The Flaskworks’ Agreement was interesting to me too Harry. Here’s what I found interesting:
The supply agreement with Corning was terminated, and they were paid ~ $1M cash for their 18.5% ownership. It may be that the wholesale price for the single-use polystyrene flasks, storage bottles, and tubing that Corning supplied was overpriced. (when I requested pricing from the distributor last year, those consumables were nearly $1K, while the MicroDen device itself was $15k.)
Advent evaluated the MicroDen system about a year ago, (according to Lykiri’s research) but it was was tested using Corning’s plastics, and this will no longer be the case going forward. So the first milestone (which was achieved) included the technology transfer of all relevant manufacturing protocols, and a document listing all technical and regulatory specifications for the EDEN system required to manufacture DCVax-L, finding a new supplier (Saint Gobain?) to make the single-use consumables, and then producing a prototype for Advent to test within 90 days of the agreement. (which was Nov 26th)
The second milestone was demonstrating that the EDEN system from the new supplier can replicate the current DCVax-L manufacturing process just as the previous Corning system did. I believe this milestone was likely met as well, but we may need to wait until the next 10-Q.
The third milestone is the completion of comparability studies that demonstrate equivalence of the DCVax-L products manufactured through EDEN and those manufactured through the Company’s current process, and that all applicable data is prepared in a consolidated format sufficient for submission to regulatory agencies in the UK, US, Canada and EU. (note the order that those regions were listed)
The final milestone is approval by a regulator in the US or EU of the comparability of the EDEN process and the Company’s current processes, and the comparability of DCVax-L products manufactured through EDEN and those manufactured through the Company’s current processes, for commercial use.
And yes, Northeastern University was given the option of taking cash or stock in Northwest Bio, but it was only $117K. The former CEO, Jennifer Rossi, was also given that option for her $500K, but what’s interesting is that this option could only be indicated between 90 and 120 days of the closing date. It’s also interesting that Corning wasn’t given the option of receiving Northwest Bio shares, and simply received cash at closing.
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