1. NATURE OF BUSINESS, ORGANIZATION AND GOING CONCERN

Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (the Company) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of cancer. The Company plans to develop targeted oncology therapeutics independently and through research and development collaborations with a core objective to leverage our proprietary Phospholipid Drug Conjugate™ (“PDC™” or “PDC”) delivery platform to develop PDCs that specifically target cancer cells to deliver improved efficacy and better safety as a result of fewer off-target effects. Our PDC platform possesses the potential for the discovery and development of the next-generation of cancer-targeting treatments, and we plan to develop PDCs independently and through research and development collaborations.

The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to those of other small pharmaceutical companies. Principal among these risks are dependence on key individuals, competition from substitute products and larger companies, the successful development and marketing of its products in a highly regulated environment and the need to obtain additional financing necessary to fund future operations.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a basis that assumes that the Company will continue as a going concern and that contemplates the continuity of operations, realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. The Company has incurred losses since inception in devoting substantially all of its efforts toward research and development and has an accumulated deficit of approximately $108,301,000 at September 30, 2019. The Company has devoted substantially all its efforts toward research and development and has, during the nine months ended September 30, 2019, generated an operating loss of approximately $10,794,000. The Company expects that it will continue to generate operating losses for the foreseeable future.

The Company believes that it has sufficient liquidity to fund operations for at least 12 months from the filing of these financial statements, therefore, the accompanying financial statements have been prepared on a basis that assumes the Company will continue as a going concern and that contemplates the continuity of operations, realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. The Company’s ability to execute its operating plan beyond that time depends on its ability to obtain additional funding via the sale of equity and/or debt securities, a strategic transaction or otherwise. We plan to continue to actively pursue financing alternatives as there can be no assurance that it will obtain the necessary funding.

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018 has been derived from audited financial statements. The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2019, the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and the Condensed Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018, the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 and the related interim information contained within the notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions, rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and the notes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments which are of a nature necessary for the fair presentation of the Company’s consolidated financial position at September 30, 2019 and consolidated results of its operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018. The results for the three or nine months ended September 30, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of future results.

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Form 10‑K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on February 26, 2019.

Principles of Consolidation — The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and the accounts of its wholly-owned subsidiary. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

Restricted Cash — The Company accounts for cash that is restricted for other than current operations as restricted cash. Restricted cash at December 31, 2018 consisted of a Certificate of Deposit of $55,000 required under the Company’s lease agreement for its Madison, Wisconsin facility. As of March 31, 2019, the Company had fulfilled the remaining obligations under its lease thereby facilitating the release of all restrictions against the cash. No restrictions exist on our cash as of September 30, 2019.

Fixed Assets — Property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation on property and equipment is provided using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets (3 to 10 years). Because of the significant value of leasehold improvements purchased, leasehold improvements are depreciated over 64 months (their estimated useful life), which represents the full term of the lease. Our only long-lived assets are property and equipment. The Company periodically evaluates long-lived assets for potential impairment. Whenever events or circumstances change, an assessment is made as to whether there has been impairment to the value of long-lived assets by determining whether projected undiscounted cash flows generated by the applicable asset exceed its net book value as of the assessment date. There were no long-lived Fixed Asset impairment charges recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 or year ended December 31, 2018.

Right-of-Use  Asset and Lease Liabilities — In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) 2016‑02, Leases (ASC 842), which supersedes the existing guidance for lease accounting, Leases (Topic 840). ASU 2016‑02 requires lessees to recognize Right-Of-Use (“ROU”) Asset and Lease Liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 842 using the modified retrospective method for all material leases that existed at or commenced after January 1, 2019. ROU Assets are amortized over their estimated useful life, which represents the full term of the lease. See Leases below for additional details.

Stock-Based Compensation — The Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to calculate the grant-date fair value of stock option awards. The resulting compensation expense, net of expected forfeitures, for awards that are not performance-based is recognized on a straight-line basis over the service period of the award, which for grants issued in 2019 and 2018 ranged from seven months to three years for stock options. For stock options with performance-based vesting provisions, recognition of compensation expense, net of expected forfeitures, commences if and when the achievement of the performance criteria is deemed probable. The compensation expense, net of expected forfeitures, for performance-based stock options is recognized over the relevant performance period. Non-employee stock-based compensation is accounted for in accordance with the guidance of FASB ASC Topic 505, Equity. As such, the Company recognizes expense based on the estimated fair value of stockholder approved options granted to non-employees over their vesting period, which is generally the period during which services are rendered and deemed completed by such non-employees.

Research and Development — Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. To the extent that such costs are reimbursed by the federal government on a fixed price, best efforts basis and the federal government is the sole customer for such research and development, the funding is recognized as a reduction of research and development expenses.

Income Taxes — Income taxes are accounted for using the liability method of accounting. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on temporary differences between the financial statement basis and tax basis of assets and liabilities and net operating loss and credit carryforwards using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. Valuation allowances are established when it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Management has provided a full valuation allowance against the Company’s gross deferred tax asset. Tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing tax returns are required to be evaluated to determine whether the tax positions are “more likely than not” to be sustained by the applicable tax authority. Tax positions deemed not to meet a more-likely-than-not threshold would be recorded as tax expense in the current year. There were no uncertain tax positions that require accrual to or disclosure in the financial statements as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments — The guidance under FASB ASC Topic 825, Financial Instruments, requires disclosure of the fair value of certain financial instruments. Financial instruments in the accompanying financial statements consist of cash equivalents, prepaid expenses and other assets, accounts payable and long-term obligations. The carrying amount of cash equivalents and accounts payable approximate their fair value as a result of their short-term nature. The carrying value of long-term obligations, including the current portion, approximates fair value because the fixed interest rate approximates current market rates of interest available in the market.

Derivative Instruments — The Company does not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow or market risks; however, certain warrants to purchase common stock that do not meet the requirements for classification as equity, in accordance with the Derivatives and Hedging Topic of the FASB ASC, are classified as liabilities. In such instances, net-cash settlement is assumed for financial reporting purposes, even when the terms of the underlying contracts do not provide for a net-cash settlement. These warrants are considered derivative instruments because the agreements contain a certain type of cash settlement feature, contain “down-round” provisions whereby the number of shares for which the warrants are exercisable, and/or the exercise price of the warrants are subject to change in the event of certain issuances of stock at prices below the then-effective exercise price of the warrants. The number of shares issuable under such warrants was 49,425 at June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The primary underlying risk exposures pertaining to the warrants and their related fair value is the change in fair value of the underlying common stock, the market price of traded warrants, and estimated timing and probability of future financings. Such financial instruments are initially recorded at fair value with subsequent changes in fair value recorded as a component of gain or loss on derivatives on the consolidated statements of operations in each reporting period. If these instruments subsequently meet the requirements for equity classification, the Company reclassifies the fair value to equity. At December 31, 2018, these warrants represented the only outstanding derivative instruments issued or held by the Company and expired as of August 20, 2019.

Concentration of Credit Risk — Financial instruments that subject the Company to credit risk consist of cash and equivalents on deposit with financial institutions. The Company’s excess cash as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018 is on deposit in interest-bearing transaction accounts with well-established financial institutions. At times, such amounts may exceed the FDIC insurance limits. As of September 30, 2019, and December 31, 2018, uninsured cash balances totaled approximately $12,800,000 and $12,800,000, respectfully.

Leases — In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016‑02, Leases (ASC 842), which supersedes the existing guidance for lease accounting, Leases (Topic 840). ASU 2016‑02 requires lessees to recognize Right-Of-Use Asset and Lease Liability for virtually all of their leases (other than leases that meet the definition of a short-term lease). Lessor accounting remains largely unchanged except for changes in the definition and classification of leases. ASU 2016‑02 allows a modified retrospective approach for all leases existing at, or entered into after the date of initial adoption, with an option to elect to use certain transition relief. The FASB also proposed a transition method to allow entities to not apply the new leases standard in the comparative periods they present in their financial statements in the year of adoption. Because of the immaterial financial impact, the Company will not apply ASC 842 to leases that individually have total lease payments of less than $100,000 over their life of service to the Company.

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted ASC 842 using the modified retrospective method for all material leases that existed at or commenced after January 1, 2019. See Note 8 for additional details. The Company elected to apply the practical expedients in ASC 842‑10‑65‑1 (f) and (gg) and therefore:

The adoption of ASC 842 did not have a material net impact on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations as of the effective date. The following table approximates the impact that the adoption of ASC 842 had to the Company’s September 30, 2019 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as impacted by landlord provided incentives and the present value of future cash flows calculation against both the asset and liability:

 

Recent Accounting Pronouncements - In July 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017‑11, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815). The amendments in Part I of this update change the classification analysis of certain equity-linked financial instruments (or embedded features) with down round features. When determining whether certain financial instruments should be classified as liabilities or equity instruments, a down round feature no longer precludes equity classification when assessing whether the instrument is indexed to an entity’s own stock. The amendments also clarify existing disclosure requirements for equity-classified instruments. As a result, a freestanding equity-linked financial instrument (or embedded conversion option) no longer would be accounted for as a derivative liability at fair value as a result of the existence of a down round feature. The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted upon issuance. The Company believes that its adoption of ASU 2017‑11 has not had a material impact on its results of operations, cash flows and financial position.