Nature of the Business

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Nature of the business

1. Nature of the business:

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the “Company”), incorporated in 1996 under the British Columbia Business Corporations Act and continued federally in 2000 under the Canada Business Corporation Act, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing a pipeline of differentiated therapeutics for orphan indications that it intends to commercialize on its own, and for larger market indications that it intends to partner with global pharmaceutical companies.

On October 1, 2014, the Company effected a 1 for 4.86 reverse share split of its common and Series A, B and E redeemable convertible preferred shares. At the time of the consolidation, there were no outstanding Series C and D preferred shares and therefore such series were not included in the consolidation. Accordingly, (i) every 4.86 common shares were combined into one common share, (ii) every 4.86 redeemable Series A, B and E convertible preferred shares were combined into one redeemable convertible preferred share, (iii) the number of common shares into which each outstanding subscription right was exchangeable into common shares were proportionately decreased on a 1 for 4.86 basis, (iv) the number of common shares into which each outstanding option to purchase common shares was exercisable were proportionately decreased on a 1 for 4.86 basis, and (v) the exercise price for each such outstanding option to purchase common shares was proportionately increased on a 1 for 4.86 basis. All of the share numbers, share prices, and exercise prices prior to October 1, 2014 have been adjusted, on a retroactive basis, to reflect this 1 for 4.86 reverse share split.

On November 10, 2014, the Company completed an initial public offering (“IPO”) of 4,600,000 of its common shares at a price to the public of $9.00 per share. On November 10, 2014, the Company also completed a private placement, in which the Company issued 495,000 of its common shares to an affiliate of Genentech, Inc. (“Genentech”) at a price of $9.00 per share. Immediately prior to the closing of the IPO, all outstanding convertible preferred shares were converted into 7,725,924 common shares and 10,201 outstanding subscription rights were converted into 10,201 common shares. Following the IPO, there were no preferred shares or subscription rights outstanding.