The Newsoara Licensing Agreement was amended last year and we found out about it in the June 16 news release. The first portion of the agreement had been successfully completed and the first $5 million milestone payment had been received. By my interpretation of what I have bold faced below, the second $5 million milestone payment was waived and Zenith retained the patents for the territories. Newsoara did however, make a $5 million equity purchase in Zenith so the company received the same amount of money but retained the patents for the territories for some share dilution.

There is a phase 2 mCRPC trial with ZEN-3694, enzalutamide and Pembrolizuma (Merck’s Keytruda) started in December and going to 2025. There is the continuing protocol trial (phase 1,2) for patients that had good results in the original phase 1,2 trial to continue getting Apabetalone out to 2022. I believe this is the continuation of the trial that finished in February 2020. There are also the TNBC trial and new Ovarian cancer trial. That is all that is on clinicaltrials.gov right now and this morning’s announced trial to come.

It seems like the first milestone (successful trial completion) was met and payment received in January 2020. The trial was reported as completed at clinicaltrials.gov in February 2020. There seems to have been a change of plans that weren’t really explained to us but resulted in quietly adding the paragraph below within a news release regarding something else.

From June 16, 2020 News Release

“Zenith also announces that it has entered into a definitive stock purchase agreement with an affiliate of Newsoara Biopharma Co., Ltd. (the “Subscriber”) for the private placement of 3,333,334 common shares in tranches at a price of US$1.50 per share for gross proceeds of US$5 million (CAD$6.7 million) on or before August 31, 2020 (the “Private Placement”). Zenith has completed the issuance of 1,333,334 common shares to the Subscriber for gross proceeds of US$2 million and the subscription for the remaining 2,000,000 common shares for additional gross proceeds of US$3 million is conditional upon customary closing conditions and certain amendments to the previously announced license agreement between Zenith’s subsidiary, Zenith Epigenetics Ltd., and Newsoara Biopharma Co., Ltd., including the waiver of a potential future clinical development milestone payment and the assignment of patents in the territories to Newsoara Biopharma Co., Ltd. that are the subject of the license agreement, with Zenith retaining a right to re-acquire the patents for no additional consideration.”