Company: LENZ
Filing Date: 2025-03-19
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001815776-25-000019
Chunk: 201

Company: LENZ Therapeutics, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-19
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 13
Chunk 201
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Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Described below are any transactions occurring since January 1, 2023 and any currently proposed transactions to which we or either of Graphite or LENZ OpCo was a party and in which:

•the amounts involved exceeded or will exceed the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of our, Graphite or LENZ OpCo’s total assets, as applicable, at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years; and

•a director, executive officer, holder of more than 5% of the outstanding capital stock of us, Graphite or LENZ OpCo, or any member of such person’s immediate family had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.

Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions—Graphite

License and Option to Acquire Nula-Cel Assets

On August 4, 2023, Graphite entered into a license and option agreement (“LOA”) with Kamau Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kamau”) pursuant to which it exclusively licensed to Kamau, and granted Kamau, an option to acquire certain intellectual property and materials related to its nula-cel program and related pre-clinical platform assets. The option included rights to assume the exclusive license agreement and the option agreement with The Board of Trustees of the 

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Leland Stanford Junior University, as well as the license agreement with Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc., among other agreements. Exercise of the option was contingent on Kamau raising a minimum of $10 million in funds no later than August 4, 2024 (the “Financing Milestone”), which contingency could be waived by Graphite. In return for this license and option, Graphite received an equity interest in Kamau representing 20% of all outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis subject to dilution protection until the Financing Milestone. The LOA includes customary representations and warranties, limitations of liability and indemnification obligations for a transaction of this nature. The LOA automatically expires upon the first to occur of: (1) Kamau’s exercise of the option, (2) Kamau’s failure to exercise the option within a specified exercise period following achievement of the financing milestone, or (3) Kamau’s failure to achieve the financing milestone by a pre-agreed deadline. In addition, either party has the right to terminate the LOA for the uncured material breach or insolvency of the other party, and Graphite has the