Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Certain information and footnote disclosures included in the Company’s annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted. The year-end condensed balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (including normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation of the condensed consolidated financial statements have been included. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year.

Uses of Estimates in Preparation of Financial Statements

Uses of Estimates in Preparation of Financial Statements

The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management 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 revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

The Company considers all highly liquid instruments with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consist primarily of amounts invested in certificates of deposit.

Restricted cash consists of certificates of deposit held by financial institutions as collateral for the Company’s corporate credit cards.

The following table provides a reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the balance sheet that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the statement of cash flows (in thousands):


	September 30,		December 31,
	2017		2016
Cash and cash equivalents		5,416		12,906
Restricted cash		50		50

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash shown in the statement of cash flows		5,466		12,956

Research and Development Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development costs are charged to expense as incurred and relate to salaries, employee benefits, facility-related expenses, supplies, stock-based compensation related to employees and non-employees involved in the Company’s research and development, external services, other operating costs and overhead related to our research and development departments, costs to acquire technology licenses and expenses associated with preclinical activities and our clinical trials. Payments made by the Company in advance for research and development services not yet provided and/or for materials not yet received are recorded as prepaid expenses. Accrued liabilities are recorded related to those expenses for which vendors have not yet billed us with respect to services provided and/or materials that we have received.

Preclinical and clinical trial expenses relate to third-party services, subject-related fees at the sites where our clinical trials are being conducted, laboratory costs, analysis costs, toxicology studies and investigator fees. Costs associated with these expenses are generally payable on the passage of time or when certain milestones are achieved. Expense is recorded during the period incurred or in the period in which a milestone is achieved. In order to ensure that we have adequately provided for preclinical and clinical expenses during the proper period, we maintain an accrual to cover these expenses. These accruals are assessed on a quarterly basis and are based on such assumptions as expected total cost, the number of subjects and clinical trial sites and length of the study. Actual results may differ from these estimates and could have a material impact on our reported results. Our historical accrual estimates have not been materially different from our actual costs.

Stock-based Compensation

Stock-based Compensation

The Company follows the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 718, “Compensation — Stock Compensation” (“ASC 718”), which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for all stock-based payment awards made to employees, officers and non-employee directors, including stock options. Stock compensation expense based on the grant date fair value estimated in accordance with the provisions of ASC 718 is recognized as an expense over the requisite service period.

For stock options granted as consideration for services rendered by non-employees, the Company recognizes compensation expense in accordance with the requirements of FASB ASC Topic 505-50, “Equity Based Payments to Non-Employees.” Non-employee option grants that do not vest immediately upon grant are recorded as an expense over the requisite service period of the underlying stock options. At the end of each financial reporting period prior to vesting, the value of these options, as calculated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, will be re-measured using the fair value of the Company’s common stock and the non-cash compensation recognized during the period will be adjusted accordingly. Since the fair market value of options granted to non-employees is subject to change in the future, the amount of the future compensation expense will include fair value re-measurements until the stock options are fully vested.

Comprehensive Loss

Comprehensive Loss

The Company’s comprehensive loss is equal to its net loss for all periods presented.

Net Loss per Share

Net Loss per Share

The Company accounts for and discloses net loss per share in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 260, “Earnings per Share.” Basic and diluted net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per share is computed by dividing the Company’s net earnings by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding and the impact of all dilutive potential common shares.