Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Forward-Looking Information
The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the corresponding notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10‐K. This discussion contains forward‐looking statements that involve significant risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those referenced or set forth under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10‐K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward‐looking statements.
Overview
We operate in one reportable business segment—human therapeutics.
At inception, Cyclerion was a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious diseases with novel soluble guanylate cyclase (“sGC”) stimulators in both the central nervous system (“CNS”) and the periphery. The nitric oxide (“NO”) sGC cyclic guanosine monophosphate (“cGMP”) signaling pathway is a fundamental mechanism that precisely controls key aspects of physiology throughout the body. The NO-sGC-cGMP pathway regulates diverse and critical biological functions in both the CNS and the periphery and has been successfully targeted with several drugs. Prior to the sale of two assets to Tisento (see below), Cyclerion’s portfolio included novel sGC stimulators that modulate signaling networks in both the CNS and the periphery.
On July 28, 2023, we sold two of our CNS assets (zagociguat and CY3018, or the “Transferred Assets”) to Tisento in exchange for $8.0 million in cash consideration, $2.4 million as reimbursement for certain operating expenses related to zagociguat and CY3018 for the period between signing and closing of the transaction, and 10% of all of Tisento's parent's outstanding equity securities. The Cyclerion assets that were retained are olinciguat and praliciguat which are not CNS focused and are either currently out-licensed (praliciguat) or management plans to out-license (olinciguat).
We have shifted our strategy to identify non-sGC stimulator assets, within the CNS therapeutic area, to build a new portfolio. If the Company identifies suitable new assets the Company will seek to develop the new assets and retain contract research, development and manufacturing organizations for these specific purposes, as well as seek to raise funds for further research and development activities in a fit for purpose way. The Company’s goal is to find the best combination of capital, capabilities, and transactions that will enable the advancement of current and any future assets the Company may acquire for patients in a way that maximizes shareholder value.
Cyclerion continues to evaluate other activities aimed at enhancing shareholder value, which may potentially include collaborations, licenses, mergers, acquisitions and/or other targeted investments.
Financial Overview
Research and Development Expense. Research and development expenses are incurred in connection with the discovery and development of our product candidates. These expenses consist primarily of the following costs: compensation, benefits and other employee-related expenses, research and development related facilities, third-party contracts relating to manufacturing, nonclinical studies, clinical trial activities. All research and development expenses are charged to operations as incurred.
Praliciguat is an orally administered, once-daily systemic sGC stimulator. On June 3, 2021, we entered into a license agreement with Akebia relating to the exclusive worldwide license to Akebia of our rights to the development, manufacture, medical affairs and commercialization of pharmaceutical products containing praliciguat
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and other related products and forms thereof enumerated in such agreement. Cyclerion is eligible to receive up to $585 million in total potential future development, regulatory, and commercialization milestone payments. Cyclerion is also eligible to receive tiered, sales-based royalties ranging from single-digit to high-teen percentages and subject to reduction upon expiration of patent rights or the launch of a generic product.
Olinciguat is a Phase 2, orally administered, once-daily, vascular sGC stimulator that we are seeking to out-license to an entity with strong cardiovascular and/or cardiopulmonary capabilities.
Zagociguat and CY3018 are orally administered CNS-penetrant sGC stimulators. On July 28, 2023, Tisento purchased zagociguat and CY3018 in exchange for $8.0 million in cash consideration, $2.4 million as reimbursement for certain operating expenses related to zagociguat and CY3018 for the period between signing and closing of the transaction, and 10% of all of Tisento Parent's outstanding equity securities at the time of closing.
Cyclerion continues to evaluate other activities aimed at enhancing shareholder value, which may potentially include collaborations, licenses, mergers, acquisitions, and/or other targeted investments.
The following table summarizes our research and development expenses of continuing operations, employee and facility related costs allocated to research and development expense, and discovery and pre-clinical phase programs, for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. The product pipeline expenses related primarily to external costs associated with nonclinical studies and clinical trial costs.
Year EndedDecember 31,
(in thousands)
Product pipeline external costs $ 29 $ 654
Personnel and related internal costs 581 3,546
Total research and development expenses $ 1,515 $ 5,979
Securing regulatory approvals for new drugs is a lengthy and costly process. Any failure by us or our partners to obtain, or any delay in obtaining, regulatory approvals would materially adversely affect our product candidate development efforts and our business overall.
Given the inherent uncertainties of pharmaceutical product development, we cannot estimate with any degree of certainty how our programs will evolve, and therefore the amount of time or money that would be required to obtain regulatory approval to market them. As a result of these uncertainties surrounding the timing and outcome of any approvals, we are currently unable to estimate precisely when, if ever, our discovery and development candidates will be approved.
The successful development of any current or potential future product candidates is highly uncertain and subject to a number of risks. Please refer to Item 1A, Risk Factors, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We are unable to determine the duration and costs to complete current or future nonclinical and clinical stages of any current or potential future product candidates, including as licensed to third parties, or when, or to what extent, we may generate revenues from the commercialization and sale of any current or potential future product candidates. Development timelines, probability of success and development costs vary widely. We anticipate that we will make determinations as to which additional programs to pursue and how much funding to direct to each program on an ongoing basis in response to the data from the studies of each product candidate, the competitive landscape and ongoing assessments of such product candidate’s commercial potential.
General and Administrative Expense. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation, benefits and other employee-related expenses for personnel in our administrative, finance, legal, information technology, business development, and human resource functions. Other costs include the legal costs of pursuing patent protection of our intellectual property, general and administrative related facility costs, insurance
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costs and professional fees for accounting and legal services. We record all general and administrative expenses as incurred.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based upon our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make certain estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the amounts of expenses during the reported periods. We base our estimates on our historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ materially from our estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results in the period in which they become known.
We believe that our application of accounting policies requires significant judgments and estimates on the part of management and is the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results. Our significant accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the consolidated financial statements elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
All research and development expenses are expensed as incurred. We defer and capitalize nonrefundable advance payments we make for research and development activities until the related goods are received or the related services are performed. See Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Results of Operations
The revenue and expenses reflected in the consolidated financial statements may not be indicative of revenue and expenses that will be incurred by us in the future. The following discussion summarizes the key factors we believe are necessary for an understanding of our consolidated financial statements.
Revenues and Expenses
Year EndedDecember 31, Change
(dollars in thousands)
Revenues:
Revenue from development agreement $ — $ 297 $ (297 ) 100 %
Cost and expenses:
Discontinued operations:
Revenues. The decrease in revenue of approximately $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 can be attributed to approximately $0.3 million of revenue generated from the Akebia Supply Agreement in the year ended December 31, 2022. There is no revenue recognized related to the Akebia Supply Agreement in the year ended December 31, 2023.
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Research and development expenses. The decrease in research and development expenses of approximately $4.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 was driven by decreases of approximately $3.0 million in salaries and other employee-related expenses including non-cash stock-based compensation, approximately $0.2 million in information technology services, approximately $0.3 million in consulting and outside service fee and approximately $0.7 million in external research costs related to discovery research.
General and administrative expenses. The decrease in general and administrative expenses of approximately $4.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily driven by decreases of approximately $3.7 million in salaries and other employee-related expenses including non-cash stock-based compensation, approximately $0.4 million in amortization of insurance policies, approximately $0.3 million in board member fees and approximately $0.3 million in rent expenses.
Impairment loss. The impairment loss consists of an impairment loss of operating lease of approximately $3.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. There was no impairment loss recognized during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Gain (loss) from discontinued operations. The operations related to the Transferred Assets to Tisento are presented as discontinued operations for all periods presented. The increase in gain from discontinued operations of approximately $33.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022was driven by the one-time gain of sale of approximately $15.8 million, and approximately $21.1 million decrease of research and development expense, offset by $2.4 million increase in general and administrative expenses due to closing and transaction costs related to the disposal incurred during the year ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in research and development expense included approximately $14.9 million decrease in external research costs in related to zagociguat clinical trials and CY3018 costs, approximately $4.9 million decrease in salaries and other employee-related expenses and approximately $1.3 million decrease in consulting expense.
Interest and other income, net. Interest and other income increased by approximately $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 due to an increase of approximately $0.1 million in interest income driven by higher interest rates.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
On July 24, 2020, the Company filed a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (the “Shelf”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in relation to the registration of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and units of any combination thereof for an aggregate initial offering price not to exceed $150.0 million. On September 3, 2020, we entered into the Sales Agreement with Jefferies with respect to the ATM Offering under the Shelf. The Shelf expired in July 2023. We did not sell any shares of our common stock under the Shelf in 2022 or 2023.
On May 19, 2023, we sold 225,000 shares of our common stock, pursuant to a Common Stock Purchase Agreement, and 351,037 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, to our former CEO, for total gross proceeds of approximately $5 million. There were no material fees or commissions related to the transaction. Such Series A Convertible Preferred Stock is convertible into shares of our common stock on a one-to-one basis. Our shareholders approved such convertibility on July 19, 2023.
On July 28, 2023, we closed the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement receiving proceeds of $8.0 million as cash consideration, approximately $2.4 million as reimbursement for certain operating expenses related to zagociguat and CY3018 programs for the period between signing and closing of the transaction, and 10% of all of Tisento Parent’s outstanding equity securities.
Our ability to continue to fund our operations and meet capital needs will depend on our ability to generate cash from operations and access to capital markets and other sources of capital, as further described below. We anticipate that our principal uses of cash in the future will be primarily to fund our operations, working capital needs, capital expenditures and other general corporate purposes.
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On December 31, 2023, we had approximately $7.6 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents. Our cash equivalents include amounts held in U.S. government money market funds. We invest cash in excess of immediate requirements in accordance with our investment policy, which requires all investments held by us to be at least “AAA” rated or equivalent, with a remaining final maturity when purchased of less than twelve months, so as to primarily achieve liquidity and capital preservation.
Going Concern
We evaluated whether there are conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, which raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that these consolidated financial statements are issued. This evaluation initially does not take into consideration the potential mitigating effect of management’s plans that have not been fully implemented as of the date the financial statements are issued. When substantial doubt exists under this methodology, management evaluates whether the mitigating effect of our plans sufficiently alleviates substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The mitigating effect of management’s plans, however, is only considered if both (1) it is probable that the plans will be effectively implemented within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued, and (2) it is probable that the plans, when implemented, will mitigate the relevant conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that these consolidated financial statements are issued. In performing our analysis, management excluded certain elements of our operating plan that cannot be considered probable. Under ASC 205-40, the future receipt of potential funding from future partnerships, equity or debt issuances, and the potential milestones from the Akebia agreement cannot be considered probable at this time because these plans are not entirely within our control and/or have not been approved by the Board of Directors as of the date of these consolidated financial statements.
We have incurred recurring losses since our inception, including a net loss of $5.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $264.4 million. We expect that our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2023, will be sufficient to fund operations through the first quarter of 2025, however we will need to obtain additional funding to sustain operations as we expect to continue to generate operating losses for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, we have concluded that substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern.
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the ordinary course of business. The financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of the uncertainties described above.
Reverse Stock Split
On May 15, 2023, we filed Articles of Amendment to our Restated Articles of Organization with the Secretary of Commonwealth of Massachusetts to effect a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. The reverse stock split was reflected on the Nasdaq Capital Market beginning with the opening of trading on May 16, 2023. All share amounts and per share amounts disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been adjusted retroactively to reflect the reverse stock split for all periods presented.
Cash Flows
The following is a summary of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
Year EndedDecember 31, Change
(dollars in thousands)
Net cash provided by investing activities $ 10,402 $ — $ 10,402 —
Net cash provided by financing activities $ 5,024 $ 29 $ 4,995 100 %
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Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $21.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to $40.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in net cash used in operations of $19.4 million primarily relates to a decrease of approximately $38.8 million in our net loss, which is in part due to an increase of approximately $15.8 million in gain on disposal of discontinued operations, a reduction of approximately $5.2 million in stock-based compensation and offset by an increase of approximately $3.3 million in impairment loss. Change in working capital accounts resulted in an approximately $1.8 million use of cash.
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 of $10.4 million was due to cash proceeds received from the disposal of discontinued operations of approximately $10.4 million. There was no investing activity incurred during the year ended December 31, 2022.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 of $5.0 million was due to cash received from the May 2023 stock purchase agreement of $5.0 million. There was a de minimis amount of financing activity in the year ended December 31, 2022.
Funding Requirements
We expect our expenses to fluctuate as we continue to maintain out-license opportunities and seek to broaden our portfolio through in-licensing of complementary CNS assets. We expect that our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2023, will be sufficient to fund operations through the first quarter of 2025, however we will need to obtain additional funding to sustain operations as we expect to continue to generate operating losses for the foreseeable future. Failure to obtain necessary capital when needed may delay development of any current or potential future product candidates, or other operations.
Because of the many risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our expenses will fluctuate, and our future funding requirements will depend on, and could increase or decrease significantly as a result of many factors, including the:
•
scope, progress, results and costs of researching and developing our current and any potential future product candidates, and any preclinical studies and clinical trials we may conduct;
•
costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of any current and any potential future product candidates;
•
costs of future activities, including medical affairs, manufacturing and distribution, of any current or potential future product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;
•
cost and timing of necessary actions to support our strategic objectives;
•
costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims; and
•
timing, receipt and amount of sales of, or milestone payments related to or royalties on, our current or potential future product candidates, if any.
A change in any of these or other variables with respect to the development of any current or potential future product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing of the development of that product candidate.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances
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or licensing arrangements with third parties, of which there can be no assurance. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, outstanding equity ownership may be materially diluted, and the terms of securities sold in such transactions could include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of holders of common stock. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specified actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. In addition, debt financing would result in increased fixed payment obligations.
If we raise funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or licensing arrangements with third parties, as to which raise there can be no assurances, we may have to relinquish rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise funds, we may need to cease operations.
Contractual Commitments and Obligations
Tax-related Obligations
We exclude assets, liabilities or obligations pertaining to uncertain tax positions from our contractual commitments and obligations as we cannot make a reliable estimate of the period of cash settlement with the respective taxing authorities. As of December 31, 2023, we had no uncertain tax positions.
Separation Benefits
As part of the separation benefit of former Chief Financial Officer, we shall pay to our former Chief Financial Officer a payment of $0.1 million on each of the six-month and nine-month anniversaries of November 15, 2023, in the event the former Chief Financial Officer has not secured full-time employment prior to the anniversary date.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
We do not have any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements (as that term is defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K) or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. As such, we are not exposed to any financing, liquidity, market or credit risk that could arise if we had engaged in those types of relationships. We enter into guarantees in the ordinary course of business related to the guarantee of our own performance.
New Accounting Pronouncements
For a discussion of new accounting pronouncements see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information required under this item.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
The information required by this Item 8 is set forth in our financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
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Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain “disclosure controls and procedures,” as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive and our principal financial officers, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
With respect to the year ended December 31, 2023, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operations of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon this evaluation, our President and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2023 to provide reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed by us in this Annual Report was (a) reported within the time periods specified by SEC rules and regulations and (b) communicated to our management, including our President and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding any required disclosure.
Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our President and Chief Financial Officer, and effected by our Board of Directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:
•
Pertain to the maintenance of records that accurately and fairly reflect in reasonable detail the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company;
•
Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and
•
Provide reasonable assurances regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material adverse effect on our financial statements.
Management assessed our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, the end of our fiscal year. Management based its assessment on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework). Management’s assessment included evaluation of elements such as the design and operating effectiveness of key financial reporting controls, process documentation, accounting policies, and our overall control environment.
Based on this assessment, management has concluded that our internal controls over financial reporting were effective as of December 31, 2023 and provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. We reviewed the results of management’s assessment with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.
Internal control over financial reporting has inherent limitations. Internal control over financial reporting is a process that involves human diligence and compliance and is subject to lapses in judgment and breakdowns resulting from human failures. Internal control over financial reporting also can be circumvented by collusion or improper management override. Because of such limitations, there is a risk that material misstatements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis by internal control over financial reporting. However, these inherent
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limitations are known features of the financial reporting process. Therefore, it is possible to design into the process safeguards to reduce, though not eliminate, this risk.
Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm
This Annual Report does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Our report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission for “emerging growth companies” that permit us to provide only management’s report in this report.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 which have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Internal Controls
In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, management does not expect that our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control systems are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. The design of any disclosure controls and procedures also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Our management, including our President and Chief Financial Officer, believes that our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and are effective at the reasonable assurance level. However, our management does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent all errors and all fraud.
Item 9B. Other Information.
(a) None
(b) Director and Officer Trading Arrangements
None of our directors or officers adopted or terminated a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement, or adopted or terminated a non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement (as defined in Item 408(c) of Regulation S-K) during the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2023.
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions That Prevent Inspections.
Not applicable.
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PART III
We intend to file a definitive Proxy Statement for our 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, or the Proxy Statement, with the SEC, pursuant to Regulation 14A, not later than 120 days after the end of our fiscal year. Accordingly, certain information required by Part III has been omitted under General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K. Only those sections of the 2024 Proxy Statement that specifically address the items set forth herein are incorporated by reference.
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
The information required by this Item 10 will be included in our Proxy Statement under the captions “Information Regarding the Board of Directors and Corporate Governance,” “Election of Directors,” “Executive Officers” and “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
The information required by this Item 11 will be included in our Proxy Statement under the captions “Executive Compensation” and “Director Compensation” and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
The information required by this Item 12 will be included in our Proxy Statement under the captions “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans” and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
The information required by this Item 13 will be included in our Proxy Statement under the captions “Transactions with Related Persons” and “Independence of the Board of Directors” and is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
The information required by this Item 14 will be included in our Proxy Statement under the caption “Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” and is incorporated herein by reference.
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a)(1) Financial Statements
See the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Financial Statements Section beginning on page F-1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
(a)(2) Financial Statement Schedules
All financial statement schedules have been omitted as they are not required, not applicable, or the required information is included in the financial statements or notes to the financial statements.
(a)(3) Exhibits
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No. Description
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10.21+ Offer Letter to Regina Graul dated December 1, 2023
10.22+ Consulting Agreement with Peter Hecht dated December 1, 2023
10.23+ Restricted Stock Agreement with Regina Graul dated December 1, 2023.
10.24+ Restricted Stock Agreement with Peter Hecht dated December 1, 2023.
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10.25+ Restricted Stock Agreement with Regina Graul dated January 1, 2024.
10.26+ Restricted Stock Agreement with Peter Hecht dated January 1, 2024.
21.1 List of Subsidiaries
23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
101.INS Inline XBRL Instance Document
101.SCH Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File
+ Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan.
* Certain portions of this exhibit (indicated by asterisks) have been omitted because they are not material and are the type that the Registrant treats as private or confidential.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary.
Not applicable.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrants have duly caused this report to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, on March 5, 2024.
CYCLERION THERAPEUTICS, INC.
By: /s/ Regina Graul
Regina Graul
President
POWER OF ATTORNEY
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Regina Graul and Rhonda Chicko, jointly and severally, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign this Annual Report on Form 10-K of Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.,
and any or all amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite or necessary to be done in and about the premises hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or his, her or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated on March 5, 2024.
Signature Title
/s/ Regina Graul
Regina Graul President (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Rhonda Chicko
/s/ Errol De Souza
Errol De Souza Director
/s/ Peter Hecht
Peter Hecht Director
/s/ Michael Higgins
Michael Higgins Director
/s/ Steven Hyman
Steven Hyman Director
/s/ Dina Katabi
Dina Katabi Director
/s/ Terrance McGuire
Terrance McGuire Director
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Index to Consolidated Financial Statements of Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm - PCAOB ID:42 F-2
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023 and 2022 F-3
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements F-7
F-1
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, stockholders' equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2023 and 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
The Company's Ability to Continue as a Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations, has limited financial resources, and has stated that substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management's evaluation of the events and conditions and management’s plans regarding these matters are also described in Note 1. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2018.
Boston, Massachusetts
March 5, 2024
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
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Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands except share and per share data)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Accounts receivable — 96
Other current assets 11 537
Operating lease right-of-use asset — 1,218
Other investment 5,350 —
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accrued research and development costs 90 2,275
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 798 2,382
Commitments and contingencies (Note 8) — —
Stockholders' equity
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (12 ) (20 )
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 13,374 $ 18,079
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
*Adjusted retroactively for reverse stock split - see Note 1
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Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
(In thousands except per share data)
Year Ended December 31,
Revenues:
Revenue from development agreement $ — $ 297
Total revenues — 297
Cost and expenses:
Impairment loss 3,304 —
Interest and other income, net 358 294
Net loss from continuing operations (12,593 ) (18,246 )
Discontinued operations:
Gain (loss) from discontinued operations 7,330 (25,832 )
Net income (loss) per share - basic and diluted (*)
Net loss per share from continuing operations $ (5.39 ) $ (8.40 )
Net income (loss) per share from discontinued operations 3.14 (11.89 )
Net loss per share (*) $ (2.25 ) $ (20.28 )
Weighted average shares used in calculating:
Other comprehensive loss:
Other comprehensive loss:
Foreign currency translation adjustment gain 8 3
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
*Adjusted retroactively for reverse stock split - see Note 1
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Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
(In thousands except share data)
Shares (*) Amount Shares Amount capital deficit loss equity
Foreign currency translation adjustment — — — — — — 3 3
Vesting of restricted stock awards 29,063 — — — — — — —
Foreign currency translation adjustment — — — — — — 8 8
Fractional shares issuance (67 ) — — — — — — —
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
*Adjusted retroactively for reverse stock split - see Note 1
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Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
Year Ended December 31,
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations (15,752 ) —
Depreciation and amortization — 65
Impairment loss 3,304 —
Share-based compensation expense 1,067 6,252
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable 96 4
Other current assets 160 (69 )
Accrued research and development costs (2,185 ) (4,078 )
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (1,584 ) (522 )
Net cash used in operating activities (21,245 ) (40,611 )
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
Net proceeds from disposal of discontinued operations 10,402 —
Net cash provided by investing activities 10,402 —
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Proceeds from stock purchase agreement 5,000 —
Proceeds from exercises of stock options and ESPP 24 29
Net cash provided by financing activities 5,024 29
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 8 3
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (5,811 ) (40,579 )
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 13,382 53,961
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 7,571 $ 13,382
Supplemental cash flow disclosure:
Non-cash gain on disposal of discontinued operations $ 5,350 $ —
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
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Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
1. Nature of Business
Nature of Operations
Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. (“Cyclerion”, the “Company” or “we”) became an independent public company on April 1, 2019 after Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Ironwood, completed a tax-free spin-off of its sGC business, which we refer to herein as the "Separation". Cyclerion has one employee as of December 31, 2023.
At inception, Cyclerion was a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of serious diseases with novel soluble guanylate cyclase ("sGC") stimulators in both the CNS and the periphery. The nitric oxide ("NO") sGC cyclic guanosine monophosphate ("cGMP") signaling pathway is a fundamental mechanism that precisely controls key aspects of physiology throughout the body. The NO-sGC-cGMP pathway regulates diverse and critical biological functions in both the central nervous system ("CNS") and the periphery and has been successfully targeted with several drugs.
Praliciguat is an orally administered, once-daily systemic sGC stimulator. On June 3, 2021, Cyclerion entered into a license agreement (as defined below) with Akebia Therapeutics Inc. (“Akebia”) relating to the exclusive worldwide license to Akebia of our rights to the development, manufacture, medical affairs and commercialization of pharmaceutical products containing praliciguat and other related products and forms thereof enumerated in such agreement. Cyclerion is eligible to receive up to $585 million in total potential future development, regulatory, and commercialization milestone payments. Cyclerion is also eligible to receive tiered, sales-based royalties ranging from single-digit to high-teen percentages and subject to reduction upon expiration of patent rights or the launch of a generic product.
Olinciguat is a phase 2 an orally administered, once-daily, vascular sGC stimulator that Cyclerion intends to out-license to an entity with strong cardiovascular and/or cardiopulmonary capabilities.
Zagociguat is a clinical-stage CNS-penetrant sGC stimulator that has shown rapid improvement in cerebral blood flow, functional brain connectivity, brain response to visual stimulus, cognitive performance, and biomarkers associated mitochondrial function and inflammation in clinical studies. CY3018 is a CNS-targeted sGC stimulator that preferentially localizes to the brain and has a pharmacology profile that suggests its potential for the treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders. On July 28, 2023, the Company sold Zagociguat and CY3018 to Tisento Therapeutics, Inc. (“Tisento”), a newly formed private company focused on their development, in exchange for $8.0 million in cash consideration, $2.4 million as reimbursement for certain operating expenses related to zagociguat and CY3018 for the period between signing and closing of the transaction, and 10% of all of Tisento’s parent’s outstanding equity securities. See “Asset Purchase Agreement” and “Note 4” below.
Cyclerion is actively evaluating other activities aimed at enhancing shareholder value, which may potentially include collaborations, licenses, mergers, acquisitions and/or other targeted investments.
The Company has shifted its strategy to identify, non-sGC stimulator assets within the CNS therapeutic area to build a new portfolio. If the Company identifies suitable new assets, they will develop the new assets and retain contract research, development and manufacturing organizations for these specific purposes. Additionally, Cyclerion plans to raise funds for further research and development activities associated with any new assets. The Company’s goal is to find the best combination of capital, capabilities, and transactions that will enable the advancement of current and any future assets the Company may acquire for patients in a way that maximizes shareholder value.
Cyclerion GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary, was incorporated in Zug, Switzerland on May 3, 2019. The functional currency is the Swiss franc. Subsequent to December 31, 2023, the liquidation process for Cyclerion GmbH has been concluded and the subsidiary is pending deregistration from the commercial registry. Cyclerion GmbH has no employees.
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Cyclerion Securities Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary, was incorporated in Massachusetts on November 15, 2019 and was granted securities corporation status in Massachusetts for the 2019 tax year. Cyclerion Securities Corporation has no employees.
Stock Purchase Agreement
In March 2023, the Company entered into a stock purchase agreement with the Company's former Chief Executive Officer (the “CEO”) pursuant to which he invested $5 million in cash for 225,000 shares of common stock and 351,037 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company at a price of $8.68 per share (after giving effect to the 1-for-20 reverse stock split the Company implemented on May 15, 2023). Such Series A Convertible Preferred Stock is convertible into shares of our common stock on a one-to-one basis. The closing of the equity investment took place on May 19, 2023, and (to comply with Nasdaq listing requirements) our shareholders approved such convertibility on July 19, 2023.
Asset Purchase Agreement
On May 11, 2023, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”) with an investor group that included the former CEO, JW Celtics Investment Corp and JW Cycle Inc. which subsequently changed their names to Tisento Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (“Tisento Parent”) and Tisento. Upon the closing on July 28, 2023, of the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company sold to Tisento specified assets relating to the Company’s zagociguat and CY3018 programs (the "Transferred Assets") and Tisento assumed certain liabilities relating thereto, including, but not limited to (i) liabilities, costs and expenses arising after the date of the Asset Purchase Agreement relating to the employment of certain Cyclerion employees and the conduct of certain preclinical and clinical trial activities prior to the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement, and (ii) liabilities relating to such assets to the extent relating to the period after the closing of the transaction. In consideration for such sale and assumption, at such closing the Company received proceeds of $8.0 million as cash consideration, $2.4 million as reimbursement for certain operating expenses related to such assets for the period between signing and closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement, and shares of common stock of Tisento Parent comprising 10% of the then issued and outstanding equity securities of Tisento Parent immediately following such closing, subject to certain protections against dilution.
Reverse Stock Split
On May 15, 2023, the Company filed Articles of Amendment to the Company's Restated Articles of Organization with the Secretary of Commonwealth of Massachusetts to effect a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of the Company's issued and outstanding shares of common stock. The reverse stock split was reflected on the Nasdaq Capital Market beginning with the opening of trading on May 16, 2023. All share amounts and per share amounts disclosed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been adjusted retroactively to reflect the reverse stock split for all periods presented.
At-the-Market Offering
On September 3, 2020, the Company entered into a Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”) with respect to an at-the-market offering (the “ATM Offering”) under the Shelf. Under the ATM Offering, the Company could offer and sell, from time to time at its sole discretion, shares of its common stock, having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million through Jefferies as its sales agent. The Company agreed to pay Jefferies cash commissions of 3.0 percent of the gross proceeds of sales of common stock which could be sold under the Sales Agreement. Prior to January 1, 2022, the Company sold 3,353,059 shares of its common stock for net proceeds of $12.5 million under the ATM Offering, since entering into the Sales Agreement. No shares of common stock have been issued or sold under the ATM Offering in 2022 or 2023. The Shelf expired in July 31, 2023. Due to the current market value of our publicly traded common stock held by non-affiliates, our ability to raise future funding though a shelf offering will be limited.
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Basis of Presentation
The consolidated financial statements and the related disclosures have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. In the opinion of management, the consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s financial position and the results of its operations for the fiscal years presented.
The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Cyclerion GmbH, and Cyclerion Securities Corporation. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in the preparation of the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
Going Concern
At each reporting period, in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 205-40, Going Concern, the Company evaluates whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. The Company’s evaluation entails analyzing prospective operating budgets and forecasts for expectations of the Company’s cash needs and comparing those needs to the current cash and cash equivalent balances. The Company is required to make certain additional disclosures if it concludes substantial doubt exists and it is not alleviated by the Company’s plans or when its plans alleviate substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.
This evaluation initially does not take into consideration the potential mitigating effect of management’s plans that have not been fully implemented as of the date the financial statements are issued. When substantial doubt exists under this methodology, management evaluates whether the mitigating effect of its plans sufficiently alleviates substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The mitigating effect of management’s plans, however, is only considered if both (1) it is probable that the plans will be effectively implemented within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued, and (2) it is probable that the plans, when implemented, will mitigate the relevant conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that these consolidated financial statements are issued. In performing its analysis, management excluded certain elements of its operating plan that cannot be considered probable. Under ASC 205-40, the future receipt of potential funding from future partnerships, equity or debt issuances, certain cost reduction measures and the potential milestones from the Akebia agreement cannot be considered probable at this time because these plans are not entirely within the Company’s control and/or have not been approved by the Board of Directors as of the date of these consolidated financial statements.
The Company expects that its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2023, will be sufficient to fund operations through the first quarter of 2025, however the Company will need to obtain additional funding to sustain operations as it expects to continue to generate operating losses for the foreseeable future. The Company's expectation to generate negative operating cash flows in the future and the need for additional funding to support its planned operations, raise substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans to alleviate the conditions that raise substantial doubt include reduced spending, and the pursuit of additional capital. Management has concluded the likelihood that its plan to successfully obtain sufficient funding, or adequately reduce expenditures, while reasonably possible, is less than probable. Accordingly, the Company has concluded that substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the ordinary course of business. The financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of the uncertainties described above.
F-9
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Segment Information
Operating segments are components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is available and is evaluated regularly by the Company's President who is the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company currently operates in one reportable business segment - human therapeutics.
Discontinued Operations
In accordance with ASC 205-20 “Presentation of Financial Statements: Discontinued Operations”, a disposal of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity is required to be reported as discontinued operations if the disposal represents a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results. In the period in which the component meets held-for-sale or discontinued operations criteria the major current assets, non-current assets, current liabilities, and non-current liabilities shall be reported as components of total assets and liabilities separate from those balances of the continuing operations and disclosed in the notes to financial statements. At the same time, the results of all discontinued operations, less applicable income taxes, shall be reported as components of net loss separate from the net income (loss) of continuing operations.
The Transferred Assets met the definition of a discontinued operation. Accordingly, the Company has classified the results of the Transferred Assets as discontinued operations in its consolidated statements of operations for all periods presented. All assets and liabilities associated with the Transferred Assets were classified as assets and liabilities of discontinued operations in the Note 4, "Discontinued Operations". All amounts included in the notes to the consolidated financial statements relate to continuing operations unless otherwise noted. For additional information, see Note 4, “Discontinued Operations”.
Variable Interest Entities
The Company reviews each legal entity in which it has a financial interest to determine whether or not the entity is a variable interest entity, or VIE. If the entity is a VIE, the Company assesses whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of that VIE based on a number of factors, including (i) which party has the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect the VIE’s economic performance, (ii) the parties’ contractual rights and responsibilities pursuant to any contractual agreements and (iii) which party has the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits from the VIE. If the Company determines that it is the primary beneficiary of a VIE, it consolidates the financial statements of the VIE into its consolidated financial statements at the time that determination is made. On a quarterly basis, the Company evaluates whether it continues to be the primary beneficiary of any consolidated VIEs. If the Company determines that it is no longer the primary beneficiary of a consolidated VIE, or no longer has a variable interest in the VIE, the Company deconsolidates the VIE in the period that the determination is made.
Investment
The Company accounts for investments in equity securities without a readily determinable fair value at cost, minus impairment. If the Company identifies observable price changes in orderly transactions for an identical or a similar investment of the same issuer, the Company will measure the equity security at fair value as of the date that the observable transaction occurred in accordance with ASC Topic 321, Investments-Equity Securities.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") requires the Company’s management to make estimates and judgments that may affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the amounts of expenses during the reported periods. On an ongoing basis, the Company’s management evaluates its estimates, judgments and methodologies. Significant estimates and
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assumptions in the consolidated financial statements include those related to revenue, fair value determination of other investment, impairment of long-lived assets, valuation procedures for right-of-use ("ROU") assets and operating lease liabilities, income taxes, including the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets, research and development expenses, contingencies, share-based compensation and going concern. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results in the period in which they become known.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investment instruments with a remaining maturity when purchased of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Investments qualifying as cash equivalents may consist of money market funds and overnight repurchase agreements. The carrying amount of cash equivalents approximates fair value.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are recorded at cost, and are depreciated when placed into service using the straight-line method based on their estimated useful lives as follows:
Asset Description Estimated UsefulLife (In Years)
Computer equipment 3
Software 3
Software costs incurred during the preliminary project stage are expensed as incurred, while costs incurred during the application development stage are capitalized and amortized over the estimated useful life of the software. The Company also capitalizes costs related to specific upgrades and enhancements when it is probable the expenditures will result in additional functionality. Maintenance and training costs related to software obtained for internal use are expensed as incurred.
Costs for capital assets not yet placed into service have been capitalized as construction in progress and are depreciated in accordance with the above guidelines once placed into service. Maintenance and repair costs are expensed as incurred.
Property and equipment that is no longer required for the business is considered disposed of when it ceases to be used. Disposals are either sold or retired and the net book value is removed from the consolidated balance sheet and a corresponding gain or loss on the sale or disposal is recognized as a component of operating expenses in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
Fair Value of Investment Instruments
Fair value 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. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value are to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three levels of the fair value hierarchy, of which the first two are considered observable and the last is considered unobservable:
•
Level 1 — Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
•
Level 2 — Observable inputs (other than Level 1 quoted prices), such as quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets or liabilities, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.
F-11
•
Level 3 — Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to determining the fair value of the assets or liabilities, including pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques.
Foreign Currency Translation Adjustment
The functional currency of the Company’s foreign subsidiary is its local currency, the Swiss franc. The assets and liabilities of the Company’s foreign subsidiary are translated into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Income and expense items are translated at the average exchange rates prevailing during the period. The cumulative translation effect for the Company’s foreign subsidiary is included as a foreign currency translation adjustment in the consolidated statements of stockholders’ equity and as a component of comprehensive loss in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
The Company’s intercompany accounts are typically denominated in the functional currency of the foreign subsidiary. Gains and losses resulting from the re-measurement of intercompany balances are recorded in the consolidated statements of operations.
Accounts Receivable
The Company makes judgments as to its ability to collect outstanding receivables and provides an allowance for receivables when collection becomes doubtful. Provisions are made based upon a specific review of all significant outstanding invoices. The Company’s receivables primarily relate to amounts earned under a development agreement with Ironwood, licensing agreement, and supply agreement. The Company believes that credit risks associated with these agreements are not significant. To date, the Company has not had significant write-offs of bad debt and the Company did not have an allowance for doubtful accounts as of December 31, 2023 or 2022.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
The Company regularly reviews the carrying amount of its long-lived assets to determine whether indicators of impairment may exist, which warrant adjustments to carrying values or estimated useful lives. If indications of impairment exist, projected future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset are compared to the carrying amount to determine whether the asset’s value is recoverable. If the carrying value of the asset exceeds such projected undiscounted cash flows, the asset will be written down to its estimated fair value. There were no significant impairments of long-lived assets for the years ended December 31, 2023 or 2022, except for the impairment loss of ROU assets recognized during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Leases
Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 842, Leases (“ASC 842”) using the optional transition method. The adoption of ASC 842 represents a change in accounting principle that aims to increase transparency and comparability among organizations by requiring the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet for both operating and finance leases. In addition, the standard requires enhanced disclosures that meet the objective of enabling financial statement users to assess the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The reported results for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 reflect the application of ASC 842 guidance.
The recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities related to the Company’s operating leases under ASC 842 has had a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
As part of the ASC 842 adoption, the Company has used certain practical expedients outlined in the guidance. These practical expedients include:
•
Account policy election to use the short-term lease exception by asset class;
•
Election of the practical expedient package during transition, which includes:
F-12
•
An entity need not reassess whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases.
•
An entity need not reassess the classification for any expired or existing leases. As a result, all leases that were classified as operating leases in accordance with ASC 840 are classified as operating leases under ASC 842, and all leases that were classified as capital leases in accordance with ASC 840 are classified as finance leases under ASC 842.
•
An entity need not reassess initial direct costs for any existing leases.
The Company had a property lease for its headquarters location at 301 Binney Street, Cambridge, MA (the “Head Lease”). The Company determined if the arrangement was a lease at the inception of the contract. The asset component of the Company’s operating leases was recorded as operating lease right-of-use assets, and the liability component was recorded as current portion of operating lease liabilities and operating lease liabilities, net of current portion, in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
ROU assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term at the commencement date. The Company uses an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments if an implicit rate of return is not provided with the lease contract. Operating lease right-of-use assets are adjusted for incentives received.
Lease cost was recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and included amounts related to short-term leases. Variable lease costs that do not depend on an index or rate were recognized as incurred.
ROU assets and operating lease liabilities were remeasured upon certain modifications to leases using the present value of remaining lease payments and estimated incremental borrowing rate upon lease modification. The difference between the remeasured ROU assets and the operating lease liabilities were recognized as a gain or loss in operating expenses. The Company reviewed any changes to its lease agreements for potential modifications and/or indicators of impairment of the respective ROU asset. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company recorded $3.3 million for impairment of ROU asset. See Note 9, “Leases,” for additional information.
Revenue
Upon executing a revenue generating arrangement, the Company assesses whether it is probable the Company will collect consideration in exchange for the good or service it transfers to the customer. To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that the Company determines are within the scope of ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), it performs the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies the performance obligations. The Company must develop assumptions that require significant judgment to determine the stand-alone selling price for each performance obligation identified in the contract. The assumptions that are used to determine the stand-alone selling price may include forecasted revenues, development timelines, reimbursement rates for personnel costs, discount rates and probabilities of technical and regulatory success. The Company derives revenue from (1) license agreement and (2) supply agreement which are fully described in Note 15, License Agreement.
The Company generates revenue from research and development grants under contracts with third parties that do not create customer-vendor relationships. The Company’s research and development grants are non-exchange transactions and are not within the scope of ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Contribution revenue earned from activities performed pursuant to research and development grants is reported as grant revenue in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. Revenue from these grants is recognized as the Company incurs qualifying expenses as stipulated by the terms of the respective grant. Cash received from grants in advance of incurring qualifying expenses is recorded as deferred revenue. The Company records revenue and a corresponding receivable when qualifying costs are incurred before receiving payment from the grants.
F-13
Research and Development Costs
The Company expenses research and development costs to operations as incurred. The Company defers and capitalizes nonrefundable advance payments made by the Company for research and development activities until the related goods are received or the related services are performed. The Company estimates the period over which such services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If actual timing of performance or the level of effort varies from the estimate, the Company will adjust the amounts recorded accordingly. The Company has not experienced any material differences between accrued or prepaid costs and actual costs since inception.
Research and development expenses are comprised of costs incurred in performing research and development activities, which may include salary, benefits and other employee-related expenses; share-based compensation expense; laboratory supplies and other direct expenses; facilities expenses; overhead expenses; third-party contractual costs relating to nonclinical studies and clinical trial activities and related contract manufacturing expenses, development of manufacturing processes and regulatory registration of third-party manufacturing facilities; and other outside expenses.
General and Administrative Expenses
The Company expenses general and administrative costs to operations as incurred. General and administrative expense consists of compensation, share-based compensation, benefits and other employee-related expenses for personnel in the Company’s administrative, finance, legal, information technology, business development and human resource functions. Other costs include the legal costs of pursuing patent protection of the Company’s intellectual property, general and administrative related facility costs, insurance costs and professional fees for accounting and legal services.
Income taxes
The Company is primarily subject to U.S. Federal and Massachusetts state income taxes. For federal and state income taxes, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based upon temporary differences between the financial statement and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. Deferred income taxes are based upon prescribed rates and enacted laws applicable to periods in which differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Accordingly, the Company provides a valuation allowance, if necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to amounts that are realizable.
The tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing the Company tax returns are required to be evaluated to determine whether the tax positions are “more-likely-than-not” of being sustained by the applicable tax authority. Tax positions not deemed to meet a more-likely-than-not threshold would be recorded as a tax expense in the current year. The determination as to whether the tax benefit will more likely than not be realized is based upon the technical merits of the tax position as well as consideration of the available facts and circumstances. It does not consider the likelihood of whether or not the IRS will review the position. Cyclerion evaluates uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis and adjusts the level of the liability to reflect any subsequent changes in the relevant facts surrounding the uncertain positions. Any changes to these estimates, based on the actual results obtained and/or a change in assumptions, could affect Cyclerion's income tax provision in future periods. There were no uncertain tax positions that require accrual or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2023, and 2022. The Company’s policy is to recognize interest and penalties related to income tax, if any, in income tax expense. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company has no accruals for interest or penalties related to income tax matters.
Patent Costs
Patent fees and patent related costs in connection with filing and prosecuting patent applications are expensed as incurred and are classified as general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. The Company incurred and recorded as operating expense legal and other fees related to
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patents of approximately $1.1 million and $1.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Interest and Other Income, Net
For the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, interest and other income, net consisted of a $0.4 million and $0.3 million of interest income related to interest generated from the Company's cash and cash equivalents balances, respectively.
Subsequent Events
The Company considers events or transactions that have occurred after the balance sheet date of December 31, 2023, but prior to the filing of the financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to provide additional evidence relative to certain estimates or to identify matters that require additional recognition or disclosure. Subsequent events have been evaluated through the filing of the financial statements accompanying this Annual Report on Form 10-K. See Note 17, Subsequent Events.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or other standard setting bodies that are adopted by the Company as of the specified effective date. Except as discussed elsewhere in the notes to the consolidated financial statements, the Company did not adopt any new accounting pronouncements during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, that had a material effect on its consolidated financial statements.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In June 2016 the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses. This standard requires entities to measure all expected credit losses for financial assets held at the reporting date based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts. As a smaller reporting company, ASU 2016-13 became effective for the Company for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company adopted ASU 2016-13 in the first quarter of 2023, and the adoption of this standard did not have any impact on the Company's financial position or results of operations.
No other accounting standards known by the Company to be applicable to it that have been issued by the FASB or other standard-setting bodies and that do not require adoption until a future date are expected to have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements upon adoption.
3. Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company’s cash equivalents are generally classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. The following tables present information about the Company’s financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis and indicate the level of the fair value hierarchy used to determine such fair values as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 (in thousands):
Fair Value Measurements as of December 31, 2023:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
Cash equivalents:
Money market funds $ 7,244 $ — $ — $ 7,244
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Fair Value Measurements as of December 31, 2022:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Total
Cash equivalents:
During the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, there were no transfers between levels. The fair value of the Company's cash equivalents, consisting of money market funds, is based on quoted market prices in active markets with no valuation adjustment.
The Company believes the carrying amounts of its prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, and accrued expenses approximate their fair value due to the short-term nature of these amounts.
4. Discontinued Operations
On May 11, 2023, the Company entered into the Purchase Agreement with Tisento for Tisento’s acquisition of substantially all of the assets comprising the Company’s zagociguat and CY3018 programs, in exchange for consideration at closing of $8.0 million, the reimbursement of employee expenses or R&D expenses of $2.4 million that Tisento reimbursed the Company for upon closing, and 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of Tisento Parent (Note 5). Upon closing of the transaction, the Company transferred certain fully depreciated software included within property and equipment to Tisento.
The carrying value of the disposal group was lower than its fair value, less costs to sell, and accordingly, a gain on disposal was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2023. The operations of the Transferred Assets are presented as discontinued for all periods presented. The transaction closed on July 28, 2023.
The following table presents the results of the discontinued operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):
Year Ended December 31,
Revenues:
Revenue from grants $ 50 $ 1,328
Cost and expenses:
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations 15,752 —
Net gain (loss) from discontinued operations $ 7,330 $ (25,832 )
The following table summarizes the carrying amounts of major classes of assets and liabilities of discontinued operations as of December 31, 2022 (in thousands).
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Prepaid expenses $ 3
Other current assets 20
Total current assets of discontinued operations 23
Total assets of discontinued operations 23
Accounts payable 2,389
Accrued research and development costs 2,233
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 155
Total current liabilities of discontinued operations 4,777
Total liabilities of discontinued operations 4,777
Net liabilities of discontinued operations $ (4,754 )
The following table presents the significant non-cash item for the discontinued operations that are included in the accompanying consolidated statements of cash flows (in thousands):
Year Ended December 31,
Cash flows from operating activities:
Share-based compensation expense $ 505 $ 1,161
The transaction consideration received from the sale of the Transferred Assets were as follows (in thousands):
Amount
Closing payment $ 8,000
Expense reimbursement 2,402
Investment in Tisento Parent 5,350
Gross transaction consideration from the sale 15,752
Net assets sold —
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations $ 15,752
During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company incurred $1.3 million in closing costs associated with the sale of the Transferred Assets. The Company also incurred $0.9 million in transaction costs associated with the sale of the Transferred Assets during the year ended December 31, 2023, respectively. All of the closing and transaction costs were recognized as part of discontinued operations - general and administrative.
5. Other Investment
On July 28, 2023, the Company closed the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement receiving proceeds of $8.0 million as cash consideration, approximately $2.4 million as reimbursement for certain operating expenses related to zagociguat and CY3018 programs for the period between signing and closing of the transaction, and 10% of all of Tisento Parent's outstanding equity securities which fair value was determined to be $5.3 million at the time of closing. The Company’s investment in Tisento Parent does not provide it with significant influence over Tisento Parent.
The Company has determined that the Company’s investment in Tisento Parent is an equity security, whereby such investment does not give the Company a controlling financial interest or significant influence over the investee. Further, the Company assessed the accounting for its investment in Tisento Parent in accordance with ASC 810-10, Consolidation—Overall. After determining that no scope exception applies under the guidance of ASC 810-10-15-12 and ASC 810-10-15-17, the Company concluded that it has a variable interest in Tisento Parent through its investment in Tisento Parent common stock. Tisento Parent does not have sufficient equity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support as Tisento Parent is a startup entity in its early
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stages of raising funds and will require significant capital to advance its programs to commercial stage. Therefore, the Company concluded that its investment in Tisento Parent is a variable interest entity (“VIE”) in accordance with ASC 810-10-15-14(a) and is subject to potential consolidation under the VIE model. However, all activities that most significantly impact Tisento Parent and its subsidiary’s economic performance are directed by the Tisento Parent board and the board approves decisions by a simple majority. Based on the board composition, the Company determined that no one party has control over the Tisento Parent board and power is not shared because the activities that most significantly affect Tisento Parent and its subsidiary’s economic performance do not require the consent of all of the parties. Rather, all decisions are made by a simple majority vote of the Tisento Parent board. Therefore, because the Company controls no director of Tisento Parent, the Company cannot unilaterally direct any of the activities that most significantly impact Tisento Parent and its subsidiary’s economic performance. Accordingly, the Company does not hold a controlling financial interest in Tisento Parent. Because both criteria (a) and (b) above have to be met for the application of the guidance in ASC 810-10-25-44B and criteria (a) has not been met, The Company concluded that it should not consolidate Tisento under the VIE model.
Accordingly, the Company has accounted for the investment as a financial instrument without a readily determinable fair value. Such investment is recorded using the measurement alternative for investments without readily determinable fair values, whereby the investment is measured at cost less any impairment recorded or adjustments for observable price changes. An impairment loss is recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss equal to the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value of the investment. As of December 31, 2023, no impairment loss was recognized. The Company considers the cost of the investment to be the maximum exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with the non-affiliated entity.
The initial fair value of the investment in Tisento Parent was determined by reference to the risk-adjusted net assets value using the discounted cash flow method. The estimated net assets value of Tisento Parent includes the cash generated/used from the operations and the proceeds from equity financing. Valuations were derived by reference to observable valuation measures for comparable companies or transactions, including weighted average cost of capital (21% to 23%), terminal decline rate (25% to 75%) and the discount rate referenced by a two-year treasury rate of 4.01%.
6. Property and Equipment
Property and equipment, net consisted of the following (in thousands):
December 31, December 31,
Computer equipment — 7
Property and equipment, gross 126 2,181
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization (126 ) (2,181 )
Property and equipment, net $ — $ —
As of December 31, 2023, and 2022, the Company’s property and equipment was primarily located in Boston, Massachusetts.
During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company did not record depreciation and amortization expenses. The Company recorded $0.1 million of depreciation and amortization expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022.
7. Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):
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December 31, December 31,
Accrued incentive compensation $ — $ 238
Accrued vacation — 186
Accrued severance and benefit costs — 809
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities $ 798 $ 2,382
8. Commitments and Contingencies
Other Funding Commitments
In the normal course of business, the Company enters into contracts with clinical research organizations and other third parties for clinical and preclinical research studies and other services and products for operating purposes. These contracts are generally cancellable, with notice, at the Company’s option and do not have any significant cancellation penalties.
Guarantees
On September 6, 2018, Cyclerion was incorporated in Massachusetts and its officers and directors are indemnified for certain events or occurrences while they are serving in such capacity.
The Company enters into certain agreements with other parties in the ordinary course of business that contain indemnification provisions. These typically include agreements with directors and officers, business partners, contractors, clinical sites and customers. Under these provisions, the Company generally indemnifies and holds harmless the indemnified party for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party as a result of the Company’s activities. These indemnification provisions generally survive termination of the underlying agreements. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification provisions is unlimited. However, to date the Company has not incurred material costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification provisions. As a result, the estimated fair value of these obligations is minimal. Accordingly, the Company did not have any liabilities recorded for these obligations as of December 31, 2023 or December 31, 2022.
Separation Benefits
As part of the separation benefit of former Chief Financial Officer, the Company shall pay to former Chief Financial Officer a payment of $0.1 million on each of the six-month and nine-month anniversaries of November 15, 2023, in the event the former Chief Financial Officer has not secured full-time employment prior to the anniversary date.
9. Leases
In May 2021 the Company signed a 12-month membership agreement to lease space with WeWork at 501 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts, commencing on August 1, 2021. The agreement was extended for six months on August 1, 2022. The 12-month agreement and 6-month extension are accounted for as short-term leases. The lease agreement was terminated during the year ended December 31, 2023. The Company recorded $0.1 million and $0.1 million, respectively, in lease expense associated with the membership agreement during the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022.
On September 15, 2020, the Company entered into a Sublease Termination Agreement (the "Sublease Termination Agreement") to terminate its sublease of 15,700 rentable square feet, of its leased premises under the Head Lease. Under the terms of the Sublease Termination Agreement, the subtenant was relieved of its obligation to
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provide future cash rental payments to the Company. The agreements requiring the former subtenant to provide licensed rooms and services to the Company free of charge through the original sublease term survived the sublease termination. The Company gained access to the licensed rooms and services beginning in the third quarter of 2021. The letter of credit security deposit related to the sublease was released.
The Company determined that the Sublease Termination Agreement constituted a non-monetary exchange under ASC 845 Nonmonetary Transactions (“ASC 845”) where, in return for the free rooms and the services, the Company agreed to terminate its rights and obligations under the sublease agreement. In accordance with ASC 845, the Company determined that the accounting for the transaction should be based on the fair value of assets or services involved. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company estimated the fair value of the rooms and services to be approximately $1.5 million and $2.9 million, respectively.
The Company determined that the licensed rooms represent a lease under ASC Topic 842 Leases. The Company obtained control of the rooms in the third quarter of 2021 and the prepaid rooms balance of approximately $1.4 million was reclassified from other assets to a ROU asset. The related lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term of 8.88 years. The Company recorded $0.2 million and $0.4 million of lease expense during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company determined that the licensed services represent a non-lease component, which is recognized separately from the lease component for this asset class. The expense related to the licensed services is recognized on a straight-line basis over the period the services are received. The Company recorded $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Both the lease expense and services expense are recognized as a component of research and development costs in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.
After the closing of the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company had no plans in the foreseeable future to use the licensed rooms and the Company is restricted from subleasing the rooms. In August 2023, the ROU asset and other assets were fully impaired, and the Company recognized a $3.3 million impairment loss during the year ended December 31, 2023.
10. Share-based Compensation Plans
In 2019, Cyclerion adopted share-based compensation plans. Specifically, Cyclerion adopted the 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“2019 ESPP”) and the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (“2019 Equity Plan”). Under the 2019 ESPP, eligible employees may use payroll deductions to purchase shares of stock in offerings under the plan, and thereby acquire an interest in the future of the Company. The 2019 Equity Plan provides for stock options, restricted stock awards ("RSAs") and restricted stock units (“RSUs”).
Cyclerion also mirrored two of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Ironwood") existing plans, the Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan (“2005 Equity Plan”) and the Amended and Restated 2010 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan (“2010 Equity Plan"). These mirror plans were adopted to facilitate the exchange of Ironwood equity awards for Cyclerion equity awards upon the Separation as part of the equity conversion. As a result of the Separation and in accordance with the EMA, employees of both companies retained their existing Ironwood vested options and received a pro-rata share of Cyclerion options, regardless of which company employed them post-Separation. For employees that were ultimately employed by Cyclerion, unvested Ironwood options and RSUs were converted to unvested Cyclerion options and RSUs.
The following table provides share-based compensation reflected in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):
Year EndedDecember 31,
Research and development $ 421 $ 2,915
General and administrative 646 3,337
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Stock Options
Stock options granted under the Company’s equity plans generally have a ten-year term and vest over a period of four years, provided the individual continues to serve at the Company through the vesting dates. Options granted under all equity plans are exercisable at a price per share not less than the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. The estimated fair value of options, including the effect of estimated forfeitures, is recognized over the requisite service period, which is typically the vesting period of each option.
A summary of stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2023 is as follows:
Weighted
Weighted Average Average
Average Remaining Intrinsic
Number Exercise Contractual Value (in
of Options Price Term (Years) thousands)
Exercised — 0.00
During the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company granted stock options to purchase an aggregate of 4,000 shares and 84,765 shares, respectively, at weighted average grant fair values per option share of $2.95 and $18.20 respectively.
There were no options exercised during the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.
As of December 31, 2023, the unrecognized share-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, related to all unvested time-based stock options held by the Company’s employees is $0.3 million and the weighted average period over which that expense is expected to be recognized is 3.46 years.
The weighted-average Black-Scholes assumptions used in estimating the fair value of the stock options granted by Cyclerion during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 were as follows:
Year ended December 31,
Weighted average risk-free interest rate 3.47 % 1.93 %
Expected dividend yield — —
Expected option term (in years) 6.0 6.0
Expected stock price volatility 93.19 % 98.90 %
For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, expected volatility was estimated using an average of the historical volatility of the common stock of a group of similar companies that were publicly traded. The Company will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its own stock price becomes available.
The Company has granted certain employees performance-based options to purchase shares of common stock. These options are subject to performance-based milestone vesting. During the year ended December 31, 2023, there were no shares that vested as a result of performance milestone achievements and 2,500 shares vested during the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company recorded a de minimis and no share-based compensation expense related to these performance-based options for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively.
Market-based Stock Options
The Company also has granted to certain employees stock options containing market conditions that vest upon the achievement of specified price targets of the Company’s share price for a period through December 31,
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2024. Vesting is measured based upon the average closing price of the Company’s share price for any thirty consecutive trading days, subject to certain service requirements. Stock compensation cost is expensed on a straight-line basis over the derived service period for each stock price target within the award, ranging from approximately 4.0 to 4.6 years. The Company accelerates expense when a stock price target is achieved prior to the derived service period. The Company does not reverse expense recognized if the share price target(s) are ultimately not achieved but expense is reversed when a stock award recipient has a break in service prior to the completion of the derived service period. As of December 31, 2023, there were 7,500 outstanding stock options containing market conditions with a weighted average exercise price of $40.20. As of December 31, 2023, there was a de minimis amount of unrecognized compensation costs related to stock options containing market conditions, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 0.35 years.
A summary of stock awards containing market conditions activity for the year ended December 31, 2023 is as follows:
Weighted
Weighted Average Aggregate
Average Remaining Intrinsic
Number of Exercise Contractual Value (in
Options Price Term (years) thousands)
Granted — — — —
Exercised — — — —
Exercisable at December 31, 2023 — $ — — $ —
No stock options containing market conditions were granted during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.
Restricted Stock Units
The RSUs generally vest 25% per year on the approximate anniversary of the date of grant until fully vested, provided the employee remains continuously employed with the Company through each vesting date. Shares of the Company’s common stock are delivered to the employee upon vesting, subject to payment of applicable withholding taxes. The fair value of all RSUs is based on the market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. Compensation expense, including the effect of estimated forfeitures, is recognized over the applicable service period.
A summary of RSU activity for the years ended December 31, 2023 is as follows:
Weighted Average
Number Grant Date
of Shares Fair Value
Granted — —
Unvested as of December 31, 2023 — $ —
Restricted Stock Awards
The Company granted 200,000 RSAs during the year ended December 31, 2023. 28,750 RSAs vest upon grant. 113,750 RSAs vest ratably over a 42-month period, 2,500 RSAs vest over a 6-month period and 55,000 RSAs vest ratably over a 48-month period, provided the grantee remains continuously as a director or an employee of the Company through each vesting date. Shares of the Company’s common stock are delivered to the employee upon vesting, subject to payment of applicable withholding taxes. The fair value of all RSAs is based on the market value
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of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. Compensation expense, including the effect of estimated forfeitures, is recognized over the applicable service period.
A summary of RSA activity for the years ended December 31, 2023 is as follows:
Weighted Average
Number Grant Date
of Shares Fair Value
Unvested as of December 31, 2022 — $ —
Forfeited — —
As of December 31, 2023, the unrecognized share-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, related to all unvested RSAs held by the Company’s directors is $0.4 million and the weighted average period over which that expense is expected to be recognized is 3.53 years.
11. Loss per share
Basic and diluted net loss per common share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period as follows:
Year EndedDecember 31,
Numerator:
Net loss from continuing operations (in thousands) $ (12,593 ) $ (18,246 )
Net gain (loss) from discontinued operations (in thousands) 7,330 (25,832 )
Total net loss (in thousands) (5,263 ) (44,078 )
Denominator:
Net gain (loss) per share — basic and diluted
Net loss per share from continuing operations $ (5.39 ) $ (8.40 )
Net gain (loss) per share from discontinued operations 3.14 (11.89 )
Total loss per share $ (2.25 ) $ (20.28 )
*Adjusted retroactively for reverse stock split - see Note 1
We exclude shares of common stock related to Preferred Stock, stock options, RSUs and RSAs from the calculation of diluted net loss per share since the inclusion of such shares would be anti-dilutive. The following table sets forth potential shares that were considered anti-dilutive for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022:
Year EndedDecember 31,
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12. Income Taxes
There was no provision for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, due to the Company’s operating losses and a full valuation allowance on deferred tax assets. Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes.
A reconciliation of income taxes computed using the U.S. federal statutory rate to that reflected in operations follows (in thousands):
Year Ended December 31,