Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 2. Basis of Presentation The accompanying financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America or GAAP as found in the Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, the Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, and the rules and regulations of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Risks and Uncertainties The pandemic caused by an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus, or COVID-19, has resulted, and is likely to continue to result, in significant national and global economic disruption and may adversely affect our business. The Company is actively monitoring the impact of COVID-19 and the possible effects on its financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. However, the full extent, consequences, and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting impact on the Company cannot currently be predicted. The Company will continue to evaluate the impact that these events could have on the operations, financial position, and the results of operations and cash flows during fiscal year 202 0. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates. Management considers many factors in selecting appropriate financial accounting policies and controls, and in developing the estimates and assumptions that are used in the preparation of these financial statements. Management must apply significant judgment in this process. In addition, other factors may affect estimates, including expected business and operational changes, sensitivity and volatility associated with the assumptions used in developing estimates, and whether historical trends are expected to be representative of future trends. The estimation process often may yield a range of potentially reasonable estimates of the ultimate future outcomes and management must select an amount that falls within that range of reasonable estimates. This process may result in actual results differing materially from those estimated amounts used in the preparation of the financial statements. Estimates are used in the following areas including stock-based compensation expense, accrued research and development expenses, the fair value of financial instruments, incremental borrowing rate for lease liability, and the valuation allowance included in deferred income tax calculation. Segment and Geographical Information Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate discrete information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision maker, or decision-making group, in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company and the Company’s chief operating decision maker view the Company’s operations and manage its business in one operating segment, which is the business of developing and commercializing pharmaceuticals. Concentrations of Credit Risk and Off-Balance Sheet Risk Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to credit risk consist of cash, cash equivalents and investments. The Company’s policy is to invest its cash, cash equivalents and investments in money market funds, certificates of deposit and various other bank deposit accounts. The counterparties to the agreements relating to the Company’s investments consist of financial institutions of high credit standing. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of default by the financial institutions to the extent amounts recorded on the balance sheets are in excess of insured limits. The Company has not experienced any credit losses in such accounts and does not believe it is exposed to any significant credit risk on these funds. The Company has no financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk of loss. Cash, Cash Equivalents and Investments Cash and cash equivalents consist of money market funds and bank deposits. Cash equivalents are defined as short-term, highly liquid investments with original maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase. Investments with maturities of greater than 90 days but less than one year are classified as short-term investments on the consolidated balance sheets and consist of US Treasury bills and certificates of deposit. Investments with maturities of greater than one year are classified as long-term investments on the consolidated balance sheets and consist of certificates of deposit. Accrued interest on US Treasury bills and certificates of deposit are also classified as short-term investments. As our entire investment portfolio is considered available for use in current operations, we classify all investments as available-for-sale securities. Available-for-sale securities are carried at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive loss, which is a separate component of stockholders’ equity in the consolidated balance sheets. Fair Value of Financial Instruments Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. There is a three-level hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used in determining fair value by their reliability and preferred use, as follows: • Level 1 Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. • Level 2 Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data. • Level 3 Valuations based on inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable. To the extent that a valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable, or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires more judgment. Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised by the Company in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized within Level 3. A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement. There have been no significant changes to the valuation methods utilized by the Company during the periods presented. There have been no transfers between Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 in any periods presented. The carrying amounts of financial instruments consisting of cash and cash equivalents, investments, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities included in the Company’s financial statements, are reasonable estimates of fair value, primarily due to their short maturities. Marketable securities are classified as long-term investments if the Company has the ability and intent to hold them and such holding period is longer than one year. The Company classifies all its investments as available-for-sale. Our available-for-sale short-term investments, which consist of US Treasury bills and certificates of deposit, are considered to be level 2 valuations. The fair value of Level 2 financial assets is determined using inputs that are observable in the market or can be derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data such as pricing for similar securities, recently executed transactions, cash flow models with yield curves, and benchmark securities. In addition, Level 2 financial instruments are valued using comparisons to like-kind financial instruments and models that use readily observable market data as their basis. Property and Equipment, net Property and equipment, net, is stated at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Maintenance and repairs that do not improve or extend the lives of the respective assets are expensed to operations as incurred, while costs of major additions and betterments are capitalized. Upon disposal, the related cost and accumulated depreciation is removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in the results of operations. Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the respective assets, which are as follows: Computer equipment and software 3 years Lab equipment Furniture and fixtures Leasehold improvements 3-7 years 3 years shorter of 8 years and remaining life of lease Construction-in-progress is not depreciated until the asset is placed in service. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets The Company evaluates long-lived assets for potential impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. An impairment loss would be recognized when estimated future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition are less than the carrying amount of the asset. The Company has not recognized any impairment losses for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. Leases We have entered into two lease agreements for our laboratory, manufacturing and office space. On January 1, 2019, we adopted ASC 842 – Leases. Pursuant to ASC 842, all of our leases outstanding on January 1, 2019 continued to be classified as operating leases. With the adoption of ASC 842, we recorded an operating lease right-of-use asset of $1.1 million and an operating lease liability of $1.4 million on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. Right-of-use lease assets represent our right to use the underlying asset during the lease term and the lease obligation represents our commitment to make lease payments arising from the lease. Right-of-use lease assets and obligations were recognized based on the present value of remaining lease payments over the lease term. As the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, we have used an estimated incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at our adoption date in determining the present value of lease payments. Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Research and Development Expenses Research and development costs are charged to expense as incurred in performing research and development activities. The costs include employee compensation costs, facilities and overhead, preclinical and clinical activities, related clinical manufacturing costs, regulatory and other related costs. The Company estimates contract research and clinical trials materials manufacturing expenses based on the services performed pursuant to contracts with research and manufacturing organizations that manufacture materials used in the Company’s ongoing preclinical and clinical studies. Nonrefundable advanced payments for goods or services to be received in the future for use in research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are expensed as the related goods are delivered or the services are performed. In accruing service fees, the Company estimates the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. These estimates are based on communications with the third-party service providers and the Company’s estimates of accrued expenses using information available at each balance sheet date. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the estimate, the Company will adjust the accrual accordingly. Stock-Based Compensation Expense The Company accounts for its stock-based compensation awards in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation, or ASC 718. ASC 718 requires all stock-based payments, including grants of stock options and restricted stock, to be recognized in the statements of operations based on their grant-date fair values. Compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis based on the grant-date fair value over the associated service period of the award, which is generally the vesting term. The Company estimates the fair value of its stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which requires the input of subjective assumptions, including: (i) the expected stock price volatility; (ii) the expected term of the award; (iii) the risk-free interest rate; and (iv) expected dividends. Due to the lack of sufficient history and trading volume of our Common Stock and a lack of Company-specific historical and implied volatility data, the Company has based its estimate of expected volatility on the historical volatility of a group of similar companies that are publicly traded. When selecting these public companies on which it has based its expected stock price volatility, the Company selected companies with comparable characteristics to it, including enterprise value, risk profiles, position within the industry, and with historical share price information sufficient to meet the expected term of the stock-based awards. The Company computes historical volatility data using the daily closing prices for the selected companies’ shares during the equivalent period of the calculated expected term of the stock-based awards. The Company will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its own stock price becomes available. Due to the lack of Company-specific historical option activity, the Company has estimated the expected term of its employee stock options using the “simplified” method, whereby the expected term equals the arithmetic mean of the vesting term and the original contractual term of the option. The risk-free interest rates are based on the US Treasury securities with a maturity date commensurate with the expected term of the associated award. The Company has never paid and does not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. The Company is also required to estimate forfeitures at the time of grant and to revise those estimates in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from its estimates. To the extent that actual forfeitures differ from the Company’s estimates, the differences are recorded as a cumulative adjustment in the period the estimates were revised. Comprehensive Loss Comprehensive loss is defined as the change in equity during a period from transactions from non-owner sources. Unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities is a component of other comprehensive gains (losses) and is presented net of taxes. We have not recorded any reclassifications from other comprehensive gains (losses) to net loss during any period presented. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13 - Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820), or ASU 2018-13, which removes, modifies and adds disclosure requirements on fair value measurements. ASU 2018-13 removes disclosure requirements for transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 measurements and valuation processes for Level 3 measurements but adds new disclosure requirements including changes in unrealized gains/losses in other comprehensive income related to recurring Level 3 measurements. The amended guidance was effective for us commencing in the first quarter of 2020. Certain aspects may be applied prospectively while other aspects may be applied retrospectively upon the effective date. The adoption of the guidance resulted in us disclosing the Company’s cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities by significant investment category as of March 31, 2020 and 2019. |