2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The accompanying consolidated financial statements reflect the application of certain accounting policies, as described in this note and elsewhere in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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

Use of Estimates — The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. requires management to make estimates and judgments that may affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an on-going basis, management evaluates its estimates including those related to unbilled vendor amounts and share-based compensation. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities. Actual results may differ from those estimates under different assumptions or conditions. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results in the period in which they become known.

Cash and Cash Equivalents — All short-term investments purchased with original maturities of three months or less are considered to be cash equivalents.

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). 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. Our only long-lived assets are property, equipment and Right-of-Use (ROU) assets. The Company periodically, and at a minimum annually, 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 December 31, 2022. There were no fixed asset impairment charges recorded during the years ended December 31, 2022 or 2021.

Right-of-Use Asset and Lease Liability — 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 11.

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 2022 and 2021 ranged from twelve months to three years.

Research and Development — Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. The Company recognizes revenue and 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 in the Consolidated Statements of Operations 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 cost of revenues or operating expenses, the government grants are recognized as a reduction of the related expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

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 net 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 to not 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 consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.

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 consolidated financial statements consist of cash equivalents, prepaid expenses and other assets, accounts payable and long-term obligations. The carrying amount of cash equivalents, prepaid expenses and accounts payable approximate their fair value due to their short-term nature. See Note 11 regarding long-term obligations.

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 December 31, 2022 and 2021 is on deposit in interest-bearing accounts with well-established financial institutions. At times, such amounts may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance limits. As of December 31, 2022, uninsured cash balances totaled approximately $19,400,000.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements — For the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2021, management adopted ASU 2020-06 using the modified retrospective method. ASU 2020-06 simplifies entities’ accounting for convertible instruments by eliminating the cash conversion and beneficial conversion feature (BCF) models outlined in ASC 470-20. Under ASU 2020-06, convertible instruments that would have previously been subject to the BCF or cash conversion guidance no longer require separate accounting for the conversion feature.

For the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2022, management adopted ASU 2021-10, Government Assistance (Topic 832), which aims to provide increased transparency by requiring business entities to disclose information about certain type of government assistance they receive in the notes to the financial statements. 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. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company received approximately $697,000 in NCI grants, all of which was reported as a reduction of research and development (R&D) expenses.