Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Principles of Consolidation

All inter-company transactions and accounts have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Such estimates and assumptions impact, among others, the following: the estimated useful lives for property and equipment, fair value of warrants and stock options granted for services or compensation, respectively, estimates of the probability and potential magnitude of contingent liabilities, and the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets due to continuing and expected future operating losses.

Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of consolidated financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events. Accordingly, actual results could differ from those estimates.

Noncontrolling Interest [Policy Text Block]

Non-controlling Interest

The Company’s non-controlling interest represents the minority shareholder’s ownership interest related to the Company’s subsidiary, SYN Biomics. The Company reports its non-controlling interest in subsidiaries as a separate component of equity in the Consolidated Balance Sheets and reports both net loss attributable to the non-controlling interest and net loss attributable to the Company’s common shareholders on the face of the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company’s equity interest in SYN Biomics is 88.5% and the non-controlling stockholder’s interest is 11.5%. This is reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Equity.

Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Revenue Recognition

The Company records revenue when all of the following have occurred: (1) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (2) the service is completed without further obligation, (3) the sales price to the customer is fixed or determinable, and (4) collectability is reasonably assured. The Company recognizes milestone payments or upfront payments that have no contingencies as revenue when payment is received. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 the Company did not report any revenues.

License Revenues

The Company’s licensing agreements may contain multiple elements, such as non-refundable up-front fees, payments related to the achievement of particular milestones and royalties. Fees associated with substantive at risk performance-based milestones are recognized as revenue upon completion of the scientific or regulatory event specified in the agreement. When the Company has substantive continuing performance obligations under an arrangement, revenue is recognized over the performance period of the obligations using a time-based proportional performance approach. Under the time-based method, revenue is recognized over the arrangement’s estimated performance period based on the elapsed time compared to the total estimated performance period. Revenue recognized at any point in time is limited to the amount of non-contingent payments received or due. When the Company has no substantive continuing performance obligations under an arrangement, it recognizes revenue as the related fees become due.

Revenues from royalties on third-party sales of licensed technologies are generally recognized in accordance with the contract terms when the royalties can be reliably determined and collectability is reasonably assured. To date, the Company has not received any royalty revenues.

Risks And Uncertainties [Policy Text Block]

Risks and Uncertainties

The Company’s operations could be subject to significant risks and uncertainties including financial, operational and regulatory risks and the potential risk of business failure. The global economic crisis has caused a general tightening in the credit markets, lower levels of liquidity, increases in the rates of default and bankruptcy, and extreme volatility in credit, equity and fixed income markets. These conditions may not only limit the Company’s access to capital, but also make it difficult for its customers, its vendors and its ability to accurately forecast and plan future business activities.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash and highly liquid short-term investments with original maturities of three months or less.

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

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment is recorded at cost and depreciated or amortized using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the asset or the underlying lease term for leasehold improvements, whichever is shorter. The estimated useful life by asset description is noted in the following table.

Asset Description		Estimated Useful Life
Office equipment and furniture		3 – 5 years
Manufacturing equipment		10 years
Leasehold improvements and fixtures		Lesser of estimated useful life or lease term

Depreciation and amortization expense was approximately $157,000, $72,000 and $20,000 for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. When assets are disposed of, the cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts. Repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred.

The Company reviews property and equipment for impairment to determine if assets are impaired due to obsolescence. As a result of this review, there was no impairment recognized for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

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

Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. If such an event or change in circumstances occurs and potential impairment is indicated because the carrying values exceed the estimated future undiscounted cash flows of the asset, the Company will measure the impairment loss as the amount by which the carrying value of the asset exceeds its fair value.

Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Loss per Share

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding including the effect of common share equivalents. Diluted net loss per share assumes the issuance of potential dilutive common shares outstanding for the period and adjusts for any changes in income and the repurchase of common shares that would have occurred from the assumed issuance, unless such effect is anti-dilutive. The number of options and warrants for the purchase of common stock that were excluded from the computations of net loss per common share for the year ended December 31, 2016 were 11,636,227 and 57,341,642, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2015 were 8,941,930 and 7,908,899, respectively, and for the year ended December 31, 2014 were 5,981,106 and 7,974,794, respectively.

Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Research and Development Costs

The Company expenses research and development costs associated with developmental products not yet approved by the FDA to research and development expense as incurred. Research and development costs consist primarily of license fees (including upfront payments), milestone payments, manufacturing costs, salaries, stock-based compensation and related employee costs, fees paid to consultants and outside service providers for laboratory development, legal expenses resulting from intellectual property prosecution and other expenses relating to the design, development, testing and enhancement of our product candidates. Research and development expenses include external contract research organization (“CRO”) services. The Company makes payments to the CROs based on agreed upon terms and may include payments in advance of study services. The Company reviews and accrues CRO expenses based on services performed and rely on estimates of those costs applicable to the stage of completion of a study as provided by the CRO. Accrued CRO costs are subject to revisions as such studies progress to completion. The Company has accrued CRO expenses of $1.1 million and $2.2 million that are included in accounts payable and accrued expenses at December 31, 2016 and 2015. The Company has prepaid CRO costs of $1.7 million and $8.3 at December 31, 2016 and 2015.

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

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The fair value accounting standards define fair value as the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants. As such, fair value is determined based upon assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability. Fair value measurements are rated on a three-tier hierarchy as follows:

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Level 1 inputs: Quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets;

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Level 2 inputs: Inputs, other than quoted prices, included in Level 1 that are observable either directly or indirectly; and

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Level 3 inputs: Unobservable inputs for which there is little or no market data, which require the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions.

In many cases, a valuation technique used to measure fair value includes inputs from multiple levels of the fair value hierarchy described above. The lowest level of significant input determines the placement of the entire fair value measurement in the hierarchy.

The carrying amounts of the Company’s short-term financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, other current assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate fair value due to the relatively short period to maturity for these instruments.

Cash and cash equivalents include money market accounts of $1.7 million and $5.3 million as of December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively, that are measured using Level 1 inputs.

The warrants issued in conjunction with the registered direct offering in October 2014 include a provision, that if the Company were to enter into a certain transaction, as defined in the agreement, the warrants would be purchased from the holder at a premium. The warrants issued in conjunction with the public offering of the Company’s securities in November 2016 include a provision, that if the Company were to enter into a certain transaction, as defined in the warrant agreement, the warrants would be purchased from the holder for cash. Accordingly, the Company recorded the warrants as liabilities at their fair value upon issuance and re-measures the fair value at each period end with the change in fair value recorded in the Statement of Operations. The Company uses the Monte Carlo simulation options pricing model to estimate the fair value of the warrants. In using this model, the fair value is determined by applying Level 3 inputs for which there is little or no observable market data, requiring the Company to develop its own assumptions. The assumptions used in calculating the estimated fair value of the warrants represent the Company’s best estimates; however, these estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors change and different assumptions are used, the warrant liability and the change in estimated fair value could be materially different.

Stock Based Payment Arrangements [Policy Text Block]

Stock-Based Payment Arrangements

Generally, all forms of stock-based payments, including stock option grants, warrants, restricted stock grants and stock appreciation rights are measured at their fair value on the awards’ grant date typically using a Black-Scholes pricing model, based on the estimated number of awards that are ultimately expected to vest. Stock-based compensation awards issued to non-employees for services rendered are recorded at either the fair value of the services rendered or the fair value of the stock-based payment, whichever is more readily determinable and are re-measured over the corresponding vesting period. The expense resulting from stock-based payments is recorded in research and development expense or general and administrative expense in the Consolidated Statement of Operations, depending on the nature of the services provided.

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Derivative Instruments

The warrants issued in conjunction with the registered direct offering in October 2014 include a provision, that if the Company were to enter into a certain transaction, as defined in the agreement, the warrants would be purchased from the holder at a premium. The warrants issued in conjunction with the public offering of the Company’s securities in November 2016 include a provision, that if the Company were to enter into a certain transaction, as defined in the warrant agreement, the warrants would be purchased from the holder for cash. The provisions of these warrants preclude equity accounting treatment under ASC 815. Accordingly, the Company is required to record the warrants as liabilities at their fair value upon issuance and re-measure the fair value at each period end with the change in fair value recorded in the Statement of Operations. When the warrants are exercised or cancelled, they are reclassified to equity. The Company uses the Monte Carlo simulation options pricing model to estimate the fair value of the warrants.

Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Income Taxes

The Company recognizes deferred tax liabilities and assets based on the differences between the financial statement carrying amounts and the tax bases of assets and liabilities, using enacted tax rates in effect in the years the differences are expected to reverse. Deferred income tax benefit (expense) results from the change in net deferred tax assets or deferred tax liabilities. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is more likely than not that some or all deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Management assesses the need to accrue or disclose uncertain tax positions for proposed potential adjustments from various federal and state authorities who regularly audit the Company in the normal course of business. In making these assessments, management must often analyze complex tax laws of multiple jurisdictions. The Company records the related interest expense and penalties, if any, as tax expense in the tax provision. At December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, the Company did not record any liabilities for uncertain tax positions.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements and Developments

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15 to clarify whether the following items should be categorized as operating, investing or financing in the statement of cash flows: (i) debt prepayments and extinguishment costs, (ii) settlement of zero-coupon debt, (iii) settlement of contingent consideration, (iv) insurance proceeds, (v) settlement of corporate-owned life insurance (COLI) and bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) policies, (vi) distributions from equity method investees, (vii) beneficial interests in securitization transactions, and (viii) receipts and payments with aspects of more than one class of cash flows. Accordingly, ASU No. 2016-015 is effective for public business entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, No. 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718), which is part of the FASB's Simplification Initiative. The updated guidance simplifies the accounting for share-based payment transactions. The amended guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) , which establishes a new lease accounting model for lessees. The updated guidance requires an entity to recognize assets and liabilities arising from a lease for both financing and operating leases, along with additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures. The amended guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this standard on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers , to provide guidance on revenue recognition. ASU No. 2014-09 requires a company to recognize revenue when it transfers promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In doing so, companies will need to use more judgment and make more estimates than under today’s guidance. These may include identifying performance obligations in the contract, estimating the amount of variable consideration to include in the transaction price and allocating the transaction price to each separate performance obligation. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-14, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date , which provided for the adoption of the new standard for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017. Accordingly, ASU No. 2014-09 is effective for the Company in the first quarter of 2018. Early adoption up to the first quarter of 2017 is permitted. Upon adoption, ASU No. 2014-09 can be applied retrospectively to all periods presented or only to the most current period presented with the cumulative effect of changes reflected in the opening balance of retained earnings in the most current period presented. The FASB has also issued the following standards which clarify ASU No. 2014-09 and have the same effective date as the original standard:

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ASU No. 2016-10, Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (Topic 606);

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ASU No. 2016-11, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605) and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Rescission of SEC Guidance Because of Accounting Standards Updates 2014-09 and 2014-16 Pursuant to Staff Announcements at the March 3, 2016 EITF Meeting; and

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ASU No. 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients.

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ASU No. 2016-20, Technical Correction and Improvements.

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ASU No. 2016-20, Technical correction and improvements to Topic 606, Revenue form Contracts with Customers.

The adoption of ASU 2014-09 may have a material effect on the recognition of future revenues. ASU 2014-09 differs from the current accounting standard in many respects, such as in the accounting for variable consideration, including milestone payments. Accordingly, we expect that our evaluation of the accounting for collaboration agreements under the new revenue standard could identify material changes from the current accounting treatment. The new accounting standard will require entities to determine an appropriate attribution method using either output or input methods and does not include a presumption that entities would default to a ratable attribution approach for upfront non-refundable fees. These factors could materially impact the amount and timing of our revenue recognition from our license and collaboration agreements under the new revenue standard. The Company will need to evaluate the impact of adoption ASU No. 2014-09 on its results of operations, cash flows and financial position.