| Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Note 3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Use of Estimates
The Company’s financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of financial statements requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that impact the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and expenses in its financial statements and the accompanying notes. The most significant estimates in the financial statements relate to the fair value of equity awards and valuation allowance related to the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities.
The preparation of our financial statements requires us to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, equity and expenses. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe are reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities and equity and the amount of expenses.
During the quarter ended March 31, 2020, the novel coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, was declared a pandemic and spread to multiple regions across the globe, including the United States and Europe. The outbreak and government measures taken in response have also had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred; supply chains have been disrupted; facilities and production have been suspended; and demand for certain goods and services, such as medical services and supplies, has spiked, while demand for other goods and services, such as travel, has fallen. The full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will directly or indirectly impact our business, results of operations and financial condition, including expenses, reserves and allowances, clinical trials, research and development costs and employee-related amounts, will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain, including as a result of new information that may emerge concerning COVID-19 and the actions taken to contain or treat COVID-19, as well as the economic impact on local, regional, national and international customers and markets.
We have evaluated the impact of COVID-19 within our financial statements and given the daily evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak and the global responses to curb its spread, we are not able to estimate the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on our results of operations, financial condition, or liquidity. The financial statements do not reflect any adjustments as a result of the pandemic but there may be changes to the current estimates in future periods.
Unaudited Interim Financial Information
The accompanying unaudited financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP. The accompanying year-end balance sheet was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. The unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2020, the results of its operations for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 and its cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the year ending December 31, 2020, any other interim periods or any future year or period.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. As of March 31, 2020, cash equivalents were comprised of money market funds. Cash and cash equivalents held at financial institutions may at times exceed federally insured amounts. We believe we mitigate such risk by investing in or through major financial institutions.
Offering Costs
The Company capitalizes certain legal, professional accounting and other third-party fees that are directly associated with in-process equity financings as deferred offering costs until the equity financing was consummated. After consummation of an equity financing, these costs were recorded in stockholders’ equity as a reduction of proceeds generated as a result of the offering.
Effective September 22, 2019, the Company terminated its At-The-Market (“ATM”) program. All costs associated with this program have been amortized and charged to Additional paid-in-capital.
Property and Equipment
Equipment consists of computers and related equipment that are stated at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over estimated useful life of 5 years. Furniture is being depreciated using the straight-line method over approximately 7 years. Leasehold improvements are being amortized over the shorter of the life of the lease or the asset.
The Company follows the guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) ASC Topic 360‑10, Property, Plant, and Equipment . Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to undiscounted future net cash flows expected to be generated. Impairment charges are recognized at the amount by which the carrying amount of an asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. Assets to be disposed of are reported at the lower of the carrying amount or the fair value less costs to sell.
Since its inception, the Company has not recognized any impairment or disposition of long lived assets.
Leases
We determine if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Operating leases are included in operating lease right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, other current liabilities, and operating lease liabilities in our balance sheet.
ROU assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent our obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As our lease did not provide an implicit rate, we used an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. We use the implicit rate when readily determinable. The operating lease ROU asset also includes any lease payments made and excludes lease incentives. Our lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that we will exercise that option. Renewal options were not included in our calculation of the related asset and liability. Lease expense for lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.
The Company adopted ASU 2016‑02 Lease Accounting Topic 842 in January 2019 and recorded a ROU asset and related liability in the amount of $1,308 on commencement of a new office lease.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC 718, “ Compensation—Stock Compensation, ” which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense based on estimated fair market values for all share-based awards made to employees and directors, including stock options. The Company’s stock-based compensation plan was adopted and became effective in August 2017.
Both BioXcel and the Company’s stock option awards are valued at fair value on the date of grant and that fair value is recognized over the requisite service period. The estimated fair value of stock option awards was determined using the Black-Scholes option pricing model on the date of grant. Significant judgment and estimates were used to estimate the fair value of these awards, as they were not publicly traded. Stock awards granted by the Company subsequent to the IPO are valued using market prices at the date of grant.
ASC 718 requires companies to estimate the fair value of share-based awards on the date of grant using an option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes option-pricing model was used as its method of determining fair value. This model is affected by the Company’s stock price as well as assumptions regarding a number of subjective variables. These subjective variables include, but are not limited to, the expected stock price volatility over the term of the awards, and actual and projected employee stock option exercise behaviors. The value of the award is recognized as an expense in the statement of operations over the requisite service period. The periodic expense is then determined based on the valuation of the options. The Company has elected to account for forfeitures as they occur, by reversing compensation cost when the award is forfeited.
The Company adopted FASB ASU 2018-07, Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting as of January 1, 2019 which allows non-employee options to be expensed using the adoption date fair value.
Research and Development Costs
Research and development expenses include wages, benefits, facilities, supplies, external services, clinical study and manufacturing costs and other expenses that are directly related to the Company’s research and development activities. At the end of the reporting period, the Company compares payments made to third party service providers to the estimated progress toward completion of the research or development objectives. Such estimates are subject to change as additional information becomes available. Depending on the timing of payments to the service providers and the progress that the Company estimates has been made as a result of the service provided, the Company may record net prepaid or accrued expense relating to these costs. The Company expenses research and development costs as incurred.
Expenses Accrued Under Contractual Arrangements with Clinical Research Organizations
As part of the process of preparing our financial statements, we are required to estimate our accrued expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our applicable personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual cost. The majority of our service providers invoice us monthly in arrears for services performed. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in our financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. We periodically confirm the accuracy of our estimates with the service providers and make adjustments if necessary.
We base our expenses related to clinical trials on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to contracts with multiple research institutions and contract research organizations that conduct and manage clinical trials on our behalf. The financial terms of these agreements are subject to negotiation, vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven payment flows. Payments under some of these contracts depend on factors such as the successful enrollment of patients and the completion of clinical trial milestones. In accruing expenses, we estimate the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period, which is based on an established protocol specific to each clinical trial. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from our estimate, we adjust the accrual accordingly. Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, our understanding of the status and timing of services performed relative to the actual status and timing of services performed may vary and may result in us reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period.
Patent Costs
Costs related to filing and pursuing patent applications are recorded as general and administrative expense and expensed as incurred since recoverability of such expenditures is uncertain.
Fair Value Measurements
ASC 820 “ Fair Value Measurements ” defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in GAAP and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. ASC 820 defines fair value 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. ASC 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between (1) market participant assumptions developed based on market data obtained from independent sources (observable inputs) and (2) an entity’s own assumptions about market participant assumptions developed based on the best information available in the circumstances (unobservable inputs). The fair value hierarchy consists of three broad levels, which gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy under ASC 820 are described below:
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Level 1—Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for assets or liabilities. The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to Level 1 inputs.
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Level 2—Directly or indirectly observable inputs as of the reporting date through correlation with market data, including quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets and quoted prices in markets that are not active. Level 2 also includes assets and liabilities that are valued using models or other pricing methodologies that do not require significant judgment since the input assumptions used in the models, such as interest rates and volatility factors, are corroborated by readily observable data from actively quoted markets for substantially the full term of the financial instrument.
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Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and reflect the use of significant management judgment. These values are generally determined using pricing models for which the assumptions utilize management’s estimates of market participant assumptions.
In determining fair value, the Company utilizes valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs to the extent possible, as well as considering counterparty credit risk in its assessment of fair value.
The carrying amounts of cash equivalents, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of these instruments.
Net Loss per Share
The Company computes basic net loss per share by dividing net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period and excludes the effects of any potentially dilutive securities. Diluted earnings per share, if presented, would include the dilution that would occur upon the exercise or conversion of all potentially dilutive securities into common stock using the “treasury stock” and/or “if converted” methods as applicable. The potential dilutive securities included outstanding options (for both employees and non-employees) for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019. Such securities have not been included in the loss per share calculation since their impact would be anti-dilutive. There were 3,089,310 and 2,757,275 shares of options that were excluded from the calculation of the loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) which amends the existing guidance relating to the accounting for income taxes. This ASU is intended to simplify the accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions to the general principles of accounting for income taxes and to improve the consistent application of GAAP for other areas of accounting for income taxes by clarifying and amending existing guidance. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company does not expect that the adoption of this new guidance will have a material impact on the Company’s Financial Statements. |
