NOTE 8 – COMMITMENTS 

Research and development contracts

The Company has entered into contracts with various contract research organizations with outstanding commitments aggregating approximately $9.8 million at March 31, 2018 for future work to be performed.

Operating leases

As of March 31, 2018, future minimum lease payments under operating leases for office space were as follows (in thousands):

Defined contribution plan

The Company established a qualified defined contribution plan (the “401(k) Plan”) pursuant to Section 401(k) of the Code, whereby all eligible employees may participate. Participants may elect to defer a percentage of their annual pretax compensation to the 401(k) Plan, subject to defined limitations. The Company is required to make contributions to the 401(k) Plan equal to 100 percent of each participant’s pretax contributions of up to three percent of his or her eligible compensation, and the Company is also required to make a contribution equal to six percent of each participant’s salary, on an annual basis, subject to limitations under the Code. For the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017, the Company charged operations $31,000 and $16,000, respectively, for contributions under the 401(k) Plan.