Summary of significant accounting policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of significant accounting policies

Summary of significant accounting policies

(a)Basis of presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information.  Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 1, 2022.

In management’s opinion, the unaudited condensed financial statements reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly the financial position of the Company as of March 31, 2022, and results of operations and cash flows for all periods presented. The interim results presented are not necessarily indicative of results that can be expected for the full year ending December 31, 2022.

(b)Use of estimates and assumptions

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 and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Significant areas requiring estimates include valuation and recognition of stock-based compensation, the incremental borrowing rate utilized in the measurement of operating and finance lease liabilities, amortization and depreciation of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, and pre-clinical, clinical, and other accruals. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

(c)Leases

At contract inception, the Company determines if the contract is or contains a lease. Lease liabilities are recognized on the lease commencement date based on the estimated present value of lease payments over the lease term. To determine the present value of the lease payments, the Company utilizes its estimated incremental borrowing rate based on information available at the lease commencement date as the interest rate implicit in the lease is typically not readily determinable. The related right-of-use assets are recorded net of any lease incentives received. Variable lease cost primarily includes building operating expenses as charged to the Company by its landlords and payments for lessor-owned assets that are not covered by a tenant improvement allowance.

The Company includes options to extend the lease in its lease liability and right-of-use asset when it is reasonably certain that it will exercise that option. None of the Company's options to extend the rental term of any of its existing leases were considered reasonably certain as of March 31, 2022.

For leases of office space and equipment, the Company has elected to not separate the lease components from the non-lease components.

For leases with a lease term of 12 months or less and which do not include an option to purchase the underlying asset, the Company has elected to recognize the lease payments in the statement of operations on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

(d)Fair value of financial instruments

The carrying amounts of certain of the Company’s financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, receivables, accounts payable and accrued liabilities, approximate their fair values because of their nature and/or short maturities.    

At March 31, 2022, and December 31, 2021, the Company had $126.9 million and $140.9 million in money market funds, respectively. Money market funds are level one financial instruments as they are valued at the closing price reported by the fund sponsor from an actively traded exchange.

(e)Net loss per share

Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding for the period, without consideration for common stock equivalents. Common stock equivalents are included in the calculation of diluted earnings per share only in periods of net income and are excluded in the calculation of diluted net loss per share in periods of net loss as their inclusion would be anti-dilutive. Outstanding pre-funded warrants as of March 31, 2022 and March 31, 2021 were 12,663,010 and are considered outstanding as of their issuance date and are included in basic and diluted net loss per share because they are fully vested and exercisable for nominal cash consideration.

(f)Accounting for stock-based compensation

The Company has issued stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”). The Company measures the cost of services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award. The cost of such award is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur. The Company utilizes newly issued shares to satisfy option exercises, the vesting of RSUs, and Employee Stock Purchase Plan purchases.

The Company estimates the fair value of options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model on the grant date. This approximation uses assumptions regarding a number of inputs that requires management to make significant estimates and judgments. The expected term represents the period that the Company’s stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding. As the Company does not have sufficient historical experience for determining the expected term of the stock option awards granted, the Company has based its expected term for awards issued to employees on the simplified method, which represents the average period from vesting to the expiration of the stock option. In addition, the Company does not have sufficient trading history of the Company’s common stock, and therefore, the expected stock price volatility for the Company’s common stock was estimated by taking the average historical price volatility for industry peers. The Company has never declared or paid any cash dividends to common stockholders and does not presently plan to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, the Company used an expected dividend yield of zero. The risk-free interest rate was based on the yields of treasury securities with maturities similar to the expected term of the options for each option group.

The fair value of each RSU is measured using the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant.

(g)Recently issued and recently adopted accounting standards

The Company monitors and evaluates the issuance of Accounting Standards Updates ("ASUs"). No ASUs have been issued recently which impact the Company's financial statements and disclosures.