UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
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CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 16, 2022
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Item 1.02 Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement
On June 16, 2022, Morphic Holding, Inc. (the “Company”) received notice from AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd (“AbbVie”) that AbbVie has elected to terminate the Collaboration and Option Agreement (the “Collaboration Agreement”) between AbbVie and Morphic Therapeutic, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Morphic”), dated October 16, 2018. AbbVie exercised its right to terminate the Collaboration Agreement for convenience. The termination will be effective as of December 13, 2022, or such earlier date as agreed by the parties.
Under the terms of the Collaboration Agreement, Morphic granted AbbVie exclusive license options on certain product candidates directed at multiple targets. The termination follows AbbVie’s delivery of notice to the Company that it did not intend to advance any of the selective oral αvβ6-specific integrin inhibitors, which AbbVie had previously licensed pursuant to the terms of the Collaboration Agreement, due to a suspected on-target/ αvβ6-mediated safety signal observed in pre-clinical testing. Effective upon the termination of the Collaboration Agreement, all rights and licenses granted thereunder shall immediately terminate.
The foregoing summary of the terms of the Collaboration Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Collaboration Agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 10.11 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| MORPHIC HOLDING, INC. | ||||||||
| Date: June 21, 2022 | By: | /s/ Marc Schegerin | ||||||
| Marc Schegerin, M.D. | ||||||||
| Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer | ||||||||