Organization and operations	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization and operations	Organization and operations The Company Genocea Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company that was incorporated in Delaware on August 16, 2006 and has a principal place of business in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Company seeks to discover and develop novel cancer immunotherapies using its ATLAS^TM proprietary discovery platform. The ATLAS platform profiles each patient's CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell immune responses to every potential target or “antigen” in that patient's tumor. The Company believes that this approach optimizes antigen selection for immunotherapies such as cancer vaccines and cellular therapies. Consequently, the Company believes that ATLAS could lead to more immunogenic and efficacious cancer immunotherapies. The Company’s most advanced program is GEN-009, a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine, for which it is conducting a Phase 1/2a clinical trial. The GEN-009 program uses ATLAS to identify neoantigens, or immunogenic tumor mutations unique to each patient, for inclusion in each patient's GEN-009 vaccine. The Company is also advancing GEN-011, a neoantigen-specific adoptive T cell therapy program that also relies on ATLAS, and expects to file an IND in the second quarter of 2020. The Company is devoting substantially all of its efforts to product research and development, initial market development, and raising capital. The Company has not generated any product revenue related to its primary business purpose to date and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties common to companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, including, but not limited to, the risks associated with the uncertainty of success of its preclinical and clinical trials; the challenges associated with gaining regulatory approval of product candidates; the risks associated with commercializing pharmaceutical products, if approved for marketing and sale; the potential for development by third parties of new technological innovations that may compete with the Company’s products; the dependence on key personnel; the challenges of protecting proprietary technology; the need to comply with government regulations; the high cost of drug development; compliance with government regulations, competition from other companies; the uncertainty of being able to secure additional capital when needed to fund operations; and the challenges and uncertainty associated with the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, or referred to as COVID-19, that have arisen in the global economy, that could adversely impact the Company's operations, supply chain, preclinical development work, clinical trials and ability to raise capital. Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”), 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements-Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40), also referred to as Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 205-40 (“ASC 205-40”), requires the Company to evaluate whether conditions and/or events raise substantial doubt about its ability to meet its future financial obligations as they become due within one year after the financial statements are issued. As of March 31, 2020, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $343.8 million and anticipates that it will continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future as it continues to develop its product candidates. Until such time, if ever, as the Company can generate substantial product revenue and achieve profitability, the Company expects to finance its cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, strategic transactions, and other sources of funding. If the Company is unable to raise additional funds when needed, the Company may be required to implement further cost reduction strategies, including ceasing development of GEN-009, GEN-011, or other corporate programs and activities. As reflected in the consolidated financial statements, the Company had available cash and cash equivalents of $26.5 million at March 31, 2020. In addition, the Company had cash used in operating activities of $13.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. These factors, combined with the Company’s forecast of cash required to fund operations for a period of at least one year from the date of issuance of these consolidated financial statements, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the ordinary course of business. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Organization and operations

The Company

Genocea Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company that was incorporated in Delaware on August 16, 2006 and has a principal place of business in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Company seeks to discover and develop novel cancer immunotherapies using its ATLAS^TM proprietary discovery platform. The ATLAS platform profiles each patient's CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell immune responses to every potential target or “antigen” in that patient's tumor. The Company believes that this approach optimizes antigen selection for immunotherapies such as cancer vaccines and cellular therapies. Consequently, the Company believes that ATLAS could lead to more immunogenic and efficacious cancer immunotherapies.

The Company’s most advanced program is GEN-009, a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine, for which it is conducting a Phase 1/2a clinical trial. The GEN-009 program uses ATLAS to identify neoantigens, or immunogenic tumor mutations unique to each patient, for inclusion in each patient's GEN-009 vaccine. The Company is also advancing GEN-011, a neoantigen-specific adoptive T cell therapy program that also relies on ATLAS, and expects to file an IND in the second quarter of 2020.

The Company is devoting substantially all of its efforts to product research and development, initial market development, and raising capital. The Company has not generated any product revenue related to its primary business purpose to date and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties common to companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, including, but not limited to, the risks associated with the uncertainty of success of its preclinical and clinical trials; the challenges associated with gaining regulatory approval of product candidates; the risks associated with commercializing pharmaceutical products, if approved for marketing and sale; the potential for development by third parties of new technological innovations that may compete with the Company’s products; the dependence on key personnel; the challenges of protecting proprietary technology; the need to comply with government regulations; the high cost of drug development; compliance with government regulations, competition from other companies; the uncertainty of being able to secure additional capital when needed to fund operations; and the challenges and uncertainty associated with the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, or referred to as COVID-19, that have arisen in the global economy, that could adversely impact the Company's operations, supply chain, preclinical development work, clinical trials and ability to raise capital.

Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”), 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements-Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40), also referred to as Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 205-40 (“ASC 205-40”), requires the Company to evaluate whether conditions and/or events raise substantial doubt about its ability to meet its future financial obligations as they become due within one year after the financial statements are issued. As of March 31, 2020, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $343.8 million and anticipates that it will continue to incur significant operating losses for the foreseeable future as it continues to develop its product candidates. Until such time, if ever, as the Company can generate substantial product revenue and achieve profitability, the Company expects to finance its cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, strategic transactions, and other sources of funding. If the Company is unable to raise additional funds when needed, the Company may be required to implement further cost reduction strategies, including ceasing development of GEN-009, GEN-011, or other corporate programs and activities.

As reflected in the consolidated financial statements, the Company had available cash and cash equivalents of $26.5 million at March 31, 2020. In addition, the Company had cash used in operating activities of $13.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2020. These factors, combined with the Company’s forecast of cash required to fund operations for a period of at least one year from the date of issuance of these consolidated financial statements, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the ordinary course of business. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.