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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
 
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows are presented in U.S. Dollars.
Basis of Consolidation Basis of ConsolidationThe accompanying consolidated financial statements reflect the operations of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Business Risks
Business Risks
 
The Company faces risks, including those associated with biopharmaceutical companies whose products are in various stages of development. These risks include, among others, risks related to the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient additional capital to continue to advance these product candidates and its preclinical programs, including in light of current stock market conditions; risks related to the Company’s ability to successfully implement its strategic plans; uncertainties associated with the clinical development and regulatory approval of product candidates, including reliance on blinded data; uncertainties in obtaining successful clinical results for product candidates and unexpected costs that may result therefrom, including the Company’s reliance on its lead product candidate; risks related to the failure to realize any value from product candidates and preclinical programs being developed in light of inherent risks and difficulties involved in successfully bringing product candidates to market; intellectual property risks; delays in enrollment and timing of clinical trials; risks related to leveraging the Company by borrowing money under the debt facility and compliance with its terms; uncertainties regarding the effect of the reverse stock split and our continued listing on Nasdaq; reliance on collaborators; reliance on research and development partners; risks related to cybersecurity and data privacy; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and risks associated with acquiring and developing additional compounds.
Use of Estimates
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 disclosures made in the accompanying notes to the financial statements. Areas of the financial statements where estimates may have the most significant effect include fair value measurements, acquired in-process research and development, accrued expenses, share-based compensation, and management’s assessment of the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The Company considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its estimates and assumptions, and concluded there was not a material impact to its consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. Changes in the facts or circumstances underlying these estimates could result in material changes and actual results could differ from these estimates.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments which potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents. While cash held by financial institutions may at times exceed federally insured limits, management believes that no material credit or market risk exposure exists due to the high quality of the financial institutions. The Company has not experienced any losses on such accounts.
Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and Cash EquivalentsThe Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash and cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are stated at cost and consist primarily of money market accounts and commercial paper.
Property and Equipment
Property and Equipment

The Company records property and equipment at cost. Improvements and betterments that add new functionality or extend the useful life of the asset are capitalized, while general repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred. The Company depreciates its property and equipment over the estimated useful lives of the assets, typically three years, using the straight-line method. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the lesser of their estimated useful lives or the lives of the underlying leases, whichever is shorter. Depreciation and amortization expense for property and equipment and leasehold improvements has been included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
Accrued Expenses
Accrued Expenses
 
The Company incurs periodic expenses such as research and development, licensing fees, salaries and benefits and professional fees. The Company is required to estimate its expenses resulting from obligations under contracts with clinical research organizations, vendors and consulting agreements that have been incurred by the Company prior to being invoiced. This process involves reviewing quotations and contracts, identifying services that have been performed on the Company’s behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service when the Company has not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual cost. The majority of the Company’s service providers invoice monthly in arrears for services performed or when contractual milestones are met. The Company estimates accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date based on facts and circumstances known at that time.
Derivative Liability
Derivative Liability

The Company accounts for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC 815, Derivative and Hedging, which establishes accounting and reporting standards for derivative instruments, including certain derivative instruments embedded in other financial instruments or contracts and requires recognition of all derivatives on the consolidated balance sheet at fair value. The Company’s derivative financial instruments consisted of embedded features in the Company’s convertible notes. The embedded derivatives include provisions that provide the noteholder with certain conversion and put rights at various conversion or redemption values as well as certain call options for the Company. See Note 6—Debt for further details.
Research and Development
Research and Development
 Research and development expenses consist of costs incurred to further the Company’s research and development activities and include salaries and related employee benefits, manufacturing of pharmaceutical active ingredients and drug products, costs associated with clinical trials, nonclinical activities, regulatory activities, research-related overhead expenses and fees paid to expert consultants, external service providers and contract research organizations which conduct certain research and development activities on behalf of the Company. Costs incurred in the research and development of products are charged to research and development expense as incurred.
 
Costs for preclinical studies and clinical trial activities are recognized based on an evaluation of the vendors’ progress towards completion of specific tasks, using data such as patient enrollment, clinical site activations or information provided
by vendors regarding their actual costs incurred. Payments for these activities are based on the terms of individual contracts and payment timing may differ significantly from the period in which the services were performed. The Company determines accrual estimates through reports from and discussions with applicable personnel and outside service providers as to the progress or state of completion of trials, or the services completed. The estimates of accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date are based on the facts and circumstances known at the time. Although the Company does not expect its estimates to be materially different from amounts incurred, the Company’s estimates and assumptions for clinical trial costs could differ significantly from actual costs incurred, which could result in increases or decreases in research and development expenses in future periods when actual results are known.
 
Nonrefundable advance payments for goods and services that will be used in future research and development activities are expensed when the goods have been received or when the activity is performed, rather than when payment is made.
Acquired In-process Research and Development
Acquired In-process Research and Development

The Company has acquired, and may in the future acquire, rights to develop and commercialize new drug candidates and/or other in-process research and development assets. The up-front acquisition payments, as well as future milestone payments that are deemed probable to achieve and do not meet the definition of a derivative, are expensed as acquired in-process research and development provided that the drug has not achieved regulatory approval for marketing, and, absent obtaining such approval, have no alternative future use.
Concentration of Manufacturing Risk Concentration of Manufacturing RiskThe Company relies on a small number of third-party CMOs for the manufacturing of drug product candidates for the Company’s research and development activities, including supply of clinical trial drug supply. Significant delays or interruption in the supply of materials necessary to manufacture the Company’s product candidates could adversely affect the Company’s research and development activities.
Share-Based Compensation
Share-Based Compensation
 
The Company recognizes share-based compensation expense for grants of stock options based on the grant-date fair value of those awards using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Share-based compensation expense is generally recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for awards with time-based vesting. For awards with performance conditions, compensation cost is recognized from the time achievement of the performance criteria is probable over the expected term.

Share-based compensation expense includes an estimate, which is made at the time of grant, of the number of awards that are expected to be forfeited. This estimate is revised, if necessary, in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from those estimates. Under the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, fair value is calculated based on assumptions with respect to:

Expected dividend yield. The expected dividend yield is assumed to be zero as the Company has never paid dividends and has no current plans to pay any dividends on the Company’s common stock.
Expected stock price volatility. Due to limited trading history as a public company, the expected volatility is derived from the average historical volatilities of publicly traded companies within the Company’s industry that the Company considers to be comparable to the Company’s business over a period approximately equal to the expected term. In evaluating comparable companies, the Company considers factors such as industry, stage of life cycle, financial leverage, size and risk profile.
Risk-free interest rate. The risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield in effect at the time of grant for zero coupon U.S. Treasury notes with maturities approximately equal to the expected term.
Expected term. The expected term represents the period that the stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding. Due to limited history of stock option exercises, the Company estimates the expected term of employee stock options with service conditions based on the simplified method, which calculates the expected term as the average of the time-to-vesting and the contractual life of the options. Pursuant to Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2018-07, the Company has elected to use the contractual life of the option as the expected term for non-employee options. The expected term for performance options is the longer of the explicit or implicit service period.
Periodically, the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) may approve the grant of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) pursuant to the Company’s stock incentive plans, which represent the right to receive shares of the Company’s common stock based on terms of the agreement. The fair value of RSUs is recognized as share-based compensation expense generally on a straight-line basis over the service period, net of estimated forfeitures. The grant date fair value of an RSU represents the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant.
Income Taxes
Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the consolidated financial statements. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the differences between the consolidated financial statements and the tax basis of assets and liabilities using the enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse.

Net deferred tax assets are recognized to the extent the Company’s management believes these assets will more likely than not be realized. In making such determination, management considers all positive and negative evidence, including reversals of existing temporary differences, projected future taxable income, tax planning strategies and recent financial operations. A valuation allowance is recorded to reduce the deferred tax assets reported if, based on the weight of the evidence, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Management periodically reviews its deferred tax assets for recoverability and its estimates and judgments in assessing the need for a valuation allowance.

The Company recognizes a tax benefit from uncertain positions when it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination, including resolutions of any related appeals or litigation processes, based on the technical merits of the position. Income tax positions must meet a more-likely-than-not recognition threshold to be recognized.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received for sale of an asset or paid for transfer of a liability, in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. U.S. GAAP establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). Financial instruments recorded in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets are categorized based on the inputs to valuation techniques as follows:
    
Level 1 — defined as observable inputs based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets;

Level 2 — defined as inputs other than Level 1 that are either directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and

Level 3 — defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists where valuations are derived from techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.

The fair value of the embedded derivatives issued in connection with the 2022 Convertible Note and 2020 Convertible Note, further described in Note 6—Debt, were determined by using a Monte Carlo simulation technique (“MCS”) to value the embedded derivatives associated with each note. As part of the MCS valuation, a discounted cash flow (“DCF”) model was used to value the debt on a stand-alone basis and determine the discount rate to utilize in both the DCF and MCS models. The significant estimates used in the DCF model include the time to maturity of the convertible debt and calculated discount rate, which includes an estimate of the Company’s specific risk premium. The MCS methodology calculates the theoretical value of an option based on certain parameters, including: (i) the threshold of exercising the option, (ii) the price of the underlying security, (iii) the time to expiration, or expected term, (iv) the expected volatility of the underlying security, (v) the risk-free rate, (vi) the number of paths, and (vii) an estimated probability of subsequent financing as defined in the 2022 Convertible Note. The Company estimated a probability of subsequent financing of 90% and 60% as of July 15, 2022 and December 31, 2022, respectively. On January 12, 2023, the Company amended the 2022 Convertible Note to among other things remove the subsequent financing requirement further described in Note 12—Subsequent Events.
These valuation techniques involve management’s estimates and judgment based on unobservable inputs and are classified in Level 3. The fair value estimates may not be indicative of the amounts that would be realized in a market exchange. Additionally, there may be inherent uncertainties or changes in the underlying assumptions used, which could significantly affect the current or future fair value estimates. Generally, a significant increase (decrease) in the probability of subsequent financing would have resulted in a significantly lower (higher) fair value measurement; however, changes in other inputs such as expected term and price of the underlying common stock will have a directionally opposite impact on fair value measurement.
Deferred Offering Costs Deferred Offering CostsDeferred offering costs consist principally of legal, accounting and underwriters’ fees related to offerings or the Company’s Shelf Registration Statement. Offering costs incurred prior to an offering are initially capitalized and then subsequently reclassified to additional paid-in capital upon completion of the offering. If the equity offering is not completed, any costs deferred will be expensed immediately upon termination of the offering.
Patent Costs
Patent Costs
 
Costs associated with the submission of patent applications are expensed as incurred given the uncertainty of the future economic benefits of the patents.
Net Loss Per Share
Net Loss Per Share
 
The Company calculates net loss per share as a measurement of the Company’s performance while giving effect to all potentially dilutive shares that were outstanding during the reporting period. Because the Company had a net loss for all periods presented, the inclusion of common stock options or other similar instruments would be anti-dilutive. Therefore, the weighted-average shares outstanding used to calculate both basic and diluted net loss per share are the same.
Comprehensive Loss Comprehensive LossComprehensive loss is defined as the change in equity during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources. The Company is required to record all components of comprehensive loss in the consolidated financial statements in the period in which they are recognized. Net loss and other comprehensive loss, including unrealized gains and losses on investments are reported, net of their related tax effect, to arrive at a comprehensive loss.
Segments
Segments
 
Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise engaging in business activities for which discrete financial information is available and regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company operates and manages its business as one operating segment and the Company’s primary operations are in North America.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
Recently Issued Accounting Standards

Accounting Pronouncements Adopted
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity, which simplifies the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity, including convertible instruments and contracts in an entity’s own equity. Among other changes, ASU 2020-06 removes from U.S. GAAP the liability and equity separation model for convertible instruments with a cash conversion feature, and as a result, after adoption, entities will no longer separately present in equity an embedded conversion feature for such debt. ASU 2020-06 also enhances transparency and improves disclosures for convertible instruments and earnings per share guidance. ASU 2020-06 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company early adopted this guidance effective January 1, 2022 and applied the modified retrospective method. There were no debt instruments outstanding at the beginning of the year that were impacted by this guidance and as such, retained earnings, net loss and earnings per share were not impacted by adoption of this guidance.