ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to historical financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements based upon our current plans, expectations and beliefs that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results may differ materially from those described in or implied by these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors” and in other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Overview
We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for patients suffering from complex rare diseases using our novel CPP technology platform. Our lead product candidate, CTI-1601, is a subcutaneously administered, recombinant fusion protein intended to deliver FXN, an essential protein, to the mitochondria of patients with FA. FA is a rare, progressive, and fatal disease in which patients are unable to produce sufficient FXN due to a genetic abnormality. Currently, there are no treatment options that address the core deficit of FA, low levels of FXN. CTI-1601 represents the first potential therapy designed to increase FXN levels in patients with FA.
We have completed two Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with FA. We have also received an orphan drug designation, fast track designation and rare pediatric disease designation, from the FDA for CTI‐1601. In addition, we received orphan designation for CTI-1601 from the European Commission and a PRIME designation from the EMA. The receipt of such designations or positive opinions may not result in a faster development process, review or approval compared to products considered for approval under conventional FDA or EMA procedures and does not assure ultimate approval by the FDA or EMA.
We believe that our CPP platform, which enables a therapeutic molecule to cross a cell membrane in order to reach intracellular targets, has the potential to enable the treatment of other rare and orphan diseases. We intend to use our proprietary platform to target additional orphan indications characterized by deficiencies in or alterations of intracellular content or activity.
Since our inception, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to developing CTI-1601, building our intellectual property portfolio, developing third-party manufacturing capabilities, business planning, raising capital, and providing general and administrative support for such operations.
CTI-1601 Program Update
On May 20, 2021 we announced that we had received an EMA PRIME designation for CTI-1601 in FA. Through PRIME, the EMA offers early and proactive support to medicine developers to optimize the generation of robust data on a medicine’s benefits and risks and enable accelerated assessment of medicines applications so that these medicines can reach patients earlier. The PRIME designation was based on both pre-clinical data as well as tolerability data from the CTI-1601 Phase 1 program in patients with FA.
In May 2021, we reported positive top-line data from our Phase 1 FA program after completing dosing of the SAD trial in December 2020 and of the MAD trial in March 2021. Data from these trials demonstrate proof-of-concept by showing that daily subcutaneous injections of CTI-1601 for up to 13 days resulted in dose-dependent increases in FXN levels from baseline compared to placebo in all evaluated tissues (buccal cells, skin, and platelets). FXN levels achieved in peripheral tissues (buccal cells) following daily 50 mg and 100 mg subcutaneous injections of CTI-1601 were at or in excess of FXN levels that would be expected in phenotypically normal heterozygous carriers. There were no SAEs associated with either the MAD or SAD trials.
Also in May 2021, the FDA placed a clinical hold on our CTI-1601 clinical program after we notified the agency of mortalities at the highest dose levels of the 26-week NHP toxicology study that was designed to support extended dosing of patients with CTI-1601. At the time the hold was placed, we had no interventional clinical trials with patients enrolling or enrolled.
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In February 2022, in response to the complete response we submitted to the FDA, the FDA stated that it was maintaining the clinical hold and that additional data were needed to resolve the clinical hold. We subsequently submitted a request to the FDA for a Type C meeting, which was granted and was held in July 2022. We submitted a complete response incorporating additional information requested by the FDA at the meeting as well as information on the proposed study in August 2022.
In September 2022, following the Type C meeting and the submission of the Company's complete response, the FDA allowed the 25 mg cohort of a Phase 2, four-week, placebo-controlled, dose exploration trial of CTI-1601 in FA patients to proceed. In connection with this decision, the FDA lifted its full clinical hold on the CTI-1601 clinical development program and imposed a partial hold. The dose exploration trial is designed to further characterize CTI-1601’s safety, PD and PK profiles to provide information about the preferred long-term dose and dose regimen. We have since initiated the 25 mg cohort of the Phase 2 dose exploration trial. Initiation of the second cohort and/or other clinical trials is contingent on the FDA’s agreement based on its review of the trial's 25 mg cohort data and on review by the trial’s independent data monitoring committee. We anticipate that we will provide an update that will outline the next steps for the clinical trial in the second quarter of 2023 and anticipate reporting top-line data in the second half of 2023.
Recent Financing Activities
We have funded our operations to date primarily with proceeds from sales of common stock, proceeds from the sale of prefunded warrants for the purchase of common stock, the acquisition in 2020 of cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and restricted cash upon the merger with Zafgen, Inc. and, prior to the 2020 merger with Zafgen, capital contributions from Chondrial Holdings, LLC.
In August 2020, we entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement (the "Prior ATM Agreement") with an investment bank in connection with the establishment of an “at-the-market” offering program providing for the sale of up to an aggregate of $50.0 million of shares of our common stock from time to time through the investment bank as sales agent.
In July 2021, we sold 2,342,720 shares under the Prior ATM agreement for net proceeds of $19.9 million, after issuance costs.
In September 2022, we sold 25,558,750 shares of common stock in an underwritten offering for net proceeds of $75.2 million, after issuance costs.
In November 2022, the Prior ATM Agreement was terminated and we entered into a new Sales Agreement (the "ATM Agreement") with another investment bank in connection with the establishment of an “at-the-market” offering program providing for the sale of up to an aggregate of $50.0 million of shares of our common stock from time to time through this investment bank as sales agent.
COVID-19 Update
The COVID-19 pandemic that began late in 2019 caused a four-month temporary stoppage of our trials with patients with FA in early 2020. Both of our SAD and MAD clinical trials were subsequently completed in 2021. While COVID-19 has had no significant impact to date on our 25 mg cohort of its dose exploration study, the risk of a resurgence of future vaccine resistant variants of COVID-19 and or other infectious diseases remains. In the future, the COVID-19 pandemic and responsive measures thereto may result in negative impacts on us, including possible delays in our clinical and regulatory activities. We cannot be certain what the overall impact of a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic or other health crisis would be on our business and it has the potential to materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates
Our audited consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our audited consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. We believe that the estimates and assumptions involved in the accounting policies described below may have the greatest potential impact on our audited consolidated financial statements and, therefore, consider these to be our critical accounting policies. We evaluate these estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.
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Research and Development Expense
Costs for certain research and development activities, such as manufacturing, non-clinical studies and clinical trials are generally recognized based on the evaluation of the progress of completion of specific tasks using information and data provided by our vendors and collaborators, and accordingly are considered an area of significant judgement and management's review of manufacturing, nonclinical and clinical expenses. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel and outside vendors to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual costs. We work with vendors and suppliers to ensure that our estimates of our research and development expenses are reasonable. Research and development activities are central to our business. We expect to increase our investment in research and development in order to advance CTI-1601 through additional clinical trials. As a result, we expect that our research and development expenses will increase in the foreseeable future as we pursue clinical development of CTI-1601 and/or any other product candidates we develop.
Stock Compensation Expense
We measure all stock-based awards granted to employees, non-employee consultants and directors based on the fair value on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires the use of highly subjective assumptions which determine the fair value of stock-based awards. The assumptions used in our option-pricing model represent management’s best estimates. These estimates are complex, involve a number of variables, uncertainties and assumptions and the application of management’s judgment, so that they are inherently subjective. If factors change and different assumptions are used, our stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future.
Prior to May 28, 2020, we were a private company and lacked company-specific historical and implied volatility information for our common stock. Therefore, we estimate our expected common stock price volatility based on the historical volatility of publicly traded peer companies within the life sciences/biotechnology sector with comparable characteristics including enterprise value, risk profiles and position within the industry. We regularly evaluate our peer group to assess changes in circumstances where identified companies may no longer be similar to us, in which case, more suitable companies whose share prices are publicly available would be utilized in the calculation. We expect to continue to do so until we have adequate historical data regarding the volatility of our own traded stock price.
The expected term of our stock options has been determined utilizing the “simplified” method for awards that qualify as “plain-vanilla” options. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. Expected dividend yield considers the fact that we have never paid cash dividends on common stock and do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Compensation expense of those awards is recognized over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. Typically, we issue awards with only service-based vesting conditions and record the expense for these awards using the straight-line method. We account for forfeitures as they occur.
We classify stock-based compensation expense in our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the same manner in which the award recipient’s payroll costs are classified or in which the award recipient’s service payments are classified.
Financial Operations Overview
Revenue
To date, we have not generated any revenue from product sales, and do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of products in the foreseeable future. If our development efforts result in clinical success and regulatory approval or collaboration agreements with third parties for our product candidates, we may generate revenue from those product candidates or collaborations.
Operating Expenses
The majority of our operating expenses since inception have consisted primarily of research and development activities, and general and administrative costs.
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Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses, which consist primarily of costs associated with our product research and development efforts, are expensed as incurred. Research and development expenses consist primarily of:
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third-party contract costs relating to research, formulation, manufacturing, non-clinical studies and clinical trial activities;
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employee related costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation expenses for employees engaged in scientific research and development functions;
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external costs of outside consultants and vendors;
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payments made under our third-party licensing agreements;
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sponsored research agreements;
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laboratory consumables; and
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allocated facility-related costs.
At this time, we cannot reasonably estimate or know the nature, timing and estimated costs of the efforts that will be necessary to complete the clinical and commercial development of CTI-1601, or any other product candidates we develop. We are also unable to predict when, if ever, material net cash inflows will commence from sales of our product candidates. The duration, costs, and timing of clinical trials and development of CTI-1601 or any other product candidates we develop will depend on a variety of factors, including:
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the scope, rate of progress and expense of clinical trials and other research and development activities;
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clinical trial results;
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uncertainties in clinical trial enrollment rate or design;
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significant and changing government regulation;
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the timing and receipt of any regulatory approvals;
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the influence of the FDA's or other regulatory authority's on our clinical trial design and timing;
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establishing manufacturing capabilities or making arrangements with third-party manufacturers and risk involved with development of manufacturing processes, FDA pre-approval inspection practices and successful completion of manufacturing batches for clinical development and other regulatory purposes;
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the possible impact of COVID-19 including the mutations of the original virus that may prove more contagious and deadly;
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our ability to obtain and maintain patent and trade secret protection and regulatory exclusivity for our product candidates; and
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our ability to recruit and retain key research and development personnel.
A change in the outcome of one or more of these variables with respect to the development of a product candidate could significantly change the costs, timing and viability associated with the development of that product candidate. For example, if the FDA or another regulatory authority were to require us to conduct additional non-clinical or clinical trials beyond those that we currently anticipate will be required for the completion of clinical development of a product candidate, or if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, consisting of salaries, related benefits and stock-based compensation, costs related to our executive, finance, information technology, and costs related to other administrative functions. General and administrative expenses also include insurance expenses and professional fees for auditing, tax, and legal services, including legal expenses to pursue patent protection for our intellectual property. We expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the foreseeable future
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as we hire additional employees to implement, improve and scale our operational, financial, commercial and management systems.
Results of Operations
The following commentary is a discussion and analysis of our financial condition as of December 31, 2022 and results of operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes.
The discussion and analysis of our financial condition as of December 31, 2021, and results of operations and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021, compared to the year ended December 31, 2020, is included in item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial and Results of Operations of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021.
Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021
The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:
Year Ended December 31,
Increase
(in thousands)
Statement of Operations Data:
Operating expenses:
Research and development expenses
Research and development expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 decreased $14.1 million compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2021. The decrease in research and development expenses was primarily driven by a decrease of $9.5 million in drug manufacturing costs, a decrease of $3.7 million in nonclinical development costs, a decrease of $1.6 million in clinical expense, a decrease of $0.9 million in consulting expenditures, and a decrease of $0.7 million in internal lab costs. These decreases were partially offset by an increase of $1.2 million in personnel expense, an increase of $0.7 million in non-cash, stock-based compensation expense associated with stock option grants made in 2021 and 2022 and an increase of $0.3 million in royalty fees associated with the milestone achieved in 2022.
General and administrative expenses
General and administrative expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 increased $0.2 million compared to the twelve months ended December 31, 2021. The increase in general and administrative expense was primarily driven by an increase of $0.5 million in stock-based compensation expense associated with stock option grants made in 2021 and 2022 and an increase of $0.5 million in personnel expense, partially offset by a decrease of $0.6 million in operational costs primarily related to technology and recruiting services and a decrease of $0.2 million in professional fees primarily associated with legal and consulting expense.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since our inception, we have not generated any revenue from any sources, including from product sales, and have incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from our operations. We have devoted substantially all of our resources to developing CTI-1601, building our intellectual property portfolio, developing third-party manufacturing capabilities, business planning, capital raising, and providing general and administrative support for such operations.
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The following table summarizes our sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented below:
Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
Net cash used in operating activities $ (27,569 ) $ (42,105 )
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (90,960 ) 24,169
Net cash provided by financing activities 75,257 19,885
Net cash used in operating activities
During the year ended December 31, 2022, operating activities used $27.6 million of cash, resulting from our net loss of $35.4 million, adjusted for noncash expenses of $6.1 million, and changes in our operating assets and liabilities of resulting in a source of cash of $1.7 million. Our net loss was primarily attributed to operating expenses of $36.5 million. The change in operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to an increase in accrued expenses due to the growth in our operating activities following the partial release of the clinical hold in late 2022.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, operating activities used $42.1 million of cash, resulting from our net loss of $50.6 million, adjusted for noncash expenses of $5.8 million, and changes in our operating assets and liabilities resulting in a use of cash of $2.7 million. Our net loss was primarily attributed to operating expenses of $50.5 million. The change in operating assets and liabilities was primarily due to a decrease in prepaid expenses due to the recognition of expense of amounts previously paid, an increase in accrued expenses due to the growth in our operating activities, partially offset by a decrease in accounts payable due to the timing of invoice processing.
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities
During the year ended December 31, 2022, investing activities used $91.0 million of net cash, resulting from purchases of $133.6 million in marketable securities, which was offset by $42.8 million of maturities and sales of marketable securities.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, investing activities provided $24.2 million of net cash, resulting from $32.8 million representing maturities and sales of marketable securities, which was offset by purchases of $8.2 million in marketable securities and $0.3 million used for the purchase of equipment.
Net cash provided by financing activities
During the year ended December 31, 2022, financing activities provided $75.3 million of cash from sale of common stock in an underwritten public offering, net of issuance costs.
During the year ended December 31, 2021, financing activities provided $19.9 million of cash from the sale of common stock under the Prior ATM Agreement, net of issuance costs.
Operating Capital Requirements
We have not yet commercialized any products and do not expect to generate revenue from the commercial sale of any products for several years, if at all.
We have to date incurred net losses. We incurred net losses of approximately $35.4 million and $50.6 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $151.6 million and a cash and cash equivalents balance of $118.4 million, excluding restricted cash of $1.3 million.
Losses have resulted principally from costs incurred in connection with research and development activities, and general and administrative costs associated with the development of CTI-1601 and our operations. We expect to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future as we expect to continue to incur expenses in connection with our ongoing activities, if and as we:
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continue to advance the development of CTI-1601 through additional clinical trials;
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seek to identify and advance development of additional product candidates into clinical development and identify additional indications for our product candidates;
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seek to obtain regulatory approvals for our product candidates;
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identify, acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies;
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maintain, leverage and expand our intellectual property portfolio; and
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expand our operational, financial, commercial and management information systems and personnel, including personnel to support our clinical development and future commercialization efforts and our operations as a public company.
We believe that based on our current operating plan our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be able fund operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next twelve months from the filing of these financial statements with the SEC. If we encounter unexpected delays in our clinical trials or if there are other unanticipated changes to our operating plan from our current assumptions that negatively impact our operations, we may reduce expenditures in order to further extend our existing cash resources. Until we can generate substantial revenue, if ever, we expect to seek additional funding through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations and licensing arrangements or other sources. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and we may be required to agree to certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, minimum cash balances, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to raise sufficient additional capital on acceptable terms, if at all. If such additional financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or is not available in sufficient amounts, or we do not have sufficient authorized shares, we may be required to delay, limit, or eliminate the development of business opportunities and our ability to achieve our business objectives, our competitiveness, and our business, financial condition, and results of operations will be materially adversely affected. We could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or otherwise at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable and we may be required to relinquish rights to some of our technologies or product candidates or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to us, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and prospects. In addition, geopolitical unrest, including a more widespread impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the possibility that the conflict could expand beyond eastern Europe, the impact of a possible resurgence of vaccine resistant, more deadly or more contagious variants of COVID-19 and/or the potential impact of other health crises, recent liquidity constraints, failures and instability in U.S. and international financial banking systems as well as the impact of inflation or the federal government's failure to raise the debt ceiling on the global financial markets may reduce our ability to access capital, which could negatively affect our liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern.
If we are unable to obtain sufficient funding when needed and/or on acceptable terms, we may be required to significantly curtail, delay or discontinue one or more of our research and development programs, the manufacture of clinical and commercial supplies, product portfolio expansion or pre commercialization efforts, which could adversely affect our business prospects, or we may be unable to continue operations. Certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. Any additional fundraising efforts may divert our management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates.
During the periods presented we did not have, and we currently do not have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined under applicable SEC rules, such as relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, which are often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, established for the purpose of facilitating financing transactions that are not required to be reflected on our balance sheets.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
Please read Note 2 to our audited consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15, of this Annual Report for a description of recent accounting pronouncements applicable to our business.
Other Company Information
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None.
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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
Our audited consolidated financial statements and the report of our independent registered public accounting firm are included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K on the pages indicated in Part IV, Item 16.
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of 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, 2022, 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 Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2022 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 Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, to allow timely decisions regarding any required disclosure.
Management’s Annual 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. Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed 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. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our evaluation under that framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2022.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by Rule 13a-15(d) and 15d-15(d) of the Exchange Act that occurred during the quarter ended December 31, 2022, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS
Not applicable
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PART III
ITEM 10.DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by Item 10 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the information contained in our definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.
ITEM 11.EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by Item 11 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the information contained in our definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The information required by Item 12 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the information contained in our definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by Item 13 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the information contained in our definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.
ITEM 14.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Our independent accounting firm is PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, PCAOB Auditor ID: 238.
The information required by Item 14 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the information contained in our definitive proxy statement for the 2023 annual meeting of stockholders.
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PART IV
ITEM 15.EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
1. Financial Statements
See Index to the Consolidated Financial Statements on page F-1 of this Annual Report.
2. Financial Statement Schedules
None, as all information required in these schedules is included in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements.
3. Exhibits
Reference is made to the Exhibit Index below for a list of exhibits required by Item 601 of Regulation S-K to be filed as part of this Annual Report.
The following exhibits are being filed herewith:
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EXHIBIT INDEX
* Filed Herewith
+ Certain confidential portions (indicated by brackets and asterisks) have been omitted from this exhibit
** Furnished herewith. This certification will not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or otherwise subject to the liability of that section. Such certification will not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except to the extent specifically incorporated by reference into such filing.
Exhibit No. Exhibit
10.4* Non-Qualified Stock Option Grant Notice and Award Agreement.
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21.1* Subsidiaries of Larimar Therapeutics, Inc.
31.1* Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) certification of Principal Executive Officer.
31.2* Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) certification of Principal Financial Officer.
101.INS Inline XBRL Instance Document
101.SCH Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
ITEM 16. Form 10-K Summary
None.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
LARIMAR THERAPEUTICS, INC.
By: /s/ Carole Ben-Maimon
Name: Carole Ben-Maimon
Title: President and Chief Executive Officer
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature Title Date
Carole Ben-Maimon
Michael Celano
/s/ Joseph Truitt Chairman, Board of Directors March 14, 2023
Joseph Truitt
/s/ Peter Barrett Director March 14, 2023
Peter Barrett
/s/ Frank E. Thomas Director March 14, 2023
Frank E. Thomas
/s/ Jonathan Leff Director March 14, 2023
Jonathan Leff
/s/ Thomas E. Hamilton Director March 14, 2023
Thomas E. Hamilton
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INDEX
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID 238) F-1
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 F-3
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-7
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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Larimar Therapeutics, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Larimar Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiary (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, of changes in stockholders' equity and of cash flows for the years then ended, including 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 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated 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 of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated 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 consolidated 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 consolidated 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 consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (i) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (ii) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Accrued Research and Development Expenses
As described in Notes 2 and 6 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company recognizes external research and development costs based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks using information provided to the Company by its key service providers. Within accrued expenses, total accrued research and development expenses amounted to $5.9 million as of December 31, 2022. As disclosed, management’s process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with personnel and outside vendors to identify services that have been performed, and estimating the
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level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when invoices or other notification of actual costs have not been received.
The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to accrued research and development expenses is a critical audit matter are the significant judgment by management in developing the estimates of accrued research and development expenses, which in turn led to a high degree of auditor judgment, subjectivity and effort in performing procedures and evaluating management’s estimates of the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when invoices or other notification of actual costs have not yet been received.
Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included, among others, testing management’s process for developing the estimates of accrued research and development expenses, which included (i) evaluating the reasonableness of management’s estimates of the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when invoices or other notification of actual costs have not yet been received; and (ii) testing the completeness and accuracy of data used by management in accrued research and development expenses calculations by comparing amounts, on a test basis, to contracts and invoices. Evaluating the reasonableness of management’s estimate of the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred involved assessing management’s ability to reasonably estimate the level of service and associated costs by comparing such estimates to invoices received, provisions in the contracts and other evidence including communications the company received from third-party vendors.
/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
March 14, 2023
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020.
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LARIMAR THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands, except share and per share data)
December 31, December 31,
Assets
Current assets:
Marketable securities 91,603 —
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 2,311 2,107
Property and equipment, net 831 1,049
Operating lease right-of-use assets 2,858 3,406
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Operating lease liabilities, current 611 594
Commitments and contingencies (See Note 8)
Stockholders’ equity:
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (31 ) —
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 126,405 $ 78,667
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
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LARIMAR THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
(In thousands, except share and per share data)
Year Ended December 31,
Operating expenses:
Other income (expense), net 1,171 (171 )
Net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (1.37 ) $ (2.95 )
Comprehensive loss:
Other comprehensive loss:
Unrealized loss on marketable securities (31 ) (1 )
Total other comprehensive loss (31 ) (1 )
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
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LARIMAR THERAPEUTICS, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
(In thousands, except share data)
Accumulated
Additional Other Total
Common Stock Paid-in Accumulated Comprehensive Stockholders’
Shares Par Value Capital Deficit Loss Equity
Stock-based compensation expense — — 6,619 — — 6,619
Unrealized loss on marketable securities — — — — (31 ) (31 )
Accumulated
Additional Other Total
Common Stock Paid-in Accumulated Comprehensive Stockholders’
Shares Par Value Capital Deficit Loss Equity
Stock-based compensation expense — — 5,473 — — 5,473
Unrealized loss on marketable securities — — — — (1 ) (1 )
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
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LARIMAR 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:
Stock-based compensation expense 6,619 5,473
Gain on disposal of fixed asset — (1 )
Non-cash lease expense (46 ) 15
Amortization of discount on marketable securities (774 ) (14 )
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses and other current assets (204 ) 3,207
Accounts payable 26 (974 )
Net cash used in operating activities: (27,569 ) (42,105 )
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of property and equipment (100 ) (333 )
Purchase of marketable securities (133,610 ) (8,248 )
Maturities and sales of marketable securities 42,750 32,750
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (90,960 ) 24,169
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from sale of common stock, net of issuance costs 75,257 19,885
Net cash provided by financing activities 75,257 19,885
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period 71,436 69,487
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period $ 28,164 $ 71,436
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
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LARIMAR THERAPEUTICS, INC.
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
1.
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
Larimar Therapeutics, Inc., together with its subsidiary (the “Company” or “Larimar”), is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for patients suffering from complex rare diseases using its novel cell penetrating peptide technology platform. Larimar's lead product candidate, CTI-1601, is a subcutaneously administered, recombinant fusion protein intended to deliver human frataxin ("FXN") an essential protein, to the mitochondria of patients with Friedreich’s ataxia (FA"). FA is a rare, progressive and fatal disease in which patients are unable to produce sufficient FXN due to a genetic abnormality.
In May 2021, Larimar reported positive top-line data from its Phase 1 FA program after completing dosing of the single ascending dose ("SAD") trial in December 2020 and of the multiple ascending dose ("MAD") trial in March 2021.
Also in May 2021, the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") placed a clinical hold on the Company's CTI-1601 clinical program after the Company notified the agency of mortalities at the highest dose levels of the 26-week non-human primate toxicology study that was designed to support extended dosing of patients with CTI-1601. At the time the hold was placed, Larimar had no interventional clinical trials with patients enrolling or enrolled.
In February 2022, in response to the complete response the Company submitted, the FDA stated that it was maintaining the clinical hold and that additional data were needed to resolve the clinical hold. The Company subsequently submitted a request to the FDA for a Type C meeting, which was granted and was held in July 2022. The Company submitted a complete response to the FDA incorporating additional information requested by the FDA at the meeting as well as information on a proposed dose exploration study in August 2022.
In September 2022, following the Type C meeting and the submission of the Company's complete response, the FDA allowed the 25 mg cohort of a Phase 2, four-week, placebo-controlled, dose exploration trial of CTI-1601 in FA patients to proceed. In connection with this decision, the FDA lifted its full clinical hold on the CTI-1601 clinical development program and imposed a partial hold. The dose exploration trial is designed to further characterize CTI-1601’s safety, PD and PK profiles to provide information about the preferred long-term dose and dose regimen. The Company has since initiated the 25 mg cohort of the Phase 2 dose exploration trial. Initiation of the second cohort and/or other clinical trials is contingent on the FDA’s agreement based on its review of the trial's 25 mg cohort data and on review by the trial’s independent data monitoring committee. The Company anticipates that it will provide an update that will outline the next steps for the clinical trial in the second quarter of 2023 and anticipates reporting top-line data in the second half of 2023.
The Company is subject to risks and uncertainties common to pre-commercial companies in the biotechnology industry, including, but not limited to, development by competitors of new technological innovations, dependence on key personnel, protection of proprietary technology, compliance with governmental regulations, failure to secure regulatory approval for its drug candidates or any other product candidates and the ability to secure additional capital to fund its operations. Drug candidates currently under development will require extensive non-clinical and clinical testing and regulatory approval prior to commercialization. These efforts require significant amounts of additional capital, adequate personnel, and infrastructure and extensive compliance-reporting capabilities. Even if the Company's drug development efforts are successful, it is uncertain when, if ever, it will realize significant revenue from product sales.
The COVID-19 pandemic that began late in 2019 caused a four-month temporary stoppage of the Company’s trials with patients with FA in early 2020. Both of the Company’s SAD and MAD clinical trials were subsequently completed in 2021. While COVID-19 has had no significant impact to date on the Company’s 25 mg cohort of its dose exploration study, the risk of a resurgence of future vaccine resistant variants of COVID-19 and or other infectious diseases remains. In the future, the COVID-19 pandemic and responsive measures thereto may result in negative impacts on the Company, including possible delays in our clinical and regulatory activities. The Company cannot be certain what the overall impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be on its business and it has the potential to materially adversely affect its business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
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Basis of Presentation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Larimar and its wholly owned subsidiary. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
The Company’s consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that it will continue as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business.
Since its inception, the Company has incurred significant recurring operating losses and negative cash flows from operations. The Company has incurred net losses of $35.4 million and $50.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, respectively. In addition, as of December 31, 2022, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $151.6 million. The Company expects to continue to generate operating losses for the foreseeable future. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had approximately $118.4 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities available for use to fund its operations and capital requirements.
The Company has funded its operations to date primarily with proceeds from sales of common stock and proceeds from the sale of prefunded warrants for the purchase of common stock.
In accordance with Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-15, Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern, the Company has evaluated whether there are certain conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the consolidated financial statements are issued. As of the issuance date of these consolidated financial statements, the Company expects its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund its forecasted operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements, for at least twelve months from the issuance of these financial statements. If the timing of the Company's clinical assumptions are delayed or if there are other forecasted assumption changes that negatively impact its operating plan, the Company could reduce expenditures in order to further extend cash resources.
The Company has not yet commercialized any products and does not expect to generate revenue from the commercial sale of any products for several years, if at all. The Company expects that its research and development and general and administrative expenses will continue to increase and, as a result, that it will need additional capital to fund its future operating and capital requirements. Until the Company can generate substantial revenue, if ever, management continuously evaluates different strategies to obtain the required funding for future operations. These strategies include seeking additional funding through a combination of public or private equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations and licensing arrangements or other sources. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed payment obligations and the Company may be required to agree to certain restrictive covenants, such as limitations on its ability to incur additional debt, limitations on its ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights, minimum required cash balances and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact the Company's ability to conduct its business. Any additional fundraising efforts may divert the Company's management from their day-to-day activities, which may adversely affect its ability to develop and commercialize its product candidates.
There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to raise sufficient additional capital on acceptable terms, if at all. If such additional financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or is not available in sufficient amounts, or if the Company does not have sufficient authorized shares, the Company may be required to delay, limit, or eliminate the development of business opportunities and its ability to achieve its business objectives, its competitiveness, and its business, financial condition, and results of operations will be materially adversely affected. The Company could also be required to seek funds through arrangements with collaborative partners or otherwise at an earlier stage than otherwise would be desirable and it may be required to relinquish rights to some of its technologies or product candidates or otherwise agree to terms unfavorable to it, any of which may have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and prospects. In addition, geopolitical unrest, global uncertainty, the impact of another COVID-19 pandemic and/or the potential impact of other health crises on the global financial markets may reduce the Company's ability to access capital, which could negatively affect its liquidity and ability to continue as a going concern.
F-8
If the Company is unable to obtain sufficient funding when needed and/or on acceptable terms, the Company may be required to significantly curtail, delay or discontinue one or more of its research and development programs, the manufacture of clinical and commercial supplies, product portfolio expansion or pre commercialization efforts, which could adversely affect its business prospects, or the Company may be unable to continue operations.
2.
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Use of Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates and assumptions reflected in these consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, the accrual of research and development expense, the recording as prepaid expense of payments made in advance of the actual provision of goods or services, valuation of stock-based awards and valuation of leases. Due to inherent uncertainty involved in making estimates, actual results reported in future periods may be affected by changes in these estimates. On an ongoing basis, the Company evaluates its estimates and assumptions.
Concentrations of Credit Risk and Significant Suppliers
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist principally of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. Cash balances may be held in financial institutions which may exceed federally insured limits. The Company has not experienced realized losses related to its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
The Company is highly dependent on third-party manufacturers to supply products for research and development activities in its programs, to scale and optimize their manufacturing processes and, ultimately, to provide commercial supply. The Company relies and expects to continue to rely on a small number of manufacturers to supply it with its requirements for drug substance and formulated drugs related to these programs. The drug substance which is in frozen liquid form for CTI-1601 is currently manufactured for the Company by a third-party manufacturer, and the frozen liquid form of drug product is made at another manufacturer. The Company is undertaking a program with a third manufacturer to begin to produce a lyophilized version of the drug product from the same drug substance, that, once available, the Company intends to use in certain of its future planned clinical trials. The Company’s research and development programs could be adversely affected by a significant interruption in these manufacturing services or in the supply of drug substance and formulated drugs.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents consisted of money market funds as of December 31, 2022 and commercial paper and corporate bonds as of December 31, 2021.
Marketable securities
Marketable securities consist of debt investments with original maturities greater than ninety days. The Company classifies its marketable securities as available-for-sale. Accordingly, these investments are recorded at fair value, which is based on quoted market prices. When the fair value is below the amortized cost the amount of the expected credit loss is estimated. The credit-related impairment amount, if any, would be recognized in net income; the remaining impairment amount and unrealized gains are reported as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in stockholders’ equity. Credit losses, if any, are recognized through the use of an allowance for credit losses account and subsequent improvements in expected credit losses are recognized as a reversal of the allowance account. If the Company has the intent to sell the security or if it is more likely than not that the Company would be required to sell the security prior to recovery of its amortized cost basis, the allowance for credit loss would be written off and the excess of the amortized cost basis of the asset over its fair value is recorded in net income.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation expense is recognized using the straight-line method over a five orseven-year estimated useful life for equipment, furniture and fixtures and office equipment. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the asset life or the term of the lease agreement. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance of assets are charged to expense as incurred. Upon
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retirement or sale, the cost and related accumulated depreciation of assets disposed of are removed from the accounts and any resulting gain or loss is included in loss from operations.
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
Long-lived assets consist of property and equipment, net ̧ and right-of-use assets. Long-lived assets to be held and used are tested for recoverability whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be fully recoverable. Factors that the Company considers in deciding when to perform an impairment review include significant underperformance of the business in relation to expectations, significant negative industry or economic trends, and significant changes or planned changes in the use of the assets. If an impairment review is performed to evaluate a long-lived asset for recoverability, the Company compares forecasts of undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposition of the long-lived asset to its carrying value. Any impairment loss, if indicated, is measured as the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the estimated fair value of the asset.
Segment Information
The Company manages its operations as a single operating segment for the purposes of assessing performance and making operating decisions. The Company’s focus is on the research, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases.
Research and Development Costs
Costs associated with internal research and development and external research and development services, including drug development, clinical studies and non-clinical studies, are expensed as incurred. Research and development expenses include costs for salaries, employee benefits, subcontractors, facility-related expenses, depreciation, stock-based compensation, third-party license fees, laboratory supplies, and external costs of outside vendors engaged to conduct discovery, non-clinical and clinical development activities and clinical trials as well as to manufacture clinical trial materials, and other costs. The Company recognizes external research and development costs based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks using information provided to the Company by its key service providers.
Nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services to be received in the future for use in research and development activities are recorded as prepaid expenses. Such prepaid expenses are recognized as an expense when the goods have been delivered or the related services have been performed, or when it is no longer expected that the goods will be delivered, or the services rendered.
Upfront payments, milestone payments and annual maintenance fees under license agreements are currently expensed in the period in which they are incurred.
Patent Costs
All patent-related costs incurred in connection with filing and prosecuting patent applications are expensed as incurred due to the uncertainty about the recovery of the expenditure. Amounts incurred are classified as general and administrative expenses.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company measures all stock-based awards granted to employees, non-employee consultants and directors based on the fair value on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Compensation expense of those awards is recognized over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period of the respective award. Typically, the Company issues awards with only service-based and market-based vesting conditions and records the expense for these awards using the straight-line method. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur.
The Company classifies stock-based compensation expense in its consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss in the same manner in which the award recipient’s payroll costs are classified or in which the award recipient's service payments are classified.
Prior to May 28, 2020, the Company had been a private company and lacked company-specific historical and implied volatility information for its common stock. Therefore, the Company estimates its expected common stock price volatility based on the historical volatility of publicly traded peer companies and expects to continue to do so until it has adequate historical data regarding the volatility of its own traded stock price. The expected term of the Company’s stock options has been determined utilizing the “simplified” method for awards that qualify as
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“plain-vanilla” options. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. Expected dividend yield considers the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends on common stock and does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Income Taxes
The Company accounts for income taxes using the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the consolidated financial statements or in the Company’s tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded in the provision for income taxes. The Company assesses the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent it believes, based upon the weight of available evidence, that it is more likely than not that all or a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, a valuation allowance is established through a charge to income tax expense. Potential for recovery of deferred tax assets is evaluated by estimating the future taxable profits expected and considering prudent and feasible tax planning strategies.
The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the consolidated financial statements by applying a two-step process to determine the amount of tax benefit to be recognized. First, the tax position must be evaluated to determine the likelihood that it will be sustained upon external examination by the taxing authorities. If the tax position is deemed more-likely-than-not to be sustained, the tax position is then assessed to determine the amount of benefit to recognize in the consolidated financial statements. The amount of the benefit that may be recognized is the largest amount that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate settlement. The provision for income taxes includes the effects of any resulting tax reserves, or unrecognized tax benefits, that are considered appropriate as well as the related net interest and penalties.
Comprehensive Loss
Comprehensive loss includes net loss as well as other changes in stockholders’ equity that result from transactions and economic events other than those with stockholders. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company’s only element of other comprehensive loss was unrealized loss on marketable securities.
Net Loss Per Share
Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the period. Basic shares outstanding includes the weighted average effect of the Company’s prefunded warrants issued in June 2020, the exercise of which requires little or no consideration for the delivery of shares of common stock. Basic and diluted weighted average shares of common stock outstanding for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 includes the weighted average effect of 628,403 prefunded warrants for the purchase of shares of common stock for which the remaining unfunded exercise price is $0.01 per share.
Diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is computed by dividing the diluted net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares, including potentially dilutive common shares assuming the dilutive effect of outstanding stock options and unvested restricted common shares, as determined using the treasury stock method. For periods in which the Company has reported net losses, diluted net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders is the same as basic net loss per common share attributable to common stockholders, since dilutive common shares are not assumed to have been issued if their effect is antidilutive.
The Company excluded 3,071,528 and2,523,305 options to purchase common stock, outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 respectively, from the computation of diluted net loss per share for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, because they had an anti-dilutive impact due to the net loss incurred for the periods.
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Reclassification
Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation, the effect of which was not material on an annual or interim basis to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
From time to time, new accounting guidance is issued by the FASB or other standard setting bodies that is adopted by us as of the effective date or, in some cases where early adoption is permitted, in advance of the effective date. We have assessed the recently issued guidance that is not yet effective and believe the new guidance will not have a material impact on the consolidated results of operations, cash flows or financial position.
3.
Fair Value Measurements and Cash Equivalents/Marketable Securities
Fair Value Measurements
The Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 are measured in accordance with the standards of ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, which establishes a three-level valuation hierarchy for measuring fair value and expands financial statement disclosures about fair value measurements. The valuation hierarchy is based on upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of an asset or liability as of the measurement date. The three levels are defined as follows:
The Company’s financial instruments consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, marketable securities, accounts payable and accrued liabilities. For accounts payable and accrued liabilities, the carrying amounts of these financial instruments as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 were considered representative of their fair values due to their short term to maturity.
F-12
The following tables summarize the Company’s cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2022 and 2021:
(in thousands)
Cash equivalents:
Money market funds invested in government securities $ 22,184 $ 22,184 $ — $ —
Marketable securities:
U.S Government and agency securities 91,603 — 91,603 —
Cash equivalents:
Money market funds invested in government securities $ 6,137 $ 6,137 $ — $ —
The accrued interest receivable related to the Company’s investments was $0.1 million as of December 31, 2022 and is included in prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheet. There was no accrued interest receivable at December 31, 2021.
The Company classifies its money market funds which are valued based on quoted market prices in active markets with no valuation adjustment, as Level 1 assets within the fair value hierarchy.
The Company classifies its investments in U.S. government and agency securities, corporate commercial paper, and corporate debt securities as Level 2 assets within the fair value hierarchy. The fair values of these investments are estimated by taking into consideration valuations obtained from third-party pricing services. The pricing services utilize industry standard valuation models, including both income- and market-based approaches, for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly, to estimate fair value. These inputs include reported trades of and broker/dealer quotes on the same or similar securities, issuer credit spreads, benchmark securities, prepayment/default projections based on historical data and other observable inputs.
F-13
As of December 31, 2022, the unrealized loss for available-for-sale investments were non-credit related, and the Company does not intend to sell the investments that were in an unrealized loss position, nor will it be required to sell those investments before recovery of their amortized cost basis, which may be maturity. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, no allowances for credit losses for the Company’s investments were recorded. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company did not recognize any impairment losses related to investments.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company's cash equivalents and marketable securities consisted of a U.S. government money market fund and U.S. government agency securities, all held in our name in a separate custody account with U.S. Bank. The U.S. government money market fund has same-day liquidity access and the U.S. government and agency securities all have maturities of 90 days or less.
Marketable Securities
The following tables summarize the Company’s marketable securities as of December 31, 2022. There were no marketable securities as of December 31, 2021:
AmortizedCost GrossUnrealizedGains GrossUnrealized Losses Fair Value
(in thousands)
Assets:
U.S Government and agency securities (due within 1 year) 91,634 12 (43 ) 91,603
4.
Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets
Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following:
December 31, December 31,
(in thousands)
Prepaid research and development expenses $ 1,394 $ 676
Payroll tax receivable — 208
Other prepaid expenses and other assets 238 279
Total prepaid expenses and other assets $ 2,311 $ 2,107
5.
Fixed Assets
Fixed assets, net consisted of the following:
December 31, December 31,
(in thousands)
Computer equipment 5 years $ 66 $ 66
Furniture and fixtures 7 years 456 456
Leasehold improvements lease term 31 31
Total property, plant and equipment 1,745 1,645
Less: Accumulated depreciation (914 ) (596 )
Property, plant and equipment, net $ 831 $ 1,049
Depreciation expense was $0.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. In addition, for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, there was $0.1 million of depreciation related to sublet assets recorded as other expense.
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6.
Accrued Expenses
Accrued expenses consisted of the following:
December 31, December 31,
(in thousands)
Accrued research and development expenses $ 5,921 $ 5,042
Accrued payroll and related expenses 2,046 1,098
Total accrued expenses and other current liabilities $ 8,408 $ 6,592
7.
Stockholders’ Equity and Stock Options
Common Stock and Prefunded warrants
On May 28, 2020, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors (the “Purchasers”) for the sale by the Company in a private placement of 6,105,359 shares of the Company’s common stock and prefunded warrants to purchase an aggregate of 628,403 shares of the Company’s common stock, for a price of $11.88 per share of the common stock and $11.87 per prefunded warrant. The prefunded warrants are exercisable at an exercise price of $0.01 and are exercisable indefinitely. The Purchasers may exercise the prefunded warrants on a cashless basis in the event that there is no effective registration statement covering the resale of the shares of common stock underlying the prefunded warrants on the date in which the Company is required to deliver the shares. The private placement closed on June 1, 2020. The aggregate gross proceeds for the issuance and sale of the common stock and prefunded warrants were $80.0 million; transaction costs totaled $4.6 million and resulted in net proceeds of $75.4 million. The Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3, filed with the SEC on June 26, 2020, registered the resale of 6,105,359 shares of common stock sold and the 628,403 shares of common stock underlying the prefunded warrants. MTS Health Partners served as placement agent to the Company in connection with the private placement. As partial compensation for these services, the Company issued MTS Health Partners 35,260 shares of common stock.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, authorized the Company to issue up to 115,000,000 shares of $0.001 par value common stock, of which 43,269,200 shares were issued and outstanding, and up to 5,000,000 shares of $0.001 par value undesignated preferred stock, of which no shares were issued or outstanding. The voting, dividend and liquidation rights of the holders of the Company’s common stock are subject to and qualified by the rights, powers and preferences of the holders of the preferred stock. Each share of common stock entitles the holder to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of the Company’s stockholders. Common stockholders are entitled to receive dividends, as may be declared by the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”), if any. No cash dividends have been declared or paid to date.
In July 2021, the Company sold 2,342,720 shares under an “at-the-market” equity distribution agreement (the "Prior ATM Agreement") with Piper Sandler & Co. for net proceeds of $19.9 million. The Prior ATM Agreement was terminated in November 2022 in connection with the establishment of a new "at-the-market" offering program (see 2022 ATM Agreement below). An aggregate of 2,354,244 shares of common stock were sold pursuant to the Prior ATM Agreement for net proceeds of $20.1 million.
In September 2022, the Company sold 25,558,750 shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering price of $3.15 per share and received net proceeds, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and offering costs of $75.2 million.
2022 ATM Agreement
On November 10, 2022, the Company entered into a sales agreement (the "ATM Agreement") with a Guggenheim Securities, LLC in connection with the establishment of an “at-the-market” offering program under which the Company may sell up to an aggregate of $50.0 million of shares of common stock (the “ATM Shares”) from time to time.
Under the ATM Agreement, the Company sets the parameters for the sale of ATM Shares, including the number of ATM Shares to be issued, the time period during which sales are requested to be made, limitations on the number of ATM Shares that may be sold in any one trading day and any minimum price below which sales may not be made. Sales of the ATM Shares, if any, under the ATM Agreement may be made in transactions that are deemed
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to be “at-the-market offerings” as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act. The Company pays its investment bank a commission equal to 3.0% of the gross proceeds of any ATM Shares sold through its investment bank under the ATM Agreement and reimburses the investment bank for certain specified expenses. The ATM Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and agreements by the Company, indemnification obligations of the Company and its investment bank, other customary obligations of the parties and termination provisions. The Company has no obligation to sell any of the ATM Shares and may at any time suspend offers under the ATM Agreement.
The ATM Shares will be offered and sold pursuant to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3, filed by the Company on November 10, 2022 and effective as of November 21, 2022 (the “Registration Statement”), and the sales agreement prospectus that forms a part of such Registration Statement. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, no ATM Shares have been sold pursuant to the ATM Agreement.
2020 Equity Incentive Plan
The Board adopted the 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2020 Plan") on July 16, 2020 and the stockholders of the Company approved the 2020 Plan on September 29, 2020. The 2020 Plan replaced the predecessor plans (the "Prior Plans") that the Company assumed following its merger with Zafgen in May 2020. Options outstanding under the Prior Plans will remain outstanding, unchanged, and subject to the terms of the Prior Plans and the respective award agreements, and no further awards will be made under the Prior Plans. However, if any award previously granted under the Prior Plans, expires, terminates, is canceled, or is forfeited for any reason after the approval of the 2020 Plan, the shares subject to that award will be added to the 2020 Plan share pool so that they can be utilized for new grants under the 2020 Plan.
The 2020 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options (“ISOs”), nonstatutory stock options (“NSOs”), stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, and cash or other stock-based awards. ISOs may be granted only to the Company’s employees, including the Company’s officers, and the employees of the Company’s affiliates. All other awards may be granted to the Company’s employees, including the Company’s officers, the Company’s non-employee directors and consultants, and the employees and consultants of the Company’s affiliates.
The maximum number of shares that may be issued in respect of any awards under the 2020 Plan is the sum of: (i) 1,700,000 shares plus (ii) an annual increase on January 1, 2021 and each anniversary of such date thereafter through January 1, 2030, equal to the lesser of (A) 4% of the shares issued and outstanding on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year, or (B) such smaller number of shares as determined by the Board (collectively, the “Plan Limit”). The maximum aggregate number of shares that may be issued under the 2020 Plan is 8,000,000 over the ten-year term of the 2020 Plan. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, options to purchase 148,623 and 56,966 shares issued under the Prior Plans were canceled and became available for grant under the 2020 Plan. As of December 31, 2022, 1,054,277 shares of common stock were available for grant under the 2020 Plan.
As permitted by the 2020 Plan, the Company added 1,730,768 and 708,418 shares available for grant to the 2020 Plan on January 1, 2023 and January 1, 2022, respectively, increasing the maximum number of shares of the Company’s common stock that may be issued under the 2020 Plan as of January 1, 2023 to 2,785,045 shares.
Stock Valuation
The following table presents, on a weighted average basis, the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to determine the grant-date fair value of stock options granted to employees:
Risk-free interest rate 2.15% 0.89%
Expected term (in years) 6.21 6.19
Expected volatility 89% 91%
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Stock Options
The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activity for the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 (amounts in millions, except for share and per share data):
Weighted Weighted Average Aggregate
Average Remaining Intrinsic
Number of Exercise Contractual Value (a)
Shares Price Term (in years) (in millions)
(a)
The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the underlying options and the fair value of the common stock for the options that were in the money at December 31, 2022.
2022 Option Grants
During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022, the Company granted options to purchase 878,450 shares of common stock to employees and directors of the Company under the 2020 Plan. The options have an exercise price equal to the closing stock price as of the grant date. Of the 878,450 options granted in 2022, 836,950 were granted to employees and vest over four years with 25% vesting on the first anniversary of the grant and the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments thereafter. The remaining 41,500 options were annual grants to the Company's directors and vest one year from the grant date. The weighted-average grant date fair value of options granted during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 was $5.21.
January 2023 Option Grants
On January 31, 2023, the Company granted options to purchase 1,031,000 shares of common stock and 650,000 shares of restricted stock to employees under the 2020 Plan. The options have an exercise price equal to the closing stock price as of the grant date, and vest over four years, with 25% vesting on the first anniversary of the grant and the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments thereafter. The shares of restricted stock which will vest annually over four years.
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock-based compensation expense was classified in the consolidated statements of operations as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
As of December 31, 2022, total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested stock options was $11.8 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.14 years.
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8.
Commitments and Contingencies
Intellectual Property Licenses
The Company is party to an exclusive License Agreement (the “WFUHS License”), dated November 30, 2016, as amended, with Wake Forest University Health Sciences (“WFUHS”) and an exclusive License Agreement (the “IU License”), dated November 30, 2016, as amended, with Indiana University (“IU”). Such agreements provide for a transferable, worldwide license to certain patent rights regarding technology used by the Company with respect to the development of CTI-1601. Both agreements continue from their effective date through the last to expire of the applicable agreement’s licensed patents unless earlier terminated by either party in accordance with their terms.
In partial consideration for the right and license granted under these agreements, the Company will pay each of WFUHS and IU a royalty of a low single digit percentage of net sales of licensed products depending on whether there is a valid patent covering such products. As additional consideration for these agreements, the Company is obligated to pay each of WFUHS and IU certain milestone payments of up to $2.6 million in the aggregate upon the achievement of certain developmental milestones, which commenced with the enrollment of the first patient in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The Company enrolled the first patient in its SAD trial on December 11, 2019 and paid WFUHS and IU less than $0.1 million. The Company will also pay each of WFUHS and IU sublicensing fees ranging from a high-single digit to a low double-digit percentage of sublicense consideration depending on the Company’s achievement of certain regulatory milestones as of the time of receipt of the sublicense consideration. The Company is also obligated to reimburse WFUHS and IU for patent-related expenses. In the event that the Company disputes the validity of any of the licensed patents, the royalty rate would be tripled during such dispute. The Company is also obligated to pay to IU a minimum annual royalty of less than $0.1 million per annum.
In the event that the Company is required to pay IU consideration, then the Company may deduct 20% of such IU consideration on a dollar-for-dollar basis from the consideration due to WFUHS. In the event that the Company is required to pay WFUHS consideration, then the Company may deduct 60% of such WFUHS consideration on a dollar-for-dollar basis from the consideration due to IU.
In 2022, the Company initiated dosing of a phase 2 study. Pursuant to the terms of both the WFUHS License and the IU License, the company recognized milestone expense of $0.3 million within research and development expenses.
Both agreements continue from their effective date through the last to expire of the licensed patents unless earlier terminated by either party in accordance with their terms.
Leases
On May 28, 2020, the Company acquired a non-cancellable operating lease for approximately 17,705 square feet of office space (the “Premises”). The lease expires on October 30, 2029. As part of the agreement, the Company is required to maintain a letter of credit, which upon signing was $1.3 million and is classified as restricted cash within the consolidated financial statements. In addition to the base rent, the Company is also responsible for its share of operating expenses, electricity and real estate taxes, which costs are not included in the determination of the leases’ right-of-use assets or lease liabilities. The right-of-use asset is being amortized to other income/(expense) over the remaining lease term as a result of the sublease described below.
On October 27, 2020, the Company entered into a sublease agreement (the “Sublease”) with Massachusetts Municipal Association, Inc. (the “Subtenant”), whereby the Company sublet the entire Premises to the Subtenant. The initial term of the Sublease commenced on December 4, 2020 and continues until October 30, 2029. In connection with the Sublease, the Company evaluated the need for impairment under ASC 360 and determined there was no impairment.
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The Sublease provided for an initial annual base rent of $0.8 million, which increases annually up to a maximum annual base rent of $1.0 million. The Subtenant also is responsible for paying to the Company future increases in operating costs (commencing on January 1, 2022), future increases in annual tax costs (commencing July 1, 2021) and all utility costs (commencing March 1, 2021) attributable to the Premises during the term of the Sublease. As part of the Sublease, the subtenant deposited a letter of credit in the amount of $0.8 million to assure their performance under the sublease. If there are no uncured events of default under the sublease, the amount of this security deposit decreases over time to $0.4 million on the sixth anniversary of the Sublease. The Company records sublease income, lease expense and depreciation on the sublet assets on this sublease on a straight-line basis as a component of other income/(expense).
On November 5, 2018, the Company entered into an operating lease for office and lab space in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, effective as of January 1, 2019, and expiring on December 31, 2020 with an option to extend the lease for two additional years. On August 4, 2020, the Company executed the first option to extend the lease for an additional year, expiring on December 31, 2021. On August 9, 2021, the Company executed the remaining option to extend the lease for an additional year, expiring on December 31, 2022. On January 3, 2023, the Company entered into a one-year extension of this lease. The Company has determined this lease extension qualifies as a short-term lease and have applied the accounting policy election to not record the related right-of-use asset and lease liabilities.
Expense arising from operating leases was $0.3 million during the twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. For operating leases, the weighted-average remaining lease term for leases at December 31, 2022 and 2021 was 6.8 and 7.6 years, respectively. For operating leases, the weighted average discount rate for leases at December 31, 2022 and 2021 was 11.0%. The Company has not entered into any financing leases.
Maturities of lease liabilities due under these lease agreements as of December 31, 2022 are as follows:
Year Ending December 31, Operating
(in thousands) Leases
Total lease payments 7,609
Less: imputed interest (2,201 )
Present value of lease liabilities $ 5,408
Legal Proceedings
The Company is not currently a party to any litigation, nor is management aware of any pending or threatened litigation against the Company, that it believes would materially affect the Company’s business, operating results, financial condition or cash flows.
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Income Taxes
During the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, the Company recorded no income tax benefits for the net operating losses incurred in each year due to its uncertainty of realizing a benefit from those items.
The domestic and foreign components of loss before income taxes are as follows.
Years ended December 31,
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A reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate is as follows:
Year Ended December 31,
Federal statutory income tax rate 21.0 % 21.0 %
State taxes, net of federal benefit 6.2 3.4
Change in state tax rate (7.9 ) (14.5 )
Federal and state research and development tax credit 1.1 7.9
Nondeductible permanent differences (1.0 ) (0.6 )
Change in deferred tax asset valuation allowance (19.3 ) (17.2 )
Effective income tax rate 0.0 % 0.0 %
Net deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 consisted of the following:
Deferred tax assets:
Capitalized R&D - Acquired in Merger with Zafgen $ 66,941 $ 65,781
Other Temporary Differences 19 24
Fixed Assets & Intangibles 81 44
Deferred tax liabilities:
Operating Right of Use Asset (781 ) (899 )
Total deferred tax liabilities $ (781 ) $ (899 )
Net deferred tax assets / (liabilities) $ — $ —
Changes in the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets during the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 related primarily to the increase in net operating loss carryforwards and tax credit carryforwards and a decrease other deferred tax assets associated with a reduction in the Company’s effective state rate. Changes to the valuation allowance were as follows:
Years ended December 31,
Valuation allowance as of the beginning of the year $ 124,016 $ 115,319
Increases recorded to income tax provision 6,815 8,697
As of December 31, 2022, the Company had net operating loss carryforwards that expire for federal, foreign and state income tax purposes of $167.4 million, $1.2 million and $138.6 million, respectively. The federal and state operating losses begin to expire in 2026 and 2030, while the foreign net loss carryforward can be carried forward indefinitely. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had federal net operating loss carryforwards that were generated after December 31, 2017 of $128.7 million that do not expire, however these carryforwards are limited to 80% of the taxable income in any one tax period. As of December 31, 2022, the Company also had available tax credit carryforwards for federal and state income tax purposes of $13.3 million which begin to expire in 2039. Utilization of the pre-Merger net operating loss carryforwards attributable to Zafgen, of approximately $33.5 million, are subject to a substantial annual limitation under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 due to ownership changes occurred during the tax year associated with the Merger. In addition to the limitation of the pre-Merger NOL’s of Zafgen, the net capitalized R&D deferred tax assets in the amount of $66.9 million is subject to the built-in loss rules under Section 382 and may not be realized if the underlying asset associated with the R&D is disposed within five years of the Merger, or May 28, 2025. In general, an ownership change, as defined by Section 382, results from transactions increasing the ownership of certain stockholders or public groups in the stock of a
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corporation by more than 50% over a three-year period. The ownership changes will limit the amount of pre-merger Zafgen carryforwards that can be utilized annually to offset future taxable income with an annual limitation of approximately $35 thousand per year. The Company has reduced their NOL and R&D tax credit deferred tax assets associated with the pre-Merger Zafgen operations as a result of the 382 analysis.
The Company has not conducted a study to assess whether a change of control has occurred or whether there have been multiple changes of control since inception associated with the pre-Merger Chondrial tax attributes. If the Company experienced a change of control, as defined by Section 382, at any time since inception, utilization of the pre-Merger Chondrial net operating loss carryforwards or tax credit carryforwards would be subject to an annual limitation under Section 382, which is determined by first multiplying the value of the Company’s stock at the time of the ownership change by the applicable long-term tax-exempt rate, and then could be subject to additional adjustments, as required. Any limitation may result in expiration of a portion of the net operating loss carryforwards or tax credit carryforwards before utilization. Further, until a study is completed, and any limitation is known, no amounts are being presented as an uncertain tax position.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA") requires taxpayers to capitalize and amortize research and experimental expenditures under IRC Section 174 for tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. This rule became effective for the Company during the year ended December 31, 2022 and resulted in the capitalization of research and development costs of $20.2 million. The Company will amortize these costs for tax purposes over five years if the research and development was performed in the U.S. and over 15 years if the research and development was performed outside the U.S..
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company’s net deferred tax asset balance before the valuation allowance was $130.8 million and $124.0 million, respectively, and was comprised principally of net operating loss carryforwards, capitalized research and development expenses and tax credit carryforwards. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, gross deferred tax assets increased due to deferred tax assets acquired as a result of additional net operating loss carryforwards and research and development tax credits generated.
The Company has evaluated the positive and negative evidence bearing upon its ability to realize the deferred tax assets. Management has considered the Company’s history of cumulative net losses incurred since inception and its lack of commercialization of any products or generation of any revenue from product sales since inception and has concluded that it is more likely than not that the Company will not realize the benefits of the deferred tax assets. Accordingly, a full valuation allowance has been established against the deferred tax assets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. Management reevaluates the positive and negative evidence at each reporting period.
The Company has not recorded any amounts for unrecognized tax benefits as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. The Company files tax returns as prescribed by the tax laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to examination by federal and state jurisdictions, where applicable. There are currently no pending income tax examinations. The Company’s tax years are still open under statute from 2016 to the present. Earlier years may be examined to the extent that tax credit or net operating loss carryforwards are used in future periods. The Company’s policy is to record interest and penalties related to income taxes as part of its income tax provision.
10.
Related Party Transactions
During 2021, the Company purchased a piece of laboratory equipment and lab supplies for a cumulative $0.1 million from a supplier of which one of the Company's directors is also a current director.
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