UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_________________
 
FORM 10-Q
_________________
 
(Mark One)
x
QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2015
 
or
 
¨
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
 
Commission File Number 001-35443
 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
 
Delaware
56-2110007
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
   
4233 Technology Drive
Durham, North Carolina
27704
(Address of principal executive offices)
(Zip Code)
 
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (919) 287-6300
 
No changes
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes   x     No   ¨
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes   x     No   ¨
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
Large accelerated filer
¨
Accelerated filer
¨
Non-accelerated filer
x   (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
Smaller reporting company
¨
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes   ¨     No   x
 
As of May 8, 2015, there were 20,688,802 shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share.
 
 
 

 
 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
QUARTERLY REPORT ON FORM 10-Q
For the Quarterly Period Ended March 31, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
 
 
 
 
 
 
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
 
 
Argos Therapeutics®, Argos® and Arcelis™, the Argos Therapeutics logo and other trademarks or service marks of Argos appearing in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are the property of Argos Therapeutics, Inc. The other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are the property of their respective owners.


 
 
2

 
PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION
 
Item 1. Financial Statements

ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(unaudited)

   
December 31,
2014
   
March 31, 2015
 
Assets
           
Current assets
           
Cash and cash equivalents
 
$
37,223,590
   
$
29,030,085
 
Short-term investments
   
19,016,347
     
10,144,325
 
Prepaid expenses
   
838,420
     
813,165
 
Deferred financing costs
   
309,927
     
240,620
 
Other receivables
   
129,019
     
163,715
 
                 
Total current assets
   
57,517,303
     
40,391,910
 
Property and equipment, net
   
5,513,555
     
11,183,852
 
Restricted cash
   
1,325,000
     
1,325,000
 
Other assets
   
11,020
     
392,054
 
                 
Total assets
 
$
64,366,878
   
$
53,292,816
 
                 
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
               
Current liabilities
               
Accounts payable
 
$
1,860,491
   
$
3,638,394
 
Other accrued expenses
   
1,405,378
     
1,934,682
 
Current portion of notes payable
   
30,885
     
23,122
 
                 
Total current liabilities
   
3,296,754
     
5,596,198
 
Long-term portion of notes payable
   
19,796,545
     
19,985,819
 
Long-term portion of manufacturing research and development obligation
   
3,475,552
     
3,853,272
 
Long-term portion of facility lease obligation
   
3,380,223
     
5,888,711
 
Deferred liability
   
3,066,000
     
3,066,000
 
Commitments
               
Stockholders’ equity
               
Preferred stock $0.001 par value; 5,000,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015; 0 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015
   
     
 
Common stock $0.001 par value; 200,000,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015; 19,657,412 and 19,688,802 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015
   
19,657
     
19,689
 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
   
(124,841
)
   
(132,707
)
Additional paid-in capital
   
235,627,174
     
236,732,235
 
Accumulated deficit
   
(204,170,186
)
   
(221,716,401
)
                 
Total stockholders’ equity
   
31,351,804
     
14,902,816
 
                 
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
 
$
64,366,878
   
$
53,292,816
 
 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
 
 
 
3

 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(unaudited)
 
   
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
 
             
Revenue
 
$
798,788
   
$
178,771
 
                 
Operating expenses
               
Research and development
   
8,472,195
     
14,766,982
 
General and administrative
   
1,933,476
     
2,371,201
 
                 
Total operating expenses
   
10,405,671
     
17,138,183
 
                 
Operating loss
   
(9,606,883
)
   
(16,959,412
)
Other income (expense)
               
Interest income
   
16,410
     
10,088
 
Interest expense
   
(174,832
)
   
(594,915
)
Other expense
   
(235,675
)
   
(1,976
)
                 
Other income (expense), net
   
(394,097
)
   
(586,803
)
                 
Net loss
   
(10,000,980
)
   
(17,546,215
)
                 
Accretion of redeemable convertible preferred stock
   
(863,226
)
   
 
                 
Net loss attributable to common stockholders
 
$
(10,864,206
)
 
$
(17,546,215
)
                 
Net loss attributable to common stockholders per share, basic and diluted
 
$
(1.05
)
 
$
(0.89
)
                 
Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted
   
10,376,561
     
19,674,245
 
 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
 
 
4

 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(unaudited)

   
Three Months Ended March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
 
Net loss
 
$
(10,000,980
)
 
$
(17,546,215
)
                 
Other comprehensive loss
               
Foreign currency translation loss
   
(1,503
)
   
(933
Unrealized loss on short-term investments
   
(4,550
)
   
(6,933
                 
Total comprehensive loss
 
$
(10,007,033
)
 
$
(17,554,081
)
 
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
 
 
 
5

 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
 
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(unaudited)
 
   
Three Months Ended
 March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
 
Cash flows from operating activities
           
Net loss
 
$
(10,000,980
)
 
$
(17,546,215
)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities
               
Depreciation and amortization
   
130,151
     
166,432
 
Compensation expense related to stock options
   
583,036
     
914,515
 
Interest accrued on long-term debt
   
175,657
     
169,464
 
Amortization of debt issuance costs       —        69,307   
Amortization of debt discount
   
     
24,917
 
Gain on disposal of equipment
   
(710
)
   
 
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
               
Prepaid expenses and other receivables
   
(327,337
)
   
(9,441
)
Deferred financing costs
   
(87,550
)
   
 
 
Other assets
   
     
(381,034
)
Accounts payable
   
1,654,479
     
1,426,815
 
Accrued expenses
   
(486,272
)
   
221,463
 
Long-term portion of manufacturing research and development obligation
   
     
377,720
 
                 
Net cash used in operating activities
   
(8,359,526
)
   
(14,566,057
)
                 
Cash flows from investing activities
               
Purchase of property and equipment
   
(238,190
)
   
(2,669,462
)
Proceeds from sale of fixed assets
   
1,000
     
 
Purchases of short-term investments
   
(17,955,997
)
   
(2,772,983
)
Proceeds from maturity of short-term investments
   
     
11,650,000
 
                 
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities
   
(18,193,187
)
   
6,207,555
 
                 
Cash flows from financing activities
               
Proceeds from sale of common stock
   
49,829,800
     
 
Stock issuance costs
   
(4,787,854
)
   
 
Proceeds from exercise of common stock options
   
     
90,492
 
Proceeds from employee stock purchase plan
   
     
100,084
 
Payments on notes payable
   
(12,870
)
   
(12,870
)
                 
Net cash provided by financing activities
   
45,029,076
     
177,706
 
                 
Effect of exchange rates changes on cash
   
(1,437
)
   
(12,709
)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
   
18,474,926
     
(8,193,505
)
Cash and cash equivalents
               
Beginning of period
   
33,297,970
     
37,223,590
 
                 
End of period
 
$
51,772,896
   
$
29,030,085
 
                 
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information
               
Cash paid for interest
 
$
1,641
   
$
290,345
 
Supplemental disclosure of noncash investing and financing activities
               
Conversion of preferred stock into common stock
 
$
114,527,695
   
$
 
Preferred stock accretion
 
$
863,226
   
$
 
Purchases of property and equipment included in accounts payable and accrued expenses
 
$
   
$
658,929
 
Interest accrued on long-term debt
 
$
175,657
   
$
169,464
 
Recognition of asset and facility lease obligation related to construction of new property
 
$
   
$
2,508,488
 
 
  The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
 
 
6

 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
 
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(unaudited)
 
1. Organization and Basis of Presentation
 
Argos Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), was incorporated in the State of Delaware on May 8, 1997. The Company is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of fully personalized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases based on its proprietary technology platform called Arcelis. The Company’s most advanced product candidate is AGS-003, which the Company is developing for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma ("mRCC"), and other cancers. The Company is developing a second Arcelis-based product candidate, AGS-004, for the treatment of HIV.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) and with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information. The year-end condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, the statements do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, such interim financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair statement of financial position, results of operations and cash flows for such periods. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2015 or future operating periods. The information included in these interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing or generate revenues from collaborative partners, on terms acceptable to the Company, on a timely basis or at all. The failure of the Company to obtain sufficient funds on acceptable terms when needed could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. The Company expects to continue to incur losses and require additional financial resources to advance its products to either commercial stage or liquidity events.

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary. Significant intercompany transactions and accounts have been eliminated.
 
Capitalization
 
In connection with the Company’s initial public offering in February 2014, the Company effected a one–for-six reverse split of its common stock. All references to shares of common stock outstanding, average number of shares outstanding and per share amounts in these consolidated financial statements and notes to consolidated financial statements have been restated to reflect the reverse split on a retroactive basis.
 
Use of Estimates
 
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Significant Accounting Policies

There have been no material changes in our significant accounting policies as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2015, as compared with the significant accounting policies described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

 
7

 
Cash and Cash Equivalents
 
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less as of the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash deposits are all in financial institutions in the United States of America or Canada. The Company maintains cash in accounts which are in excess of federally insured limits. As of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, $36,973,590 and $28,780,085, respectively, in cash and cash equivalents was uninsured.
 
Restricted Cash as Noncurrent Asset
 
The Company included in noncurrent assets restricted cash of $1,325,000 as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015 which cash consists of funds maintained in a separate deposit account to secure a letter of credit issued by a bank to the landlord under a lease agreement for construction of the Company’s new corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facility (see Note 7).

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
 
In April 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued a new standard update which requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the associated debt liability. This standard is effective for the Company beginning January 1, 2016. The new guidance will be applied on a retrospective basis. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued a new standard update that specifies the responsibility that an entity’s management has to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The standard is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and is not expected to have an effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued a new accounting standard update pertaining to accounting for revenue from contracts with customers. The new guidance clarifies the principles for recognizing revenue and develops a common revenue standard for U.S. GAAP. The standard outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes the most current revenue recognition guidance. This guidance is effective for fiscal years and interim periods within those years beginning after December 15, 2016, which is effective for the Company for the year ending December 31, 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the implementation of this standard will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

2. Fair Value of Financial Instruments
 
The estimated fair values of all of the Company’s financial instruments, excluding long-term debt, approximate their carrying amounts in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015.

As of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, the Company held certain assets that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis. These assets include money market funds included in cash equivalents and short-term investments in corporate debt securities. The valuation of these financial instruments uses a three tiered approach, which requires that fair value measurements be classified and disclosed in one of three tiers. These tiers are: Level 1, defined as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities; Level 2, defined as valuations based on observable inputs other than those included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable input data; and Level 3, defined as valuations based on unobservable inputs reflecting the Company’s own assumptions, consistent with reasonably available assumptions made by other market participants.

The Company’s Level 1 assets consist of money-market funds and the method used to estimate the fair value of the Level 1 assets is based on observable market data as these money-market funds are publicly-traded. The Company’s Level 2 assets consist of short-term debt instruments in corporate debt securities valued using independent pricing services which normally derive security prices from recently reported trades for identical or similar securities, making adjustments based on significant observable transactions. As of each balance sheet date, observable market inputs may include trade information, broker or dealer quotes, bids, offers or a combination of these data sources.
 
 
8

 
As of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, these financial instruments and respective fair values have been classified as follows:
 
   
Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical Assets
(Level 1)
   
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)
   
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level 3)
   
Balance as of
December 31,
2014
 
Assets
                       
Money-market funds
 
$
35,541,595
   
$
   
$
   
$
35,541,595
 
Corporate debt securities – short-term
   
     
20,266,243
     
     
20,266,243
 
Restricted cash – long-term
   
1,325,000
     
     
     
1,325,000
 
                                 
Total assets at fair value
 
$
36,866,595
   
$
20,266,243
   
$
   
$
57,132,838
 
 
 
   
Quoted Prices
in Active
Markets for
Identical Assets
(Level 1)
   
Significant
Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)
   
Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level 3)
   
Balance as of
March 31,
2015
 
Assets
                       
Money-market funds
 
$
28,778,108
   
$
   
$
   
$
28,778,108
 
Corporate debt securities – short-term
   
     
10,144,325
     
     
10,144,325
 
Restricted cash – long-term
   
1,325,000
     
     
     
1,325,000
 
                                 
Total assets at fair value
 
$
30,103,108
   
$
10,144,325
   
$
   
$
40,247,433
 
 
During the three months ended March 31, 2015, there were no transfers between Levels 1 and 2 assets.

The fair value of the Company’s long-term debt was derived by evaluating the nature and terms of each note, considering the prevailing economic and market conditions as of each balance sheet date and based on the Level 2 valuation hierarchy of the fair value measurements standard using a present value methodology. The fair value of the Company’s long-term debt as of December 31, 2014 was approximately $19.4 million compared with its carrying value of $19.8 million. The fair value of the Company’s long-term debt as of March 31, 2015 was approximately $19.6 million compared with its carrying value of $20.0 million.

3. Property and Equipment
 
Property and equipment consist of the following:
 
   
December 31, 2014
   
March 31, 2015
 
Office furniture and equipment
 
$
458,380
   
$
501,468
 
Computer equipment
   
788,563
     
810,864
 
Computer software
   
629,948
     
629,948
 
Laboratory equipment
   
5,345,786
     
5,771,750
 
Leasehold improvements
   
2,646,891
     
2,664,669
 
Asset related to facility lease obligation
   
3,380,223
     
5,888,711
 
Construction-in-progress
   
500,093
     
3,316,654
 
                 
     
13,749,884
     
19,584,064
 
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization
   
 (8,236,329
)
   
(8,400,212
)
                 
Property and equipment, net
 
$
5,513,555
   
$
11,183,852
 

Assets related to the Company’s facility lease obligation and construction-in-progress were primarily recognized due to the Company deemed to be the accounting owner of the facility during its construction period under build-to-suite lease accounting (see Note 7).

 
9

 
Depreciation and amortization expense was as follows:
 
Three months ended March 31, 2014
 
$
130,151
 
Three months ended March 31, 2015
 
$
166,432
 
 
4. Income Taxes
 
The Company has incurred net operating losses since inception and is forecasting additional losses through December 31, 2015. Therefore, no U.S. Federal, state or foreign income taxes are expected for 2015 and none have been recorded as of March 31, 2015.
 
Due to the Company’s history of losses since inception, there is not enough evidence at this time to support the conclusion that the Company will generate future income of a sufficient amount and nature to utilize the benefits of the Company’s net deferred tax assets. Accordingly, the Company fully reduced its net deferred tax assets by a valuation allowance, since it has been determined that it is more likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

5. Notes Payable
 
Notes payable consist of the following:
 
   
December 31, 2014
   
March 31, 2015
 
Notes payable under the venture loan and security agreement
 
$
12,500,000
   
$
12,500,000
 
Less related debt discount
   
(373,756
)
   
(348,839
)
Notes payable under the venture loan and security agreement, net of debt discount
   
12,126,244
     
12,151,161
 
Promissory note payable to Medinet including accrued interest
   
7,623,546
     
7,791,728
 
Other notes payable
   
77,640
     
66,052
 
Total notes payable
   
19,827,430
     
20,008,941
 
Less current portion
   
(30,885
)
   
(23,122
)
Long-term portion of notes payable
 
$
19,796,545
   
$
19,985,819
 
 
On September 29, 2014, the Company entered into a venture loan and security agreement (the “Loan Agreement”) with Horizon Technology Finance Corporation and Fortress Credit Co LLC (together, the “Lenders”) under which the Company may borrow up to $25.0 million in two tranches of $12.5 million each (the “Loan Facility”).

The Company borrowed the first tranche of $12.5 million upon the closing of the transaction on September 29, 2014. Subject to certain other funding conditions, the second tranche of $12.5 million will be available for drawdown at any time commencing on the date the Company completes the enrollment and randomization of patients in the Company’s phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 and continuing until September 30, 2015. The per annum interest rate for each tranche will be a floating rate equal to 9.25% plus the amount by which the one-month London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) exceeds 0.50% (effectively a floating rate equal to 8.75% plus the one-month LIBOR Rate). The total per annum interest rate shall not exceed 10.75%.

The Company incurred $449,796 for costs in connection with the closing of the Loan Agreement. These costs were capitalized as deferred financing costs and amortized to interest expense over the terms of the related debt.

The Company has agreed to repay the first tranche of $12.5 million on an interest only basis monthly until September 30, 2016, followed by monthly payments of principal and accrued interest through the scheduled maturity date for the first tranche loan on September 30, 2018. In addition, a final payment for the first tranche loan equal to $625,000 will be due on September 30, 2018, or such earlier date specified in the Loan Agreement. The Company has agreed to repay any amounts advanced under the second tranche of $12.5 million in 18 monthly payments of interest only followed by 24 monthly payments of principal and accrued interest through the scheduled maturity date for the second tranche loan, which is 42 months following the date the Company draws down the second tranche loan. In addition, a final payment equal to 5.0% of the amount drawn down under the second tranche loan will be due on the scheduled maturity date for such loan, or such earlier date specified in the Loan Agreement. In addition, if the Company repays all or a portion of the loan prior to the applicable maturity date, it will pay the Lenders a prepayment penalty fee, based on a percentage of the then outstanding principal balance, equal to 3% if the prepayment occurs on or before 24 months after the funding date, 2% if the prepayment occurs more than 24 months after, but on or before 36 months after, the funding date thereof, or 1% if the prepayment occurs more than 36 months after the funding date thereof.

The Company’s obligations under the Loan Agreement are secured by a first priority security interest in substantially all of its assets other than its intellectual property. The Company also has agreed not to pledge or otherwise encumber its intellectual property assets, subject to certain exceptions.

 
10

 
The Loan Agreement includes customary affirmative and restrictive covenants, but does not include any covenants to attain or maintain certain financial metrics, and also includes customary events of default, including payment defaults, breaches of covenants, change of control and a material adverse change default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default and following any applicable cure periods, a default interest rate of an additional 5% may be applied to the outstanding loan balances, and the Lenders may declare all outstanding obligations immediately due and payable and take such other actions as set forth in the Loan Agreement.

In connection with the Loan Agreement, the Company issued to the Lenders and their affiliates warrants to purchase a total of 82,780 shares of Common Stock at a per share exercise price of $9.06 (the “Warrants”). The Lenders may not exercise the Warrants for more than 41,390 of such shares of Common Stock until the earliest to occur of (i) a merger or consolidation of the Company, or a sale of all or substantially all of its assets, (ii) the Company’s satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the making of the second tranche loan, and (iii) the funding of the second tranche loan. The Warrants will terminate on September 29, 2021 or such earlier date as specified in the Warrants. The Company recorded a debt discount of $338,673 equal to the value of these Warrants. This debt discount is offset against the note payable balance and included in additional paid-in capital on the Company's balance sheet.

In December 2013, in connection with the license agreement with Medinet Co. Ltd ("Medinet"), as described in Note 11, the Company borrowed $9.0 million pursuant to an unsecured promissory note that bears interest at a rate of 3.0% per annum. The principal and interest under the note are due and payable on December 31, 2018. Under the terms of the note and the license agreement, any milestone payments related to the developmental and regulatory milestones that become due will be applied first to the repayment of the loan. The Company has the right to prepay the loan at any time. If the Company has not repaid the loan by December 31, 2018, then the Company has agreed to grant to Medinet a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license to make and sell Arcelis products in Japan for the treatment of cancer. In such event, the amounts owing under the loan as of December 18, 2018 may constitute pre-paid royalties under the license or would be due and payable. Royalties under this license would be paid until the expiration of the licensed patent rights in Japan at a rate to be negotiated. If the Company and Medinet cannot agree on the royalty rate, they have agreed to submit the matter to arbitration. Because the $9.0 million promissory note was issued at a below market interest rate, the Company allocated the proceeds of the loan between the license agreement and the debt at the time of issuance. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2013, the Company recorded $6.9 million to notes payable, based upon an effective interest rate of 8.0%, and $2.1 million as a deferred liability. As of March 31, 2015, the Company recorded $7.8 million to notes payable, including $0.9 million accrued interest. The total deferred liability was $3.1 million as of March 31, 2015 including the $1.0 million received by the Company for a manufacturing license (see Note 11).

The Company entered into a Master Lease Agreement in July 2012 with a lending institution, which provides for the Company to borrow funds up to $100,000 to finance computer equipment. Through March 31, 2015, the Company has borrowed $95,756 under this agreement, of which $16,356 and $8,288 was outstanding as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, respectively. Borrowings are collateralized by substantially all of the computer equipment financed under the agreement, bear interest at a rate of 0.98% per annum and are to be repaid in 36 equal monthly installments commencing on the date of borrowing.
 
During November 2013, the Company borrowed $77,832 from a lending institution to finance the purchase of additional computer equipment, of which $61,284 and $57,764 in principal was outstanding as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, respectively. Borrowings are collateralized by substantially all of the computer equipment financed under the agreement, bear interest at a rate of 8.31% per annum and are to be repaid in 60 equal monthly installments commencing on the date of borrowing.

6. Manufacturing Research and Development Obligation

On October 29, 2014, the Company entered into a development agreement (the “Invetech Development Agreement”) with Invetech Pty Ltd (“Invetech”). The Invetech Development Agreement supersedes and replaces the development agreement entered into by the parties as of July 20, 2005. Under the Invetech Development Agreement, Invetech will continue to develop and provide prototypes of the automated production system to be used for the manufacture of the Company’s Arcelis-based products, or the Production Systems. Development services will be performed on a proposal by proposal basis.

Invetech has agreed to defer 30% of its fees, but such deferral will not exceed $5,000,000. Deferred fees (plus interest of 7% per annum) would become payable either, at the Company’s option, in lump sum within 90 days of the “Sunset Date Trigger Event” or pursuant to an installment plan (either in four installments payable within the first year or eight installments payable within the first two years after the “Sunset Date Trigger Event”). The “Sunset Date Trigger Event” is June 30, 2016 if our current phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial (the “Trial”) is closed early indicating positive efficacy; otherwise, December 31, 2016. Invetech is entitled to a 10% bonus payment if the Trial is closed early indicating positive efficacy and Invetech has timely completed all activities up to the time of such early closure. 

As of March 31, 2015, the Company has recorded the long-term portion of this manufacturing research and development obligation on its consolidated balance sheet totaling $3.9 million representing $2.5 million in deferred fees, $1.3 million in estimated bonus payments and $76,494 in accrued interest.

 
 
11

 
The Invetech Development Agreement requires the parties to discuss in good faith Invetech’s supply of Production Systems for use in manufacturing commercial product. The Company has an obligation to purchase $25.0 million worth of Production Systems, components, subsystems and spare parts for commercial use. Once that obligation has been satisfied, the Company has the right to have a third party supply Production Systems for use in manufacturing commercial product provided that Invetech has a right of first refusal with respect to any offer by a third party and the Company may not accept an offer from a third party unless that offer is at a price that is less than that offered by Invetech and otherwise under substantially the same or better terms. The Company will own all intellectual property arising from the development services (with the exception of existing Invetech intellectual property incorporated therein-under which the Company will have a license). The Invetech Development Agreement will continue until the completion of the development of the Production Systems. The Invetech Development Agreement can be terminated early by either party because of a technical failure or by the Company without cause.
 
7. Facility Lease Obligation
 
On August 18, 2014, the Company entered into a Lease Agreement (the “Lease Agreement”) with TKC LXXII, LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company (“TKC”).

Under the Lease Agreement, the Company agreed to lease certain land and an approximately 120,000 square-foot building to be constructed on approximately 11 acres in Durham County, North Carolina. This facility will house the Company’s corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facility. The Lease Agreement is intended to replace the Company’s existing lease, located at 4233 Technology Drive, Durham North Carolina, which currently expires in November 2016. The shell of the new facility will be constructed on a build-to-suit basis by TKC, at its expense, in accordance with agreed upon specifications and plans as set forth in the Lease Agreement.

The term of the Lease Agreement will be 10 years from the commencement date for the initial term, currently estimated to be June 1, 2015, with the Company having the option to extend the Lease Agreement by six five-year renewal terms. Initial rent will be approximately $46,917 per month, subject to certain fixed increases over the course of the term as set forth in the Lease Agreement and to adjustment based on the Company’s use of certain amounts allocated for upfitting the interior of the facility.
 
The Lease Agreement required us to provide the landlord with a letter of credit. The Company provided the bank that issued the letter of credit on our behalf a security deposit of $1.325 million to guarantee the letter of credit. The deposit is recorded as restricted cash under noncurrent assets as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015 on our consolidated balance sheet.

Under the Lease Agreement, the Company had an option to purchase the property for an amount estimated at $7.6 million. On February 16, 2015, the Company entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with TKC which represented the Company’s exercise of its purchase option under the Lease Agreement. The purchase price to be paid by the Company is $7.6 million plus the amount of any additional costs incurred by TKC as a result of changes requested by the Company, for which the Company has paid $1.7 million as of March 31, 2015, and the amount of any improvement allowances advanced to the Company by TKC prior to the closing. The Purchase Agreement is expected to close in the second half of 2015. Upon the closing, the Lease Agreement will terminate.
 
Under the Lease Agreement, the Company is deemed to be the owner of this facility during its construction period under build-to-suit lease accounting. The Company therefore recorded an asset related to the facility lease obligation included in property and equipment of $3.4 million and $5.9 million as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, respectively. The facility lease obligation on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet is $3.4 million and $5.9 million as of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, respectively.
 
8. Stockholders’ Equity and Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock
 
Initial Public Offering and Conversion of Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock into Common Stock
 
In February 2014, the Company issued and sold 6,228,725 shares of its common stock, including 603,725 shares of common stock sold pursuant to the underwriters’ exercise of their option to purchase additional shares, in the Company’s initial public offering, at a public offering price of $8.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $49.8 million. The net offering proceeds to the Company, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $3.5 million and offering expenses of approximately $2.9 million, were approximately $43.4 million.
 
Prior to the initial public offering, the Company had outstanding 1,040,216 shares designated as Series A redeemable convertible preferred stock, 9,803,688 shares designated as Series B redeemable convertible preferred stock, 28,716,679 shares designated as Series C redeemable convertible preferred stock, 21,040,817 shares designated as Series D redeemable convertible preferred stock and 56,011,258 shares designated as Series E redeemable convertible preferred stock. Upon the closing of the initial public offering on February 12, 2014, all of the outstanding shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into 13,188,251 shares of the Company’s common stock.
 
 
12

 
The table below represents a rollforward of the preferred stock:
 
   
Series A Preferred
   
Series B Preferred
   
Series C Preferred
   
Series D Preferred
   
Series E Preferred
   
Total Preferred Stock
 
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Shares
   
Amount
   
Shares
   
Amount
 
Balance as of December 31, 2013
   
1,040,216
   
$
332,869
     
9,803,688
   
$
5,521,437
     
28,716,679
   
$
2,655,884
     
21,040,817
   
$
33,262,492
     
56,011,258
   
$
71,891,787
     
116,612,658
   
$
113,664,469
 
Accretion
   
     
     
     
 —
     
     
 —
     
     
336,350
     
     
526,876
     
     
 863,226
 
Shares converted to common stock
   
(1,040,216
)
   
 (332,869
)  
   
(9,803,688
)
   
(5,521,437
)  
   
(28,716,679
)
   
(2,655,884
)  
   
(21,040,817
)
   
(33,598,842
)  
   
(56,011,258
)
   
(72,418,423
)  
   
(116,612,658
)
   
(114,527,455
)  
Stock issuance costs
   
     
     
     
 —
     
     
 —
     
     
 —
     
     
 (240
)  
   
     
(240
)  
                                                                                                 
Balance as of December 31, 2014
   
   
$
     
   
$
 —
     
   
$
 —
     
   
$
 —
     
   
$
 —
     
   
$
 

9. Stock Options and Warrants
 
2014 Stock Incentive Plan and 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
 
In January 2014, the Company’s board of directors and stockholders approved, effective upon the closing of the Company’s initial public offering, the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2014 Plan”). Under the 2014 Plan, the Company may grant incentive stock options, nonstatutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units and other stock-based awards for the purchase of that number of shares of Common Stock equal to the sum of 1,951,182 shares, plus such number of shares, up to 357,841 shares, as is equal to the sum of the number of shares reserved for issuance under the Company’s 2008 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”) that remained available for grant under the 2008 Plan immediately prior to the closing of the Company’s initial public offering on February 12, 2014 (381,250 shares) and the number of shares subject to outstanding awards under the 2008 Plan that expire, terminate or are otherwise surrendered, cancelled, forfeited or repurchased by the Company at their original issuance price pursuant to a contractual repurchase right, plus an annual increase, to be added on the first day of the 2015 fiscal year and each subsequent anniversary through January 1, 2024, equal to the lowest of 2,309,023 shares of Common Stock, 4% of the number of the Company’s outstanding shares on the first day of each such fiscal year and an amount determined by the Company’s board of directors.
 
Also in January 2014, the Company’s board of directors and stockholders approved, effective upon the closing of the Company’s initial public offering, a 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2014 ESPP”). Under the 2014 ESPP, on the offering commencement date of each plan period (the “Purchase Plan Period”), the Company will grant to each eligible employee who is then a participant in the 2014 ESPP an option to purchase shares of Common Stock. The employee may authorize up to a maximum of 10% of his or her base pay to be deducted by the Company during the Purchase Plan Period. Each employee who continues to be a participant in the 2014 ESPP on the last business day of the Purchase Plan Period is deemed to have exercised the option, to the extent of accumulated payroll deductions within the 2014 ESPP ownership limits.

Under the terms of the 2014 ESPP, the option exercise price shall be determined by the Company’s board of directors for each Purchase Plan Period and the option exercise price will be at least 85% of the applicable closing price of the Common Stock. The option exercise price will be 85% of the lower of the Company’s closing stock price on the first and last business day of each Purchase Plan Period. The Company’s first Purchase Plan Period commenced on September 2, 2014 and ended on February 27, 2015. Based upon 85% of the lower of the closing price at the beginning of the current offering period of $9.83 and the closing price on February 27, 2015 of $9.02, 13,054 shares were purchased based upon employee withholdings as of February 27, 2015.

Upon the exercise of stock options, vesting of other awards and purchase of shares through the 2014 ESPP or under the 2014 Plan, the Company issues new shares of common stock to the Company’s employees. All awards that are canceled prior to vesting or expire unexercised are returned to the approved pool of reserved shares under the 2014 Plan and made available for future grants. As of March 31, 2015, common stock remaining available for future issuance under the Company’s stock incentive plans totaled 4,180,752 shares and under the 2014 ESPP was 333,299 shares.
 
The Company recorded the following stock-based compensation expense:
 
     
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
     
2014
     
2015
 
Research and development
 
$
308,191
   
$
508,324
 
General and administrative
   
274,845
     
406,191
 
                 
Total stock-based compensation expense
 
$
583,036
   
$
914,515
 
 
Allocations to research and development and general and administrative expense are based upon the department to which the associated employee reported. No related tax benefits of the stock-based compensation expense have been recognized. Stock-based payments issued to nonemployees are recorded at their fair values, and are periodically revalued as the equity instruments vest and are recognized as expense over the related service period.
 
 
13

 
During the three months ended March 31, 2015, the Company granted options to employees to purchase a total of 111,650 shares of the Company’s common stock at exercise prices ranging from $7.98 to $9.01 per share, which, in each instance was the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the grant date.

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activity during the three months ended March 31, 2015:
 
   
Number of
Shares
   
Weighted
Average Exercise
Price
   
Weighted
Average
Contractual
Term
(in years)
 
Outstanding as of December 31, 2014
   
2,847,097
   
$
5.89
       
Granted
   
111,650
   
$
8.60
       
Exercised
   
(18,336
)
 
$
4.94
       
Cancelled
   
(16,629
)
 
$
8.27
       
                       
Outstanding as of March 31, 2015
   
2,923,782
   
$
5.98
     
8.45
 
                         
Exercisable as of March 31, 2015
   
978,564
   
$
5.12
     
7.41
 
                         
Vested and expected to vest as of March 31, 2015
   
2,774,000
   
$
5.96
     
8.42
 

Valuation Assumptions for Stock Option Plans and Employee Stock Purchase Plan
 
The employee stock-based compensation expense recognized was determined using the Black-Scholes option valuation model. Option valuation models require the input of subjective assumptions and these assumptions can vary over time. The weighted average assumptions used were as follows for the periods indicated:

   
Stock Option Plans
   
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
 
   
Three Months Ended
March 31,
   
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
   
2014
   
2015
 
Risk-free interest rate
   
2.35
%
   
1.76
%
   
     
0.05
%
Dividend yield
   
0
%
   
0
%
   
     
0
%
Expected term (in years)
   
7.0
     
7.0
     
     
0.5
 
Volatility
   
96
%
   
94
%
   
     
85
%

Warrants
 
As discussed in Note 5 regarding the Company’s notes payable, in connection with the Company’s Loan Agreement signed in September 2014, the Company issued to the Lenders and their affiliates Warrants to purchase a total of 82,780 shares of Common Stock at a per share exercise price of $9.06. The Lenders may not exercise the Warrants for more than 41,390 of such shares of Common Stock until the earliest to occur of (i) a merger or consolidation of the Company, or a sale of all or substantially all of its assets, (ii) the Company’s satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the making of the second tranche loan, and (iii) the funding of the second tranche loan. The Warrants will terminate on the earlier of September 29, 2021 or such earlier date as specified in the Warrants.
 
 
14

 
Outstanding warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock as of March 31, 2015 were as follows:
 
Type of Warrant
Number of Warrants
 
Exercise Price
 
Expiration
Date(s)
Common stock
     1
 
$
23,894.34
 
7/13/16
Common stock
82,780
 
$
9.06
 
9/29/21

10. Revenue and Concentration of Credit Risk
 
In September 2006, the Company entered into a multi-year research contract with the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (“NIAID”) to design, develop and clinically test an autologous HIV immunotherapy capable of eliciting therapeutic immune responses. The Company is using funds from this contract to develop AGS-004. Under this contract, as amended, the NIH and NIAID have committed to fund up to a total of $39.8 million, including reimbursement of direct expenses and allocated overhead and general and administrative expenses of up to $38.4 million and payment of other specified amounts totaling up to $1.4 million upon the Company’s achievement of specified development milestones. Since September 2010, the Company has received reimbursement of its allocated overhead and general and administrative expenses at provisional indirect cost rates equal to negotiated provisional indirect cost rates agreed to with the NIH and NIAID in September 2010. These provisional indirect cost rates are subject to adjustment based on the Company’s actual costs pursuant to the agreement with the NIH and NIAID. This commitment originally extended until May 2013. The Company agreed to an additional modification of the Company’s contract with the NIH and the NIAID under which the NIH and the NIAID agreed to increase their funding commitment to the Company by an additional $5.4 million in connection with the extension of the contract from May 2013 to September 2015. Additionally, a contract modification for a $0.5 million increase was agreed to by the NIH on September 18, 2014 to cover a portion of the manufacturing costs of the planned phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 for long-term viral control in pediatric patients. The NIH’s commitment under the contract extends to July 2016. The Company has agreed to a statement of work under the contract, and is obligated to furnish all the services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the U.S. government, needed to perform the statement of work.
 
For the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2015, the Company recorded revenue under this agreement of $798,788 and $163,715, respectively. The Company has recorded total revenue of $37.0 million through March 31, 2015 under the NIH and NIAID agreement. As of March 31, 2015, there was up to $2.8 million of potential revenue remaining to be earned under the agreement with the NIH and NIAID. As of December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015, the Company recorded a receivable from the NIH and NIAID of $129,019 and $163,715, respectively, and a payable to subcontractors of $8,493 and $14,262, respectively.
 
The Company’s grant revenue is earned under this contract with NIH and NIAID. The concentration of credit risk is equal to the outstanding accounts receivable and unbilled balances and such risk is subject to the credit worthiness of the NIH and NIAID. There have been no credit losses under this arrangement.
 
11. Collaboration Agreements
 
Pharmstandard License Agreement
 
In August 2013, Pharmstandard International S.A. ("Pharmstandard"), purchased shares of the Company’s series E preferred stock. Concurrently with such purchase, the Company entered into an exclusive royalty-bearing license agreement with Pharmstandard. Under this license agreement, the Company granted Pharmstandard and its affiliates a license, with the right to sublicense, to develop, manufacture and commercialize AGS-003 and other products for the treatment of human diseases, which are developed by Pharmstandard using the Company’s personalized immunotherapy platform, in the Russian Federation, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, which the Company refers to as the Pharmstandard Territory. The Company also provided Pharmstandard with a right of first negotiation for development and commercialization rights in the Pharmstandard Territory to specified additional products the Company may develop.
 
Under the terms of the license agreement, Pharmstandard licensed the Company rights to clinical data generated by Pharmstandard under the agreement and granted the Company an option to obtain an exclusive license outside of the Pharmstandard Territory to develop and commercialize improvements to the Company’s Arcelis technology generated by Pharmstandard under the agreement, a non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free license to Pharmstandard improvements to manufacture products using the Company’s Arcelis technology and a license to specified follow-on licensed products generated by Pharmstandard outside of the Pharmstandard Territory, each on terms to be negotiated upon the Company’s request for a license. In addition, Pharmstandard agreed to pay the Company pass-through royalties on net sales of all licensed products in the low single digits until it has generated a specified amount of aggregate net sales. Once the net sales threshold is achieved, Pharmstandard will pay the Company royalties on net sales of specified licensed products, including AGS-003, in the low double digits below 20%. These royalty obligations last until the later of the expiration of specified licensed patent rights in a country or the twelfth anniversary of the first commercial sale in such country on a country by country basis and no further royalties on specified other licensed products. After the net sales threshold is achieved, Pharmstandard has the right to offset a portion of the royalties Pharmstandard pays to third parties for licenses to necessary third party intellectual property against the royalties that Pharmstandard pays to the Company.
 
 
15

 
The agreement will terminate upon expiration of the royalty term, upon which all licenses will become fully paid-up perpetual exclusive licenses. Either party may terminate the agreement for the other party’s uncured material breach or if specified conditions occur relating to the other party’s insolvency or bankruptcy and the Company may terminate the agreement if Pharmstandard challenges or assists a third party in challenging specified patent rights of ours. If Pharmstandard terminates the agreement upon the Company’s material breach or bankruptcy, Pharmstandard is entitled to terminate the Company’s licenses to improvements generated by Pharmstandard, upon which the Company may come to rely for the development and commercialization of AGS-003 and other licensed products outside of the Pharmstandard Territory, and to retain its licenses from the Company and to pay the Company substantially reduced royalty payments following such termination.
 
In November 2013, the Company entered into an agreement with Pharmstandard under which Pharmstandard purchased additional shares of the Company’s series E preferred stock. Under this agreement, the Company agreed to enter into a manufacturing rights agreement for the European market with Pharmstandard and that the manufacturing rights agreement would provide for the issuance of warrants to Pharmstandard to purchase 499,788 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $5.82 per share. The Company has not entered into this manufacturing rights agreement or issued the warrants. All outstanding shares of our preferred stock converted into shares of our common stock upon the closing of our initial public offering in February 2014.
 
Green Cross License Agreement
 
In July 2013, the Company entered into an exclusive royalty-bearing license agreement with Green Cross Corp. ("Green Cross"). Under this agreement the Company granted Green Cross a license to develop, manufacture and commercialize AGS-003 for mRCC in South Korea. The Company also provided Green Cross with a right of first negotiation for development and commercialization rights in South Korea to specified additional products the Company may develop.
   
Under the terms of the license, Green Cross has agreed to pay the Company $500,000 upon the initial submission of an application for regulatory approval of a licensed product in South Korea, $500,000 upon the initial regulatory approval of a licensed product in South Korea and royalties ranging from the mid-single digits to low double digits below 20% on net sales until the fifteenth anniversary of the first commercial sale in South Korea. In addition, Green Cross has granted the Company an exclusive royalty free license to develop and commercialize all Green Cross improvements to the Company’s licensed intellectual property in the rest of the world, excluding South Korea, except that, as to such improvements for which Green Cross makes a significant financial investment and that generate significant commercial benefit in the rest of the world, the Company is required to negotiate in good faith a reasonable royalty that the Company will be obligated to pay to Green Cross for such license. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company is required to continue to develop and to use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain regulatory approval for AGS-003 in the United States. 

The agreement will terminate upon expiration of the royalty term, which is 15 years from the first commercial sale, upon which all licenses will become fully paid up perpetual non-exclusive licenses. Either party may terminate the agreement for the other party’s uncured material breach or if specified conditions occur relating to the other party’s insolvency or bankruptcy and the Company may terminate the agreement if Green Cross challenges or assists a third party in challenging specified patent rights of ours. If Green Cross terminates the agreement upon the Company’s material breach or bankruptcy, Green Cross is entitled to terminate the Company’s licenses to improvements and retain its licenses from the Company and to pay the Company substantially reduced milestone and royalty payments following such termination.
 
Medinet License Agreement
 
In December 2013, we entered into a license agreement with Medinet Co., Ltd. which was novated, amended and restated between the Company, Medinet Co., Ltd. and MEDcell Co., Ltd. in October 2014. Pursuant to the novation, Medinet Co., Ltd. assigned and transferred all of its rights and obligations under the original license agreement to MEDcell Co., Ltd. without any substantive change in the underlying rights or obligations. References to Medinet in this Form 10-Q refer to Medinet Co., Ltd. prior to the novation and MEDcell Co., Ltd. from after the novation. Under this agreement, the Company granted Medinet an exclusive, royalty-free license to manufacture in Japan AGS-003 and other products using the Company’s Arcelis technology solely for the purpose of the development and commercialization of AGS-003 and these other products for the treatment of mRCC. The Company refers to this license as the manufacturing license. In addition, under this agreement, the Company granted Medinet an option to acquire a nonexclusive, royalty-bearing license under the Company’s Arcelis technology to sell in Japan AGS-003 and other products for the treatment of mRCC. The Company refers to the option as the sale option and the license as the sale license.
 
Under the manufacturing license, if Medinet does not exercise the sale option, Medinet may only manufacture AGS-003 and these other products for the Company or its designee. If Medinet does not exercise the sale option, the Company and Medinet have agreed to negotiate in good faith a supply agreement under which Medinet would supply the Company or its designee with AGS-003 and these other products for development and sale for the treatment of mRCC in Japan. If Medinet exercises the sale option, it may only manufacture AGS-003 and these other products for itself, its related parties and its sublicensees. During the term of the manufacturing license, the Company may not manufacture AGS-003 or these other products for the Company or any designee for development or sale for the treatment of mRCC in Japan.
 
 
16

 
Medinet may exercise the option at any time until the earlier of December 31, 2015 and the date 30 days after the Company has provided Medinet with an interim report on the Company’s phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 following such time as 50% of the required events in the trial have occurred.
 
In consideration for the manufacturing license, Medinet paid the Company $1.0 million. Medinet also loaned the Company $9.0 million in connection with the Company entering into the agreement. The Company has agreed to use these funds in the development and manufacturing of AGS-003 and the other products. Medinet also agreed to pay the Company milestone payments of up to a total of $9.0 million upon the achievement of developmental and regulatory milestones and $5.0 million upon the achievement of a sales milestone related to AGS-003 and these products. If Medinet exercises the sale option, it will pay the Company $1.0 million, as well as royalties on net sales at a rate to be negotiated until the later of the expiration of the licensed patent rights in Japan and the twelfth anniversary of the first commercial sale in Japan. If the Company and Medinet cannot agree on the royalty rate, the Company and Medinet have agreed to submit the matter to arbitration.
 
In December 2013, in connection with the manufacturing license agreement with Medinet, the Company borrowed the $9.0 million pursuant to an unsecured promissory note that bears interest at a rate of 3.0% per annum. The principal and interest under the note are due and payable on December 31, 2018. Under the terms of the note and the manufacturing license agreement, any milestone payments related to the developmental and regulatory milestones that become due will be applied first to the repayment of the loan. The Company has the right to prepay the loan at any time. If the Company has not repaid the loan by December 31, 2018, then the Company has agreed to grant to Medinet a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license to make and sell Arcelis products in Japan for the treatment of cancer. In such event, the amounts owing under the loan as of December 18, 2018 may constitute pre-paid royalties under the license or would be due and payable. Royalties under this license would be paid until the expiration of the licensed patent rights in Japan at a rate to be negotiated. If the Company and Medinet cannot agree on the royalty rate, Company and Medinet have agreed to submit the matter to arbitration. The Company recorded the $1.0 million payment from Medinet as a deferred liability. In addition, because the $9.0 million promissory note was issued at a below market interest rate, the Company allocated the proceeds of the loan between the manufacturing license agreement and the debt at the time of issuance. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2013, the Company recorded $6.9 million to notes payable, based upon an effective interest rate of 8.0%, and $2.1 million as a deferred liability. As of March 31, 2015, the Company recorded $7.8 million to notes payable, including $0.9 million accrued interest. The total deferred liability was $3.1 million as of March 31, 2015 including the $1.0 million received by the Company for the manufacturing license.

The agreement will terminate upon expiration of the royalty term, upon which all licenses will become fully paid up, perpetual non-exclusive licenses. Either party may terminate the agreement for the other party’s uncured material breach or if specified conditions occur relating to the other party’s insolvency or bankruptcy, and the Company may terminate the agreement if Medinet challenges or assists a third party in challenging specified patent rights of the Company. If Medinet terminates the agreement upon the Company’s material breach or bankruptcy, Medinet is entitled to terminate the Company’s licenses to improvements and retain its royalty-bearing licenses from the Company.
 
12. Net Loss Per Share
 
Basic and diluted net loss per common share was determined by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average common shares outstanding during the period. The Company’s potentially dilutive shares, which include redeemable convertible preferred stock, common stock options and warrants, have not been included in the computation of diluted net loss per share for all periods as the result would be antidilutive.

The following table presents the computation of basic and diluted net loss per share of common stock:
 
   
Three Months Ended March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
 
As Reported
           
Net loss attributable Argos Therapeutics, Inc.
 
$
(10,000,980
)
 
$
(17,546,215
)
Accretion of redeemable convertible preferred stock
   
(863,226
)
   
            —
 
                 
Net loss attributable to common stockholders
 
$
(10,864,206
)
 
$
(17,546,215
)
                 
Weighted average common shares outstanding, basic and diluted
   
10,376,561
     
19,674,245
 
                 
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted
 
$
(1.05
)
 
$
(0.89
)
 
 
17

 
The following potentially dilutive securities have been excluded from the computation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding, as they would be antidilutive:

   
Three Months Ended March 31,
   
2014
    2015
Redeemable convertible preferred stock
    6,301,053        
Stock options outstanding
    1,937,691       2,923,782  
Warrants outstanding
    4,587       81,781  
 

13. Subsequent Event

On April 7, 2015, the Company and Lummy (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chongqing Lummy Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (“Lummy HK”), entered into a license agreement (the “License Agreement”) whereby the Company granted to Lummy HK an exclusive license under the Arcelis technology, including patents, know-how and improvements to manufacture, develop and commercialize products for the treatment of cancer (“Licensed Product”) in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau (the “Territory”). Lummy HK also has a right of first negotiation with respect to a license under the Arcelis technology for the treatment of infectious diseases in the Territory.

Under the terms of the License Agreement, the parties will share relevant data, and the Company will have a right to reference Lummy HK data for purposes of its development programs under the Arcelis technology. In addition, Lummy HK has granted to the Company an exclusive, royalty-free license under and to any and all Lummy HK improvements to the Arcelis technology conceived or reduced to practice by Lummy HK (“Lummy HK Improvements”) and Lummy HK data to develop and/or commercialize products (“Arcelis-Based Products”) outside the Territory, an exclusive, royalty-free license under and to any and all investigational new drug applications ("INDs") and other regulatory approvals and Lummy HK trademarks used for an Arcelis-Based Product to develop and/or commercialize an Arcelis-Based Product outside the Territory and a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license under any Lummy HK Improvements and Lummy HK data to manufacture Arcelis-Based Products anywhere in the world. Lummy HK has the right to reference Company’s data, INDs and other regulatory filings and submissions for the purpose of developing and obtaining regulatory approval of Licensed Products in the Territory.

Pursuant to the License Agreement, Lummy HK will pay the Company royalties on net sales and up to an aggregate of $20.0 million upon the achievement of manufacturing, regulatory and commercial milestones. The License Agreement will terminate upon expiration of the last to expire royalty term for all Arcelis-Based Products, with each royalty term being the longer of the expiration of the last valid patent claim covering the applicable Arcelis-Based Product and 10 years from the first commercial sale of such Arcelis-Based Product. Either party may terminate the License Agreement for the other party’s uncured material breach or if specified conditions occur relating to the other party’s insolvency or bankruptcy. The Company may terminate the License Agreement if Lummy HK challenges or assists a third party in challenging specified patent rights of the Company. If Lummy HK terminates the License Agreement upon the Company’s material breach or bankruptcy, Lummy HK is entitled to terminate the licenses it granted to the Company and retain its licenses from the Company with respect to Arcelis-Based Products then in development or being commercialized, subject to Lummy HK’s continued obligation to pay royalties and milestones with respect to such Arcelis-Based Products.

In connection with the License Agreement, on April 7, 2015, the Company entered into stock purchase agreements with Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group, Ltd. and China BioPharma Capital I, L.P. (the “Purchasers”), of which Lummy HK’s parent company is an affiliate and limited partner, respectively.  Pursuant to the purchase agreements, the Purchasers purchased an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at a per share price of $10.11, a 12.5% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average closing price for the Company’s common stock for the 30-day period ended April 2, 2015.  In addition, the Purchasers have agreed to purchase approximately $10.0 million in additional shares of the Company’s common stock, for a total aggregate investment of $20 million, within 31 days of and subject to reaching full enrollment of Company’s phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial of AGS-003 for renal cell carcinoma, receiving a recommendation of the review board for the continuation of  Company’s phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial following 50% of events and receiving positive feedback from the FDA on a qualified protocol to demonstrate comparability of the Company’s automated manufacturing process for AGS-003 to the manufacturing process used by Company in its phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial.    In connection with the investment, the Purchasers have agreed to a lock-up of the shares purchased for a period of 180 days.  The private placement of the securities was made in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
 
On May 8, 2015, the Company filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the SEC, which covers the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to $125,000,000 of its common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositary shares, purchase contracts, purchase units and warrants (the “2015 Shelf”). The Company simultaneously entered into a Sales Agreement with Cowen and Company LLC to provide for the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to $30,000,000 of its common stock from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings under the 2015 Shelf.   The 2015 Shelf was declared effective by the SEC on May 14, 2015. 
 
 
18

 
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
 
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing in “Item 1. Financial Statements” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. In addition to historical information, some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, future financial performance, expense levels and liquidity sources, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.
 
Overview
 
We are a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of fully personalized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases based on our proprietary technology platform called Arcelis.
 
Our most advanced product candidate is AGS-003, which we are developing for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, or mRCC, and other cancers. We are currently conducting a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 plus sunitinib / targeted therapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed mRCC under a special protocol assessment, or SPA, with the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. We refer to this trial as the ADAPT trial. We initiated the ADAPT trial in January 2013 and dosed the first patient in May 2013. We expect to complete enrollment by the end of second quarter 2015 and to have data from this trial in the second half of 2016 when we anticipate the required number of events to permit the primary analysis and assessment of overall survival to have occurred.
 
We are developing AGS-004, our second most advanced Arcelis-based product candidate, for the treatment of HIV. We have completed three clinical trials of AGS-004. These include phase 1 and phase 2 trials funded by government grants and a phase 2b trial that was funded in full by the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, under a $39.8 million agreement. In addition, we are supporting an ongoing investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 in adult HIV patients evaluating the use of AGS-004 in combination with a latency reversing drug for HIV eradication, and expect to support a second investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 in the second half of 2015, to evaluate AGS-004 for long-term viral control in pediatric patients.

We have devoted substantially all of our resources to our drug development efforts, including advancing our Arcelis platform, conducting clinical trials of our product candidates, protecting our intellectual property and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We have not generated any revenue from product sales and, to date, have funded our operations primarily through our initial public offering, a venture loan, private placements of our preferred stock, convertible debt financings, government contracts, government and other third party grants and license and collaboration agreements. From inception in May 1997 through March 31, 2015, we have raised a total of $365.2 million in cash, including:
 
$215.5 million from the sale of our common stock, convertible debt, warrants and preferred stock;
 
$32.9 million from the licensing of our technology;
 
$104.3 million from government contracts, grants and license and collaboration agreements; and
 
$12.5 million from our venture loan and security agreement, or the Loan Agreement, with Horizon Technology Finance Corporation and Fortress Credit Co LLC, or the Lenders.

In February 2014, we issued and sold 6,228,725 shares of our common stock, including 603,725 shares of common stock sold pursuant to the underwriters’ exercise of their option to purchase additional shares, in our initial public offering, at a public offering price of $8.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $49.8 million. The net offering proceeds to us, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $3.5 million and offering expenses of approximately $2.9 million, were approximately $43.4 million.

On September 29, 2014, we entered into the Loan Agreement with the Lenders under which we may borrow up to $25.0 million in two tranches of $12.5 million each. We borrowed the first tranche of $12.5 million upon the closing of the transaction in September 2014 and plan to borrow the second tranche of $12.5 million following completion of enrollment of the ADAPT trial.
 
Commercial Facility. In August 2014, we entered into a lease agreement, or the Lease Agreement, with TKC LXXII, LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company, or TKC. Under the Lease Agreement, we leased certain land and an approximately 120,000 square-foot building to be constructed on approximately 11 acres in Durham County, North Carolina. This facility will house our corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facility. The Lease Agreement is intended to replace our existing lease, located at 4233 Technology Drive, Durham North Carolina, which currently expires in November 2016. The shell of the new facility will be constructed on a build-to-suit basis by TKC, at its expense, in accordance with agreed upon specifications and plans as set forth in the Lease Agreement.

 
19

 
The term of the Lease Agreement will be 10 years from the commencement date for the initial term, currently estimated to be June 1, 2015. We have an option to extend the Lease Agreement by six five-year renewal terms. Initial rent will be approximately $46,917 per month, subject to certain fixed increases over the course of the term as set forth in the Lease Agreement and to adjustment based on our use of certain amounts allocated for upfitting the interior of the facility.

Under the Lease Agreement, we had an option to purchase the property for an amount estimated at $7.6 million. In February 2015, we exercised this purchase option and entered into the Purchase Agreement with TKC. The purchase price to be paid by us is $7.6 million plus the amount of any additional costs incurred by TKC as a result of changes requested by us, for which we had paid $1.7 million as of March 31, 2015, and the amount of any improvement allowances advanced to us by TKC prior to the closing. The purchase of this property is expected to close in the second half of 2015. Upon the closing, the Lease Agreement will terminate.
 
We have incurred losses in each year since our inception in May 1997. Our net loss was $23.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, $53.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2014 and $17.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, we had an accumulated deficit of $221.7 million. Substantially all of our operating losses have resulted from costs incurred in connection with our development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations.
 
We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for at least the next several years. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:
 
continue our ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC and initiate additional clinical trials of AGS-003 for the treatment of other cancers;
 
initiate and conduct additional clinical trials of AGS-004 for the treatment of HIV;
 
seek regulatory approvals for our product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
 
continue to build out and equip a new commercial facility for the manufacture of our Arcelis-based products;
 
establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize products for which we may obtain regulatory approval;
 
maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
 
continue our other research and development efforts;
 
hire additional clinical, quality control, scientific and management personnel; and
 
add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development and planned commercialization efforts.
 
We do not expect to generate significant funds or product revenue unless and until we successfully complete development, obtain marketing approval and commercialize our product candidates, either alone or in collaboration with third parties, which we expect will take a number of years and is subject to significant uncertainty. Accordingly, we will need to raise additional capital prior to the commercialization of AGS-003, AGS-004 or any of our other product candidates. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our operating activities through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, government contracts, government and other third party grants or other third party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. However, we may be unable to raise additional funds through these means when needed, on favorable terms or at all.
 
 
20

 
Our Development Programs
 
The following table summarizes our development programs for AGS-003 and AGS-004.

Product Candidate
 
Primary Indication
 
Status
AGS-003
 
mRCC (clear cell)
   
 
Ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial; completion of enrollment expected by the end of second quarter 2015; overall survival data expected in the second half of 2016
               
   
mRCC (non-clear cell)
   
 
Phase 2 investigator-initiated clinical trial expected to begin in the second half of 2015
               
   
Early stage RCC (neoadjuvant)
   
 
Ongoing investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial; initial data expected in 2016
               
   
Early stage RCC (adjuvant)
   
 
Investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial expected to begin mid-2015; initial data expected in 2016
               
   
Advanced solid tumors
   
 
Two investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trials expected to begin in the second half of 2015
               
AGS-004
 
HIV
   
 
Phase 2b clinical trial complete; data announced in January 2015
               
         
 
Ongoing first stage of investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial for HIV eradication; Second stage expected to begin in the second half of 2015
               
         
 
Investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial for long-term viral control in pediatric patients planned for the second half of 2015
 
We hold all commercial rights to AGS-003 and AGS-004 in all geographies other than rights to AGS-003 in Russia and the other states comprising the Commonwealth of Independent States, which we exclusively licensed to Pharmstandard International S.A., rights to AGS-003 in South Korea, which we exclusively licensed to Green Cross Corp and rights to AGS-003 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, which we licensed to Lummy (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd ( Lummy HK”) . We have granted MEDcell Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as “Medinet,” an exclusive license to manufacture in Japan AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC and an option to acquire a non-exclusive license to sell in Japan AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC.

AGS-003
 
We are developing AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC and other cancers. We are currently conducting a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 plus sunitinib / targeted therapy for the treatment of newly diagnosed mRCC under an SPA with the FDA. We refer to this trial as the ADAPT trial. We initiated the ADAPT trial in January 2013 and dosed the first patient in May 2013. We plan to enroll approximately 450 patients in the trial to generate 290 events for the primary endpoint of overall survival. We plan to enroll these patients at approximately 140 clinical sites in North America and Europe. Under the trial protocol, these patients will be randomized between the AGS-003 plus sunitinib / targeted therapy combination arm and the sunitinib / targeted therapy alone control arm on a two-to-one basis. As of April 30, 2015, we have enrolled and randomized approximately 380 patients in the trial. We expect to complete enrollment by the end of second quarter 2015 and to have data from this trial in the second half of 2016 when we anticipate the required number of events to permit the primary analysis and assessment of overall survival to have occurred.

We believe that AGS-003 may be capable of treating a wide range of cancers and are planning to evaluate AGS-003 in clinical trials in additional cancer indications. In the second half of 2015, we plan to support an investigator-initiated open label phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-003 in patients with mRCC and non-clear cell, or NCC, histology. In the trial, we plan to evaluate the safety, efficacy and immunologic effects of AGS-003 when combined with targeted therapy in approximately 30 to 40 NCC mRCC patients.
 
In addition, we are supporting and plan to support two investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trials, which are designed to evaluate treatment with AGS-003 in patients with early stage RCC prior to and following nephrectomy. The initial trial, which is designed to evaluate AGS-003 prior to nephrectomy, began enrolling patients in late 2014 (neoadjuvant study) and the second trial to evaluate AGS-003 after standard nephrectomy (adjuvant RCC study) is expected to begin in mid-2015. We expect that a total of 40 to 50 patients will be enrolled in these two trials and that initial data from these trials will be available in 2016.
 
 
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We also plan to begin additional investigator-initiated clinical trials of AGS-003, potentially in combination with other therapies, in other advanced solid tumor types, including bladder cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC, in the second half of 2015.

AGS-004
 
We are developing AGS-004 for the treatment of HIV and plan to focus this program on the use of AGS-004 in combination with other therapies for the eradication of HIV. The current standard of care, antiretroviral drug therapy, or ART, can reduce levels of HIV in a patient’s blood, increase the patient’s life expectancy and improve the patient’s quality of life. However, ART cannot eliminate the virus, which persists in latently infected cells, remains undetectable by the immune system and can recur. In addition, ART requires daily, life-long treatment and can have significant side effects.
 
We believe that by combining AGS-004 with therapies that are being developed to expose the virus in latently infected cells to the immune system, we can potentially eradicate the virus. We are supporting an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 in up to twelve adult HIV patients to evaluate the use of AGS-004 in combination with one of these latency reversing therapies for this purpose at the University of North Carolina. This trial is being conducted in two stages. Stage 1 of this trial is designed to study immune response kinetics to AGS-004 in patients on continuous ART. The purpose is to better define the optimal dosing strategy in combination with a latency-reversing therapy. We expect that patients in Stage 1 will rollover into Stage 2, a separate protocol that will study AGS-004 in combination with one of the latency-reversing drugs, vorinostat. In January 2014, Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication, or CARE, agreed that it would fund all patient clinical costs for Stage 1 of this phase 2 clinical trial, except for the associated manufacturing costs for which we are responsible. The NIH Division of AIDS, or DAIDS, has approved $6.6 million in funding for Stage 2 of this phase 2 clinical trial to be provided directly to the University of North Carolina.

We also plan to explore the use of AGS-004 monotherapy to provide long-term control of HIV viral load in otherwise immunologically healthy patients and eliminate their need for ART. Accordingly, if the protocol and government funding are approved, we plan to support in the second half of 2015, an investigator-initiated phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 monotherapy in pediatric patients infected with HIV who have otherwise healthy immune systems, have been treated with ART since birth or shortly thereafter and, as a result, are lacking the antiviral memory T-cells to combat the virus.
 
In September 2013, we completed patient enrollment in our NIH-funded phase 2b clinical trial of AGS-004 in 53 HIV-infected patients. The primary endpoint of this trial was a comparison of the median viral load in AGS-004-treated patients with the median viral load in patients receiving placebo after 12 weeks of ART treatment interruption. Secondary endpoints of this trial included comparisons between AGS-004-treated patients and patients receiving placebo with respect to viral measurement changes from immediately prior to the commencement of ART to the end of the planned treatment interruption, duration of treatment interruption, changes in CD4+ T-cell counts, an indicator of the health of the immune system, and assessment of increases in antiviral immunity between AGS-004 treated and placebo-treated patients. We designed this trial to confirm the data that we obtained from the phase 2 clinical trial that we conducted in HIV infected patients and provide proof of concept of the ability of AGS-004 to induce an immune response to eliminate the cells responsible for viral replication.
 
In January 2015, we announced top-line results from the trial. The primary endpoint of the trial, which required a 1.1 Log lower median viral load after 12 weeks of interruption of ART in the treatment group versus the placebo group, was not achieved. However, we believe that data from the trial provided evidence of the ability of AGS-004 to induce memory T-cell responses which may have directly impacted the latent viral reservoir. Of the evaluated 22 patients who received AGS-004 and completed the 12-week treatment interruption period, 15 patients or approximately 70 percent had positive antiviral memory T-cell responses prior to beginning the treatment interruption versus zero percent of placebo patients. Within the AGS-004 treatment group, those patients that had antiviral memory T-cell responses had significantly fewer CD4+ T-cells with integrated HIV DNA when compared to non-responders. These findings relate directly to the utilization of AGS-004 in our ongoing adult eradication study and a planned pediatric study, where one of the key objectives is to decrease the latent HIV reservoir.
 
In the phase 2b trial, 54 patients received four doses of AGS-004 or placebo every four weeks while on standard ART, and then began a 12-week ATI, during which dosing continued every four weeks. In total, 36 participants completed ATI, 23 of whom received AGS-004. The trial was fully funded by NIH and NIAID.
 
We believe that by demonstrating that AGS-004 induced memory T-cell responses in a majority of patients and that those immune responders had fewer CD4+ T-cells with integrated HIV DNA, these data suggest that induced anti-viral memory T-cell responses may contribute to lower persistent viral reservoirs. These data support our plans to continue testing AGS-004 in the studies aimed at decreasing or eliminating the latent HIV reservoir. In addition, based on these data we believe that more frequent dosing of AGS-004 during ART may provide further benefit, but also highlight the need to better understand the mechanisms of immune evasion employed by the HIV virus in the absence of ART.
 
We believe the results of the AGS-004 phase 2b trial support our exploration of whether combining AGS-004 treatment with Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, part of a new class of latent reservoir mobilizers, will lead to the elimination of HIV-infected cells.

 
22

 
NIH Funding
 
In September 2006, we entered into a multi-year research contract with the NIH and NIAID to design, develop and clinically test an autologous HIV immunotherapy capable of eliciting therapeutic immune responses. We have used funds from this contract to develop AGS-004, including to fund in full our phase 2b clinical trial of AGS-004. We have agreed to a statement of work under the contract, and are obligated to furnish all the services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the U.S. government, needed to perform the statement of work.
 
Under this contract, as amended, the NIH and NIAID have committed to fund up to a total of $39.8 million, including reimbursement of direct expenses and allocated overhead and general and administrative expenses of up to $38.4 million and payment of other specified amounts totaling up to $1.4 million upon our achievement of specified development milestones. This amount includes the September 2014 modification of the contract under which the NIH and NIAID agreed to fund up to an additional $500,000 to cover a portion of the manufacturing costs of the planned phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 for long-term viral control in pediatric patients. The NIH’s commitment under the contract extends to July 2016. Since September 2010, we have received reimbursement of our allocated overhead and general and administrative expenses at provisional indirect cost rates equal to negotiated provisional indirect cost rates agreed to with the NIH and NIAID in September 2010. These provisional indirect cost rates are subject to adjustment based on our actual costs pursuant to the agreement with the NIH and NIAID and may result in additional payments to us from the NIH and NIAID to reflect our actual costs since September 2010.

We have recorded revenue of $37.0 million through March 31, 2015 under the NIH and NIAID contract. This contract is the only arrangement under which we have generated substantial revenue. As of March 31, 2015, there was up to $2.8 million of potential revenue remaining to be earned under the agreement with the NIH and NIAID.

Results of Operations
 
Comparison of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2014 with the Three Months Ended March 31, 2015
 
The following table summarizes the results of our operations for each of the three month periods ended March 31, 2014 and 2015, together with the changes in those items in dollars and as a percentage:
 
   
Three Months Ended
March 31,
   
$
   
%
 
   
2014
   
2015
   
Change
   
Change
 
   
(in thousands)
       
Revenue
 
$
799
   
$
179
   
$
(620
)
   
(77.6
%)
Operating expenses
                               
Research and development
   
8,472
     
14,767
     
6,295
     
74.3
%
General and administrative
   
1,934
     
2,371
     
437
     
22.6
%
                                 
Total operating expenses
   
10,406
     
17,138
     
6,732
     
64.7
%
                                 
Loss from operations
   
(9,607
)
   
(16,959
)
   
(7,352
)
   
76.5
%
Interest income
   
16
     
10
     
(6
)
   
*
 
Interest expense
   
(175
)
   
(595
)
   
(420
)
   
*
 
Other expense
   
(235
)
   
(2
)
   
233
     
*
 
                                 
Net loss
 
$
(10,001
)
 
$
(17,546
)
 
$
(7,545
)
   
75.4
%
_______________
*
Not meaningful
 
Revenue
 
To date, we have not generated revenue from the sale of any products. Substantially all of our revenue has been derived from our NIH and NIAID contract. We may generate revenue in the future from government contracts and grants, payments from future license or collaboration agreements and product sales. We expect that any revenue we generate will fluctuate from quarter to quarter.
 
Revenue was $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared with $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, a decrease of $0.6 million, or 77.6%. The $0.6 million decrease for the three months ended March 31, 2015 is due to a decline in reimbursement under our NIH and NIAID contract associated with decreased activity in the three months ended March 31, 2015 with respect to our phase 2b clinical trial of AGS-004.

 
23

 
Research and Development Expenses
 
Since our inception, we have focused our resources on our research and development activities, including conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials, manufacturing development efforts and activities related to regulatory filings for our product candidates. We recognize our research and development expenses as they are incurred. Our research and development expenses consist primarily of:
 
 
salaries and related expenses for personnel in research and development functions;
 
 
fees paid to consultants and clinical research organizations, or CROs, including in connection with our clinical trials, and other related clinical trial fees, such as for investigator grants, patient screening, laboratory work and statistical compilation and analysis;
 
 
commercial manufacturing development consisting of costs incurred under our development agreement with Invetech under which Invetech has agreed to develop and provide prototypes of the automated production system to be used for the manufacture of our Arcelis-based products;
 
 
costs incurred under our development agreement with Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation, or Saint-Gobain, to develop a range of disposables for use in the automated production system;
 
 
allocation of facility lease and maintenance costs;
 
 
depreciation of leasehold improvements, laboratory equipment and computers;
 
 
costs related to production of product candidates for clinical trials;
 
 
costs related to compliance with regulatory requirements;
 
 
consulting fees paid to third parties related to non-clinical research and development;
 
 
costs related to stock options or other stock-based compensation granted to personnel in research and development functions; and
 
 
acquisition fees, license fees and milestone payments related to acquired and in-licensed technologies.

The table below summarizes our direct research and development expenses by program for the periods indicated. Our direct research and development expenses consist principally of external costs, such as fees paid to investigators, consultants, central laboratories and CROs, including in connection with our clinical trials, and related clinical trial fees. Research and development expenses also include commercial manufacturing development costs consisting primarily of costs incurred under our development agreements with Invetech and Saint-Gobain to develop and provide prototypes of the automated production system to be used for the manufacture of our Arcelis-based products. We have been developing AGS-003 and AGS-004, in parallel, and typically use our employee and infrastructure resources across multiple research and development programs. We do not allocate salaries, stock-based compensation, employee benefit or other indirect costs related to our research and development function to specific product candidates. Those expenses are included in “Indirect research and development expense” in the table below.

 
24

 
   
Three Months Ended March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
 
   
(in thousands)
 
Direct research and development expense by program:
           
AGS-003
 
$
3,160
   
$
5,441
 
AGS-004
   
454
     
72
 
Other
   
49
     
3
 
                 
Total direct research and development program expense
   
3,663
     
5,516
 
Commercial manufacturing development
   
1,363
     
4,565
 
Indirect research and development expense
   
3,446
     
4,686
 
                 
Total research and development expense
 
$
8,472
   
$
14,767
 
 
Research and development expenses were $8.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared with $14.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, an increase of $6.3 million, or 74.3%. The increase in research and development expense reflects a $1.9 million increase in direct research and development expense and a $1.2 million increase in indirect research and development expense. The increase in direct research and development expenses resulted primarily from the following:
 
 
Direct research and development expense for AGS-003 increased from $3.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 to $5.4 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015. This increase primarily reflects increased patient enrollment in the ongoing phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial in the three months ended March 31, 2015 as compared with the three months ended March 31, 2014; and
 
 
Direct research and development expense with respect to AGS-004 decreased from $0.5 million in the three months ended March 31, 2014 to $0.1 million in the three months ended March 31, 2015 primarily due to the decreased activity in our phase 2b clinical trial of AGS-004.
 
We also incurred $1.4 million and $4.6 million of research and development expense related to our commercial manufacturing development efforts during the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2015, respectively. We commenced our commercial manufacturing development efforts during the three months ended March 31, 2014 and such activity increased progressively during 2014 and into the first three months of 2015.

The increase in indirect research and development expense was primarily due to higher personnel costs, as we had 79 employees engaged in research and development activities as of March 31, 2014 compared with 99 employees as of March 31, 2015.
 
We expect that our research and development expenses will increase for the foreseeable future as we seek to complete development of AGS-003 and AGS-004 and accelerate our commercial manufacturing development efforts.

The successful development of our clinical and preclinical product candidates is highly uncertain. At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate the nature, timing or costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the remainder of the development of any of our clinical or preclinical product candidates or the period, if any, in which material net cash inflows from these product candidates may commence. This is due to the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with developing drugs, including the uncertainty of:
 
 
the scope, rate of progress, expense and results of our ongoing clinical trials;
 
 
the scope, rate of progress, expense and results of additional clinical trials that we may conduct;
 
 
the scope, rate of progress, expense and results of our commercial manufacturing development efforts;
 
 
other research and development activities; and
 
 
the timing of regulatory approvals.
 
 
25

 
A change in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of a product candidate could mean a significant change in the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. For example, if the FDA or another regulatory authority were to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those which we currently anticipate will be required for the completion of clinical development of a product candidate or if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development.
 
General and Administrative Expenses
 
General and administrative expenses were $1.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared with $2.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015, an increase of $0.4 million or 22.6%. This increase is primarily due to an additional $0.2 million in personnel costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation; an increase of $0.1 million in outside services including legal, patent, and other consulting services; and an increase of $0.1 million in expenses relating to our new status as a public company, including liability and directors’ and officers’ insurance.

We expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase with the continued development and potential commercialization of our product candidates and as we adjust to operating as a public company. We believe that these increases will likely include increased costs for director and officer liability insurance, costs related to the hiring of additional personnel and increased fees for outside consultants, lawyers and accountants. We also expect to incur significant costs to comply with corporate governance, internal controls and similar requirements applicable to public companies.

Interest Expense
 
Interest expense was $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared with $0.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. During the three months ended March 31, 2014, interest expense primarily resulted from accrued interest on our note payable to Medinet, which was issued in December 2013. During the three months ended March 31, 2015, interest expense primarily resulted from accrued interest on our note payable to Medinet and interest on our indebtedness under the Loan Agreement, which we entered into in September 2014. We expect that interest expense will increase as a result of interest incurred under the Loan Agreement.

Other Expense
 
We had $235,675 in other expense for the three months ended March 31, 2014, compared with $1,976 in other expense for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Under a previous loan and security agreement to which we were a party, we had agreed to pay a success fee of $200,000 upon consummation of a liquidity event, including an initial public offering. Our initial public offering closed in February 2014. Accordingly, this fee was paid in March 2014 and was recorded in Other expense on the condensed consolidated statement of operations during the three months ended March 31, 2014.

Liquidity and Capital Resources
 
Sources of Liquidity
 
As of March 31, 2015, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $39.2 million.
 
Since our inception in May 1997 through March 31, 2015, we have funded our operations principally with $215.5 million from the sale of common stock, convertible debt, warrants and preferred stock, $32.9 million from the licensing of our technology, $104.3 million from government contracts, grants and license and collaboration agreements, and $12.5 million from the Loan Agreement.

As of March 31, 2015, the gross proceeds we have received from the issuance and sale of our preferred stock were as follows:
 
Issue
 
Year
 
Gross
Proceeds
 
       
(in thousands)
 
Series A Preferred
 
2000
 
$
1,594
 
Series B Preferred
 
2001
 
$
39,382
 
Series B-1 Preferred
 
2004
 
$
5,000
 
Series C Preferred
 
2008
 
$
33,462
 
Series D Preferred
 
2012
 
$
9,022
 
Series D-1 Preferred
 
2012
 
$
15,978
 
Series E Preferred
 
2013
 
$
48,000
 

 
26

 
Upon the closing of the initial public offering in February 2014, all of the then-outstanding shares of the Company’s redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into 13,188,251 shares of common stock.

In February 2014, we issued and sold 6,228,725 shares of our common stock, including 603,725 shares of common stock sold pursuant to the underwriters’ exercise of their option to purchase additional shares, in our initial public offering at a public offering price of $8.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $49.8 million. The net offering proceeds to us, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $3.5 million and offering expenses of approximately $2.9 million, were approximately $43.4 million.

Venture Loan and Security Agreement. In September 2014, we entered into the Loan Agreement with the Lenders, under which we may borrow up to $25.0 million in two tranches of $12.5 million each, or the Loan Facility.
 
We borrowed the first tranche of $12.5 million upon the closing of the transaction on September 29, 2014. Subject to certain other funding conditions, the second tranche of $12.5 million will be available for drawdown at any time commencing on the date we complete the enrollment and randomization of patients in our Phase 3 trial of AGS-003 and continuing until September 30, 2015.  We plan to borrow the second tranche of $12.5 million following completion of enrollment of the ADAPT trial. The per annum interest rate for each tranche will be a floating rate equal to 9.25% plus the amount by which the one-month LIBOR Rate exceeds 0.50% (effectively a floating rate equal to 8.75% plus the one-month LIBOR Rate). The total per annum interest rate shall not exceed 10.75%.

We have agreed to repay the first tranche of $12.5 million on an interest only basis monthly until September 30, 2016, followed by monthly payments of principal and accrued interest through the scheduled maturity date for the first tranche loan on September 30, 2018. In addition, a final payment for the first tranche loan equal to $625,000 will be due on September 30, 2018, or such earlier date specified in the Loan Agreement. We have agreed to repay any amounts advanced under the second tranche of $12.5 million in 18 monthly payments of interest only followed by 24 monthly payments of principal and accrued interest through the scheduled maturity date for the second tranche loan, which is 42 months following the date we draw down the second tranche loan. In addition, a final payment equal to 5.0 % of the amount drawn under the second tranche loan will be due on the scheduled maturity date for such loan, or such earlier date specified in the Loan Agreement. In addition, if we repay all or a portion of the loan prior to the applicable maturity date, we will pay the Lenders a prepayment penalty fee, based on a percentage of the then outstanding principal balance, equal to 3% if the prepayment occurs on or before 24 months after the funding date thereof, 2% if the prepayment occurs more than 24 months after, but on or before 36 months after, the funding date thereof, or 1% if the prepayment occurs more than 36 months after the funding date thereof.

Our obligations under the Loan Agreement are secured by a first priority security interest in substantially all of our assets other than our intellectual property. We also have agreed not to pledge or otherwise encumber our intellectual property assets, subject to certain exceptions.

The Loan Agreement includes customary affirmative and restrictive covenants, but does not include any covenants to attain or maintain certain financial metrics, and also includes customary events of default, including payment defaults, breaches of covenants, change of control and a material adverse change default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default and following any applicable cure periods, a default interest rate of an additional 5% may be applied to the outstanding loan balances, and the Lenders may declare all outstanding obligations immediately due and payable and take such other actions as set forth in the Loan Agreement.

In connection with the Loan Agreement, we issued to the Lenders and their affiliates warrants to purchase a total of 82,780 shares of our Common Stock at a per share exercise price of $9.06, or the Warrants. The Lenders may not exercise the Warrants for more than 41,390 of such shares of Common Stock until the earliest to occur of (i) a merger or consolidation of the Company, or a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, (ii) our satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the making of the second tranche loan, and (iii) the funding of the second tranche loan. The Warrants will terminate on the earlier of September 29, 2021 or such earlier date as specified in the Warrants.

Commercial Facility. On August 18, 2014, we entered into a Lease Agreement with TKC.

Under the Lease Agreement, we leased certain land and an approximately 120,000 square-foot building to be constructed on approximately 11 acres in Durham County, North Carolina. This facility will house our corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing facility.  The Lease Agreement is intended to replace our existing lease, located at 4233 Technology Drive, Durham North Carolina, which currently expires in November 2016. The shell of the new facility is being constructed on a build-to-suit basis by TKC, at its expense, in accordance with agreed upon specifications and plans as set forth in the Lease Agreement.

The term of the Lease Agreement will be 10 years from the commencement date for the initial term, currently estimated to be June 1, 2015. We have the option to extend the Lease Agreement by six five-year renewal terms. Initial rent will be approximately $46,917 per month, subject to certain fixed increases over the course of the term as set forth in the Lease Agreement and to adjustment based on our use of certain amounts allocated for upfitting the interior of the facility.

Under the Lease Agreement, we had an option to purchase the property for an amount estimated at $7.6 million. In February 2015, we exercised this option and entered into the Purchase Agreement with TKC. The purchase price to be paid by us is $7.6 million plus the amount of any additional costs incurred by TKC as a result of changes requested by us, for which we had paid $1.7 million as of March 31, 2015, and the amount of any improvement allowances advanced to us by TKC prior to the closing. The purchase of this property is expected to close in the second half of 2015. Upon the closing, the Lease Agreement will terminate.
 
On April 7, 2015, we and Lummy HK entered into a license agreement (the “License Agreement”) whereby we granted to Lummy HK an exclusive license under the Arcelis technology, including patents, know-how and improvements to manufacture, develop and commercialize products for the treatment of cancer in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

In connection with the License Agreement, on April 7, 2015, we entered into stock purchase agreements with Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group, Ltd. and China BioPharma Capital I, L.P., of which Lummy HK’s parent company is an affiliate and limited partner, respectively. Pursuant to the purchase agreements, the purchasers purchased an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of our common stock at a per share price of $10.11, a 12.5% premium to the 30-day volume weighted average closing price for our common stock for the 30-day period ended April 2, 2015. In addition, the Purchasers have agreed to purchase approximately $10.0 million in additional shares of our common stock, for a total aggregate investment of $20.0 million, within 31 days of and subject to reaching full enrollment of our phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial of AGS-003 for renal cell carcinoma, receiving a recommendation of the review board for the continuation of our phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial following 50% of events and receiving positive feedback from the FDA on a qualified protocol to demonstrate comparability of our automated manufacturing process for AGS-003 to the manufacturing process used by us in our phase 3 ADAPT clinical trial.  In connection with the investment, the purchasers have agreed to a lock-up of the shares purchased for a period of 180 days.  The private placement of the securities was made in reliance on the exemption from registration provided by Regulation S under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
 
On May 8, 2015, we filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3, or the 2015 Shelf, with the SEC, which covers the offering, issuance and sale of up to $125,000,000 of our common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depositary shares, purchase contracts, purchase units and warrants.  We simultaneously entered into a Sales Agreement with Cowen and Company LLC to provide for the offering, issuance and sale of up to $30,000,000 of our common stock from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings under the 2015 Shelf. The 2015 Shelf was declared effective by the SEC on May 14, 2015. 
 
27

 
Cash Flows
 
The following table sets forth the major sources and uses of cash for the periods set forth below:
 
   
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
   
2014
   
2015
 
   
(in thousands)
 
Net cash provided by (used in):
           
Operating activities
 
$
(8,360
)
 
$
(14,566
)
Investing activities
   
(18,193
)
   
6,208
 
Financing activities
   
45,029
     
177
 
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash
   
(1
)
   
(13
                 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
 
$
18,475
   
$
(8,194
)
 
Operating Activities . Net cash used in operating activities of $14.6 million during the three months ended March 31, 2015 was primarily a result of our $17.5 million net loss, partially offset by non-cash items of $1.3 million and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $1.7 million. These non-cash items primarily reflect depreciation and amortization expense of $0.2 million, compensation expense related to stock options of $0.9 million and interest accrued on long-term debt of $0.2 million. Accounts payable increased by $1.4 million and accrued expenses increased by $0.2 million, which was partially offset by an increase in other assets of $0.4 million.

Net cash used in operating activities of $8.4 million during the three months ended March 31, 2014 was primarily a result of our $10.0 million net loss, partially offset by non-cash items of $0.9 million and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $0.7 million. These non-cash items primarily consisted of depreciation and amortization of $0.1 million, compensation expense related to stock options of $0.6 million and interest accrued on long-term debt of $0.2 million. Accounts payable increased by $1.7 million, which was partially offset by a decrease in accrued expenses of $0.5 million, an increase in deferred financing costs of $0.1 million and an increase in prepaid expenses and other receivables of $0.3 million.
 
Investing Activities. Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities amounted to ($18.2) million and $6.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Cash provided by and used in investing activities during each of these periods primarily reflected our purchases of property and equipment and purchases, sales and maturities of short-term investments. Cash used in investment activities during the three months ended March 31, 2014 was primarily due to purchases of short-term investments with funds received in our initial public offering and $0.2 million of purchases of property and equipment. Cash provided by investment activities during the three months ended March 31, 2015 primarily consisted of $11.7 million from maturities of short-term investments, partially offset by $2.8 million of purchases of short-term investments and $2.7 million of purchases of property and equipment.
 
Financing Activities. Net cash provided by financing activities amounted to $45.0 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2014 consisted of proceeds of $49.8 million from the sale of common stock in our initial public offering in February 2014, partially offset by stock issuance costs of $4.8 million and $12,870 of payments on notes payable. Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2015 consisted primarily of proceeds of $0.1 million from the exercise of stock options and $0.1 million of proceeds from our employee stock purchase plan, partially offset by $12,870 of payments on notes payable.
 
Other Significant Changes in Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2015 Compared with December 31, 2014

Property and equipment, net, increased by $5.7 million primarily due to a $2.5 million increase in the asset recognized related to the lease agreement for our new manufacturing facility and $2.8 million from construction-in-progress. The facility lease obligation increased by $2.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2015 related to activity under the lease to build the facility. Accounts payable increased by $1.8 million primarily due to an increase in activity under our manufacturing development contracts and purchases of property and equipment.
 
 
28

 
Funding Requirements
 
To date, we have not generated any product revenue from our development stage product candidates. We do not know when, or if, we will generate any product revenue. We do not expect to generate significant product revenue unless or until we obtain marketing approval of, and commercialize AGS-003 or AGS-004. At the same time, we expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we continue our phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, initiate additional clinical trials of AGS-003 and AGS-004, seek regulatory approval for our product candidates and lease, build out and equip a new commercial manufacturing facility. In addition, if we obtain regulatory approval of any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses for product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Furthermore, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. We will need substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations.
 
We expect that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with the second tranche of $12.5 million under our Loan Agreement with the Lenders, proceeds from the sale of approximately $10.0 million of our common stock to Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group, Ltd. and China BioPharma Capital I, L.P. that we received in April 2015, proceeds from the sale of an additional $10 million of our common stock to Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group, Ltd. and China BioPharma Capital I, L.P. upon the completion of certain events with respect to AGS-003 and the anticipated funding under our NIH and NIAID contract, will enable us to fund our ongoing expenses into the second half of 2016. We intend to devote our cash, cash equivalents and short term investments to fund our ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 through data, our planned phase 2 clinical trials of AGS-003 in non-clear cell mRCC, early stage RCC prior to and following nephrectomy and other solid tumors, certain of the costs of the ongoing phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 for HIV eradication and the planned phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 for long-term viral control in pediatric patients and certain of the costs related to our continuing build-out and equipping of our new commercial manufacturing facility, for which we will need additional funding.

We will need to obtain significant financing prior to the commercialization of AGS-003, including to complete the build-out and equipping of our new commercial manufacturing facility and to fund any commercialization efforts in advance of regulatory approval of AGS-003. We expect that we will need to spend approximately an additional $50.0 million to build out and equip the new commercial manufacturing facility that we plan to establish. In addition, we expect to spend approximately an additional $25.0 million on development, equipment and disposables, including costs incurred under the development agreements with Invetech and Saint-Gobain. We have initiated expenditures for these purposes and construction of the facility began in October 2014. We are actively exploring additional financing arrangements in connection with the build out and equipping of the commercial manufacturing facility and are in discussions with developers, lenders and other potential financing sources regarding potential financial support. We expect to enter into such arrangements during 2015 and that such arrangements will likely involve material obligations and debt liabilities. If we are unable to obtain additional financing when needed, in the required amounts or at all, we may not be able to complete the build-out and equipping of the new commercial facility or may be delayed in doing so.

We have based our estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we may use our available capital resources sooner than we currently expect. Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with the development and commercialization of our product candidates, we are unable to estimate the amounts of increased capital outlays and operating expenditures necessary to complete the development of our product candidates.
 
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:
 
the progress and results of our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 and other clinical trials of AGS-003 that we may conduct;
 
the progress and results of our ongoing phase 2 clinical trial for HIV eradication and other clinical trials of AGS-004 that we may conduct and our ability to obtain additional funding under our NIH contract for our AGS-004 program;
 
the scope, progress, results and costs of preclinical development, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our other product candidates;
 
the costs and timing of our planned build-out and equipping of a new commercial manufacturing facility;

the ability to access the second tranche of our Loan Agreement;

the potential need to repay the $9.0 million loan under our license agreement with Medinet;
 
the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;
 
the costs of commercialization activities, including product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive regulatory approval;
 
revenue, if any, received from sales of our product candidates, should any of our product candidates be approved by the FDA or a similar regulatory authority outside the United States;
 
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining, enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;
 
the extent to which we acquire or invest in businesses, products and technologies;
 
 
29

 
our ability to obtain government or other third party funding for the development of our product candidates; and
 
our ability to establish collaborations on favorable terms, if at all, particularly arrangements to develop, market and distribute AGS-003 outside North America and arrangements for the development and commercialization of our non-oncology product candidates, including AGS-004.
 
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, government contracts, government and other third party grants or other third party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through government or other third party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements or other collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us.

We are seeking government or other third party funding for the continued development of AGS-004. In January 2014, CARE agreed that it would fund all patient clinical costs of Stage 1 of our phase 2 adult eradication clinical trial of AGS-004, except for the associated manufacturing costs for which we will be responsible. DAIDS has approved $6.6 million in funding for Stage 2 of this phase 2 clinical trial to be provided directly to the University of North Carolina. If we are unable to raise additional government or other third party funding when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our development of AGS-004 or to grant rights to develop and market AGS-004 that we would otherwise prefer to keep for ourselves.
 
Critical Accounting Estimates
 
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which we have prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accouting principles. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. We evaluate these estimates and judgments on an ongoing basis. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.
 
Our significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 of the notes to our financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014. There have been no significant changes to our critical accounting policies discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.
 
Contractual Obligations
 
During the three months ended March 31, 2015, there were no material changes outside the ordinary course of our business to our contractual obligations as disclosed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
 
Our primary exposure to market risk is limited to our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, all of which have maturities of one year or less. The related interest income sensitivity is affected by changes in the general level of short-term U.S. interest rates. We primarily invest in high quality, short-term marketable debt securities issued by high quality financial and industrial companies.
 
Due to the short-term duration and low risk profile of our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, an immediate 10.0% change in interest rates would not have a material effect on the fair value of our portfolio. Accordingly, we would not expect our operating results or cash flows to be affected to any significant degree by the effect of a sudden change in market interest rates on our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
 
We do not believe that our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments have significant risk of default or illiquidity. While we believe our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments do not contain excessive risk, we cannot provide absolute assurance that in the future our investments will not be subject to adverse changes in fair value. In addition, we maintain significant amounts of cash and cash equivalents at one or more financial institutions that are in excess of federally insured limits.

 
30

 
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
 
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
 
The Company’s management, with the participation of the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2015. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) under the Exchange Act, means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time period specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on the evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2015, the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that, as of such date, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance levels.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
 
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
 
 
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
 
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
 
From time to time, we have been and may again become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We are not presently a party to any material litigation.
 

 
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Item  1A. Risk Factors

We operate in a dynamic and rapidly changing business environment that involves multiple risks and substantial uncertainty. The following discussion addresses risks and uncertainties that could cause, or contribute to causing, actual results to differ from expectations in material ways. In evaluating our business, investors should pay particular attention to the risks and uncertainties described below and in other sections of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our subsequent filings with the SEC. These risks and uncertainties, or other events that we do not currently anticipate or that we currently deem immaterial also may affect our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. The trading price of our common stock could also decline due to any of these risks, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to the Development and Regulatory Approval of Our Product Candidates

We depend heavily on the success of our two product candidates, AGS-003 and AGS-004, both of which are still in clinical development. Clinical trials of our product candidates may not be successful. If we are unable to commercialize our product candidates or experience significant delays in doing so, our business will be materially harmed.

We currently have no products approved for sale. We have invested a significant portion of our efforts and financial resources in the development of AGS-003 for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, or mRCC, and other cancers and AGS-004 for the treatment of HIV. Our ability to generate product revenues, which we do not expect will occur for at least the next several years, if ever, will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of these product candidates. The success of these product candidates will depend on several factors, including the following:

 
successful completion of clinical trials, including clinical results that are statistically significant as well as clinically meaningful in the context of the indications for which we are developing our product candidates;
 
 
receipt of marketing approvals from the FDA and similar regulatory authorities outside the United States;
 
 
establishing commercial manufacturing capabilities by building out and equipping a commercial manufacturing facility for our Arcelis-based product candidates;
 
 
maintaining patent and trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates, both in the United States and internationally;
 
 
launching commercial sales of the products, if and when approved, whether alone or in collaboration with others;
 
 
commercial acceptance of our products, if and when approved, by patients, the medical community and third party payors;
 
 
obtaining and maintaining healthcare coverage and adequate reimbursement;
 
 
effectively competing with other therapies; and
 
 
a continued acceptable safety profile of the products following any marketing approval.
 
If we do not achieve one or more of these factors in a timely manner or at all, we could experience significant delays or an inability to successfully commercialize our product candidates, which would materially harm our business.
 
If clinical trials of our product candidates, such as our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States or do not otherwise produce positive results, we may incur additional costs or experience delays in completing, or ultimately be unable to complete, the development and commercialization of our product candidates.
 
Before obtaining regulatory approval for the sale of our product candidates, we must conduct extensive clinical trials to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of our product candidates in humans. Clinical testing is expensive, difficult to design and implement, can take many years to complete and is uncertain as to outcome. A failure of one or more of our clinical trials can occur at any stage of testing. The outcome of preclinical testing and early clinical trials may not be predictive of the success of later clinical trials, and interim results of a clinical trial do not necessarily predict final results. For instance, we failed to achieve the primary endpoint of our phase 2b clinical trial of AGS-004. Moreover, preclinical and clinical data are often susceptible to varying interpretations and analyses, and many companies that have believed their product candidates performed satisfactorily in preclinical studies and clinical trials have nonetheless failed to obtain marketing approval of their products.
 
 
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In particular, to date, we have not completed a clinical trial of AGS-003 against a placebo or a comparator therapy. While we believe comparisons to results from other reported clinical trials or from analyses of data from the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium, or the Consortium, can assist in evaluating the potential efficacy of our AGS-003 product candidate, there are many factors that affect the outcome for patients, some of which are not apparent in published reports. As a result, results from two different trials or between a trial and an analysis of a treatment database often cannot be reliably compared. Our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 is intended to compare directly the combination of AGS-003 and sunitinib to treatment with sunitinib monotherapy. Based on the design of the trial, the data from the trial will need to demonstrate an increase of approximately six months in median overall survival for the AGS-003 plus sunitinib / targeted therapy arm as compared to the sunitinib / targeted therapy monotherapy control arm in order to show statistical significance and achieve the primary endpoint of the trial. We will need to show this statistically significant benefit of the combined therapy as compared to treatment with the sunitinib / targeted therapy monotherapy as part of a submission for approval of AGS-003. However, demonstration of statistical significance and achievement of the primary endpoint of the trial do not assure approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States.
 
Patients in our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial who receive treatment with sunitinib / targeted therapy monotherapy may not have results similar to patients studied in other clinical trials of sunitinib or to patients in the Consortium database who were treated with sunitinib. If the patients in our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial who receive sunitinib / targeted therapy plus placebo have results which are better than the results that occurred in those other clinical trials or the results described in the Consortium database, we may not demonstrate a sufficient benefit from AGS-003 in combination with sunitinib to allow the FDA to approve AGS-003 for marketing. In addition, only 21 patients received the combination of AGS-003 and sunitinib in our phase 2 clinical trial. If the patients in our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial who receive the combination of AGS-003 and sunitinib / targeted therapy have results which are worse than the results that occurred in our phase 2 clinical trial, we may not demonstrate a sufficient benefit from the combination therapy to allow the FDA to approve AGS-003 for marketing.
 
For drug and biological products, the FDA typically requires the successful completion of two adequate and well-controlled clinical trials to support marketing approval because a conclusion based on two such trials will be more reliable than a conclusion based on a single trial. In the case of AGS-003, which is intended for a life-threatening disease, we intend to seek approval based upon the results of a single pivotal phase 3 clinical trial. The FDA reviewed our plans to conduct a single pivotal phase 3 clinical trial under its SPA process. In February 2013, the FDA advised us in a letter that it had completed its review of our plans under the SPA process. The FDA also informed us that in order for a single trial to support approval of an indication, the trial must be well conducted, and the results of the trial must be internally consistent, clinically meaningful and statistically very persuasive. If the results for the primary endpoint are not robust, are subject to confounding factors, or are not adequately supported by other trial endpoints, the FDA may refuse to approve our BLA based upon a single clinical trial. In addition, because only 21 patients received the combination of AGS-003 and sunitinib in our phase 2 clinical trial, and as a result, we did not have enough evaluable patients to perform the statistical analysis to determine whether the primary endpoint of complete response rate was achieved in that trial, we expect that the data from our phase 2 clinical trial will have only a limited impact on the FDA’s ultimate assessment of efficacy of AGS-003. Thus, there can be no guarantee that the FDA will not require additional pivotal clinical trials as a condition for approving AGS-003.
 
If we are required to conduct additional clinical trials or other testing of our product candidates beyond those that we currently contemplate, if we are unable to successfully complete clinical trials of our product candidates or other testing, if the results of these trials or tests are not positive or are only modestly positive or if there are safety concerns, we may:
 
 
be delayed in obtaining marketing approval for our product candidates;
 
 
not obtain marketing approval at all;
 
 
obtain approval for indications or patient populations that are not as broad as intended or desired;
 
 
obtain approval with labeling that includes significant use restrictions or safety warnings, including boxed warnings;
 
 
be subject to additional post-marketing testing requirements;
 
 
be subject to restrictions on how the product is distributed or used; or
 
 
have the product removed from the market after obtaining marketing approval.
 
  If we experience any of a number of possible unforeseen events in connection with our clinical trials, potential marketing or commercialization of our product candidates could be delayed or prevented.
 
We may experience numerous unforeseen events during, or as a result of, clinical trials that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our product candidates. For example, in September 2011, the FDA placed the original protocol for our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 in combination with sunitinib on partial clinical hold due to unresolved questions regarding the planned measurement of the secretion of the cytokine interleukin-12, or IL-12, as part of the specifications for the release of AGS-003. We subsequently reached an agreement with the FDA regarding the IL-12 release specifications and the FDA lifted the partial clinical hold. Unforeseen events that could delay or prevent our ability to receive regulatory approval or commercialize our product candidates include:
 
 
regulators or institutional review boards may not authorize us or our investigators to commence a clinical trial or conduct a clinical trial at a prospective trial site;
 
 
we may have delays in reaching or fail to reach agreement on acceptable clinical trial contracts or clinical trial protocols with prospective trial sites;
 
 
clinical trials of our product candidates may produce negative or inconclusive results, and we may decide, or regulators may require us, to conduct additional clinical trials or abandon product development programs;
 
 
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the number of patients required for clinical trials of our product candidates may be larger than we anticipate, enrollment in these clinical trials may be slower than we anticipate or participants may drop out of these clinical trials at a higher rate than we anticipate; for example, in our phase 2b clinical trial of AGS-004, we experienced a higher dropout rate than we anticipated due to the higher than expected number of patients who did not complete the full 12 week antiretroviral treatment interruption required by the protocol for the trial;
 
 
our third party contractors may fail to comply with regulatory requirements or meet their contractual obligations to us in a timely manner, or at all;
 
 
we may decide, or regulators or institutional review boards may require us or our investigators to, suspend or terminate clinical research for various reasons, including noncompliance with regulatory requirements or a finding that the participants are being exposed to unacceptable health risks;
 
 
the cost of clinical trials of our product candidates may be greater than we anticipate; and
 
 
the supply or quality of our product candidates or other materials necessary to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates may be insufficient or inadequate.
 
In addition, the patients recruited for clinical trials of our product candidates may have a disease profile or other characteristics that are different than we expect and different than the clinical trials were designed for, which could adversely impact the results of the clinical trials. For instance, our phase 2 combination therapy clinical trial of AGS-003 in combination with sunitinib was originally designed to enroll patients with favorable disease risk profiles and intermediate disease risk profiles and with a primary endpoint of complete response rate. However, the actual trial population consisted entirely of patients with intermediate disease risk profiles and poor disease risk profiles. This is a population for which published research has shown that sunitinib alone, as well as other of the targeted therapies for mRCC, rarely if ever produce complete responses in mRCC, and in our phase 2 clinical trial in this population the combination therapy of AGS-003 and sunitinib did not show a complete response rate that met the endpoint of the trial.
 
Our product development costs will also increase if we experience delays in testing or obtaining marketing approvals. We do not know whether any clinical trials will begin as planned, will need to be restructured or will be completed on schedule, or at all. For example, in response to our submission of an investigational new drug application, or IND, for AGS-004, the FDA raised safety concerns regarding the analytical treatment interruption contemplated by our protocol for our phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004, and required a one year safety follow-up after the final dose for each patient. This resulted in the need for an amendment to the trial protocol and a four month delay prior to initiating the phase 2 clinical trial in the United States. In addition to additional costs, significant clinical trial delays also could shorten any periods during which we may have the exclusive right to commercialize our product candidates or allow our competitors to bring products to market before we do and impair our ability to commercialize our product candidates and may harm our business and results of operations.

The FDA has reviewed the protocol for our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 in combination with sunitinib under the SPA process. However, agreement by the FDA with the protocol under the SPA process does not guarantee that the trial will be successful or that, if successful, AGS-003 will receive marketing approval.

The FDA has reviewed, under the SPA process, the protocol for our ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 in combination with sunitinib / targeted therapy. The SPA process is designed to facilitate the FDA’s review and approval of drug and biological products by allowing the FDA to evaluate the proposed design and size of phase 3 clinical trials that are intended to form the primary basis for determining a drug candidate’s efficacy. In February 2012, we received a letter from the FDA advising us that the FDA had completed its review of our protocol for the pivotal phase 3 clinical trial under the SPA process. In the letter, the FDA stated that it had determined that the protocol sufficiently addressed the trial’s objectives and that the trial was adequately designed to provide the necessary data to support a submission for marketing approval.
 
An SPA does not guarantee that AGS-003 will receive marketing approval. The FDA may raise issues related to safety, trial conduct, bias, deviation from the protocol, statistical power, patient completion rates, changes in scientific or medical parameters or internal inconsistencies in the data prior to making its final decision. The FDA may also seek the guidance of an outside advisory committee prior to making its final decision. In addition, the combination of AGS-003 and sunitinib may not achieve the primary endpoint of the trial. Even if the primary endpoint in our pivotal phase 3 clinical trial is achieved, AGS-003 may not be approved. Many companies which have been granted SPAs have ultimately failed to obtain final approval to market their products.

In its February 2012 letter, the FDA informed us that in order for a single trial to support approval of an indication, the trial must be well conducted, and the results of the trial must be internally consistent, clinically meaningful and statistically very persuasive. If the results for the primary endpoint are not robust, are subject to confounding factors, or are not adequately supported by other trial endpoints, the FDA may refuse to approve our BLA based upon a single clinical trial. There can be no guarantee that the FDA will not require additional pivotal clinical trials as a condition for approving AGS-003.
 
 
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If we experience delays or difficulties in the enrollment of patients in our clinical trials, our receipt of necessary regulatory approvals could be delayed or prevented.

We may not be able to initiate or continue clinical trials for our product candidates, including our pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, if we are unable to locate and enroll a sufficient number of eligible patients to participate in these trials as required by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. Our competitors may have ongoing clinical trials for product candidates that could be competitive with our product candidates, and patients who would otherwise be eligible for our clinical trials may instead enroll in clinical trials of our competitors’ product candidates. For example, during the phase 1/2 monotherapy clinical trial of AGS-003 that we conducted, our ability to enroll patients in the trial was adversely affected by the FDA’s approval of sorafenib and sunitinib, because patients did not want to receive, and physicians were reluctant to administer, AGS-003 as a monotherapy once new therapies that showed efficacy in clinical trials were introduced to the market and became widely available.

Patient enrollment is affected by other factors including:

 
severity of the disease under investigation;
 
 
eligibility criteria for the trial in question;
 
 
perceived risks and benefits of the product candidate under study;
 
 
efforts to facilitate timely enrollment in clinical trials;
 
 
patient referral practices of physicians;
 
 
the ability to monitor patients adequately during and after treatment; and
 
 
proximity and availability of clinical trial sites for prospective patients.
 
Based on the rate of enrollment in our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, we expect to complete tumor collection of patients and to complete enrollment and randomization by the end of second quarter 2015. However, the actual amount of time for full enrollment randomization could be longer than planned. Enrollment delays in this phase 3 clinical trial or any of our other clinical trials may result in increased development costs for our product candidates, which would cause the value of the company to decline and limit our ability to obtain additional financing. Our inability to enroll a sufficient number of patients for this ongoing phase 3 clinical trial or any of our other clinical trials would result in significant delays or may require us to abandon one or more clinical trials altogether. In addition, any significant delays or increases in costs of our ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 could result in the need for us to obtain additional funding to complete the trial.

We are developing AGS-004 for use with latency reversing drugs to eradicate HIV. If latency reversing drugs are not successfully developed for HIV on a timely basis or at all, we will be unable to develop AGS-004 for this use or will be delayed in doing so. In addition, because there are currently no products approved for HIV eradication, we cannot be certain of the clinical trials that we will need to conduct or the regulatory requirements that we will need to satisfy in order to obtain marketing approval of AGS-004 for this purpose.

We are focusing our development program for AGS-004 on the use of AGS-004 in combination with latency reversing drugs, including Vorinostat, to eradicate HIV. We rely on these latency reversing drugs because we recognize that the ultimate objective of virus eradication is unlikely to be achieved with immunotherapy alone because the immune system is not able to recognize the HIV virus in latently infected cells with a low level or lack of expression of HIV antigens.

Several companies and academic groups are evaluating latency reversing drugs that can potentially activate latently infected cells to increase viral antigen expression and make the cells vulnerable to elimination by the immune system. We are not a party to any arrangements with these companies or academic groups. If these companies or academic groups determine not to develop latency reversing drugs for this purpose because the drugs do not sufficiently increase viral antigen expression or have unacceptable toxicities, or these companies or academic groups otherwise determine to collaborate with other developers of immunotherapies on a combination therapy for complete virus eradication, we will not be able to complete our AGS-004 development program. In addition, if these companies or academic groups do not proceed with such development on a timely basis, our AGS-004 program correspondingly would be delayed.

A number of the latency reversing drugs being evaluated for use in HIV patients are currently approved in the United States and elsewhere for use in the treatment of specified cancer indications. If these drugs are not approved by the FDA or equivalent foreign regulatory authorities for use in HIV, the FDA and these other regulatory authorities may not approve AGS-004 without the latency reversing drug having received marketing approval for HIV. If the FDA and these other regulatory authorities approve AGS-004 without the approval of the latency reversing drug for HIV, the use of AGS-004 in combination with the latency reversing drug for virus eradication would require sales of the latency reversing drug for off-label use. In such event, the success of the combination of AGS-004 and the latency reversing drug would be subject to the willingness of physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community to use the latency reversing drug for off-label use and of government authorities and third party payors to pay for the combination therapy. In addition, we would be limited in our ability to market the combination for its intended use if the latency reversing drug were to be used off-label.

 
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Currently, there are no products approved for the eradication of HIV. As a result, we cannot be certain as to the clinical trials we will need to conduct or the regulatory requirements that we will need to satisfy in order to obtain marketing approval of AGS-004 for the eradication of HIV.

If serious adverse or inappropriate side effects are identified during the development of our product candidates, we may need to abandon or limit our development of some of our product candidates.

All of our product candidates are still in preclinical or clinical development and their risk of failure is high. It is impossible to predict when or if any of our product candidates will prove effective or safe in humans or will receive regulatory approval. If our product candidates are associated with undesirable side effects or have characteristics that are unexpected, we may need to abandon their development or limit development to certain uses or subpopulations in which the undesirable side effects or other characteristics are less prevalent, less severe or more acceptable from a risk-benefit perspective. In addition, such effects or characteristics could cause an institutional review board or regulatory authorities to interrupt, delay or halt clinical trials of one or more of our product candidates, require us to conduct additional clinical trials or other tests or studies, and could result in a more restrictive label, or the delay or denial of marketing approval by the FDA or comparable foreign regulatory authorities.

Our Arcelis-based product candidates are immunotherapies that are based on a novel technology utilizing a patient’s own tissue. This may raise development issues that we may not be able to resolve, regulatory issues that could delay or prevent approval or personnel issues that may prevent us from further developing and commercializing our product candidates.
 
AGS-003 and AGS-004 are based on our novel Arcelis technology platform. In the course of developing this platform and these product candidates, we have encountered difficulties in the development process. For example, we terminated the development of MB-002, the predecessor to AGS-003, when the results from the initial clinical trial of MB-002 indicated that the product candidate only corrected defects in the production of one of two critical cytokines required for effective immune response. There can be no assurance that additional development problems will not arise in the future which we may not be able to resolve or which may cause significant delays in development.

In addition, regulatory approval of novel product candidates such as our Arcelis-based product candidates manufactured using novel manufacturing processes such as ours can be more expensive and take longer than for other, more well-known or extensively studied pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical products, due to our and regulatory agencies’ lack of experience with them. The FDA has only approved one personalized immunotherapy product to date. This lack of experience may lengthen the regulatory review process, require us to conduct additional studies or clinical trials, increase our development costs, lead to changes in regulatory positions and interpretations, delay or prevent approval and commercialization of these product candidates or lead to significant post-approval limitations or restrictions.

The novel nature of our product candidates also means that fewer people are trained in or experienced with product candidates of this type, which may make it difficult to find, hire and retain capable personnel for research, development and manufacturing positions.

Development of our Arcelis-based product candidates is subject to significant uncertainty because each product candidate is derived from source material that is inherently variable. This variability could reduce the effectiveness of our Arcelis-based product candidates, delay any FDA approval of our Arcelis-based product candidates, cause us to change our manufacturing methods and adversely affect the commercial success of any approved Arcelis-based products.

The disease samples from the patients to be treated with our Arcelis-based products vary from patient to patient. This inherent variability may adversely affect our ability to manufacture our products because each tumor or virus sample that we receive and process will yield a different product. As a result, we may not be able to consistently produce a product for every patient and we may not be able to treat all patients effectively. Such inconsistency could delay FDA or other regulatory approval of our Arcelis-based product candidates or if approved, adversely affect market acceptance and use of our Arcelis-based products. If we have to change our manufacturing methods to address any inconsistency, we may have to perform additional clinical trials, which would delay FDA or other regulatory approval of our Arcelis-based product candidates and increase the costs of development of our Arcelis-based product candidates.

The inherent variability of the disease samples from the patients to be treated with our Arcelis-based products may further adversely affect our ability to manufacture our products because variability in the source material for our product candidates, such as tumor cells or viruses, may cause variability in the composition of other cells in our product candidates. Such variability in composition or purity could adversely affect our ability to establish acceptable release specifications and the development and regulatory approval processes for our product candidates may be delayed, which would increase the costs of development of our Arcelis-based product candidates.
 
 
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If we are not able to obtain, or if there are delays in obtaining, required regulatory approvals, we will not be able to commercialize our product candidates, and our ability to generate revenue will be materially impaired.
 
Failure to obtain regulatory approval for either of our product candidates will prevent us from commercializing the product candidate. We have not received regulatory approval to market any of our product candidates in any jurisdiction. We have only limited experience in filing and supporting the applications necessary to gain regulatory approvals and expect to rely on third party contract research organizations to assist us in this process. Securing FDA approval requires the submission of extensive preclinical and clinical data and supporting information to the FDA for each therapeutic indication to establish the product candidate’s safety and efficacy. Securing FDA approval also requires the submission of information about the product manufacturing process to, and inspection of manufacturing facilities by, the FDA. Our product candidates may not be effective, may be only moderately effective or may prove to have undesirable or unintended side effects, toxicities or other characteristics that may preclude our obtaining regulatory approval or prevent or limit commercial use. 
 
The process of obtaining regulatory approvals, both in the United States and abroad, is expensive, may take many years if additional clinical trials are required, if approval is obtained at all, and can vary substantially based upon a variety of factors, including the type, complexity and novelty of the product candidates involved. To date, the FDA has only approved one personalized immunotherapy product. Changes in regulatory approval policies during the development period, changes in or the enactment of additional statutes or regulations, or changes in regulatory review for each submitted product application, may cause delays in the approval or rejection of an application. The FDA has substantial discretion in the approval process and may refuse to accept any application or may decide that our data is insufficient for approval and require additional preclinical, clinical or other studies. In addition, varying interpretations of the data obtained from preclinical and clinical testing could delay, limit or prevent regulatory approval of a product candidate. Any regulatory approval we ultimately obtain may be limited or subject to restrictions or post-approval commitments that render the approved product not commercially viable.

If we experience delays in obtaining approval or if we fail to obtain approval of our product candidates, the commercial prospects for our product candidates may be harmed and our ability to generate revenues will be materially impaired.

Failure to obtain regulatory approval in international jurisdictions would prevent our product candidates from being marketed abroad.

We are a party to arrangements with third parties, and intend to enter into additional arrangements with third parties, under which they would market our products outside the United States. In order to market and sell our products in the European Union and many other jurisdictions, we or such third parties must obtain separate regulatory approvals and comply with numerous and varying regulatory requirements. The approval procedure varies among countries and can involve additional testing. The time required to obtain approval may differ substantially from that required to obtain FDA approval. The regulatory approval process outside the United States generally includes all of the risks associated with obtaining FDA approval. In addition, in many countries outside the United States, it is required that the product be approved for reimbursement before the product can be approved for sale in that country. We or these third parties may not obtain approvals from regulatory authorities outside the United States on a timely basis, if at all. Approval by the FDA does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions, and approval by one regulatory authority outside the United States does not ensure approval by regulatory authorities in other countries or jurisdictions or by the FDA. We may not be able to file for regulatory approvals and may not receive necessary approvals to commercialize our products in any market.

A fast track designation by the FDA may not actually lead to a faster development, regulatory review or approval process.

If a product is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and the product demonstrates the potential to address unmet needs for this condition, the treatment sponsor may apply for FDA fast track designation. In April 2012, the FDA notified us that we obtained fast track designation for AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC. Fast track designation does not ensure that we will experience a faster development, regulatory review or approval process compared to conventional FDA procedures. Additionally, the FDA may withdraw fast track designation if it believes that the designation is no longer supported by data from our clinical development program.

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital

We have incurred significant losses since our inception. We expect to incur losses for at least the next several years and may never achieve or maintain profitability.

Since inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. Our net loss was $23.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2013, $53.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2014 and $17.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2015. As of March 31, 2015, we had an accumulated deficit of $221.7 million. To date, we have financed our operations primarily through our initial public offering of common stock, private placements of our preferred stock, convertible debt financings, debt from financial institutions, government contracts, government and other third party grants and license and collaboration agreements. We have devoted substantially all of our efforts to research and development, including clinical trials. We have not completed development of any product candidates. We expect to continue to incur significant expenses and increasing operating losses for at least the next several years. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:

 
continue our ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC and initiate additional clinical trials of AGS-003 for the treatment of cancers;
 
 
initiate and conduct additional clinical trials of AGS-004 for the treatment of HIV;
 
 
seek regulatory approvals for our product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;
 
 
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continue to build out and equip our new commercial facility for the manufacture of our Arcelis-based products;
 
 
establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize products for which we may obtain regulatory approval;
 
 
maintain, expand and protect our intellectual property portfolio;
 
 
continue our other research and development efforts;
 
 
hire additional clinical, quality control, scientific and management personnel; and
 
 
add operational, financial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our product development and planned commercialization efforts.
 
To become and remain profitable, we must develop and eventually commercialize a product or products with significant market potential. This development and commercialization will require us to be successful in a range of challenging activities, including successfully completing preclinical testing and clinical trials of our product candidates, obtaining
regulatory approval for these product candidates, building out and equipping a new commercial manufacturing facility and manufacturing, marketing and selling those products for which we may obtain regulatory approval. We are only in the preliminary stages of some of these activities. We may never succeed in these activities and may never generate revenues that are significant or large enough to achieve profitability.

Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would decrease the value of the company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, maintain our research and development efforts or continue our operations. A decline in the value of our company could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.

We will need substantial additional funding. If we are unable to raise capital when needed, we would be forced to delay, reduce, terminate or eliminate our product development programs, including our phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, our plans to build out and equip our new commercial manufacturing facility or our commercialization efforts.

We expect our expenses to increase in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we continue our phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, initiate additional clinical trials of AGS-003, seek regulatory approval for our product candidates and build out and equip our new commercial manufacturing facility. In addition, if we obtain regulatory approval of any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses for product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Furthermore, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Accordingly, we will need to obtain substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations. If we are unable to raise capital when needed or on attractive terms, we would be forced to delay, reduce, terminate or eliminate our product development programs, our plans to build out and equip a new commercial manufacturing facility or our commercialization efforts.

As of March 31, 2015, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $39.2 million and working capital of $34.8 million. We expect that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with the second tranche of $12.5 million under our Loan Agreement with the Lenders, proceeds from the sale of approximately $10.0 million of our common stock to Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group, Ltd. and China BioPharma Capital I, L.P. that we received in April 2015, proceeds from the sale of an additional $10.0 million of our common stock to Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group, Ltd. and China BioPharma Capital I, L.P. upon the completion of certain events with respect to AGS-003 and the anticipated funding under our NIH and NIAID contract, will enable us to fund our operating expenses into the second half of 2016, including funding our ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003, our planned phase 2 clinical trials of AGS-003, certain of the costs of our ongoing and planned phase 2 clinical trials of AGS-004 and certain of the costs related to our continuing build-out and equipping of our new commercial manufacturing facility for which we will need additional funding.

We will need to obtain significant financing prior to the commercialization of AGS-003, including to complete the planned build-out and equipping of our new commercial manufacturing facility and to fund any commercialization efforts in advance of regulatory approval of AGS-003. Our preliminary estimate indicates that we will require approximately an additional $50.0 million prior to the commercialization of AGS-003 to build out and equip the new commercial manufacturing facility. In addition, we expect to spend approximately an additional $25.0 million on development, equipment and disposables, including costs incurred under the development agreements we entered into with Invetech and Saint-Gobain in October 2014 and January 2015, respectively. We have initiated expenditures for these purposes and construction of the facility began in October 2014. We are actively exploring additional financing arrangements in connection with the build out and equipping of the commercial manufacturing facility and are in discussions with developers, lenders and other potential financing sources regarding potential financial support. We expect to enter into such arrangements during 2015 and that such arrangements will likely involve material obligations and debt liabilities. If we are unable to obtain additional financing when needed, in the required amounts or at all, we may not be able to complete the planned build-out and equipping of the new commercial facility or may be delayed in doing so.
 
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

 
the progress and results of our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 and other clinical trials of AGS-003 that we may conduct;
 
 
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the progress and results of our ongoing phase 2 clinical trial of AGS-004 for HIV eradication and other clinical trials of AGS-004 that we may conduct and our ability to obtain additional funding under our NIH contract for our AGS-004 program;
 
 
the scope, progress, results and costs of preclinical development, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our other product candidates;
 
 
the costs and timing of our build-out and equipping of our new commercial manufacturing facility;
 
 
the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;
 
 
the costs of commercialization activities, including product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive regulatory approval;
 
 
the potential need to repay the $9.0 million loan under our license agreement with Medinet;
 
 
revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of our product candidates, should any of our product candidates be approved by the FDA or a similar regulatory authority outside the United States;
 
 
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;
 
 
the extent to which we acquire or invest in other businesses, products and technologies;
 
 
our ability to obtain government or other third party funding for the development of our product candidates; and
 
 
our ability to establish collaborations on favorable terms, if at all, particularly arrangements to develop, market and distribute AGS-003 outside North America and arrangements for the development and commercialization of our non-oncology product candidates, including AGS-004.
 
Conducting preclinical testing and clinical trials is a time-consuming, expensive and uncertain process that takes years to complete, and we may never generate the necessary data or results required to obtain regulatory approval and achieve product sales. In addition, our product candidates, if approved, may not achieve commercial success. Our commercial revenues, if any, will be derived from sales of products that we do not expect to be commercially available for several years, if at all. Accordingly, we will need to continue to rely on additional financing to achieve our business objectives. Additional financing may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all.

Raising additional capital may cause dilution to our existing stockholders, restrict our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenues, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, government contracts, government and other third party grants or other third party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements and other collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements. We will require substantial funding to complete the planned leasing, build-out and equipping of a new commercial manufacturing facility, fund our commercialization efforts and fund our operating expenses and other activities. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a stockholder. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends.

We currently intend to collaborate with third parties for the manufacturing, development or commercialization of AGS-003 outside of North America. We plan to seek government or other third party funding for the continued development of AGS-004 and to collaborate with third parties for the development and commercialization of AGS-004. If we raise additional funds through government or other third party funding, marketing and distribution arrangements or other collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or to grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If the loan from Medinet becomes due and we do not repay it, we have agreed to grant Medinet a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing license to make and sell Arcelis products in Japan for the treatment of cancer.

Risk Related to the Commercialization of our Product Candidates

We have no history of commercializing pharmaceutical products, which may make it difficult to evaluate the prospects for our future viability.

Our operations to date have been limited to financing and staffing our company, developing our technology and product candidates and establishing collaborations. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to successfully complete a pivotal clinical trial, obtain marketing approvals, manufacture a commercial scale product or conduct sales and marketing activities necessary for successful product commercialization. Consequently, predictions about our future success or viability may not be as accurate as they could be if we had a history of successfully developing and commercializing pharmaceutical products.

 
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In addition, we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other known and unknown factors. We will need to transition at some point from a company with research and development focus to a company capable of supporting commercial activities. We may not be successful in such a transition.

Even if AGS-003 or AGS-004 receives regulatory approval, it may fail to achieve the degree of market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community necessary for commercial success.

We have never commercialized a product candidate. Even if AGS-003 or AGS-004 receives marketing approval, it may nonetheless fail to gain sufficient market acceptance by physicians, patients, healthcare payors and others in the medical community. Gaining market acceptance for our Arcelis-based products may be particularly difficult as, to date, the FDA has only approved one personalized immunotherapy and our Arcelis-based products are based on a novel technology. If these products do not achieve an adequate level of acceptance, we may not generate significant product revenues and we may not become profitable.

The degree of market acceptance of our product candidates, if approved for commercial sale, will depend on a number of factors, including:

 
efficacy and potential advantages compared to alternative treatments;
 
 
the ability to offer our product candidates for sale at competitive prices;
 
 
convenience and ease of administration compared to alternative treatments;
 
 
the willingness of the target patient population to try new therapies and of physicians to prescribe these therapies;
 
 
the strength of sales, marketing and distribution support;
 
 
the approval of other new products for the same indications;
 
 
availability and amount of reimbursement from government payors, managed care plans and other third party payors;
 
 
adverse publicity about the product or favorable publicity about competitive products;
 
 
clinical indications for which the product is approved; and
 
 
the prevalence and severity of any side effects.
 
If any of our product candidates receives marketing approval and we, or others, later discover that the product is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, our ability to market the product could be compromised.

Clinical trials of our product candidates are conducted in carefully defined subsets of patients who have agreed to enter into clinical trials. Consequently, it is possible that our clinical trials may indicate an apparent positive effect of a product candidate that is greater than the actual positive effect, if any, in a broader patient population or alternatively fail to identify undesirable side effects. If, following approval of a product candidate, we, or others, discover that the product is less effective than previously believed or causes undesirable side effects that were not previously identified, any of the following adverse events could occur:

 
regulatory authorities may withdraw their approval of the product or seize the product;
 
 
we may be required to recall the product or change the way the product is administered;
 
 
additional restrictions may be imposed on the marketing of, or the manufacturing processes for, the particular product;
 
 
regulatory authorities may require the addition of labeling statements, such as a “black box” warning or a contraindication;
 
 
we may be required to create a Medication Guide outlining the risks of the previously unidentified side effects for distribution to patients;
 
 
additional restrictions may be imposed on the distribution or use of the product via a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS;
 
 
we could be sued and held liable for harm caused to patients;
 
 
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the product may become less competitive; and
 
 
our reputation may suffer.
 
Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our operations and business and could adversely impact our stock price.

If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates, we may not be successful in commercializing our product candidates if and when they are approved.

We do not have a sales or marketing infrastructure and have no experience in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. To achieve commercial success for any approved product, we must either develop a sales and marketing organization or outsource these functions to third parties. We plan to market and sell AGS-003 in North America independently and to enter into collaborations or other arrangements with third parties for the distribution or marketing of AGS-003 in the rest of the world. We plan to enter into collaborations or other arrangements with third parties for the distribution or marketing of AGS-004 and any of our other product candidates should such candidates receive marketing approval.

There are risks involved with both establishing our own sales and marketing capabilities and entering into arrangements with third parties to perform these services. For example, recruiting and training a sales force is expensive and time consuming and could delay any product launch. If the commercial launch of a product candidate for which we recruit a sales force and establish marketing capabilities is delayed or does not occur for any reason, we would have prematurely or unnecessarily incurred these commercialization expenses. This may be costly, and our investment would be lost if we cannot retain or reposition our sales and marketing personnel.

Factors that may inhibit our efforts to commercialize our products on our own include:
 
 
our inability to recruit and retain adequate numbers of effective sales and marketing personnel;
 
 
the inability of sales personnel to obtain access to or persuade adequate numbers of physicians to prescribe any future products;
 
 
the lack of complementary products to be offered by sales personnel, which may put us at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies with more extensive product lines; and
 
 
unforeseen costs and expenses associated with creating an independent sales and marketing organization.
 
If we enter into arrangements with third parties to perform sales, marketing and distribution services, our product revenues or the profitability of these product revenues to us are likely to be lower than if we were to market and sell any products that we develop ourselves. In addition, we may not be successful in entering into arrangements with third parties to sell and market our product candidates or doing so on terms that are favorable to us. We likely will have little control over such third parties, and any of them may fail to devote the necessary resources and attention to sell and market our products effectively. If we do not establish sales and marketing capabilities successfully, either on our own or in collaboration with third parties, we will not be successful in commercializing our product candidates.

We face substantial competition, which may result in others discovering, developing or commercializing products before or more successfully than we do.

The development and commercialization of new drug products is highly competitive. We face competition with respect to our current product candidates, and will face competition with respect to any products that we may seek to develop or commercialize in the future, from major pharmaceutical companies, specialty pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies worldwide. There are a number of large pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies that currently market and sell products or are pursuing the development of products for the treatment of the disease indications for which we are developing our product candidates. Potential competitors also include academic institutions, government agencies and other public and private research organizations that conduct research, seek patent protection and establish collaborative arrangements for research, development, manufacturing and commercialization.

Some of these competitive products and therapies are based on scientific approaches that are the same as or similar to our approach, and others are based on entirely different approaches. Many marketed therapies for the indications that we are currently pursuing, or indications that we may in the future seek to address using our Arcelis platform, are widely accepted by physicians, patients and payors, which may make it difficult for us to replace them with any products that we successfully develop and are permitted to market.

There are several FDA-approved therapies for mRCC marketed and sold by large pharmaceutical companies. Approved monotherapies for mRCC include Nexavar (sorafenib), marketed by Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Sutent (sunitinib) and Inlyta (axitinib), marketed by Pfizer, Inc.; Avastin (bevacizumab), marketed by Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group; Votrient (pazopanib), marketed by GlaxoSmithKline plc; Torisel (temsirolimus), marketed by Pfizer; and Afinitor (everolimus), marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. In addition, we estimate that there are numerous cancer immunotherapy products in clinical development by many public and private biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies targeting numerous different cancer types. A number of these are in late stage development. One biotechnology company, Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, or Immatics, is developing a therapeutic cancer vaccine, which is a mixture of defined tumor-associated peptides, for the treatment of RCC. Immatics is conducting a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial comparing its vaccine in combination with sunitinib against treatment with sunitinib alone in a subset of favorable and intermediate risk patients. If this clinical trial is successful, this combination therapy would be in direct competition with our AGS-003 and sunitinib combination therapy. In addition, if a standalone therapy for mRCC were developed that demonstrated improved efficacy over currently marketed therapies with a favorable safety profile and without the need for combination therapy, such a therapy might pose a significant competitive threat to AGS-003.

 
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We are currently conducting a pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 plus sunitinib / targeted therapy. We elected to study AGS-003 in clinical trials in combination with sunitinib due in part to sunitinib being the current standard of care for first-line treatment of mRCC. Although we do not expect to seek FDA approval of AGS-003 solely in combination with sunitinib and have provided that, under the protocol for the phase 3 clinical trial, investigators may discontinue sunitinib due to disease progression or toxicity and initiate second-line treatment with other targeted therapies, if we obtain approval by the FDA, such FDA approval may be limited to the combination of AGS-003 and sunitinib. In such event, the commercial success of AGS-003 would be linked to the commercial success of sunitinib. As a result, if sunitinib ceases to be the standard of care for first-line treatment of mRCC or another event occurs that adversely affects sales of sunitinib, the commercial success of AGS-003 may be adversely affected.

There are also numerous FDA-approved treatments for HIV, primarily antiretroviral therapies marketed by large pharmaceutical companies. Generic competition has developed in this market as patent exclusivity periods for older drugs have expired, with more than 15 generic bioequivalents currently on the market. The presence of these generic drugs is resulting in price pressure in the HIV therapeutics market and could affect the pricing of AGS-004. Currently, there are no approved therapies for the eradication of HIV. We expect that major pharmaceutical companies that currently market antiretroviral therapy products or other companies that are developing HIV product candidates may seek to develop products for the eradication of HIV.

Our competitors may develop products that are more effective, safer, more convenient or less costly than any that we are developing or that would render our product candidates obsolete or non-competitive. Our competitors may also obtain FDA or other regulatory approval for their products more rapidly than we may obtain approval for ours.

Many of our competitors have significantly greater financial resources and expertise in research and development, manufacturing, preclinical testing, conducting clinical trials, obtaining regulatory approvals and marketing approved products than we do. Mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and device industries may result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Smaller and other early stage companies may also prove to be significant competitors, particularly through collaborative arrangements with large and established companies. These third parties compete with us in recruiting and retaining qualified scientific and management personnel, establishing clinical trial sites and patient registration for clinical trials, as well as in acquiring technologies complementary to, or necessary for, our programs.

Even if we are able to commercialize any product candidates, the products may become subject to unfavorable pricing regulations, third party reimbursement practices or healthcare reform initiatives, which would harm our business.

The regulations that govern marketing approvals, pricing and reimbursement for new drug products vary widely from country to country. In the United States, recently passed legislation may significantly change the approval requirements in ways that could involve additional costs and cause delays in obtaining approvals. Some countries require approval of the sale price of a drug before it can be marketed. In many countries, the pricing review period begins after marketing or product licensing approval is granted. In some foreign markets, prescription pharmaceutical pricing remains subject to continuing governmental control even after initial approval is granted. As a result, we might obtain regulatory approval for a product in a particular country, but then be subject to price regulations that delay our commercial launch of the product, possibly for lengthy time periods, and negatively impact the revenues we are able to generate from the sale of the product in that country. Adverse pricing limitations may hinder our ability to recoup our investment in one or more product candidates, even if our product candidates obtain regulatory approval.

Our ability to commercialize any products successfully also will depend in part on the extent to which reimbursement for these products and related treatments will be available from government health administration authorities, private health insurers and other organizations. Government authorities and third party payors, such as private health insurers and health maintenance organizations, decide which medications they will pay for and establish reimbursement levels. A primary trend in the U.S. healthcare industry and elsewhere is cost containment. Government authorities and third party payors have attempted to control costs by limiting coverage and the amount of reimbursement for particular medications. Increasingly, third party payors are requiring that drug companies provide them with predetermined discounts from list prices and are challenging the prices charged for medical products. We cannot be sure that reimbursement will be available for any product that we commercialize and, if reimbursement is available, the level of reimbursement. Reimbursement may impact the demand for, or the price of, any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval. Obtaining reimbursement for our products may be particularly difficult because of the higher prices often associated with drugs administered under the supervision of a physician. If reimbursement is not available or is available only to limited levels, we may not be able to successfully commercialize any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval.

 
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There may be significant delays in obtaining reimbursement for newly approved drugs, and coverage may be more limited than the purposes for which the drug is approved by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States. Moreover, eligibility for reimbursement does not imply that any drug will be paid for in all cases or at a rate that covers our costs, including research, development, manufacture, sale and distribution. Interim reimbursement levels for new drugs, if applicable, may also not be sufficient to cover our costs and may not be made permanent. Reimbursement rates may vary according to the use of the drug and the clinical setting in which it is used, may be based on reimbursement levels already set for lower cost drugs, and may be incorporated into existing payments for other services. Net prices for drugs may be reduced by mandatory discounts or rebates required by government healthcare programs or private payors and by any future relaxation of laws that presently restrict imports of drugs from countries where they may be sold at lower prices than in the United States. Third party payors often rely upon Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement policies. Our inability to promptly obtain coverage and profitable payment rates from both government-funded and private payors for any approved products that we develop could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, our ability to raise capital needed to commercialize products and our overall financial condition.

Product liability lawsuits against us could cause us to incur substantial liabilities and to limit commercialization of any products that we may develop.

We face an inherent risk of product liability exposure related to the testing of our product candidates in human clinical trials and will face an even greater risk if we commercially sell any products that we may develop. These risks may be even greater with respect to our Arcelis-based products which are manufactured using a novel technology. None of our product candidates has been widely used over an extended period of time, and therefore our safety data are limited. We derive the raw materials for manufacturing of our Arcelis-based product candidates from human cell sources, and therefore the manufacturing process and handling requirements are extensive and stringent, which increases the risk of quality failures and subsequent product liability claims.

If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against claims that our product candidates or products caused injuries, we will incur substantial liabilities. Regardless of merit or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:

 
decreased demand for any product candidates or products that we may develop;
 
 
injury to our reputation and significant negative media attention;
 
 
withdrawal of clinical trial participants;
 
 
significant costs to defend the related litigation;
 
 
substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients;
 
 
loss of revenue; and
 
 
the inability to commercialize any products that we may develop.
 
We currently hold $10.0 million in product liability insurance coverage, which may not be adequate to cover all liabilities that we may incur. We will need to increase our insurance coverage when we begin commercializing our product candidates, if ever. Insurance coverage is increasingly expensive. We may not be able to maintain insurance coverage at a reasonable cost or in an amount adequate to satisfy any liability that may arise.

We may expend our limited resources to pursue a particular product candidate or indication and fail to capitalize on product candidates or indications that may be more profitable or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.

Because we have limited financial and managerial resources, we focus on research programs and product candidates for specific indications. As a result, we may forego or delay pursuit of opportunities with other product candidates or for other indications that later prove to have greater commercial potential. Our resource allocation decisions may cause us to fail to capitalize on viable commercial products or profitable market opportunities. Our spending on current and future research and development programs and product candidates for specific indications may not yield any commercially viable products.

We have based our research and development efforts on our Arcelis platform. Notwithstanding our large investment to date and anticipated future expenditures in our Arcelis platform, we have not yet developed, and may never successfully develop, any marketed drugs using this approach. As a result of pursuing the development of product candidates using our Arcelis platform, we may fail to develop product candidates or address indications based on other scientific approaches that may offer greater commercial potential or for which there is a greater likelihood of success.
Our long-term business plan is to develop Arcelis-based products for the treatment of various cancers and infectious diseases. We may not be successful in our efforts to identify or discover additional product candidates that may be manufactured using our Arcelis platform. Research programs to identify new product candidates require substantial technical, financial and human resources. These research programs may initially show promise in identifying potential product candidates, yet fail to yield product candidates for clinical development.

If we do not accurately evaluate the commercial potential or target market for a particular product candidate, we may relinquish valuable rights to that product candidate through collaboration, licensing or other royalty arrangements in cases in which it would have been more advantageous for us to retain sole development and commercialization rights to such product candidate.
 
 
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Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties

Our reliance on government funding adds uncertainty to our research and commercialization efforts and may impose requirements that increase the costs of commercialization and production of our government-funded product candidates.

Our phase 2b clinical trial for AGS-004 for HIV was funded entirely by the NIH. We are seeking further government funding for continued development of AGS-004. However, increased pressure on governmental budgets may reduce the availability of government funding for programs such as AGS-004. In addition, contracts and grants from the U.S. government and its agencies include provisions that give the government substantial rights and remedies, many of which are not typically found in commercial contracts, including provisions that allow the government to:

 
terminate agreements, in whole or in part, for any reason or no reason;
 
 
reduce or modify the government’s obligations under such agreements without the consent of the other party;
 
 
claim rights, including intellectual property rights, in products and data developed under such agreements;
 
 
impose U.S. manufacturing requirements for products that embody inventions conceived or first reduced to practice under such agreements;
 
 
suspend or debar the contractor or grantee from doing future business with the government or a specific government agency;
 
 
pursue criminal or civil remedies under the False Claims Act, False Statements Act and similar remedy provisions specific to government agreements; and
 
 
limit the government’s financial liability to amounts appropriated by the U.S. Congress on a fiscal-year basis, thereby leaving some uncertainty about the future availability of funding for a program even after it has been funded for an initial period.
 
Government agreements normally contain additional terms and conditions that may increase our costs of doing business, reduce our profits, and expose us to liability for failure to comply with these terms and conditions. These include, for example:

 
specialized accounting systems unique to government contracts and grants;
 
 
mandatory financial audits and potential liability for price adjustments or recoupment of government funds after such funds have been spent;
 
 
public disclosures of certain contract and grant information, which may enable competitors to gain insights into our research program; and
 
 
mandatory socioeconomic compliance requirements, including labor standards, non-discrimination and affirmative action programs and environmental compliance requirements.
 
We expect to depend on collaborations with third parties for the development and commercialization of our product candidates. If those collaborations are not successful, we may not be able to capitalize on the market potential of these product candidates.

We currently intend to commercialize AGS-003 independently in North America. We intend to collaborate with other third parties to manufacture, develop or commercialize AGS-003 outside North America. We have entered into an exclusive license agreement with Pharmstandard International S.A., or Pharmstandard, for the development and commercialization of AGS-003 in Russia and the other states comprising the Commonwealth of Independent States and an exclusive license agreement with Green Cross Corp., or Green Cross, for the development and commercialization of AGS-003 in South Korea. We have also entered into a license agreement with Medinet under which we granted Medinet an exclusive license to manufacture in Japan AGS-003 for the purpose of development and commercialization for the treatment of mRCC and an option to acquire a non-exclusive license to sell in Japan AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC. In addition, we have entered into a license agreement with Lummy HK under which we granted Lummy HK an exclusive license for the development, manufacture and commercialization of AGS-003 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.We also plan to seek government or other third party funding for continued development of AGS-004 and to collaborate with third parties to develop and commercialize AGS-004. Our likely collaborators for any development, distribution, marketing, licensing or broader collaboration arrangements include large and mid-size pharmaceutical companies, regional and national pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies.

Under our existing arrangements we have limited control, and under any additional arrangements we may enter into with third parties we will likely have limited control, over the amount and timing of resources that our collaborators dedicate to the development or commercialization of our product candidates. Our ability to generate revenues from these arrangements will depend on our collaborators’ abilities to successfully perform the functions assigned to them in these arrangements.

 
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Collaborations involving our product candidates would pose the following risks to us:

 
collaborators have significant discretion in determining the efforts and resources that they will apply to these collaborations;
 
 
collaborators may not pursue development and commercialization of our product candidates or may elect not to continue or renew development or commercialization programs based on clinical trial results, changes in the collaborator’s strategic focus or available funding, or external factors such as an acquisition that diverts resources or creates competing priorities;
 
 
collaborators may delay clinical trials, provide insufficient funding for a clinical trial program, stop a clinical trial or abandon a product candidate, repeat or conduct new clinical trials or, require a new formulation of a product candidate for clinical testing;
 
 
collaborators could independently develop, or develop with third parties, products that compete directly or indirectly with our products or product candidates if the collaborators believe that competitive products are more likely to be successfully developed or can be commercialized under terms that are more economically attractive than ours;
 
 
a collaborator with marketing and distribution rights to one or more products may not commit sufficient resources to the marketing and distribution of such product or products;
 
 
collaborators may have the right to conduct clinical trials of our product candidates without our consent and could conduct trials with flawed designs that result in data that adversely affect our clinical trials, our ability to obtain marketing approval for our product candidates or market acceptance of our product candidates. Pharmstandard, Green Cross, Medinet and Lummy HK each have this right under our license agreements with them;
 
 
collaborators may hold rights that could preclude us from commercializing our products in certain territories. For example, we have granted Medinet an exclusive license to manufacture in Japan AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC and an option to acquire a non-exclusive license to sell in Japan AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC. Even if Medinet does not exercise the option to acquire the license to sell, we will not have the right to manufacture AGS-003 in Japan for the purposes of development and commercialization of AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC. If we and Medinet are unable to agree to the terms of a supply agreement under these circumstances, we will not be able to sell AGS-003 in Japan unless we repurchase these rights from Medinet;
 
 
collaborators may not properly maintain or defend our intellectual property rights or may use our proprietary information in such a way as to invite litigation that could jeopardize or invalidate our proprietary information or expose us to potential litigation;
 
 
disputes may arise between the collaborators and us that result in the delay or termination of the research, development or commercialization of our products or product candidates or that result in costly litigation or arbitration that diverts management attention and resources; and
 
 
collaborations may be terminated and, if terminated, may result in a need for additional capital to pursue further development or commercialization of the applicable product candidates. For example, our collaboration with Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. with respect to AGS-003 and AGS-004 was terminated by our collaborator.
 
Collaboration agreements may not lead to development or commercialization of product candidates in the most efficient manner, or at all. In addition, there have been a significant number of recent business combinations among large pharmaceutical companies that have resulted in a reduced number of potential future collaborators. If a present or future collaborator of ours were to be involved in a business combination, the continued pursuit and emphasis on our product development or commercialization program could be delayed, diminished or terminated.

If we are not able to establish additional collaborations, we may have to alter our development and commercialization plans.

Our drug development programs and the potential commercialization of our product candidates will require substantial additional cash to fund expenses. For some of our product candidates, we intend to collaborate with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for the development and commercialization of those product candidates. For example, we have entered into license agreements with third parties to develop, manufacture and/or commercialize AGS-003 in Russia and the other states comprising the Commonwealth of Independent States, South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, and we intend to collaborate with other third parties to develop and commercialize AGS-003 in other parts of the world and to collaborate with third parties to develop and commercialize AGS-004.

 
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We face significant competition in seeking appropriate collaborators. Whether we reach a definitive agreement for a collaboration will depend, among other things, upon our assessment of the collaborator’s resources and expertise, the terms and conditions of the proposed collaboration, and the proposed collaborator’s evaluation of a number of factors. Those factors may include the design or results of clinical trials, the likelihood of approval by the FDA or similar regulatory authorities outside the United States, the potential market for the subject product candidate, the costs and complexities of manufacturing and delivering such product candidate to patients, the potential of competing products, the existence of uncertainty with respect to our ownership of technology, which can exist if there is a challenge to such ownership without regard to the merits of the challenge and industry and market conditions generally. The collaborator may also consider alternative product candidates or technologies for similar indications that may be available to collaborate on and whether such a collaboration could be more attractive than the one with us for our product candidate. We may also be restricted under existing license agreements from entering into agreements on certain terms with potential collaborators. Collaborations are complex and time-consuming to negotiate and document. We may not be able to negotiate collaborations on a timely basis, on acceptable terms, or at all.

If we are not able to obtain such funding or enter into collaborations for our product candidate, we may have to curtail the development of such product candidate, reduce or delay its development program or one or more of our other development programs, delay its potential commercialization or reduce the scope of any sales or marketing activities, or increase our expenditures and undertake development or commercialization activities at our own expense. If we elect to increase our expenditures to fund development or commercialization activities on our own, we may need to obtain additional capital, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. If we do not have sufficient funds, we may not be able to further develop these product candidates or bring these product candidates to market and generate product revenue.

We rely on third parties to conduct our clinical trials, and those third parties may not perform satisfactorily, including failing to meet deadlines for the completion of such trials.

We do not independently conduct clinical trials of our product candidates. We rely on third parties, such as contract research organizations, clinical data management organizations, medical institutions and clinical investigators, to perform this function. Our reliance on these third parties for clinical development activities reduces our control over these activities but does not relieve us of our responsibilities. We remain responsible for ensuring that each of our clinical trials is conducted in accordance with the general investigational plan and protocols for the trial. Moreover, the FDA requires us to comply with standards, commonly referred to as Good Clinical Practices, for conducting, recording and reporting the results of clinical trials to assure that data and reported results are credible and accurate and that the rights, integrity and confidentiality of trial participants are protected. We also are required to register ongoing clinical trials and post the results of completed clinical trials on a government-sponsored database, ClinicalTrials.gov, within certain timeframes. Failure to do so can result in fines, adverse publicity and civil and criminal sanctions. Furthermore, these third parties may also have relationships with other entities, some of which may be our competitors. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or conduct our clinical trials in accordance with regulatory requirements or our stated protocols, we will not be able to obtain, or may be delayed in obtaining, regulatory approvals for our product candidates and will not be able to, or may be delayed in our efforts to, successfully commercialize our product candidates.

We also rely on other third parties to store and distribute product supplies for our clinical trials. Any performance failure on the part of our existing or future distributors could delay clinical development or regulatory approval of our product candidates or commercialization of our products, producing additional losses and depriving us of potential product revenue.

Risks Related to the Manufacturing of Our Product Candidates

We have commenced the build-out of a new facility to manufacture our Arcelis-based products on a commercial scale using automated processes. We do not have experience in manufacturing Arcelis-based products on a commercial scale or using automated processes. If, due to our lack of manufacturing experience, we cannot manufacture our Arcelis-based products on a commercial scale successfully or manufacture sufficient product to meet our expected commercial requirements, our business may be materially harmed.

We currently have manufacturing suites in our facility located at our corporate headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. We manufacture our Arcelis-based product candidates for research and development purposes and for clinical trials at this facility. In August 2014, we entered into a lease agreement with a developer for an approximately 120,000 square-foot building to be constructed in Durham County, North Carolina. This facility will house our corporate headquarters and commercial manufacturing. The shell of the new facility is being constructed on a build-to-suit basis in accordance with agreed upon specifications and plans. We expect the shell of the facility will be completed by June 1, 2015 after which the interior of the facility will be built out and equipped. 
 
We plan to establish automated manufacturing processes based on existing functioning prototypes of automated devices for the production of commercial quantities of our Arcelis-based product. These devices can be used to perform substantially all steps required for the manufacture of our Arcelis-based product candidates.

We do not have experience in manufacturing products on a commercial scale or using automated processes. In addition, because we are aware of only one company that has manufactured a personalized immunotherapy product for commercial sale, there are limited precedents from which we can learn. We may encounter difficulties in the manufacture of our Arcelis-based products due to our limited manufacturing experience. These difficulties could delay the build-out and equipping of the new facility and regulatory approval of the manufacture of our Arcelis-based products using the new facility and the automated processes, increase our costs or cause production delays or result in us not manufacturing sufficient product to meet our expected commercial requirements, any of which could damage our reputation and hurt our profitability. If we are unable to successfully increase our manufacturing capacity to commercial scale, our business may be materially adversely affected.

 
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We have commenced the build-out of a new commercial manufacturing facility and plan to equip this facility based on automated manufacturing processes and augment our manufacturing personnel in advance of any regulatory submission for approval of AGS-003. If we fail to build out and equip a new commercial manufacturing facility in compliance with regulatory requirements, implement our automated processes or augment our manufacturing personnel, we may not be able to initiate commercial operations or produce sufficient product to meet our expected commercial requirements.

In order to meet our business plan, which contemplates manufacturing our product internally using automated processes for the commercial requirements of AGS-003 and any other Arcelis-based product candidates that might be approved, we will need to build out and equip a new commercial manufacturing facility and add manufacturing personnel in advance of any regulatory submission for approval of AGS-003. The build-out and equipping of our facilities will require substantial capital expenditures and additional regulatory approvals. In addition, it will be costly and time consuming to recruit necessary additional personnel.

Prior to implementing the automated manufacturing processes for Arcelis-based products and filing a BLA for approval of AGS-003, we will be required to:

 
demonstrate that the disposable components and sterilization and packaging methods used in the manufacturing process are suitable for use in manufacturing in accordance with current good manufacturing practice, or cGMP, and current Good Tissue Practices, or cGTP;
 
 
build and validate processing equipment that complies with cGMP and cGTP;
 
 
build out and equip a suitable manufacturing facility to accommodate the automated manufacturing process;
 
 
perform process testing with final equipment, disposable components and reagents to demonstrate that the methods are suitable for use in cGMP and cGTP manufacturing;
 
 
demonstrate consistency and repeatability of the automated manufacturing processes in the production of AGS-003 in our new facility to fully validate the manufacturing and control process using the actual automated cGMP processing equipment; and
 
 
demonstrate comparability between AGS-003 that we produce using existing processes in our current facility and AGS-003 produced using the automated processes in our new facility.
 
We expect to complete this implementation in the second half of 2016, but such implementation could take longer, particularly if we are unable to achieve any of the required tasks on a timely basis, or at all. We are collaborating with Invetech and Saint-Gobain to develop the equipment and disposables necessary to implement the automated manufacturing processes for Arcelis-based products. If Invetech or Saint-Gobain do not perform as expected under the agreements or the projects with Invetech or Saint-Gobain are unsuccessful for any other reason, our business could be adversely affected and our timelines for AGS-003 could be delayed.

If the FDA requires us to conduct a bridging study to demonstrate comparability between AGS-003 that we produce manually and AGS-003 produced using the automated processes, the implementation of the automated manufacturing processes and the filing of the BLA will likely be delayed.

If we are unable to successfully build out and equip our commercial manufacturing facility in compliance with regulatory requirements, implement the automated processes required, demonstrate comparability between the AGS-003 used in our pivotal trial and the AGS-003 produced using the automated processes in the new facility, or hire additional necessary manufacturing personnel appropriately, our filing for regulatory approval of AGS-003 may be delayed or denied and we may not be able to initiate commercial operations even if any of our product candidates are approved for marketing. 

Lack of coordination internally among our employees and externally with physicians, hospitals and third- party suppliers and carriers, could cause manufacturing difficulties, disruptions or delays and cause us to not have sufficient product to meet our expected clinical trial requirements or potential commercial requirements.

Manufacturing our Arcelis-based product candidates requires coordination internally among our employees and externally with physicians, hospitals and third party suppliers and carriers. For example, a patient’s physician or clinical site will need to coordinate with us for the shipping of a patient’s disease sample and leukapheresis product to our manufacturing facility, and we will need to coordinate with them for the shipping of the manufactured product to them. Such coordination involves a number of risks that may lead to failures or delays in manufacturing our Arcelis-based product candidates, including:

 
failure to obtain a sufficient supply of key raw materials of suitable quality;
 
 
difficulties in manufacturing our product candidates for multiple patients simultaneously;
 
 
 
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difficulties in obtaining adequate patient-specific material, such as tumor samples, virus samples or leukapheresis product, from physicians;
 
 
difficulties in completing the development and validation of the specialized assays required to ensure the consistency of our product candidates;
 
 
failure to ensure adequate quality control and assurances in the manufacturing process as we increase production quantities;
 
 
difficulties in the timely shipping of patient-specific materials to us or in the shipping of our product candidates to the treating physicians due to errors by third party carriers, transportation restrictions or other reasons;
 
 
destruction of, or damage to, patient-specific materials or our product candidates during the shipping process due to improper handling by third party carriers, hospitals, physicians or us;
 
 
destruction of, or damage to, patient-specific materials or our product candidates during storage at our facilities; and
 
 
destruction of, or damage to, patient-specific materials or our product candidates stored at clinical and future commercial sites due to improper handling or holding by clinicians, hospitals or physicians.
 
If we are unable to coordinate appropriately, we may encounter delays or additional costs in achieving our clinical and commercialization objectives, including in obtaining regulatory approvals of our product candidates and supplying product, which could materially damage our business and financial position.

If our existing manufacturing facility or the new commercial manufacturing facility that we are building out and plan to equip are damaged or destroyed, or production at one of these facilities is otherwise interrupted, our business and prospects would be negatively affected.

We currently have a single manufacturing facility and expect that the new commercial manufacturing facility that we are building out and plan to equip will be our only commercial manufacturing facility in North America. If our existing manufacturing facility or the new commercial manufacturing facility that we are building out and plan to equip, or the equipment in either of these facilities, is damaged or destroyed, we likely would not be able to quickly or inexpensively replace our manufacturing capacity and possibly would not be able to replace it at all. Any new facility needed to replace either our existing manufacturing facility or the planned new commercial manufacturing facility would need to comply with the necessary regulatory requirements, need to be tailored to our specialized automated manufacturing requirements and require specialized equipment. We would need FDA approval before selling any products manufactured at a new facility. Such an event could delay our clinical trials or, if any of our product candidates are approved by the FDA, reduce or eliminate our product sales.

We maintain insurance coverage to cover damage to our property and equipment and to cover business interruption and research and development restoration expenses. If we have underestimated our insurance needs with respect to an interruption in our clinical manufacturing of our product candidates, we may not be able to adequately cover our losses.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

If we fail to comply with our obligations under our intellectual property licenses with third parties, we could lose license rights that are important to our business.

We are a party to a number of intellectual property license agreements with third parties, including with respect to each of AGS-003 and AGS-004, and we expect to enter into additional license agreements in the future. Our existing license agreements impose, and we expect that future license agreements will impose, various diligence, milestone payment, royalty, insurance and other obligations on us. For example, under our license agreement with Duke University which relates to patents and patent applications directed towards the composition of matter of Arcelis-based products, dendritic cells loaded with RNA from tumors or pathogens, methods of manufacture of these products and methods of using these products to treat tumors, we are required to use commercially reasonable efforts to research, develop and market license products and to satisfy other specified obligations. If we fail to comply with our obligations under these licenses, our licensors may have the right to terminate these license agreements, in which event we might not be able to market any product that is covered by these agreements, or to convert the license to a non-exclusive license, which could materially adversely affect the value of the product candidate being developed under the license agreement. Termination of these license agreements or reduction or elimination of our licensed rights may result in our having to negotiate new or reinstated licenses with less favorable terms.
 
 
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If we are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for our technology and products, or if our licensors are unable to obtain and maintain patent protection for the technology or products that we license from them, or if the scope of the patent protection obtained is not sufficiently broad, our competitors could develop and commercialize technology and products similar or identical to ours, and our ability to successfully commercialize our technology and products may be adversely affected.
 
Our success depends in large part on our and our licensors’ ability to obtain and maintain patent protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our proprietary technology and products. We and our licensors have sought to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in the United States and abroad related to our novel technologies and products that are important to our business. This process is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development efforts before it is too late to obtain patent protection. Moreover, in some circumstances, we do not have the right to control the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications, or to maintain the patents, covering technology or products that we license from third parties and are reliant on our licensors. Therefore, we cannot be certain that these patents and applications will be prosecuted and enforced in a manner consistent with the best interests of our business. If such licensors fail to maintain such patents, or lose rights to those patents, the rights we have licensed may be reduced or eliminated.

The patent position of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies generally is highly uncertain, involves complex legal and factual questions and has in recent years been the subject of much litigation. As a result, the issuance, scope, validity, enforceability and commercial value of our and our licensors’ patent rights are highly uncertain. Our and our licensors’ pending and future patent applications may not result in patents being issued which protect our technology or products or which effectively prevent others from commercializing competitive technologies and products. Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of our patents or narrow the scope of our patent protection.

Third parties could practice our inventions in territories where we do not have patent protection. Furthermore, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. For example, we own or exclusively license patents relating to our process of manufacturing a personalized drug product. A U.S. patent may be infringed by anyone who, without authorization, practices the patented process in the United States or imports a product made by a process covered by the U.S. patent. In foreign countries, however, importation of a product made by a process patented in that country may not constitute an infringing activity, which would limit our ability to enforce our process patents against importers in that country. Furthermore, the legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents and other intellectual property protection. This could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents or the misappropriation of our other intellectual property rights. If competitors are able to use our technologies, our ability to compete effectively could be harmed.

Furthermore, publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. Therefore we cannot be certain that we or our licensors were the first to make the inventions claimed in our owned or licensed patents or pending patent applications, or that we or our licensors were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions.

Assuming the other requirements for patentability are met, in the United States, the first to invent the claimed invention is entitled to the patent, while outside the United States, the first to file a patent application is generally entitled to the patent. Under the America Invents Act, or AIA, enacted in September 2011, the United States moved to a first inventor to file system in March 2013. The United States Patent and Trademark Office only recently finalized the rules relating to these changes and courts have yet to address the new provisions. These changes could increase the costs and uncertainties surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of our patent rights. Furthermore, we may become involved in interference proceedings, opposition proceedings, or other post-grant proceedings, such as reissue, reexamination or inter partes review proceedings, which may challenge our patent rights or the patent rights of others. For example, we have filed an application for reissue of one of our U.S. patents directed towards methods of manufacture of dendritic cells from monocytes stored for more than six hours and up to four days without freezing. An adverse determination in any such proceeding or litigation could reduce the scope of, or invalidate, our patent rights, allow third parties to commercialize our technology or products and compete directly with us, without payment to us, or result in our inability to manufacture or commercialize products without infringing third party patent rights.

Even if our owned and licensed patent applications issue as patents, they may not issue in a form that will provide us with any meaningful protection, prevent competitors from competing with us or otherwise provide us with any competitive advantage. Our competitors may be able to circumvent our owned or licensed patents by developing similar or alternative technologies or products in a non-infringing manner. The issuance of a patent is not conclusive as to its scope, validity or enforceability, and our owned and licensed patents may be challenged in the courts or patent offices in the United States and abroad. Such challenges may result in patent claims being narrowed, invalidated or held unenforceable, which could limit our ability to or stop or prevent us from stopping others from using or commercializing similar or identical technology and products, or limit the duration of the patent protection of our technology and products. Given the amount of time required for the development, testing and regulatory review of new product candidates, patents protecting such candidates might expire before or shortly after such candidates are commercialized. For example, certain of the U.S. patents we exclusively license from Duke University expire as early as 2016 and the European and Japanese patents exclusively licensed from Duke University expire in 2017. As a result, our owned and licensed patent portfolio may not provide us with sufficient rights to exclude others from commercializing products similar or identical to ours.

We may become involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our patents, which could be expensive, time consuming and unsuccessful.

Competitors may infringe our patents. To counter such infringement or unauthorized use, we may be required to file infringement claims against third parties, which can be expensive and time consuming. In addition, during an infringement proceeding, a court may decide that the patent rights we are asserting are invalid or unenforceable, or may refuse to stop the other party from using the technology at issue on the grounds that our patents do not cover the technology in question. An adverse result in any litigation proceeding could put one or more of our patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. In addition, our licensors may have rights to file and prosecute such claims and we are reliant on them.

 
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Third parties may initiate legal proceedings alleging that we are infringing their intellectual property rights, the outcome of which would be uncertain and could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

Our commercial success depends upon our ability and the ability of our collaborators to develop, manufacture, market and sell our product candidates and use our proprietary technologies without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. We cannot ensure that third parties do not have, or will not in the future obtain, intellectual property rights such as granted patents that could block our ability to operate as we would like. There may be patents in the United States or abroad owned by third parties that, if valid, may block our ability to make, use or sell our products in the United States or certain countries outside the United States, or block our ability to import our products into the United States or into certain countries outside the United States.

We may become party to, or threatened with, future adversarial proceedings or litigation regarding intellectual property rights with respect to our products and technology. For example, third parties may assert infringement claims against us based on existing patents or patents that may be granted in the future. If we are found to infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, we could be required to obtain a license from such third party to continue developing and marketing our products and technology. However, we may be unable to obtain any required license on commercially reasonable terms or even obtain a license at all. Even if we were able to obtain a license, it could be non-exclusive, thereby giving our competitors access to the same technologies licensed to us. We could be forced, including by court order, to cease commercializing the infringing technology or product. In addition, we could be found liable for monetary damages. A finding of infringement could prevent us from commercializing our product candidates or force us to cease some of our business operations, which could materially harm our business. Claims that we have misappropriated the confidential information or trade secrets of third parties could have a similar negative impact on our business.

We have research licenses to certain reagents and their use in the development of our product candidates. We would need commercial licenses to these reagents for any of our product candidates that receive approval for sale in the United States. We believe that commercial licenses to these reagents will be available. However, if we are unable to obtain any such commercial licenses, we may be unable to commercialize our product candidates without infringing the patent rights of third parties. If we did seek to commercialize our product candidates without a license, these third parties could initiate legal proceedings against us.

We may be subject to claims that our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of their former employers.

Many of our employees were previously employed at universities or other biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or these employees have used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any such employee’s former employer. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to intellectual property claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of patent litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position would be harmed.

In addition to seeking patents for some of our technology and products, we also rely on trade secrets, including unpatented know-how, technology and other proprietary information, to maintain our competitive position. The types of protections available for trade secrets are particularly important with respect to our Arcelis platform’s manufacturing capabilities, which involve significant unpatented know-how. We seek to protect these trade secrets, in part, by entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to them, such as our employees, corporate collaborators, outside scientific collaborators, sponsored researchers, contract manufacturers, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. If any of our trade secrets were to be lawfully obtained or independently developed by a competitor, we would have no right to prevent them from using that technology or information to compete with us. If any of our trade secrets were to be disclosed to or independently developed by a competitor, our competitive position would be harmed.

 
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Risks Related to Legal Compliance Matters

Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval could be subject to restrictions or withdrawal from the market and we may be subject to penalties if we fail to comply with regulatory requirements or if we experience unanticipated problems with our products, when and if any of them are approved.

Any product candidate for which we obtain marketing approval, along with the manufacturing processes, post-approval clinical data, labeling, advertising and promotional activities for such product, will be subject to continual requirements of and review by the FDA and other regulatory authorities. These requirements include submissions of safety and other post-marketing information and reports, registration and listing requirements, cGMP requirements relating to quality control, quality assurance and corresponding maintenance of records and documents, cGTP requirements, requirements regarding the distribution of samples to physicians and recordkeeping. Even if regulatory approval of a product candidate is granted, the approval may be subject to limitations on the indicated uses for which the product may be marketed or to the conditions of approval, or contain requirements for costly post-marketing testing and surveillance to monitor the safety or efficacy of the product. The FDA closely regulates the post-approval marketing and promotion of drugs to ensure drugs are marketed only for the approved indications and in accordance with the provisions of the approved label. The FDA imposes stringent restrictions on manufacturers’ communications regarding off-label use and if we do not market our products for their approved indications, we may be subject to enforcement action for off-label marketing. In addition, later discovery of previously unknown problems with our products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes, or failure to comply with regulatory requirements, may yield various results, including:

 
restrictions on such products, manufacturers or manufacturing processes;
 
 
restrictions on the marketing of a product;
 
 
restrictions on product distribution;
 
 
requirements to conduct post-marketing clinical trials;
 
 
warning or untitled letters;
 
 
withdrawal of the products from the market;
 
 
refusal to approve pending applications or supplements to approved applications that we submit;
 
 
recall of products;
 
 
fines, restitution or disgorgement of profits or revenue;
 
 
suspension or withdrawal of regulatory approvals;
 
 
refusal to permit the import or export of our products;
 
 
product seizure; or
 
 
injunctions or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

Our relationships with customers and third party payors will be subject to applicable anti-kickback, fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations, which could expose us to criminal sanctions, civil penalties, program exclusion, contractual damages, reputational harm and diminished profits and future earnings.

Healthcare providers, physicians and third party payors play a primary role in the recommendation and prescription of any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval. Our future arrangements with third party payors and customers may expose us to broadly applicable fraud and abuse and other healthcare laws and regulations that may constrain the business or financial arrangements and relationships through which we market, sell and distribute our products for which we obtain marketing approval. Restrictions under applicable federal and state healthcare laws and regulations, include the following:

 
the federal healthcare anti-kickback statute prohibits, among other things, persons from knowingly and willfully soliciting, offering, receiving or providing remuneration, directly or indirectly, in cash or in kind, to induce or reward either the referral of an individual for, or the purchase, order or recommendation of, any good or service, for which payment may be made under federal and state healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid;
 
 
 
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the federal False Claims Act imposes civil penalties, including civil whistleblower or qui tam actions, against individuals or entities for knowingly presenting, or causing to be presented, to the federal government, claims for payment that are false or fraudulent or making a false statement to avoid, decrease or conceal an obligation to pay money to the federal government;
 
 
the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, imposes criminal and civil liability for executing a scheme to defraud any healthcare benefit program and also imposes obligations, including mandatory contractual terms, with respect to safeguarding the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information;
 
 
the federal false statements statute prohibits knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing or covering up a material fact or making any materially false statement in connection with the delivery of or payment for healthcare benefits, items or services;
 
 
the federal transparency requirements under the Health Care Reform Law will require manufacturers of drugs, devices, biologics and medical supplies to report to the Department of Health and Human Services information related to physician payments and other transfers of value and physician ownership and investment interests; and
 
 
analogous state laws and regulations, such as state anti-kickback and false claims laws, may apply to sales or marketing arrangements and claims involving healthcare items or services reimbursed by non-governmental third party payors, including private insurers, and some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government in addition to requiring drug manufacturers to report information related to payments to physicians and other health care providers or marketing expenditures.
 
Some state laws require pharmaceutical companies to comply with the pharmaceutical industry’s voluntary compliance guidelines and the relevant compliance guidance promulgated by the federal government and may require drug manufacturers to report information related to payments and other transfers of value to physicians and other healthcare providers or marketing expenditures. State and foreign laws also govern the privacy and security of health information in some circumstances, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and often are not preempted by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, thus complicating compliance efforts.

Efforts to ensure that our business arrangements with third parties will comply with applicable healthcare laws and regulations will involve substantial costs. It is possible that governmental authorities will conclude that our business practices may not comply with current or future statutes, regulations or case law involving applicable fraud and abuse or other healthcare laws and regulations. If our operations are found to be in violation of any of these laws or any other governmental regulations that may apply to us, we may be subject to significant civil, criminal and administrative penalties, damages, fines, exclusion from government funded healthcare programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and the curtailment or restructuring of our operations. If any of the physicians or other providers or entities with whom we expect to do business are found to be not in compliance with applicable laws, they may be subject to criminal, civil or administrative sanctions, including exclusions from government funded healthcare programs.

Recently enacted and future legislation may increase the difficulty and cost for us to obtain marketing approval of and commercialize our product candidates and affect the prices we may obtain.

In the United States and some foreign jurisdictions, there have been a number of legislative and regulatory changes and proposed changes regarding the healthcare system that could prevent or delay marketing approval of our product candidates, restrict or regulate post-approval activities and affect our ability to profitably sell any product candidates for which we obtain marketing approval.

In the United States, the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, or Medicare Modernization Act, changed the way Medicare covers and pays for pharmaceutical products. The legislation expanded Medicare coverage for drug purchases by the elderly and introduced a new reimbursement methodology based on average sales prices for physician administered drugs. In addition, this legislation provided authority for limiting the number of drugs that will be covered in any therapeutic class in certain cases. Cost reduction initiatives and other provisions of this and other more recent legislation could decrease the coverage and reimbursement that is provided for any approved products. While the Medicare Modernization Act applies only to drug benefits for Medicare beneficiaries, private payors often follow Medicare coverage policy and payment limitations in setting their own reimbursement rates. Therefore, any reduction in reimbursement that results from the Medicare Modernization Act or other more recent legislation may result in a similar reduction in payments from private payors.

In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Health Care Reform Law, a sweeping law intended to broaden access to health insurance, reduce or constrain the growth of healthcare spending, enhance remedies against fraud and abuse, add new transparency requirements for health care and health insurance industries, impose new taxes and fees on the health industry and impose additional health policy reforms. Effective October 1, 2010, the Health Care Reform Law revises the definition of “average manufacturer price” for reporting purposes, which could increase the amount of Medicaid drug rebates to states. Further, the new law imposes a significant annual fee on companies that manufacture or import branded prescription drug products. Substantial new provisions affecting compliance have also been enacted, which may affect our business practices with health care practitioners. We will not know the full effects of the Health Care Reform Law until applicable federal and state agencies issue regulations or guidance under the new law. Although it is too early to determine the effect of the Health Care Reform Law, the new law appears likely to continue the pressure on pharmaceutical pricing, especially under the Medicare program, and may also increase our regulatory burdens and operating costs.

 
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Legislative and regulatory proposals have been made to expand post-approval requirements and restrict sales and promotional activities for pharmaceutical products. We cannot be sure whether additional legislative changes will be enacted, or whether the FDA regulations, guidance or interpretations will be changed, or what the impact of such changes on the marketing approvals of our product candidates, if any, may be. In addition, increased scrutiny by the U.S. Congress of the FDA’s approval process may significantly delay or prevent marketing approval, as well as subject us to more stringent product labeling and post-marketing testing and other requirements.

With the enactment of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, or BPCIA, as part of the Health Care Reform Law, an abbreviated pathway for the approval of biosimilar and interchangeable biological products was created. The new abbreviated regulatory pathway establishes legal authority for the FDA to review and approve biosimilar biologics, including the possible designation of a biosimilar as “interchangeable” based on its similarity to an existing brand product. Under the BPCIA, an application for a biosimilar product cannot be submitted to the FDA until four years, or approved by the FDA until 12 years, after the original brand product identified as the reference product was approved under a BLA. The new law is complex and is only beginning to be interpreted and implemented by the FDA. As a result, its ultimate impact, implementation and meaning is subject to uncertainty. While it is uncertain when any such processes may be fully adopted by the FDA, any such processes could have a material adverse effect on the future commercial prospects for our biological products.

We believe that if any of our product candidates were to be approved as biological products under a BLA, such approved products should qualify for the four-year and 12-year periods of exclusivity. However, there is a risk that the U.S. Congress could amend the BPCIA to significantly shorten these exclusivity periods as proposed by President Obama, or that the FDA will not consider our product candidates to be reference products for competing products, potentially creating the opportunity for generic competition sooner than anticipated. Moreover, the extent to which a biosimilar, once approved, will be substituted for any one of our reference products in a way that is similar to traditional generic substitution for non-biological products is not yet clear, and will depend on a number of marketplace and regulatory factors that are still developing.

If we fail to comply with environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including those governing laboratory procedures and the handling, use, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes. Our operations involve the use of hazardous and flammable materials, including chemicals and radioactive and biological materials. Our operations also produce hazardous waste products. We generally contract with third parties for the disposal of these materials and wastes. We cannot eliminate the risk of contamination or injury from these materials. In the event of contamination or injury resulting from our use of hazardous materials, we could be held liable for any resulting damages, and any liability could exceed our resources. We also could incur significant costs associated with civil or criminal fines and penalties.

Although we maintain workers’ compensation insurance to cover us for costs and expenses we may incur due to injuries to our employees resulting from the use of hazardous materials, this insurance may not provide adequate coverage against potential liabilities. We do not maintain insurance for environmental liability or toxic tort claims that may be asserted against us in connection with our storage or disposal of biological, hazardous or radioactive materials.

In addition, we may incur substantial costs in order to comply with current or future environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. These current or future laws and regulations may impair our research, development or production efforts. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations also may result in substantial fines, penalties or other sanctions.

Risks Related to Employee Matters and Managing Growth

Our future success depends on our ability to retain our chief executive officer and other key executives and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.

We are highly dependent on Jeffrey Abbey, our President and Chief Executive Officer, Charles Nicolette, our Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer, and Fred Miesowicz, our Vice President of Manufacturing and Chief Operating Officer, as well as the other principal members of our management and scientific teams. Although we have formal employment agreements with each of our executive officers, these agreements do not prevent our executives from terminating their employment with us at any time. We do not maintain “key person” insurance for any of our executives or other employees. The loss of the services of any of these persons could impede the achievement of our research, development and commercialization objectives.

Recruiting and retaining qualified scientific, clinical, manufacturing and sales and marketing personnel will also be critical to our success. We may not be able to attract and retain these personnel on acceptable terms given the competition among numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for similar personnel. We also experience competition for the hiring of scientific and clinical personnel from universities and research institutions. In addition, we rely on consultants and advisors, including scientific and clinical advisors, to assist us in formulating our research and development and commercialization strategy. Our consultants and advisors may be employed by employers other than us and may have commitments under consulting or advisory contracts with other entities that may limit their availability to us.

 
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We expect to expand our development, regulatory, manufacturing and sales and marketing capabilities, and as a result, we may encounter difficulties in managing our growth, which could disrupt our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the number of our employees and the scope of our operations, particularly in the areas of drug development, regulatory affairs, manufacturing and sales and marketing. To manage our anticipated future growth, we must continue to implement and improve our managerial, operational and financial systems, expand our facilities and continue to recruit and train additional qualified personnel. Due to our limited financial resources and the limited experience of our management team in managing a company with such anticipated growth, we may not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations or recruit and train additional qualified personnel. The physical expansion of our operations may lead to significant costs and may divert our management and business development resources. Any inability to manage growth could delay the execution of our business plans or disrupt our operations.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our executive officers, directors and stockholders who own more than 5% of our outstanding common stock maintain the ability to control all matters submitted to stockholders for approval.

Our executive officers, directors and stockholders who own more than 5% of our outstanding common stock, in the aggregate, beneficially owned shares representing approximately 69.3% of our common stock as of April 30, 2015. As a result, if these stockholders were to choose to act together, they would be able to control all matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, as well as our management and affairs. For example, these persons, if they choose to act together, would control the election of directors and approval of any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This concentration of voting power could delay or prevent an acquisition of our company on terms that other stockholders may desire.

Our largest stockholder, Pharmstandard, could exert significant influence over us and could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including any change of control.

Our largest stockholder, Pharmstandard, owns, in the aggregate, approximately 28.9% of our outstanding common stock as of April 30, 2015. In addition, two members of our board of directors are affiliates of Pharmstandard. As a result, we expect that Pharmstandard will be able to exert significant influence over our business. Pharmstandard may have interests that differ from your interests, and it may vote in a way with which you disagree and that may be adverse to your interests. The concentration of ownership of our capital stock may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change of control of our company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company and may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.

Provisions in our corporate charter and our bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of us that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Among other things, these provisions:

establish a classified board of directors such that not all members of the board are elected at one time;
 
allow the authorized number of our directors to be changed only by resolution of our board of directors;
 
limit the manner in which stockholders can remove directors from the board;
 
establish advance notice requirements for stockholder proposals that can be acted on at stockholder meetings and nominations to our board of directors;
 
require that stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called stockholder meeting and prohibit actions by our stockholders by written consent;
 
limit who may call stockholder meetings;
 
authorize our board of directors to issue preferred stock without stockholder approval, which could be used to institute a “poison pill” that would work to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer, effectively preventing acquisitions that have not been approved by our board of directors; and
 
 
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require the approval of the holders of at least 75% of the votes that all our stockholders would be entitled to cast to amend or repeal certain provisions of our charter or bylaws.
 
Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner.

An active trading market for our common stock may not be sustained.

Our common stock began trading on The NASDAQ Global Market on February 6, 2014. Given the limited trading history of our common stock, there is a risk that an active trading market for our shares will not be sustained, which could put downward pressure on the market price of our common stock and thereby affect the ability of our stockholders to sell their shares.

If our stock price is volatile, purchasers of our common stock could incur substantial losses.

Our stock price is likely to be volatile. For example, our stock has traded in a range from a low of $5.61 and high of $13.74 during the period of February 7, 2014 through April 30, 2015. The stock market in general and the market for biotechnology companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:

results of clinical trials of our product candidates or those of our competitors;
 
the success of competitive products or technologies;
 
potential approvals of our product candidates for marketing by the FDA or equivalent foreign regulatory authorities or our failure to obtain such approvals;
 
regulatory or legal developments in the United States and other countries;
 
the results of our efforts to commercialize our product candidates;
 
developments or disputes concerning patents or other proprietary rights;
 
the recruitment or departure of key personnel;
 
the level of expenses related to any of our product candidates or clinical development programs;
 
the results of our efforts to discover, develop, acquire or in-license additional product candidates or products;
 
actual or anticipated changes in estimates as to financial results, development timelines or recommendations by securities analysts;
 
variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;
 
changes in the structure of healthcare payment systems;
 
market conditions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and issuance of new or changed securities analysts’ reports or recommendations;
 
general economic, industry and market conditions; and
 
the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
 
We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are required to furnish a report by our management on our internal control over financial reporting. However, while we remain an emerging growth company, we will not be required to include an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with
 
 
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Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are engaged in a process to document and evaluate our internal control over financial reporting, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for internal control over financial reporting. If we identify one or more material weaknesses, it could result in an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our financial statements.
 
We are an “emerging growth company,” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and may remain an emerging growth company for up to five years. For so long as we remain an emerging growth company, we are permitted and plan to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In our 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K, we did not include all of the executive compensation related information that would be required if we were not an emerging growth company. We cannot predict whether investors will find our common stock less attractive if we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

In addition, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have irrevocably elected not to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, we will be subject to the same new or revised accounting standards as other public companies that are not emerging growth companies.

Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. In September 2014, we entered into a venture loan and security agreement with Horizon Technology Finance Corporation and Fortress Credit Co LLC. The terms of this agreement preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. There can be no assurance that analysts will cover us, or provide favorable coverage. If one or more analysts downgrade our stock or change their opinion of our stock to be less favorable, our share price would likely decline. In addition, if one or more analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
 
(a) Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
 
None.
 
(b)  Use of Proceeds
 
In February 2014, we issued and sold 6,228,725 shares of our common stock, including 603,725 shares of common stock sold pursuant to the underwriters’ exercise of their option to purchase additional shares, in our initial public offering at a public offering price of $8.00 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $49.8 million. The net offering proceeds to us, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of approximately $3.5 million and offering expenses of approximately $2.9 million, were approximately $43.4 million. All of the shares issued and sold in our initial public offering were registered under the Securities Act pursuant to a Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-193137), which was declared effective by the SEC on February 6, 2014.
   
 
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As of March 31, 2015, we had used the entire $43.4 million of the net offering proceeds to fund the costs of our ongoing pivotal phase 3 clinical trial of AGS-003 for the treatment of mRCC and for working capital and general corporate purposes. There was no material change in the planned use of proceeds from our initial public offering as described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on February 6, 2014 pursuant to Rule 424(b) of the Securities Act.
 
Item 6. Exhibits
 
The exhibits filed as part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are listed in the Exhibit Index immediately following the signatures page of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and are incorporated herein by reference.
 
 
 
 

 
 
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SIGNATURES
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
 
     
By:
/s/ Jeffrey D. Abbey
 
 
Name: Jeffrey D. Abbey
 
 
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
 
  (Principal Executive Officer)  
     
By:
/s/ Lori R. Harrelson  
  Name: Lori R. Harrelson  
  Title: Vice President of Finance  
  (Principal Financial Officer)  
 
Date: May 15, 2015

 
 
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  EXHIBIT INDEX
 
     
Exhibit
Number
 
Description of Exhibit
     
10.1
 
Purchase Agreement dated February 16, 2015, between Argos Therapeutics, Inc. and TKC LXXII, LLC (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 20, 2015)
     
10.2 *
 
License Agreement, dated April 7, 2015, by and between the Registrant and Lummy (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd
     
31.1*
 
Certification of principal executive officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
     
31.2*
 
Certification of principal financial officer pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
     
32.1*
 
Certifications pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, by the Registrant’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer
     
101.INS
 
XBRL Instance Document
     
101.SCH
 
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
     
101.CAL
 
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
     
101.DEF
 
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
     
101.LAB
 
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
     
101.PRE
 
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
 
*
Filed herewith.    
 
 
Confidential treatment requested as to portions of the exhibit. Confidential materials omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
 
 
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Exhibit 10.2
 
 
Confidential Materials omitted and filed separately with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Double asterisks denote omissions.
 
 
Execution Copy





LICENSE AGREEMENT
 
by and between
 
ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
 
and
 
LUMMY (HONG KONG) CO., LTD
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
LICENSE AGREEMENT
 
THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT (the “ Agreement ”), effective as of the Effective Date (hereinafter defined), is by and between Argos Therapeutics, Inc., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Delaware (“ Argos ”), and Lummy (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., Register Number 2106393. a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Hong Kong, with its registered address at  Rm. 19C, Lockhart Ctr., 301-307 Lockhart Rd., Wan Chai, Hong Kong (“ China Company ”).
 
RECITALS:
 
WHEREAS, Argos controls a proprietary immunotherapy system referred to as “Arcelis®” Personalized Immunotherapy Platform for the production of personalized therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer and infectious disease;
 
WHEREAS , China Company desires to develop and commercialize products for the treatment of cancer in humans in the China Company Territory (hereinafter defined) utilizing the “Arcelis®” Personalized Immunotherapy Platform as set forth in this Agreement; and
 
WHEREAS , Argos and China Company believe that a license for such purpose on the terms and conditions of this Agreement would be desirable.
 
NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the foregoing premises and the mutual covenants herein contained, the Parties hereby agree as follows:
 
1.   DEFINITIONS
 
  Unless specifically set forth to the contrary herein, the following terms, whether used in the singular or plural, shall have the respective meanings set forth below:
 
1.1   “Affiliate” means a corporation or non-corporate business entity that, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Person specified, for so long as such control continues.  An entity will be regarded as in control of another entity if:  (a) it owns, directly or indirectly, at least 50% of the voting securities or capital stock of such entity, or has other comparable ownership interest with respect to any entity other than a corporation; or (b) it possesses, directly or indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the corporation or non-corporate business entity, as applicable, whether through the ownership or control of voting securities, by contract or otherwise.
 
1.2   “Agreement” shall have the meaning set forth in the preamble.

1.3   “Argos” shall have the meaning set forth in the preamble.
 
1.4   “Argos Data” means all clinical data that is produced or generated by Argos or its Related Parties using the Licensed Technology for the treatment of cancer, except that, with respect to clinical data generated by a Regional Partner, only to the extent Argos has the right to grant China Company the access to such clinical data otherwise required by this Agreement.

 
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1.5   Argos Improvements ” means any improvements, ideas, inventions, developments, derivatives, modifications, technologies, discoveries, Know-How and techniques, whether or not patentable,  conceived or reduced to practice by Argos, its Related Parties during the term of this Agreement that cover or relate to Argos Know-How and Argos Patent Rights, to the extent, and only to the extent, Argos has the right to grant China Company the license under such improvements, ideas, inventions, developments, derivatives, modifications, technologies, discoveries, know-how and techniques in accordance with the terms set forth in Section 2.1.

1.6   “Argos Indemnitees” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.5.1.

1.7   “Argos In-License” means an agreement between Argos and a Third Party pursuant to which Argos has rights and obligations with respect to, or which otherwise Cover, a Licensed Product and is necessary to Develop, Commercialize and/or Manufacture a Licensed Product in the Field in the China Company Territory, including without limitation, the   Existing Argos In-Licenses.

1.8   “Argos Know-How” means Know-How Controlled by Argos during the Term that is reasonably necessary or useful for China Company and its Related Parties to perform their obligations or exploit their rights under this Agreement with respect to products incorporating Argos’ Arcelis Personalized Immunotherapy Platform for the treatment of cancer, as such platform is more particularly described on Schedule A attached hereto.  For the avoidance of doubt, Argos Know-How shall not include Argos Data or any Know-How associated with or relating to dendritic cell transfected with IL4 RNA for the treatment of unwanted autoimmune responses, anti-interferon alpha antibodies, soluble CD83 or regulatory T cells.
 
1.9   “Argos Patent Rights” means those Patent Rights Controlled by Argos during the Term that relate to Argos’ Arcelis Personalized Immunotherapy Platform for the treatment of cancer and that are reasonably necessary or useful for China Company and its Related Parties to perform their obligations or exploit their rights under this Agreement with respect to a Licensed Product in the Field in the China Company Territory, including, without limitation, any foreign counterparts in the China Company Territory to the Patent Rights set forth on Schedule B of this Agreement.  For the avoidance of doubt, Argos Patent Rights shall not include patent rights associated with or relating to dendritic cell transfected with IL4 RNA for the treatment of unwanted autoimmune responses, anti-interferon alpha antibodies, soluble CD83 or regulatory T cells.

1.10   “Argos Regional Partner” means a Third Party to whom Argos has granted a license under the Argos Technology in the Argos Territory.

1.11   “Argos Technology” means, collectively, Argos Know-How, Argos Patent Rights and Argos Improvements.

1.12   “Argos Territory” means the world other than the China Company Territory.

1.13   “Argos Trademark” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.8.2.

 
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1.14   “Automated Systems” means the automated cellular and RNA systems used from time to time to Manufacture a Licensed Product, as such systems are generally described in Schedule C attached hereto.

1.15   “Bankrupt Party” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.2.4(c).
 
1.16   “Calendar Quarter” means the respective periods of three (3) consecutive calendar months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31; provided , that (a) the first Calendar Quarter of the Term shall begin on the Effective Date and end on the first to occur of March 31, June 30, September 30 or December 31 thereafter and the last Calendar Quarter of the Term shall end on the last day of the Term and (b) the first Calendar Quarter of a Royalty Term shall begin on the First Commercial Sale of the applicable Licensed Product and end on the first to occur of March 31, June 30, September 30 or December 31 thereafter and the last Calendar Quarter of such Royalty Term shall end on the last day of such Royalty Term.
 
1.17   “Calendar Year” means each successive period of twelve (12) months commencing on January 1 and ending on December 31; provided , that (a) the first Calendar Year of the Term shall begin on the Effective Date and end on the first December 31 thereafter and the last Calendar Year of the Term shall end on the last day of the Term and (b) the first Calendar Year of a Royalty Term shall begin on the First Commercial Sale of the applicable Licensed Product and end on the first December 31 thereafter and the last Calendar Year of the Term shall end on the last day of such Royalty Term.
 
1.18   “CAS” shall mean the generally accepted Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises in the People’s Republic of China, as in effect from time to time, consistently applied.
 
1.19   “Change in Control” shall mean any transaction or series of transactions which results in (i) direct or indirect ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting stock or assets of Argos by persons who are not shareholders of Argos as of the date of this Agreement, (ii) the merger of Argos with or into a Third Party or (iii) the sale of substantially all of the assets of Argos of the business related hereto.
 
1.20   “China Company” shall have the meaning set forth in the preamble.

1.21   “China Company Data” means all clinical data that is produced or generated by China Company or its Related Parties during a Clinical Study for a Licensed Product.
 
1.22   “China Company Improvements” mean   any improvements, ideas, inventions, developments, derivatives, modifications, technologies, discoveries, Know-How and techniques, whether or not patentable,  conceived or reduced to practice by China Company or Related Parties during the term of this Agreement that cover or relate to Argos Technology, the Automated System or a Licensed Product.
 
1.23   “China Company Indemnitees” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.5.2.
 
1.24   “China Company In-License” means an agreement between China Company and a Third Party pursuant to which China Company has rights and obligations with respect to, or which otherwise Cover, a Licensed Product and is necessary to Develop, Commercialize and/or Manufacture a Licensed Product in the Field in the China Company Territory.
 
 
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1.25   “China Company Territory” means the People’s Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
 
1.26   “China Company Trademark” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.8.2.
 
1.27   “Clinical Study” means a Phase I Study, Phase II Study (including a Phase II(a) and Phase II(b) Study), Phase III Study, Pivotal Clinical Study or Post-Approval Studies, as applicable.
 
1.28   “Code” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.2.4(c).

1.29   “Commercialization” or “Commercialize” means any and all activities directed to marketing, promoting, distributing, importing, exporting, offering to sell and/or selling a Licensed Product, including the conduct of Post-Approval Studies,   and activities directed to obtaining pricing and reimbursement approvals, as applicable.
 
1.30   “Commercialization Plan” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.3.
 
1.31   Commercially Reasonable Efforts” means the carrying out of obligations in a diligent and sustained manner (giving due consideration to relevant industry standards) using such effort and employing such resources as would normally be exerted or employed by a similarly situated pharmaceutical company in the China Company Territory (taking into consideration China Company's affiliation with Lummy) for a product of similar market or profit potential or strategic value at a similar stage of its product life.
 
1.32   “Confidential Information” means any and all information and data, including without limitation all scientific, pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory, manufacturing, marketing, financial, trade secret and commercial information or data, whether communicated in writing or orally or by any other method, which is provided by one Party to the other Party in connection with this Agreement.  Argos Technology is Confidential Information of Argos. China Company Improvements are Confidential Information of China Company.  Joint IP is the Confidential Information of the Parties.
 
1.33   “Control”, “Controls” or “Controlled by” means, with respect to any (a) material, Know-How or other information or (b) intellectual property right (including, without limitation, any Patent Rights), the possession of (whether by ownership or license (with the right to sublicense), other than pursuant to this Agreement), or the ability of a Party or its Affiliates to assign, transfer, grant access to, or a license or sublicense of, such item or right as provided for herein without violating the terms of any agreement or other arrangement with any Third Party existing at the time such Party would be required hereunder to assign, transfer or grant the other Party such access or license or sublicense.
 
1.34    “Cover,” “Covering” or “Covers” means that in the absence of a license granted under a Valid Claim, the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product would or is reasonably likely to infringe such Valid Claim.
 
 
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1.35   “Development,” “Developing” or “Develop” means (i) the research and development activities related to the generation, characterization, optimization, construction, expression, use and production of a Licensed Product, (ii) any other research and development activities related to the pre-clinical testing and qualification of a Licensed Product for clinical testing, and such other tests, studies and activities as may be required or recommended from time to time by any Regulatory Authority to obtain Regulatory Approval of a Licensed Product, including toxicology studies, statistical analysis and report writing, pre-clinical testing, Clinical Studies and (iii) any activities relating to regulatory affairs, product and price and reimbursement approvals, and registration with any Regulatory Authority.
 
1.36   “Development Expenses” means, with respect to a Licensed Product, China Company’s actual out of pocket expenses paid to Third Parties for the Development of such Licensed Product.
 
1.37   “Development Milestone” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.1.

1.38   “Development Plan” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.3.

1.39   Development Year ” means the period beginning on the date of the Trigger Event and ending on the last day of the calendar month that includes the one year anniversary of the Trigger Event, and each consecutive twelve (12) month periods thereafter.

1.40   “Disposables” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.1.4.

1.41   “Dispute” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.11.1.
 
1.42         “Effective Date” means the date that Argos first receives no less than an aggregate of Ten Million United States Dollars (US$10,000,000) pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreements.
 
1.43   “Excluded Claim” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.11.1.
 
1.44   “Existing Argos In-Licenses” means the Argos In-Licenses set forth on Schedule D as of the Effective Date, which Schedule D shall be updated in accordance with Section 2.4.
 
1.45   “FDA” means the United States Food And Drug Administration.
 
1.46   Field” means the treatment of all oncology diseases using dendritic cells loaded with RNA encoding Uncharacterized Antigens.
 
1.47   “First Commercial Sale” means, with respect to a Licensed Product, the first sale for end use or consumption of such Licensed Product in the Field in the China Company Territory after all required Regulatory Approvals have been granted by the Regulatory Authorities.
 
1.48   “Fund” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.1.
 
1.49   “ICC” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.2.3.
 
 
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1.50   “IND” means an Investigational New Drug application, Clinical Trial Application or similar application or submission for approval to conduct human clinical investigations filed with or submitted to a Regulatory Authority in conformance with the requirements of such Regulatory Authority. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a Clinical Trial Application of the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration constitutes an IND.
 
1.51   “Indemnitee” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.5.4.
 
1.52   “Infectious Disease Indication” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.6.
 
1.53   “Infringement Claim” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.5.1.
 
1.54   “Intervening Regulatory Event” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.3.
 
1.55   “Initiate” , “Initiated” or “Initiation” means, with respect to a Clinical Study, the administration of the first dose to the first subject in such study; provided , however , that in the case of a Clinical Study in which the protocol is a combination of a Phase I Study and a Phase II Study, the Phase II Study portion of such Clinical Study shall be deemed Initiated only upon commencement of the Phase II Study portion of such Clinical Study.
 
1.56   “In-Licenses” means, collectively, the Argos In-Licenses and the China Company In-Licenses.
 
1.57   JSC ” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.1.1.
 
1.58   JSC Chairperson ” has the meaning set forth in Section 5.1.2.
 
1.59   “Joint IP” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.2.
 
1.60   “Know-How” means all biological materials and other tangible materials, inventions, practices, methods, protocols, formulas, knowledge, know-how, trade secrets, processes, assays, skills, experience, ideas, concepts, discoveries, techniques and results of experimentation and testing, including without limitation pharmacological, toxicological and pre-clinical and clinical test data and stability, analytical and quality control data, patentable or otherwise.
 
1.61   “Knowledge,” and corresponding words such as "Know" or "Knowingly" with respect to a Party, refer to the actual knowledge of any of the executive officers of such Party.
 
1.62   “Licensed Products” mean the products, including AGS-003, developed, manufactured or sold utilizing the Argos Technology in the Field.  For purposes of this Agreement, specifically including the Royalty Term and milestone payments, each separate cancer indication shall constitute a separate and distinct Licensed Product.
 
1.63   “Licensed Product Trademarks” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.8.2.
 
1.64   “Losses” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.5.1.
 
 
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1.65   “Lummy” means Chongqing Lummy Pharmaceutical Co Ltd., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of People’s Republic of China.
 
1.66   “Manufacturing” or “Manufacture” means, as applicable, all activities associated with the production, manufacture, processing, filling, finishing, packaging, labeling, shipping, and storage of a Licensed Product, including process and formulation development, process validation, stability testing, manufacturing scale-up, pre-clinical, clinical and commercial manufacture and analytical development, product characterization, quality assurance and quality control development, testing and release.
 
1.67   “Medical Tourist” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.2.4.
 
1.68   “Necessary Third Party IP ” means Know-How or Patent Rights owned or controlled by a Third Party that Cover the Development, Manufacturing and/or Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory.
 
1.69   “Net Sales” means the total amount actually received by China Company or its Related Parties in connection with sales of a Licensed Product to any Third Party, after deduction of all the following to the extent applicable to such sales:
 
(a)   all trade, case and quantity credits, discounts, refunds or rebates, including without limitation rebates accrued, incurred or paid to any governmental agency and any other price reductions required by a governmental agency;
 
(b)   allowances or credits for returns, adjustments, chargebacks, including without limitation amounts received for sales which become the subject of a subsequent temporary or partial recall by a regulatory agency for safety or efficacy reasons outside the control of a Party, and retroactive price reductions (including Medicaid, managed care and similar types of rebates);
 
(c)   cost of freight, postage and freight insurance, (if paid by seller);
 
(d)   sales taxes, value added taxes, excise taxes, and customs duties; and
 
(e)   cost of export licenses and any taxes (excluding income taxes or similar taxes), fees or other charges associated with the exportation or importation of a Licensed Product.
 
Net Sales shall be calculated in accordance with CAS, generally in accordance with the standards to be mutually agreed between the Parties in writing (to be set forth on a Schedule 1.69 hereto) upon the earlier of (i) twelve months after the Effective Date and (ii) [**] days after Regulatory Approval for a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory has been obtained. A sale or transfer to a Related Party for re-sale by such Related Party shall not be considered a sale for the purpose of this provision but the resale by such Related Party to a Third Party shall be a sale for such purposes.  Any amounts received by China Company or its Related Parties in exchange for Licensed Product transferred or provided to any person or entity for use in testing, clinical trials for obtaining Regulatory Approval, or compassionate use (or the equivalent under applicable local law, if any, and to the extent provided without consideration thereof), are expressly excluded from the definition of Net Sales.  In the event that Licensed Product is sold in conjunction with a product or service (e.g., as a bundled or combination therapy) that is not a Licensed Product, “ Net Sales ” with respect to such conjoined sale shall be deemed to mean that portion of the total proceeds proportionate to the value attributable to the Argos Technology that Covers such bundled or combination therapy.  In the event of a dispute with respect to the proper allocation of value, the provisions of Section 11.11 shall apply.
 
 
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1.70   “Non-Bankrupt Party” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.2.4(c).
 
1.71   “Party” means China Company or Argos; “Parties” means China Company and Argos.
 
1.72   “Patent Expenses” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.3.6.
 
1.73   “Patent Rights” means all patents (including all reissues, extensions, substitutions, confirmations, re-registrations, re-examinations, invalidations, supplementary protection certificates and patents of addition) and patent applications (including all provisional applications, requests for continuation, continuations, continuations-in-part and divisions) and all foreign equivalents of the foregoing.
 
1.74   “Person” means any individual, corporation, company, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture or other entity of any kind.
 
1.75         “Pharmacovigilance Agreement” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.9.2.
 
1.76   “Phase I Study” means a clinical study of Licensed Product in human volunteers or patients the purpose of which is preliminary determination of pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of a dosing regime and for which there are no primary endpoints (as understood by the applicable Regulatory Authorities) in the protocol relating to efficacy.
 
1.77   “Phase II Study” means (a) a dose exploration, dose response, duration of effect, kinetics, dynamic relationship or preliminary efficacy and safety study of a Licensed Product in the patient population (a “Phase II(a) Study” ), or (b) a controlled dose ranging clinical study to evaluate further the efficacy and safety of a Licensed Product in the patient population and to define the optimal dosing regimen (a “Phase II(b) Study” ).
 
1.78   “Phase III Study” means a controlled clinical study of a Licensed Product that is prospectively designed to demonstrate with statistical significance the efficacy and safety of a Licensed Product for use in a particular indication and that is sufficient to obtain Regulatory Approval to market a Licensed Product in such indication.
 
1.79   “Pivotal Clinical Study” means a Phase III Study or any other Clinical Trial that has been identified by a Regulatory Authority as being sufficient to obtain Regulatory Approval to market a Licensed Product in such indication.

1.80   “Post-Approval Study” means a clinical study of Licensed Product Initiated after receipt of Regulatory Approval for a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory.

1.81   “Promotional Materials” has the meaning set forth in Section 4.6.
 
 
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1.82   "Proposed Product" means any Licensed Product for which rights to the Argos Patent Rights are necessary for development, manufacture, sale, or distribution of such proposed product.
 
1.83   "Prospective Licensee" means any Third Party that desires to make, use, and sell a Proposed Product.
 
1.84   “Recoveries” has the meaning set forth in Section 9.4.4.
 
1.85   “Recoupment Threshold” means an amount equal to (i) the Development Expenses incurred by China Company in the Development of Licensed Products prior to the Commercial launch in the China Company Territory of the first Licensed Product and (ii) any fees or pass through costs incurred by China Company in connection with a license of any Necessary Third Party IP in accordance with Section 2.4 hereof, collectively not to exceed ten million dollars ($10,000,000).
 
1.86   “Regulatory Approval” means any and all approvals (including pricing and reimbursement approvals), licenses, registrations or authorizations of any Regulatory Authority, necessary for the Development, Commercialization and Manufacture of a Licensed Product.
 
1.87   “Regulatory Authority” means any applicable government regulatory authority involved in granting approvals for the Development, Manufacturing, Commercialization, reimbursement and/or pricing of a Licensed Product.
 
1.88   “Rejected Indication” has the meaning set forth in Section 8.4.1.
 
1.89   “Related Party” means a Party’s Affiliates and Sublicensees and, in the case of Argos, shall also include any Argos Regional Partner.
 
1.90         “Royalty Term” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.2.2.
 
1.91   “RMB” means the renminbi, the official currency of the People's Republic of China.
 
1.92   “Stock Purchase Agreement(s)” has the meaning set forth in Section 3.1.
 
1.93   “Sublicense Agreement” means a written agreement between China Company (or its Affiliate) and a Third Party in which China Company grants a sublicense to such Third Party of rights licensed by Argos to China Company pursuant to this Agreement.
 
1.94   “Sublicensee” means a Third Party to whom China Company grants a sublicense under the rights granted to China Company by Argos hereunder.
 
1.95   “Technology Transfer Effective Date” means the date on which the activities set forth on Schedule E to this Agreement have been completed.
 
1.96   “Term” has the meaning set forth in Section 10.1.

 
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1.97   “Territory” means (a) with respect to Argos, the Argos Territory and (b) with respect to China Company, the China Company Territory.
 
1.98   “Third Party” means an entity other than a Party and its Affiliates.
 
1.99   “Trigger Event” means the submission of a Biologic License Application with respect to the Argos Technology to the FDA.
 
1.100   “United States” means the United States of America and its territories, possessions and commonwealths.
 
1.101   Uncharacterized Antigen” means any unknown or uncharacterized antigen.  For the avoidance of doubt, a preparation, or any fractional preparation of total tumor RNA is a preparation that contains exogenous Uncharacterized Antigens.
 
1.102   “Valid Claim” means a claim of:  (a) an issued and unexpired Argos Patent Right, which claim has not been revoked or held unenforceable, unpatentable or invalid by a decision of a court or other governmental agency of competent jurisdiction, which is not appealable or has not been appealed within the time allowed for appeal, and which has not been abandoned, disclaimed, denied or admitted to be invalid or unenforceable through reissue, re-examination or disclaimer or otherwise, or (b) a patent application for a patent included within the Argos Patent Rights that has not been cancelled, withdrawn or abandoned or finally rejected by an administrative agency action from which no appeal can be taken.
 
2.   LICENSES
 
2.1   License Grants .
 
2.1.1   Development and Commercialization License .
 
(a)           Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Argos hereby grants China Company an exclusive license under and to the Argos Technology to Develop and Commercialize the Licensed Products in the Field in the China Company Territory.
 
(b)           The license granted pursuant to this Section 2.1.1 is exclusive and royalty-bearing for the applicable Royalty Term, and shall thereafter be a non-exclusive fully-paid license to Develop and Commercialize a Licensed Product in the Field in the China Company Territory.  Such license shall include the right for China Company and its Affiliates to grant sublicenses as provided in Section 2.2 below.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, for clarity Argos retains the full right to import (and have imported) from the China Company Territory, and export (and have exported) to the Argos Territory, Licensed Product (and components thereof) for Development, Commercialization and/or Manufacture of Licensed Products in the Argos Territory.
 
2.1.2   Manufacturing License .
 
 
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2.1.3   Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, Argos hereby grants China Company an exclusive license under and to Argos Technology to Manufacture in the China Company Territory the  Licensed Product solely for the purpose of Commercializing the  Licensed Product in the China Company Territory in the Field.  Such license is royalty-bearing for the applicable Royalty Term, and shall thereafter be a non-exclusive fully-paid license to Manufacture the  Licensed Product in the Field in the China Company Territory.  Such license shall include the right to grant sublicenses as provided in Section 2.2 below.
 
2.1.4   Argos License . China Company hereby grants to Argos (a) an exclusive, royalty-free license under and to any and all China Company Improvements conceived or reduced to practice by China Company or its Related Parties and China Company Data to Develop and/or Commercialize Licensed Products in the Argos Territory; (b) an exclusive, royalty-free license under and to any and all INDs and Regulatory Approvals for a Licensed Product and China Company Trademarks used for a Licensed Product to Develop and/or Commercialize a Licensed Product in the Argos Territory; (c) an exclusive, royalty-free license under and to any and all China Company Improvements conceived or reduced to practice by China Company or its Related Parties and China Company Data to Develop and/or Commercialize Licensed Products and other products produced with Argos Technology in the Argos Territory, and (d) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license under any China Company Improvements and China Company Data to Manufacture products using the Argos Technology anywhere in the world.  Such license shall include the right to grant sublicenses.  China Company shall promptly notify Argos in writing after conceiving or reducing to practice a China Company Improvement.
 
2.1.5   Automated Systems and Disposables .  China Company acknowledges that the Automated Systems and the single-use disposables (the “ Disposables ”) designed for use with the Automated Systems constitute proprietary, trade secret materials of Argos and the parties contracted by Argos to design and supply these devices and supplies. In order to ensure product quality and to honor the rights of Argos and its contractors, China Company agrees that it shall not and shall not permit its Related Parties to reverse engineer, reproduce, sell, offer to sell, transfer or disclose the Automated Systems, components thereof or Disposables and that it shall not develop or commercialize directly or indirectly, any batches of Licensed Product other than with the use of authorized Automated Systems and Disposables purchased pursuant to Section 6.3 without Argos’ express written approval.
 
2.2   Affiliates; Sublicenses.
 
2.2.1   Affiliates .   The license grants in Section 2.1 shall apply to an entity that is an Affiliate only for so long as such entity remains an Affiliate of such Party and complies in all respects with the obligations of such Party under this Agreement.  Each Party hereby guarantees the full payment and performance of its Affiliates under this Agreement.
 
2.2.2   Sublicense of Rights; Contract Sales.   Subject to the terms of Section 2.2.3, with Argos’ prior written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed, China Company and its Affiliates are entitled to grant sublicenses of all or any portion of their rights under this Agreement; provided , however , that China Company may not grant a sublicense of rights to manufacture Licensed Product to more than one (1) Third Party in the China Company Territory, provided, however, that China Company may, after notice to and consultation with the JSC, engage one or more Third Parties through sublicenses, at its expense, to engage in sales and marketing activities in the China Company Territory, provided that China Company shall be responsible for the acts or omissions of such Third Parties  (including compliance with applicable laws and with the applicable provisions of this Agreement) and for any compensation payable to such Third Parties. Consent shall be presumed and deemed given if Argos does not provide a written objection within [**] days of Argos’ receipt of a written request for consent.
 
 
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2.2.3   Sublicensing Terms .   Each sublicense granted by China Company pursuant to this Section 2.2 shall be subject and subordinate to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and shall contain terms and conditions consistent with those in this Agreement.  China Company shall promptly provide Argos with a copy of the fully executed Sublicense Agreement with any Sublicensee, and such Sublicense Agreement shall contain the following provisions:  (a) a requirement that such Sublicensee submit applicable sales or other reports consistent with those required under this Agreement; (b) the audit requirement set forth in Section 3.5; (c) a requirement that such Sublicensee comply with the confidentiality and non-use provisions of Article 6 with respect to both Parties’ Confidential Information; and (d) any other provisions required under any Argos In-License.  In the event China Company becomes aware of a material breach of any Sublicense Agreement by a Sublicensee, China Company shall promptly notify Argos of the particulars of same and shall enforce the terms of such Sublicense Agreement. If China Company does not cause the Sublicensee to comply with the terms of the Sublicense Agreement within [**] days of Argos’ request, China Company shall, upon Argos’ written direction, terminate the Sublicense Agreement.
 
2.2.4   Liability . China Company shall at all times be responsible for the performance of its Sublicensees under this Agreement.
 
2.3   In-Licenses .   All licenses and other rights granted to China Company under this Agreement are subject to the rights and obligations of Argos under the Argos In-Licenses.  During the Term, Argos shall maintain the Existing Argos In-Licenses in full force and effect with respect to the rights granted to China Company under this Agreement.  China Company shall comply with all applicable terms and conditions of the Argos In-Licenses, and shall perform and take such actions as may be required to allow Argos to comply with its obligations thereunder, including but not limited to, obligations relating to sublicensing, patent matters, confidentiality, reporting, audit rights, indemnification and diligence, at no additional out-of-pocket costs to China Company with respect to Existing Argos In-Licenses.  Argos agrees to provide China Company with true and complete copies of any Argos In-Licenses that are relevant to the rights granted to China Company under this Agreement during the Term.  Confidential Information of Argos or the counterparty may be redacted from such copies, except to the extent that such information is required in order to enable China Company to comply with its obligations under this Section 2.3 with respect to such Argos In-License.  The Parties acknowledge and agree that China Company's obligations under this Agreement in connection with any such Argos In-Licenses only exists with respect to such Argos In-Licenses (and individual unredacted terms thereof) that China Company has received pursuant to this Section 2.3.
 
2.4   Licenses of Necessary Third Party IP .   During the Term, China Company shall be responsible for obtaining licenses of any Necessary Third Party IP for the China Company Territory that it does not Control (other than Necessary Third Party IP for the China Company Territory sublicensed to China Company pursuant to an Argos In-License), and shall notify Argos in writing and provide Argos with a copy of any license of Necessary Third Party IP entered into by China Company after the Effective Date.   If, during the Term, Argos obtains a license to Necessary Third Party IP for the China Company Territory that is not already Controlled by China Company or Argos, then Argos shall notify China Company in writing and include in such notification a summary of such Necessary Third Party IP, the commercial and sublicensing terms of the license and any other relevant information.  China Company will have [**] days thereafter to notify Argos of its desire to obtain a sublicense to such Necessary Third Party IP.  Upon receipt of such written notice from China Company, Argos shall grant to China Company a sublicense of such Necessary Third Party IP, which shall include terms that pass through Argos’ costs of granting such sublicense as well as any terms that Argos is required to impose on its sublicensees pursuant to the relevant in-license, but shall include no incremental compensation to Argos.   Upon execution of such supplemental agreement, Argos’ license of such Necessary Third Party IP will be deemed an Argos In-License, Schedule D will be updated accordingly, and Argos will provide China Company a copy of such In-License.  The Parties agree that this Section 2.4 shall not apply to any In-Licenses entered into by either Party or its Affiliates prior to the Effective Date of this Agreement.
 
 
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2.5   Rights to Clinical Data .   During the Term, China Company shall share with Argos and the Argos Regional Partners, on a quarterly basis, any available, unblinded China Company Data with respect to a  Licensed Product (including, without limitation, a Licensed Product treating an Infectious Disease Indication permitted pursuant to Section 2.6) generated during any Clinical Studies (including without limitation Phase I Studies, Phase II Studies, Phase III Studies and Post Approval Studies). Argos and the Argos Regional Partners shall be entitled to reference such China Company Data in any Regulatory Approval submissions by Argos and its Related Parties in the Argos Territory.  Subject to China Company´s compliance with the terms of the Agreement, including meeting agreed-upon Development milestones and Commercialization sales targets set from time to time by the JSC, in case any Argos Regional Partner is developing a product using the Technology in the Field (including any new Infectious Disease Indication that is added to the Field pursuant to Section 2.6), Argos shall, and shall use its commercially reasonable best effort to cause such Argos Regional Partner to, provide and make available to China Company, on a quarterly basis, any available, unblinded Argos Data with respect to a  Licensed Product (including, without limitation, a Licensed Product treating an Infectious Disease Indication added to the Field pursuant to Section 2.6) generated during any Clinical Studies (including without limitation Phase I Studies, Phase II Studies, Phase III Studies and Post Approval Studies), subject, however, to any conditions placed on China Company’s use of such Argos Data by the applicable Argos Regional Partner. Upon a Change of Control of Argos, China Company and Argos (or its successor) shall negotiate in good faith to continue Argos' obligations pursuant to this Section 2.5.
 
2.6   Expansion/Reduction of Field .
 
2.6.1   Expansion .  Subject to China Company´s compliance with the terms of the Agreement, including meeting agreed-upon Development milestones and Commercialization sales targets set from time to time by the JSC, Argos shall upon reasonable request by China Company negotiate in good faith to expand the scope of the Field to include one or more infectious disease indications (“ Infectious Disease Indication ”) developed by Argos or its Related Parties; provided, however, that this Section 2.6.1 shall apply to Infectious Disease Indications developed by a Regional Partner to the extent, and only to the extent, Argos has the right to grant China Company the rights set forth in this Section 2.6.1.  Subject to China Company´s compliance with the terms of the Agreement, including meeting agreed-upon Development milestones and Commercialization sales targets, Argos will not directly or indirectly Commercialize the Technology in the Territory for any Infectious Disease Indication without first providing China Company the opportunity to be Argos’ Commercialization partner in the China Company Territory for such Infectious Disease Indication.  This Section 2.6.1 shall expire with respect to an Infectious Disease Indication upon Argos granting a worldwide license under the Argos Technology in the field of treating such Infectious Disease Indication to a Third Party.
 
 
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2.7   No Other Rights .   Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement, under no circumstances shall a Party here­to, as a result of this Agreement, obtain any ownership interest or other right in any Know-How or Patent Rights of the other Party, including items owned, controlled or devel­oped by the other Party, or provided by the other Party to the receiving Party at any time pursuant to this Agreement.
 
3.   CERTAIN FINANCIAL TERMS
 
3.1   Equity Investment .  China BioPharma Capital I, L.P., an International Limited Partnership formed under the laws of the British Virgin Islands (the “ Fund ”) and Lummy or one of its Affiliates, shall each invest Ten Million United States Dollars (US$10,000,000) in Argos in accordance with the terms and conditions of two Stock Purchase Agreements between Argos and the Fund and  Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group Ltd., respectively, dated of even date herewith (the “Stock Purchase Agreements” ).  The rights granted to China Company under this Agreement are contingent upon the Fund and Lummy (or its Affiliate) entering into the Stock Purchase Agreements, and the Fund’s and Lummy’s (or its Affiliate) performance of its obligations under the Stock Purchase Agreements.  For the avoidance of doubt, a payment-related or other material breach of a Stock Purchase Agreement by the Fund or Tianyi Lummy International Holdings Group Ltd. shall be deemed to be a material breach of this Agreement by China Company and a material breach of a Stock Purchase Agreement by Argos shall be deemed to be a material breach of this Agreement by Argos.
 
3.2   Royalties .
 
3.2.1   Royalties Payable on a Licensed Product .  Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and beginning immediately after the aggregate Net Sales by China Company and its Related Parties of Licensed Products meet the Recoupment Threshold, China Company shall pay to Argos a royalty of [**] percent ([**]%) of Net Sales of Licensed Products.
 
3.2.2   Royalty Term .  Royalties on Net Sales of a Licensed Product shall continue to be payable until the later of (a) the expiration of the last Valid Claim of the Argos Patent Rights Covering the Manufacture or the Commercialization of such Licensed Product, and (b) the tenth (10 th ) anniversary of the First Commercial Sale of such Licensed Product in China Company Territory (the “ Royalty Term ”).  No royalties shall be due upon the sale or other transfer of Licensed Products among China Company and its Related Parties, but in such cases the royalty shall be due and calculated upon its or its Related Party’s Net Sales to the first independent Third Party. For clarification, the Royalty Term for any Licensed Product comprising a product sold or approved for sale for the treatment of a particular cancer indication shall commence upon the First Commercial Sale of such Licensed Product.
 
 
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3.2.3   Necessary Third Party IP .  Any royalties and any fees, milestones or other payments under all China Company In-Licenses of Necessary Third Party IP shall be borne exclusively by China Company.  Any royalties and any fees, milestones or other payments under the Existing Argos In-Licenses shall be borne exclusively by Argos.   Any royalties and any fees, milestones or other payments under all Argos In-Licenses of Necessary Third Party IP other than the Existing Argos In-Licenses shall be borne by China Company to the extent they are required for the Commercialization of Licensed Products in the China Company Territory.
 
3.2.4          Medical   If China Company Knowingly sells Licensed Product that is administered in the China Company Territory to a Person whose primary residence is in the Argos Territory (a “ Medical Tourist ”), China Company or its Related Party will be deemed to have received for purposes of determining the Net Sales for such Licensed Product and the royalty payable thereon, the Net Sales for such Licensed Product in an amount that it would have received if such Licensed Product was sold in the country of such Person's primary residence in the Argos Territory.  In the event that China Company actively promotes or Knowingly permits the treatment of more than [**] Medical Tourists in the China Company Territory in any [**] consecutive calendar month period, Argos will have the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate by written notice the licenses granted to China Company with respect to all or any portion of the Argos Technology under this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, no person holding a passport of a country within the China Company Territory (irrespective of such person's primary residency) shall be deemed a Medical Tourist for purpose of this Section 3.2.4. Further notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event a China Company Related Party violates this Section 3.2.4 without China Company's prior knowledge, and China Company promptly terminates the relationship with such Related Party or otherwise takes such action as reasonably requested by Argos, the patients treated by such Related Party shall be deemed not to be Medical Tourists for purpose of this Section 3.2.4.
 
3.3   Milestones .  Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, China Company shall make the non-refundable, non-creditable milestone payments to Argos set forth below no later than [**] days after the earliest date on which the corresponding milestone event has first been achieved with respect to a Licensed Product.
 
Milestone Event
Milestone Payment
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]
[**]

For the avoidance of doubt, for purposes of this Agreement there shall be deemed to be a separate Licensed Product for the treatment of each indication.

The following shall be deemed to be material breaches of this Agreement, subject, however to the notice and cure period set forth in 10.2.1(a): (a) the Milestone Event set forth in (i) above is not completed within [**] months after the Trigger Event, (b) the Milestone Event set forth in (ii) above is not completed by within [**] months after the Trigger Event, or (iii) the Milestone Event set forth in (iii) above is not completed within [**] months after the Trigger Event, and, in each case, the failure to complete the applicable Milestone Event is not directly related to acts or omissions by Argos. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Parties acknowledge and agree that the regulatory process to obtain Regulatory Approval for the Licensed Product in the China Company Territory has a high level of uncertainty and in the event that the failure to achieve a milestone set forth in (iii), (iv) or (v) is primarily attributable to regulatory requirements or delays cause by Regulatory Authorities in the China Company Territory which are out of the control of China Company and which could not reasonably be anticipated as of the Effective Date (an " Intervening Regulatory Event "), the Parties agree to renegotiate the relevant Milestone Events in good faith in a manner reasonably taking into consideration the Intervening Regulatory Event.

 
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3.4   Reports; Payment of Royalty .  China Company shall furnish to Argos a written report within [**] days after the end of each Calendar Quarter showing the quantity of Licensed Product sold in the China Company Territory, the gross sales of Licensed Product in the China Company Territory, the itemized deductions for Licensed Product for the China Company Territory included in the calculation of Net Sales, the Net Sales in the China Company Territory of a Licensed Product during the reporting period, the royalties payable under this Agreement, as calculated in accordance with Schedule 1.69 hereof, and milestones achieved.  In addition, China Company shall prepare and deliver to Argos any additional reports as reasonably required under the Argos In-Licenses, in each case within a time period sufficiently in advance to enable Argos to comply with its obligations under such Argos In-Licenses. Royalties shown to have accrued by each report shall be due and payable on the date such report is due.  China Company and its Related Parties shall keep complete and accurate records for a period of at least [**] years after issuance of such report in sufficient detail to enable the royalties and other payments payable hereunder and to Third Parties under the Argos In-Licenses to be determined.
 
3.5   Audits .
 
3.5.1   Upon the written request of Argos delivered at least [**] days in advance and not more than [**] in each Calendar Year, China Company and its Related Parties shall permit an independent certified public accounting firm of internationally-recognized standing selected by Argos and reasonably acceptable to China Company, at Argos’ expense except as set forth below, to have access during normal business hours to such of the records of China Company and its Related Parties as may be reasonably necessary to verify the accuracy of the royalty and other reports hereunder for any year ending not more than [**] years after issuance of such report for the sole purpose of verifying the basis and accuracy of payments made under this Agreement.
 
3.5.2   If such accounting firm identifies a discrepancy made during such period, the appropriate Party shall pay the other Party the amount of the discrepancy, together with interest calculated at the rate of [**] percent ([**]%) per month (or such higher rate as may be required pursuant to any applicable In-License) or the maximum amount permitted by applicable law, from the time of the over-payment or under-payment, within [**] business days of the date Argos delivers to China Company such accounting firm’s written report so concluding, or as otherwise agreed by the Parties in writing.  Such written report shall be binding upon the Parties.  The fees charged by such accounting firm shall be paid by Argos, unless such discrepancy represents an underpayment or excess charge by China Company of at least [**] percent ([**]%) of the total amounts due hereunder in the audited period, in which case such fees shall be paid by China Company.
 
 
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3.5.3   China Company shall comply with all applicable audit requirements in the Argos In-Licenses and shall include in each Sublicense Agreement granted by it pursuant to this Agreement a provision requiring the Sublicensee to make reports to Argos, to keep and maintain records of sales made pursuant to such Sublicense Agreement and to grant access to such records by Argos’ independent accountant to the same extent required of China Company under this Agreement.
 
3.5.4   Argos shall treat all financial information subject to review under this Section 3.5 or under any Sublicense Agreement in accordance with the confidentiality and non-use provisions of this Agreement, and shall cause its accounting firm not already subject to equally stringent confidentiality obligations pursuant to applicable law to enter into an acceptable confidentiality agreement with China Company and/or its Related Parties obligating it to retain all such information in confidence pursuant to such confidentiality agreement.
 
3.6   Payment Exchange Rate .  All payments to be made under this Agreement shall be made in United States dollars and shall be paid by bank wire transfer in immediately available funds to such bank account in the United States as may be designated in writing by Argos from time to time.  In the case of Net Sales, the rate of exchange to be used in computing the amount of currency equivalent in United States dollars shall be made at the rate of exchange published by the Bank of China Limited, prevailing on the third to the last business day of the month preceding the month in which such sales are recorded, but in any case consistent with the requirements of the Argos In-Licenses.
 
3.7   Registration .   China Company will promptly make all filings with and submissions to all governmental or regulatory authorities and obtain and maintain all consents, permits, registrations and authorizations that are necessary or required in order for China Company to make timely payments under this Agreement, including, without limitation, any foreign exchange approvals or requirements.   China Company will promptly provide Argos with evidence thereof upon Argos’ written request.
 
3.8   Income Tax Withholding .  If laws, rules or regulations require withholding of income taxes or other taxes imposed upon payments set forth in this Article 3, China Company shall make such withholding payments as required and subtract such withholding payments from the payments set forth in this Article 3.  China Company shall submit appropriate proof of payment of the withholding taxes to Argos within a reasonable period of time.  At the request of Argos, China Company shall, at its cost, give Argos such reasonable assistance, which shall include the provision of appropriate certificates of such deductions made together with other supporting documentation as may be required by the relevant tax authority, to enable Argos to claim exemption from such withholding or other tax imposed or obtain a repayment, reduction or credit and shall upon request provide such additional documentation from time to time as is reasonably required to confirm the payment of tax.
 
4.         DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION RESPONSIBILITIES
 
4.1   Development Activities .   China Company shall be responsible, at its expense, for all Development activities that are necessary for the Regulatory Approval of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory.  Neither Party may conduct Clinical Studies or other Development activities with respect to a Licensed Product in the Field in the Territory of the other Party without the other Party’s prior written consent, which consent may be granted or withheld in the sole discretion of the other Party.  China Company will use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Develop for Regulatory Approval and Commercialization in the China Company Territory Licensed Products for the treatment of one or more indications (such as pancreas, lung, liver, stomach, rectal, gastric, esophageal cancers) as determined by the JSC pursuant to Article 5.  In addition, China Company shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Commercialize a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory. The parties agree that the following activities constitute Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Develop Licensed Products and that an unexcused failure to meet one or more of the following Development milestones (each, a “ Development Milestone ”) shall, at Argos’ election, constitute a material breach of this Agreement by China Company:
 
 
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(a)           Between the Effective Date and  the end of the calendar year after the [**], China Company shall have made cumulative investments  of at least [**] United States Dollars (US$ [**]) in the Development of Licensed Products; and

(b)           In each subsequent calendar Year until such time as China Company has achieved sales of the  Licensed Product within the Field in excess of [**] United States Dollars (US$ [**]), China Company shall incur no less than on average [**] United States Dollars (US$ [**]) of investments in the Development of Licensed Products; for the avoidance of doubt, the term “on average” shall mean that an overinvestment in one calendar year can be carried forward into the next three following years and an underinvestment in one calendar year can be compensated with overinvestments in any of the three preceding calendar years without leading to a material breach by China Company. In the subsequent Years until such time as China Company has achieved sales of the Licensed Product within the Field in excess of US$ [**], China Company commits (i) to interact closely and work diligently with the Chinese regulatory agencies to identify the fastest way to market in the PRC and provide Argos with access to this regulatory dialogue; (ii) to  initiate and run clinical studies in the indications for which Argos or its Related Parties have received regulatory approval; (iii) to provide the required budget for the studies to be executed in a highly professional and time efficient way; and (v) to initiate pre-marketing and preparation work.

(c)           Prior to the end of the [**] Development Year, China Company shall have Initiated and diligently pursued at least one Clinical Study in [**] additional indications such as [**]; the indications to be finally selected by the JSC will depend on [**]. China Company is only obliged to pursue an additional indication if Argos or a Related Party has generated positive Phase 2b or 3 data in the particular indication.  For the avoidance of doubt, “positive phase 2b or 3 data” is defined as a clinical trial where the primary endpoint is achieved, the clinical trial data is discussed with regulatory authorities and has implications for regulatory approval or per the statistical analysis plan, the Independent Data Monitoring Committee recommends that the study produced data with an efficacy advantage that could support a potential regulatory approval.

(d)           Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) if an Intervening Regulatory Event occurs, the Parties agree to renegotiate the relevant Development Milestone in good faith in a manner reasonably taking into consideration the Intervening Regulatory Event, and (ii) the timelines for performance in the preceding clauses (b) and (c) shall be extended if Argos does not succeed in implementing an FDA accepted automated production process by [**].  Unless otherwise agreed, the extension will be an amount of time equal to the time between [**] and the time when Argos demonstrates that it has implemented an FDA-accepted automated production process. For the avoidance of doubt, the term “investments in the development of Licensed Products” shall include, but not be limited to, money spent on [**].

 
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4.2   Development Plan and Commercialization Plan .    Commencing with the Initiation of any Clinical Study of a Licensed Product, China Company shall prepare and deliver to Argos, (a) a Development plan for the following [**] year period, and (b) by no later than each [**], a written plan that describes in detail the Development activities to be undertaken with respect to a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory in the that Calendar Year and the dates by which such activities are targeted to be accomplished (each, a “ Development Plan ”).  Commencing with the Initiation of any Pivotal Clinical Study of a Licensed Product, China Company shall prepare and deliver to Argos, (a) a Commercialization plan for the following [**] year period that would include, among other things, a description of the planned Post-Approval Studies, if applicable, and (b) by no later than each [**], a written plan that describes in detail the Commercialization activities to be undertaken with respect to a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory in the that Calendar Year and the dates by which such activities are targeted to be accomplished (each, a “ Commercialization Plan ”).
 
4.3   Reporting Obligations.   China Company shall prepare and deliver to Argos, by no later than each [**] (for the period ending December 31 of the prior Calendar Year) of any Calendar Year during the Term, written reports summarizing its Development and Commercialization activities for a Licensed Product performed during the preceding Calendar Year (or updating such report for activities performed since the last such report submitted hereunder, as applicable).  For the avoidance of doubt, the reports described in Section 4.3(b) and this Section 4.4 can be combined into a single report. Argos shall prepare and deliver to China Company, by no later than each [**] (for the period ending December 31 of the prior Calendar Year), written reports summarizing its Development and Commercialization activities for a Licensed Product performed during the preceding Calendar Year (or updating such report for activities performed since the last such report submitted hereunder, as applicable).  In addition, China Company shall provide Argos with written notice of (a) all filings and submissions for Regulatory Approval regarding a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory in a timely manner; (b) all Regulatory Approvals obtained or denied, the filing of any IND for a Licensed Product, and the First Commercial Sale of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory, within [**] days of such event; and (c) the Initiation of each Clinical Study of a Licensed Product by or on behalf of China Company within [**] business days of such event; provided , however , that in all circumstances, China Company shall inform Argos of such event at least [**] business days prior to public disclosure of such event by China Company, subject, however, to applicable laws.   Moreover, China Company shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to prepare and deliver to Argos any additional reports reasonably requested by Argos to enable it to meet its obligations under the Argos In-Licenses, in each case sufficiently in advance to enable Argos to comply with its obligations under the Argos In-Licenses. China Company shall also provide such other information to Argos as Argos may reasonably request and shall keep Argos reasonably informed of its Commercialization activities with respect to a Licensed Product.
 
4.4   Sales and Distribution .  Each Party and its Related Parties shall be responsible for booking sales and shall store and distribute a Licensed Product in its own Territory.  If a Party receives any orders for a Licensed Product in the other Party’s Territory or if a Party Knows that a Licensed Product is intended to be administered in the Territory to a Person whose primary residence is outside the that Party’s Territory, it shall refer such orders to the other Party.  Moreover, each Party and its Related Parties shall be solely responsible for handling all returns of a Licensed Product, as well as all aspects of a Licensed Product order processing, invoicing and collection, distribution, inventory and receivables, in its own Territory.
 
 
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4.5   Advertising and Promotional Materials .  China Company will be responsible for the creation, preparation, production, reproduction and filing with the applicable Regulatory Authorities, of relevant written sales, promotion and advertising materials relating to a Licensed Product (“ Promotional Materials ”) for use in the China Company Territory.  All such Promotional Materials will be compliant with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, and consistent with the Commercialization Plan for the China Company Territory.
 
4.6   Export Monitoring .  Each Party and its Related Parties will use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to monitor and prevent (i) exports of Licensed Product from its own Territory to the other Party’s Territory, and (ii) sales of Licensed Product in its Territory from being administered in the Territory to a Person whose primary domicile is outside that Party’s Territory, in each case using methods commonly used in the industry for such purpose, and shall promptly inform the other Party of any such activities, and the actions taken to prevent such activities.   Each Party agrees to take any actions reasonably requested in writing by the other Party that are consistent with applicable law and regulation to prevent such activities.
 
4.7   Records .  China Company will maintain scientific records, in sufficient detail and in good scientific manner appropriate for patent and regulatory purposes, which will fully and properly reflect all work done and results achieved in the performance of the Development activities with respect to a Licensed Product.
 
4.8   Regulatory Matters .
 
4.8.1   Regulatory Filings and Interactions .  As between the Parties, each Party will own any regulatory documents and applications submitted to the applicable Regulatory Authorities in its own Territory with respect to a Licensed Product, and each Party will, with respect to its own Territory and a Licensed Product, (i) oversee, monitor and coordinate all regulatory actions, communications and filings with, and submissions to, each Regulatory Authority, (ii) be responsible for interfacing, corresponding and meeting with each Regulatory Authority, (iii) be responsible for maintaining all regulatory filings, and (iv) apprise the other Party of all material communications from Regulatory Authorities as soon as reasonably possible but in any event within [**] business days.  Without limiting any other right of any Party hereunder, each Party will have the right to reference each other Party's and its Related Parties’ INDs and other filings with and submissions to Regulatory Authorities with respect to a Licensed Product for the purpose of conducting such Party's Development activities and to otherwise obtain Regulatory Approval of a Licensed Product in such Party'sTerritory; provided, however, that this right of reference Regional Partners’ INDs and other filings with and submissions to Regulatory Authorities shall apply to the extent, and only to the extent, Argos has the right to grant China Company those rights of reference.
 
 
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4.8.2   Complaints; Adverse Event Reporting Procedures; Notice of Adverse Events Affecting a Licensed Product .  Each Party will maintain a record of any and all complaints it or its Related Parties receive with respect to a Licensed Product.  Each Party will notify the other Party in reasonable detail of any such complaints within sufficient time to allow the other Party and its Related Parties to comply with any and all regulatory and other requirements imposed upon them in any jurisdiction in which a Licensed Product is being marketed or tested in Clinical Studies and/or Post-Approval Studies.  Each Party will maintain at its own expense an adverse event database for a Licensed Product, and the other Party will have access to all data in such adverse event database.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, each Party will report to the other Party the details around any adverse events and serious adverse events relating to a Licensed Products in its Control within the time periods for such reporting as specified in the Pharmacovigilance Agreement (defined below).  Each Party shall be responsible, at its own expense, for obtaining all adverse event information and safety data relating to a Licensed Product from its Related Parties in a timely manner, and for submitting adverse event reports with respect to a Licensed Product to the applicable Regulatory Authorities in its own Territory. Within [**] months after the Effective Date, the Parties will develop and agree in writing upon a pharmacovigilance agreement (“ Pharmacovigilance Agreement ”) that will include safety data exchange procedures governing the coordination of collection, investigation, reporting, and exchange of information concerning any adverse experiences, and any product quality and product complaints involving adverse experiences, related to a Licensed Product, sufficient to enable each Party to comply with its legal and regulatory obligations.  In addition, each Party shall promptly notify the other if such Party becomes aware of any information or circumstance that is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the other Party’s Territory.
 
4.8.3   Recalls, Market Withdrawals or Corrective Actions .   In the event that any Regulatory Authority issues or requests a recall or takes a similar action in connection with a Licensed Product in a Territory, or in the event either Party determines that an event, incident or circumstance has occurred that may result in the need for a recall or market withdrawal in its own Territory, the Party notified of such recall or similar action, or the Party that desires such recall or similar action, shall within [**] hours advise the other Party thereof by telephone, or by email or facsimile together with telephone confirmation.  Each Party, in consultation with the other Party, shall decide whether to conduct a recall in its own Territory and the manner in which any such recall shall be conducted (except in the case of a government mandated recall, when such Party may act without such advance notice but shall notify the other Party as soon as possible).  Each Party shall bear the expense of any such recall in its own Territory.  Each Party will make available all of its pertinent records that may be reasonably requested in order to effecting a recall in the other Party’s Territory.
 
4.9   Third Parties . China Company shall be entitled to utilize the services of Third Party contract research and contract manufacturing organizations to perform its Development and Manufacturing activities under this Agreement; provided , that (a) China Company shall ensure that such Third Party operates in a manner consistent with the terms of this Agreement and (b) China Company shall remain at all times fully liable for its respective responsibilities.  China Company shall ensure that any such Third Party agreement shall include confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-use provisions that are substantially similar to those set forth in Article 7 of this Agreement and shall obtain ownership of any China Company Improvements developed, conceived or reduced to practice by such Third Party in the performance of such agreement.   China Company shall provide Argos with a copy of the fully executed agreement and any amendment thereto with any contract manufacturing organization together with a convenience English translation, in each case within [**] days of effectiveness.
 
 
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5.   RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
 
5.1   Joint Steering Committee .  The Parties hereby establish a committee to facilitate the activities contemplated by this Agreement as follows:
 
5.1.1   Composition of the Joint Steering Committee .  The activities contemplated by this Agreement shall be conducted under the oversight of a joint steering committee (the “ JSC ”) comprised of no less than [**] named representatives of Argos and no less than [**] named representatives of China Company or its Affiliate.  Each Party shall appoint its respective representatives to the JSC from time to time, and may substitute one or more of its representatives, in its sole discretion, effective upon notice to the other Party of such change.  Each Party shall have at least one JSC representative who is a senior employee (Vice President level or above), and all JSC representatives have appropriate expertise and ongoing familiarity with the activities contemplated by this Agreement.  Additional representatives or consultants may from time to time, by mutual consent of the Parties, be invited to attend JSC meetings, subject to such representatives’ and consultants’ written agreement to comply with the requirements of Article 7.  All proceedings for the JSC shall take place in English.  Each Party shall bear its own expenses relating to attendance at such meetings by its representatives.
 
5.1.2   JSC Chairperson .  The “ JSC Chairperson ” shall be a representative of China Company.  The JSC Chairperson’s responsibilities shall include (a) scheduling meetings at least [**], but more frequently if the JSC determines it necessary; (b) setting the agenda for meetings with solicited input from other members; (c) confirming and delivering minutes to the JSC for review and final approval; and (d) conducting effective meetings, including ensuring that objectives for each meeting are set and achieved.
 
5.1.3   Meetings .  The JSC shall meet in accordance with a schedule established by mutual written agreement of the Parties, but no less frequently than [**], with the location for such meetings alternating between China Company and Argos facilities (or such other locations as are determined by the JSC).  Alternatively, the JSC may meet by means of teleconference, videoconference or other similar communications equipment, but at least [**] per year shall be conducted in person.
 
5.1.4   JSC Responsibilities .  The JSC shall have the following responsibilities with respect to the Collaboration:
 
(a)   agreeing on the indications that China Company will Develop;
 
(b)   monitoring the Development of the Licensed Product in the Argos Territory, including without limitation, publication strategy;
 
(c)   reviewing and approving all Clinical Studies to be conducted by or on behalf of China Company prior to Initiation;
 
 
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(d)   regularly monitoring the progress of China Company in its conduct of the Development of the Licensed Products, reviewing relevant data, and considering issues of priority;
 
(e)   agreeing on the Development Plan and milestones for each Licensed Product prior to Initiation of the first Clinical Trial by China Company or its Related Party; coordinating and overseeing technology transfer contemplated by Section 6.2;
 
(f)   monitoring and coordinating Manufacturing and Commercialization activities (e.g., product supply forecasting); and
 
(g)   performing such other activities as the Parties agree in writing shall be the responsibility of the JSC.
 
For purposes of clarity, the JSC shall not have the authority to modify the terms of this Agreement.
 
In furtherance of the common interest in maximizing the benefit to patients in the China Company Territory and the commercial value of Licensed Products to the Parties, the Parties agree that if Argos or a Regional Partner files for regulatory approval in the Argos Territory of Licensed Product to treat an indication which is not then under Development or in Commercialization by China Company, Argos shall notify the JSC and the JSC shall discuss in good faith the potential Commercialization of Licensed Product for such indication in the China Company Territory.:
 
5.2             Reports and Minutes .  Each Party will provide the members of the JSC with written copies of all materials they intend to present at a JSC meeting. The JSC may also request from China Company at any time specific data or information related to this Agreement or request that China Company provide a written report in advance of any meeting summarizing certain material data and information arising out of the conduct of the activities contemplated by this Agreement, and China Company shall provide to the JSC such report, data or information within [**] days of request.. All reports, documents, materials and information submitted to the JSC, or that are otherwise required to be provided under this Agreement, shall be in the English language or accompanied by a convenience English translation.  A secretary shall be appointed for each meeting and shall prepare minutes of the meeting, which shall provide a description in reasonable detail of the discussions held at the meeting and a list of any actions, decisions or determinations approved by the JSC.
 
5.4             Decision-Making .  The JSC shall attempt to resolve any and all disputes by consensus.  If the JSC is unable to reach a consensus with respect to a dispute, then the Chief Executive Officers of China Company and Argos shall attempt to resolve such dispute within [**] days of written request by either Party.  In the event that the Chief Executive Officers cannot reach an agreement regarding such dispute within [**] days after submission to them for resolution, then:
 
(a)           China Company shall have the final decision-making authority directly related to the JSC responsibilities set forth in subsections (a) (subject, however, to Section 4.1), (c), (d), (e) and (g) of Section 5.1.4; provided , however , that China Company (x) has no final decision-making authority over the Development milestones and Commercialization sales targets to be set pursuant to Sections 5.1.4(f), 2.5 and 2.6.1 (which shall be decided by Argos) , (y) may not conduct, sponsor, fund or otherwise support Development activities, including without limitation a Clinical Study or Post-Approval Study of a Licensed Product that is reasonably likely to materially and adversely affect the Development or Commercialization of the Licensed Product in the Argos Territory (including without limitation, a material adverse effect on the actual or perceived human safety in the Field of the Licensed Product (“ Safety Matter ”)), without Argos’ prior written consent, and (z) may not exercise its final decision-making authority (A) to require Argos to perform any activities for which it is not responsible under this Agreement, (B) to require Argos to take or fail to take any action that would violate any applicable law, rule or regulation or any agreement with any Third Party or infringe the intellectual property rights of Third Parties, (C) to expand or narrow the responsibilities of the JSC or (E) over a matter with respect to which Argos is expressly allocated decision-making authority elsewhere in this Agreement.
 
 
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(b)           with respect to all other disputes between the Parties, the dispute resolution provisions of Section 11.11 shall apply.
 
5.5             Voting .  With respect to decisions of the JSC, the representatives of each Party shall have collectively one vote on behalf of such Party.  For each meeting of the JSC, at least [**] representatives of each Party shall constitute a quorum.  Action on any matter may be taken at a meeting, by teleconference, videoconference or by written agreement.
 

6.   MANUFACTURE AND SUPPLY OF A LICENSED PRODUCT
 
6.1   China Company Responsibilities .  China Company will have responsibility, at its expense, to obtain all its requirements of Licensed Product for Development and Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory, and will use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Manufacture Licensed Product, or have Licensed Product Manufactured, at the most efficient scale. China Company covenants that all Licensed Product made or sold by or on behalf of China Company shall be (a) manufactured, marketed and sold in compliance with all applicable laws in the China Company Territory, (b) produced with the use of Automated Systems and Disposables purchased from Argos or Argos’ approved vendors as contemplated by Section 6.3, (c) produced, quality controlled and released in accordance with Argos-approved standard operating procedures and quality standards – as long as they are compliant with laws and regulations in the China Company Territory, and (d) properly labeled, handled and distributed.
 
6.2         Technology Transfer Responsibilities .  Argos shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to transfer to China Company, or to arrange to have transferred to China Company by a Third Party, the Argos Technology set forth on Schedule E, which transfer will commence as soon as practicable after the target date(s) forth on such schedule. The (i) labor costs and (ii) actual materials costs and out-of-pocket expenses, in each case directly incurred by Argos and/or such Third Party in performing such technology transfer activities, will be borne solely by China Company, and China Company shall pay such costs and expenses within [**] days of the date of invoice sent by Argos.  China Company will bear the costs of its own labor, materials and out-of-pocket expenses for such technology transfer.  China Company would not administer any Licensed Product to humans in Clinical Studies or otherwise until Argos has determined that the Argos Technology has been satisfactorily transferred.
 
6.3         Automated Systems and Disposables .  Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall Argos be obligated to license to China Company or its Affiliates the right to make, have made, sell, offer to sell or import any technology associated with the Automated System.  Upon completion of the development of the Automated System and the approval of its use by applicable Regulatory Authorities in the China Company Territory, Argos shall supply or shall use all reasonable efforts to cause its approved vendors to supply the requirements of China Company for Automated Systems and Disposables pursuant to a reasonable and customary supply agreement to be negotiated in good faith by the Parties; provided, however, that the price for Automated Systems to be included in such supply agreement shall be Argos’ fully burdened cost of supplying the Automated Systems and Argos shall not make any profit on the resale of Disposables to China Company.  China Company shall be entitled to audit such costs in accordance with Section 3.5, mutatis mutandis .
 
 
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7.        CONFIDENTIALITY AND PUBLICATION
 
7.1   Nondisclosure Obligation .  (a) All Confidential Information disclosed by one Party to the other Party hereunder shall be maintained in confidence by the receiving Party and shall not be disclosed to a Third Party or used for any purpose except as set forth herein without the prior written consent of the disclosing Party, except to the extent that such Confidential Information:
 
(i)     
is known by the receiving Party at the time of its receipt, and not through a prior disclosure, directly or indirectly, by the disclosing Party, as documented by the receiving Party’s business records;
 
(ii)     
is in the public domain by use and/or publication before its receipt from the disclosing Party, or thereafter enters the public domain through no fault of the receiving Party or its Related Parties;
 
(iii)     
is subsequently disclosed to the receiving Party by a Third Party who may lawfully do so and is not under an obligation of confidentiality to the disclosing Party; or
 
(iv)     
is developed by the receiving Party independently of Confidential Information received from the disclosing Party, as documented by the receiving Party’s business records.
 
(b)           Notwithstanding the obligations of confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-use set forth above and in Section 7.2 below, a receiving Party may provide Confidential Information disclosed to it, and disclose the existence and terms of this Agreement as may be reasonably required in order to perform its obligations and to exploit its rights under this Agreement, and specifically to (i) Related Parties, and their employees, directors, agents, consultants, advisors and/or other Third Parties for the performance of its obligations hereunder (or for such entities to determine their interest in performing such activities) in accordance with this Agreement in each case who are bound by confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-use obligations substantially similar to those set forth herein; (ii) governmental or other Regulatory Authorities in order to obtain patents or perform its obligations or exploit its rights under this Agreement; provided , that such Confidential Information shall be disclosed only to the extent reasonably necessary to do so, (iii) the extent required by applicable law, including without limitation by the rules or regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Chinese Federal Financial Markets Service or similar regulatory agency in a country other than the United States or of any stock exchange or listing entity, (iv) any bona fide actual or prospective underwriters, investors, lenders or other financing sources and any bona fide actual or prospective collaborators or strategic partners and to consultants and advisors of such Party, in each case who are bound by confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-use obligations substantially similar to those set forth herein, and (v) to Third Parties to the extent a Party is required to do so pursuant to the terms of an In-License.
 
 
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If a Party is required by judicial or administrative process to disclose Confidential Information that is subject to the non-disclosure provisions of this Section 7.1 or Section 7.2, such Party shall promptly inform the other Party of the disclosure that is being sought in order to provide the other Party an opportunity to challenge or limit the disclosure obligations.  Confidential Information that is disclosed by judicial or administrative process shall remain otherwise subject to the confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-use provisions of this Section 7.1 and Section 7.2, and the Party disclosing Confidential Information pursuant to law or court order shall, at the other Party’s expense, take all steps reasonably practical, including without limitation seeking an order of confidentiality, to ensure the continued confidential treatment of such Confidential Information. In addition to the foregoing restrictions on public disclosure, if either Party concludes that a copy of this Agreement must be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or similar regulatory agency in a country other than the United States, such Party shall provide the other Party with a copy of this Agreement showing any sections as to which the Party proposes to request confidential treatment, will provide the other Party with an opportunity to comment on any such proposal and to suggest additional portions of the Agreement for confidential treatment, and will take such Party’s reasonable comments into consideration before filing the Agreement.
 
7.2   Publicity .  (a)  Except as set forth in Section 7.1 above and clause (b) below, the terms of this Agreement may not be disclosed by either Party, and no Party shall use the name, trademark, trade name or logo of the other Party or its employees in any publicity, news release or disclosure relating to this Agreement or its subject matter, without the prior express written permission of the other Party, except as may be required by law or expressly permitted by the terms hereof.
 
(b)           As soon as practicable after the execution of this Agreement by both Parties, the Parties shall use good faith efforts to agree in writing upon a press release to be issued jointly by the Parties publicizing the execution of this Agreement.  After such initial press release, neither Party shall issue a press release or public announcement relating to this Agreement without the prior written approval of the other Party, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed, except that a Party may (i) once a press release or other written statement is approved in writing by both Parties, make subsequent public disclosure of the information contained in such press release or other written statement without the further approval of the other Party, and (ii) issue a press release or public announcement as required, in the reasonable judgment of such Party, by applicable law, including without limitation by the rules or regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or similar regulatory agency in a country other than the United States or of any stock exchange or listing entity.

8.   REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES AND COVENANTS; INDEMNIFICATION
 
8.1   Mutual Representations and Warranties .  Each Party represents and warrants to the other Party that as of the Effective Date of this Agreement:
 
8.1.1   It is duly organized and validly existing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation or formation, and has full corporate or other power and authority to enter into this Agreement, and to carry out the provisions hereof.
 
 
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8.1.2   It is duly authorized to execute and deliver this Agreement, and to perform its obligations hereunder, and the person or persons executing this Agreement on its behalf has been duly authorized to do so by all requisite corporate action.
 
8.1.3   This Agreement is legally binding upon it and enforceable in accordance with its terms. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement by it does not conflict with any agreement, instrument or understanding, oral or written, to which it is a party and by which it may be bound, or with its charter or by-laws.
 
8.1.4   It has not granted, and will not grant, during the Term, any right to any Third Party that would conflict with the rights granted to the other Party hereunder.
 
8.1.5   Neither Party nor any of its Affiliates has been debarred or is subject to debarment and neither Party nor any of its Affiliates will use in any capacity, in connection with the exercise of its rights and the performance of its obligations under this Agreement, any person or entity that has been debarred pursuant to Section 306 of the United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or any similar law in any foreign jurisdiction, or that is the subject of a conviction described in such section or similar law in any foreign jurisdiction.  Each Party agrees to inform the other Party in writing immediately if it or any person or entity that is performing activities under this Agreement, is debarred or is the subject of a conviction described in Section 306 or similar law in any foreign jurisdiction, or if any action, suit, claim, investigation or legal or administrative proceeding is pending or, to the best of the notifying Party’s Knowledge, is threatened, relating to the debarment or conviction of the notifying Party or any person or entity used in any capacity by such Party or any of its Affiliates in connection with the performance of its obligations under this Agreement.
 
8.2    Additional Representations and Warranties of the Parties .
 
8.2.1   Additional Representations and Warranties of Argos . Argos represents and warrants to China Company that:
 
(a)   As of the Effective Date, except for any Argos Patent Rights or Argos Know-How Controlled by Argos under an Argos In-License and sublicensed to China Company, Argos is the sole and exclusive owner of all right, title and interest in and to the Argos Technology in the China Company Territory.  As of the Effective Date, Argos has no Knowledge of any claim made against it with respect to the China Company Territory challenging Argos’ Control of the Argos Technology or making any adverse claim of ownership of the Argos Technology.
 
(b)   As of the Effective Date, each of the issued patents included in the Argos Patent Rights set forth on Schedule B has been duly maintained and, to Argos Knowledge, is valid and enforceable and none of the Argos Patent Rights set forth on Schedule B is (i) subject to a pending interference action, opposition action, re-examination proceeding, litigation or other similar action by a Third Party challenging such patents or patent applications, other than actions by a Regulatory Authority in connection with the prosecution of patent applications, or (ii) has been abandoned, or has been asserted to be invalid or unenforceable in a communication to Argos or is subject to any inventorship proceeding or dispute.
 
 
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(c)   Listed on Schedule D are all the Argos In-Licenses applicable to the China Company Territory existing as of the Effective Date.
 
(d)   As of the Effective Date, (i) each Existing Argos In-License is valid, binding and in full force and effect, (ii) Argos is in compliance in all material respects with its material obligations under each Existing Argos In-License, (iii) to Argos’ Knowledge, each Third Party is in compliance in all materials respects with its material obligations under each Existing Argos In-License and (iv) no party has claimed a breach of, or initiated any dispute resolution proceedings under, any Existing Argos In-License.
 
(e)   As of the Effective Date and to Argos’ Knowledge, Argos has not received any notice from any Third Party asserting or alleging that any Development or Manufacture of a Licensed Product by Argos prior to the Effective Date infringed or misappropriated the Patent Rights or other intellectual property rights of such Third Party.
 
(f)   As of the Effective Date, Argos has no Knowledge of any other intellectual property rights Controlled by a Third Party that are necessary to Develop, Manufacture and Commercialize a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory or otherwise claim the Argos Technology.
 
8.2.2   A dditional Representations and Warranties of China Company .  China Company represents, warrants and covenants to Argos that:
 
(a)   It has or has the ability to obtain and will maintain as and when necessary the financial and other capabilities reasonably necessary to discharge its obligations under this Agreement and will pay in a timely manner all costs and expenses associated therewith.
 
(b)   All China Company Data delivered by China Company pursuant to Section 2.5 will have been collected in compliance with all applicable laws in the country in which the applicable Clinical Study(s) were conducted, and, to its Knowledge, will be true and accurate in all material respects.
 
(c)   It will comply with all laws in the China Company Territory applicable to the exercise of its rights and performance of its obligations hereunder.
 
8.3   Warranty Disclaimer .  EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED IN THIS AGREEMENT, NEITHER PARTY MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR EXTENDS ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE OTHER PARTY AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  EACH PARTY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT THE DEVELOPMENT, MANUFACTURE OR COMMERCIALIZATION OF A LICENSED PRODUCT PURSUANT TO THIS AGREEMENT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL OR THAT ANY PARTICULAR SALES LEVEL WITH RESPECT TO A LICENSED PRODUCT WILL BE ACHIEVED.
 
8.4   Certain Covenants .
 
 
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8.4.1   Exclusivity .  Except as expressly provided in this Agreement, neither China Company nor its Related Parties will, alone or with or through a Third Party, during the Term, research, develop, manufacture or commercialize any antigen-presenting cell therapy outside of the scope of this Agreement for the treatment of cancer in humans for use or sale in the China Company Territory. For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 8.4.1 is not intended to prohibit the Fund from investing in Third Parties that engage in the activities otherwise prohibited by this Section 8.4.1.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the FDA has denied to grant initial Regulatory Approval for any Licensed Product in any specific cancer indication within the Field, and there are no Clinical Studies Initiated or ongoing with respect to such specific cancer indication for a [**] year period following denial by the FDA (the " Rejected Indication "), China Company shall have the right (directly or through its Related Parties or a Third Party) to research, develop, manufacture or commercialize any antigen-presenting cell therapy in such Rejected Indication, despite the fact that such therapy may be in competition with therapies offered by Argos products.
 
8.4.2   Compliance .  China Company and its Related Parties shall conduct the Development, Manufacture and Commercialization of a Licensed Product in accordance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations, including without limitation current governmental regulations concerning good laboratory practices, good clinical practices and good manufacturing practices (including but not limited the guidelines of the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH)).
 
8.4.3   Employee Inventions .  Prior to performing any activities in connection with this Agreement, China Company shall ensure that its and its Affiliates’ employees, agents and consultants   have executed valid and binding agreements with it that assign and otherwise effectively vest in China Company any and all rights that such employees, agents and/or consultants might otherwise have in any China Company Improvements made by such employees, agents and/or consultants without any obligation of Argos or its Related Parties to pay any royalties or other consideration to such employees, agents and/or consultants. Should any royalties or other consideration become payable to such employees, agents and/or consultants, China Company shall remain solely responsible for making such payments.
 
8.5   Indemnification .
 
8.5.1   General Indemnification by China Company .  China Company shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend Argos, its Affiliates, its Related Parties and the other parties to the Argos In-Licenses, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents (“ Argos Indemnitees ”) from and against any and all Third Party claims, suits, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, fees and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) (collectively, “ Losses ”) to the extent arising out of or resulting from, directly or indirectly, (a) any breach of this Agreement by China Company, or (b) the negligence or willful misconduct by or of China Company, its Related Parties, and their respective directors, officers, employees, contractors and agents.
 
8.5.2   General Indemnification by Argos .  Argos shall indemnify, hold harmless, and defend China Company, its Affiliates, its Related Parties and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents (“ China Company Indemnitees ”) from and against any and all Losses to the extent arising out of or resulting from, directly or indirectly, (a) any breach of this Agreement by Argos, or (b) the negligence or willful misconduct by or of Argos, its Related Parties, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents.
 
 
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8.5.3   Product Liability .
 
(a)   China Company shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Argos Indemnitees from, against and in respect of any and all Losses arising out of Third Party product liability claims incurred or suffered by the Argos Indemnitees, or any of them, directly or indirectly relating to Licensed Product Developed, Manufactured or Commercialized by China Company or its Related Parties.
 
(b)   Argos shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the China Company Indemnitees from, against and in respect of any and all Losses arising out of Third Party product liability claims incurred or suffered by the China Company Indemnitees, or any of them, directly or indirectly relating to a Licensed Product Developed, Manufactured or Commercialized by Argos or its Related Parties.
 
8.5.4   Indemnification Procedure .   In the event of any such claim against any China Company Indemnitee or Argos Indemnitee (individually, an “ Indemnitee ”), the indemnified Party shall promptly notify the other Party in writing of the claim and the indemnifying Party shall manage and control, at its sole expense, the defense of the claim and its settlement.  The Indemnitee shall cooperate with the indemnifying Party and may, at its option and expense, be represented in any such action or proceeding.  The indemnifying Party shall not be liable for any settlements, litigation costs or expenses incurred by any Indemnitee without the indemnifying Party’s written authorization.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the indemnifying Party believes that any of the exceptions to its obligation of indemnification of the Indemnitees set forth in Sections 8.5.1, 8.5.2 or 8.5.3 may apply, the indemnifying Party shall promptly notify the Indemnitees, which shall then have the right to be represented in any such action or proceeding by separate counsel at their expense; provided, that the indemnifying Party shall be responsible for payment of such expenses if the Indemnitees are ultimately determined to be entitled to indemnification from the indemnifying Party.
 
8.6   Limitation of Liability .  NEITHER PARTY HERETO WILL BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT OR THE EXERCISE OF ITS RIGHTS HEREUNDER, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, REGARDLESS OF ANY NOTICE OF SUCH DAMAGES, EXCEPT AS A RESULT OF A PARTY’S WILLFUL MISCONDUCT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR A MATERIAL BREACH OF THE CONFIDENTIALITY AND NON-USE OBLIGATIONS IN ARTICLE 6.  NOTHING IN THIS SECTION 8.6 IS INTENDED TO LIMIT OR RESTRICT THE INDEMNIFICATION RIGHTS OR OBLIGATIONS OF EITHER PARTY.
 
8.7   Insurance . Each Party shall obtain and/or maintain insurance for a period starting with the commencement of any Clinical Study involving any Licensed Product and ending at least [**] years after the last commercial sale of a Licensed Product under this Agreement, with a reputable, solvent insurer in an amount appropriate for its business and products of the type that are the subject of this Agreement, and for its obligations under this Agreement.  Without limiting the foregoing, such insurance coverage shall include product liability insurance coverage limits of no less than RMB [**] per occurrence and in the aggregate.  Each Party shall name the other as an additional insured under such policies, and, upon request, each Party shall provide the other Party with evidence of the existence and maintenance of such insurance coverage.  Such insurance coverage shall include, without limitation, general commercial liability insurance and/or clinical trials insurance to provide insurance coverage with respect to each Clinical Study conducted by or on behalf of China Company involving Licensed Products.
 
 
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9.   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OWNERSHIP, PROTECTION AND RELATED MATTERS
 
9.1   Inventorship .   Inventorship for patentable inventions conceived or reduced to practice during the course of the performance of activities pursuant to this Agreement shall be determined in accordance with the principles that are used to determine inventorship under the United States patent laws.
 
9.2     Ownership . Subject to the licenses granted by Argos pursuant to this Agreement, Argos shall own the entire right, title and interest in and to all inventions and discoveries (and Patent Rights claiming patentable inventions therein) first made or discovered solely by employees, agentsor consultants of Argos or acquired solely by Argos.  Subject to the licenses granted by China Company pursuant to this Agreement, China Company shall own the entire right, title and interest in and to all inventions and discoveries (and Patent Rights claiming patentable inventions therein) first made or discovered solely by employees, agents or consultants of China Company or acquired solely by China Company.  The Parties shall jointly own any inventions and discoveries (and Patent Rights claiming patentable inventions therein) first made or discovered jointly by employees, agents or consultants of China Company and Argos during the Term (“ Joint IP ”).
 
9.3   Prosecution and Maintenance of Patent Rights .
 
9.3.1     Argos Technology . Argos has the sole right to, at Argos’s discretion, file, conduct prosecution, and maintain (including without limitation the defense of any interference or opposition proceedings), all Argos Patent Rights.  If Argos elects to pursue Argos Patent Rights in the China Company Territory, Argos agrees to use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to prosecute and maintain such Argos Patent Rights in the China Company Territory, and will notify China Company in writing if Argos elects not to continue to seek or maintain any Argos Patent Rights in the China Company Territory.
 
9.3.2   China Company Technology . China Company has the sole right to, at its discretion, file, conduct prosecution, and maintain (including without limitation the defense of any interference or opposition proceedings), all Patent Rights comprising China Company Improvements. China Company agrees to use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to prosecute and maintain the China Company Improvements in the Argos Territory, and will notify Argos in writing if China Company elects not to continue to seek or maintain any such Patent Rights in the Argos Territory.
 
9.3.3   Joint IP .  Argos has the sole right to file, conduct prosecution, and maintain (including without limitation the defense of any interference or opposition proceedings), all Patent Rights comprising Joint IP, in the names of both Argos and China Company.   China Company shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to make available to Argos or its authorized attorneys, agents or representatives, such of its employees, consultants or representatives as Argos in its reasonable judgment deems necessary in order to assist it in obtaining patent protection for such Joint IP.  Each Party shall sign, or use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to have signed, all legal documents necessary to file and prosecute patent applications or to obtain or maintain patents in respect of such Joint IP, at its own cost.
 
 
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9.3.4   Contingent Rights . (a) In the event China Company elects not to seek or continue to seek or maintain patent protection on any China Company Improvements in the Argos Territory, Argos shall have the right (but not the obligation), at its expense, to seek, prosecute and maintain in any country patent protection on such China Company Improvements in the name of China Company.  China Company shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to make available to Argos its authorized attorneys, agents or representatives, and such of its employees as are reasonably necessary to assist Argos in obtaining and maintaining the patent protection described under this Section 9.3.4(a).  China Company shall sign or use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to have signed all legal documents necessary to file and prosecute such patent applications or to obtain or maintain such patents.
 
(b)           In the event that Argos elects not to seek or continue to seek or maintain patent protection on any Argos Patent Rights or Joint IP in the China Company Territory, China Company shall have the right (but not the obligation), at its expense, to seek, prosecute and maintain in the China Company Territory patent protection on such Argos Patent Rights and Joint IP in the name of Argos with respect to Argos Patent Rights and the names of both Argos and China Company with respect to Joint IP.  Argos shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to make available to China Company its authorized attorneys, agents or representatives, and such of its employees as are reasonably necessary to assist China Company in obtaining and maintaining the patent protection described under this Section 9.3.4(b).  Argos shall sign or use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to have signed all legal documents necessary to file and prosecute such patent applications or to obtain or maintain such patents.
 
9.3.5   Cooperation; Patent Challenges .  Each Party hereby agrees:  (a) to make its employees, agents and consultants reasonably available to the other Party (or to the other Party’s authorized attorneys, agents or representatives), to the extent reasonably necessary to enable such Party to undertake patent prosecution; (b) to cooperate, if necessary and appropriate, with the other Party in gaining patent term extensions wherever applicable to Patent Rights; and (c) to endeavor in good faith to coordinate its efforts with the other Party to minimize or avoid interference with the prosecution and maintenance of the other Party’s patent applications. China Company shall provide Argos with copies of all material correspondence pertaining to its prosecution with the patent offices in the China Company Territory.   Without limiting the foregoing, China Company shall, if prosecuting and maintaining the Patent Right, furnish to Argos copies of substantive documents ( e.g. , applications, office actions and responses) relevant to any such efforts in advance with sufficient time for Argos to review and provide comments on such documents, and shall in good faith take such comments into account; provided, however, that China Company shall implement all comments designated by Argos as necessary to implement Argos’ global strategy with respect to such Argos Patent Rights.  For the avoidance of doubt, China Company shall have the rights to, and, at the request of Argos shall, join as a party in any proceeding related to Joint IP.
 
 
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9.3.6   Patent Expenses .  The patent filing, prosecution and maintenance expenses incurred after the Effective Date with respect to Patent Rights (“ Patent Expenses ”) shall be borne by each Party filing, prosecuting and maintaining such Patent Rights under this Section 8.3; provided, however, that China Company shall reimburse Argos on a quarterly basis for such documented out-of-pocket expenses reasonably incurred with respect to Argos Patent Rights and Joint IP (to the extent applicable to the China Company Territory) in the China Company Territory.
 
9.4   Third Party Infringement .
 
9.4.1   Notices . Each Party shall promptly report in writing to the other Party during the Term any (a) known or suspected infringement of any Argos Technology, China Company Improvements or Joint IP or (b) unauthorized use or misappropriation of any Confidential Information, Argos Technology, China Company Improvements or Joint IP by a Third Party of which it becomes aware, and shall provide the other Party with all available evidence supporting such infringement, or unauthorized use or misappropriation.
 
9.4.2   Rights to Enforce.
 
(a)            China Company First Right . China Company shall have the sole and exclusive right (but not obligation) to initiate an infringement or other appropriate suit anywhere in the world against any Third Party who at any time has infringed, or is suspected of infringing, any China Company Improvements, or of using without proper authorization any China Company Know-How incorporated into the China Company Improvements.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event such infringement, suspected infringement, or unauthorized use is by an Argos Related Party, the Parties shall discuss in good faith a resolution to the foregoing prior to engaging in litigation.
 
(b)            Argos’s First Right . Argos shall have the sole and exclusive right (but not obligation) to initiate an infringement or other appropriate suit anywhere in the world against any Third Party who at any time has infringed, or is suspected of infringing, any Argos Patent Rights, Argos Know-How, or Joint IP.
 
9.4.3   Step-In Rights . (a) Argos will consider in good faith any request from China Company to initiate an infringement or other appropriate suit against any Third Party with respect to matters described in Section 9.4.2(b) occurring in the China Company Territory; provided , however , that Argos shall not be required to initiate any such suit.  In the event that Argos does not promptly initiate and diligently prosecute such a suit reasonably requested by China Company, then China Company shall have the right, at its expense, to initiate and conduct such suit in the China Company Territory.
 
(b)         To the extent such suit is related to China Company Improvement in the Argos Territory, China Company will consider in good faith any request from Argos to initiate an infringement or other appropriate suit against any Third Party with respect to matters described in Section 9.4.2(a) occurring in the Argos Territory, however China Company shall not be required to initiate any such suit. In the event that China Company does not promptly initiate and diligently prosecute such a suit reasonably requested by Argos, then Argos shall have the right, at its expense, to initiate and conduct such suit in the Argos Territory.
 
 
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9.4.4   Procedures; Expenses and Recoveries .  The Party having the right to initiate any infringement suit under Section 9.4.2 or 9.4.3 above shall have the sole and exclusive right to select counsel for any such suit and shall pay all expenses of the suit, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and court costs and reimbursement of the other Party’s reasonable out-of-pocket expense in rendering assistance requested by the initiating Party.  If required under applicable law in order for the initiating Party to initiate and/or maintain such suit, or if either Party is unable to initiate or prosecute such suit solely in its own name or it is otherwise advisable to obtain an effective legal remedy, in each case, the other Party shall join as a party to the suit and will execute and cause its Affiliates to execute all documents necessary for the initiating Party to initiate litigation to prosecute and maintain such action.  In addition, at the initiating Party’s request, the other Party shall provide reasonable assistance to the initiating Party in connection with an infringement suit at no charge to the initiating Party except for reimbursement by the initiating Party of reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in rendering such assistance.  The non-initiating Party shall have the right to participate and be represented in any such suit by its own counsel at its own expense.  If the Parties obtain from a Third Party, in connection with such suit, any damages, license fees, royalties or other compensation (including but not limited to any amount received in settlement of such litigation) ( “Recoveries” ), such amounts shall be allocated in all cases as follows regardless of which Party brings the enforcement action:
 
(a)      
first, to reimburse each Party for all expenses of the suit incurred by such Party, including but not limited to attorneys’ fees and disbursements, travel costs, court costs and other litigation expenses;
 
(b)      
second, (i) if such suit is related to the Argos Technology in the China Company Territory, then China Company shall be entitled to receive that portion of the remaining Recoveries reasonably attributable to Net Sales of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory (as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final, non-appealable decision); provided, that the Recoveries reasonably attributable to Net Sales of Licensed Product to which China Company is entitled after reimbursement of expenses shall be treated as Net Sales for purposes of this Agreement and Argos shall be entitled to receive royalties on such constructive Net Sales pursuant to the terms of Section 3.2 as if such Net Sales had occurred during the time period of the infringement, and (ii) if such suit is related to China Company Improvements in the Argos Territory, then Argos shall be entitled to receive that portion of the remaining Recoveries reasonably attributable to Net Sales of a Licensed Product in the Argos Territory (as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final, non-appealable decision); and
 
(c)       
the Party initiating the suit shall be entitled to [**] percent ([**]%), and the non-initiating Party shall be entitled to [**] percent ([**]%), of the balance of the Recoveries.
 
9.5   Claimed Infringement .
 
9.5.1          Notice . In the event that after the Effective Date a Third Party at any time provides written notice of a claim to, or brings an action, suit or proceeding against, any Party, or any of their respective Affiliates or Sublicensees, claiming infringement of its patent rights or unauthorized use or misappropriation of its Know-How, based upon an assertion or claim arising out of the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the Field (“ Infringement Claim ”), such Party shall promptly notify the other Party of the claim or the commencement of such action, suit or proceeding, enclosing a copy of the claim and all papers served.  Each Party agrees to make available to the other Party its advice and counsel regarding the technical merits of any such claim at no cost to the other Party and to offer reasonable assistance to the other Party at no cost to the other Party.
 
 
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9.5.2   Responsibility .   China Company shall assume full responsibility for any Infringement Claims brought against either Party or its Affiliates or Sublicensees arising out of the Development or Commercialization of a Licensed Product   in, or Manufacture of Licensed Product for, the China Company Territory by China Company or its Related Parties or in or for the Argos Territory by China Company or its Related Parties in breach of this Agreement.  All liabilities, damages, costs and expenses arising out of such Third Party Infringement Claims shall be borne by China Company. Argos shall assume full responsibility for any Infringement Claims brought against either Party or its Affiliates or Sublicensees arising out of the Commercialization of a Licensed Product in, or Manufacture of Licensed Product for, the Argos Territory by Argos or its Related Parties or in or for the China Company Territory by Argos or its Related Parties in breach of this Agreement. All liabilities, damages, costs and expenses arising out of such Third Party Infringement Claims shall be borne by Argos.
 
9.5.3   Procedure .   Each Party shall have the sole and exclusive right to select counsel for any Infringement Claim that it defends; provided , that it shall consult with the other Party with respect to selection of counsel for such defense.   Each Party will keep the other Party informed, and shall from time to time consult with the other Party regarding the status of any such claims and shall provide the other Party with copies of all documents filed in any suit brought in connection with such claims. The other Party shall also have the right to participate and be represented in any such claim or related suit, at its own expense.  Argos shall have the sole and exclusive right (but not the obligation) to control the defense of an Infringement Claim for which China Company has the responsibility in the event China Company fails to assume such defense within [**] days following written notice from Argos. No Party shall settle any claims or suits involving rights of another Party without obtaining the prior written consent of such other Party, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
 
9.6   Other Infringement Resolutions .   In the event of a dispute or potential dispute that has not ripened into a demand, claim or suit of the types described in Sections 9.4 and 9.5 of this Agreement (e.g., actions seeking declaratory judgments and revocation proceedings), the same principles governing control of the resolution of the dispute, consent to settlements of the dispute, and implementation of the settlement of the dispute (including but not limited to the sharing in and allocating the payment or receipt of damages, license fees, royalties and other compensation) shall apply.
 
9.7   Patent Certification .   To the extent required by law or permitted by law, the Parties shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to maintain with the applicable Regulatory Authorities during the Term correct and complete listings of applicable Patent Rights for a Licensed Product being commercialized.
 
9.8   Trademarks .
 
 
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9.8.1            Each Party and its Affiliates shall retain all right, title and interest in and to its and their respective corporate names and logos. To the extent permitted by applicable law, upon Argos’ request, China Company and its Related Parties shall include Argos’ (or its designee’s) name with equal prominence, or as close thereto as permitted by applicable law, on all Licensed Product promotional materials related to a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory.
 
9.8.2            China Company will develop and propose, and Argos shall review and comment on for approval by China Company, one or more trademarks for a Licensed Product (the “ Licensed Product Trademarks ”) for use by China Company and its Related Parties throughout the China Company Territory.  Any Licensed Product Trademark(s) (other than the Argos Trademarks) that are used by China Company to promote and sell a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory are hereinafter referred to as the “ China Company Trademarks ”.  Argos (or its Related Parties, as appropriate) shall own all rights to the trademarks developed and/or used by Argos with respect to the Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the Argos Territory (the “ Argos Trademarks ”), and all goodwill associated therewith.  China Company (or its Related Parties, as appropriate) shall own all rights to China Company Trademarks and all goodwill associated therewith.  Argos shall also own rights to any Internet domain names incorporating the applicable Argos Trademarks or any variation or part of such Argos Trademarks used as its URL address or any part of such address; and China Company shall also own rights to any Internet domain names incorporating the applicable China Company Trademarks or any variation or part of such China Company Trademarks used as its URL address or any part of such address.
 
9.8.3            If China Company Trademarks are used to promote and sell a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory then China Company will use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to establish, maintain and enforce the China Company Trademarks in the China Company Territory during the Term, at its expense.  If China Company requests a license to Argos Trademarks in writing to promote and sell a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory, then Argos shall grant China Company an exclusive license to use such Argos Trademarks to Commercialize a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory on terms and conditions to be negotiated by the Parties in good faith.  Argos shall be entitled to no additional compensation for the grant of such license other than the reimbursement in full of Argos’ costs and expenses of establishing, maintaining and enforcing such Argos Trademarks in the China Company Territory.   If China Company Trademarks are used to promote and sell a Licensed Product in the Argos Territory, then China Company shall grant Argos an exclusive license to use such China Company Trademarks to Commercialize a Licensed Product in the Argos Territory on terms and conditions to be negotiated by the Parties in good faith.  China Company shall be entitled to no additional compensation for the grant of such license other than the reimbursement in full of its costs and expenses of establishing, maintaining and enforcing such China Company Trademarks in the Argos Territory.
 
9.8.4            In the event either Party becomes aware of any infringement of any Licensed Product Trademark or Argos Trademark by a Third Party, such Party shall promptly notify the other Party and the Parties shall consult with each other and jointly determine the best way to prevent such infringement, including, without limitation, by the institution of legal proceedings against such Third Party.

10.   TERM AND TERMINATION
 
 
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10.1   Term .  This Agreement shall be effective as of the Effective Date and, unless terminated earlier pursuant to Section 10.2 below, this Agreement shall continue in effect until expiration of the last to expire Royalty Term (“ Term ”).
 
10.2   Termination Rights.
 
10.2.1   Termination for Cause.   This Agreement may be terminated at any time during the Term:
 
(a)           upon written notice by either Party if the other Party is in breach of its material obligations hereunder and has not cured such breach within [**] business days in the case of a payment breach, or [**] days in the case of all other breaches, after written notice requesting cure of the breach (which notice shall specify in reasonable detail the breach and related rights to terminate); or
 
(b)           by either Party upon the filing or institution of bankruptcy, liquidation or receivership proceedings of the other Party (or similar concepts under applicable law), or upon an assignment of a substantial portion of the assets for the benefit of creditors by the other Party; provided , however , that in the event of any involuntary bankruptcy or receivership proceeding such right to terminate shall only become effective if the Party consents to the involuntary bankruptcy or receivership or such proceeding is not dismissed within sixty (60) days after the filing thereof.
 
It is understood that termination pursuant to this Section 10.2.1(a) (Termination for Cause) shall be a remedy of last resort and may be invoked only in the case where the breach is not reasonably remedied by the payment of money damages or other remedy under applicable law. If either Party initiates a dispute resolution procedure as permitted under this Agreement prior to the end of the applicable cure period to resolve the dispute for which termination is being sought and is diligently pursuing such procedure, including any litigation following therefrom, the termination shall become effective only if and when such dispute is finally resolved through such dispute resolution procedure. This Section 10.2.1 (Termination for Cause) defines exclusively the Parties’ right to terminate in case of any material breach of this Agreement.
 
10.2.2        Challenges of Patent Rights.
 
In the event that China Company or any of its Related Parties (a) commences or participates in any action or proceeding (including, without limitation, any patent opposition or re-examination proceeding), or otherwise asserts any claim, challenging or denying the validity or enforceability of any of the Argos Patent Rights or any claim thereof or (b) actively assists any other person or entity in bringing or prosecuting any action or proceeding (including, without limitation, any patent opposition or re-examination proceeding) challenging or denying the validity or enforceability of any of such Argos Patent Rights or any claim thereof, then (i) China Company shall give notice thereof to Argos within [**] days of taking such action (or within [**] days after Knowledge of such action taken by any Related Party of China Company) and (ii) Argos will have the right, in its sole discretion to give notice to China Company that either (A) the licenses granted to China Company with respect to all or any portion of the Argos Technology under this Agreement will terminate in [**] days following such notice (or such longer period as Argos may designate in such notice), and, unless China Company ceases all participation with respect to all such challenge(s) (including withdrawing any challenge within its control) within such [**]day period, such licenses will so terminate, or (B) the royalty rates set forth in Section 3.1 shall be doubled until such time as China Company ceases all participation with respect to all such challenge(s) (including withdrawing any challenge within its control).  In the event that Argos elects to terminate the licenses but is not permitted to do so under applicable law, then the Parties agree to construe this provision as to permit Argos to terminate the licenses to that portion of such Argos Technology with respect to which Argos has the legal right to do so.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event a China Company Related Party violates this Section 10.2.2 without China Company's prior knowledge, and China Company terminates the relationship with such Related Party or otherwise takes such action as reasonably requested by Argos, Argos shall not have the right to terminate the licenses granted to China Company in accordance with this Section 10.2.2.
 
 
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10.2.3      Effect of Termination .
 
(a)            Termination by Argos . Without limiting any other legal or equitable remedies that Argos may have, if Argos terminates this Agreement in accordance with 10.2.1 (Termination for Cause) or 10.2.2 (Challenge of Patent Rights), then (i) notwithstanding anything in Section 7.4.1 to the contrary, the obligations of China Company under Section 8.4.1 shall survive for a period of [**] years after the effective date of termination, (ii) the license grant to Argos in Section 2.1.3 shall, solely with respect to licensable subject matter in existence on the effective date of termination, survive and shall be fully-paid, perpetual and include an unrestricted right to grant sublicenses, (iii) China Company shall as promptly as practicable transfer and assign to Argos or Argos’ designee (A) possession and ownership of all governmental or regulatory correspondence, conversation logs, filings and approvals (including without limitation all Regulatory Approvals and pricing and reimbursement approvals) relating to the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product and all Licensed Product Trademarks and execute any and all documents and carry out any other actions considered customary as may be requested by Argos to assist Argos with all regulatory filings with the applicable Regulatory Authorities required in connection with the termination of this Agreement to ensure that all Regulatory Approvals in the China Company Territory can be transferred or issued to Argos or Argos’ designee, (B) copies of all relevant data, reports, records and materials in the possession or Control of China Company relating to the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product, including without limitation all non-clinical and clinical data relating to a Licensed Product, including without limitation customer lists and customer contact information and all adverse event data in the possession or Control of China Company, and (C) all records and materials in the possession or Control of China Company containing Confidential Information of Argos, (iv) appoint Argos or Argos’ designee as the agent of China Company and/or its Related Parties for all Licensed Product-related matters involving Regulatory Authorities in the China Company Territory until all Regulatory Approvals and other regulatory filings have been transferred to Argos or its designee, (v) if the effective date of termination is after First Commercial Sale, then China Company shall appoint Argos as its exclusive distributor of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory and grant Argos the right to appoint sub-distributors, until such time as all Regulatory Approvals in the China Company Territory have been transferred to Argos or its designee, (vi) if China Company or its Related Parties are Manufacturing Licensed Product, at Argos’ option, supply a Licensed Product to Argos or its designee in the China Company Territory on commercially reasonable terms (but any event, no less favorable than those on which China Company supplied a Licensed Product prior to such termination to the applicable distributor(s) in the China Company Territory) until such time as all Regulatory Approvals in the China Company Territory have been transferred to Argos or its designee, Argos has obtained all necessary manufacturing approvals and Argos or its designee has procured or developed its own source of Licensed Product supply, (vii) if Argos so requests, China Company shall transfer to Argos any Third Party agreements relating to the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product to which China Company is a party, subject to any required consents of such Third Party, which China Company shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to obtain promptly, and (viii) unless otherwise agreed by Argos in writing, all Sublicense Agreements shall automatically terminate. The license granted and other transfers to be effected pursuant to this Section 10.2.4(a) shall be royalty-free, fully paid and perpetual. China Company shall execute all documents and take all such further actions as may be reasonably requested by Argos in order to give effect to the foregoing clauses (i) through (viii).

 
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(b)            Termination by China Company for Cause . Without limiting any other legal or equitable remedies that China Company may have, if China Company terminates this Agreement in accordance with Section 10.2.1(a) or (b), then the licenses granted to Argos under this Agreement shall terminate and, if a Licensed Product is then being Commercialized or is in Development, the licenses granted to China Company under this Agreement solely with respect to Licensed Products in Development or then being Commercialized shall continue in full force and effect (including without limitation, the rights granted to China Company under the Argos In-Licenses); provided , that China Company continues to use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to Develop and Commercialize such Licensed Products and comply with its obligations under Section 4.1, pay all amounts that become due to Argos pursuant to Article 3 as a result of such Commercialization and comply in all respects with the requirements of each Argos In-License.
 
(c)            Termination upon Bankruptcy of a Party .   If this Agreement is terminated by either Party (the “ Non-Bankrupt Party ”) pursuant to Section 10.2.1(b) due to the rejection of this Agreement by or on behalf of the other Party (the “ Bankrupt Party ”) under Section 365 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the “ Code ”), all licenses and rights to licenses granted under or pursuant to this Agreement by the Bankrupt Party to the Non-Bankrupt Party are, and shall otherwise be deemed to be, for purposes of Section 365(n) of the Code, licenses of rights to “intellectual property” as defined under Section 101(35A) of the Code.  The Parties agree that the Non-Bankrupt Party, as a licensee of such rights under this Agreement, shall retain and may fully exercise all of its rights and elections under the Code, and that upon commencement of a bankruptcy proceeding by or against the Bankrupt Party under the Code, the Non-Bankrupt Party shall be entitled to a complete duplicate of, or complete access to (as the Non-Bankrupt Party deems appropriate), any such intellectual property and all embodiments of such intellectual property.  Such intellectual property and all embodiments thereof shall be promptly delivered to the Non-Bankrupt Party (i) upon any such commencement of a bankruptcy proceeding upon written request therefor by the Non-Bankrupt Party, unless the Bankrupt Party elects to continue to perform all of its obligations under this Agreement or (ii) if not delivered under (i) above, upon the rejection of this Agreement by or on behalf of the Bankrupt Party upon written request therefor by the Non-Bankrupt Party.  The foregoing provisions are without prejudice to any rights the Non-Bankrupt Party may have arising under the Code or other applicable law.  The parties intend for the substance of this Section 10.2.4(c) to apply worldwide, even if the Code does not expressly apply to the Bankrupt Party or to the Non-Bankrupt Party.
 
10.3   Effect of Expiration or Termination; Survival .  Expiration or termination of this Agreement shall not relieve the Parties of any obligation accruing prior to such expiration or termination.  Any expiration or termination of this Agreement shall be without prejudice to the rights of either Party against the other accrued or accruing under this Agreement prior to expiration or termination, including without limitation the obligation to pay royalties for a Licensed Product sold prior to such expiration or termination.  The provisions of Articles 7 and 11, and Sections 3.5, 4.7, 4.8.3, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.3, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 10.2.3, and 10.3 shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement.  Except as set forth in this Article 10, upon termination or expiration of this Agreement all other rights and obligations of the Parties under this Agreement cease.
 
 
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11.    MISCELLANEOUS
 
11.1   Assignment .   Except as provided in this Section 11.1, this Agreement may not be assigned or otherwise transferred by either Party without the consent of the other Party.  However, (i) the right of China Company to sublicense in accordance with the terms of this Agreement shall remain unaffected and (ii) either Party may, without the other Party’s consent, assign this Agreement and its rights and obligations hereunder in whole or in part to an Affiliate or to a party that acquires, by merger, sale of assets or otherwise, all or substantially all of the business of the assigning Party to which the subject matter of this Agreement relates.  The assigning Party shall remain responsible for the performance by its assignee of this Agreement or any obligations hereunder so assigned.   An assignment to an Affiliate shall terminate, and all rights so assigned shall revert to the assigning Party, if and when such Affiliate ceases to be an Affiliate of the assigning Party.
 
11.2   Governing Law .  This Agreement shall be construed and the respective rights of the Parties determined in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of New York, notwithstanding any provisions of New York law governing conflicts of laws to the contrary, and the patent laws of the relevant jurisdiction without reference to any rules of conflict of laws.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent that application of the laws of a jurisdiction within the China Company Territory may be required to make this agreement enforceable in accordance with its terms, such laws shall apply.
 
11.3   Entire Agreement; Amendments .  This Agreement contains the entire understanding of the Parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all previous arrangements with respect to the subject matter hereof, whether written or oral. This Agreement (including the Schedules hereto) may be amended, or any term hereof modified, only by a written instrument duly-executed by authorized representatives of both Parties hereto.   Schedule F lists the reporting requirements set forth in this Agreement; provided, however that in the event of conflict between the terms of this Agreement and Schedule F , this Agreement shall control.
 
11.4   Severability . If any provision hereof should be held invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect in any jurisdiction, the Parties hereto shall substitute, by mutual consent, valid provisions for such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provisions, which valid provisions in their economic effect are sufficiently similar to the invalid, illegal or unenforceable provisions that it can be reasonably assumed that the Parties would have entered into this Agreement with such valid provisions.  In case such valid provisions cannot be agreed upon, the invalid, illegal or unenforceable of one or several provisions of this Agreement shall not affect the validity of this Agreement as a whole, unless the invalid, illegal or unenforceable provisions are of such essential importance to this Agreement that it is to be reasonably assumed that the Parties would not have entered into this Agreement without the invalid, illegal or unenforceable provisions.
 
 
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11.5   Headings .  The captions to the Articles and Sections hereof are not a part of this Agreement, but are merely for convenience to assist in locating and reading the several Articles and Sections hereof.
 
11.6   Waiver of Rule of Construction .  Each Party has had the opportunity to consult with counsel in connection with the review, drafting and negotiation of this Agreement.  Accordingly, the rule of construction that any ambiguity in this Agreement shall be construed against the drafting Party shall not apply.
 
11.7   No Implied Waivers; Rights Cumulative .   No failure on the part of Argos or China Company to exercise, and no delay in exercising, any right, power, remedy or privilege under this Agreement, or provided by statute or at law or in equity or otherwise, shall impair, prejudice or constitute a waiver of any such right, power, remedy or privilege or be construed as a waiver of any breach of this Agreement or as an acquiescence therein, nor shall any single or partial exercise of any such right, power, remedy or privilege preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power, remedy or privilege.
 
11.8   Notices .  All notices which are required or permitted hereunder shall be in writing and sufficient if delivered personally, sent by facsimile, sent by email, sent by nationally-recognized overnight courier or sent by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, addressed as follows:
 
If to Argos, to:
 
Argos Therapeutics, Inc.
   
4233 Technology Drive
   
Durham, NC 27704
   
Attention:  President
   
Facsimile: 919 287-6336
   
Email: jabbey@argostherapeutics.com
     
With a copy to:
 
Hutchison PLLC
   
3110 Edwards Mill Road, Suite 300
   
Raleigh, NC 27612
   
Attention:  William N. Wofford
   
Facsimile No.: (866) 479-7550
   
Email: bwofford@hutchlaw.com
     
If to China Company, to:
 
Lummy (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.
   
Register Number 2106393
   
Rm. 19C, Lockhart Ctr.
   
301-307 Lockhart Rd., Wan Chai, Hong Kong
   
Attention:  Mrs. Mei Leng
   
Facsimile +86-23-67300327
   
Email: lengmei@cqlummy.com
     
With a copy to:
 
Dentons US LLP
   
1221 Avenue of the Americas
   
New York, NY 10020-1089
   
Attention:  Kristina E. Beirne
   
Facsimile No.: (212) 768-6800
   
Email: kristina.beirne@dentons.com
 
 
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or to such other address as the Party to whom notice is to be given may have furnished to the other Party in writing in accordance herewith.  Any such notice shall be deemed to have been given: (a) when delivered if personally delivered or sent by facsimile or email on a business day (or if delivered or sent on a non-business day, then on the next business day); (b) on receipt if sent by overnight courier; and/or (c) on receipt if sent by mail.
 
11.9   Compliance with Export Regulations .  Neither Party shall export any technology licensed to it by the other Party under this Agreement except in compliance with U.S. and all other applicable export laws and regulations.
 
11.10   Force Majeure .  Neither Party shall be held liable to the other Party nor be deemed to have defaulted under or breached this Agreement for failure or delay in performing any obligation under this Agreement to the extent that such failure or delay is caused by or results from causes beyond the reasonable control of the affected Party, potentially including without limitation embargoes, war, acts of war (whether war be declared or not), insurrections, terrorism, riots, civil commotions, strikes, lockouts or other labor disturbances, fire, floods, or other acts of God, or acts, omissions or delays in acting by any governmental authority or the other Party.  The affected Party shall notify the other Party of such force majeure circumstances as soon as reasonably practical, and shall promptly undertake all reasonable efforts necessary to cure such force majeure circumstances.
 
11.11   Dispute Resolution .
 
11.11.1   Disputes .   The Parties shall negotiate in good faith and use reasonable efforts to settle any dispute, controversy or claim arising from, or related to, this Agreement or to the breach hereof (collectively, “ Dispute ”).  In particular, the Chief Executive Officers of the Parties shall attempt to resolve all Disputes.  In the event that the Chief Executive Officers cannot reach an agreement regarding a Dispute, and a Party wishes to pursue the matter, each such Dispute that is not an “Excluded Claim” shall be finally resolved by binding arbitration under the then-current Rules of Arbitration of the ICC by three (3) arbitrators appointed in accordance with the said Rules and Section 11.11.2 below, and judgment on the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.  As used in this Section 11.11, the term “ Excluded Claim ” shall mean a dispute that concerns the validity or infringement of a patent, trademark or copyright.
 
11.11.2   Arbitration .   The arbitration shall be conducted by a panel of three (3) persons experienced in the pharmaceutical business who are independent of both Parties and neutral with respect to the Dispute presented for arbitration.  Within [**] days after initiation of arbitration, each Party shall select one person to act as arbitrator and the two Party-selected arbitrators shall select a third arbitrator within [**] days of their appointment.  If the arbitrators selected by the Parties are unable or fail to agree upon the third arbitrator, the third arbitrator shall be appointed by the ICC International Court of Arbitration.  The place of arbitration shall be New York, New York, and all proceedings and communications shall be in English.
 
 
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Either Party may apply to the arbitrators for interim injunctive relief until the arbitration award is rendered or the controversy is otherwise resolved.  Either Party also may, without waiving any remedy under this Agreement, seek from any court having jurisdiction any injunctive or provisional relief necessary to protect the rights or property of that Party pending the arbitration award.  The arbitrators shall have no authority to award punitive or any other type of damages not measured by a Party’s compensatory damages.  Each Party shall bear its own costs and expenses and attorneys’ fees, and the Party that does not prevail in the arbitration proceeding shall pay the arbitrators’ and any administrative fees of arbitration. Except to the extent necessary to confirm an award or as may be required by law, neither a Party nor an arbitrator may disclose the existence, content, or results of an arbitration without the prior written consent of both Parties.  In no event shall an arbitration be initiated after the date when commencement of a legal or equitable proceeding based on the dispute, controversy or claim would be barred by the applicable New York statute of limitations.

(a)   The Parties agree that, in the event of a Dispute over the nature or quality of performance under this Agreement, neither Party may terminate this Agreement until final resolution of the Dispute through arbitration or other judicial determination.  The Parties further agree that any payments made pursuant to this Agreement pending resolution of the Dispute shall be refunded promptly if an arbitrator or court determines that such payments are not due.
 
(b)   The Parties hereby agree that any disputed performance or suspended performances pending the resolution of the arbitration that the arbitrators determine to be required to be performed by a Party must be completed within a reasonable time period following the final decision of the arbitrator.
 
(c)   The Parties hereby agree that any monetary payment to be made by a Party pursuant to a decision of the arbitrators shall be made in United States dollars, free of any tax or other deduction. The Parties further agree that the decision of the arbitrators shall be the sole, exclusive and binding remedy between them regarding determination of the matters presented to the arbitrator.
 
11.12   Independent Contractors .  It is expressly agreed that Argos and China Company shall be independent contractors and that the relationship between Argos and China Company shall not constitute a partnership, joint venture or agency.  Argos shall not have the authority to make any statements, representations or commitments of any kind, or to take any action, which shall be binding on China Company, without the prior written consent of China Company, and China Company shall not have the authority to make any statements, representations or commitments of any kind, or to take any action, which shall be binding on Argos without the prior written consent of Argos.
 
11.13   Counterparts .  The Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument.
 
 
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11.14   Binding Effect; No Third Party Beneficiaries .  As of the Effective Date, this Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective permitted successors and permitted assigns. Except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, no person or entity other than the Parties and their respective Affiliates and permitted assignees hereunder shall be deemed an intended beneficiary hereunder or have any right to enforce any obligation of this Agreement.
 
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties have executed this Agreement as of the date first set forth above.
 
 
  LUMMY (HONG KONG) CO., LTD. ARGOS THERAPEUTICS, INC.
             
             
  BY: /s/ Xuefeng Leng   BY: /s/ Jeffrey D. Abbey  
             
  NAME: Xuefeng Leng   NAME: Jeffrey D. Abbey  
             
  TITLE: Director   TITLE: President & CEO  
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
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SCHEDULE A
 
ARCELIS PERSONALIZED IMMUNOTHERAPY PLATFORM
 
Arcelis is Argos’ proprietary active immunotherapy technology platform for generating fully personalized RNA-loaded dendritic cell immunotherapies. Argos uses the Arcelis platform to manufacture AGS-003, which is initially being developed for the treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer, and AGS-004, which is being developed for the treatment of HIV.
 
The Arcelis platform is focused on dendritic cells that present antigens to the attention of the immune system and are critical to the human immune system’s recognition of the presence of proteins derived from cancer cells or virus-infected cells. Dendritic cells are capable of internalizing cancer protein antigens or virus protein antigens and displaying fragments of these protein antigens on their surface as small peptides. The dendritic cells then present these peptide antigens to T-cells capable of binding to these peptide antigens and producing a large complement of molecular factors that, in the case of cancer, lead to direct cancer cell death and, in the case of infectious disease, kill virus-infected cells to control the spread of infectious pathogens.
 
The following graphic illustrates the processes comprising our Arcelis platform:
 
 
As shown in the graphic above, the Arcelis platform requires two components derived from the particular patient to be treated, specifically:
 
a disease sample from the patient — tumor cells in the case of cancer or a blood sample containing virus in the case of infectious disease — which is generally collected at the time of diagnosis or initial treatment, and

 
dendritic cells derived from the patient’s monocytes, a particular type of white blood cell, which are obtained from the patient through a laboratory procedure called leukapheresis that occurs after diagnosis and at least four weeks prior to the initiation of our immunotherapy.
 
The tumor cells, or the blood sample containing the virus, and the leukapheresis product are shipped separately following collection from the clinical site to a centralized manufacturing facility where we use standard methods to isolate the patient’s mRNA, which is a key component of the genetic code, from the disease sample and amplify the mRNA. In parallel, we take the monocytes from the leukapheresis product and culture them using a proprietary process to create matured dendritic cells. Argos then immerses the matured dendritic cells in a solution of the patient’s isolated mRNA and a synthetic RNA that encodes a protein known as CD40 ligand, or CD40L, and apply a brief electric pulse to the solution, in a process referred to as electroporation. This process enables the patient’s isolated mRNA and the CD40L protein to pass into, or load, the dendritic cells. Argos then further cultures the mRNA-loaded dendritic cells so that these cells allow for antigen expression from the patient’s mRNA and presentation in the form of peptides on the surface of the dendritic cells. These mature, loaded dendritic cells are formulated into the patient’s plasma that was collected during the leukapheresis to become the Arcelis-based drug product. Argos then vials, freezes and ships the drug product to the clinic, which thaws the drug product and administers it to the patient by intradermal injection.
 
 
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Upon injection into the skin of the patient, the antigen-loaded dendritic cells in the drug product migrate to the lymph nodes near the site of the injection. It is at these lymph nodes that the drug product comes into contact with T-cells. Argos believes that through this interaction the loaded dendritic cells orchestrate the differentiation, expansion and education, of antigen-specific T-cells. A unique property of the dendritic cells is that they result in the generation of CD8+ central and effector memory T-cells. Once activated and expanded, these T-cells are able to seek out and kill cancer or virus-infected cells that express the identical antigens as those displayed on the surface of the dendritic cells. Because the generation of these T-cells is dependent on secretion of IL-12 from the dendritic cells, measurement of IL-12 is a marker for potency of AGS-003 and potentially other Arcelis-based products.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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SCHEDULE B

ARGOS PATENT RIGHTS

Patents and patent applications listed below in the China Company Territory as well as any patents and patent applications in the China Company Territory that claim priority to any of the following applications:

[**]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
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SCHEDULE C
 
AUTOMATED SYSTEMS

 
Argos Automated Systems were designed as works for hire by Invetech in collaboration with Argos.
 
The Automated Nucleic Acid Processing System includes systems, devices and components thereof, as well as related methods for automated processing of samples in a closed container, including automated isolation, purification, amplification, processing and packaging of nucleic acids.  Examples of the Argos Automated Nucleic Acid Processing System are described in PCT Publication [**].  Uses of this System include isolation of RNA from tumor lysates, RT-PCR, in vitro transcription and related nucleic acid purification and packaging steps.
 
The Automated Cell Processing Systems are held as trade secret, with the exception of a centrifuge bowl described in International Patent Application [**] and medicament devices described in International Patent Application [**].  These System and components thereof automate many aspects of cell processing, differentiation, electroporation, and packaging.  Uses of these System include automated differentiation of monocytes into mature RNA-loaded dendritic cells.
 

 
 
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SCHEDULE D
 
EXISTING ARGOS IN-LICENSES

Collaboration Termination Agreement between Argos and Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd dated December 31, 2009.


 
 
 
 
 

 

 
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SCHEDULE E

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER ACTIVITIES
 
·
Transfer of all GMP documentation related to the manufacture, quality control assays and quality assurance of the Arcelis technology.
 
o
This would include MPs, STMs and SOPs for GMP processing
·
Training of China Company technical personnel at Argos Therapeutics in the RNA and cellular process
 
o
Multiple visits required to perform RNA and cellular training runs
·
Training of China Company technical personnel at Argos on the quality control assays
 
o
Multiple visits required to perform quality control assay training
·
Completion of all documentation, acquisition of reagents and provide information and expertise for upfitting of GMP labs by China Company
·
Perform initial feasibility runs at China Company with Argos personnel oversight
·
Perform three successful GMP engineering runs at China Company
 

Target Date
 
Technology Transfer shall commence as soon as practicable following the successful production of at least five batches of Licensed Product using Automated Systems installed at Argos’ principal manufacturing facility for North America (currently in Durham, North Carolina) and the filing of Argos’ first BLA, currently anticipated to occur during the [**],  wherein such batches are manufactured according to the production process  described in Argos’ first BLA submission.   Such batches may be batches produced for use in a bridging study (demonstrating substantial equivalence of Licensed Product produced with the Automated Systems and such processes) or batches produced for commercial sale, as determined by Argos acting reasonably and in good faith, and recognizing the common interest of the parties in transferring a safe, reliable, robust and efficient production process at the earliest practicable time.
 
 
 
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SCHEDULE F
 
Reporting Requirements
 
 
CHINA COMPANY
 
ARGOS
Section
Deliverable
 
Timing
 
Deliverable
 
Timing
2.1.4
Notify Argos in writing after conceiving or reducing to practice a China Company Improvement
 
Promptly
       
2.2.2
In order to engage one or more Third Parties through sublicenses, China Company must notify and consult with the JSC
 
No timing specified
 
Unless Argos responds in writing within [**] days of receipt of China Company’s notice, then Argos will be deemed to have consented to such notice
 
[**] days
2.2.3
Provide Argos with copy of fully executed Sublicense Agreement
 
Promptly
       
2.2.3
In the event China Company becomes aware of a material breach of any Sublicense Agreement, China Company must notify Argos
 
Promptly
       
2.3
       
Provide China Company with true and complete copies of Argos In-Licenses that are relevant to the rights granted to China Company under the Agreement
 
No timing specified
 
 
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2.4
Notify Argos in writing of and provide Argos with a copy of any Necessary Third Party IP entered into by China Company after the Effective Date
 
No timing specified
 
If, during the Term, Argos obtains a license to Necessary Third Party IP for the China Company Territory that is not already Controlled by China Company or Argos, then Argos shall notify China Company in writing and include in such notification a summary of such Necessary Third Party IP
 
No timing specified
2.4
Respond to Argos’ written notice of Necessary Third Party IP
 
[**] days
 
Upon receipt of such notice from China Company, Argos shall grant to China Company a sublicense of such Necessary Third Party IP
 
Upon receipt of notice
2.5
Provide Argos and Argos Regional Partners any available unblinded China Company Data with respect to a Licensed Product generated during any Clinical Studies
 
[**]
 
Argos to cause Argos Regional Partner to provide China Company with any available unblinded Argos Data with respect to a Licensed Product generated during any Clinical Studies, subject, however, to any conditions placed on China Company’s use of such Argos Data by the applicable Argos Regional Partner
 
[**]
3.2.1
3.4
Pay Argos royalty of [**]% of Net Sales of Licensed Products
 
Within [**] days of end of Calendar Quarter
       
3.3
Milestone payments
 
No later than [**] days after achievement of milestone event
       
 
 
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3.4
Written quarterly royalty report
 
Within [**] days after the end of each Calendar Quarter
       
3.4
Any additional reports as reasonably required under the Argos In-Licenses
 
Within a time period sufficiently in advance to enable Argos to comply with its obligations under such Argos In-Licenses
       
3.5.2
If a financial audit reveals a discrepancy, the appropriate Party shall pay the other Party the amount of the discrepancy, plus [**]% interest (or such higher rate as may be required pursuant to any applicable In-License)
 
within [**] business days of the date Argos delivers the report to China Company such accounting firm’s
 
If a financial audit reveals a discrepancy, the appropriate Party shall pay the other Party the amount of the discrepancy, plus [**]% interest (or such higher rate as may be required pursuant to any applicable In-License)
 
within [**] business days of the date Argos delivers the report to China Company
3.7
Upon request by Argos, China Company will promptly provide evidence of China Company’s registrations
 
Promptly upon request by Argos
       
3.8
China Company shall submit appropriate proof of payment of the withholding taxes to Argos within a reasonable period of time.
 
within a reasonable period of time
       
4.2
Deliver Development Plan
 
Commencing with the Initiation of any Clinical Study of a Licensed Product and thereafter by no later than each [**]
       
 
 
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4.2
Deliver Commercialization Plan
 
Commencing with the Initiation of any Pivotal Clinical Study of a Licensed Product and thereafter by no later than each [**]
       
4.3
China Company shall prepare and deliver to Argos, written reports summarizing its Development and Commercialization activities for a Licensed Product performed during the preceding Calendar Year (or updating such report for activities performed since the last such report submitted hereunder, as applicable)
 
no later than each [**] (for the period ending December 31 of the prior Calendar Year) of any Calendar Year during the Term
 
Argos shall prepare and deliver to China Company, written reports summarizing its Development and Commercialization activities for a Licensed Product performed during the preceding Calendar Year (or updating such report for activities performed since the last such report submitted hereunder, as applicable)
 
by no later than each [**] (for the period ending December 31 of the prior Calendar Year)
4.3
China Company shall provide Argos with written notice of all filings and submissions for Regulatory Approval regarding a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory in a timely manner, provided, however, that China Company shall inform Argos of such event at least [**] business days prior to public disclosure of such event by China Company, subject, however, to applicable laws
 
Notice of all filings in a timely manner
 
Notice of public disclosure in at least [**] business days prior
 
 
       
 
 
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4.3
China Company shall provide Argos with written notice of all Regulatory Approvals obtained or denied, the filing of any IND for a Licensed Product, and the First Commercial Sale of a Licensed Product in the China Company Territory, within [**] days of such event; provided, however, that China Company shall inform Argos of such event at least [**] business days prior to public disclosure of such event by China Company, subject, however, to applicable laws
 
within [**] days of such event
 
Notice of public disclosure in at least [**] business days prior
 
 
       
4.3
China Company shall provide Argos with written notice of the Initiation of each Clinical Study of a Licensed Product by or on behalf of China Company within [**] business days of such event; provided, however, that China Company shall inform Argos of such event at least [**] business days prior to public disclosure of such event by China Company, subject, however, to applicable laws
 
within [**] business days of such event
 
Notice of public disclosure in at least [**] business days
 
       
 
 
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4.3
China Company shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to prepare and deliver to Argos any additional reports reasonably requested by Argos to enable it to meet its obligations under the Argos In-Licenses
 
in each case sufficiently in advance to enable Argos to comply with its obligations under the Argos In-Licenses
       
4.3
China Company shall also provide such other information to Argos as Argos may reasonably request and shall keep Argos reasonably informed of its Commercialization activities with respect to a Licensed Product
 
 
Upon request
       
4.6
Promptly inform the other Party of any export activities, and the actions taken to prevent such activities
 
Promptly
 
Promptly inform the other Party of any export activities, and the actions taken to prevent such activities
 
Promptly
4.8.1
Apprise the other Party of all material communications from Regulatory Authorities
 
as soon as reasonably possible but in any event within [**] business days
 
Apprise the other Party of all material communications from Regulatory Authorities
 
as soon as reasonably possible but in any event within [**] business days
 
 
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4.8.2
Each Party will notify the other Party of any complaints
 
within sufficient time to allow the other Party and its Related Parties to comply with any and all regulatory and other requirements imposed upon them in any jurisdiction in which a Licensed Product is being marketed or tested in Clinical Studies and/or Post-Approval Studies
 
Each Party will notify the other Party of any complaints
 
within sufficient time to allow the other Party and its Related Parties to comply with any and all regulatory and other requirements imposed upon them in any jurisdiction in which a Licensed Product is being marketed or tested in Clinical Studies and/or Post-Approval Studies
4.8.2
Each Party will report to the other Party the details around any adverse events and serious adverse events
 
within the time periods for such reporting as specified in the Pharmacovigilance Agreement
 
Each Party will report to the other Party the details around any adverse events and serious adverse events
 
within the time periods for such reporting as specified in the Pharmacovigilance Agreement
4.8.2
The Parties will develop and agree in writing upon a pharmacovigilance agreement
 
Within [**] months after the Effective Date
 
The Parties will develop and agree in writing upon a pharmacovigilance agreement
 
Within [**] months after the Effective Date
4.8.2
Each Party shall promptly notify the other if such Party becomes aware of any information or circumstance that is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the other Party’s Territory
 
 
Promptly
 
Each Party shall promptly notify the other if such Party becomes aware of any information or circumstance that is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Development, Manufacture or Commercialization of a Licensed Product in the other Party’s Territory
 
 
Promptly
 
 
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4.8.3
In the event that any Regulatory Authority issues or requests a recall or takes a similar action, or in the event China Company determines that an event, incident or circumstance has occurred that may result in the need for a recall or market withdrawal in its own Territory, China Company shall within [**] hours advise Argos thereof by telephone, or by email or facsimile together with telephone confirmation
 
within [**] of being notified of such recall or similar action
 
In the event that any Regulatory Authority issues or requests a recall or takes a similar action, or in the event Argos determines that an event, incident or circumstance has occurred that may result in the need for a recall or market withdrawal in its own Territory, Argos shall within [**] hours advise China Company thereof by telephone, or by email or facsimile together with telephone confirmation
 
within [**] of being notified of such recall or similar action
4.9
China Company shall provide Argos with a copy of the fully executed agreement and any amendment thereto with any contract manufacturing organization together with a convenience English translation
 
 
in each case within [**] days of effectiveness
       
5.2
China Company must provide the JSC with any requested information
 
within [**] days of a request
       
6.2
       
Argos shall use Commercially Reasonable Efforts to transfer to China Company, or to arrange to have transferred to China Company by a Third Party, the Argos Technology set forth on Schedule E
 
which transfer will commence as soon as practicable after the target date(s) forth on such schedule
 
 
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6.2
China Company shall pay the costs and expenses associated with the technology transfer activities
 
within [**] days of the date of invoice sent by Argos
       
7.1
If a Party is required by judicial or administrative process to disclose Confidential Information that is subject to the non-disclosure provisions of this Section 7.1 or Section 7.2, such Party shall promptly inform the other Party of the disclosure that is being sought in order to provide the other Party an opportunity to challenge or limit the disclosure obligations
 
Promptly
 
If a Party is required by judicial or administrative process to disclose Confidential Information that is subject to the non-disclosure provisions of this Section 7.1 or Section 7.2, such Party shall promptly inform the other Party of the disclosure that is being sought in order to provide the other Party an opportunity to challenge or limit the disclosure obligations
 
Promptly
8.5.4
In the event of any such claim against any China Company Indemnitee or Argos Indemnitee, the indemnified Party shall promptly notify the other Party in writing of the claim
 
Promptly
 
In the event of any such claim against any China Company Indemnitee or Argos Indemnitee, the indemnified Party shall promptly notify the other Party in writing of the claim
 
Promptly
 
 
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8.5.4
If the indemnifying Party believes that any of the exceptions to its obligation of indemnification of the Indemnitees set forth in Sections 8.5.1, 8.5.2 or 8.5.3 may apply, the indemnifying Party shall promptly notify the Indemnitees
 
Promptly
 
If the indemnifying Party believes that any of the exceptions to its obligation of indemnification of the Indemnitees set forth in Sections 8.5.1, 8.5.2 or 8.5.3 may apply, the indemnifying Party shall promptly notify the Indemnitees
 
Promptly
9.3.5
China Company shall provide Argos with copies of all material correspondence pertaining to its prosecution with the patent offices in the China Company Territory
 
No timing specified
       
9.3.5
China Company shall, if prosecuting and maintaining the Patent Right, furnish to Argos copies of substantive documents ( e.g. , applications, office actions and responses) relevant to any such efforts in advance
 
with sufficient time for Argos to review and provide comments on such documents
       
9.4.1
China Company shall promptly report in writing to Argos during the Term any (a) known or suspected infringement or (b) unauthorized use or misappropriation, and shall provide Argos with all available evidence supporting such infringement, or unauthorized use or misappropriation
 
 
Promptly
 
Argos shall promptly report in writing to China Company during the Term any (a) known or suspected infringement or (b) unauthorized use or misappropriation, and shall provide China Company with all available evidence supporting such infringement, or unauthorized use or misappropriation
 
 
Promptly
 
 
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9.5.1
In the event that after the Effective Date a Third Party at any time provides written notice of a claim to, or brings an action, suit or proceeding against, any Party, or any of their respective Affiliates or Sublicensees, claiming infringement of its patent rights or unauthorized use or misappropriation of its Know-How, , China Company shall promptly notify Argos of the claim or the commencement of such action, suit or proceeding, enclosing a copy of the claim and all papers served
 
Promptly
 
In the event that after the Effective Date a Third Party at any time provides written notice of a claim to, or brings an action, suit or proceeding against, any Party, or any of their respective Affiliates or Sublicensees, claiming infringement of its patent rights or unauthorized use or misappropriation of its Know-How, , Argos shall promptly notify China Company of the claim or the commencement of such action, suit or proceeding, enclosing a copy of the claim and all papers served
 
Promptly
9.8.4
In the event either Party becomes aware of any infringement of any Licensed Product Trademark or Argos Trademark by a Third Party, such Party shall promptly notify the other Party
 
Promptly
 
In the event either Party becomes aware of any infringement of any Licensed Product Trademark or Argos Trademark by a Third Party, such Party shall promptly notify the other Party
 
Promptly
10.2.2
If China Company or any of its Related Parties challenge directly or indirectly the Argos Patent Rights, then China Company shall give Argos written notice thereof
 
within [**] days of taking such action or within [**] days after Knowledge of such action taken by any Related Party of China Company
       
10.2.3
In the event of termination under 10.2.1 or 10.2.2, China Company shall transfer the various documents and other items listed in section 10.2.3
 
As promptly as practicable
       
 
 

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Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATIONS
 
I, Jeffrey D. Abbey, certify that:
 
 
1. I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Argos Therapeutics, Inc.;
 
 
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
 
 
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
 
 
4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
 
 
a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
 
b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
 
c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
 
 
5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
 
 
a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
 
 
b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
 
 
Date: May 15, 2015
 
     
 
By:
/s/ JEFFREY D. ABBEY
   
Jeffrey D. Abbey
   
President and Chief Executive Officer
   
(Principal Executive Officer)

Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATIONS
 
I, Lori R. Harrelson, certify that:
 
 
1. I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Argos Therapeutics, Inc.;
 
 
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
 
 
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
 
 
4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
 
 
a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
 
b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
 
c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and
 
 
5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
 
 
a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
 
 
b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.
 
 
 
Date: May 15, 2015
 
     
 
By:
/s/ LORI R. HARRELSON
   
Lori R. Harrelson
   
Vice President of Finance
   
(Principal Financial Officer)

Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. 1350
 
 
The undersigned, the Chief Executive Officer and the Vice President of Finance (principal financial officer) of Argos Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), each hereby certifies that, to his/her knowledge on the date hereof:
 
 
(a) the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of the Company for the period ended March 31, 2015 filed on the date hereof with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Report”) fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
 
 
(b) information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
 
 
 
 
 

 
By:
/ S / JEFFREY D. ABBEY
   
Jeffrey D. Abbey
Chief Executive Officer
May 15, 2015
 
 
By:
/ S / LORI R. HARRELSON
   
Lori R. Harrelson
Vice President of Finance
(principal financial officer)
May 15, 2015