Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

7. Commitments and Contingencies

v2.4.0.6
7. Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
7. Commitments and Contingencies

(7) Commitments and Contingencies

 

Operating Leases

 

Our corporate office is currently located at 14 Norfolk Avenue, South Easton, Massachusetts 02375.  We are currently paying approximately $4,800 per month for our corporate office. On January 16, 2013 the lease was amended to extend the expiration date to December 31, 2013 at the rate of $4,800 per month.

 

Effective January 1, 2010, we entered into a three-year lease agreement with the University of Massachusetts in Boston, pursuant to which we are leasing laboratory and office space on campus at the university for research and development activities. We paid $5,000 per month for the use of these facilities. On September 26, 2012, the lease was amended to extend the expiration date to December 31, 2014 at a rate of $5,500 per month.

 

Following is a schedule by years of future minimum rental payments required under operating leases with initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2012:

 

   

Year ending

December 31:

 
2013   $ 123,600  
2014     66,000  
Thereafter     -  
Total minimum payments required   $ 189,600  

 

Royalty Commitments

 

BioMolecular Assays, Inc.

 

In 1996, we acquired our initial equity interest in BioSeq, Inc., which at the time was developing our original pressure cycling technology. BioSeq, Inc. acquired its pressure cycling technology from BioMolecular Assays, Inc. under a technology transfer and patent assignment agreement. In 1998, we purchased all of the remaining outstanding capital stock of BioSeq, Inc., and at such time, the technology transfer and patent assignment agreement was amended to require us to pay BioMolecular Assays, Inc. a 5% royalty on our sales of products or services that incorporate or utilize the original pressure cycling technology that BioSeq, Inc. acquired from BioMolecular Assays, Inc. We are also required to pay BioMolecular Assays, Inc. 5% of the proceeds from any sale, transfer or license of all or any portion of the original pressure cycling technology. These payment obligations terminate in 2016. During the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, we incurred $23,635 and $21,090 in royalties, respectively.

  

 

In connection with our acquisition of BioSeq, Inc., we licensed certain limited rights to the original pressure cycling technology back to BioMolecular Assays, Inc. This license is non-exclusive and limits the use of the original pressure cycling technology by BioMolecular Assays, Inc. solely for molecular applications in scientific research and development and in scientific plant research and development. BioMolecular Assays, Inc. is required to pay us a royalty equal to 20% of any license or other fees and royalties, but not including research support and similar payments, it receives in connection with any sale, assignment, license or other transfer of any rights granted to BioMolecular Assays, Inc. under the license. BioMolecular Assays, Inc. must pay us these royalties until the expiration of the patents held by BioSeq, Inc. in 1998, which we anticipate will be 2016. We have not received any royalty payments from BioMolecular Assays, Inc. under this license.

 

Battelle Memorial Institute

 

In December 2008, we entered into an exclusive patent license agreement with the Battelle Memorial Institute ("Battelle"). The licensed technology is described in the patent application filed by Battelle on July 31, 2008 (US serial number 12/183,219). This application includes subject matter related to a method and a system for improving the analysis of protein samples, including through an automated system utilizing pressure and a pre-selected agent to obtain a digested sample in a significantly shorter period of time than current methods, while maintaining the integrity of the sample throughout the preparatory process. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, we paid Battelle a non-refundable initial fee of $35,000. In addition to royalty payments on net sales on “licensed products”, we are obligated to make minimum royalty payments for each year that we retain the rights outlined in the patent license agreement and we are required to have our first commercial sale of the licensed products within one year following the issuance of the patent covered by the licensed technology. The minimum annual royalty was $7,500 for 2011. Our only obligation for 2012 was a minimum royalty payment of $10,000.

 

Target Discovery Inc.

 

In March 2010, we signed a strategic product licensing, manufacturing, co-marketing, and collaborative research and development agreement with Target Discovery Inc. (“TDI”). Under the terms of the agreement, we have been licensed by TDI to manufacture and sell a highly innovative line of chemicals used in the preparation of tissues for scientific analysis ("TDI reagents"). The TDI reagents were designed for use in combination with our pressure cycling technology. The companies believe that the combination of PCT and the TDI reagents can fill an existing need in life science research for an automated method for rapid extraction and recovery of intact, functional proteins associated with cell membranes in tissue samples. We did not incur any royalty obligation under this agreement in 2012, we owed approximately $1,200 in royalty obligations under this agreement in 2011.

 

Severance and Change of Control Agreements

 

Each of Mr. Schumacher, and Drs. Ting, Lazarev, and Lawrence, executive officers of the Company, are entitled to receive a severance payment if terminated by us without cause. The severance benefits would include a payment in an amount equal to one year of such executive officer’s annualized base salary compensation plus accrued paid time off. Additionally, the officer will be entitled to receive medical and dental insurance coverage for one year following the date of termination.

 

Each of these executive officers, other than Mr. Schumacher, is entitled to receive a change of control payment in an amount equal to one year of such executive officer’s annualized base salary compensation, accrued paid time off, and medical and dental coverage, in the event of a change of control of the Company. In the case of Mr. Schumacher, this payment would be equal to two years of annualized base salary compensation, accrued paid time off, and two years of medical and dental coverage. The severance payment is meant to induce the aforementioned executives to remain in the employ of the Company, in general; and particularly in the occurrence of a change in control, as a disincentive to the control change.

 

Promissory Note

 

On November 4, 2011, the Company entered into an agreement with a former placement agent, pursuant to which the Company and the placement agent released each other of their respective obligations under a prior investment banking agreement. In connection with this agreement, the Company issued the placement agent a promissory note with an original principal amount of $150,000 and a maturity date of May 4, 2012. The promissory note was interest free until May 4, 2012. On November 15, 2012, $75,000 of principal and $16,125 of accrued and unpaid interest were converted into 18,225 shares of the Company’s Series G Convertible Preferred Stock. The $75,000 principal balance remaining as of December 31, 2012 earns interest at a rate of 18% per year.

  

 

Convertible Debt

 

During 2012, loans in the aggregate amount of approximately $1,394,000 were received from eight individuals, of which $45,000 was received from two directors of the Company. We accrue interest of 6% on $1,294,000 of the loans and interest of 0% on the remaining $100,000. $481,000 of the loans were converted into the Company’s Series G Convertible Preferred Stock on November 15, 2012 and $50,000 of the loans had been repaid before December 31, 2012. The remaining loans, and the accrued and unpaid interest on these loans, were converted to the Company’s Series J Convertible Preferred Shares in February 2013. Warrants to purchase 50,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock were issued to two individuals in connection with these loans. The warrants have an exercise price equal to $0.50 per share, with a term expiring on August 21, 2015.

 

Loans in the aggregate amount of $362,000 from four individuals were converted into Common Stock and warrants in the February 2012 private placement. We had paid $43,000 towards the outstanding balance in April 2012. Principal and interest of $13,139 was converted into preferred stock and warrants in the July 2012 private placement.