Notes to the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements
Note 1—General Information
Ascendis Pharma A/S, together with its subsidiaries, is a biopharmaceutical company applying its innovative TransCon technologies to build a leading, fully integrated biopharma company. Ascendis Pharma A/S was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark. Unless the context otherwise requires, references to the “Company,” “Ascendis,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to Ascendis Pharma A/S and its subsidiaries.
The address of the Company’s registered office is Tuborg Boulevard 12,DK-2900, Hellerup, Denmark.
On February 2, 2015, the Company completed an initial public offering, or IPO, which resulted in the listing of American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, representing the Company’s ordinary shares, under the symbol “ASND” in the United States on The Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The Company’s Board of Directors approved these unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements on May 30, 2019.
Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Preparation
The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Company are prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34, “Interim Financial Reporting”. Certain information and disclosures normally included in the consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) have been condensed or omitted. Accordingly, these unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 and accompanying notes, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, and as adopted by the European Union.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with IFRS requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates and requires management to exercise its judgment in the process of applying the Company’s accounting policies. The areas involving a higher degree of judgment or complexity, or areas where assumptions and estimates are significant to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements are disclosed in Note 3.
Changes in Accounting Policies
As of January 1, 2019, the Company has adopted IFRS 16, “Leases” (“IFRS 16”). IFRS 16 requires, with a few exceptions, lessees to recognize assets(“right-of-use assets”) and liabilities for most leases. Accordingly, lease payments under contracts previously classified as operating leases, will be recognized over thenon-cancellable lease period as depreciation included in research and development costs and general and administrative expenses, respectively, and as interest expenses included in finance expenses. Previously, lease payments under operating leases were recognized as research and development costs and general and administrative expenses, respectively.
Impact from IFRS 16 “Leases”
The Company primarily leases office- and laboratory facilities and equipment. Lease arrangements are typically entered into for fixed periods but may have extension options. Lease terms are negotiated on an individual basis and contain a wide range of different terms and conditions.
We have implemented IFRS 16 by applying the modified retrospective approach. Accordingly, no comparative information is restated. The lease liability and correspondingright-of-use assets is measured at the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted using an estimated incremental borrowing rate at January 1, 2019.
In connection with the transition to IFRS 16, we have reviewed our operating lease agreements’ contractual terms including lease payment structure. Fixed payments, and variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate, are included in lease payments, while other variable lease payments are excluded. Additionally, payments related tonon-lease components are excluded, and thus treated as either research and development costs, or general and administrative expenses.
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