Summary of significant accounting policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include those accounts of the Company and a wholly owned subsidiary after elimination of all intercompany accounts and transactions. The Company operates as one segment, which is discovering, researching, developing and commercializing novel cancer immunotherapies.

Use of estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. On an ongoing basis, the Company’s management evaluates its estimates, which include, but are not limited to, estimates related to clinical trial accruals, estimates related to prepaid and accrued research and development expenses, stock-based compensation expense, and warrants to purchase redeemable securities. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and other market-specific or other relevant assumptions that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from those estimates or assumptions.

Significant accounting policies

There were no changes to significant accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2020, as compared to the those disclosed in the 2019 Form 10-K.

New Accounting Pronouncements

The following new accounting pronouncements were adopted by the Company on January 1, 2020:

In 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”), which amends the impairment model by requiring entities to use a forward-looking approach based on expected losses to estimate credit losses on certain types of financial instruments, including trade receivables and available-for-sale debt securities. The Company early adopted the standard on January 1, 2020. Based on the composition of the Company's investment portfolio, which includes only money market funds, and the insignificance of the Company's other financial assets, current market conditions, and historical credit loss activity, the adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework – Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (“ASU 2018-13”). The new standard requires public entities to disclose certain new information and modifies some disclosure requirements. The Company adopted the standard on the required effective date of January 1, 2020. This standard did not have a material impact on the Company's disclosures.

In 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other-Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract (“ASU 2018-15”). ASU 2018-15 requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance in Accounting Standards Codification 350-40 to determine which implementation costs to defer and recognize as an asset. The Company adopted the standard on the required effective date of January 1, 2020. This standard did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

The following new accounting pronouncements have been issued but are not yet effective:

In 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes ("ASU 2019-12"). ASU 2019-12 simplifies the accounting for income taxes and will be effective beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2019-12 in the consolidated financial statements, including accounting policies, processes, and systems.

Other accounting standards that have been issued or proposed by the FASB or other standards-setting bodies that do not require adoption until a future date are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.

Fair value of financial instruments

The Company has certain financial assets and liabilities recorded at fair value which have been classified as Level 1, 2 or 3 within the fair value hierarchy as described in the accounting standards for fair value measurements.


•	Level 1—Fair values are determined by utilizing quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access;


•	Level 2—Fair values are determined by utilizing quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or other market observable inputs such as interest rates, yield curves and foreign currency spot rates; and


•	Level 3—Prices or valuations that require inputs that are both significant to the fair value measurement and unobservable.

The Company's financial assets consist of cash equivalents and the Company's financial liabilities consist of a warrant liability.