ORGANIZATION, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation

Basis of PresentationThe accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared in conformity with the authoritative U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and expenses. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition

The Company’s only source of revenue during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was from its licensing agreement with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (“MD Anderson”).

MD Anderson License Agreements

On January 22, 2019, the Company entered into a licensing and commercialization agreement with MD Anderson (the "2019 MD Anderson License Agreement"). Under the 2019 MD Anderson License Agreement, the Company granted MD Anderson non-exclusive rights in certain Caspase-9 and related technologies and use of a small molecule known as rimiducid in a certain cell therapy program. During the fourth quarter of 2019, and under the terms of the 2019 MD Anderson License Agreement, MD Anderson exercised an option to grant a non-exclusive sublicense of the rights licensed by the Company to MD Anderson. MD Anderson, as a result of this exercise, granted a sublicense that entitled the Company to receive as consideration an upfront license fee as well as additional future annual maintenance fees, milestone payments related to the achievement of pre-specified development, regulatory, and commercialization events, and royalties on net sales of licensed products.

On August 31, 2021, the Company entered into a second licensing and commercialization agreement with MD Anderson (the “2021 MD Anderson Option and License Agreement”). Under the 2021 MD Anderson Option and License Agreement, MD Anderson has certain rights to the use of CaspaCIDe and rimiducid in product candidates nominated under the agreement, and receives an option to a non-exclusive license to the technology in these candidates. Upon exercise of an option and sublicense of a product candidate to a third party, the Company is entitled to a sublicense execution fee, a percentage of certain consideration received by MD Anderson for the sublicense, an annual maintenance fee, and a percentage royalty on net sales of licensed products.

Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Restricted Cash

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted CashThe Company considers all short-term, highly liquid investments with maturity of three months or less from the date of purchase and that can be liquidated without prior notice or penalty, to be cash equivalents.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. As a basis for considering such assumptions, a fair value hierarchy has been established that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement).

These inputs are classified into the following hierarchy:

Level 1 Inputs - quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets in active markets that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date;

Level 2 Inputs - inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset, either directly or indirectly; and

Level 3 Inputs - unobservable inputs for the assets.

The categorization of a financial instrument within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

The Company believes the recorded values of its financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments.