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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Basis of Presentation (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Basis of Presentation and Use of Estimates

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries as of December 31, 2019. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Any reference in these notes to applicable guidance is meant to refer to the authoritative United States generally accepted accounting principles as found in the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) and Accounting Standards Updates (“ASUs”) of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Prior to December 13, 2019, the Company accounted for its 50% investment in Casebia Therapeutics, Limited Liability Partnership (“Casebia”) under the equity method. As described in Note 7, on December 13, 2019, Casebia became a fully-owned subsidiary and, as a result, the Company consolidated Casebia’s financial results from that date forward.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with 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, revenue recognition, equity-based compensation expense and reported amounts of expenses during the period. Significant estimates in these consolidated financial statements have been made in connection with revenue recognition and equity-based compensation expense. 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.

Certain items in the prior year’s condensed consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current presentation. As a result, no subtotals in the prior year condensed consolidated financial statements were impacted.

Segment Information

The Company and the Company’s chief operating decision maker, namely, the chief executive officer, view the Company’s operations and manage its business in one operating segment, which is the business of discovering, developing and commercializing therapies derived from or incorporating genome-editing technology.

Foreign Currency Translation and Transactions

The majority of the Company’s operations occur in entities that have the U.S. dollar as their functional currency. Non-U.S. dollar denominated functional currency subsidiaries have assets and liabilities translated into U.S. dollars at rates of exchange in effect at the end of the year. Revenue and expense amounts are translated using the average exchange rates for the period. Net unrealized gains and losses resulting from foreign currency translation are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).” Net foreign currency exchange transaction gains or losses are included in “Other income (expense), net” on the Company’s consolidated statement of operations, the impact of which is not significant.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less from the purchase date to be cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company had $943.8 million and $456.6 million in cash equivalents, respectively.

Restricted Cash

As of December 31, 2019 and 2018, the Company had $5.0 million and $3.2 million, respectively, in restricted cash representing letters of credit securing the Company’s obligations under certain leased facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as certain credit card arrangements. The letters of credit are secured by cash held in a restricted depository account.

Other Receivables

Other receivables of $4.1 million and $3.4 million at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, consists of receivables from Vertex and are included with prepaid and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheet. These amounts represent the balance due from the portion of our arrangement accounted for under ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements. Other receivables are recorded at invoiced amounts due under the Vertex collaboration agreement (see Note 7). Vertex is a creditworthy entity that maintains an ongoing relationship with the Company and as such, the Company did not have an allowance for estimated losses recorded related to these receivables.

Concentrations of Credit Risk and Off-balance Sheet Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk are primarily cash. The Company’s cash is held in accounts with financial institutions that management believes are creditworthy. The Company has not experienced any credit losses in such accounts and does not believe it is exposed to any significant credit risk on these funds. The Company has no financial instruments with off-balance sheet risk of loss.

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 —

Quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the market date for identical unrestricted assets or liabilities.

Level 2 —

Inputs other than Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities; quoted prices in markets that are not active; or other inputs for which all significant inputs are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3 —

Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

To the extent that valuation is based on models or inputs that are less observable or unobservable in the market, the determination of fair value requires more judgment. Accordingly, the degree of judgment exercised by the Company in determining fair value is greatest for instruments categorized in Level 3. A financial instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest level of any input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

The carrying amount of accounts receivable, other receivables, accounts payable and accrued expenses as reported on the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, approximate fair value, due to the short-term duration of these instruments.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, less accumulated depreciation. Maintenance and repairs that do not improve or extend the lives of the respective assets are expensed to operations as incurred. Upon disposal, the related cost and accumulated depreciation is removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in the results of operations. Depreciation is recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the respective assets, which are as follows:

Asset		Estimated useful life
Computer equipment		3 years
Furniture, fixtures and other		5 years
Laboratory equipment		5 years
Leasehold improvements		Shorter of useful life or remaining lease term

Impairment of Long-lived Assets

The Company reviews long-lived assets when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the book values of the assets to future net undiscounted cash flows that the assets are expected to generate. If such assets are considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the book value of the assets exceed their fair value, which is measured based on the projected discounted future net cash flows arising from the assets.

Revenue Recognition

Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), using the modified retrospective transition method by recognizing the cumulative effect of initially applying ASC 606 as an adjustment to the opening balance of equity at January 1, 2018. The adoption of this guidance did not have a significant impact on our consolidated financial statements. The reported results for 2019 and 2018 reflect the application of ASC 606 guidance while the reported results for 2017 were prepared under the guidance of ASC 605, Revenue Recognition (“ASC 605”).

In connection with adopting ASC 606, the Company elected a practical expedient and applied ASC 606 only to contracts that were not completed at the date of initial application. In addition, the Company applied the practical expedient in ASC 606-10-65-1 in identifying the satisfied and unsatisfied performance obligations, determining the transaction price and allocating the transaction price under the practical expedient in ASC 606.

ASC 606 applies to all contracts with customers, except for contracts that are within the scope of other standards, such as leases and collaboration arrangements. To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that an entity determines are within the scope of ASC 606, the entity performs the following five steps:

1) Identify the contract with the customer

A contract with a customer exists when (i) the Company enters into an enforceable contract with a customer that defines each party’s rights regarding the goods or services to be transferred and identifies the related payment terms, (ii) the contract has commercial substance and (iii) the Company determines that collection of substantially all consideration for goods and services that are transferred is probable based on the customer’s intent and ability to pay the promised consideration.

2) Identify the performance obligations in the contract

Performance obligations promised in a contract are identified based on the goods and services that will be transferred to the customer that are both capable of being distinct, whereby the customer can benefit from the good or service either on its own or together with other available resources, and are distinct in the context of the contract, whereby the transfer of the good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. To the extent a contract includes multiple promised goods and services, the Company must apply judgment to determine whether promised goods and services are capable of being distinct and distinct in the context of the contract. If these criteria are not met, the promised goods and services are accounted for as a combined performance obligation.

3) Determine the transaction price

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company will be entitled in exchange for transferring goods and services to the customer. To the extent the transaction price includes variable consideration such as research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones, the Company determines if it is probable that it will receive such amounts and there is no risk of a significant revenue reversal. When the Company cannot conclude that receipt of such amounts is probable, the Company constrains the related variable consideration resulting in its exclusion from transaction consideration. In determining the portion of the transaction consideration to be constrained, the Company considers the probability and uncertainty that the related research, developmental, regulatory and commercial milestones will be achieved given the nature of research and clinical development and the stage of the underlying programs. This assessment is performed at each reporting period. In making this evaluation, the Company considers both internal and external information available, including information from industry publications and other relevant factors. Changes to the constraint of variable consideration can have a material effect on the amount of revenue recognized in the period.

4) Allocate the transaction consideration to performance obligations in the contract

If the contract contains a single performance obligation, the entire transaction consideration is allocated to the single performance obligation. Contracts that contain multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction consideration to each performance obligation on a relative standalone selling price basis unless the transaction consideration is variable and meets the criteria to be allocated entirely to a performance obligation or to a distinct service that forms part of a single performance obligation. The consideration to be received is allocated among the separate performance obligations based on relative standalone selling prices. In determining these estimated standalone selling prices, the Company makes a number of significant judgements including, for licenses, management’s assumptions regarding probability weighted projected discounted cash flows for each of the collaboration development programs. The estimated standalone selling prices are sensitive to changes in assumptions, such as probabilities of scientific success, discount rate and certain assumptions that form the basis of forecasted cash flows. In developing these assumptions, management considers both internal and external information available, including information from other guideline companies within the same industry and other relevant factors. Changes to these assumptions can have a material effect on the allocation of the transaction consideration to performance obligations, as well as the amount and timing of revenue recognized.

5) Recognize revenue when or as the Company satisfies a performance obligation

The Company satisfies performance obligations over time or at a point in time, depending on the nature of the performance obligation. Revenue is recognized over time if the customer simultaneously receives and consumes the benefits provided by the entity’s performance, the entity’s performance creates or enhances an asset that the customer controls as the asset is created or enhanced, or the entity’s performance does not create an asset with an alternative use to the entity and the entity has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date. If the entity does not satisfy a performance obligation over time, the related performance obligation is satisfied at a point in time by transferring the control of a promised good or service to a customer.

Contract Balances

The Company recognizes a contract asset when the Company transfers goods or services to a customer before the customer pays consideration or before payment is due, excluding any amounts presented as a receivable (i.e. accounts receivable). A contract asset is an entity’s right to consideration in exchange for goods or services that the entity has transferred to a customer. The contract liabilities (i.e. deferred revenue) primarily relate to contracts where we have received payment, but we have not yet satisfied the related performance obligations. The Company recorded contract assets of $25.7 million and $0.0 million as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. Deferred revenue as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 was $12.7 million and $57.8 million. The change in contract assets and deferred revenue is related to the collaboration agreement with Vertex described in Note 7.

Collaboration Arrangements

The Company records the elements of its collaboration agreements that represent joint operating activities in accordance with ASC 808, Collaborative arrangements (“ASC 808”). Accordingly, the elements of the collaboration agreements that represent activities in which both parties are active participants and to which both parties are exposed to the significant risks and rewards that are dependent on the commercial success of the activities, are recorded as collaborative arrangements.

The Company evaluates the proper presentation of the commercial activities and the proﬁt and loss sharing associated with the collaboration agreements. ASC 808 states that when payments between parties in a collaborative arrangement are not within the scope of other authoritative accounting literature, the income statement classification should be based on the nature of the arrangement, the nature of its business operations and the contractual terms of the arrangement. To the extent that these payments are not within the scope of other authoritative accounting literature, the income statement classification for the payments shall be based on an analogy to authoritative accounting literature or if there is no appropriate analogy, a reasonable, rational and consistently applied accounting policy election.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development costs are charged to expense as costs are incurred in performing research and development activities, including salaries and benefits, facilities costs, overhead costs, clinical study and related clinical manufacturing costs, license and milestone fees, contract services and other related costs. Research and development costs, including up-front fees and milestones paid to collaborators, are also expensed as incurred. In circumstances where amounts have been paid in excess of costs incurred, the Company records a prepaid expense. The Company accrues costs for clinical trial activities based upon estimates of the services received and related expenses incurred that have yet to be invoiced by the contract research organizations, clinical study sites, laboratories, consultants or other clinical trial vendors that perform the activities. The Company recognizes the reimbursement associated with collaborative activities to its collaborative partners as research and development expense in the period the services are provided.

Leases

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASC 842, Leases (ASC 842), using the required modified retrospective approach and utilizing the effective date as its date of initial application. As a result, prior periods are presented in accordance with the previous guidance in ASC 840, Leases (“ASC 840”).

At the inception of an arrangement, the Company determines whether the arrangement is or contains a lease based on the unique facts and circumstances present in the arrangement. Leases with a term greater than one year are recognized on the balance sheet as right-of-use assets and short-term and long-term lease liabilities, as applicable. The Company does not have financing leases.

Operating lease liabilities and their corresponding right-of-use assets are initially recorded based on the present value of lease payments over the expected remaining lease term. Certain adjustments to the right-of-use asset may be required for items such as incentives received. The interest rate implicit in lease contracts is typically not readily determinable. As a result, the Company utilizes its incremental borrowing rate to discount lease payments, which reflects the fixed rate at which the Company could borrow on a collateralized basis the amount of the lease payments in the same currency, for a similar term, in a similar economic environment. Prospectively, the Company will adjust the right-of-use assets for straight-line rent expense or any incentives received and remeasure the lease liability at the net present value using the same incremental borrowing rate that was in effect as of the lease commencement or transition date.

The Company has elected not to recognize leases with an original term of one year or less on the balance sheet. The Company typically only includes an initial lease term in its assessment of a lease arrangement. Options to renew a lease are not included in the Company’s assessment unless there is reasonable certainty that the Company will renew.

Assumptions made by the Company at the commencement date are re-evaluated upon occurrence of certain events, including a lease modification. A lease modification results in a separate contract when the modification grants the lessee an additional right of use not included in the original lease and when lease payments increase commensurate with the standalone price for the additional right of use. When a lease modification results in a separate contract, it is accounted for in the same manner as a new lease.

Equity-Based Compensation Expense

Equity Based Compensation Expense

The Company’s share-based compensation programs grant awards that have included stock options, restricted stock units and restricted stock awards. Grants are awarded to employees and non-employees, including directors.

The Company accounts for its stock-based compensation awards in accordance with ASC Topic 718, Compensation—Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”). ASC 718 requires all stock-based payments to employees and non-employee directors, including grants of employee stock options and restricted stock units and modifications to existing stock options, to be recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income (loss) based on their fair values. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of options granted.

The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur instead of estimating forfeitures at the time of grant and revising those estimates in subsequent periods if actual forfeitures differ from its estimates. Stock-based compensation expense recognized in the financial statements is based on awards for which performance or service conditions are expected to be satisfied.

Prior to the adoption of ASU No. 2018-07, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2018-07”) on July 1, 2018, the measurement date for non-employee awards was generally the date the services are completed, resulting in financial reporting period adjustments to stock-based compensation during the vesting terms for changes in the fair value of the awards. After adoption of ASU 2018-07, the measurement date for non-employee awards is the date of grant without changes in the fair value of the award.

The Company’s stock-based awards are subject to service or performance-based vesting conditions. Compensation expense related to awards to employees, directors and non-employees with service-based vesting conditions is recognized on a straight-line basis based on the grant date fair value over the associated service period of the award, which is generally the vesting term. Compensation expense related to awards to employees and non-employees with performance-based vesting conditions is recognized based on the grant date fair value over the requisite service period using the accelerated attribution method to the extent achievement of the performance condition is probable.

The Company expenses restricted stock unit awards to employees based on the fair value of the award on a straight-line basis over the associated service period of the award.

The Company estimates the fair value of its option awards to employees, directors and non-employees using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which requires the input of subjective assumptions, including (i) the expected stock price volatility, (ii) the calculation of expected term of the award, (iii) the risk-free interest rate and (iv) expected dividends. Due to the lack of complete company-specific historical and implied volatility data for the full expected term of the stock-based awards, the Company bases its estimate of expected volatility on a representative group of publicly traded companies in addition to its own volatility data. For these analyses, the Company selected companies with comparable characteristics to its own, including enterprise value, risk profiles, position within the industry, and with historical share price information sufficient to meet the expected life of the stock-based awards. The Company computes historical volatility data using the daily closing prices for the selected companies’ shares during the equivalent period of the calculated expected term of the stock-based awards. The Company will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its own stock price becomes available. The Company has estimated the expected term of its employee stock options using the “simplified” method, whereby the expected term equals the arithmetic average of the vesting term and the original contractual term of the option, due to its lack of sufficient historical data. The risk-free interest rates for periods within the expected term of the option are based on the U.S. Treasury securities with a maturity date commensurate with the expected term of the associated award. The Company has never paid, and does not expect to pay, dividends in the foreseeable future.

Patent Costs

Costs to secure and prosecute patent applications and other legal costs related to the protection of the Company’s intellectual property are expensed as incurred and are classified as general and administrative expenses in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.

Income Taxes

Income taxes are recorded in accordance with ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”), which provides for deferred taxes using an asset and liability approach. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial reporting and tax reporting basis of assets and liabilities and are measured using enacted tax rates and laws that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. Valuation allowances are provided if, based upon the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The Company has evaluated available evidence and concluded that the Company may not realize all the benefit of its deferred tax assets; therefore, a valuation allowance has been established for the amount of the deferred tax assets that the Company does not believe is more likely than not to be realized.

The Company accounts for uncertain tax positions in accordance with the provisions of ASC 740. When uncertain tax positions exist, the Company recognizes the tax benefit of tax positions to the extent that the benefit will more likely than not be realized. The determination as to whether the tax benefit will more likely than not be realized is based upon the technical merits of the tax position as well as consideration of the available facts and circumstances. As of December 31, 2019, and 2018, the Company does not have any significant uncertain tax positions. The Company’s practice is to recognize interest and/or penalties related to income tax matters in income tax expense. See Note 12 for further details.

Comprehensive Income (Loss)

Comprehensive income (loss) consists of net income or loss and other comprehensive income (loss). Other comprehensive income (loss) consists of foreign currency translation adjustments.

Variable Interest Entities

The Company reviews each legal entity formed by parties related to the Company to determine whether or not the Company has a variable interest in the entity and whether or not the entity would meet the definition of a variable interest entity (“VIE”) in accordance with ASC Topic 810, Consolidation (“ASC 810”). If the entity is a VIE, the Company assesses whether or not the Company is the primary beneficiary of that VIE based on a number of factors, including (i) which party has the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the VIE’s economic performance, (ii) the parties’ contractual rights and responsibilities pursuant to any contractual agreements and (iii) which party has the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the VIE. If the Company determines it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE, the Company consolidates the financial statements of the VIE into the Company’s consolidated financial statements at the time that determination is made. The Company evaluates whether it continues to be the primary beneficiary of any consolidated VIEs on a quarterly basis. If the Company were to determine that it is no longer the primary beneficiary of a consolidated VIE, or no longer has a variable interest in the VIE, it would deconsolidate the VIE in the period that the determination is made.

If the Company determines it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE that meets the definition of a business, the Company measures the assets, liabilities and noncontrolling interests of the newly consolidated entity at fair value in accordance with ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations (“ASC 805”) at the date the reporting entity first becomes the primary beneficiary.

In February 2016, Casebia, was formed in the United Kingdom. In March 2016, upon consummation of the joint venture (“JV”), Bayer Healthcare LLC and certain of its affiliates (“Bayer”) and the Company each received a 50% equity interest in the entity in exchange for their contributions to the entity. The Company determined that Casebia was considered a VIE and concluded that it is not the primary beneficiary of the VIE. As such, the Company has not historically consolidated Casebia’s results into the consolidated financial statements.

As described in Note 7, on December 13, 2019, Casebia became a fully-owned subsidiary and, as a result, the Company consolidated Casebia’s financial results accordingly from that point forward.

Net Income (Loss) Per Share Attributable to Common Shareholders

Basic net income (loss) per share is calculated by dividing net income (loss) attributable to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per share is calculated by dividing the net income attributable to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common equivalent shares outstanding for the period, including any dilutive effect from outstanding stock options and restricted stock units using the treasury stock method. See Note 10 for further details.

New Accounting Pronouncements - Recently Adopted

New Accounting Pronouncements – Recently Adopted

Leases

As discussed above, the Company adopted ASC 842, using the required modified retrospective approach, effective January 1, 2019. The Company chose to apply the transition provisions as of the period of adoption. The Company elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard, which, among other things, allowed the Company to carry forward the historical lease classification. In addition, the Company elected the practical expedient not to apply the recognition requirements in the lease standard to short-term leases (a lease that at commencement date has a lease term of 12 months or less and does not contain a purchase option that it is reasonably certain to exercise) and the practical expedient that permits lessees to make an accounting policy election (by class of underlying asset) to account for each separate lease component of a contract and its associated non-lease components as a single lease component. The adoption of the new standard resulted in the recording net lease assets and lease liabilities of $26.1 million and $37.6 million, respectively, as of January 1, 2019. The difference between the additional lease assets and lease liabilities is primarily due to the change in classification of lease incentives from liabilities to a reduction in our net lease assets. The standard had no impact on our net loss or cash flows.

Impact of Adopting ASC 842 on the Financial Statements

	January 1, 2019 Prior to ASC 842 Adoption		ASC 842 Adjustment			January 1, 2019 As Adjusted
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data (in thousands):
Prepaid expenses and other current assets⁽¹⁾	$	9,658	$	(553	)	$	9,105
Operating lease assets⁽²⁾	$	—	$	26,087		$	26,087
Deferred rent⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾	$	1,026	$	(1,026	)	$	—
Deferred rent non-current⁽³⁾	$	11,052	$	(11,052	)	$	—
Operating lease liabilities⁽⁵⁾	$	—	$	4,930		$	4,930
Non-current operating lease liabilities⁽⁵⁾	$	—	$	32,682		$	32,682

(1) Represents reclassification of prepaid rent to operating lease assets.
(2) Represents capitalization of operating lease assets and reclassification of equipment licenses from prepaid expenses to operating lease assets, offset by reclassification of deferred rent to operating lease assets.
(3) Represents reclassification of deferred rent and tenant incentives to operating lease assets.
(4) As of December 31, 2018, the deferred rent balance was $1,202, which included $176 of sublease income received prior to year-end but not due until January 1, 2019.
(5) Represents recognition of operating lease liabilities.

New Accounting Pronouncements – Not Yet Adopted

Credit Losses

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 362): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Statements. The new standard requires that expected credit losses relating to financial assets measured on an amortized cost basis and available-for-sale debt securities be recorded through an allowance for credit losses. It also limits the amount of credit losses to be recognized for available-for-sale debt securities to the amount by which carrying value exceeds fair value and also requires the reversal of previously recognized credit losses if fair value increases. The targeted transition relief standard allows filers an option to irrevocably elect the fair value option of ASC 825-10, Financial Instruments-Overall, applied on an instrument-by-instrument basis for eligible instruments. The new standard will be effective beginning January 1, 2020. The adoption of ASU 2016-13 is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations upon adoption.