| Summary of significant accounting policies | 2. Summary of significant accounting policies
The Company's complete listing of significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 to the Company's audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2020 included in its annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (or the “SEC”).
Principles of consolidation —The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries Aprea Therapeutics AB and Aprea US, Inc., which was incorporated in June 2016. Management has concluded it has a single reporting segment for purposes of reporting financial condition and results of operations. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.
Unaudited interim consolidated financial statements —The accompanying unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared by the Company in accordance with U.S. GAAP for interim information and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC for reporting on Form 10-Q. Accordingly, certain information and footnote disclosure normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. These unaudited condensed interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related notes included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the SEC.
The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements, and in management’s opinion, include all adjustments, consisting of only normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair presentation of the financial information for the interim periods have been made. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full fiscal year or any future period.
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 of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses as of and during the reporting period. The Company bases estimates and assumptions on historical experience when available and on various factors that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. The Company assesses estimates on an ongoing basis; however, actual results could materially differ from those estimates. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include stock-based compensation expense.
Foreign currency and currency translation —The functional currency for Aprea Therapeutics AB is the Swedish Krona. Assets and liabilities of Aprea Therapeutics AB and Aprea Personal AB are translated into United States dollars at the exchange rate in effect on the balance sheet date. Operating expenses are translated at the average exchange rate in effect during the period. Unrealized translation gains and losses are recorded as a cumulative translation adjustment, which is included in the consolidated statements of convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ equity (deficit) as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. 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 condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as incurred.
Cash and cash equivalents— The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.
Fair value of financial instruments —The accounting standard for fair value measurements provides a framework for measuring fair value and requires expanded disclosures regarding fair value measurements. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received upon sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability between market participants at measurement dates. ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement (“ASC 820”), establishes a three‑level valuation hierarchy for instruments measured at fair value. The hierarchy is based on the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability as of the measurement date. The hierarchy defines three levels of valuation inputs, of which the first two are considered observable and the last is considered unobservable:
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Level 1 inputs: Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
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Level 2 inputs: Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are either directly or indirectly observable, such as quoted market prices, interest rates and yield curves.
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Level 3 inputs: Unobservable inputs developed using estimates or assumptions developed by the Company, which reflect those that a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability.
To the extent that the 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 in 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.
The Company’s financial instruments consist of cash and cash equivalents and accounts payable. The carrying amount of accounts payable is considered a reasonable estimate of fair value due to the short‑term maturity.
Accounting for leases —The Company adopted the Lease standard (ASC 842) effective January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective method. The new standard provided a number of optional practical expedients in transition. The Company elected to apply the ‘package of practical expedients’ which allowed them to not reassess (i) whether existing or expired arrangements contain a lease, (ii) the lease classification of existing or expired leases, or (iii) whether previous initial direct costs would qualify for capitalization under the new lease standard. The Company also elected to apply (i) the practical expedient which allows them to not separate lease and non‑lease components, for new leases entered into after adoption and (ii) the short‑term lease exemption for all leases with an original term of less than 12 months, for purposes of applying the recognition and measurements requirements in the new standard.
At the inception of an arrangement, the Company determines whether the arrangement is or contains a lease based on specific facts and circumstances, the existence of an identified asset(s), if any, and the Company’s control over the use of the identified asset(s), if applicable. Operating lease liabilities and their corresponding right‑of‑use assets are recorded based on the present value of future lease payments over the expected lease term. The interest rate implicit in lease contracts is typically not readily determinable. As such, the Company utilizes the incremental borrowing rate, which is the rate incurred to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. The Company’s incremental borrowing rate ranged from approximately 3.0% to 4.3% based on the remaining lease term of the applicable leases.
The Company has elected not to separate lease and non‑lease components as a single component. Operating leases are recognized on the balance sheet as ROU lease assets, lease liabilities current and lease liabilities non‑current. Fixed rents are included in the calculation of the lease balances while variable costs paid for certain operating and pass‑through costs are excluded. Lease expense is recognized over the expected term on a straight‑line basis.
Stock‑based compensation —The Company measures stock options and other stock-based awards granted to employees and directors based on their fair value on the date of the grant and recognize compensation expense of those awards over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. The Company applies the straight‑line method of expense recognition to all awards with only service based vesting conditions.
For stock-based awards granted to non‑employees, compensation expense is recognized over the period during which services are rendered by such non‑employees until completed in accordance with the FASB issued ASU No. 2018‑07, Compensation Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share Based Payment Accounting. The new standard largely aligns the accounting for share based payment awards issued to employees and nonemployees by expanding the scope of ASC 718 to apply to nonemployee share based transactions, as long as the transaction is not effectively a form of financing.
The Company estimates the fair value of each stock option grant on the date of grant using the Black Scholes option pricing model, which uses as inputs the fair value of the Company’s common stock and assumptions the Company makes for the volatility of its common stock, the expected term of its stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of its stock options and its expected dividend yield.
The Company also awards restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to employees. RSUs are generally subject to forfeiture if employment terminates prior to the completion of the vesting restrictions. The Company expenses the cost of the RSUs, which is determined to be the fair market value of the shares of common stock underlying the RSUs at the date of grant, ratably over the period during which the vesting restrictions lapse.
Net loss per share —The Company has reported losses since inception and has computed basic net loss per share attributable to common stockholders by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted‑average number of common shares outstanding for the period, without consideration for potentially dilutive securities. The Company computes diluted net loss per common share after giving consideration to all potentially dilutive common shares, including options to purchase common stock, outstanding during the period determined using the treasury‑stock and if‑converted methods, except where the effect of including such securities would be antidilutive. Because the Company has reported net losses since inception, these potential common shares have been anti‑dilutive and basic and diluted loss per share have been the same.
The following table sets forth the potentially dilutive securities that have been excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share because to include them would be anti‑dilutive (in common stock equivalent shares):
Three months ended March 31,
2021
2020
Options to purchase common stock
4,794,236
3,845,944
Unvested restricted stock units
500,000
—
Total shares of common stock equivalents
5,294,236
3,845,944
Recently issued accounting pronouncements
From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or other standard setting bodies that the Company adopts as of the specified effective date.
Management does not believe that any recently issued, but not yet effective accounting pronouncements, if adopted, would have a material impact on the accompanying financial statements. |
