neurocrine also agreed to pay the Company royalties, based on future net sales of the Collaboration Products. Such royalty percentages, for net sales in and outside the United States, as applicable, range (i) for the VY-AADC Program, from the mid-teens to low thirties and the low-teens to low twenties, respectively; (ii) for the FA Program, from the low-teens to high-teens and high-single digits to mid-teens, respectively; and (iii) for each Discovery Program, from the high-single digits to mid-teens and mid-single digits to low-teens, respectively. On a country-by-country and program-by-program basis, royalty payments would commence on the first commercial sale of a Collaboration Product and terminate on the later of (a) the expiration of the last patent covering the Collaboration Product or its method of use in such country, (b) ten years from the first commercial sale of the Collaboration Product in such country and (c) the expiration of regulatory exclusivity in such country (the “Royalty Term”). Royalty payments may be reduced by up to 50% in specified circumstances, including expiration of patents rights related to a Collaboration Product, approval of biosimilar products in a given country or required payment of licensing fees to third parties related to the development and commercialization of any Collaboration Product. As a result of Neurocrine’s termination of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement with respect to the VY-AADC Program, the Company is no longer entitled to receive royalties related to the VY-AADC Program. Additionally, the licenses granted to Neurocrine shall automatically convert to fully paid-up, non-royalty bearing, perpetual, irrevocable, exclusive licenses on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis upon the expiration of the Royalty Term applicable to such Collaboration Product in such country. Under the terms of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement and subject to specified exceptions therein, each party owns the entire right, title and interest in and to all intellectual property rights made solely by its employees or agents in the course of the collaboration. The parties jointly own all rights, title and interest in and to all intellectual property rights made or invented jointly by employees or agents of both parties. During the term of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, neither party nor any of its respective affiliates is permitted to directly or indirectly exploit any AAV-based gene therapy products directed to a Target to which a Collaboration Product is directed, subject to specified exceptions including the parties’ conduct of basic research activities. Unless earlier terminated, the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement expires on the later of (i) the expiration of the last to expire royalty term with respect to a Collaboration Product in all countries in the relevant territory or (ii) the expiration or termination of any FA Co-Co Agreement. Neurocrine may terminate the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement in its entirety or on a program-by-program or country-by-country basis by providing at least (x) 180-day advance notice if such notice is provided prior to the first commercial sale of the Collaboration Product to which the termination applies or (y) one-year advance notice if such notice is provided after the first commercial sale of the Collaboration Product to which the termination applies. The Company may terminate the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, subject to specified conditions, if Neurocrine challenges the validity or enforceability of certain of the Company’s intellectual property rights. Subject to a cure period, either party may terminate the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement in the event of a material breach by the other party in whole or in part, subject to specified conditions. Upon termination in certain cases, Neurocrine has agreed to grant to the Company licenses to certain Neurocrine intellectual property, subject to a negotiation between the parties to establish royalty rates for use of such intellectual property. In the event of a breach by the Company with respect to a Neurocrine Program, if such termination were to occur after a Transition Event, then (i) with respect to the FA Program, if an FA Co-Co Agreement is in effect, Neurocrine can terminate the FA Co-Co Agreement for such program and the Company would no longer have co-development and co-commercialization rights with respect to the FA Collaboration Products and (ii) subject to any license agreements, Neurocrine would no longer have any obligations with respect to any Collaboration Products resulting from such program. Termination of VY-AADC Program As described above, as of the Neurocrine VY-AADC Program Termination Effective Date, the license granted by the Company to Neurocrine thereunder regarding the VY-AADC Program expired, the Company regained worldwide intellectual property rights regarding the VY-AADC Program, and the restrictions on the Company to develop, manufacture or commercialize a gene therapy product directed to the Target of the VY-AADC Program terminated, in each case in accordance with the terms of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement. As of the Neurocrine VY-AADC Program Termination Effective Date, Neurocrine no longer is obligated to reimburse the Company for research and development activities related to the VY-AADC Program, and the Company is no longer entitled to receive future milestone or royalty payments related to the VY-AADC Program. The Company continues to believe that the VY-AADC program may hold promise for Parkinson’s disease patients as evidenced by the positive multi-year safety and efficacy data from the two Phase 1b clinical trials presented in September 2020 at the MDS Virtual Congress. As a result of portfolio reevaluation efforts and a strategic shift to invest in novel capsid development efforts, however, the Company has determined that it will not advance the VY-AADC Program on its own. The Company is exploring potential options for continuing the future development and commercialization of the VY-AADC Program as a partnered program. Accounting Analysis At inception, the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement included the following performance obligations: (i) research and development services for each Legacy Program combined with a development and commercialization license for each such program and (ii) research and development services for each Discovery Program combined with a development and commercialization license for each program. The research services and license on a program by program basis are not distinct as Neurocrine cannot benefit from such license on its own or from other resources commonly available in the industry, without the corresponding research services due to the unique and specialized expertise of the Company that is not readily available in the marketplace. The Company identified $92.4 million of fixed transaction price consisting of the $115.0 million upfront fee and $5.0 million payment from the June 2019 Modification, offset by a discount of $27.6 million related to the $50.0 million equity investment of 4,179,728 shares when measured at fair value on the date of issuance. The Company is also entitled to reimbursement of costs incurred by the Company prior to the Transition Events associated with each Neurocrine Program. These amounts are determinable based on program plans and budgets, and the Company has a contractual right to the payment of costs incurred under the agreed upon program plans. The Company utilized the most likely amount approach and estimated the expected cost reimbursement to be $431.1 million at inception. The Company concluded that these amounts do not require a constraint and are included in the transaction price at inception. The Company considers this estimate at each reporting date and updates the estimate based on information available. During the three months ended June 30, 2021, the Company further revised the estimate of the expected reimbursement to $284.7 million based on expectations as of such date. Additional consideration to be paid to the Company upon reaching certain milestones are excluded from the transaction price at inception due to the uncertainty of achieving the development and regulatory milestones. The Company allocated the fixed transaction price to the separate performance obligations based on the relative standalone selling price of each performance obligation or in the case of certain variable consideration to one or more performance obligations. The estimated standalone selling prices for performance obligations, that include a license and research services, were developed using the estimated selling price of the license, using comparable and market data, and an estimate of the overall effort to perform the research services along with a reasonable profit for research services. The Company has concluded that the variable consideration related to the cost reimbursement of each program will be allocated to each respective program as the cost reimbursement relates specifically to the respective program services being performed under the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement. The reimbursement of research services is considered to be at a market rate and the allocation of the fixed consideration to all of the performance obligations depicts the estimated amounts in which it would expect to receive for these obligations, absent the variable consideration related to the research reimbursement. The total variable consideration allocated to each program related to the expected cost reimbursement was as follows as of June 30, 2021 Performance Obligation Amount (in thousands) Variable Consideration VY-AADC Program $ 53,397 FA Program 88,533 Discovery Program 1 72,782 Discovery Program 2 70,040 Total $ 284,752 Based on the relative standalone selling price allocation, the allocation of the transaction price, exclusive of the variable consideration allocated to the individual performance obligations, to the separate performance obligations was as follows: Performance Obligation Amount (in thousands) Fixed Consideration VY-AADC Program $ 49,045 FA Program 20,647 Discovery Program 1 14,443 Discovery Program 2 8,247 Total $ 92,382 The Company recognizes the transaction price associated with each performance obligation on a proportional performance basis over the period of service using input-based measurements such as costs incurred to date, to estimate proportion performed, and remeasures its progress towards completion at the end of each reporting period. The Company determined the partial termination of the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement with respect to the VY-AADC Program represented a modification of the arrangement under ASC 606 and that the remaining fixed transaction price at the Neurocrine VY-AADC Program Termination Effective Date of $42.2 million should be re-allocated to the FA Program and Discovery Program 1 and 2 based on their standalone selling prices. Accordingly, the Company recorded a cumulative adjustment to revenue of approximately $0.9 million on the partially satisfied remaining performance obligations, as the remaining services to be performed under each of the performance obligations are not distinct from the services prior to the modification. The Company determined that reasonable changes to the Company’s estimates of standalone selling prices for the FA Program, Discovery Program 1 and Discovery Program 2 performance obligations did not have a material impact on the re-allocation or the amount of revenue recorded pursuant to the cumulative catch-up adjustment. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2021, the Company recognized $1.4 million and $7.9 million, respectively, of revenue associated with its collaboration with Neurocrine related to research and development services performed during the period and the corresponding cost reimbursement receivable. During the three and six months ended June 30, 2020, the Company recognized $24.5 million and $38.9 million of revenue, respectively, associated with its collaboration with Neurocrine related to research and development services performed during the period and the corresponding cost reimbursement receivable. The following table presents changes in the balances of the Company’s related party collaboration receivables and contract liabilities during the six months ended June 30, 2021: Balance at Balance at December 31, 2020 Additions Deductions June 30, 2021 ( in thousands) Related party collaboration receivables $ 8,012 $ 4,959 $ (11,212) $ 1,758 Contract liabilities: Deferred revenue $ 43,689 $ — $ (3,964) $ 39,725 The change in the receivables balance for the six months ended June 30, 2021 is primarily driven by amounts owed to the Company for research and development services provided, offset by amounts collected from Neurocrine during the period. As of June 30, 2021, there was $39.7 million of deferred revenue related to the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement, which is classified as either current or non-current in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet based on the period the services are expected to be delivered. Additionally, as of June 30, 2021, there was $1.8 million of related party collaboration receivables related to reimbursable costs expected to be received from Neurocrine for research and development services performed. Costs incurred relating to the Company’s collaboration programs under the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement consist of internal and external research and development costs, which primarily include: salaries and benefits, lab supplies, preclinical research studies, clinical studies, consulting services, and commercial development. These costs are included in research and development expenses in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations during the three and six months ended June 30, 2021. The Company incurred approximately $0.8 million of costs to obtain the Neurocrine Collaboration Agreement which were payable only upon the close of the deal and therefore considered incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer and capitalized. The costs are recorded in prepaid expenses and other non-current assets and are being amortized over the period in which the research services will be provided. Other Agreements The Company has entered into various agreements with contract research organizations and institutions to license intellectual property. In consideration for the rights licensed under such agreements, the Company generally made upfront payments, which were recorded as research and development expense as the acquired technologies were considered in-process research and development. The license agreements obligate the Company to make additional payments that are contingent upon specific clinical trial and regulatory approval milestones being achieved as well as royalties on future product sales. The agreements to license intellectual property include potential milestone payments that are dependent upon the development of products licensed under the agreements and contingent upon the achievement of clinical trial or regulatory approval milestones. The Company reached a milestone related to first patient dosing on the RESTORE-1 Phase 2 clinical trial which resulted in a $0.1 million milestone payment to one of its licensors in 2019. The Company can generally terminate the license agreements upon 30 to 90 days’ prior written notice. Additionally, certain license agreements require the Company to reimburse the licensor for certain past and ongoing patent related expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company entered into a research and development funding arrangement with a non-profit organization that provides up to $4.0 million in funding to the Company upon the achievement of clinical and development milestones. The agreement provides that the Company repay amounts received under certain circumstances including termination of the agreement, and to pay an amount up to 2.6 times the funding received upon successful development and commercialization of any products developed. During the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company earned a milestone payment of $1.0 million. The Company has evaluated the arrangement and has concluded that it represents a research and development financing arrangement as it is probable that the Company will repay amounts received under the arrangement. As a result, the $1.0 million earned to date is recorded as a non-current liability in the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Litigation Except as described below, the Company was not a party to any material legal matters or claims as of June 30, 2021 or December 31, 2020. The Company did not have contingency reserves established for any litigation liabilities as of June 30, 2021 or December 31, 2020. On January 22, 2021, a putative class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against the Company and certain of its current and former officers and directors, captioned Karp v. Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. et al. , No. 1:21-cv-00381. The complaint generally alleged that the defendants violated Sections 10(b) and/or 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by making material misstatements or omissions concerning the Huntington’s Program and the Company’s investigational new drug application for VY-HTT01. On April 19, 2021, the court appointed the lead plaintiff for the action, and on April 30, 2021, the action was transferred to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (where it was assigned case number 1:21-cv-10727). On July 2, 2021, the lead plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice against all defendants and as to all claims. This matter is no longer pending. |
