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Description of the Business
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2022
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Description of the Business Description of the Business
Selecta Biosciences, Inc., or the Company, was incorporated in Delaware on December 10, 2007, and is based in Watertown, Massachusetts. The Company is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company’s ImmTOR® platform encapsulates rapamycin, also known as sirolimus, an FDA approved immunomodulator, in biodegradable nanoparticles. ImmTOR is designed to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance. The Company believes, by combining ImmTOR with antigens of interest, the Company’s precision immune tolerance platform has the potential to restore self-tolerance to auto-antigens in autoimmune diseases, amplify the efficacy of biologics (including gene therapies) and mitigate the formation of anti-drug antibodies, or ADAs, against biologic drugs.
Since inception, the Company has devoted its efforts principally to research and development of its technology and product candidates, recruiting management and technical staff, acquiring operating assets, and raising capital. The Company is subject to risks common to companies in the biotechnology industry including, but not limited to, new technological innovations, protection of proprietary technology, dependence on key personnel, compliance with government regulations and the need to obtain additional financing. Product candidates currently under development will require significant additional research and development efforts, including extensive preclinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval, prior to commercialization. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel infrastructure and extensive compliance-reporting capabilities.
The Company’s product candidates are in development. There can be no assurance that the Company’s research and development will be successfully completed, that adequate protection for the Company’s intellectual property will be obtained, or maintained, that any products developed will obtain necessary government regulatory approval or that any approved products will be commercially viable. Even if the Company’s product development efforts are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, the Company will generate significant revenue from product sales. The Company operates in an environment of rapid change in technology and substantial competition from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. In addition, the Company is dependent upon the services of its employees and consultants.
Unaudited Interim Financial Information
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 have been prepared by the Company, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, for interim financial statements. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP, have been condensed or omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2021 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the SEC on March 10, 2022. The unaudited interim financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements. In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments that are necessary for a fair statement of the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2022, the consolidated results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022, and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2022. Such adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that may be expected for the year ending December 31, 2022.
Liquidity and Management’s Plan
The future success of the Company is dependent on its ability to develop its product candidates and ultimately upon its ability to attain and sustain profitable operations. The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to other early-stage life science companies, including, but not limited to, successful development of its product candidates, raising additional capital with favorable terms, protection of proprietary technology and market acceptance of any approved future products. The successful development of product candidates requires substantial working capital, which may not be available to the Company on favorable terms or at all.
To date, the Company has financed its operations primarily through the initial public offering of its common stock, private placements of its common stock, issuances of common and preferred stock, debt, research grants, research collaborations and licenses. The Company currently has no source of product revenue, and it does not expect to generate product revenue for the foreseeable future. To date, the Company’s revenue has primarily been from collaboration and license agreements. The Company has devoted substantially all of its financial resources and efforts to developing its ImmTOR platform, identifying potential product candidates and conducting preclinical studies and clinical trials. The Company is in the early stages of development of its product candidates, and it has not completed development of any ImmTOR-enabled therapies.
As of March 31, 2022, the Company’s cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities were $118.8 million, of which $1.4 million was restricted cash related to lease commitments and $0.3 million was held by its Russian subsidiary designated solely for use in its operations. The Company believes the cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and marketable securities as of March 31, 2022 will enable it to fund its current planned operations for at least the next twelve months from the date of issuance of these financial statements, though it may realize additional cash resources upon the achievement of certain contingent collaboration milestones or it may pursue additional cash resources through public or private equity or debt financings or by establishing collaborations with other companies. Management’s expectations with respect to its ability to fund current and long term planned operations are based on estimates that are subject to risks and uncertainties. If actual results are different from management’s estimates, the Company may need to seek additional strategic or financing opportunities sooner than would otherwise be expected. However, there is no guarantee that any collaboration milestones will be achieved or that any of these strategic or financing opportunities will be executed on favorable terms, and some could be dilutive to existing stockholders. If the Company is unable to obtain additional funding on a timely basis, it may be forced to significantly curtail, delay, or discontinue one or more of its planned research or development programs or be unable to expand its operations or otherwise capitalize on its commercialization of its product candidates. The Company anticipates operating losses to continue for the foreseeable future due to, among other things, costs related to research and development of its product candidates and its administrative organization.
At this time, any impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s business, revenues, results of operations and financial condition will largely depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, such as the duration of the pandemic, the emergence of new virus variants, travel restrictions and social distancing in the United States and other countries, business closures or disruptions, supply chain disruptions, the ultimate impact on financial markets and the global economy, and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease.
Guarantees and Indemnifications
As permitted under Delaware law, the Company indemnifies its officers, directors, consultants and employees for certain events or occurrences that happen by reason of the relationship with, or position held at the Company. Through March 31, 2022, the Company had not experienced any losses related to these indemnification obligations, and no claims were outstanding. The Company does not expect significant claims related to these indemnification obligations and, consequently, concluded that the fair value of these obligations is negligible, and no related reserves were established.