En 12.6.2 als de agreement wordt ontbonden:
12.6.2 In the event of a termination of this Agreement in its entirety by AbbVie pursuant to Sections 12.2.1 or 13.2.2:
(i) all rights and licenses granted by AbbVie hereunder shall immediately terminate;
(ii) all rights and licenses granted to AbbVie hereunder shall become exclusive or non-exclusive (at AbbVie’s sole option), irrevocable, unrestricted, and perpetual rights and licenses and, except as set forth in Section 5.9.2, the Parties shall mutually agree, in good faith, in writing the consideration Galapagos shall receive for the aforementioned license. If, despite good faith discussions, the Parties are unable to agree on the consideration, then the dispute shall be resolved pursuant to Section 13.7;
(iii) Galapagos shall, where permitted by Applicable Law, transfer to AbbVie all of its right, title, and interest in all Regulatory Documentation then Controlled by Galapagos or its Affiliates or Sublicensees and in its/their name;
(iv) Galapagos shall notify the applicable Regulatory Authorities and take any other action reasonably necessary to effect the transfer set forth in clause (iii) above;
(v) Galapagos shall, if requested by AbbVie and unless expressly prohibited by any Regulatory Authority, transfer control to AbbVie of all Clinical Studies being Conducted by Galapagos or its Affiliates or Sublicensees as of the effective date of termination and continue to Conduct such Clinical Studies, at AbbVie’s cost, for up to […***…] ([…***…]) months to enable such transfer to be completed without interruption of any such Clinical Study; provided, that (a) AbbVie shall not have any obligation to continue any Clinical Study unless required by Applicable Law, and (b) with respect to each Clinical Study for which such transfer is expressly prohibited by the applicable Regulatory Authority, if any, Galapagos shall continue to Conduct such Clinical Study to completion, at AbbVie’s cost; and
(vi) Galapagos shall assign (or cause its Affiliates or Sublicensees to assign) to AbbVie all agreements with any Third Party with respect to the Conduct of pre-clinical Development activities, Clinical Studies or Manufacturing activities for the Products, including agreements with contract research organizations, clinical sites, and investigators, unless, with respect to any such agreement, (a) AbbVie declines such assignment, or (b) such agreement (1) expressly prohibits such assignment, in which case Galapagos shall cooperate with AbbVie in reasonable respects to secure the consent of the applicable Third Party to such assignment, or (2) covers products covered by Patents Controlled by Galapagos or any of its Affiliates in addition to the Products, in which case Galapagos shall, at AbbVie’s sole cost and expense, cooperate with AbbVie in all reasonable respects to facilitate the execution of a new agreement between AbbVie and the applicable Third Party.
Als ik het goed begrijp betekent dit dat AbbVie zelf door kan gaan met het filgotinib-onderzoek zolang filgotinib nog niet op de markt is op het moment van overname. AbbVie moet hiervoor met Galapagos overeenstemming bereiken over de vergoeding hiervoor.
De bal ligt bij een overname vooral bij AbbVie, de kans dat het een ander bedrijf lukt Galapagos over te nemen lijkt me klein. In ieder geval zal het niet lukken Galapagos inclusief filgotinib over te nemen. AbbVie zal filgotinib niet in handen laten vallen van een concurrent.
Het zou wel kunnen als een bedrijf graag het discovery platform van Galapagos wil hebben, ze kunnen dan een bod doen, waarna AbbVie een tegenbod kan doen, of als ze dat gevecht verliezen, filgotinib afkopen. Vrij ingewikkeld dus. Om een vijandig bod te kunnen doen moet je eigenlijk eerst weten wat AbbVie over heeft voor het filgotinib-programma. Pas dan kunnen de aandeelhouders besluiten of een bod redelijk/acceptabel/goed is.