Organization and Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Organization and Significant Accounting Policies

1. Organization and Significant Accounting Policies

Nature of Operations

Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (“Phio” or the “Company”) is a clinical stage biotechnology company whose proprietary INTASYL™ self-delivering RNAi technology platform is designed to make immune cells more effective in killing tumor cells. The Company is developing therapeutics that are designed to leverage INTASYL to precisely target specific proteins that reduce the body’s ability to fight cancer, without the need for specialized formulations or drug delivery systems.

Phio was incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2011 as RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation. On November 19, 2018, the Company changed its name to Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp., to reflect its transition from a platform company to one that is fully committed to developing groundbreaking immuno-oncology therapeutics.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary, MirImmune, LLC. All material intercompany accounts have been eliminated in consolidation.

Segments

The Company operates as one operating segment and all assets are located in the United States.

Reverse Stock Split

Effective January 26, 2023, the Company completed a 1-for-12 reverse stock split of the Company’s outstanding common stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”). All share and per share amounts in the consolidated financial statements have been retroactively adjusted for all periods presented to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split, including reclassifying an amount equal to the reduction in par value to additional paid-in capital. Additionally, the Company made adjustments to the outstanding stock option and unvested restricted stock unit (“RSU”) balances, and related per share amounts, at December 31, 2022 to reflect final revisions to those outstanding equity awards as a result of the Reverse Stock Split. The Reverse Stock Split did not reduce the number of authorized shares of the Company’s common stock or preferred stock.

Uses of Estimates in Preparation of Financial Statements

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The areas subject to significant estimates and judgement include, among others, those related to the fair value of equity awards, accruals for research and development expenses, useful lives of property and equipment, and the valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets. On an ongoing basis the Company evaluates its estimates and bases its estimates on historical experience and other relevant assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates.

Liquidity

The Company has reported recurring losses from operations since its inception and expects to continue to have negative cash flows from operations for the foreseeable future. Historically, the Company’s primary source of funding has been from sales of its securities. The Company’s ability to continue to fund its operations is dependent on obtaining funding from third parties, such as proceeds from the issuance of debt, sale of equity, or strategic opportunities, in order to maintain its operations. This is dependent on a number of factors, including the market demand or liquidity of the Company’s common stock. There is no guarantee that debt, additional equity or other funding will be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If the Company fails to obtain additional funding when needed, the Company would be forced to scale back or terminate its operations or seek to merge with or to be acquired by another company.

The Company has limited cash resources, has reported recurring losses from operations since inception, negative operating cash flows and has not yet received product revenues. These factors raise substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, and the Company’s current cash resources may not provide sufficient capital to fund operations for at least the next 12 months from the date of the release of these consolidated financial statements. The continuation of the Company as a going concern depends upon the Company’s ability to raise additional capital through an equity offering, debt offering and/or strategic opportunity to fund its operations. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in accomplishing these plans in order to continue as a going concern. These consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts and classification of liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash consists of certificates of deposit held by financial institutions as collateral for the Company’s corporate credit cards.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash. The Company maintains cash balances in several accounts with a reputable financial institution that management believes is creditworthy, and which at times are in excess of federally insured limits. These accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for up to $250,000 per institution.

The Company relies, and expects to continue to rely, on a small number of vendors to perform research activities and clinical trial activities that continue to progress its product candidates for its development programs. These programs could be adversely affected by a significant interruption in the related processes of these vendors.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are stated at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method based on the estimated useful lives of the related assets. The Company provides for depreciation over the assets’ estimated useful lives as follows:

Computer equipment	3 years
Machinery & equipment	5 years
Furniture & fixtures	5 years
Leasehold improvements	Lesser of lease term or 5 years

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews long-lived assets for impairment annually or whenever an event or change in circumstance occurs in which the related carrying amounts may not be recoverable. An impairment loss would be recognized based on the difference between the carrying value of the asset and its estimated fair value, which would be determined based on either discounted future cash flows or other appropriate fair value methods.

Leases

At the inception of a contract, the Company determines whether the contract is or contains a lease based on all relevant facts and circumstances. For contracts that contain a lease, the Company identifies the lease and non-lease components, determines the consideration in the contract and recognizes the classification of the lease as operating or financing. For leases with a term greater than one year, the Company recognizes a liability to make lease payments and an asset representing the right to use the underlying asset during the lease term at the commencement date of the lease.

Lease liabilities and the corresponding right of use assets are recorded based on the present value of lease payments to be made over the lease term. The discount rate used to calculate the present value is the rate implicit in the lease, or if not readily determinable, the Company’s incremental borrowing rate. The Company’s incremental borrowing rate is the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment. Certain adjustments to the right of use asset may be required for items such as initial direct costs or incentives received. Lease payments on operating leases, including scheduled increases, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the expected term of the lease. Lease payments on financing leases are recognized using the effective interest method.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Financial instruments that meet the definition of a derivative are classified as an asset or liability and measured at fair value on the issuance date and are revalued on each subsequent balance sheet date. The changes in fair value are recognized as current period income or loss. Financial instruments that do not meet the definition of a derivative are classified as equity and measured at fair value and recorded as additional paid-in capital in stockholders’ equity at the date of issuance. No further adjustments to their valuation are made.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses relate to compensation and benefits for research and development personnel, facility-related expenses, supplies, external services, costs to acquire technology licenses, research activities under our research collaborations, expenses associated with preclinical and clinical development activities and other operating costs. Research and development expenses are charged to expense as incurred. Payments made by the Company in advance for research and development services not yet provided and/or for materials not yet received are recorded as prepaid expenses and expensed when the service has been performed or when the goods have been received.

Accrued liabilities are recorded related to those expenses for which vendors have not yet billed the Company with respect to services provided and/or materials that it has received. Accrued liabilities for the services provided by contract research organizations are recorded during the period incurred based on such estimates and assumptions as expected cost, passage of time, the achievement of milestones and other information available to us and are assessed on a quarterly basis. Actual results may differ from these estimates and could have a material impact on the Company’s reported results. The Company’s historical accrual estimates have not been materially different from its actual costs.

Collaborative Arrangements

The Company follows the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 808, “Collaborative Arrangements,” (“Topic 808”) when collaboration agreements involve joint operating activities in which both parties are active participants and that are also both exposed to significant risks and rewards. The Company also considers the guidance in the FASB ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” (“Topic 606”) in determining the appropriate treatment for activities between the Company and its collaborative partners that are more reflective of a vendor-customer relationship and therefore, within the scope of Topic 606. Under Topic 808, the Company determines an appropriate recognition method, either by analogy to appropriate accounting literature or by applying a reasonable accounting policy election. Generally, the classification of transactions under the collaborative arrangements is determined based on the nature and contractual terms of the arrangement along with the nature of the operations of the participants. The Company recognizes its share of costs arising from research and development activities performed by collaborators in the period its collaborators incur such expense. Reimbursements that are the result of a collaborative relationship instead of a customer relationship, such as co-development activities, are evaluated on a quarterly basis and recorded as an offset to research and development expense incurred. Payments in excess of our collaboration expense will be recorded as revenue.

Patents and Patent Application Costs

Although the Company believes that its patents and underlying technology have continuing value, the amount of future benefits to be derived from the patents is uncertain. Patent costs are, therefore, expensed as general and administrative costs as incurred.

Stock-based Compensation

The Company follows the provisions of the FASB ASC Topic 718, “Compensation — Stock Compensation” (“ASC 718”), which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all stock-based payment awards. The fair value of RSUs is based upon the Company’s closing stock price at the grant date. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock options at the grant date. The Black-Scholes valuation model requires the input of valuation assumptions to calculate the value of stock options, including expected volatility, expected term, risk-free interest rate and expected dividends. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which generally represents the vesting period, and commences at the date of grant based on the fair value of the award.

Stock-based compensation expense recognized in the consolidated financial statements is based on awards that are ultimately expected to vest. Accordingly, we are also required to estimate forfeitures at the time of grant and to revise those estimates in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from estimates. We use historical data to estimate pre-vesting award forfeitures and record stock-based compensation expense only for those awards that are expected to vest. Our forfeiture rate estimates are based on an analysis of our actual forfeiture experience, employee turnover behavior, and other factors. The impact of any adjustments to our forfeiture rates or to the extent that actual forfeitures differ from our estimates, is recorded as a cumulative adjustment in the period the estimates are revised.

Income Taxes

The Company recognizes assets or liabilities for the deferred tax consequences of temporary differences between the tax basis of assets or liabilities and their reported amounts in the consolidated financial statements in accordance with the FASB ASC Topic 740, “Accounting for Income Taxes” (“ASC 740”). These temporary differences will result in taxable or deductible amounts in future years when the reported amounts of the assets or liabilities are recovered or settled. Those temporary differences referred to as deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined at the end of each period using the tax rate expected to be in effect when taxes are actually paid or recovered. Valuation allowances are established if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that all or a portion of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The provision for income taxes, if any, represents the tax payable for the period and the change in deferred income tax assets and liabilities during the period.

The recognition and measurement of benefits related to the Company’s tax positions requires significant judgment, as uncertainties often exist with respect to new laws, new interpretations of existing laws, and rulings by taxing authorities. The Company follows a more-likely-than not threshold for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken, or expected to be taken in a tax return. The guidance relates to, amongst other things, classification, accounting for interest and penalties associated with tax positions, and disclosure requirements. Any interest and penalties accrued related to uncertain tax positions are recorded as tax expense. Differences between actual results and the Company’s assumptions or changes in the Company’s assumptions in future periods are recorded in the period they become known.

Comprehensive Loss

The Company’s comprehensive loss is equal to its net loss for all periods presented.

Net Loss per Share

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the Company’s net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and the impact of all dilutive potential common shares outstanding, except where such dilutive potential common shares would be anti-dilutive. Dilutive potential common shares primarily consist of warrants, RSUs and stock options.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In November 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280) – Improvements to Reporting Segment Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-07”), which requires disclosure of incremental segment information on an annual and interim basis. In addition, ASU 2023-07 clarifies circumstances in which an entity can disclose multiple segment measures of profit or loss, provides new segment disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment, and contains other disclosure requirements. The amendments in ASU 2023-07 are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. The enhanced disclosures are required to be applied retrospectively to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2023-07 on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures, but does not expect that it will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740) – Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-09”), which requires disclosure of specific categories in the rate reconciliation table along with additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold, disclosure of disaggregated income taxes paid and modifies other income tax-related disclosures. The amendments in ASU 2023-09 are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024 and allows for adoption on a prospective basis, with a retrospective option. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2023-09, but does not expect that it will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.