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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated on consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting periods. Estimates are periodically reviewed in light of changes in circumstances, facts and experience. Changes in estimates are recorded in the period in which they become known. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments that have maturities of three months or less when acquired to be cash equivalents. The Company does not currently have any material cash equivalents.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 represents a collateral deposit for employee credit cards.

Fair Value Measurements

Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value are to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three levels of the fair value hierarchy, of which the inputs for the first two are considered observable and the inputs for the last are considered unobservable:

•Level 1—Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

•Level 2—Observable inputs (other than Level 1 quoted prices), such as quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets or liabilities, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

•Level 3—Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity that are significant to determining the fair value of the assets or liabilities, including pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques

The carrying amounts reflected in the consolidated balance sheets for the Company’s cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, other current assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair value because of the short-term nature of these instruments. The carrying value of the Company’s outstanding debt approximates fair value, reflecting interest rates currently available to the Company.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that subject the Company to credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents. The Company places cash and cash equivalents in diversified and established financial institutions. Accounts at each institution are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) up to $250,000. The Company has cash and cash equivalents in excess of the FDIC insured limit. The Company has no significant off-balance-sheet risk or concentration of credit risk, such as foreign exchange contracts, options contracts, or other foreign hedging arrangements.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the respective assets, which are as follows:


			Estimated Useful Life
Lab equipment			5 years
Office equipment			3-5 years
Furniture and fixtures			3 years
Leasehold improvements			Shorter of useful life or remaining lease term

Upon retirement or sale, the cost of assets disposed of and the related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expenses as incurred.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

The Company evaluates assets for potential impairment when events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying value of the assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparing the book values of the assets to the expected 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 values of the assets exceed their fair value. The Company has not recognized any impairment losses or had triggering events related to its underlying assets for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023.

Segment Information

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07 - Segment Reporting (Topic 280) - Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which improved segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosure requirements for significant segment expenses. The improved disclosure requirements apply to all public entities that are required to report segment information, including those with only one reportable segment. The Company has adopted the guidance for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

Operating segments are identified as components of an entity that meet all of the following criteria: i) engage in business activities from which it may incur expenses; ii) operating results are regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker, to allocate resources and assess performance; iii) discrete financial information is available. The Company’s chief operating decision maker ("CODM"), is the Chief Executive Officer. The Company views its operations and manages its business as one operating segment. The CODM uses ‘total operating expenses,’ research and development and general and administrative ‘expenses by category,’ ‘loss before income taxes’ and ‘total assets’ to assess performance and decide how to allocate resources. The CODM also uses ‘total operating expenses’ ‘expenses by category’ and ‘loss before income taxes’ to monitor budget versus actual results to assess performance. Loss before income taxes is reported on the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The measure of assets is reported on the consolidated balance sheets as total assets. As the Company operates in one operating segment, all required financial segment information can be found in these consolidated financial statements. All additional disclosures can be found in Note 13 below.

Research and Development Costs

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development expenses consist of costs incurred in performing research and development activities, including salaries, share-based compensation and benefits, travel, and external costs of outside vendors engaged to conduct clinical development activities, clinical trials and the cost to manufacture clinical trial materials.

Research Contract Costs, Prepayments and Accruals

The Company has entered into various research and development-related contracts with research institutions and other companies. These agreements are generally cancellable, and related payments are recorded as research and development expenses as incurred. The Company records prepayments and accruals for estimated ongoing research costs and receives updated estimates of costs and amounts owed on a monthly basis from its third-party service providers. When evaluating the adequacy of the prepayments and accrued liabilities, the Company analyzes progress of the studies or clinical trials, including the phase or completion of events, invoices received and contracted cost estimates from third-party service providers. Estimates are made in determining the prepaid and accrued balances at the end of any reporting period. The Company considers any prepayment that is more than 12 months in advance of the associated expense to be long-term. Actual results could differ from the Company’s estimates. The Company’s historical prepayments and accrual estimates have not been materially different from the actual costs.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for all share-based payment awards granted to employees and non-employees as share-based compensation expense at fair value. The Company grants equity awards under its share-based compensation programs, which may include share options and restricted share units. The measurement date for employee and non-employee awards is the date of grant, and share-based compensation costs are recognized as an expense over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period, on a straight-line basis. Share-based compensation expense is classified in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss based on the function to which the related services are provided. The Company recognizes share-based compensation expense for the portion of awards that have vested. Forfeitures are recorded as they occur.

On October 1, 2021, the Company launched the Share Incentive Plan, or the SIP, and Employee Share Purchase Plan, or the ESPP, through which employees can purchase shares at a discounted price. The Company estimates the fair value of stock options and shares to be issued under the SIP and ESPP using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model on the date of grant. The fair value of shares to be issued under these plans are recognized and amortized on a straight-line basis over the purchase period, which is generally six months.

There have been no performance or market conditions attached to the share options granted by the Company to date. The fair value of each share option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. See Note 8 for the Company’s assumptions used in connection with option grants made during the periods covered by these consolidated financial statements. Assumptions used in the option pricing model include the following:

Expected volatility. The Company lacks sufficient company-specific historical and implied volatility information for its ordinary shares. Therefore, it estimates its expected share volatility using a blended rate of: (1) historical volatility of publicly traded peer companies and (2) the Company’s historical volatility since being publicly traded since September 2020. The Company expects to continue to do so until such time as it has adequate historical data regarding the volatility of its own traded share price.

Expected term. The expected term of the Company’s share options has been determined utilizing the “simplified” method for awards that qualify as “plain-vanilla” options. The Company utilizes this method due to the lack of historical exercise data and the plain nature of its share-based awards.

Risk-free interest rate. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods that are approximately equal to the expected term of the award.

Expected dividend. Expected dividend yield of zero is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends on ordinary shares and does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the Loan Agreement with Hercules currently prohibits dividends that may be declared or paid on our ordinary shares.

Fair value of ordinary shares. The fair value of ordinary shares is determined by reference to the closing price of ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the day prior to or day of the grant.

Leases

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 sheets as right-of-use assets and current and non-current lease liabilities, as applicable. The Company has elected to account for lease and non-lease components together as a single lease component for all underlying assets and to allocate all the contract consideration to the lease component only. All the Company’s leases are classified as operating leases.

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. When readily determinable, the discount rate used to calculate the lease liability is the rate implicit in the lease. As the Company’s leases do not typically provide an implicit rate, 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. As the Company does not have a rating agency-based credit rating, quotes were obtained from lenders to establish an estimated secured rate to borrow based on Company and market-based factors as of the respective lease measurement dates. The Company has elected not to recognize leases with an original term of one year or less on the consolidated balance sheets. The Company typically only includes the non-cancelable lease term in its assessment of a lease arrangement unless there is an option to extend the lease that is reasonably certain of exercise. 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.

Operating lease costs are recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and they are categorized within research and development and general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. The operating lease cash flows are categorized under net cash used in operating activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows.

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency is the currency of the primary economic environment in which an entity’s operations are conducted. On January 1, 2023, Compass Pathways plc and its wholly owned subsidiary Compass Pathfinder Holdings Limited changed their functional currency to the U.S. dollar. Compass Pathways plc and Compass Pathfinder Holdings Limited have no operating activities and their primary functions are to serve as a financing vehicle to fund the operations of the Company’s operating entities, to serve as the listing company needed to access U.S. capital markets, and to hold investments. Therefore, its financing source is the primary indicator of its cash flows and its functional currency. The change in functional currency from the British Pound Sterling was due to a change in the source of the Company’s financing and cash flows going forward, which is primarily U.S. Dollars (“USD”).

The functional currency of Compass Pathfinder Holdings Limited’s wholly owned non-U.S. subsidiary, Compass Pathfinder Limited, is British Pound Sterling and the functional currency of its U.S. subsidiary, Compass Pathways Inc. is USD. The functional currency of these subsidiaries is the same as the local currency.

The translated balances of monetary and non-monetary assets and liabilities recorded in the reporting entity’s consolidated financial statements as of the end of the prior reporting period become the new accounting basis for those assets and liabilities in the period of the change. To the extent that the distinct and separable operation has monetary assets and liabilities denominated in the old functional currency, such balances will create transaction gains and losses subsequent to the change in functional currency. The balance recorded in the cumulative translation reserve, included within accumulated other comprehensive loss, in the consolidated balance sheets for prior periods is not reversed upon the change in functional currency.

The Company translates the assets and liabilities of Compass Pathfinder Limited into USD at the exchange rate in effect on the balance sheet date. Income and expenses are translated at the average exchange rate in effect during the period. Unrealized translation gains and losses are recorded as a cumulative translation adjustment, which is included in the consolidated statements of shareholders’ equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Corporate Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes using 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 recognized in the consolidated financial statements or in its tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded in the provision for income taxes. The Company assesses the likelihood that deferred tax assets will be recovered in the future to the extent management believes, based upon the weight of available evidence, that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, a valuation allowance is established through a charge to income tax expense. Potential for recovery of deferred tax assets is evaluated by estimating the future taxable profits expected and considering prudent and feasible tax planning strategies.

The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes in the consolidated financial statements by applying a two-step process to determine the amount of tax benefit to be recognized. First, the tax position must be evaluated to determine the likelihood that it will be sustained upon external examination by the taxing authorities. If the tax position is deemed more-likely-than-not to be sustained, the tax position is then assessed as the amount of benefit to recognize in the consolidated financial statements. The amount of benefit that may be used is the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any resulting tax reserves, or unrecognized tax benefits, that are considered appropriate, as well as the related net interest and penalties. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company has not identified any material uncertain tax positions.

The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits on the income tax expense line in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023 no accrued interest or penalties are included on the related tax liability line in the consolidated balance sheets.

Benefit from Research and Development Tax Credit

As a company that carries out extensive research and development (“R&D”) activities, the Company benefits from the UK R&D tax credit regime under the scheme for small or medium-sized enterprises, (“SME’s”). Under the SME regime, the Company is able to surrender some of its trading losses that arise from qualifying R&D activities for a cash rebate of a portion of such qualifying R&D expenditure. Up until April 1, 2023 the effective rate was 33.3% on in-house expenditures and 21.7% on work that was contracted out (to unconnected subcontractors).

On and after April 1, 2023, the effective rates reduced to 18.6% and 12.1%, respectively. New rules were introduced by the Finance Act 2024 for an enhanced effective rate of relief for loss making research intensive SMEs, which are approximately 27.0% for qualifying in-house expenditures and approximately 17.5% for qualifying subcontracted expenditures (to unconnected subcontractors). To be eligible as a research intensive company (the R&D intensity condition), the qualifying R&D expenditure for tax purposes must be at least 40% of the aggregate expenditure across the consolidated group. The threshold has decreased from 40% to 30% from January 1, 2025.

Aggregate expenditure is defined as being brought into account in calculating the profits for the period of any trade carried on by the company, but payments between connected companies can be excluded to avoid double counting.

For the year ended December 31, 2023 as a result of an intercompany loan between two group companies, a large exchange loss was generated in one company and a corresponding gain in the other. There is uncertainty over the ability to net off this exchange gain and loss when calculating aggregate expenditure, which is not covered by HMRC guidance. The outcome of this will determine whether the Company can claim the enhanced rate of relief as a research intensive company. Confirmation of the position has been sought from HMRC under a non-statutory clearance application and the Company is awaiting a response. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company has accounted for its R&D tax credit on the basis that it was not research intensive.

For the year ended December 31, 2024 the Company believes that it would meet the R&D intensity condition regardless of whether it can net off the exchange gains and losses arising from the intercompany loan, and has therefore calculated its R&D tax credit at the enhanced rate on the basis that it is research intensive.

The enhanced rate for a payable credit is 14.5% compared to the standard rate of 10%, which when applied to qualifying expenditure enhanced by 86% to 186%, gives an effective rate of 27% on qualifying in house expenditure and 17.5% for qualifying subcontracted expenditure (to unconnected subcontractors).

The Company currently meets the conditions of the SME regime. A large portion of costs relating to R&D, clinical trials and clinical manufacturing activities are eligible for inclusion within these tax credit cash rebate claims.

The Company is subject to corporation tax in the UK. Due to the nature of the business, the Company has generated losses since inception. The benefit from R&D tax credits is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as a component of other income, net, and represents the sum of the R&D tax credits recoverable in the UK.

The UK R&D tax credit is fully refundable to the Company and is not dependent on current or future taxable income. As a result, the Company has recorded the entire benefit from the UK R&D tax credit as a benefit which is included in net loss before income tax and accordingly, not reflected as part of the income tax provision. If, in the future, any UK R&D tax credits generated are needed to offset a corporation tax liability in the UK, that portion would be recorded as a benefit within the income tax provision and any refundable portion not dependent on taxable income would continue to be recorded within other income, net.

For accounting periods starting on or after April 1, 2024, the SME and RDEC regimes have been merged, which will impact us for the first time from January 1, 2025. Under this new merged regime, for non-research intensive companies, the effective net credit will be 16.2% for in-house expenditure, and 10.5% for subcontracted expenditure (paid to unconnected subcontractors), but this merged regime will apply to both SME and large companies.

An enhanced rate of relief is available for research intensive companies, which is approximately 27.0% for qualifying expenditure and approximately 17.5% for qualifying subcontracted expenditure, but as well as meeting the R&D intensity condition, the Company must be a loss making SME.

The Company may not be able to continue to claim enhanced R&D tax credits under the research intensive regime in the future depending on its rate of growth such that it is no longer an SME or because of the profile of its expenditure. Having qualified as a research intensive company in the current year, even if the R&D expenditure threshold is not met in the subsequent year, while the company remains an SME and loss making, it will continue to be eligible for the enhanced rate unless it fails the test for a second consecutive year.

There is a cap on repayable credits to a multiple of payroll taxes (broadly, to a maximum payable credit equal to £20,000 plus three times the total PAYE and NICs liability of the company) subject to an exemption which prevents the cap from applying. That exemption requires the company to be creating, taking steps to create or managing intellectual property, as well as having qualifying R&D expenditure in respect of connected parties which does not exceed 15% of the total claimed. If the exemption does not apply, this could restrict the amount of payable credit that we claim. SME R&D reliefs (whether by way of additional deductions or payable tax credits) are also on a per project basis and each project is limited to a maximum cap of €7.5 million. From January 1, 2025, the cap will no longer be applicable.

Unsurrendered UK losses may be carried forward indefinitely to be offset against future taxable profits, subject to numerous utilization criteria and restrictions. The amount that can be offset each year is limited to £5.0 million plus an incremental 50% of UK taxable profits.

Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive loss includes net loss as well as other changes in shareholders’ equity that result from transactions and economic events other than those with shareholders. For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the only component of accumulated other comprehensive loss is foreign currency translation adjustment.

Net Loss per Share

The Company has reported losses since inception and has computed basic net loss per share attributable to ordinary shareholders by dividing net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted-average number of ordinary shares outstanding for the period, without consideration for potentially dilutive securities. The Company computes diluted net loss per ordinary share after giving consideration to all potentially dilutive ordinary shares, including unvested restricted shares, outstanding options and warrants. Because the Company has reported net losses since inception, these potential ordinary shares have been anti-dilutive and basic and diluted loss per share were the same for all periods presented.

Long-term Debt

On June 30, 2023, the Company entered into the Loan Agreement with Hercules. The Company assessed all terms and features of the Loan Agreement in order to identify any potential embedded features that would require bifurcation. As part of this analysis, the Company assessed the economic characteristics and risks of the debt. The Company determined that all features of the Loan Agreement are clearly and closely associated with a debt host and, as such, do not require separate accounting as a derivative liability.

Debt issuance costs consist of costs incurred in obtaining long-term financing. These costs are classified on the consolidated balance sheets as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the related debt liability. These expenses are deferred and amortized as part of interest expense in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss using the effective interest rate method over the term of the debt agreement.

Warrants

On June 30, 2023, the Company entered into a warrant agreement with Hercules. The Company assessed all terms and features of the Warrant Agreement in order to determine accounting classification of the warrants as equity or liability. As part of this analysis, the Company determined it appropriate to account for the warrants issued under the Loan Agreement as equity.

On August 18, 2023, in connection with the PIPE, the Company issued and sold PIPE Warrants to purchase up to 16,076,750 ADSs, each representing one ordinary share, at an exercise price of $9.93 per ADS. The PIPE Warrants are exercisable for a three year period beginning in February 2024. The Company assessed all terms and features of the PIPE Warrant Agreement in order to determine accounting classification of the warrants as equity or liability. As part of this analysis, the Company determined it appropriate to account for the PIPE Warrants as equity.

The Company measured warrants at inception at fair value using the Black-Scholes valuation model. Assumptions used in the warrant pricing model include the following:

Expected term. The expected term of the Hercules warrants is ten years. The expected term of the PIPE Warrants is three and a half years.

Risk-free interest rate. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the issuance for time periods that are approximately equal to the expected term of the warrant.

Expected dividend. Expected dividend yield of zero is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends on ordinary shares and does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, the Loan Agreement with Hercules currently prohibits, and any future debt financing arrangements may contain terms prohibiting or limiting the number of dividends that may be declared or paid on our ordinary shares.

Fair value of ordinary shares. The fair value of the warrants is determined by reference to the closing price of ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on the day of issuance.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09 - Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, designed to improve income tax disclosure requirements, primarily through increased disaggregation disclosures within the effective tax rate reconciliation as well as enhanced disclosures on income taxes paid. The guidance is effective for all fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The new standard can be adopted on a prospective basis with an option to be adopted retrospectively and early adoption is permitted. The Company is not early adopting the standard. We are currently evaluating this guidance to determine its impact on our consolidated financial statement disclosures.

In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03 - Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, designed to improve disclosures, primarily through increased expense disaggregation. The guidance is effective for all fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. The new standard can be adopted on a prospective basis with an option to be adopted retrospectively and early adoption is permitted. The Company is not early adopting the standard. We are currently evaluating this guidance to determine its impact on our consolidated financial statement disclosures.