Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
 
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
 
The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, EyeGate Pharma S.A.S. and Jade (since the date of the Jade Acquisition), collectively referred to as “the Company”. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. These Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information. Certain information and disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or eliminated. Accordingly, these unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the annual financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2015.
 
Unaudited Interim Financial Information
 
The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures are unaudited, have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and, in the opinion of Company management, reflect all adjustments, which include normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results of operations for the periods presented. The year-end balance sheet was derived from audited financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. The results of operations for an interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or for any other future year or interim period.
 
Use of Estimates
 
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make significant 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 periods. The Company makes significant estimates and assumptions in recording the accruals for our clinical trial and research activities, establishing the useful lives of intangible assets and property and equipment, and conducting impairment reviews of long-lived assets. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and various other assumptions that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances. Although the Company monitors and regularly assesses these estimates, actual results could differ significantly from these estimates. The Company records changes in estimates in the period that we become aware of the change.
 
Cash and Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash
 
The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with a maturity of 90 days or less when acquired that are not restricted as to withdrawal, to be a Cash Equivalent for the purpose of the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash Flows presentation. Cash Equivalents, which were nominal in amount, consisted of money market accounts that are readily convertible to Cash. As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had classified $45,000 and $20,000, respectively, as Restricted Cash.
 
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
 
The Company evaluates the potential impairment of long-lived assets, and long-lived assets to be disposed of, and considers whether long-lived assets held for use have been impaired whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the related carrying amount may not be recoverable. Company management makes significant estimates and assumptions regarding future revenues, milestones, cost trends, productivity and market developments in order to test for impairment. Company management reports those long-lived assets to be disposed of and assets held for sale at the lower of carrying amount or fair value less cost to sell. Based on current facts, estimates and assumptions, Company management believes that no assets are impaired at September 30, 2016. There is no assurance that Company management’s estimates and assumptions will not change in future periods.
 
Research and Development Expenses
 
The Company expenses research and development (“R&D”) expenditures as incurred. R&D expenses are comprised of costs incurred in performing R&D activities, including salaries, benefits, facilities, research-related overhead, sponsored research costs, contracted services, license fees, and other external costs. Because the Company believes that, under its current process for developing its products, the viability of the products is essentially concurrent with the establishment of technological feasibility, no costs have been capitalized to date.
 
In-Process Research and Development
 
The Company records in-process R&D projects acquired as asset acquisitions that have not reached technological feasibility and which have no alternative future use. For in-process R&D projects acquired in business combinations, the Company capitalizes the in-process R&D project and periodically evaluates this asset for impairment until the R&D process has been completed. Once the R&D process is complete, the Company amortizes the R&D asset over its remaining useful life.
 
Accrued Clinical Expenses
 
As part of the Company’s process of preparing the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, we estimate accrued clinical expenses. This process includes reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with applicable personnel to identify services that have been performed on the Company’s behalf, and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual expenditures. The majority of the Company’s service providers invoice monthly in arrears for services performed. The Company estimates its accrued clinical expenses as of each balance sheet date in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements based on facts and circumstances we know at that time. The Company periodically confirms the accuracy of these estimates with the service providers and makes adjustments if necessary.
 
Business Segment and Geographical Information
 
The Company identifies operating segments as components of the enterprise for which separate discrete financial information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision maker, or decision making group, in making decisions on how to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company views its operations and manages its business as fully integrated and operating in one business segment, and the Company operates in one geographic segment.
 
Income Taxes
 
The Company will record a deferred income tax asset and liability for the expected future income tax consequences of events that have been recognized in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and income tax returns. The Company will record a deferred income tax asset and liability based on differences between the financial statement carrying, or “book”, amounts of assets and liabilities, and the tax bases of the assets and liabilities using the enacted income tax regulations in effect in the years in which the differences are expected to reverse. A valuation allowance against deferred income tax asset will be recorded if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred income tax assets will not be realized. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had no deferred income tax asset or liability on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
The Company recognizes the impact of an uncertain income tax position in the financial statements if we believe that the position is more likely than not to be sustained by the relevant taxing authority. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had no unrecognized uncertain income tax positions.
 
Stock-Based Compensation
 
Stock-based compensation represents the cost related to stock-based awards granted to employees and others. The Company measures stock-based compensation cost to employees at grant date, based on the estimated fair value of the award, and recognizes the cost as expense on a straight-line basis (net of estimated forfeitures) over the employee requisite service period. The Company estimates the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes valuation model. The Company recognizes compensation expense for non-employee stock option grants at the fair value of the goods or services received or the equity instruments issued, whichever is more reliably measurable. The Company recorded compensation expense for non-employee awards with graded vesting using the accelerated expense attribution method. In applying the Black-Sholes valuation model, prior to July 1, 2016 the Company estimated the volatility factor in the valuation calculation by using the historic stock volatility of a group of peer public companies. Effective July 1, 2016, the Company determined that the prior methodology for measuring the volatility of its Common Stock was no longer the best estimate of volatility, and the Company will instead measure volatility using its own Common Stock volatility. The Company believes that the public market for its Common Stock is the best measure to use as an input in the option pricing model. All future grants of stock options will use the Company’s historic Common Stock volatility.
 
The Company will record a deferred income tax asset for any stock-based award that results in a deduction on the Company’s income tax return, based on the amount of compensation expense recognized multiplied by the Company’s statutory income tax rate in the jurisdiction in which it will receive the deduction for compensation expense. Differences between the deferred income tax asset recognized for financial reporting purposes and the actual income tax benefit realized on the Company’s income tax return will be recorded in additional paid-in capital on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets if the income tax benefit exceeds the deferred income tax asset, or in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations if the deferred income tax asset exceeds the income tax benefit and no additional paid-in capital exists from previous awards.  As of September 30, 2016, there are no such differences that are recorded in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
Related-Party Transactions
 
The Company has entered into certain related-party transactions, making payments for services to one vendor, eight consultants and a public university, all of whom also are stockholders of the Company. These transactions generally are ones that involve a shareholder or optionholder of the Company to whom we also make payments during the quarter, typically as a consultant or a service provider. The amounts recorded or paid are not material to the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
Net Loss Per Share – Basic and Diluted
 
The computation of Net Loss per Common Share – Basic and Diluted, is based on the weighted-average number of shares outstanding Common Stock.
 
In computing diluted loss per share, no effect has been given to the shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion or exercise of the following dilutive securities as the Company’s net loss would make the effect anti-dilutive.
 
 
 
September 30,
 
September 30,
 
 
 
2016
 
2015
 
 
 
(unaudited)
 
(unaudited)
 
Preferred Stock
 
 
545,000
 
 
-
 
Common Stock Warrants
 
 
2,852,736
 
 
1,807,203
 
Employee Stock Options
 
 
1,533,311
 
 
1,255,010
 
Total Shares of Common Stock Issuable
 
 
4,931,047
 
 
3,062,213
 
 
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
 
The carrying amounts of Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of these items. As of September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the fair value of the Company’s money market funds and contingent consideration was $2,000,838 and $1,210,000, and $7,200,450 and $0,  respectively.
 
At September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, the Company had no other assets or liabilities that are subject to fair value methodology and estimation in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 820, Fair Value Measurement.
 
Revenue Recognition
 
The Company follows Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2009-13,  Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements, and ASU 2010-17, Revenue Recognition-Milestone Method in connection with its accounting for collaboration arrangements. The Company’s revenues are generated primarily through arrangements which generally contain multiple elements, or deliverables, including licenses and R&D activities to be performed by the Company on behalf of the licensor or grantor. Payments to EyeGate under these arrangements typically include one or more of the following: (1) nonrefundable, upfront license fees, (2) funding of discovery research efforts on a full-time equivalent basis, (3) reimbursement of research, development and intellectual property costs, (4) milestone payments, and (5) royalties on future product sales.
 
When evaluating multiple element arrangements, Company management considers whether the deliverables under the arrangement represent separate units of accounting. This evaluation requires subjective determinations and requires Company management to make judgments about individual deliverables, including whether such deliverable is separable from the other aspects of the contractual relationship. In determining a unit of accounting, Company management evaluates certain criteria, including whether the deliverable has standalone value, based on the consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances for each arrangement. The consideration received is allocated among each separate unit of accounting using the relative selling price method, and the applicable revenue recognition criteria is applied to each separate unit.
 
The Company generally recognizes revenue attributable to a license on a straight-line basis over the Company’s contractual or estimated performance period, which is typically the term of the Company’s R&D obligation. If Company management cannot reasonably estimate when the Company’s performance obligation ends, then revenue is deferred until Company management can reasonably estimate when the performance obligation ends. The periods over which revenue should be recognized are subject to estimates by management and may change over the course of the R&D agreement. Such a change could have a material impact on the amount of revenue the Company records in future periods. At the inception of arrangements that include milestone payments, Company management evaluates whether each milestone is substantive and at risk to both parties on the basis of the contingent nature of the milestone. This evaluation includes an assessment of whether (a) the consideration is commensurate with either (1) the entity’s performance to achieve the milestone, or (2) the enhancement of the value of the delivered item(s) as a result of a specific outcome resulting from the entity’s performance to achieve the milestone, (b) the consideration relates solely to past performance, and (c) the consideration is reasonable relative to all of the deliverables and payment terms within the arrangement. Company management evaluates factors such as the scientific, regulatory, commercial and other risks that must be overcome to achieve the respective milestone, the level of effort and investment required to achieve the respective milestone and whether the milestone consideration is reasonable relative to all deliverables and payment terms in the arrangement in making this assessment. The Company has concluded that the clinical and development milestones pursuant to its R&D arrangements are substantive.
 
The Company aggregates its milestones into four categories: (i) clinical and development milestones, (ii) the chemistry, manufacturing and controls (“CMC”) validation, (iii) regulatory milestones, and (iv) commercial milestones. Clinical and development milestones are typically achieved when a product candidate advances into a defined phase of clinical research or completes such phase or when a contractually specified clinical trial enrollment target is attained. CMC validation milestones are typically achieved when the validation paperwork is finalized. Regulatory milestones are typically achieved upon acceptance of the submission for marketing approval of a product candidate or upon approval to market the product candidate by the FDA or other global regulatory authorities. For example, a milestone payment may be due to the Company upon the FDA’s acceptance of an NDA. Commercial milestones are typically achieved when an approved pharmaceutical product reaches certain defined levels of net sales by the licensee, such as when a product first achieves global sales or annual sales of a specified amount.
 
Revenues from clinical and development, CMC and regulatory milestone payments (if the milestones are deemed substantive and the milestone payments are nonrefundable) are recognized upon successful accomplishment of the milestones. Revenue from commercial milestone payments are accounted for as royalties and are recorded as Revenue upon achievement of the milestone, assuming all other revenue recognition criteria are met.
  
Payments or reimbursements resulting from the Company’s R&D activities are recognized as the services are performed and are presented on a gross basis so long as there is persuasive evidence of an arrangement, the fee is fixed or determinable, and collection of the related receivable is reasonably assured. Amounts received prior to satisfying the above revenue recognition criteria are recorded as Deferred Revenue on the Balance Sheet.
 
On July 9, 2015, the Company entered into an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (“Valeant”), through which we granted to Valeant an exclusive, worldwide commercial and manufacturing right to the Company’s EGP-437 Product in the field of anterior uveitis, as well as a right of last negotiation to license our EGP-437 Product for indications other than anterior uveitis (the “Valeant Agreement”). There are four principal R&D milestones under the Valeant Agreement: (i) the Phase 3 Clinical Trial, (ii) the Endothelial Cell Count Safety Trial (a trial to determine that treatment has not adversely affected a patient’s corneal endothelial cell density), (iii) the CMC Validation, and (iv) the New Drug Application, or “NDA”, filing with the FDA (collectively, the “Four Milestones”, and each individually, a “Milestone”). Under the Valeant Agreement, Valeant paid to the Company an initial upfront payment, and we are eligible to receive certain other payments, upon and subject to the achievement of certain specified development and commercial progress of the EGP-437 Product for the treatment of anterior uveitis. The Company received the initial up-front payment in 2015, which it recorded as Deferred Revenue on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet, and later in 2015 began receiving certain additional payments, based on R&D progress, to continue over several years. The Company receives payments both when it crosses certain thresholds on the way to each Milestone (each, a “Progress Payment”), as well as once it achieves each Milestone. The Company is entitled to retain all of these payments. The Company defers each Progress Payment, capitalizes each payment on its Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as Deferred Revenue, and recognizes these payments in the aggregate as Revenue once it achieves the Milestone to which the Progress Payment relates. The Company recognizes the initial upfront payment as Revenue ratably as it completes each of the Four Milestones, the amount recognized being the total upfront payment times the percentage represented by the proportionate share of fair value of each Milestone relative to the total fair value of all Milestones. Accordingly, the Deferred Revenue account on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet is reduced as Revenue is recognized in the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. The Company expects to begin recognizing Revenue with respect to the Valeant Agreement Progress Payments in 2017.
 
The Company receives government grant funds from two sources: the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) and the National Science Foundation (“NSF”). The Company is paid by the DoD after it performs specified, agreed-upon research, and it records these grant funds as Revenue as it performs the research. The Company is paid by the NSF before it performs specified, agreed-upon research. We record these NSF funds on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as Deferred Revenue when invoiced, and recognize these amounts as Revenue ratably as the research is performed, typically over a six-month period.
 
The DoD and NSF have each committed to grant funds to Jade for specified ocular therapeutic research activities (together, the “U.S. Government Grants”) to be conducted through 2017, of which grants approximately $1.028 million remain to be funded. The Company recognizes grant funds as Revenue when it performs the activities specified by the terms of the grant and is entitled to the funds.
   
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
 
In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2016-09, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718). The standard is intended to simplify several areas of accounting for share-based compensation arrangements, including the income tax impact, classification of the award as equity or as a liability, and classification on the statement of cash flows. ASU 2016-09 is effective for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those reporting period. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the new guidance will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.
 
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, which is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. Under ASU 2016-02, lessees will be required to recognize for all leases at the commencement date a lease liability, which is a lessee’s obligation to make lease payments arising from a lease measured on a discounted basis, and the right-to-use assets, which are asset that represents the lessee’s right to use or control the use of a specified asset for the lease term. The Company does not expect to early adopt this standard and currently has one lease (see Note 10) which will be in place at the effective date. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the new guidance will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.
 
In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-15, Presentation of Financial Statements—Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40). The new guidance addresses management’s responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern and to provide related footnote disclosures. Management’s evaluation should be based on relevant conditions and events that are known and reasonably knowable at the date that the financial statements are issued. The standard will be effective for the first interim period within annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016. The Company believes that the new guidance will not have a material effect on its financial statements and related disclosures.
 
In May 2014, the FASB issued guidance that outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most recent current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle of the revenue model is that an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The guidance also specifies the accounting for certain incremental costs of obtaining a contract, and costs to fulfill a contract with a customer. Entities have the option of applying either a full retrospective approach to all periods presented, or a modified approach that reflects differences prior to the date of adoption as an adjustment to equity. In April 2015, the FASB deferred the effective date of this guidance until January 1, 2018. The Company is not early adopting this standard. The Company’s sole revenue activities currently relate to the Valeant Agreement and its U.S. Government Grants, and based upon its initial review, the Company does not expect the new standard to have a financial effect on its financial statements and related disclosures; however, the Company is currently evaluating in depth the effect that the new guidance will have on its financial statements and related disclosures.