Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Commitments and contingencies (Note 5)  
Commitments and Contingencies

 

5. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Lease Commitments

 

We lease our office facility under an operating lease that expires in June 2024. Rent expense associated with this lease was approximately $0.1 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

 

Guarantees and Indemnifications

 

As permitted under Delaware law and in accordance with our Bylaws, we indemnify our officers and directors for certain events or occurrences while the officer or director is or was serving at our request in such capacity. The term of the indemnification period is for the officer’s or director’s lifetime. The maximum amount of potential future indemnification is unlimited; however, we have a director and officer insurance policy that limits our exposure and may enable us to recover a portion of any future amounts paid. We believe the fair value of these indemnification agreements is minimal. Accordingly, we have not recorded any liabilities for these agreements as of December 31, 2023 or 2022.

 

In the normal course of business, we have commitments to make certain milestone payments to various clinical research organizations in connection with our clinical trial activities. Payments are contingent upon the achievement of specific milestones or events as defined in the agreements, and we have made appropriate accruals in our financial statements for those milestones that were achieved as of December 31, 2023. We also provide indemnifications of varying scope to our CROs and investigators against claims made by third parties arising from the use of our products and processes in clinical trials. Historically, costs related to these indemnification provisions were immaterial. We also maintain various liability insurance policies that limit our exposure. We are unable to estimate the maximum potential impact of these indemnification provisions on our future results of operations.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

In the normal course of business, we have been and will likely continue to be subject to other litigation or administrative proceedings incidental to our business, such as claims related to compliance with regulatory standards. customer disputes, employment practices, wage and hour disputes, product liability, professional liability, malpractice liability, commercial disputes, licensure restrictions or denials, and warranty or patent infringement. Responding to litigation or administrative proceedings, regardless of whether they have merit, can be expensive and disruptive to normal business operations. We are not able to predict the timing or outcome of these matters and currently do not expect that the resolution of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

 

In 2020, a legal proceeding was initiated against us by a former employee alleging wrongful termination, retaliation, infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision, hiring and retention and slander. An independent investigation into this individual’s allegations of whistleblower retaliation, while still an employee, was conducted utilizing an outside investigator and concluded that such allegations were not substantiated. In September 2023, Fedson, as consideration for the Asset Purchase Agreement, agreed to assume all liabilities related to this pending employment claim (See Note 6. Asset Sale).