Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

NATURE OF BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATION

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NATURE OF BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATION
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
NATURE OF BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATION  
NATURE OF BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATION

1. NATURE OF BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATION

Cellectar Biosciences, Inc. (the Company) is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of cancer, leveraging the Company’s proprietary phospholipid drug conjugate™ (PDC™) delivery platform that specifically targets cancer cells and delivers improved efficacy and better safety as a result of fewer off-target effects.

The accompanying Restated Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2023 has been derived from the Company’s audited financial statements as presented in the Company’s amended Form 10-K/A as filed with the SEC on October 29, 2024. The accompanying Restated Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2024, and the Restated Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations, Cash Flows, and the Restated Consolidated Statements of Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, and the related interim information contained within the Notes to the Restated 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 as of March 31, 2024, and consolidated results of its operations, cash flows, and stockholders’ equity for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The results for the three months ended March 31, 2024, are not necessarily indicative of future results.

Going Concern — As an emerging growth company, the Company has, by design, incurred significant recurring losses and used net cash in its operations since its inception as it devotes substantially all of its efforts towards researching, developing and seeking approval for its product candidates to be commercialized in the marketplace. As a result of these efforts, the Company had an accumulated deficit of approximately $229,403,000 as of March 31, 2024, and incurred a net loss of approximately $26,642,000 during the three months ended March 31, 2024. The Company expects it will continue to generate significant losses and use net cash for the foreseeable future, until such time that one or more of its product candidates are approved and successfully commercialized in the marketplace. While management believes one or more of the Company’s product candidates will be approved and successfully commercialized in the marketplace, no assurance can be provided any products will be approved or commercialized in a profitable manner.

To fund its research, development, and approval efforts, the Company has been heavily dependent on funding from private investors and public stockholders since its inception through the issuance of securities, such as common stock, convertible preferred stock, and warrants (outside capital). The Company expects to remain heavily dependent on outside capital to fund the Company’s operations for the foreseeable future until such time that one or more of its product candidates are approved and successfully commercialized in the marketplace. While management believes additional outside capital will be secured as needed, no assurance can be provided that additional outside capital will be secured or secured on terms that are acceptable to the Company.

As of the date the accompanying consolidated financial statements were issued (the “issuance date”), the Company’s available liquidity to fund the Company’s operations over the next twelve months beyond the issuance date was limited to approximately $34.3 million of unrestricted cash and cash equivalents. Absent further action taken by management to increase its liquidity the Company may be unable to fund its operations under normal course beyond the second quarter of 2025. To improve the Company’s liquidity, management plans to secure additional outside capital via the sale of equity and/or debt securities or execute a strategic transaction. Management also plans to preserve liquidity, as needed, by implementing temporary cost saving measures. While management believes their plans will be successful, no assurance can be provided such plans will be effectively implemented over the next twelve months beyond the issuance date. In the event management’s plans are not effectively implemented, the Company will be required to seek other alternatives which may include, among others, the sale of assets, discontinuance of certain operations, a wind-down of operations and return of capital to stockholders, and/or filing for bankruptcy protection.

These uncertainties raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the Company will continue to operate as a going concern, which contemplates it will be able to realize assets and settle liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business for the foreseeable future.

Accordingly, the accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of these uncertainties.

These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited restated consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included in the Company’s Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, which was filed with the SEC on October 29, 2024.

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

Use of Estimates — The preparation of the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates include the assumptions used in the accrual for potential liabilities, the valuation of the warrant liability, the valuation of debt and equity instruments, the valuation of stock options issued for services, and deferred tax valuation allowances. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Property, Plant & Equipment — Property, plant & 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). Leasehold improvements are depreciated over 64 months (their estimated useful life), which represented the full term of the lease at the time the leasehold improvements were capitalized. The Company’s only long-lived assets are property, equipment and Right-of-Use (ROU) assets. Periodically, and at a minimum annually, the Company evaluates long-lived assets for potential impairment. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount of an asset to estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the fair value of the asset. Such analyses necessarily involve judgement. The Company did not experience any events or changes in circumstances that indicate the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable as of March 31, 2024. There were no fixed asset impairment charges recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

Right-of-Use (ROU) Asset and Lease Liabilities -The Company accounts for all material leases in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 842, Leases. ROU assets are amortized over their estimated useful life, which represents the full term of the lease. See Note 8.

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 forfeitures for awards that are not performance-based is recognized on a straight-line basis over the service period of the award, which for 2024 and 2023 ranged from twelve months to three years.

Research and Development — Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. The Company recognizes cost reimbursements from government grants when it is probable that the Company will comply with the conditions attached to the grant arrangement and the grant proceeds will be received. Government grants are recognized on a systematic basis over the periods in which the Company recognizes the related costs for which the government grant is intended to compensate. Specifically, when government grants are related to reimbursements for operating expenses, the government grants are recognized as a reduction of the related expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company records government grants receivable in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets in prepaid expenses and other current assets.

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 assets. 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 are no uncertain tax positions that require accrual to or disclosure in the financial statements as of March 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments — The guidance under ASC 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, accrued liabilities, warrant liabilities and long-term obligations. The carrying amount of cash equivalents, prepaid expenses, other current assets, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate their fair value as a result of their short-term nature (see Notes 2 and 3).

Warrants — The Company accounts for warrants as either equity-classified or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the warrant’s specific terms and applicable authoritative guidance in ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (“ASC 480”) and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the warrants are freestanding financial instruments pursuant to ASC 480, meet the definition of a liability pursuant to ASC 480, and whether the warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the warrants are indexed to the Company’s own common stock and whether the warrant holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of the Company’s control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of warrant issuance and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the warrants are outstanding. For equity-classified warrants, the fair value is not remeasured. For warrants that are liability-classified, changes in fair value, as well as the cost to issue the warrants, are included in Other (Expense) Income in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. If these instruments are initially classified as either liabilities or equity and a subsequent assessment determines that the classification has changed, the Company reflects that change in the financial statements.

Preferred Stock — The Company accounts for preferred stock based upon their specific terms and the authoritative guidance in ASC 480 and ASC 815, including whether they are freestanding instruments, whether any redemption or conversion aspects exist and how they are required to be settled (particularly if there is a cash settlement aspect), whether they contain characteristics that are predominantly debt-like or equity-like, whether they have embedded derivatives, and if they have redemption features. Based upon analysis of these criteria, the preferred stock will be classified as either debt, temporary (or “mezzanine”) equity, or permanent equity. The resultant classification is then evaluated quarterly to determine whether any change to the classification is required.

Concentration of Credit Risk — Financial instruments that subject the Company to credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents on deposit with financial institutions. The Company’s excess cash as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 is on deposit in interest-bearing accounts with well-established financial institutions. At times, such amounts may exceed the FDIC insurance limits. As of March 31, 2024, and December 31, 2023, uninsured cash balances totaled approximately $39,587,000 and $9,123,000, respectively.

Government Assistance — Reimbursements of eligible expenditures pursuant to government assistance programs are recorded as reductions of operating costs when there is reasonable assurance that the Company will comply with the conditions attached to the grant arrangement and when the reimbursement has been claimed. The determination of the amount of the claim, and accordingly the receivable amount, requires management to make calculations based on its interpretation of eligible expenditures in accordance with the terms of the programs. The reimbursement claims submitted by the Company are subject to review by the relevant government agencies. The Company currently has a cancer treatment research award through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) totaling approximately $2.0 million over a period of approximately three years. In September 2022, the Company was awarded $1.98 million in additional grant funding to expand the Company’s ongoing Phase 1 study of iopofosine I 131 in children and adolescents with inoperable relapsed or refractory high-grade gliomas (HGGs). The grant was awarded by the NCI based upon the initial signals of efficacy in the Phase 1 study, which is an international, open-label, dose escalation, safety study. The funding allows for an expansion from Part 1a into the Part 1b portion of the ongoing Phase 1 pediatric study.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company received approximately $324,000 in NCI grant funding under the grants described above, all of which was reported as a reduction of research and development (R&D) expenses. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, the Company received approximately $1,759,000 in NCI grant funding under the grants described above, all of which was reported as a reduction of research and development (R&D) expenses.

Prior Presentation — Certain prior year captions and amounts have been relabeled or combined to conform with the current presentation.

Recently Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted — In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280)—Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures (ASU 2023-07), which is intended to enable investors to better understand an entity’s overall performance and assist in assessing potential future cash flows. Public business entities are required to adopt this standard for annual fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2023, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is evaluating the impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In December 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740)—Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which is intended to enhance the transparency and decision usefulness of income tax disclosures. Public business entities are required to adopt this standard for annual fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2024, and early adoption is permitted. The Company is evaluating the impact the adoption of this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

The Company evaluates all ASUs issued by the FASB for consideration of their applicability to the financial statements. The Company has assessed all ASUs issued but not yet adopted and concluded that those not disclosed are not relevant to the Company or are not expected to have a material impact.

Restatement of Previously Issued Consolidated Financial Statements — During the third quarter of 2024, and prior to the filing of the Company’s Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, the Company determined that it was necessary to re-evaluate the Company’s accounting treatment for certain previously issued warrants and preferred stock. Additionally, the Company identified certain operating costs previously as research and development expenses which should have been classified as general and administrative expenses. In accordance with Staff Accounting Bulletins No. 99 (SAB No. 99) Topic 1.M, “Materiality” and SAB No. 99 Topic 1.N “Considering the Effects of Misstatements when Quantifying Misstatements in the Current Year Financial Statements,” the Company assessed the materiality of these errors to its previously issued consolidated financial statements. Based upon the Company’s evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative factors, the Company concluded the errors were material to the Company’s previously issued consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, as well as those for the first quarter of 2024. Accordingly, this Form 10-Q/A presents the Company’s Restated Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 as presented in the Company’s amended Form 10-K/A, as filed with the SEC on October 29, 2024. See Note 10 for further information.