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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of presentation and going concern - The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. Since inception, the Company has been engaged in research and development activities and has not generated any cash flows from operations. Through September 30, 2016, the Company has incurred accumulated losses of $89,898,481 and as of September 30, 2016, the Company had $15,297,823 of cash. The Company believes that it will not have enough cash resources to fund the business for the next 12 months. Successful completion of the Company’s research and development activities, and its transition to attaining profitable operations, is dependent upon obtaining additional financing. Additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. If the Company issues additional equity securities to raise funds, the ownership percentage of existing stockholders would be reduced. New investors may demand rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of existing holders of common stock. If the Company cannot raise funds, it might be forced to make substantial reductions in the on-going clinical trials, thereby damaging the Company's reputation in the biotech and medical communities, which could adversely affect the Company’s ability to implement its business plan and its viability. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. These consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustment that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
The Company plans to improve its liquidity by obtaining additional financing through the issuance of financial instruments such as equity and warrants or through the receipt of grants and awards.
Principles of Consolidation - The condensed consolidated balance sheets include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. The consolidated statements of operations include the Company’s accounts and the accounts of its subsidiaries from the date of acquisition. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.
Cash and cash equivalents – The Company considers all highly liquid instruments with an original maturity of 90 days or less at acquisition to be cash equivalents. As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had $7,457,067 and $21,818,229, respectively, of certificates of deposit. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents with various banks in order to maintain FDIC insurance on all of its investments.
Supplies for clinical trials - Supplies are stated at the lower of cost or market, with cost determined by the first-in, first-out basis and consist of items that will be used in the Company’s ongoing clinical trials.  Management analyzes historical and prospective usage to estimate obsolescence and did not record any reserve for obsolescence during the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2016. Additionally, management has estimated supply usage in the next twelve months to determine the balance sheet classification between current and non-current.
Property and Equipment – Property and equipment are stated at cost and depreciated using the straight-line method based on the estimated useful lives (generally three to five years) of the related assets. Computer and computer equipment are depreciated over three years. Management continuously monitors and evaluates the realizability of recorded long-lived assets to determine whether their carrying values have been impaired. The Company records impairment losses on long-lived assets used in operations when events and circumstances indicate that the assets might be impaired and the nondiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by those assets are less than the carrying amount of those assets. Any impairment loss is measured by comparing the fair value of the asset to its carrying amount. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.
Research and Development Costs – Research and development expenses consist of costs incurred for direct research and development and are expensed as incurred.
Stock Based Compensation – The Company records the cost for all share-based payment transactions in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Stock option grants issued to employees and officers and directors were valued using the Black-Scholes pricing model.
Fair value was estimated at the date of grant using the following weighted average grant date assumptions:
 
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2016
 
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2015
Risk-free interest rate
1.3
%
 
1.8
%
Expected dividend yield
None

 
None

Expected life
6.0 years

 
6.5 years

Expected volatility
82.7
%
 
93.8
%
Expected forfeitures
%
 
%

The risk-free interest rate used is based on the implied yield currently available in U.S. Treasury securities at maturity with an equivalent term. The Company has not declared or paid any dividends and does not currently expect to do so in the future. The expected term of options represents the period that our stock-based awards are expected to be outstanding and was determined based on projected holding periods for the remaining unexercised options. Consideration was given to the contractual terms of our stock-based awards, vesting schedules and expectations of future employee behavior. The expected volatility is based upon the historical volatility of the Company’s common stock. Forfeitures are accounted for when they occur.
The Company’s stock price volatility and option lives involve management’s best estimates, both of which impact the fair value of the option calculated and, ultimately, the expense that will be recognized over the life of the option.
When options are exercised, our policy is to issue reserved but previously unissued shares of common stock to satisfy share option exercises. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had 21,855,320 shares of authorized and unreserved common stock.
No tax benefits were attributed to the stock-based compensation expense because a valuation allowance was maintained for all net deferred tax assets.
Income Taxes The Company accounts for federal and state income taxes under the liability method, with a deferred tax asset or liability determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities, as measured by the enacted tax rates. The Company’s provision for income taxes represents the amount of taxes currently payable, if any, plus the change in the amount of net deferred tax assets or liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided against net deferred tax assets if recoverability is uncertain on a more likely than not basis. As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company fully reserved its deferred tax assets. The Company recognizes in its financial statements the impact of an uncertain tax position if the position will more likely than not be sustained upon examination by a taxing authority, based on the technical merits of the position. The Company’s policy is to recognize interest related to unrecognized tax benefits as interest expense and penalties as operating expenses. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had no unrecognized tax benefits and as such, no liability, interest or penalties were required to be recorded.  The Company does not expect this to change significantly in the next twelve months.  The Company has determined that its main taxing jurisdictions are the United States of America and the State of California.  The Company is not currently under examination by any taxing authority nor has it been notified of a pending examination. The Company’s tax returns are generally no longer subject to examination for the years before December 31, 2010 for the state and December 31, 2011 for the federal taxing authority.
During 2014, the Company licensed the non-U.S. rights to a significant portion of its intellectual property to its Bermuda-based subsidiary for approximately $11.0 million. The fair value of the intellectual property rights was determined by an independent third party. The proceeds from this sale represented a gain for U.S. tax purposes and were offset by current year losses and net operating loss carryforwards. However, the Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, or the California Franchise Tax Board, or the CFTB, could challenge the valuation of the intellectual property rights and assess a greater valuation, which would require the Company to utilize a larger portion, or all, of its available net operating losses. If an IRS or a CFTB valuation exceeds the available net operating losses, the Company would incur additional income taxes. The Company’s ability to use its net operating losses is subject to the limitations of IRS Section 382, as well as expiration of federal and state net operating loss carryforwards.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments – The carrying amounts reported in the balance sheets for cash, cash equivalents, and accounts payable approximate their fair values due to their quick turnover. The fair value of warrant derivative liability is estimated using the Binomial Lattice option valuation model for warrants that not publicly traded. The Company determines the warrant derivative liability of its publicly traded warrants based upon the last trading price as of the balance sheet date.
Fair value for financial reporting 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.  The Company utilizes a fair value hierarchy which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value are as follows:
Level 1—quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities
Level 2—quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or inputs that are observable
Level 3—inputs that are unobservable (for example cash flow modeling inputs based on assumptions)
Warrant liabilities represent the only financial assets or liabilities recorded at fair value by the Company. The fair value of warrant liabilities is based on Level 1 or Level 3 inputs.
Use of Estimates – The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions about the future outcome of current transactions which may affect the reporting and disclosure of these transactions. Accordingly, actual results could differ from those estimates used in the preparation of these consolidated financial statements.
Reclassification - Certain prior year amounts included in the prior year consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.
The following critical accounting policies affect the Company’s more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of these consolidated financial statements:
Stock-Based Compensation - Stock-based compensation expense is estimated as of the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which generally equals the vesting period, based on the number of awards that are expected to vest. Estimating the fair value for stock options requires judgment, including the expected term of the Company’s stock options, volatility of the Company’s stock, expected dividends, risk-free interest rates over the expected term of the options and the expected forfeiture rate. In connection with performance based programs, the Company makes assumptions principally related to the number of awards that are expected to vest after assessing the probability that certain performance criteria will be met.
Warrant Liability - The fair value of the Company's derivative warrants that are not traded on the NYSE MKT is estimated using the Binomial Lattice option valuation model.  The use of the Binomial Lattice option valuation model requires estimates including the volatility of the Company’s stock, risk-free rates over the expected term of warrants and early exercise of the warrants. The Company determines the warrant derivative liability of its publicly traded warrants based upon the last trading price as of the balance sheet date.
Basic and Diluted Loss per Common Share – Basic and diluted loss per common share are computed based on the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Common share equivalents (which consist of options and warrants) are excluded from the computation, since the effect would be antidilutive. Common share equivalents which could potentially dilute earnings per share, and which were excluded from the computation of diluted loss per share, totaled 76,688,998 shares and 38,890,839 shares at September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15, which applies to entities that have substantial doubt about their ability to continue as a going concern.  This update requires management to assess the probability about the entity’s ability to remain as a going concern for a period of one year from the date the financial statements are ready to be issued.  Depending on management’s conclusions about the entity’s ability to remain as a going concern, the entity must make certain disclosures in its financial statements.  This ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016.  The adoption of this ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, which requires lessees to recognize in the balance sheets, a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term (the lease asset). For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. The adoption of this ASU is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, finance condition or liquidity.
In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, which simplifies some of the rules relating to the accounting for stock options. Among other items, this update permits entities to account for stock option forfeitures when they occur unlike the current practice that requires estimation of forfeitures at the time off issuance. This ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and early adoption is permitted. The Company has adopted this ASU, which has not had a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.
Other recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB (including its Emerging Issues Task Force) and the Securities and Exchange Commission did not or are not believed by management to have a material impact on the Company’s present or future consolidated financial statements.