CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Exhibit 10.18
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Executed Version
Confidential
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 000
Cambridge, MA 02141
December 31, 2023
Flagship Pioneering Innovations V, Inc. c/o Flagship Pioneering, Inc.
00 Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxxx 000X Xxxxxxxxx, XX 00000
Attention: Legal Notices
Re: Letter Agreement re License Agreement Dear Sir or Madam:
Reference is hereby made to that certain License Agreement by and between Flagship Pioneering Innovations V, Inc. (“Flagship”) and Omega Therapeutics, Inc. (“Company”), dated effective as of March 12, 2019, as amended from time to time (the “License Agreement”), pursuant to which Company obtained from Flagship certain rights to Foundational IP in order to develop and commercialize Licensed Products (as each term is defined in the License Agreement). Company is currently negotiating a Research Collaboration Agreement to be entered into by and among Company, Novo Nordisk A/S (“Novo Nordisk”) and a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneering Medicine (NN), LLC (“SpinCo”), and certain entities affiliated with SpinCo, pursuant to which Company will grant Novo Nordisk and SpinCo certain rights under the Foundational IP (the “Research Collaboration Agreement” and such transactions contemplated by the Research Collaboration Agreement, the “Proposed Transaction”). Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this letter agreement (this “Letter Agreement”) shall have the meanings set forth in the License Agreement. In connection with the Proposed Transaction, as of the date first written above (the “Letter Agreement Effective Date”), Flagship and Company hereby agree as follows:
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Executed Version
Confidential
hereby waives the requirement under Section 2.3(b) of the License Agreement that [***].
Company hereby grants to Flagship a non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable (to Flagship Entities and service providers thereof) license to practice, and to permit Flagship Entities to practice, the Foundational IP within the Licensed Field in the Territory for non-commercial research and non-clinical development purposes or to perform under the Managerial Agreement, in each case except for the purpose of targeting the Initial Program Target, Program Target or any Proposed Backup Target (as such terms are defined in the Research Collaboration Agreement), for so long as such target remains an Initial Program Target, Program Target or Proposed Backup Target, as applicable, under the Research Collaboration Agreement. “Research Collaboration Agreement” means that certain Research Collaboration Agreement entered into by and among Company, Novo Nordisk A/S, and a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary of Pioneering Medicine (NN), LLC (“SpinCo”), and certain entities affiliated with SpinCo, pursuant to which Company will grant Novo Nordisk and SpinCo certain rights under the Foundational IP.
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Executed Version
Confidential
If, within [***] ([***]) [***] after becoming aware of any suspected infringement or Infringement Action, Company has not commenced to initiate, defend, or otherwise resolve such Infringement Action (to the extent Company has the right to do so pursuant to the Research Collaboration Agreement), then [***] shall have the right, but not the obligation, to initiate, control, prosecute, and/or defend such Infringement Action at its own expense.
“Except to the extent that this Section 12.2(c)(i) is unenforceable under applicable laws of the applicable jurisdiction where the applicable Patents within the Foundational IP are pending or issued, Flagship has the right to terminate this Agreement in its entirety upon written notice to Company in the event that Company or any of its Subsidiaries or its or their Sublicensees (each, a “Patent Challenging Party”) directly or indirectly brings a Patent Challenge with respect to any Patent within the Foundational IP; provided that (i) this Section 12.2(c)(i) shall not apply to any Patent Challenge that is (A) first made by a Patent Challenging Party in defense of a claim of patent infringement under the applicable Patent within the Foundational IP or (B) made in ordinary course Prosecution activities to distinguish the inventions claimed in any Patent Controlled by Company or its Subsidiary from those claimed or disclosed in any Patent within the Foundational IP or to respond to citation of a Patent within the Foundational IP by a patent office in a rejection against any Patent Controlled by Company or its Subsidiary, (ii) Flagship shall not have the right to terminate this Agreement under this Section 12.2(c)(i) if Company (A) causes the Patent Challenge to be terminated or dismissed (or in the case of ex-parte proceedings, multi-party proceedings, or other Patent Challenges in which the challenging party does not have the power to unilaterally cause the Patent Challenge to be withdrawn, withdraws or causes its Subsidiary or Sublicensee to withdraw as a party from such Patent Challenge and to cease actively assisting any other party to such Patent Challenge), or (B) in the case of a Patent Challenge brought by a Sublicensee, terminates such Sublicensee’s sublicense to the Patent within the Foundational IP being challenged by the Sublicensee, in each case ((A) and (B)), within [***] ([***]) [***] following Flagship’s notice to Company under this Section 12.2(c)(i), (iii) this Section 12.2(c)(i) shall not apply to any Patent Challenge that is due to the Patent Challenging Party responding to a court request, subpoena, or order, or an administrative agency request or order, or the applicable proceeding is initiated by a Patent office and not at the instigation of the Patent Challenging Party, and (iv)
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Executed Version
Confidential
this Section 12.2(c)(i) shall not apply to any Patent Challenge that was initiated by a Third Party that subsequently becomes an affiliate of Company if (A) such Patent Challenge was initiated [***] before the closing of the transaction whereby such Third Party became an affiliate of Company, or (B) if such Patent Challenge was initiated within any such [***] , if Company causes such Patent Challenge to be terminated or dismissed (or in the case of ex-parte proceedings, multi-party proceedings, or other Patent Challenges in which the challenging party does not have the power to unilaterally cause the Patent Challenge to be withdrawn, withdraws or causes such Third Party to withdraw as a party from such Patent Challenge and to cease actively assisting any other party to such Patent Challenge. For purposes of this Section 12.2(c)(i),
“Patent Challenge” means a legal or administrative proceeding challenging the patentability, enforceability or validity of any Patent within the Foundational IP.
“Company shall include provisions in all Sublicenses consistent with the terms of Section 12.2(c)(i). The failure to include such provisions in a Sublicense shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement.”
(a) mutual agreement of PM and Company to terminate this Letter Agreement, (b) if Company,
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Executed Version
Confidential
SpinCo and Novo Nordisk elect not to, or do not, execute the Research Collaboration Agreement, and (c) the expiration or termination of the Research Collaboration Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following provisions shall survive expiration or termination of this Letter Agreement: paragraphs 8, 9, 10 and 11.
[Signature Page Follows]
CERTAIN CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT, MARKED BY “[***]”, HAS BEEN OMITTED BECAUSE IT IS BOTH (I) NOT MATERIAL AND (II) IS THE TYPE THAT THE REGISTRANT TREATS AS PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL.
Executed Version
Confidential
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Letter Agreement to be duly executed by their respective duly authorized officers as of the Letter Agreement Effective Date.
Sincerely,
By: ___/s/ Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx Name: Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
Agreed and accepted by:
FLAGSHIP PIONEERING INNOVATIONS V, INC.
By: /s/ Xxxxxx Afevan
Name: Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Title: President