v3.26.1
Recent Transactions and Developments
12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Recent Transactions and Developments [Abstract]  
Recent Transactions and Developments Recent Transactions and Developments
(A) Global Settlement with Moderna
On March 3, 2026, the Company’s subsidiary, Genevant Sciences GmbH (“Genevant”), Arbutus (together with Genevant, “Genevant/Arbutus”), and, solely for certain purposes, Genevant’s parent Genevant Sciences Ltd. ( “GSL”), and Moderna, Inc. and ModernaTx, Inc. (together, “Moderna”) entered into a settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) to resolve all patent infringement litigation between Genevant/Arbutus and Moderna pending in the U.S. and internationally relating to Moderna’s unauthorized use of Genevant/Arbutus’ lipid nanoparticle (“LNP”) delivery technology in its vaccines, including SPIKEVAX.
Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement:
Moderna will make a non-contingent, non-creditable, and non-refundable payment to Genevant and Arbutus of $950 million on or before July 8, 2026 (the “Fixed Payment”).
Moderna may make up to an additional $1.3 billion contingent lump sum payment (the “Contingent Payment”) to Genevant and Arbutus as more fully described below.
Moderna consented to entry of a judgment of infringement and of a judgment of no invalidity of four Genevant/Arbutus patents.
Genevant agreed to grant Moderna a global non-exclusive license to LNP delivery technology for infectious disease applications and a covenant not to sue for certain Genevant/Arbutus patents and Moderna products.
Payments by Moderna under the Settlement Agreement will be made directly to Genevant and Arbutus consistent with the terms of a cross-license agreement (as amended, the “Cross-License Agreement”) entered between Genevant (as assignee of GSL) and Arbutus. Pursuant to the Cross-License Agreement, Arbutus granted Genevant, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of GSL, a license under certain patents and know-how relating to Arbutus’s LNP and GalNAc technologies for all applications other than hepatitis B virus and certain other excluded fields. As of March 31, 2026, RSL and Arbutus held 83% and 16%, respectively, of the issued and outstanding common shares of GSL.
Under the terms of the Cross-License Agreement, the Fixed Payment to be made by Moderna pursuant to the Settlement Agreement to Genevant/Arbutus is expected to be allocated, after deduction of litigation costs, (i) 80% to Genevant and (ii) 20% to Arbutus.
Based on this allocation, Genevant expects to receive approximately $770.2 million for its portion of the Fixed Payment, subject to adjustment upon final determination of actual litigation costs and expenses incurred. The Company accordingly recognized a gain on litigation settlement of $770.2 million during the year ended March 31, 2026 in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and a corresponding litigation settlement receivable of $770.2 million on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
Moderna will make the Contingent Payment to Genevant/Arbutus (i) if the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the “Federal Circuit”) (whether by the initial panel, upon panel rehearing or en banc) affirms, or if there is a final non-appealable judgment that affirms, the rejection of Moderna’s affirmative defense pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1498 (“§ 1498”) by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in its entirety or otherwise holds that § 1498 does not bar Genevant/Arbutus’ claim against Moderna as to either or both of direct infringement and indirect infringement with respect to all of the doses subject to Moderna’s appeal, or (ii) upon a voluntary dismissal of Moderna’s appeal (any of the foregoing under (i) or (ii), a “Genevant/Arbutus § 1498 Victory”). If the appellate court instead determines that § 1498 bars Genevant/Arbutus’ infringement claims as to some, but not all, of the doses subject to Moderna’s appeal, the Settlement Agreement provides that Moderna will pay Genevant/Arbutus a prorated amount of $1.3 billion, calculated based on the number of doses for which § 1498 bars Genevant/Arbutus’ infringement claims as clearly articulated by the Federal Circuit, or if not clearly articulated by the Federal Circuit, as mutually agreed by the parties or determined in an accelerated binding arbitration process.
Under certain circumstances, if the Genevant/Arbutus § 1498 Victory is subsequently overturned in Moderna’s favor in a final nonappealable decision, Genevant/Arbutus is required to return the Contingent Payment to Moderna, plus interest. If, following a Genevant/Arbutus § 1498 Victory, either (i) Moderna does not timely appeal such Genevant/Arbutus § 1498 Victory or (ii) such Genevant/Arbutus § 1498 Victory is subsequently affirmed in a final nonappealable decision, Moderna will have no further right to a potential repayment of the Contingent Payment.
The Contingent Payment is considered a gain contingency and was not recognized in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the year ended March 31, 2026. The gain will be recognized when realized or realizable.
(B) Telavant Disposition
On December 14, 2023 (the “Transaction Date”), the Company completed the sale of its entire equity interest in its majority-owned subsidiary Telavant to Roche Holdings, Inc. (“Roche”) (the “Roche Transaction”). The Roche Transaction was made pursuant to a Stock Purchase Agreement dated October 22, 2023 among the Company, Telavant, Pfizer Inc. (“Pfizer”) and Roche (the “Stock Purchase Agreement”). Telavant was jointly formed by the Company and Pfizer in November 2022 to develop and commercialize RVT-3101, an anti-TL1A antibody in development for ulcerative colitis (“UC”) and Crohn’s disease, in the U.S. and Japan. Prior to the Roche Transaction, the Company held 75% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock and preferred stock of Telavant, and Pfizer owned the remaining 25%, in each case on an as-converted basis.
Pursuant to the Stock Purchase Agreement, Roche acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of Telavant in exchange for approximately $7.1 billion in cash at the closing of the Roche Transaction in December 2023, as well as a one-time milestone payment of $150 million in cash, paid in August 2024 following the initiation of a Phase 3 trial in UC. The $7.1 billion in closing consideration and $150 million one-time milestone payment were paid to all of Telavant’s equity holders, including holders of Telavant RSUs, on a pro rata basis relative to their ownership of Telavant prior to the closing of the Roche Transaction. The Company received an upfront payment of approximately $5.2 billion in cash as its pro rata portion of the consideration upon closing of the Roche Transaction and a one-time milestone payment of approximately $110.4 million as its pro rata portion of the milestone payment following initiation of a Phase 3 trial in UC.
At the closing of the Roche Transaction, Roche acquired the full rights to further develop and manufacture RVT- 3101 and commercialize it in the U.S. and Japan. Outside of the U.S. and Japan, Pfizer holds commercialization rights. In addition, following the closing of the Roche Transaction, Roche acquired Telavant’s option to enter into a global collaboration with Pfizer on a next generation p40/TL1A directed bispecific antibody.
The Telavant entity that was sold did not meet the definition of a business, and therefore the Company concluded that the Roche Transaction was a sale of non-financial assets, with control transferred at closing. The sale of Telavant did not meet the criteria for reporting discontinued operations as the sale does not represent a strategic shift in the Company’s business. The Company recognized a gain on sale of Telavant net assets of approximately $5.3 billion during the year ended March 31, 2024 in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. The gain does not include the Company’s portion of the one-time milestone payment, which was recognized when the milestone was achieved in June 2024. Accordingly, the Company recognized a gain on sale of Telavant net assets of $110.4 million for its pro rata portion of the one-time milestone payment during the year ended March 31, 2025. The gain on sale of Telavant net assets qualifies under the substantial shareholding exemption in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) and consequently is not subject to the corporation income tax. The following table summarizes the calculation of the gain recognized during the year ended March 31, 2024 (in thousands).
Consideration:
Upfront cash payment$5,234,373 
Carrying amount of noncontrolling interest derecognized87,500 
Total consideration5,321,873 
Assets sold3,253 
Liabilities transferred29,790 
Net liabilities sold(26,537)
Gain on sale of Telavant net assets$5,348,410 
The pretax loss generated by Telavant was $71.1 million for the period from April 1, 2023 to the Transaction Date and $101.9 million for the period from inception on November 14, 2022 to March 31, 2023. The entirety of the Telavant pretax losses was attributable to the Company.
(C) Asset Acquisition
In July 2023, Pulmovant Inc. (“Pulmovant”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, in-licensed certain intellectual property rights in exchange for a $14.0 million upfront cash payment. The transaction was accounted for as an asset acquisition as the acquired assets did not meet the definition of a business. The acquired rights represent in-process research and development assets, which were determined to have no alternative future use. Accordingly, the Company recorded $14.0 million as acquired in-process research and development expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations for the year ended March 31, 2024.
Additionally, Pulmovant agreed to pay up to $280 million of future development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments and tiered high-single digit sales-based royalties.