9. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Lease commitments Effective June 1, 2008, the Company entered into a 10-year lease for commercial space in a Georgia office building, commencing October 1, 2008. The lease provides for annual rent increases and renewal options at market rent. Rent expense under this lease was approximately $140,000 in both 2011 and 2012. Future minimum lease payments for each of the five years ending December 31 and thereafter are as follows: 2013 $ 156,058 2014 159,995 2015 164,026 2016 168,089 2017 172,278 Thereafter 131,618 $ 952,064 Irrevocable letter of credit On May 27, 2008, the Company established a $426,963 standby letter of credit (?LOC?) in favor of a landlord to guarantee payment under the Georgia office building lease. The landlord granted a temporary reduction of $90,000 in the amount of the required letter of credit to $336,963. This reduction was valid until the Company received FDA license for its plasma collection center in Georgia and begins to receive proceeds from the sale of plasma collected from the center. This license was granted by the FDA in August 2011 and the Company has reestablished the LOC to $452,004 in accordance with the lease and required bank minimum standards for such LOC. The entire amount under this letter of credit is maintained in a restricted cash account as of December 31, 2012 and 2011. The letter of credit expires on September 30, 2018. Provided the Company is in good standing with the landlord, the Company has the ability to extinguish the LOC in accordance with the lease agreement as of September 30, 2013. Other commitments On December 31, 2012, the Company entered into a new Manufacturing, Supply and License Agreement with Biotest, which replaces a prior agreement that expired on December 31, 2012. Under the agreement, the Company agreed to purchase exclusively from Biotest its worldwide requirements of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (?RSV?) immune globulin manufactured from human plasma containing RSV antibodies. The term of the agreement is for a per