Nature of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Basis of Presentation

The interim consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries Biocontrol, Ampliphi d.o.o., and AmpliPhi Australia. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. All numbers on the financial statements and disclosures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000 except share and per share data.

The interim consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared by the Company, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. In the opinion of the Company’s management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments and reclassifications and non-recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly our results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013, our cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013 and our financial position as of March 31, 2014 have been made. The results of operations for such interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the operating results to be expected for the full year.

Certain information and disclosures normally included in the notes to the annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted from these interim consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, these interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the 2013 audited consolidated financial statements and notes.

Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States 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 revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers cash equivalents to be short-term investments that have a maturity at the time of purchase of three months or less, are readily convertible into cash and have an insignificant level of valuation risk attributable to potential changes in interest rates. Cash equivalents are recorded at cost, which approximates fair market value, and consist primarily of money market accounts.

Trade and Other Accounts Receivable, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable amounts are stated at their face amounts less any allowance. Provisions for doubtful accounts are estimated based on assessment of the probable collection from specific customer accounts and other known factors. If an account was determined to be uncollectible (payment has not been made in accordance with contract terms), it would be written off against the allowance. As of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, management determined no allowance for doubtful accounts was required.

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

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment are recorded at cost and are depreciated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets, generally three to seven years. 

Other Current Assets [Text Block]

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid and other current assets as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013 consist primarily of prepaid insurance and deposits.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets, Goodwill, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Goodwill

Costs of investments in purchased companies in excess of the underlying fair value of net assets at the date of acquisition are recorded as goodwill and assessed annually for impairment. If considered impaired, goodwill will be written down to fair value and a corresponding impairment loss recognized.

During the year ended December 31, 2012, the rights to SPH Holdings Pty Ltd’s know-how and phage libraries were acquired by the business combination described in Note 3 for $7,172,000. At December 31, 2012, goodwill in the amount of $2,381,000 has been recorded. In management’s opinion, no goodwill has been impaired as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the rights to Biocontrol Limited’s patents and phage libraries were acquired by the business combination described in Note 3 for $8,584,000. At December 31, 2011, goodwill in the amount of $1,948,000 has been recorded. In management’s opinion, no goodwill has been impaired as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. 

Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block]

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for stock-based payments under the guidance of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 718, Stock Compensation, which requires measurement of compensation cost for all share-based payment awards at fair value on the date of grant and recognition of compensation cost over the requisite service period (typically the vesting period) for awards expected to vest.

Warrant and Preferred Shares Conversion Feature Liability, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Warrant and Preferred Shares Conversion Feature Liability

The Company accounts for warrants and preferred shares conversion feature with anti-dilution (“down-round”) provisions under the guidance of ASC 815, Derivatives, and Hedging and Emerging Issue Task Force Statement 07-5: Determining Whether an Instrument (or Embedded Feature) Is Indexed to an Entity’s Own Stock, which require the warrants and the preferred shares conversion feature to be recorded as a liability and adjusted to fair value in each reporting period.

Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Fair Value of Financial Assets and Liabilities — Derivative Instruments

The Company measures the fair value of financial assets and liabilities in accordance with GAAP, which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and requires certain disclosures about fair value measurements.

GAAP defines fair value 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. GAAP also establishes as 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. GAAP describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

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.

The Company does not use derivative financial instruments to hedge exposures to cash-flow, market or foreign-currency risks. However, the Company has entered into certain financial instruments and contracts, such as convertible loan notes with detachable common stock warrants and the issuance of preferred stock with detachable common stock warrants with features that are either i) not afforded equity classification, ii) embody risks not clearly and closely related to host contracts, or iii) may be net-cash settled by the counterparty. These instruments are required to be carried as derivative liabilities, at fair value.

The Company estimates fair values of these derivatives (and related embedded beneficial conversion features) utilizing Level 2 inputs. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option valuation technique as it embodies all of the requisite assumptions (including trading volatility, remaining term to maturity, market price, strike price, and risk free rates) necessary to fair value these instruments.

Estimating fair values of derivative financial instruments, including Level 2 instruments, require the use of significant and subjective inputs that may, and are likely to, change over the duration of the instrument with related changes in internal and external market factors. In addition, option-based techniques are volatile and sensitive to changes in our trading market price, the trading market price of various peer companies and other key assumptions. Since derivative financial instruments are initially and subsequently carried at fair value, our income will reflect this sensitivity of internal and external factors.

Revenue Recognition, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Revenue Recognition

The Company generates revenue from technology licenses. Revenue under technology licenses typically consists of nonrefundable, up-front license fees, technology access fees and various other payments. The Company recognizes revenue associated with performance milestones as earned, typically based upon the achievement of the specific milestones defined in the applicable agreements.

Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Research and Development

Research and development costs include salaries, costs of outside collaborators and outside services, royalty and license costs and allocated facility, occupancy and utility expenses. The Company expenses research and development costs as incurred.

In Process Research & Development (IPR&D) assets represent capitalized incomplete research projects that the Company acquired through business combinations. Such assets are initially measured at their acquisition date fair values. The fair value of the research projects is recorded as intangible assets on the consolidated balance sheet rather than expensed regardless of whether these assets have an alternative future use. The amounts capitalized are being accounted for as indefinite-lived intangible assets, subject to impairment testing until completion or abandonment of research and development efforts associated with the projects. Upon successful completion of each project, the Company will make a determination as to the then remaining useful life of the intangible asset and begin amortization. The Company tests its indefinite-lived intangibles, including IPR&D assets, for impairment at least annually. 

 During the year ended December 31, 2012, the rights to SPH Holdings Pty Ltd’s know-how and phage libraries were acquired by the business combination described in Note 3 for $7,172,000. At December 31, 2012, IPR&D in the amount of $5,161,000 has been recorded. In management’s opinion, this IPR&D has not been impaired as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the rights to Biocontrol Limited’s patents and phage libraries were acquired by the business combination described in Note 3 for $8,584,000. At December 31, 2011, IPR&D in the amount of $7,778,000 has been recorded. In management’s opinion, this IPR&D has not been impaired as of March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013. 

Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Net Loss per Common Share

Net loss per common share is based on net loss divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. For each fiscal year reported, the diluted net loss per share is the same as the basic net loss per share because all stock options, warrants, contingent shares, and Series B Preferred shares are antidilutive with respect to computing the net loss per share and therefore are excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share. The total number of shares that the Company excluded from the calculations of net loss per share were 152,456,912 shares for the three month period ending March 31, 2014, 24,859,834 shares for the three month period ending March 31, 2013, and 54,494,503 shares for the year ending December 31, 2013.

New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block]

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

On February 5, 2013, the FASB issued ASU no. 2013-02 which adds new disclosure requirements for items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI). The ASU is intended to help entities improve the transparency of changes in other comprehensive income (OCI) and items reclassified out of AOCI in their financial statements. It does not amend any existing requirements for reporting net income or OCI in the financial statements. For public entities, the new disclosure requirements are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2012. For nonpublic entities, the ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2013, and interim and annual periods thereafter. The Company elected to early adopt this standard which did not result in any changes to the consolidated financial statements.