Veru Inc. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Contingent Liabilities

Contingent Liabilities	6 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Contingent Liabilities [Abstract]
Contingent Liabilities	Note 12 – Contingent Liabilities The testing, manufacturing and marketing of consumer products by the Company and the clinical testing of our product candidates entail an inherent risk that product liability claims will be asserted against the Company. The Company maintains product liability insurance coverage for claims arising from the use of its products. The coverage amount is currently $10.0 million. Legal Proceedings On December 5, 2022, a putative class action complaint was filed in federal district court for the Southern District of Florida (Ewing v. Veru Inc., et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-23960) against the Company and Mitchell Steiner, its Chairman, CEO and President, and Michele Greco, its CFO (the “Ewing Lawsuit”). The First Amended Class Action Complaint, filed on September 15, 2023 by purported stockholders Dr. Myo Thant and Karen Brounstein, alleges that certain public statements about sabizabulin as a treatment for COVID-19 between March 1, 2021 and March 2, 2023 violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, and seeks monetary damages. On July 7, 2023, Anthony Maglia, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Maglia v. Steiner et al., Case No. 2023-019406-CA-01), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell S. Steiner, Michele Greco, Harry Fisch, Mario Eisenberger, Grace S. Hyun, Lucy Lu and Michael L. Rankowitz (the “Maglia Lawsuit”). The Maglia lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Maglia Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief, restitution, and an award of reasonable fees and expenses. On September 1, 2023, Anthony Franchi, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Franchi v. Steiner et al., Case No. 2:23-CV-01164), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell S. Steiner, Mario Eisenberger, Harry Fisch, Michael L. Rankowitz, Grace Hyun, Lucy Lu, and Michele Greco (the “Franchi Lawsuit”). The Franchi lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Franchi Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages, restitution, and an award of reasonable fees and expenses. On November 8, 2023, this action was consolidated with the Renbarger action, discussed below. On September 28, 2023, Philip Renbarger, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Renbarger v. Steiner et al., Case No. 2:23-CV-01291), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell Steiner, Mario Eisenberger, Harry Fisch, Michael L. Rankowitz, Grace S. Hyun, Lucy Lu, and Michele Greco (the “Renbarger Lawsuit”). The Renbarger lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Renbarger Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages and an award of reasonable fees and expenses. On November 8, 2023, the Renbarger Lawsuit was consolidated with the Franchi Lawsuit, discussed above. On October 9, 2023, Mohamed Alshourbagy, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Alshourbagy v. Steiner et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-23846), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell S. Steiner, Mario A. Eisenberger, Harry D. Fisch, Michael L. Rankowitz, Grace S. Hyun, Lucy Lu, and Michele Greco (the “Alshourbagy Lawsuit”). The Alshourbagy lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty and contribution primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Alshourbagy Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief, restitution, and an award of reasonable fees and expenses. The Ewing Lawsuit, Maglia Lawsuit, Franchi Lawsuit, Renbarger Lawsuit, and Alshourbagy Lawsuit are collectively referred to as the “Shareholder Litigation.” At this time, the Company is unable to estimate potential losses, if any, related to the Shareholder Litigation. License and Purchase Agreements From time to time, we license or purchase rights to technology or intellectual property from third parties. These licenses and purchase agreements require us to pay upfront payments as well as development or other payments upon successful completion of preclinical, clinical, regulatory or revenue milestones. In addition, these agreements may require us to pay royalties on sales of products arising from the licensed or acquired technology or intellectual property. Because the achievement of future milestones is not reasonably estimable, we have not recorded a liability on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for any of these contingencies. Collaborative Arrangements On January 31, 2022, the Company entered into a Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement (the “Lilly Agreement”) with Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”). The Company was sponsoring a clinical trial in which both the Company’s enobosarm compound and Lilly’s compound were being dosed in combination. The ENABLAR-2 clinical trial is currently suspended. Under the Lilly agreement, the Company conducts the research at its own cost and Lilly contributes its compound towards the study at no cost to the Company. The parties continue to hold exclusive rights to all intellectual property relating solely to their own respective compounds. The Company would provide to Lilly copies of clinical data relating to the clinical trial and certain rights to use the clinical data. Veru maintains full exclusive, global commercialization rights to the enobosarm compound. The terms of the Lilly Agreement meet the criteria under ASC Topic 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”), as both parties are active participants in the activity and are exposed to the risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of the activity. ASC 808 does not provide guidance on how to account for the activities under the collaboration, and the Company determined that Lilly did not meet the definition of a customer under ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The Company has concluded that ASC 730, Research and Development, should be applied by analogy. There is no financial statement impact for the Lilly Agreement as the value of the drug supply received from Lilly would be offset against the drug supply cost within research and development expense. Resolution of Commercial Dispute A supplier claimed that we owed approximately $10 million for products and services relating to our efforts to commercialize sabizabulin under an EUA. We disputed the amount owed and on February 29, 2024, we entered into an agreement with the supplier, which resolves the dispute by modifying the payment terms under the original agreement. The Company agreed to pay $8.3 million, with $2.3 million payable upon execution of the agreement, $3.5 million payable in equal monthly installments over 48 months, and $2.5 million payable (the “Balance”) on or prior to December 31, 2025 out of the proceeds of certain payments that may be received by the Company from BWV on promissory notes due in April 2024 and September 2024. If all or any portion of the Balance remains unpaid as of December 31, 2025, the Company shall pay the amount of the unpaid Balance in equal monthly installments over 24 months, commencing in January 2026. The agreement resulted in a reduction in research and development expense for the three and six months ended March 31, 2024 of $0.6 million. $0.9 million is included in accounts payable and $5.0 million is included in other liabilities related to this agreement as of March 31, 2024 on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet.

Contingent Liabilities

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Note 12 – Contingent Liabilities

The testing, manufacturing and marketing of consumer products by the Company and the clinical testing of our product candidates entail an inherent risk that product liability claims will be asserted against the Company. The Company maintains product liability insurance coverage for claims arising from the use of its products. The coverage amount is currently $10.0 million.

Legal Proceedings

On December 5, 2022, a putative class action complaint was filed in federal district court for the Southern District of Florida (Ewing v. Veru Inc., et al., Case No. 1:22-cv-23960) against the Company and Mitchell Steiner, its Chairman, CEO and President, and Michele Greco, its CFO (the “Ewing Lawsuit”). The First Amended Class Action Complaint, filed on September 15, 2023 by purported stockholders Dr. Myo Thant and Karen Brounstein, alleges that certain public statements about sabizabulin as a treatment for COVID-19 between March 1, 2021 and March 2, 2023 violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, and seeks monetary damages.

On July 7, 2023, Anthony Maglia, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the Circuit Court for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Maglia v. Steiner et al., Case No. 2023-019406-CA-01), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell S. Steiner, Michele Greco, Harry Fisch, Mario Eisenberger, Grace S. Hyun, Lucy Lu and Michael L. Rankowitz (the “Maglia Lawsuit”). The Maglia lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Maglia Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief, restitution, and an award of reasonable fees and expenses.

On September 1, 2023, Anthony Franchi, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Franchi v. Steiner et al., Case No. 2:23-CV-01164), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell S. Steiner, Mario Eisenberger, Harry Fisch, Michael L. Rankowitz, Grace Hyun, Lucy Lu, and Michele Greco (the “Franchi Lawsuit”). The Franchi lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Franchi Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages, restitution, and an award of reasonable fees and expenses. On November 8, 2023, this action was consolidated with the Renbarger action, discussed below.

On September 28, 2023, Philip Renbarger, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Renbarger v. Steiner et al., Case No. 2:23-CV-01291), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell Steiner, Mario Eisenberger, Harry Fisch, Michael L. Rankowitz, Grace S. Hyun, Lucy Lu, and Michele Greco (the “Renbarger Lawsuit”). The Renbarger lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Renbarger Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages and an award of reasonable fees and expenses. On November 8, 2023, the Renbarger Lawsuit was consolidated with the Franchi Lawsuit, discussed above.

On October 9, 2023, Mohamed Alshourbagy, a purported stockholder, filed a derivative action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Alshourbagy v. Steiner et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-23846), against the Company as a nominal defendant, and Company officers and directors Mitchell S. Steiner, Mario A. Eisenberger, Harry D. Fisch, Michael L. Rankowitz, Grace S. Hyun, Lucy Lu, and Michele Greco (the “Alshourbagy Lawsuit”). The Alshourbagy lawsuit asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty and contribution primarily in connection with the issues and claims asserted in the Ewing Lawsuit. The Alshourbagy Lawsuit seeks to direct the Company to improve its corporate governance and internal procedures, and also seeks monetary damages, injunctive relief, restitution, and an award of reasonable fees and expenses.

The Ewing Lawsuit, Maglia Lawsuit, Franchi Lawsuit, Renbarger Lawsuit, and Alshourbagy Lawsuit are collectively referred to as the “Shareholder Litigation.” At this time, the Company is unable to estimate potential losses, if any, related to the Shareholder Litigation.

License and Purchase Agreements

From time to time, we license or purchase rights to technology or intellectual property from third parties. These licenses and purchase agreements require us to pay upfront payments as well as development or other payments upon successful completion of preclinical, clinical, regulatory or revenue milestones. In addition, these agreements may require us to pay royalties on sales of products arising from the licensed or acquired technology or intellectual property. Because the achievement of future milestones is not reasonably estimable, we have not recorded a liability on the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for any of these contingencies.

Collaborative Arrangements

On January 31, 2022, the Company entered into a Clinical Trial Collaboration and Supply Agreement (the “Lilly Agreement”) with Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”). The Company was sponsoring a clinical trial in which both the Company’s enobosarm compound and Lilly’s compound were being dosed in combination. The ENABLAR-2 clinical trial is currently suspended. Under the Lilly agreement, the Company conducts the research at its own cost and Lilly contributes its compound towards the study at no cost to the Company. The parties continue to hold exclusive rights to all intellectual property relating solely to their own respective compounds. The Company would provide to Lilly copies of clinical data relating to the clinical trial and certain rights to use the clinical data. Veru maintains full exclusive, global commercialization rights to the enobosarm compound.

The terms of the Lilly Agreement meet the criteria under ASC Topic 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”), as both parties are active participants in the activity and are exposed to the risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of the activity. ASC 808 does not provide guidance on how to account for the activities under the collaboration, and the Company determined that Lilly did not meet the definition of a customer under ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. The Company has concluded that ASC 730, Research and Development, should be applied by analogy. There is no financial statement impact for the Lilly Agreement as the value of the drug supply received from Lilly would be offset against the drug supply cost within research and development expense.

Resolution of Commercial Dispute

A supplier claimed that we owed approximately $10 million for products and services relating to our efforts to commercialize sabizabulin under an EUA. We disputed the amount owed and on February 29, 2024, we entered into an agreement with the supplier, which resolves the dispute by modifying the payment terms under the original agreement. The Company agreed to pay $8.3 million, with $2.3 million payable upon execution of the agreement, $3.5 million payable in equal monthly installments over 48 months, and $2.5 million payable (the “Balance”) on or prior to December 31, 2025 out of the proceeds of certain payments that may be received by the Company from BWV on promissory notes due in April 2024 and September 2024. If all or any portion of the Balance remains unpaid as of December 31, 2025, the Company shall pay the amount of the unpaid Balance in equal monthly installments over 24 months, commencing in January 2026. The agreement resulted in a reduction in research and development expense for the three and six months ended March 31, 2024 of $0.6 million. $0.9 million is included in accounts payable and $5.0 million is included in other liabilities related to this agreement as of March 31, 2024 on the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheet.