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The Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
The Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

(1) The Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Description of Business

ARCA biopharma, Inc., or the Company or ARCA, a Delaware corporation, is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado. The Company is a biopharmaceutical company principally focused on developing genetically-targeted therapies for cardiovascular diseases. The Company’s lead product candidate, Gencaro™ (bucindolol hydrochloride), is a pharmacologically unique beta-blocker and mild vasodilator that ARCA is evaluating in a clinical trial for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, or AF, in patients with heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction, or HFREF. The Company has identified common genetic variations in receptors in the cardiovascular system that it believes interact with Gencaro’s pharmacology and may predict patient response to the drug.

The Company is testing this hypothesis in a Phase 2B/3 clinical trial of Gencaro, known as GENETIC-AF. The AF indication for Gencaro was chosen based on clinical data from a prior Phase 3 heart failure (HF) trial of Gencaro in 2,708 HF patients, or the BEST trial, which suggested that Gencaro may be successful in reducing or preventing AF. GENETIC-AF is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind clinical trial designed to compare the safety and efficacy of Gencaro to an active comparator in HFREF patients with a current or recent history of paroxysmal (AF episodes lasting 7 days or less) or persistent AF and having a beta-1 389 arginine homozygous genotype, the genotype the Company believes responds most favorably to Gencaro. The primary endpoint of GENETIC-AF is time to recurrent symptomatic AF/atrial flutter (AFL) or all-cause mortality.

ARCA has created an adaptive design for GENETIC-AF and is seeking to enroll approximately 200 HFREF patients in the Phase 2B portion of the study. The GENETIC-AF Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) will analyze certain data from the Phase 2B portion of the trial and recommend, based on a comparison to the pre-trial statistical assumptions, whether the trial should proceed to Phase 3 and enroll an additional 420 patients.  The DSMB will make their recommendation based on analysis of certain trial data after 200 patients have completed 24 weeks of follow-up, the period for measuring the primary end-point of the trial.  The DSMB interim analysis will focus on available data regarding the primary endpoint, AF/AFL event rates, AF burden, and safety. Should the DSMB interim analysis conclude the data is consistent with the pre-trial statistical assumptions and indicates potential for achieving statistical significance for the Phase 3 endpoint, the DSMB may recommend that the study proceed to Phase 3. The DSMB may also recommend changes to the study design before potentially proceeding to Phase 3, or it may recommend that the study not proceed to Phase 3. The Company, in consultation with the trial’s Steering Committee and the DSMB, will make the final determination on the trial’s development steps. The Company believes the Phase 2B enrollment of 200 patients could be completed by the end of 2016, with the DSMB interim analysis finishing in the first half of 2017.  

If the Company proceeds with the Phase 3 portion of the GENETIC-AF, it will need to raise additional capital to complete the Phase 3 portion of the GENETIC-AF clinical trial and submit for FDA approval. If the Company is unable to obtain additional funding or is unable to complete a strategic transaction, it may have to discontinue development activities on Gencaro or discontinue its operations.

On January 27, 2009, the Company completed a business combination, or the Merger, with Nuvelo, Inc. (Nuvelo). Immediately following the Merger, the Company changed its name from Nuvelo, Inc. to ARCA biopharma, Inc.

Liquidity and Going Concern

The Company devotes substantially all of its efforts towards obtaining regulatory approval and raising capital necessary to fund its operations and it is subject to a number of risks associated with clinical research and development, including dependence on key individuals, the development of and regulatory approval of commercially viable products, the need to raise adequate additional financing necessary to fund the development and commercialization of its products, and competition from larger companies. The Company has not generated revenue to date and has incurred substantial losses and negative cash flows from operations since its inception.  The Company has historically funded its operations through issuances of common and preferred stock.  

In June 2015 and February 2014, the Company raised approximately $34 million and $7.9 million in net proceeds, respectively, to provide additional funds for the Phase 2B/3 GENETIC-AF trial and the Company’s ongoing operations.  The Company is enrolling patients in the Phase 2B portion of the GENETIC-AF trial, and the Company believes that its current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund its operations, at its projected cost structure, through at least the end of 2017.  However, in light of the significant uncertainties regarding clinical development timelines and costs for developing drugs such as Gencaro, the Company expects to raise additional capital to finance the completion of GENETIC-AF and the Company’s future operations.  If the Company is delayed in completing or is unable to complete additional funding and/or a strategic transaction, the Company may discontinue its development activities or operations.

The Company’s liquidity, and its ability to raise additional capital or complete any strategic transaction, depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

progress of GENETIC-AF, including enrollment and any data that may become available;

the costs and timing for the GENETIC-AF clinical trial in order to gain possible FDA approval for Gencaro;

the market price of the Company’s stock and the availability and cost of additional equity capital;

the Company’s ability to retain the listing of its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market;

general economic and industry conditions affecting the availability and cost of capital;

the Company’s ability to control costs associated with its operations;

the costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights; and

the terms and conditions of the Company’s existing collaborative and licensing agreements.

The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities would likely result in substantial additional dilution to the Company’s stockholders. If the Company raises additional funds through the incurrence of indebtedness, the obligations related to such indebtedness would be senior to rights of holders of the Company’s capital stock and could contain covenants that would restrict the Company’s operations. The Company also cannot predict what consideration might be available, if any, to the Company or its stockholders, in connection with any strategic transaction. Should strategic alternatives or additional capital not be available to the Company, or not be available on acceptable terms, the Company may be unable to realize value from its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business which may, among other alternatives, cause the Company to further delay, substantially reduce or discontinue operational activities to conserve its cash resources.

The significant uncertainties surrounding the clinical development timelines and costs and the need to raise a significant amount of capital raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.  These financial statements have been prepared with the assumption that the Company will continue as a going concern and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the inability of the Company to continue as a going concern. The Company may not be able to raise sufficient capital on acceptable terms, or at all, to continue development of Gencaro or to otherwise continue operations and may not be able to execute any strategic transaction.

On February 18, 2015, the Company received notification from Nasdaq of potential delisting of its shares from the Nasdaq Capital Market because the closing bid price of its common stock had not met the minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share during the preceding 30 days.  On July 15, 2015, Nasdaq notified the Company that it had regained compliance with the applicable minimum bid price rule. Accordingly, the matter related to the notice received by the Company on February 18, 2015 was closed.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited financial statements of the Company were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements.  In the opinion of management, these financial statements include all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of these interim financial statements.  The results of operations for the six months ended June 30, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of results expected for the full year ending December 31, 2015.  The Company has generated no revenue to date and its activities have consisted of seeking regulatory approval, research and development, exploring strategic alternatives for further developing and commercializing Gencaro, and raising capital. These unaudited financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and footnotes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2014 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Amounts presented are rounded to the nearest thousand, where indicated, except per share data and par values.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents. The Company has no off-balance-sheet concentrations of credit risk, such as foreign exchange contracts, option contracts, or foreign currency hedging arrangements. The Company maintains cash and cash equivalent balances in the form of bank demand deposits and money market fund accounts with financial institutions that management believes are creditworthy. Such balances may at times exceed the insured amount.

Accrued Expenses

As part of the process of preparing its financial statements, the Company is required to estimate accrued expenses. This process involves identifying services that third parties have performed on the Company’s behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for these services as of the balance sheet date. Examples of estimated accrued expenses include contract service fees, such as fees payable to contract manufacturers in connection with the production of materials related to the Company’s drug product, and professional service fees, such as attorneys, consultants, and clinical research organizations. The Company develops estimates of liabilities using its judgment based upon the facts and circumstances known at the time.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued FASB Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-10, Development Stage Entities (Topic 915): Elimination of Certain Financial Reporting Requirements, Including an Amendment to Variable Interest Entities Guidance in Topic 810, Consolidation which removes Topic 915 from the FASB Accounting Standards Codification and removes from GAAP the concept of a development stage entity along with the associated incremental financial reporting requirements for development stage entities.  The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2014, with early adoption being permitted for annual or interim periods for which financial statements have not been issued.  The Company early-adopted this guidance as of June 30, 2014 and as a result, removed references to being a development stage entity and inception-to-date results from these financial statements.

In August 2014, the FASB issued FASB Accounting Standards Update (“ASU No. 2014-15”), Presentation of Financial Statements – Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40): Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern.  ASU No. 2014-15 will be effective for fiscal years and interim periods ending after December 15, 2016, with early adoption being permitted for annual and interim periods for which financial statements have not been issued. ASU 2014-15 requires that management evaluate at each annual and interim reporting period whether there is a substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year of the date that the financial statements are issued.  The significant uncertainties surrounding the clinical development timelines and costs and the need to raise a significant amount of capital raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.  The Company does not expect a significant impact on the financial position, results of operations or disclosures upon adoption of this guidance.

In April 2015, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2015-05: Intangibles - Goodwill and Other - Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer's Accounting for Fees Paid in a Cloud Computing Arrangement ("ASU 2015-05"). The amendments in this update provide guidance to customers about whether a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license. If a cloud computing arrangement includes a software license, the update specifies that the customer should account for the software license element of the arrangement consistent with the acquisition of other software licenses. The update further specifies that the customer should account for a cloud computing arrangement as a service contract if the arrangement does not include a software license. ASU 2015-05 will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2015. The Company is currently assessing the future impact of this update to the financial statements.