Erasca, Inc. (ERAS) FY 2021 MD&A

Overview

We are a clinical-stage precision oncology company singularly focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for patients with RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers. Molecular alterations in RAS, the most frequently mutated oncogene, and the MAPK pathway, one of the most frequently altered signaling pathways in cancer, account for approximately 5.5 million new patients diagnosed globally each year. Our company was co-founded by leading pioneers in precision oncology and RAS targeting to create novel therapies and combination regimens designed to comprehensively shut down the RAS/MAPK pathway for the treatment of cancer. We have assembled what we believe to be the deepest, wholly-owned or controlled RAS/MAPK pathway-focused pipeline in the industry, comprising 11 modality-agnostic programs aligned with our three therapeutic strategies of: (1) targeting key upstream and downstream signaling nodes in the RAS/MAPK pathway; (2) targeting RAS directly; and (3) targeting escape routes that emerge in response to treatment.

The following figure shows the RAS/MAPK pathway and how the three therapeutic strategies listed above attempt to comprehensively and synergistically shut down the RAS/MAPK pathway.

129

The target breadth and molecular diversity represented in our pipeline enable us to pursue a systematic, data-driven clinical development effort to identify single agent and combination approaches with the goal of prolonging survival in numerous patient populations with high unmet medical needs. Our modality-agnostic approach aims to allow us to selectively and potently inhibit or degrade critical signaling nodes with small molecule therapeutics, large molecule therapeutics, and protein degraders. Our purpose-built pipeline includes three clinical-stage programs (ERK and SHP2 inhibitors, which together comprise our first, innovative MAPKlamp, and EGFR inhibitor), one preclinical-stage program (CNS-penetrant KRAS G12C inhibitor), and seven discovery-stage programs targeting other key oncogenic drivers. We expect to have four product candidates in the clinic within the next five quarters, plus the filing of an additional IND every 12-18 months through 2026. We believe our world-class team’s capabilities and experience, further guided by our SAB, which includes the world’s leading experts in the RAS/MAPK pathway, uniquely position us to achieve our bold mission of erasing cancer.

We do not own or operate, and currently have no plans to establish, any manufacturing facilities. We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates for preclinical and clinical testing, as well as for commercial manufacture if any of our product candidates obtain marketing approval. We are working with our current manufacturers to ensure that we will be able to scale up our manufacturing capabilities to support our clinical plans. We are also in the process of locating and qualifying additional manufacturers to build redundancies into our supply chain. In addition, we rely on third parties to package, label, store, and distribute our product candidates, and we intend to rely on third parties for our commercial products if marketing approval is obtained. We believe that this strategy allows us to maintain a more efficient infrastructure by eliminating the need for us to invest in our own manufacturing facilities, equipment, and personnel while also enabling us to focus our expertise and resources on the design and development of our product candidates.

In July 2021, we completed our IPO and issued 21,562,500 shares of our common stock, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase 2,812,500 shares of our common stock, at a price to the public of $16.00 per share. Our aggregate net proceeds from the offering were $317.0 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions of $24.2 million and offering costs of $3.8 million.

Since our inception in 2018, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital, identifying, acquiring, and in-licensing our product candidates, establishing our intellectual property portfolio, conducting research, preclinical studies and clinical trials, establishing arrangements with third parties for the manufacture of our product candidates and related raw materials, and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any revenue. As of December 31, 2021, we have raised a total of $665.4 million to fund our operations, comprised primarily of gross proceeds from our IPO and the sale and issuance of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2021, we had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $459.2 million.

We have incurred significant operating losses since inception. Our net losses were $122.8 million and $101.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $238.2 million. We expect our expenses and operating losses will increase substantially for the foreseeable future, particularly if and as we conduct our ongoing and planned clinical trials and preclinical studies; continue our research and development activities; utilize third parties to manufacture our product candidates and related raw materials; hire additional personnel; acquire, in-license, or develop additional product candidates; expand and protect our intellectual property; and incur additional costs associated with being a public company. If we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, we expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing, and distribution. In addition, as our product candidates progress through development and toward commercialization, we will need to make milestone payments to the licensors and other third parties from whom we have in-licensed or acquired our product candidates. Our net losses may fluctuate significantly from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year, depending on the timing of our clinical trials and preclinical studies and our expenditures on other research and development activities.

130

Based upon our current operating plans, we believe that our cash, cash equivalents and investments as of December 31, 2021 will be sufficient to fund our operations into 2024. We do not expect to generate any revenues from product sales until we successfully complete development and obtain regulatory approval for one or more of our product candidates, which we expect will take a number of years and may never occur. Accordingly, until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our cash needs through equity offerings, debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations, licenses, and other similar arrangements. However, we may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other arrangements when needed on favorable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital or enter into such other arrangements when needed would have a negative impact on our financial condition and could force us to delay, limit, reduce, or terminate our research and development programs or other operations, or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

The COVID-19 worldwide pandemic has presented substantial public health and economic challenges and is affecting our employees, patients, physicians and other healthcare providers, communities and business operations, as well as the US and global economies and financial markets. To date, we have not experienced material disruptions in our business operations. However, while it is not possible at this time to estimate the impact that COVID-19 could have on our business in the future, particularly as we advance our product candidates through clinical development, the continued spread of COVID-19 and the measures taken by the governmental authorities, and any future epidemic disease outbreaks, could: disrupt the supply chain and the manufacture or shipment of drug substances and finished drug products for our product candidates for use in our research, preclinical studies and clinical trials; delay, limit or prevent our employees and CROs from continuing research and development activities; impede our clinical trial initiation and recruitment and the ability of patients to continue in clinical trials, including the risk that participants enrolled in our clinical trials will contract COVID-19 or other epidemic disease while the clinical trial is ongoing, which could impact the results of the clinical trial, including by increasing the number of observed adverse events; impede testing, monitoring, data collection and analysis and other related activities; any of which could delay our preclinical studies and clinical trials and increase our development costs, and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our acquisition and license agreements

We have entered into in-license and acquisition agreements pursuant to which we in-licensed or acquired certain intellectual property rights related to our product candidates and development programs, including the Asana Agreements, the ELS Purchase Agreement, the NiKang Agreement, the Katmai Agreement, the LifeArc Agreement, and the UCSF Agreement.

For additional information regarding these agreements, see the section titled “Business—Our acquisition and license agreements” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Components of results of operations

Revenue

We do not expect to generate any revenue from the sale of products unless and until such time that our product candidates have advanced through clinical development and regulatory approval, if ever. If we fail to complete preclinical and clinical development of product candidates or obtain regulatory approval for them, our ability to generate future revenues, and our results of operations and financial position would be adversely affected.

Operating expenses

Research and development

Research and development expenses consist of external and internal costs associated with our research and development activities, including our discovery and research efforts and the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Our research and development expenses include:

• external costs, including expenses incurred under arrangements with third parties, such as CROs, CMOs, consultants and our scientific advisors; and

131

• internal costs, including:

• employee-related expenses, including salaries, benefits, and stock-based compensation for those individuals involved in research and development efforts;

• the costs of laboratory supplies and acquiring, developing and manufacturing preclinical study materials; and

• facilities and depreciation, which include direct and allocated expenses for rent of facilities and depreciation of equipment.

The following table summarizes our research and development expenses incurred for the following periods (in thousands):

(1)
ERAS-007 was acquired in November 2020.

We expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we continue to conduct our ongoing research and development activities, conduct clinical trials and advance our preclinical research programs toward clinical development, particularly as more of our product candidates move into later stages of development which typically cost more. The process of conducting clinical trials and preclinical studies necessary to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time-consuming. We may never succeed in achieving marketing approval for any of our product candidates.

The timelines and costs with research and development activities are uncertain, can vary significantly for each product candidate and program and are difficult to predict. We anticipate we will make determinations as to which product candidates and programs to pursue and how much funding to direct to each product candidate and program on an ongoing basis in response to preclinical and clinical results, regulatory developments, ongoing assessments as to each product candidate’s and program’s commercial potential, and our ability to enter into collaborations, to the extent we determine the resources or expertise of a collaborator would be beneficial for a given product candidate or program. We will need to raise substantial additional capital in the future. In addition, we cannot forecast which product candidates and programs may be subject to future collaborations, when such arrangements will be secured, if at all, and to what degree such arrangements would affect our development plans and capital requirements.

Our development costs may vary significantly based on factors such as:

• the number and scope of preclinical and IND-enabling studies and clinical trials;

• per patient trial costs;

• the number of trials required for approval;

• the number of sites included in the trials;

• the countries in which the trials are conducted;

• the length of time required to enroll eligible patients;

• the number of patients that participate in the trials;

• the number of doses that patients receive;

• the drop-out or discontinuation rates of patients;

• potential additional safety monitoring requested by regulatory agencies;

• the duration of patient participation in the trials and follow-up;

• the cost and timing of manufacturing our product candidates;

• the phase of development of our product candidates;

132

• the efficacy and safety profile of our product candidates;

• the timing, receipt and terms of any approvals from applicable regulatory authorities;

• maintaining a continued acceptable safety profile of our products candidates following approval, if any;

• significant and changing government regulation and regulatory guidance;

• the impact of any interruptions to our operations or to those of the third parties with whom we work due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and

• the extent to which we establish additional collaboration, license or other arrangements.

In-process research and development

In-process research and development expenses include rights acquired as part of asset acquisitions or in-licenses to develop and commercialize product candidates. Upfront payments that relate to the acquisition of a new drug compound, as well as pre-commercial milestone payments, are immediately expensed as in-process research and development in the period in which they are incurred, provided that the new drug compound did not also include processes or activities that would constitute a “business” as defined under US generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP), the drug has not achieved regulatory approval for marketing and, absent obtaining such approval, has no established alternative future use.

In-process research and development expenses consist primarily of our upfront and milestone payments and issuances of stock under the Asana Agreements, the NiKang Agreement, the Katmai Agreement, the ELS Purchase Agreement, and the UCSF Agreement.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation, for employees in our finance, accounting, legal, information technology, business development and support functions. Other general and administrative expenses include allocated facility and depreciation related costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses and professional fees for auditing, tax, intellectual property and legal services. Costs related to filing and pursuing patent applications are recognized as general and administrative expenses as incurred since recoverability of such expenditures is uncertain.

We expect our general and administrative expenses will increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we continue to increase our general and administrative headcount to support our continued research and development activities and, if any product candidates receive marketing approval, commercialization activities, as well as to support our operations generally. We also expect to incur increased costs associated with operating as a public company. These increased costs will likely include increased expenses related to audit, legal, regulatory and tax services associated with maintaining compliance with exchange listing and SEC requirements, director and officer insurance premiums and investor relations costs associated with operating as a public company.

Other income (expense), net

Interest income

Interest income consists primarily of interest earned on our cash, cash equivalents and investments.

Change in fair value of preferred stock purchase right liability

Our issuance of shares of our Series B-1 convertible preferred stock in April and August 2020 potentially obligated us to issue 13,175,191 shares of our Series B-2 convertible preferred stock at a price of $7.50 per share in an additional closing to certain purchasers of our Series B-1 convertible preferred stock, upon the achievement of certain milestones set forth in the Series B financing purchase agreement. We determined our obligation to issue these shares of Series B-2 convertible preferred stock represented a freestanding financial instrument that required liability accounting. This freestanding preferred stock purchase right liability for the Series B-2 convertible preferred stock was recorded at fair value upon issuance and was subsequently remeasured to fair value at each reporting date. Changes in the fair value of the preferred

133

stock purchase right liability were recognized in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss until the obligation for the Series B-2 shares was fulfilled upon the Series B-2 issuance in January 2021.

Results of operations

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 (in thousands):

Research and development expenses

Research and development expenses were $73.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $29.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase of $44.4 million was primarily driven by a $16.1 million increase in expenses incurred in connection with clinical trials, preclinical studies and discovery activities, a $13.8 million increase in personnel costs due to an increase in headcount, an $8.8 million increase in outsourced services and consulting fees, and a $4.6 million increase in stock-based compensation expense, primarily due to increases in our stock price and headcount.

In-process research and development expenses

In-process research and development expenses were $10.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $71.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. In-process research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2021 related to the cash payment of $1.7 million following the achievement of the Corporate Milestone under the UCSF Agreement and the issuance of 944,945 shares of our common stock at a price of $5.81 per share or a total fair value of $5.5 million in connection with the amendment to the UCSF Agreement, and a $2.0 million upfront payment and issuance of 500,000 shares of our common stock at a price of $3.36 per share or a total fair value of $1.7 million in connection with the ELS Purchase Agreement. In-process research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 related to a $20.0 million upfront payment and issuance of 4,000,000 shares of our Series B-2 convertible preferred stock at a price of $7.50 per share or a total fair value of $30.0 million in connection with the Asana Agreements, a $5.7 million upfront payment in connection with the Katmai Agreement, and a $5.0 million upfront payment and $11.0 million in milestone payments in connection with the NiKang Agreement.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses were $22.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $8.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The increase of $14.7 million was primarily driven by a $6.2 million increase in personnel costs due to an increase in headcount, a $2.9 million increase in stock-based compensation expense due to increases in our stock price and headcount, a $2.0 million increase in insurance costs, a $1.4 million increase in facilities and office-related costs, and a $1.3 million increase in legal and accounting fees.

134

Contribution of common stock to Erasca Foundation

Contribution of common stock to Erasca Foundation of $17.5 million was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2021 in connection with the issuance of 1,093,557 shares of our common stock at a price of $16.00 per share as a contribution to the Erasca Foundation in conjunction with our IPO. We established the Erasca Foundation in May 2021 to provide support such as direct research grants, hardship grants, patient advocacy, patient education in underserved populations, and funding for other initiatives to positively impact society that align with our mission. The Erasca Foundation is a related party as our chief executive officer and certain board members serve as directors of the Erasca Foundation and our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and general counsel are also officers of the Erasca Foundation. No such expenses were recognized for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Other income (expense), net

Other income (expense), net was $2.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to $7.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease of $5.5 million was primarily related to a decrease of $5.7 million in the change in fair value of the preferred stock purchase right liability.

Liquidity and capital resources

Sources of liquidity

In July 2021, we completed our IPO and issued 21,562,500 shares of our common stock, including the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase 2,812,500 shares of our common stock, at a price to the public of $16.00 per share. Our aggregate net proceeds from the offering were $317.0 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions of $24.2 million and offering costs of $3.8 million. Prior to the IPO, we received aggregate gross proceeds of $320.4 million from the sale of shares of our convertible preferred stock.

Future capital requirements

As of December 31, 2021, we had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $459.2 million. Based upon our current operating plans, we believe that our cash, cash equivalents and investments, will be sufficient to fund our operations into 2024. However, our forecast of the period of time through which our financial resources will be adequate to support our operations is a forward-looking statement that involves risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary materially. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we expect. Additionally, the process of conducting preclinical studies and testing product candidates in clinical trials is costly, and the timing of progress and expenses in these studies and trials is uncertain.

Our future capital requirements are difficult to forecast and will depend on many factors, including but not limited to:

• the type, number, scope, progress, expansions, results, costs and timing of discovery, preclinical studies and clinical trials of our product candidates which we are pursuing or may choose to pursue in the future, including the costs of any third-party products used in our combination clinical trials that are not covered by such third party or other sources;

• the costs and timing of manufacturing for our product candidates, including commercial manufacturing if any product candidate is approved;

• the costs, timing and outcome of regulatory review of our product candidates;

• the costs of obtaining, maintaining and enforcing our patents and other intellectual property rights;

• our efforts to enhance operational systems and hire additional personnel to satisfy our obligations as a public company, including enhanced internal controls over financial reporting;

• the costs associated with hiring additional personnel and consultants as our preclinical and clinical activities increase;

135

• the timing and amount of the milestone or other payments we must make to the licensors and other third parties from whom we have in-licensed or acquired our product candidates or technologies;

• the costs and timing of establishing or securing sales and marketing capabilities if any product candidate is approved;

• our ability to achieve sufficient market acceptance, coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party payors and adequate market share and revenue for any approved products;

• patients’ willingness to pay out-of-pocket for any approved products in the absence of coverage and/or adequate reimbursement from third-party payors;

• any delays and cost increases that result from the COVID-19 pandemic;

• the terms and timing of establishing and maintaining collaborations, licenses and other similar arrangements; and

• costs associated with any products or technologies that we may in-license or acquire.

We have no other committed sources of capital. Until we can generate a sufficient amount of product revenue to finance our cash requirements, if ever, we expect to finance our future cash needs primarily through equity offerings, debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations, licenses and other similar arrangements. However, we may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other arrangements when needed on favorable terms or at all. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, the ownership interest of our stockholders will be or could be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our common stockholders. Debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through other collaborations or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our research and development programs or other operations, or grant rights to develop and market product candidates to third parties that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

Cash flows

The following table shows a summary of our cash flows for the periods presented (in thousands):

Operating activities

Cash used in operating activities was $79.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily resulting from a net loss of $122.8 million, partially reduced by the issuance of common stock to the Erasca Foundation of $17.5 million, which is reflected in noncash investing and financing activities, in-process research and development expenses of $10.8 million, which are reflected in noncash and investing activities, stock-based compensation of $8.3 million, changes in operating assets and liabilities of $7.7 million and depreciation expense of $0.8 million, partially offset by a $1.6 million change in fair value of the preferred stock purchase right liability. Net cash provided by changes in operating assets and liabilities consisted primarily of increases in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities of $13.2 million, partially offset by an increase in prepaid expenses and other current and long-term assets of $6.7 million.

136

Cash used in operating activities was $32.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2020, primarily resulting from a net loss of $101.7 million, partially reduced by in-process research and development expenses of $71.7 million, which are reflected in noncash and investing activities, changes in operating assets and liabilities of $3.3 million, stock-based compensation expense of $0.8 million, and depreciation expense of $0.5 million, partially offset by a $7.4 million change in fair value of the preferred stock purchase right liability. Net cash provided by changes in operating assets and liabilities consisted primarily of increases in accrued expenses and other liabilities of $4.6 million, partially offset by an increase in prepaid expenses and other assets of $0.9 million.

Investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $64.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to cash used in investing activities of $71.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease in cash used in investing activities of $6.6 million was primarily the result of a decrease in in-process research and development of $30.1 million, offset by an increase in purchases of property and equipment of $10.3 million, an increase in purchases of investments of $6.6 million, and a decrease in maturities of investments of $6.6 million.

Financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $439.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to $140.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2020. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we received $317.0 million from the issuance of common stock in our IPO, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and offering costs, $119.4 million from the sale of shares of our Series B-2 convertible preferred stock, net of issuance costs, $1.4 million from the exercise of stock options, $1.1 million from the issuance of common stock under our Employee Stock Purchase Plan and $0.6 million from the disgorgement of a stockholder's short-swing profits. During the year ended December 31, 2020, we received $137.0 million from the sale of shares of our Series B-1 convertible preferred stock, net of issuance costs, and $3.0 million from the exercise of stock options.

Cash requirements due to contractual obligations and other commitments

We lease office and laboratory space and certain laboratory equipment under lease agreements with varying expiration dates through 2032. As of December 31, 2021, total future aggregate operating lease commitments was $87.3 million, with approximately $1.1 million due in 2022, and the remaining due in periods from 2023 through 2032. See Note 11 in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.

We enter into contracts in the normal course of business for contract research services, contract manufacturing services, professional services and other services and products for operating purposes. These contracts generally provide for termination after a notice period, and, therefore, are cancelable contracts and not included in the table above.

Additionally, there are additional potential development and sales milestone payments and royalty payments we may be required to make under license and acquisition agreements we have entered into pursuant to which we have in-licensed and acquired certain intellectual property. See the section titled “Business—Our acquisition and license agreements” for additional information. The timing of when these additional payments will actually be made is uncertain as the payments are contingent upon the completion of future activities.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

During the periods presented, we did not have, nor do we currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements, as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.

137

Critical accounting policies and estimates

This management discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with US GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate these estimates and judgments. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. These estimates and assumptions form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities and the recording of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates.

While our significant accounting policies are described in more detail in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we believe that the following accounting policies are the most critical to understanding and evaluating our historical and future performance.

Accrued research and development expenses

We are required to make estimates of our accrued expenses resulting from our obligations under contracts with CROs, manufacturers, vendors and consultants, in connection with conducting research and development activities. The financial terms of these contracts vary from contract to contract and may result in payment flows that do not match the periods over which materials or services are provided under such contracts. We reflect research and development expenses in our consolidated financial statements by matching those expenses with the period in which services and efforts are expended.

We account for these expenses by reviewing open contracts and purchase orders, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for the service when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual cost. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. We periodically confirm the accuracy of our estimates with the service providers and make adjustments if necessary. The significant estimates in our accrued research and development expenses include the costs incurred for services performed by our vendors in connection with research and development activities for which we have not yet been invoiced.

We base our expenses related to research and development activities on our estimates of the services received and efforts expended pursuant to quotes and contracts with vendors that conduct research and development on our behalf. There may be instances in which payments made to our vendors will exceed the level of services provided and result in a prepayment of the research and development expense. In accruing service fees, we estimate the time period over which services will be performed and the level of effort to be expended in each period. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from our estimate, we adjust the accrual or prepaid expense accordingly. Advance payments for goods and services that will be used in future research and development activities are expensed when the activity has been performed or when the goods have been received rather than when the payment is made.

Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, if our estimates of the status and timing of services performed differ from the actual status and timing of services performed, it could result in us reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular period. To date, there have been no material differences between our estimates of such expenses and the amounts actually incurred.

Stock-based compensation

Stock-based compensation expense represents the cost of the grant date fair value of equity awards recognized over the requisite service period of the awards (usually the vesting period) on a straight-line basis. We estimate the fair value of stock option awards using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and recognize forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes option pricing model requires the use of subjective assumptions, including the risk-free interest rate, the expected stock price volatility, the expected term of stock options, the expected dividend yield and the fair value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. Changes in these assumptions can materially affect the fair value and ultimately how much stock-based compensation expense is recognized. These inputs are subjective and generally require judgment to develop. See Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for information concerning certain of the specific assumptions we used in applying the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the estimated fair value of our stock options granted in the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020.

138

Prior to our IPO, since there was no public market for our common stock, we were required to estimate the fair value of the common stock underlying our equity awards when performing fair value calculations. The fair value of the common stock underlying our equity awards was determined on each grant date by our board of directors, taking into account input from management and independent third-party valuation analyses. All options to purchase shares of our common stock are intended to be granted with an exercise price per share no less than the fair value per share of our common stock underlying those options on the date of grant, based on the information known to us on the date of grant. In the absence of a public trading market for our common stock, on each grant date we developed an estimate of the fair value of our common stock in order to determine an exercise price for the option grants. Our determinations of the fair value of our common stock were made using methodologies, approaches and assumptions consistent with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Accounting and Valuation Guide: Valuation of Privately Held Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation (the Practice Aid).

Following our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is based on the closing price as reported on the date of grant.

Recently issued and adopted accounting pronouncements

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for recently issued and adopted accounting pronouncements.

Emerging growth company and smaller reporting company status

As an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act, we can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this exemption from new or revised accounting standards and, therefore, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates. We also intend to rely on other exemptions provided by the JOBS Act, including without limitation, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the consummation of our IPO; (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion; (iii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeded $700.0 million as of the last business day of the second fiscal quarter of such year; or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

We are also a smaller reporting company as defined in the Exchange Act. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company even after we are no longer an emerging growth company. We may take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies and will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or our annual revenue is less than $100.0 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700.0 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter.

139