Shareholder Representative Services, LLC v. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Court of Chancery of Delaware·Decided June 11, 2025·No. C.A. No. 2020-1069-MTZ·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CHANCERY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

SHAREHOLDER REPRESENTATIVE ) SERVICES LLC solely in its capacity ) as representative of the Securityholders, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) C.A. No. 2020-1069-MTZ ) ALEXION PHARMACEUTICALS, ) INC., ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION Date Submitted: March 4, 2025 Date Decided: June 11, 2025

Michael A. Barlow, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP, Wilmington, Delaware; Andrew M. Berdon, Angus Chen, Alexandria Deep Conroy, Courtney C. Whang, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP, New York, New York; Joseph M. Paunovich, David M. Elihu, James Bieber, Andrew Brayton, QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP, Los Angeles, California, Attorneys for Plaintiff and Counterclaim Defendant Shareholder Representative Services LLC.

David E. Wilks, Scott B. Czerwonka, WILKS LAW, LLC, Wilmington, Delaware; Deborah E. Fishman, Carson D. Anderson, ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP, Palo Alto, California; Daniel L. Reisner, Jeffrey A. Fuisz, Angela R. Vicari, Matthew M. Wilk, ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP, New York, New York; Howard Sklamberg, Jeremy Cobb, ARNOLD & PORTER KAYE SCHOLER LLP, Washington, DC, Attorneys for Defendant and Counterclaim Plaintiff Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

ZURN, Vice Chancellor. Defendant Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. purchased nonparty Syntimmune,

Inc. to develop a drug to treat rare diseases. The merger agreement promised discrete

lump sum payments to Syntimmune’s former stockholders upon the achievement of

development milestones, and obligated Alexion to use commercially reasonable

efforts to achieve those milestones. The agreement designated plaintiff Shareholder

Representative Services, LLC (“SRS”) as the former Syntimmune stockholders’

representative.

Alexion terminated the drug development program. SRS sued for breach of

the efforts obligation. After trial, I concluded Alexion had breached its efforts

obligation by terminating the drug development program.

With the benefit of supplemental briefing, this opinion addresses the

expectation damages Alexion owes for that breach. Because the earnout provision

provides for lump sum payments for contingent events, this decision employs an

expected value approach. It calculates damages by weighting each milestone’s

earnout payment by its probability of success, discounted to present value at the time

of breach. It calculates that SRS is entitled to $180,944,915.32 in damages for

Alexion’s breach of its efforts obligation, plus pre- and post-judgment interest.

1 I. BACKGROUND

This decision relies on the factual findings set forth in the post-trial opinion

on liability (the “September Opinion”) and the trial record. 1 The facts set forth

herein were proven by a preponderance of the evidence at trial.

A. The Syntimmune Merger And Earnout Agreement

In September of 2018, Alexion acquired Syntimmune to develop and

commercialize a monoclonal antibody that became known as ALXN1830. 2 The

purchase price included $400 million up front and $800 million in earnout payments

tied to eight development milestones. 3 Milestone 1 provided for a $130 million

payment upon the completion of a successful Phase 1 Clinical Trial, as defined by

the Merger Agreement.4 The September Opinion concluded Milestone 1 had been

1 S’holder Representative Servs. LLC v. Alexion Pharms., Inc., 2024 WL 4052343 (Del. Ch. Sept. 5, 2024) [hereinafter “Sept. Op.”]. This opinion assumes familiarity with the September Opinion and uses its defined terms and citation formats. Citations in the form “SRS Op. Suppl. Br. —” refer to SRS’s post-trial opening supplemental damages brief, available at docket item (“D.I.”) 384. Citations in the form “ALXN Ans. Suppl. Br. —” refer to Alexion’s post-trial answering supplemental damages brief, available at D.I. 392. Citations in the form “SRS Reply Suppl. Br. —” refer to SRS’s post-trial supplemental damages reply brief, available at D.I. 398. A leading treatise on damages observes, “Only so much judicial time can be used to investigate the precise losses suffered or the gains received from a contract breach.” 3 Dan B. Dobbs, Law of Remedies: Damages—Equity—Restitution § 12.1(2), at 18 (2d ed. 1993) [hereinafter “Dobbs”]. This opinion has probably exceeded whatever that amount of time should be. 2 Merger Agr. §§ 1.1, 3.8(b). 3 Id. § 3.8(b). 4 Id. § 3.8(a)(i). 2 achieved, held Alexion breached its contractual obligation to pay SRS $130 million

upon achievement of that milestone, and awarded damages in that amount. 5

Under the Merger Agreement, Alexion promised earnout payments for the

successful completion of Milestones 2 through 8, as follows 6:

Earnout Provision Summary for Milestones 2 Through 8

Milestone Milestone Amount Triggering Event First dosing of the first patient in a Pivotal Clinical 2 $ 120,000,000.00 Trial for any first Indication. First dosing of the first patient in a Pivotal Clinical 3 $ 120,000,000.00 Trial for a second Indication. Receipt of Regulatory Approval from the FDA for 4 $ 150,000,000.00 any first Indication. Receipt of Regulatory Approval from the FDA for 5 $ 150,000,000.00 a second Indication. Receipt of Regulatory Approval from the EMA for 6 $ 25,000,000.00 any first Indication. Receipt of Regulatory Approval from the EMA for 7 $ 25,000,000.00 a second Indication. The determination at the end of Alexion’s fiscal year that the Net Sales for such fiscal year across 8 $ 80,000,000.00 all Indications equals or exceeds One Billion Dollars ($1,000,000,000).

The Merger Agreement provides that Milestones 6 and 7 “shall be achieved upon

receipt of the applicable reimbursement and/or pricing approval from the applicable

Governmental Entity in three (3) out of the following five (5) countries: United

5 Sept. Op. at *48. 6 Merger Agr. § 3.8(a)(ii)–(viii). 3 Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany or Spain.” 7 Each milestone payment is due forty-

five days after the milestone’s achievement.8

To propel ALXN1830 toward those milestones, the Merger Agreement

required Alexion to use Commercially Reasonable Efforts (“CREs” and the “CRE

Obligation”), as defined by the agreement for seven years. 9

This opinion defines a “Milestone Event” as the achievement of each

milestone, noted in the form 𝑀𝑀𝑖𝑖 , where i represents a given Milestone Event number.

This opinion notates the probability of a Milestone Event (each a “Milestone

Probability”) as 𝑃𝑃(𝑀𝑀𝑖𝑖 ). This opinion also deals with conditional probabilities, that

is, the probability that an event will occur given that some other event occurred. It

notates the probability that a later Milestone Event will occur given that an earlier

Milestone Event occurred as 𝑃𝑃�𝑀𝑀𝑖𝑖 �𝑀𝑀𝑗𝑗 �. For example, the conditional probability of

𝑀𝑀3 given 𝑀𝑀2 is notated 𝑃𝑃(𝑀𝑀3 |𝑀𝑀2 ).

B. Syntimmune’s Largest Former Stockholder Values Its Right To Milestone Payments. Shortly after Alexion acquired Syntimmune, Syntimmune’s largest former

stockholder Apple Tree Partners (“ATP”) valued its right to future distributions from

Milestones 2 through 8 based on the milestone amounts and probabilities of

7 Id. § 3.8(c). 8 Id. § 3.8(e). 9 Id. § 3.8(f). 4 achievement.10 ATP estimated the Milestone Probabilities “[b]ased on discussions

with management and considering the current status of clinical trials” as well as

“observed clinical trial success rates.”11

ATP Milestone Probability Estimates Milestone Event Probability 𝑀𝑀2 0.80 𝑀𝑀3 0.75 𝑀𝑀4 0.53 𝑀𝑀5 0.45 𝑀𝑀6 0.53 𝑀𝑀7 0.45 𝑀𝑀8 0.10 12

10 JX 2962; Hall Tr. 107, 109–16. 11 JX 2962 at 22–26.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Shareholder Representative Services, LLC v. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., (Del. Ct. App. 2025).

Shareholder Representative Services, LLC v. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Shareholder Representative Services, LLC v. Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Siegal v. Haver
417 P.2d 928 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1966)
Cede & Co. v. Technicolor, Inc.
884 A.2d 26 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2005)
Paul v. Deloitte & Touche, LLP
974 A.2d 140 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2009)
Weinberger v. UOP, Inc.
457 A.2d 701 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1983)
United States v. Anderson
669 A.2d 73 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 1995)
Comrie v. Enterasys Networks, Inc.
837 A.2d 1 (Court of Chancery of Delaware, 2003)
Duncan v. Theratx, Inc.
775 A.2d 1019 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2001)
Mitchell v. Haldar
883 A.2d 32 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2005)
Beard Research, Inc. v. Kates
8 A.3d 573 (Court of Chancery of Delaware, 2010)
ASDI, INC. v. Beard Research, Inc.
11 A.3d 749 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2010)
Stayton v. Delaware Health Corporation
117 A.3d 521 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2015)
SIGA Technologies, Inc. v. Pharmathene, Inc.
132 A.3d 1108 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2015)
Kansas City, M. & O. Ry. Co. v. Bell
197 S.W. 322 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1917)
Gatz Properties, LLC v. Auriga Capital Corp.
59 A.3d 1206 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2012)
SIGA Technologies, Inc. v. PharmAthene, Inc.
67 A.3d 330 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2013)