Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

v3.3.1.900
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation

Basis of Presentation

 

All amounts are presented in U.S. Dollars.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

 

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent liabilities at dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the periods. Actual results could differ from these estimates. The Company’s significant estimates and assumptions include the fair value of financial instruments, stock-based compensation and the valuation allowance relating to the Company’s deferred tax assets.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Concentrations of Credit Risk

 

The Company maintains deposits in a financial institution which is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). At various times, the Company has deposits in this financial institution in excess of the amount insured by the FDIC. However, these balances are maintained at creditworthy financial institutions. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts and believes it is not exposed to any significant credit risk.

Investments

Investments

 

Investments consist of U.S. Treasury Bills of $3,249,275, which are classified as held-to-maturity, and Certificates of Deposit of $2,238,525. The Company determines the appropriate balance sheet classification of its investments at the time of purchase and evaluates the classification at each balance sheet date. All of the Company’s U.S. Treasury Bills mature within the next twelve months. Unrealized gains and losses are de minimus. As of December 31, 2015, the carrying value of the Company’s U.S. Treasury Bills approximates their fair value. The Company did not hold any such investments at December 31, 2014.

Deferred Offering Costs

Deferred Offering Costs

 

The Company classifies amounts related to a potential future offering not closed as of the balance sheet date as Deferred Offering Costs. During the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company incurred $35,811 of offering related costs. During the year ended December 31, 2014, the Company capitalized costs in the amount of $749,386 as Deferred Offering Costs in the accompanying balance sheet. The related offering closed in January 2015 these costs were recorded as a reduction in additional paid-in capital in the accompanying balance sheets.

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash

 

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company did not have any cash equivalents. The Company includes as part of Restricted Cash any assets which are contractually restricted. Restricted Cash as of December 31, 2014, relates to proceeds received from a grant which was restricted to only certain activities of the Company (see Note 6).

Property and Equipment

Property and Equipment

 

Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation of computer and lab equipment is computed by use of the straight-line method based on the estimated useful lives of the assets, which range from one to five years. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs that do not improve or extend the expected lives of the assets are expensed to operations, while expenditures for major upgrades to existing items are capitalized. Upon retirement or other disposition of these assets, the costs and accumulated depreciation and amortization are removed from the accounts and resulting gains or losses are reflected in the results of operations.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

 

The Company measures the fair value of financial assets and liabilities based on the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The Company utilizes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

 

Level 1 - quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities

Level 2 - quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or inputs that are observable

Level 3 - inputs that are unobservable (for example, cash flow modeling inputs based on assumptions)

 

The carrying amounts of cash, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate fair value due to the short-term nature of these instruments. The amount of debt included in the accompanying balance sheets approximates its fair value.

Common Stock Purchase Warrants

Common Stock Purchase Warrants

 

The Company classifies as equity any contracts that (i) require physical settlement or net-share settlement or (ii) provides the Company with a choice of net-cash settlement or settlement in its own shares (physical settlement or net-share settlement) providing that such contracts are indexed to the Company’s own stock. The Company classifies as assets or liabilities any contracts that (i) require net-cash settlement (including a requirement to net cash settle the contract if an event occurs and if that event is outside the Company’s control), or (ii) gives the counterparty a choice of net-cash settlement or settlement in shares (physical settlement or net-share settlement). The Company assesses classification of its common stock purchase warrants and other free standing derivatives at each reporting date to determine whether a change in classification between assets and liabilities is required. The Company’s free standing derivatives consist of warrants to purchase common stock that were issued in connection with its notes payable and IPO. The Company evaluated these warrants to assess their proper classification using the applicable criteria enumerated under U.S. GAAP and determined that the common stock purchase warrants meet the criteria for equity classification in the balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

 

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of items that have been included or excluded in the financial statements or tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined on the basis of the difference between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their respective financial reporting amounts (“temporary differences”) at enacted tax rates in effect for the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse.

 

Management has evaluated and concluded that there were no material uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Company’s financial statements as of December 31, 2015 and 2014. The Company does not expect any significant changes in the unrecognized tax benefits within twelve months of the reporting date.

 

The Company classifies interest expense and any related penalties related to income tax uncertainties as a component of income tax expense. No interest or penalties have been recognized during the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

 

The Company expenses all research and development expenses as incurred. These costs include payroll, employee benefits, supplies, contracted for lab services, depreciation and other personnel-related costs associated with product development.

Share-Based Payment

Share-Based Payment

 

The Company accounts for share-based payments using the fair value method. For employees and directors, the fair value of the award is measured, as discussed below, on the grant date. For non-employees, fair value is generally valued based on the fair value of the services provided or the fair value of the equity instruments on the measurement date, whichever is more readily determinable and re-measured on each financial reporting dates until the service is complete. The Company has granted stock options at exercise prices equal to the higher of (i) the closing price of the Company’s common stock as reported on the OTCQX marketplace or (ii) the closing price of the Company’s common stock as reported by the TSX Venture Exchange as determined by the board of directors, with input from management on the date of grant.

 

The weighted-average fair value of options and warrants has been estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes pricing model. The fair value of each instrument is estimated on the date of grant utilizing certain assumptions for a risk free interest rate, volatility and expected remaining lives of the awards. Since the Company has a limited history of being publicly traded, the fair value of stock-based payment awards issued was estimated using a volatility derived from an index of comparable entities. The assumptions used in calculating the fair value of share-based payment awards represent management’s best estimates, but these estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management judgment. As a result, if factors change and the Company uses different assumptions, the Company’s stock-based compensation expense could be materially different in the future. In addition, the Company is required to estimate the expected forfeiture rate and only recognize expense for those shares expected to vest. In estimating the Company’s forfeiture rate, the Company analyzed its historical forfeiture rate, the remaining lives of unvested options, and the number of vested options as a percentage of total options outstanding. If the Company’s actual forfeiture rate is materially different from its estimate, or if the Company reevaluates the forfeiture rate in the future, the stock-based compensation expense could be significantly different from what the Company has recorded in the current period.

 

The weighted-average Black-Scholes assumptions are as follows:

 

    For the Years Ended
December 31,
    2015   2014
Expected life   2 years   6 years
Risk free interest rate   0.71%   2.37%
Expected volatility   80%   80%
Expected dividend yield   0%   0%
Forfeiture rate   0%   0%

 

As of December 31, 2015, total unrecognized stock option compensation expense is $969,756, which will be recognized as those options vest over a period of approximately four years. The amount of future stock option compensation expense could be affected by any future option grants or by any option holders leaving the Company before their grants are fully vested.
Net Loss Per Share of Common Stock

Net Loss Per Share of Common Stock

 

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net earnings per share reflects the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other instruments to issue common stock were exercised or converted into common stock. Potentially dilutive securities are excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share as their inclusion would be anti-dilutive and consist of the following:

 

    December 31,     December 31,*  
    2015     2014  
Options     3,724,083       2,609,811  
Warrants     7,936,391       933,617  

Series B Preferred Stock

    -       5,400,000  
Totals     11,660,474       8,943,428  

 

* December 31, 2014, excludes the impact of Put agreements, which subscribed Series B shareholders of the Company to purchase additional shares and warrants contingent upon, and concurrently with, completion of the IPO (see Note 10).

Recent Accounting Pronouncements


Recent Accounting Pronouncements

 

The FASB has issued ASU No. 2014-12, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Accounting for Share-Based Payments When the Terms of an Award Provide That a Performance Target Could Be Achieved after the Requisite Service Period. This ASU requires that a performance target that affects vesting, and that could be achieved after the requisite service period, be treated as a performance condition. As such, the performance target should not be reflected in estimating the grant date fair value of the award. This update further clarifies that compensation cost should be recognized in the period in which it becomes probable that the performance target will be achieved and should represent the compensation cost attributable to the period(s) for which the requisite service has already been rendered. The amendments in this ASU are effective for annual periods and interim periods within those annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Earlier adoption is permitted. The adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position and results of operations.

 

In August 2014, the FASB issued a new accounting standard which requires management to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for each annual and interim reporting period. If substantial doubt exists, additional disclosure is required. This new standard will be effective for the Company for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016. Early adoption is permitted. The adoption of this pronouncement is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.

 

In November 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-17, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Balance Sheet Classification of Deferred Taxes, which changes how deferred taxes are classified on organizations’ balance sheets. The ASU eliminates the current requirement for organizations to present deferred tax liabilities and assets as current and noncurrent in a classified balance sheet. Instead, organizations will be required to classify all deferred tax assets and liabilities as noncurrent. The amendments apply to all organizations that present a classified balance sheet. For public companies, the amendments are effective for financial statements issued for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those annual periods. The adoption of this pronouncement is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements.

 

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). ASU 2016-02 requires that a lessee recognize the assets and liabilities that arise from operating leases. A lessee should recognize in the statement of financial position a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. For leases with a term of 12 months or less, a lessee is permitted to make an accounting policy election by class of underlying asset not to recognize lease assets and lease liabilities. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. Public business entities should apply the amendments in ASU 2016-02 for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those fiscal years.  Early application is permitted for all public business entities and all nonpublic business entities upon issuance.  The Company has not yet determined the effect of the adoption of this standard on the Company’s financial position and results of operations.