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Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

1. Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The Company

Viking Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation, together with its subsidiary (the “Company”), is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. In June of 2021, the Company formed an Australian subsidiary, Viking Therapeutics, PTY LTD, so as to be able to take advantage of certain research and development reimbursements available to local Australian based research and development companies that choose to do research in Australia.

The Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on September 24, 2012 and its principal executive offices are located in San Diego, California, with a subsidiary located in Adelaide, Australia.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The accompanying consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2024, consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, and consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 are unaudited. These unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. These consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes for the year ended December 31, 2023 contained in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company with the SEC on February 7, 2024. The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary to state fairly the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2024, the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the unaudited consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 and the unaudited consolidated statements of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The December 31, 2023 consolidated balance sheet included herein was derived from the audited consolidated financial statements, but it does not include all disclosures or notes required by GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements.

The financial data and other information disclosed in these notes to the consolidated financial statements related to the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 are unaudited. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for an entire year.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Significant estimates made in preparing these consolidated financial statements relate to accounting for an operating lease and certain commitments. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less from the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Investments Available-for-Sale

Available-for-sale securities are carried at fair value, with the unrealized gains and losses reported in accumulated other comprehensive loss. The amortized cost of debt securities is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. The amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts is included in interest income. Realized gains and losses and declines in value judged to be other-than-temporary, if any, on available-for-sale securities are included in other income (expense). The cost of securities sold is based on the specific identification method. Interest and dividends on securities classified as available-for-sale are included in interest income.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk, consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities. The Company maintains deposits in federally insured depository institutions in excess of federally insured limits. Management believes that the Company is not exposed to significant credit risk due to the financial position of the depository institutions in which those deposits are held. Additionally, the Company has established guidelines regarding approved investments and maturities of investments, which are designed to maintain safety and liquidity.

Prepaid Clinical Trial and Preclinical Study Costs

Prepaid clinical trial and preclinical study costs represent advance payments by the Company for future clinical trial and preclinical study services to be performed by the clinical research organization and other research organizations. Such amounts are recognized as research and development expense as the related clinical trial and preclinical study services are performed.

Leases

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception. Operating leases are included in right-of-use (“ROU”) assets, and lease liability obligations are included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. ROU assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and lease liability obligations represent its obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As the Company’s leases typically do not provide an implicit rate, the Company estimates its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. The Company uses the implicit rate when readily determinable. The ROU asset also includes any lease payments made and excludes lease incentives and lease direct costs. The Company’s lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Please refer to Note 4 for additional information.

Deferred Financing Costs

Deferred financing costs represent legal, accounting and other direct costs related to the Company’s efforts to raise capital through a public or private sale of the Company’s common stock. Costs related to the public sale of the Company’s common stock are deferred until the completion of the applicable offering, at which time such costs are reclassified to additional paid-in-capital as a reduction of the proceeds. Costs related to the private sale of the Company’s common stock are deferred until the completion of the applicable offering, at which time such costs are amortized over the term of the applicable purchase agreement.

Revenue Recognition

The Company has not recorded any revenues since its inception. However, in the future, the Company may enter into collaborative research and licensing agreements, under which the Company could be eligible for payments made in the form of upfront license fees, research funding, cost reimbursement, contingent event-based payments and/or royalties.

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers and all related amendments (“ASC 606” or “the revenue standard”). ASC 606 is a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The revenue standard is based on the principle that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve this core principle, ASC 606 provides that an entity should apply the following steps: (1) identify the contract(s) with a customer, (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract, (3) determine the transaction price, (4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract and (5) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. The revenue standard also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, and costs to obtain or fulfill contracts. The Company will apply ASC 606 prospectively to all contracts.

Research and Development Expenses

All costs of research and development are expensed in the period incurred. Research and development costs primarily consist of fees paid to contract research organizations (“CROs”) and clinical trial sites, employee and consultant related expenses, which include salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation for research and development personnel, external research and development expenses incurred pursuant to agreements with third-party manufacturing organizations, facilities costs, travel costs, dues and subscriptions, depreciation and materials used in preclinical studies, clinical trials and research and development.

The Company estimates its preclinical study and clinical trial expenses based on the services it received pursuant to contracts with research institutions and CROs that conduct and manage preclinical studies and clinical trials on the Company’s behalf. Clinical trial-related contracts vary significantly in length, and may be for a fixed amount based on milestones or deliverables, a variable amount based on actual costs incurred, capped at a certain limit, or a combination of these elements. The Company accrues service fees based on work performed, which relies on estimates of total costs incurred based on milestones achieved, patient enrollment and other events. The majority of the Company’s service providers invoice the Company in arrears, and to the extent that amounts invoiced differ from its estimates of expenses incurred, the Company accrues for additional costs. The financial terms of these agreements vary from contract to contract and may result in uneven expenses and payment flows. Preclinical study and clinical trial expenses include:

fees paid to CROs, consultants and laboratories in connection with preclinical studies;
fees paid to CROs, clinical trial sites, investigators and consultants in connection with clinical trials; and
fees paid to contract manufacturers and service providers in connection with the production, testing and packaging of active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug materials for preclinical studies and clinical trials.

Payments under some of these agreements depend on factors such as the milestones accomplished, including enrollment of certain numbers of patients, site initiation and the completion of clinical trial milestones. To date, the Company has not experienced any events requiring it to make material adjustments to its accruals for service fees. If the Company does not identify costs that it has begun to incur or if it underestimates or overestimates the level of services performed or the costs of these services, its actual expenses could differ from its estimates, which could materially affect its results of operations. Adjustments to the Company’s accruals are recorded as changes in estimates become evident. Furthermore, based on amounts invoiced to the Company by its service providers, the Company may also record payments made to those providers as prepaid expenses that will be recognized as expense in future periods as services are rendered.

Related to the Company’s Australian subsidiary, Viking Therapeutics, PTY LTD, the Company is eligible, and has received, under the AusIndustry Research and Tax Development Tax Incentive Program, an amount of cash from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The tax incentive is available to the Company on the basis of specific criteria with which the Company must comply related to research and development expenditures in Australia. As there is no specific GAAP guidance related to how to record this research and development tax incentive, the Company looked to International Accounting Standard (IAS) 20 and determined that it will recognize these research and development tax incentives as contra research and development expense once received. The amounts are determined based on a cost-reimbursement basis, and the incentive is related to the Company’s research and development expenditures and is due regardless of whether any Australian tax is owed.

Patent Costs

Costs related to filing and pursuing patent applications are expensed as incurred to general and administrative expense, as recoverability of such expenditures is uncertain.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company generally uses the straight-line method to allocate compensation cost to reporting periods over each optionee’s requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period, and estimates the fair value of stock-based awards or restricted stock units to employees and directors using the Black-Scholes option-valuation model (the “Black-Scholes model”). The Black-Scholes model requires the input of subjective assumptions, including volatility, the expected term and the fair value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant, among other inputs. For restricted stock and restricted stock unit awards, the Company generally uses the straight-line method to allocate compensation cost to reporting periods over the holder’s requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period, and uses the fair value at grant date to value the awards. For restricted stock that vests upon the satisfaction of certain performance conditions, the Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense when it becomes probable that the performance conditions will be met. At the grant date, the Company determines the grant date fair value, as a publicly traded company, using the intrinsic value, or the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. At the point where the criteria are deemed probable of being met, the Company records stock-based compensation with a cumulative catch-up expense in the period first recognized and then on a straight-line basis over the remaining period for which the performance criteria are expected to be completed.

For the Company’s 2014 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), the Company generally recognizes compensation expense for the fair value of the purchase options, as measured on the grant date, and uses the graded vesting method to allocate this compensation cost to each purchase period within the related two-year offering period. As the ESPP also allows for up to one increase in contributions during each purchase period, as an employee elects to increase his or her contributions, the Company treats this as an accounting modification. The pre- and post-modification values are calculated on the date of the modification, and the incremental expense is then amortized over the remaining purchase periods.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for its income taxes using the liability method whereby deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the basis used for financial reporting and income tax reporting purposes. Deferred income taxes are provided based on the enacted tax rates in effect at the time such temporary differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is provided for deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize those tax assets through future operations.

FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 740-10, Income Taxes, clarifies the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. Income tax positions must meet a more-likely-than-not recognition threshold to be recognized. Income tax positions that previously failed to meet the more-likely-than-not threshold are recognized in the first subsequent financial reporting period in which that threshold is met. Previously recognized tax positions that no longer meet the more-likely-than-not threshold are derecognized in the first subsequent financial reporting period in which that threshold is no longer met.

The Company’s policy is to recognize interest and penalties accrued on any unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense.

Foreign Currency

The financial statements of the Company’s foreign subsidiary whose functional currency is the local currency are translated into U.S. dollars for consolidation as follows: assets and liabilities at the exchange rate as of the balance sheet date, stockholders’ equity at the historical rates of exchange, and income and expense amounts at the average exchange rate for the period. Translation adjustments resulting from the translation of the subsidiaries’ accounts are included in “Accumulated other comprehensive loss” as equity in the consolidated balance sheet. Transactions denominated in currencies other than the applicable functional currency are converted to the functional currency at the exchange rate on the transaction date. At period end, monetary assets and liabilities are remeasured to the functional currency using exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Non-monetary assets and liabilities are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Gains and losses resulting from foreign currency transactions are included within “Total other income, net” in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss. For the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, foreign currency transaction loss amounted to $85,000 and $17,000, respectively.

Comprehensive Loss

The Company’s comprehensive loss consists of net loss and foreign currency translation adjustments arising from the consolidation of the Company’s foreign subsidiary.

Net Loss per Common Share

Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period, without consideration for common stock equivalents. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common share equivalents outstanding for the period determined using the treasury-stock method. For purposes of this calculation, the Company currently does not have any deemed common share equivalents; therefore, its basic and diluted net loss per share calculations are the same.

The following table presents the computation of basic and diluted net loss per common share (in thousands, except share and per share data):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended March 31,

 

 

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

 

Numerator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(27,356

)

 

$

(19,531

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denominator:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted-average common shares outstanding

 

 

103,640,400

 

 

 

78,534,921

 

 

Less: Weighted-average shares subject to repurchase

 

 

(183,095

)

 

 

(183,095

)

 

Denominator for basic and diluted net loss per share

 

 

103,457,305

 

 

 

78,351,826

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss per share:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basic and diluted

 

$

(0.26

)

 

$

(0.25

)

 

 

Potentially dilutive securities that are not included in the calculation of diluted net loss per share because their effect is anti-dilutive are as follows (in common equivalent shares):

 

 

 

As of March 31,

 

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

Restricted stock units

 

 

2,829,187

 

 

 

2,701,987

 

Common stock subject to repurchase

 

 

183,095

 

 

 

183,095

 

Common stock options

 

 

5,516,193

 

 

 

5,761,977

 

 

 

 

8,528,475

 

 

 

8,647,059

 

 

Segments

The Company operates in only one segment. Management uses cash flows as the primary measure to manage its business and does not segment its business for internal reporting or decision-making purposes.