Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. Any reference in these notes to applicable guidance is meant to refer to GAAP as found in the Accounting Standards Codification and Accounting Standards Updates of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the Company to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period.

On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates using historical experience and other factors, including the current economic environment. Significant items subject to such estimates are assumptions used for purposes of determining stock-based compensation and accounting for research and development activities. Management believes its estimates to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimates.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The carrying amounts of the Company's financial instruments, including cash equivalents and accounts payable approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of those instruments.

Concentration Risk, Credit Risk, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash on deposit with multiple financial institutions, the balances of which frequently exceed federally insured limits.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers any highly liquid investments, such as money market funds, with an original maturity of

three

months or less to be cash and cash equivalents.

Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Property and Equipment

The Company records property and equipment at cost less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Costs of renewals and improvements that extend the useful lives of the assets are capitalized. Maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Depreciation is recognized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which generally range from

2

to

15

years. The Company amortizes leasehold improvements over the shorter of the estimated useful life of the asset or the term of the related lease. Upon retirement or disposition of assets, the costs and related accumulated depreciation and amortization are removed from the accounts with the resulting gains or losses, if any, reflected in results of operations.

Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets are reviewed for potential impairment whenever events indicate that the carrying amount of such assets

may

not

be recoverable. The Company does this by comparing the carrying value of the long-lived assets with the estimated future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets, including cash flows from disposition. If it is determined an impairment exists, the asset is written down to its estimated fair value. The Company has

not

recognized any impairment of long-lived assets during the years ended

December 31, 2020

and

2019.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Intangible Asset

The Company has an indefinite-lived IPR&D asset, DFN-

529,

which has a balance of

$8.6

million at both

December 31, 2020

and

December 31, 2019.

DFN-

529

is a

PI3K/Akt/mTOR

pathway inhibitor in preclinical development for oncology.

Intangible assets deemed to have indefinite lives are

not

amortized but rather are assessed for impairment annually on

October 1

of the Company's fiscal year or more frequently if impairment indicators exist. There was

no

impairment to the Company's DFN-

529

intangible asset recognized during the years ended

December 31, 2020

and

2019.

Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Research and Development

Major components of research and development costs include internal research and development (such as salaries and related employee benefits, equity-based compensation, supplies and allocated facility costs) and contracted services (research and development activities performed on the Company's behalf). Costs incurred for research and development are expensed as incurred.

At the end of the reporting period, the Company compares payments made to

third

-party service providers to the estimated progress toward completion of the research or development objectives. Such estimates are subject to change as additional information becomes available. Depending on the timing of payments to the service providers and the progress that the Company estimates has been made as a result of the services provided, the Company

may

record net prepaid or accrued expenses relating to these costs.

Upfront payments made to

third

parties who perform research and development services on the Company's behalf are expensed as services are rendered.

Legal Costs, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Patent Costs

Patent costs, including related legal costs, are expensed as incurred and are recorded within general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income Taxes

As a corporation, the Company uses the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the estimated future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and operating loss and credit carryforwards. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than 

not

 that some portion or all of a deferred tax asset will 

not

 be realized. The Company recognizes the benefit of an uncertain tax position that it has taken or expects to take on its income tax return it files, if such a position is more likely than 

not

 to be sustained.

ASC

740

-

10

defines the criterion an individual tax position must meet for any part of the benefit of the tax position to be recognized in financial statements prepared in conformity with GAAP. The Company

may

recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than

not

such tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based solely on the technical merits of the respective tax position. The tax benefits recognized in the financial statements from such a tax position should be measured based on the largest benefit having a greater than

50.0%

likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the tax authority. In accordance with the disclosure requirements of ASC

740

-

10,

the Company's policy on income statement classification of interest and penalties related to income tax obligations is to include such items as part of total interest expense and other expense, respectively.

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Policy Text Block]

Stock-based Compensation

The Company measures stock-based awards at grant-date fair value and records compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the vesting period of the award. The Company uses the Black-Scholes Model to value its stock option awards. Estimating the fair value of stock option awards requires management to apply judgment and make estimates, including the volatility of the Company's common stock, the expected term of the Company's stock options, the expected dividend yield and the fair value of the Company's common stock on the measurement date. As a result, if factors change and management uses different assumptions, stock-based compensation expense could be materially different for future awards.

For certain stock option grants, the expected term was estimated using the “simplified method” for employee options as the Company has limited historical information to develop reasonable expectations about future exercise patterns and post vesting employment termination behavior for its stock option grants. The simplified method is based on the average of the vesting tranches and the contractual life of each grant. During the year ended

December 31, 2020,

it became apparent that the expected term of the Company's stock options was commensurate with the contractual life (i.e.

10

years) of the stock option and therefore the Company began to use the contractual life as the expected term.

For stock price volatility, the Company uses a combination of their own historical stock price and comparable public companies as a basis for its expected volatility to calculate the fair value of option grants. The Company assumes

no

dividend yield because dividends are

not

expected to be paid in the near future, which is consistent with the Company's history of

not

paying dividends. The risk-free interest rate is based on U.S. Treasury notes with a term approximating the expected life of the option. The Company accounts for forfeitures in the periods they occur.

Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Net Loss Per Common Share

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each period. Diluted net loss per share includes the effect, if any, from the potential exercise or conversion of securities, such as convertible debt, convertible preferred stock, common stock warrants, stock options and unvested restricted stock that would result in the issuance of incremental shares of common stock. In computing the basic and diluted net loss per share applicable to common stockholders, the weighted average number of shares remains the same for both calculations due to the fact that when a net loss exists, dilutive shares are

not

included in the calculation as the impact is anti-dilutive.

The following potentially dilutive securities outstanding have been excluded from the computation of diluted weighted average shares outstanding, as they would be anti-dilutive:

	December 31,
	2020		2019
Common stock warrants		9,100,112		22,385,141
Stock options		2,240,204		309,276
		11,340,316		22,694,417

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Recently Issued But

Not

Yet Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In

December 2019,

the FASB issued ASU

No.

2019

-

12,

Income Taxes (Topic

740

):

Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes

. This guidance applies to all entities and aims to reduce the complexity of tax accounting standards while enhancing reporting disclosures. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after

December 15, 2020

and interim periods therein. Early adoption is permitted for any annual periods for which financial statements have

not

been issued and interim periods therein. The Company is currently analyzing the impact of ASU

No.

2019

-

12

on the consolidated financial statements.         

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

In

August 2018,

the FASB issued ASU

2018

-

03,

Disclosure Framework- Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurements,

which changes the fair value measurement disclosure requirements of ASC

820.

The goal of the ASU is to improve the effectiveness of ASC

820's

disclosure requirements. The Company adopted this standard in

January 2020

and the adoption did

not

have a material impact on its related disclosures.