Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Asset Acquisition

v3.20.4
Asset Acquisition
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Business Combinations and Asset Acquisitions [Abstract] [Abstract]  
Asset Acquisition Asset Acquisition
Aevi Merger

On February 3, 2020, the Company consummated its two-step merger with Aevi, in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement dated December 5, 2019, by and between Cerecor, Genie Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Cerecor (“Merger Sub”), Second Genie Merger Sub, LLC (“Second Merger Sub”), a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of Cerecor, and Aevi. On February 3, 2020, Merger Sub merged with and into Aevi, with Aevi as the surviving corporation, and as part of the same transaction, Aevi then merged with and into Second Merger Sub, with Second Merger Sub as the surviving entity. The surviving entity from the second merger was renamed Aevi Genomic Medicine, LLC and is disregarded as an entity separate from Cerecor for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Cerecor retained its public reporting and current NASDAQ listing status. Effective upon the close of the Merger, Cerecor entered into an employment agreement with Aevi's Chief Executive Officer, Mike Cola, for him to serve as Cerecor's Chief Executive Officer and an employment agreement with Aevi's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Garry Neil, for him to serve as Cerecor's Chief Medical Officer, and appointed Mr. Cola and Dr. Sol Barer, the former Chairman of the Board of Aevi, to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Barer serves as the Chairman of the Company’s Board. Dr. Neil was promoted to Cerecor's Chief Scientific Officer in March 2020. Additionally, the Company extended employment agreements to seven other individuals who were previously employed by Aevi.

Upon entering into the Merger Agreement on December 5, 2019, Cerecor agreed to loan Aevi $4.1 million related to the exercise of an exclusive license from MedImmune Limited to develop and commercialize a Phase 2‑ready fully human monoclonal antibody that targets IL‑18 (the “Aevi Loan”). All unpaid principal and accrued interest on the Aevi Loan was due and payable in full on the one year anniversary of the loan date (unless the Merger Agreement was terminated or upon consummation of the Merger). If the Merger Agreement was terminated for any reason, Aevi would be required to repay the amount borrowed under the Aevi Loan in full and if the Merger was consummated, the Aevi Loan was to be forgiven. As of December 31, 2019, it was unknown if the Merger would be consummated, and therefore, the Company recognized the $4.1 million loaned to Aevi as an other receivable within its accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019.

On February 3, 2020, the Merger was consummated in accordance with the terms of the Merger Agreement. The Merger consideration included stock valued at approximately $15.5 million, resulting in the issuance of approximately 3.9 million shares of Cerecor common stock to Aevi stockholders, forgiveness of the $4.1 million Aevi Loan, contingent value rights for up to an additional $6.5 million in subsequent payments based on certain development milestones, payable in either shares of the Company's common stock or in cash at the election of the Company, and transaction costs of $1.5 million.

The fair value of the common stock transferred at closing was approximately $15.5 million using the Company's closing stock price on February 3, 2020. The assets acquired consisted primarily of $24.0 million of acquired in-process research and development, $0.3 million of cash and $0.9 million of assembled workforce. Refer to Note 6 for information regarding the valuation of the assembled workforce asset. The Company assumed net liabilities of $5.1 million. The Company recorded this transaction as an asset purchase as opposed to a business combination because management concluded that substantially all the value received was related to one group of similar identifiable assets, which was the IPR&D for two early phase therapies. The Company considered these assets similar due to similarities in the risks of development, stage of development, regulatory pathway, patient populations and economics of commercialization. The fair value of the IPR&D was immediately recognized as acquired in-process research and development expense in the Company's consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2020 because the IPR&D asset has no alternate use due to the stage of development. The $1.5 million of transaction costs incurred were recorded to acquired IPR&D expense. The assembled workforce asset was recorded to intangible assets and will be amortized over an estimated useful life of two years.
In addition to the issuance of Cerecor common stock, Cerecor agreed to pay contingent consideration of up to an additional $6.5 million related to two future development milestones. The first milestone is the enrollment of a patient in a Phase II study related to CERC-002 for use in pediatric onset Crohn's disease, CERC-006 (any indication), or CERC-007 (any indication) prior to February 3, 2022. If this milestone is met, the Company is required to make a milestone payment of $2.0 million. The second milestone is the receipt of a NDA approval for either CERC-006 or CERC-007 from the FDA on or prior to February 3, 2025. If this milestone is met, the Company is required to make a milestone payment of $4.5 million. All milestones are payable in either shares of the Company's common stock or cash, at the election of the Company. Refer to Note 13 for further information.