ORGANIZATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | 1. ORGANIZATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES ORGANIZATION/NATURE OF BUSINESS Proteo, Inc. and Proteo Marketing, Inc. ("PMI"), a Nevada corporation, which began operations in November 2000, entered into a reorganization and stock exchange agreement in December 2000 with Proteo Biotech AG ("PBAG"), a German corporation, incorporated in Kiel, Germany. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, all of the shareholders of PBAG exchanged their common stock for 2,500,000 shares of PMI common stock. As a result, PBAG became a wholly owned subsidiary of PMI. Proteo Inc.'s common stock is quoted on the OTC Pink under the symbol "PTEO." Effective December 31, 2004, PMI merged into Proteo, Inc. PBAG and Proteo, Inc. are hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Company." The Company intends to develop, promote and market pharmaceuticals and other biotech products. The Company is focused on the development of pharmaceuticals based on the human protein Elafin. Elafin is a human protein that naturally occurs in human skin, lungs, and mammary glands. The Company believes Elafin may be useful in the treatment of post-surgery damage to tissue, complications resulting from organ transplantation, pulmonary hypertension, as well as other diseases. Since its inception, the Company has primarily been engaged in the research and development of its proprietary product Elafin. Once the research and development phase is complete, the Company will seek to obtain the various governmental regulatory approvals for the marketing of Elafin. The Company has not generated any significant revenues from product sales. The Company believes that none of its planned products will produce sufficient revenues in the near future. There are no assurances that the Company will be able to obtain regulatory approvals for marketing of Elafin, or if approved, that Elafin will be accepted in the marketplace. CONCENTRATIONS The Company maintains substantially all of its cash in bank accounts at a private German commercial bank. The Company's bank accounts at this financial institution are presently protected by the voluntary Deposit Protection Fund of The German Private Commercial Banks. As such, the Company's bank is a member of this deposit protection fund. The Company has not experienced any losses in these bank accounts. The Company's research and development activities and most of its assets are located in Germany. The Company's operations are subject to various political, economic, and other risks and uncertainties inherent in Germany and the European Union. OTHER RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES The Company will require substantial additional funding for continuing research and development, obtaining regulatory approval, and for the commercialization of its products. Management plans to generate revenues from product sales, but there are no products currently approved and there are no purchase commitments for any of the proposed products. Additionally, the Company may generate revenues from out-licensing activities. There can be no assurance that further out-licensing may be achieved or whether such will generate significant profit. In the absence of significant sales and profits, the Company will be required to seek to raise additional funds to meet its working capital requirements through the additional placement of debt and/or equity securities. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain sufficient additional funds when needed, or that such funds, if available, will be obtainable on terms satisfactory to the Company. If we are unable to receive additional financing when needed, we may choose to delay or reduce other spending including Elafin research and development spending. The Company has cash approximating $100,000 as of December 31, 2019 to support current and future operations. This is an increase of $11,000 over the December 31, 2018 cash balance of approximately $89,000. Such cash is held by the Subsidiary in Germany in Euros. The Company does not intend to repatriate any amount of this cash to the United States as it will be used to fund the Subsidiary’s continued operations. As for periods beyond this filing, we expect to continue to direct the majority of our research and development expenses towards the development of Elafin. It is extremely difficult for us to reasonably estimate all future research and development costs associated with Elafin due to the number of unknowns and uncertainties associated with preclinical and clinical trial development. The Company's line of future pharmaceutical products being developed by its German subsidiary are considered drugs or biologics, and as such, are governed by the Federal Food and Drug and Cosmetics Act and by the regulations of state agencies and various foreign government agencies. There can be no assurance that the Company will obtain the regulatory approvals required to market its products. The pharmaceutical products under development in Germany will be subject to more stringent regulatory requirements because they are recombinant proteins for use in humans. The Company has no experience in obtaining regulatory approvals for these types of products. Therefore, the Company will be subject to the risks of delays in obtaining or failing to obtain regulatory clearance and other uncertainties, including financial, operational, technological, regulatory and other risks associated with an emerging business, including the potential risk of business failure. As substantially all of the Company's operations are in Germany, they are exposed to risks related to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. The Company does not utilize derivative instruments to hedge against such exposure. PRINCIPLES OF CONSOLIDATION The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of Proteo, Inc. and PBAG, its wholly owned subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company classifies noncontrolling interests as part of consolidated net earnings and includes the accumulated amount of noncontrolling interests as part of stockholders' deficit. Earnings (loss) per share reflects amounts attributable only to the Company, excluding noncontrolling interests. Increases and decreases in the Company's controlling financial interests in consolidated subsidiaries will be reported in equity similar to treasury stock transactions. If a change in ownership of a consolidated subsidiary results in loss of control and deconsolidation, any retained ownership interests are remeasured with the gain or loss reported in net earnings. The Company has a substantive contractual arrangement that specifies the attribution of net earnings and loss not to exceed the noncontrolling interest (see Note 3). USE OF ESTIMATES The Company prepares its consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues (if any) and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates made by management include, among others, realizability of long-lived assets, revenue recognition estimates for the Development Agreement, and estimates for deferred tax asset valuation allowances. Actual results could materially differ from such estimates. FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS The Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC” or the “Codification”) requires disclosure of fair value information about financial instruments when it is practicable to estimate that value. Management believes that the carrying amounts of the Company's financial instruments, consisting primarily of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, and accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate their fair value at December 31, 2019 and 2018 due to their short-term nature. The Company did not have any assets or liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring or non-recurring basis as of December 31, 2019 or 2018. FOREIGN CURRENCY Assets and liabilities of the Company's German operations are translated from Euros (the functional currency) into U.S. dollars (the reporting currency) at period-end exchange rates. Expense and grant receipts are translated at weighted average exchange rates for the period. Net exchange gains or losses resulting from such translation are excluded from the consolidated statements of operations and are included in comprehensive income (loss) and accumulated in a separate component of stockholders' deficit. Accumulated other comprehensive loss approximated $34,000 and $31,000 at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The Company records quarterly payables related to a certain licensing agreement (Note 7) which are denominated in Euros. For each reporting period, the Company translates the quarterly amount to U.S. dollars at the exchange rate effective on that date. If the exchange rate changes between when the liability is incurred and the time payment is made, a foreign exchange gain or loss results. The Company made no payments under this licensing agreement during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. Additionally, the Company computes a foreign exchange gain or loss at each balance sheet date on all recorded transactions denominated in foreign currencies that have not been settled. The difference between the exchange rate that could have been used to settle the transaction on the date it occurred and the exchange rate at the balance sheet date is the unrealized gain or loss that is currently recognized. The Company recorded unrealized foreign currency transaction gains of approximately $13,000 and $30,000 for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, which are included in interest and other income, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss). CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS The Company considers all highly liquid temporary cash investments with original maturities of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents consist primarily of deposits with banks. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES The Company capitalizes the cost of supplies used in its research and development activities if such supplies are deemed to have alternative future uses, usually in other research and development projects. Such costs are expensed as used to research and development expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. All other research and development costs are expensed as incurred. The costs of materials that are acquired for a particular research and development project and that have no alternative future uses (in other research and development projects or otherwise) and therefore no separate economic values are expensed as research and development costs at the time the costs are incurred. Nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that have the characteristics that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and capitalized as prepaid expenses. Such amounts are expensed to research and development as the related goods and services are received. The Company may receive grants from the German government which are used to fund research and development activities (see Note 6). Grant funds to be received for the reimbursement of qualified research and development expenses are offset against such expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss when the related expenses are incurred. LONG-LIVED ASSETS Property and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over their expected useful lives, which range from 3 to 14 years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the expected useful life of the improvement or the remaining lease term, whichever is shorter. Expenditures for normal maintenance and repairs are charged to income, and significant improvements are capitalized. The cost and related accumulated depreciation or amortization of assets are removed from the accounts upon retirement or other disposition; any resulting gain or loss is reflected in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. GAAP requires that long-lived assets be reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If the cost basis of a long-lived asset is greater than the projected future undiscounted net cash flows from such asset, an impairment loss is recognized. Impairment losses are calculated as the difference between the cost basis of an asset and its estimated fair value. Assets to be disposed are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or fair value less costs to sell. Management believes that no indicators of impairment existed for property and equipment as of or during the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. REVENUE RECOGNITION On January 1, 2018 the Company adopted ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). Adoption of the new standard did not result in any change to the Company’s retained earnings as of January 1, 2018. As of the adoption date and through December 31, 2019, management determined that there were no revenues which were deemed to be within the scope of Topic 606. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company’s revenue consisted primarily of funding received under the Development Agreement, as described more fully in Note 5. Amounts received under this agreement were initially deferred and recognized as revenue over the projected performance period in direct relation to development expenses incurred. During the year ended December 31, 2018, the Company also recognized revenue in connection with a government grant. As described more fully in Note 6, funding received under this grant were generally recognized as an offset to related expenses incurred, and that revenue was only recognized to the extent that funding received exceeded related expenses incurred. There were no revenues recorded during the year ended December 31, 2019. INCOME TAXES The Company accounts for income taxes using the liability method in accordance with ASC Topic 740-10, Income Taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. A valuation allowance is provided for significant deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that such assets will not be recovered. The Company also follows the provisions of ASC Topic 740-10 relating to accounting for uncertain tax positions. Under ASC Topic 740-10, the Company must recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate resolution. The Company has not recognized any liabilities for uncertain tax positions as a result of ASC Topic 740-10. The Company expects any resolution of unrecognized tax benefits, if created, would occur while the full valuation allowance of deferred tax assets is maintained; therefore, the Company does not expect to have any unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate. The Company will recognize interest and penalties related to any unrecognized tax benefits within the income tax expense line in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, management believes the Company has no unrecognized tax benefits. The Company’s income tax returns remain open for examination by taxing authorities for a statutory defined period of time. The Company is currently not under examination by any taxing authorities. EARNINGS (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE Basic earnings (loss) per common share is computed based on the weighted average number of shares outstanding for the period. Diluted earnings (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average shares outstanding assuming all dilutive potential common shares were issued. There were no dilutive potential common shares outstanding at December 31, 2019 or 2018. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS Management has evaluated subsequent events through the date the accompanying financial statements were filed with the SEC for transactions and other events which may require adjustment of and/or disclosure in such financial statements. As described in Note 3, 8,500,000 shares of Common Stock were issued in February 2020 for total consideration approximating $210,000. On March 10, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. Actions taken around the world to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus include restrictions on travel, quarantines in certain areas, and forced closures for certain types of public places and businesses. The coronavirus and actions taken to mitigate it have had and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on the economies and financial markets of many countries, including the geographical areas in which the Company operates. While it is unknown how long these conditions will last and what the complete financial effects will be to the Company, the Company believes it reasonably possible that it is vulnerable to the risk of a near-term severe impact. The coronavirus has caused a substantial disruption in U.S. and international financial markets. The Company cannot at this point determine the subsequent near and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the value of the Company. COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) Total comprehensive income (loss) represents the net change in stockholders' deficit during a period from sources other than transactions with stockholders and as such, includes net earnings or loss. For the Company, other comprehensive income (loss) represents the foreign currency translation adjustments, which are recorded as components of stockholders' deficit. SEGMENTS OF AN ENTERPRISE AND RELATED INFORMATION The Company considers itself to operate in one segment and has had no revenues from principal operations from inception. See Note 2 for information on long-lived assets located in Germany. SIGNIFICANT RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires, among other things, lessees to recognize for all leases (with the exception of short-term leases) a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease, and a right-of-use asset, which is an asset that represents the lessee’s right to use, or control the use of, a specified asset for the lease term. ASU 2016-02 is effective for the Company for the year beginning January 1, 2019. The adoption of this standard did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures due to the short-term nature of its leases. For these short-term leases, the Company has elected to not recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. Lease expense for such leases are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. |