SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Principles of consolidation The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Black Diamond Therapeutics Security Corporation and Black Diamond Therapeutics (Canada), Inc., after elimination of all significant intercompany accounts and transactions. On October 10, 2023, Black Diamond Therapeutics (Canada), Inc. was dissolved by way of voluntary dissolution. Use of estimates The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting periods. Significant estimates and assumptions reflected in these consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, the accrual of research and development expenses and the valuation of stock-based awards. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience, known trends and other market-specific or other relevant factors that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. Estimates are periodically reviewed in light of changes in circumstances, facts and experience. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period in which they become known. Actual results may differ from those estimates or assumptions. The Company continues to monitor the impact of global economic developments, political unrest, high inflation, disruptions in capital markets, changes in international trade relationships and military conflicts, and health crises, on all aspects of its business, and has considered the impact of these factors on estimates within its financial statements. The extent to which future developments may impact the Company’s business, results of operations or financial condition are uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence and there may be changes to estimates in future periods. As of the date of issuance of these consolidated financial statements, the Company has not experienced material business disruptions or incurred impairment losses in the carrying value of its assets as a result of these factors and is not aware of any specific related event or circumstance that would require it to update its estimates. Subsequent events The Company considers events or transactions that occur after the balance sheet date but before the final financial statements are issued to provide additional evidence relative to certain estimates or to identify matters that require additional disclosure. Foreign currency and currency translation The Company’s wholly owned foreign subsidiary, Black Diamond Therapeutics (Canada), was dissolved in October 2023. Prior to dissolution, the functional currency for Black Diamond Therapeutics (Canada), Inc. was the United States Dollar. Adjustments that arise from exchange rate changes on transactions denominated in a currency other than the local currency are included in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, as incurred. Cash and cash equivalents The Company classifies deposits in banks, money market funds and cash invested temporarily in various instruments with maturities of three months or less at the time of purchase as cash and cash equivalents. At December 31, 2024 and 2023, cash and cash equivalents includes cash on deposit at commercial banks and a money market fund that invests in U.S. Government securities. Investments Investments consist of marketable securities with original maturities greater than 90 days. The Company has classified its investments with maturities beyond one year as short-term, based on their highly liquid nature and because such marketable securities represent the investment of cash that is available for current operations. The Company considers its investment portfolio of marketable securities to be available-for-sale. Accordingly, these investments are recorded at fair value, which is based on quoted market prices. Unrealized gains and losses are reported as the accumulated other comprehensive items in stockholders’ equity. Amortization and accretion of premiums and discounts are recorded in other income (expense). Realized gains or losses on debt securities are included in interest income or interest expense, respectively. If any adjustment to fair value reflects a decline in value of the investment, the Company considers all available evidence to evaluate the extent to which the decline is other than temporary and, if so, marks the investment to market on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Equity method investment The Company utilizes the equity method to account for an investment when it possesses the ability to exercise significant influence, but not control, over the operating and financial decisions of the investee. Generally, the ability to exercise significant influence is presumed when the investor possesses more than 20% of the voting interests of the investee. This presumption may be overcome based on specific facts and circumstances that demonstrate that the ability to exercise significant influence is not present. The Company applies the equity method to an investment in common stock of a nonconsolidated entity. In applying the equity method, the Company’s investment was initially recorded at fair value on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company contributed IPR&D in exchange for its investment, so it also recognized a gain on sale of IPR&D in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss on the transaction date. The Company subsequently adjusted the carrying amount of the investment by the Company’s proportionate share of the net losses of the investee based on the Company’s percentage of common stock ownership during the reporting period. The Company recorded its share of the losses of the investee as losses from investment in equity method investee in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The Company then evaluated whether there was a basis difference between the carrying value and fair value of the Company’s proportionate share of the investee’s underlying net assets. The investee was not deemed a business as defined in ASC 805 – Business Combinations, so the Company immediately expensed the basis difference to the extent it related to IPR&D. The Company is not obligated to make additional capital contributions for its equity method investment and does not have guaranteed obligations or additional financial support requirements to the investee. Therefore, it only recorded losses up to the amount of its total investment. The Company’s share of losses of the equity method investee on a cumulative basis exceeded its total investment amount, so the Company discontinued equity method loss recognition. The Company will resume recording its share of losses in future periods if the investee subsequently reports net income and the Company’s share of the earnings of the equity method investee equals the Company’s share of losses not recognized during the suspended period. Equity method investments are reviewed for indicators of other-than-temporary impairment at each reporting period and are written down to fair value if there is evidence of a loss in value that is other-than-temporary. The Company presents income/losses from equity investments and any impairment related to equity method investments as losses from investments in equity method investees on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The carrying value of the Company’s equity method investment was zero as of December 31, 2024, therefore, an impairment assessment is not required. See Note 6 to our consolidated audited financial statements for additional information on the Company’s equity method investment. Restricted cash In connection with its operating lease commitments, the Company maintains certain balances for security deposits that are classified as restricted cash on the consolidated balance sheets. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company had $819 and $823, respectively, of restricted cash, which has been classified as a non-current asset on the consolidated balance sheet. Concentrations of credit risk Financial instruments that potentially expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. The Company maintains accounts for all cash and cash equivalents at accredited financial institutions, in amounts that exceed federally insured limits. The Company does not believe that it is subject to unusual credit risk beyond the normal credit risk associated with commercial banking relationships. Property and equipment Property and equipment are recorded at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation expense is recognized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of each asset as follows: Estimated useful life Laboratory equipment 5 years Furniture and fixtures 5 years Computer and office equipment 3 years Leasehold improvements Shorter of the useful life or remaining lease term When assets are retired or otherwise disposed of, the cost of assets disposed of and the related accumulated depreciation is removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the period of disposal. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Impairment of long-lived assets Long-lived assets consist of property and equipment. Long-lived assets to be held and used are tested for recoverability whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be fully recoverable. Factors that the Company considers in deciding when to perform an impairment review include significant underperformance of the business in relation to expectations, significant negative industry or economic trends and significant changes or planned changes in the use of the assets. If an impairment review is performed to evaluate a long-lived asset group for recoverability, the Company compares forecasts of undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the long-lived asset group to its carrying value. An impairment loss would be recognized in loss from operations when estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of an asset group are less than its carrying amount. The impairment loss would be based on the excess of the carrying value of the impaired asset group over its fair value, determined based on discounted cash flows. The Company did not record any material impairment losses on long-lived assets during the periods presented. Fair value measurements Certain assets and liabilities are carried at fair value under GAAP. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value are to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three levels of the fair value hierarchy, of which the first two are considered observable and the last is considered unobservable: • Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible to the reporting entity at the measurement date for identical assets and liabilities. • Level 2 — Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities that are observable either directly or indirectly for substantially the full term of the asset or liability. Level 2 inputs include the following: • quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets • quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active • observable inputs other than quoted prices that are used in the valuation of the asset or liabilities (e.g., interest rate and yield curve quotes at commonly quoted intervals) • inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means • Level 3 — Unobservable inputs for the assets or liabilities (i.e., supported by little or no market activity). Level 3 inputs include management’s own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability (including assumptions about risk). The carrying values of the Company’s prepaid expenses and other current assets, and accounts payable and accrued expenses, approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of these assets and liabilities. Segment information The Company manages its operations as a single operating segment and single reportable segment for the purposes of assessing performance and making operating decisions. The Company’s singular focus is the development of selective medicines for patients with genetically defined cancers driven by oncogenes activated by allosteric mutations. Research and development costs Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development expenses consist of costs incurred to discover, research and develop drug candidates, including personnel expenses, stock-based compensation expense, allocated facility-related and depreciation expenses, third-party license fees and external costs of outside vendors engaged to conduct preclinical and clinical development activities. Non-refundable prepayments for goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are recorded as prepaid expenses. Such amounts are recognized as an expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed, or until it is no longer expected that the goods will be delivered, or the services rendered. Research contract costs and accruals The Company has entered into various research and development-related contracts with companies both inside and outside of the United States. The related costs are recorded as research and development expenses as incurred. The Company records accruals for estimated ongoing research costs. When evaluating the adequacy of the accrued liabilities, the Company analyzes progress of the studies, including the phase or completion of events, invoices received and contracted costs. Significant judgments and estimates are made in determining the accrued balances at the end of any reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from the Company’s estimates. The Company’s historical accrual estimates have not been materially different from the actual costs. Patent costs All patent-related costs incurred in connection with filing and prosecuting patent applications to operations are expensed as incurred due to the uncertainty about the recovery of the expenditure. Amounts incurred are classified as general and administrative expenses. Stock-based compensation The Company measures all stock-based awards granted to employees, non-employees and directors based on the fair value on the date of grant and recognizes compensation expense of those awards over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. Generally, the Company issues stock options and restricted stock units with only service-based vesting conditions and records the expense for these awards using the straight-line method. For stock options or restricted stock units issued with performance-based vesting conditions, the stock compensation expense related to these awards is recognized based on the grant date fair value when achievement of the performance condition is deemed probable. The Company would apply the graded-vesting method to all stock-based awards with performance-based vesting conditions or to awards with both service-based and performance based vesting conditions. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur. The fair value of each stock option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black- Scholes option-pricing model. The Company lacks sufficient company-specific historical and implied volatility information. Therefore, it estimates its expected stock volatility based on the historical volatility of a publicly traded set of peer companies and expects to continue to do so until such time as it has adequate historical data regarding the volatility of its own traded stock price. The Company uses the simplified method prescribed by Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 107, Share-Based Payment , to calculate the expected term of options granted to employees, non-employees and directors. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. Expected dividend yield is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends and does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company classifies stock-based compensation expense in its consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the same manner in which the award recipient’s payroll costs are classified or in which the award recipient’s service payments are classified. Income taxes The Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the consolidated financial statements or in the Company’s tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined on the basis of the differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded in the provision for income taxes. The Company assesses the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent it believes, based upon the weight of available evidence, that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, a valuation allowance is established through a charge to income tax expense. Potential for recovery of deferred tax assets is evaluated by estimating the future taxable profits expected and considering prudent and feasible tax planning strategies. The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the consolidated financial statements by applying a two-step process to determine the amount of tax benefit to be recognized. First, the tax position must be evaluated to determine the likelihood that it will be sustained upon external examination by the taxing authorities. If the tax position is deemed more-likely-than-not to be sustained, the tax position is then assessed to determine the amount of benefit to recognize in the consolidated financial statements. The amount of the benefit that may be recognized is the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any resulting tax reserves, or unrecognized tax benefits, that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties. To date, the Company has not taken any uncertain tax positions or recorded any reserves, interest or penalties. Comprehensive loss Comprehensive loss is composed of net loss and other comprehensive income (loss). Other comprehensive income (loss) consists of unrealized gains and losses on investments. Net income (loss) per share The Company follows the two-class method when computing net income (loss) per share as the Company has issued shares that meet the definition of participating securities. The two-class method determines net income (loss) per share for each class of common and participating securities according to dividends declared or accumulated, and participation rights in undistributed earnings. The two-class method requires income available to common stockholders for the period to be allocated between common and participating securities based upon their respective rights to receive dividends as if all income for the period had been distributed. Basic net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Diluted net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders is computed by adjusting net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to reallocate undistributed earnings based on the potential impact of dilutive securities. Diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the diluted net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period, including potential dilutive common stock. For purposes of this calculation, outstanding options, unvested restricted common stock and shares issuable under the employee stock purchase plan are considered potentially dilutive common stock and are excluded from the computation of net income (loss) per share when their effect is anti-dilutive. The Company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023. Leases The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at contract inception. Operating lease assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date of the lease based upon the present value of lease payments over the lease term. When determining the lease term, the Company includes options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Certain adjustments to the right-of-use asset may be required for items such as incentives received. The Company uses the implicit interest rate when readily determinable and uses the Company’s incremental borrowing rate when the implicit rate is not readily determinable based upon the information available at the commencement date in determining the present value of the lease payments. The lease payments used to determine the Company’s operating lease assets may include lease incentives, stated rent increases and escalation clauses linked to rates of inflation, when determinable, and are recognized in the Company’s operating lease assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company’s operating leases are reflected in the right-of-use operating asset; operating lease liability, current portion; and non-current operating lease liability in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Short-term leases, defined as leases that have a lease term of 12 months or less at the commencement date, are excluded from this treatment and are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Variable lease payments are the amounts owed by the Company to a lessor that are not fixed, such as reimbursement for common area maintenance and utilities costs for facility leases and maintenance. Variable lease payments are expensed when incurred. Assumptions made by the Company at the commencement date are re-evaluated upon occurrence of certain events, including a lease modification. A lease modification results in a separate contract when the modification grants the lessee an additional right of use not included in the original lease and when lease payments increase commensurate with the standalone price for the additional right of use. When a lease modification results in a separate contract, it is accounted for in the same manner as a new lease. Recently adopted accounting pronouncements In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures (“ASU 2023-07”), which requires disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”) and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss. The standard also requires disclosure of the title and position of the individual identified as the CODM and an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measures of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources. Additionally, ASU 2023-07 requires all segment disclosures to be provided on an annual and interim basis. The Company adopted ASU 2023-07 for its annual reporting period ending on December 31, 2024 and applied the amendments retrospectively. See Note 14 for the required segment disclosures. Recently issued accounting pronouncements In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Income Statement – Reporting Comprehensive Income – Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses , which is intended to enhance transparency into the nature and function of expenses. The amendments require that on an annual and interim basis, entities disclose disaggregated operating expense information about specific categories, including purchases of inventory, employee compensation, depreciation, amortization and depletion. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. The Company will evaluate the impact of the guidance on its financial statements in advance of the adoption date. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (ASU 2023-09). ASU 2023-09 requires that public business entities on an annual basis (1) disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation and (2) provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold (if the effect of those reconciling items is equal to or greater than 5 percent of the amount computed by multiplying pretax income (or loss) by the applicable statutory income tax rate). The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2024. Adoption of the standard requires certain changes to be made prospectively, with some changes to be made retrospectively. The adoption is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In October 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-06, Disclosure Improvements - Codification Amendments in Response to the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification Initiative (ASU 2023-06). The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2024. Adoption of the standard requires certain changes to be made prospectively, with some changes to be made retrospectively. The adoption is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. |