The Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization, dated July 8, 2019, by and among the Company, Springfield Merger Sub, Inc., Springfield Merger Sub, LLC, Spitfire Pharma, Inc. and David Collier, as the Stockholder Representative (the “Spitfire Merger Agreement”) to acquire all of the equity interests of Spitfire Pharma, Inc. (“Spitfire”). Spitfire was a privately held, preclinical pharmaceutical company developing a novel dual GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

The transaction closed on July 12, 2019. The Company issued 1,887,250 unregistered shares of its common stock (the “shares”) as upfront consideration to certain former securityholders of Spitfire (collectively, the “Spitfire Equityholders”), representing an amount equal to $5.0 million less working capital and transaction expense adjustment amounts as defined in the agreement.

The acquisition of Spitfire was accounted for as an asset acquisition instead of a business combination because substantially all of the fair value of the gross assets acquired was concentrated in a single identifiable asset or group of similar identifiable assets, and therefore, the asset was not considered a business. The Company expensed the acquired intellectual property as of the acquisition date as in-process research and development with no alternative future uses.

The Spitfire Merger Agreement also includes future contingent payments up to $88.0 million in cash and shares of the Company’s common stock as follows (each, a “Milestone Event”):

The Regulatory Milestones will be payable in shares of the Company’s Common Stock, with the number of shares of the Company’s Common Stock to be issued in connection with each milestone amount, if any, are dependent on the share price at the time of achievement. The number of any shares issued in consideration for the IND Milestone Consideration Amount will be determined based on lower of (A) the average of the closing prices of our Common Stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market for the twenty (20) consecutive trading days prior to the IND Reference Date or (B) $2.95. The value of any shares issued in consideration for the Phase 2 Milestone Consideration Amount shall be determined based the lower of (A) on the average of the closing trading prices of our Common Stock as reported on the Nasdaq Global Market for the twenty (20) consecutive trading days immediately preceding the date of the occurrence of the Phase 2 Milestone Event or (B) $3.54.

The future contingent payments related to the Regulatory Milestones are stock-based payments accounted for under FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities From Equity (“ASC 480”). Such stock-based payments are subject to a lock-up whereby 50% of the shares are released at 3 months and 50% are released at 6 months. The future contingent payments related to the Sales Milestones are predominately cash-based payments accounted for under FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 450, Contingencies. Accordingly, the Company will recognize the Sales Milestones when the contingency is resolved and the amount is paid or payable.

The Company estimates the future contingent consideration for the Regulatory Milestones based upon a Monte Carlo simulation valuation model that is risk adjusted based on the probability of achieving the milestones and a discount for lack of marketability. The Company remeasures the fair value of the contingent consideration at each reporting period. During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company achieved the IND Milestone and paid the obligation in shares according to the calculation above. Below is a summary of the contingent consideration activity:


	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2021		2020
Beginning balance	$	5,390,000	$	2,750,000
Change in fair value		1,560,000		22,320,000
Ending balance	$	6,950,000	$	25,070,000

As of September 30, 2021 and 2020, the increase in fair value was primarily attributable to an increase in the closing share price of the Company’s common stock and in the probability of milestone achievement. Any changes in fair value have been recorded within research and development expense during the respective periods presented.