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Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2025

Organization and Description of Business

Denali Therapeutics Inc. ("Denali" or the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company, incorporated in Delaware, that discovers and develops therapeutics to defeat neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases. The Company is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Basis of Presentation

These consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Principles of Consolidation

These consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. For the Company and its subsidiaries, the functional currency has been determined to be U.S. dollars. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are remeasured at period-end exchange rates, non-monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are remeasured at historical rates, and transactions in foreign currencies are remeasured at average exchange rates. Foreign currency gains and losses resulting from remeasurement are recognized in interest and other income, net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.

Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts in the Company’s Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. Specifically, amounts related to the research and development funding liability that were previously included within changes in operating assets and liabilities - accruals and other current liabilities have been reclassified to changes in operating assets and liabilities - deferred research and development funding liability.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and such differences could be material to the Consolidated Balance Sheets and Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.

Concentration of Credit Risk and Other Risks and Uncertainties

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Substantially all of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents are deposited in accounts with financial institutions that management believes are of high credit quality. Such deposits have and will continue to exceed federally insured limits. The Company maintains its cash with accredited financial institutions and accordingly, such funds are subject to minimal credit risk.

The Company’s investment policy limits investments to certain types of securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies, as well as institutions with investment-grade credit ratings and places restrictions on maturities and concentration by type and issuer. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of a default by the financial institutions holding its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and issuers of marketable securities to the extent recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company had no off-balance sheet concentrations of credit risk.

The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to other biopharmaceutical companies at our stage, including, but not limited to, the need to obtain adequate additional funding, possible failure of current or future preclinical testing or clinical trials, its reliance on third parties to conduct its clinical trials, the need to obtain regulatory and marketing approvals for its product candidates, competitors developing new technological innovations, the need to successfully commercialize and gain market acceptance of the Company’s product candidates, its right to develop and commercialize its product candidates pursuant to the terms and conditions of the licenses granted to the Company, protection of proprietary technology, the ability to make milestone, royalty or other payments due under any license or collaboration agreements, and the need to scale internal manufacturing and/or secure and maintain adequate manufacturing arrangements with third parties. If the Company does not successfully commercialize or partner any of its product candidates, it will be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability. Further, the company is also subject to broad market risks and uncertainties resulting from recent events, such as bank failures or instability in the financial services sector, geopolitical instability, war and armed conflicts, inflation, rising interest rates, and recession risks as well as supply chain and labor shortages.

Investments

The Company holds an equity investment in a venture-backed privately held company, Tenvie Therapeutics, Inc. ("Tenvie"). The privately held company is a Variable Interest Entity ("VIE"), but the Company is not the primary beneficiary. The Company does not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of the investee. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss from this VIE is limited to the value of the equity investment. The equity investment held by the Company lacks a readily determinable fair value and therefore the securities are measured at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or similar equity securities of the same issuer. The Company reviews the carrying value of its equity investment for impairment whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate the carrying amount of such asset may not be fully recoverable. Impairments, if any, are based on the excess of the carrying amount over the recoverable amount of the asset. There were no impairments during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement (“ASC 820”), establishes a fair value hierarchy for instruments measured at fair value that distinguishes between assumptions based on market data (observable inputs) and the Company’s own assumptions (unobservable inputs). Observable inputs are inputs that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability based on market data obtained from sources independent of the Company. Unobservable inputs are inputs that reflect the Company’s assumptions about the inputs that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, and are developed based on the best information available in the circumstances.

ASC 820 identifies fair value as the exchange price, or exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As a basis for considering market participant assumptions in fair value measurements, ASC 820 establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy that distinguishes between the following:

Level 1 – inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 – inputs are other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly.

Level 3 – inputs are unobservable inputs that reflect the Company’s own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Financial assets and liabilities are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.

To the extent that the 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.

The carrying amounts reflected in the Consolidated Balance Sheets for cash and cash equivalents, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities approximate their fair values due to their short-term nature.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase to be cash and cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are reported at fair value.

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows is composed of cash and cash equivalents reported in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and restricted cash of $3.1 million, $1.6 million and $1.6 million as of December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which is included within other non-current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Restricted cash relates to letters of credit supporting the Company’s headquarters building lease and, as of December 31, 2025, also includes a letter of credit supporting the Company’s credit card program.

Marketable Securities

The Company generally invests its excess cash in money market funds and investment grade short to intermediate-term fixed income securities. Such investments are included in cash and cash equivalents, short-term marketable securities or long-term marketable securities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets, are considered available-for-sale, and are reported at fair value with net unrealized gains and losses included as a component of stockholders’ equity.

The Company classifies investments in securities with remaining maturities of less than one year, or where its intent is to use the investments to fund current operations or to make them available for current operations, as short-term investments. The Company classifies investments in securities with remaining maturities of over one year as long-term investments, unless intended to fund current operations. The amortized cost of debt securities is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity, which is included in interest and other income, net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss. Realized gains and losses and declines in value determined to be due to credit losses on marketable securities, if any, are included in interest and other income, net.

The Company periodically evaluates the need for an allowance for credit losses. This evaluation includes consideration of several qualitative and quantitative factors, including whether it has plans to sell the security, whether it is more likely than not it will be required to sell any marketable securities before recovery of its amortized cost basis, and if the entity has the ability and intent to hold the security to maturity, and the portion of any unrealized loss that is the result of a credit loss. Factors considered in making these evaluations include quoted market prices, recent financial results and operating trends, implied values from any recent transactions or offers of investee securities, credit quality of debt instrument issuers, expected cash flows from securities, other publicly available information that may affect the value of the marketable security, duration and severity of the decline in value, and the Company's strategy and intentions for holding the marketable security.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The accounts receivable balance represents amounts receivable from the Company's collaboration partners net of an allowance for credit losses, if required.

Property and Equipment, Net

Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the related estimated useful lives as presented in the table below. Significant additions and improvements are capitalized, while repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred.


Asset						Estimated useful life
Leasehold improvements						shorter of life of asset or lease term
Computer equipment and purchased software						three years
Laboratory equipment						five years
Furniture and fixtures						five years
Manufacturing equipment						eight years

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company periodically evaluates property and equipment for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that a potential impairment may have occurred. If such events or changes in circumstances arise, the Company compares the carrying amount of the long-lived assets to the estimated future undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the long-lived assets. If the estimated aggregate undiscounted cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the long-lived assets, an impairment charge, calculated as the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets, is recorded. The fair value of the long-lived assets is determined based on the estimated discounted cash flows expected to be generated from the long-lived assets. The Company has not recorded any material impairment charges during the years presented.

Leases

The Company leases real estate and certain equipment for use in its operations. A determination is made as to whether an arrangement is a lease at inception. The Company recognizes finance and operating lease right-of-use ("ROU") assets, and finance and operating lease liabilities based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments at the commencement date. The Company adjusts ROU assets as needed for any lease incentives it receives and for assets it purchases that are regarded as landlord-owned. When determining the present value of lease payments, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate on the date of lease commencement, or the rate implicit in the lease, if known. The Company does not assume renewals in its determination of the lease term unless the renewals are deemed by management to be reasonably certain at lease inception.

The Company recognizes amortization of the ROU assets and interest on the lease liabilities for its finance lease. Finance lease ROU assets are amortized on a straight-line basis from the commencement date to the earlier of the end of the useful life of the ROU asset or the end of the lease term. Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Leases with an initial term of twelve months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet, unless they include an option to purchase the underlying asset that the Company is reasonably certain to exercise. The Company has leases with lease and non-lease components, which the Company has elected to account for as a single lease component.

Revenue Recognition

License, Option and Collaboration Revenue

The Company analyzes its collaboration arrangements to assess whether they are within the scope of ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”) to determine whether such arrangements involve joint operating activities performed by parties that are both active participants in the activities and exposed to significant risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of such activities. For elements of collaboration arrangements that are accounted for pursuant to ASC 808, an appropriate recognition method is determined and applied consistently, generally by analogy to Topic 606. The accounting treatment pursuant to Topic 606 is outlined below.

Each of these Payments received under license, option and collaboration agreements result in license, collaboration and other revenue, except for revenues from royalties on net sales of licensed products, which are classified as royalty revenue. The Company may also receive reimbursement or make payments to a collaboration partner to satisfy cost sharing requirements. These payments are accounted for pursuant to ASC 808 and are recorded as an offset or increase to research and development expenses, respectively.

The Company recognizes revenue as it fulfills its obligations under each of its agreements. An asset is transferred when, or as, the customer obtains control of that asset, which for a service is considered to be as the services are received and used. The Company recognizes revenue over time by measuring the progress toward complete satisfaction of the relevant performance obligation using an appropriate input or output method based on the nature of the service promised to the customer. Amounts received prior to satisfying the revenue recognition criteria are recorded as current or non-current contract liabilities in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets, depending on when the performance obligation is expected to be satisfied.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses represent costs incurred to conduct research and development activities, including the discovery and development of product candidates. The Company recognizes all research and development costs as they are incurred. The Company’s research and development expenses consist primarily of:

•expenses incurred under agreements with collaborators, consultants, third-party contract research organizations (“CROs”), and investigative sites, which conduct a substantial portion of the Company’s preclinical studies and clinical trials;

•costs of acquiring laboratory supplies and originator comparator materials, and costs related to the internal and third-party manufacturing of preclinical and clinical trial supplies;

•costs associated with internal and third-party manufacturing process development activities, analytical activities and pre-launch inventory manufactured prior to regulatory approval being obtained or deemed to be probable;

•salaries and other personnel-related expenses, including stock–based compensation; and

•facility costs and other allocated expense, including direct and allocated costs for rent and maintenance of facilities, depreciation and amortization of leasehold improvements, and manufacturing and laboratory equipment.

Where the Company shares costs with collaboration partners, such as in the Biogen Collaboration Agreement and the Takeda Collaboration Agreement, research and development expenses may include cost sharing reimbursements from or payments to the collaboration partner, respectively. Where the company has entered into an R&D funding arrangement, payments received will be recorded as a liability, and recognized an offset to research and development expenses as the underlying research and development costs are incurred.

Nonrefundable advance payments for goods and services that will be used or received in future research and development activities are deferred and recognized as expense in the period in which the related goods are delivered or services are performed. There can be judgment involved in measuring the research and development expenses to be recognized in a particular period. In some cases, expense is recorded using an underlying assumption of the progress to completion of specific activities. For example, costs may be recognized based on the passage of time for activities that span reporting periods. If the provision of services is not linear then this assumption could impact the amount of expense recognized. The level of judgment varies based on the nature of the services being performed and the underlying support obtained. For some activities, such as for certain clinical trials, expense is recorded based on information obtained from vendors as an intermediary to those performing the underlying services, such as contract research organizations. These estimates are inherently more judgmental since the quality and availability of the underlying data may vary. The determination of whether an arrangement meets the definition of an R&D funding arrangement under ASC730 requires judgment, including an assessment of the nature of the arrangement, the funding party’s rights and exposure to research and development risks. Further, the timing of recognition of the funding is also subject to the judgments of the underlying research and development costs.

The Company has acquired and may continue to acquire the rights to develop and commercialize new product candidates from third parties. The upfront payments to acquire license, product or rights, as well as any future milestone payments, are immediately recognized as research and development expense provided that there is no alternative future use of the rights in other research and development projects.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company’s stock-based compensation programs grant awards that have included stock options, restricted stock units, restricted stock awards, and shares issued under its employee stock purchase plan. Grants are awarded to employees, directors, and non-employee service providers.

The Company measures compensation expense for all stock-based awards at the grant date based on the fair value measurement of the award. The expense is recorded on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period, for the entire award. Expense is adjusted for actual forfeitures of unvested awards as they occur. The Company calculates the fair value measurement of stock options subject solely to service-based vesting requirements using the Black-Scholes valuation model. The Company uses the fair value of its common stock to determine the fair value of restricted stock awards.

Income Taxes

Income taxes are accounted for using the liability method, under which deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and consideration is given to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using the enacted tax rates that are expected to be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse.

The Company assesses the likelihood that deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income, and a valuation allowance is established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amounts more likely than not expected to be realized.

The calculation of our current provision for income taxes involves the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments while taking into account current tax laws, interpretation of current tax laws and possible outcomes of future tax audits. The Company has established reserves to address potential exposures related to tax positions that could be challenged by tax authorities. Any changes in tax law or interpretation of tax law and the resolutions of potential tax audits could significantly impact the amounts provided for income taxes in our consolidated financial statements.

Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive loss is composed of net loss and certain changes in stockholders’ equity that are excluded from net loss, primarily unrealized gains or losses on the Company’s marketable securities.

Net Loss Per Share

Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, without consideration for common stock equivalents. Diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share, since the effects of potentially dilutive securities are antidilutive given the net loss for each period presented. The weighted-average common shares outstanding as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 include the pre-funded warrants to purchase shares of common stock. Refer to discussion in Note 8 - "Common Stock".

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In December 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires that an entity, on an annual basis, disclose additional income tax information, primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid. The Company has adopted this accounting standard update retrospectively on December 31, 2025. Newly required disclosures has been included in Note 11- "Income Taxes".

In November 2024, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2024-03, Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, which is intended to improve the disclosures of expenses by providing more detailed information about the types of expenses in commonly presented expense captions. The amendments in this update are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. The amendments can be applied either prospectively or retrospectively. The Company has not early adopted this update, and is currently evaluating the impact of this new standard on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Segments

The Company has one operating segment with the goal to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics (“Therapeutics”). The Company has not generated any revenue from product sales, and has no marketing or commercial product distribution costs. All revenue to date has been collaboration and license revenue from the Company’s collaboration agreements.

The Company’s chief operating decision maker ("CODM"), its Chief Executive Officer, manages the Company’s operations on a consolidated basis for the purposes of allocating resources.

The CODM, in alignment with the Company's overall corporate strategy and goals, analyses a variety of data to guide segment resource allocation, including program and portfolio scientific data, product market information and projections, probability of regulatory and commercial success, and the competitive environment. The CODM also reviews certain financial results included in the segment Loss from Operations which is reported on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss as Loss from Operations. The measure of segment assets is reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as Total Assets. The accounting policies of the Therapeutics segment are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies.