Kodiak Sciences Inc. (KOD)

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis and other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements based upon current beliefs, plans and expectations related to future events and our future financial performance that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our intentions, plans, objectives, expectations, forecasts and projections. Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Part I, Item 1A — Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Kodiak Sciences (“we”, the “Company” or “Kodiak”) is a biopharmaceutical company committed to researching, developing, and commercializing transformative therapeutics to treat a broad spectrum of retinal diseases. We are focused on bringing new science to the design and manufacture of next generation retinal medicines to prevent and treat the leading causes of blindness globally. Our ABC Platform uses molecular engineering to merge the fields of protein-based and chemistry-based therapies and has been at the core of Kodiak's discovery engine. We are developing a portfolio of three clinical programs, two of which are late-stage today and derived from our ABC Platform and one which is platform-independent and which we believe can progress rapidly into pivotal studies.

Kodiak's lead investigational medicine, tarcocimab, is a novel anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate under development for the treatment of high prevalence retinal vascular diseases. Tarcocimab is currently being studied in two Phase 3 clinical trials, GLOW2 in patients with diabetic retinopathy and DAYBREAK in patients with wet AMD. GLOW2 enrollment is complete, and DAYBREAK is actively enrolling patients.

KSI-501 is our second investigational medicine, a first-in-class anti-IL-6, VEGF-trap bispecific antibody biopolymer conjugate designed to inhibit both IL-6 mediated inflammation and VEGF-mediated angiogenesis and vascular permeability. KSI-501 is being developed for the treatment of high prevalence retinal vascular diseases to address the unmet needs of extended durability and targeting disease biology beyond VEGF for differentiated efficacy. The Phase 3 DAYBREAK study of KSI-501 in wet AMD is actively enrolling patients.

KSI-101, our third product candidate, is a novel anti-IL-6, VEGF-trap bispecific protein. Kodiak is developing KSI-101 for the treatment of retinal inflammatory diseases, as currently there are no available intravitreal biologic therapies addressing the spectrum of inflammatory conditions of the retina. The Phase 1b APEX study of KSI-101 is actively enrolling patients, as a precursor to activating the Phase 2b/3 studies in patients with macular edema secondary to inflammation (“MESI”).

Kodiak is advancing its platform technology to embed small molecules and other active pharmaceutical ingredients ("APIs") into Kodiak's proprietary biopolymer backbone to enable high drug-antibody-ratio ("DAR") medicines. The diverse APIs are designed to be released over time to achieve targeted, multi-specific and tailored modulation of biological pathways. The unique combination of high DAR and tailored therapeutic benefit offers potential for broad application to multifactorial diseases and builds directly from our Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate technology and its 15 years of design, development and manufacturing experience. We call this platform extension our Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate Drug (“ABCD”) Platform because we are extending our platform capabilities to include the conjugation of small molecule drugs whereas historically we conjugated biologics such as antibodies.

Recent Updates

Tarcocimab Clinical Program Summary and Update

Kodiak’s lead clinical program tarcocimab is an investigational anti-VEGF therapy built on Kodiak’s ABC Platform and is designed to maintain potent and effective drug levels in ocular tissues for longer than existing available agents. It is being developed as a mainstay intravitreal biologic monotherapy intended to provide high immediacy, driven by the enhanced formulation, and high durability, driven by the ABC Platform and our science of durability, with the ultimate objective of providing, once approved, a flexible 1-month through 6-month label. Kodiak’s objective with tarcocimab is to enable earlier treatment and prevention of vision loss for patients with diabetic retinopathy and to develop a new high immediacy and high durability agent to improve outcomes for patients with retinal vascular diseases.

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To date, tarcocimab has been studied in six pivotal clinical studies: Phase 3 GLOW1 study in diabetic retinopathy (“DR”), Phase 3 BEACON study in retinal vein occlusion (“RVO”), Phase 3 DAYLIGHT study in wet AMD, Phase 3 GLEAM and GLIMMER studies with identical study design in diabetic macular edema (“DME”), and Phase 2/3 DAZZLE study in wet AMD. Of the six registrational studies, GLOW1, BEACON and DAYLIGHT successfully met the primary endpoint. Tarcocimab is currently being studied in two Phase 3 clinical trials, the GLOW2 study in DR and the DAYBREAK study in wet AMD. GLOW2 has completed enrollment and DAYBREAK is actively enrolling. Kodiak anticipates to be in a position to announce topline data for the primary endpoint for GLOW2 in 1Q 2026 and for the primary endpoint for DAYBREAK in 2Q 2026. Kodiak plans to wait for DAYBREAK topline data expected 2Q 2026 in order to file a single Biologics License Application (“BLA”) for tarcocimab in wet AMD, DR and RVO.

Both GLOW2 and DAYBREAK use tarcocimab’s enhanced 50 mg/mL formulation containing both conjugated and unconjugated antibody that is intended to deliver high immediacy and high durability.

More information about study design and results, if completed, from each individual pivotal study are summarized below:

Ongoing Phase 3 Studies:

GLOW2 – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy

The Phase 3 GLOW2 study is the second registrational trial of tarcocimab in DR. GLOW2 has a similar design as GLOW1 in which all patients randomized to investigational therapy will receive tarcocimab on extended, 6-month dosing. GLOW2 features the benefit of an additional, third monthly loading dose (baseline, Week 4, Week 8) to explore even further benefits with tarcocimab in diabetic retinopathy patients.

GLOW2 study is a prospective, randomized, double-masked, multi-center pivotal superiority study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in treatment-naïve patients with DR. Patients are randomized 1:1 and receive either sham injections or tarcocimab via intravitreal injection at baseline, Week 4, Week 8, Week 20 and Week 44. The primary endpoint is the proportion of eyes improving ≥2 steps on Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale ("DRSS") from baseline at Week 48. Additional outcome measures include the proportion of eyes developing a sight threatening complication of diabetic retinopathy and the proportion of eyes improving ≥3 steps on DRSS from baseline at Week 48.

On March 10, 2025, Kodiak announced that GLOW2 completed enrollment, randomizing more than 250 patients. Kodiak expects to be in a position to announce topline data in 1Q 2026.

DAYBREAK – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration

The Phase 3 DAYBREAK study is a non-inferiority study evaluating parallel investigational arms of tarcocimab and KSI-501 against active comparator aflibercept. Patients randomized to tarcocimab will receive individualized dosing every 4 to 24 weeks on an as needed basis following four monthly loading doses. Patients randomized to aflibercept will be dosed per its label. The individualized dosing of tarcocimab is determined by a treat-to-dryness proactive approach, using presence of retinal fluid as a disease activity marker, instead of a combination of central subfield thickness ("CST") and vision loss, which resembles retina specialists' practice and optimizes each patient's treatment. The objectives for tarcocimab in DAYBREAK are to assess its 6-month durability potential, strengthen its competitive position in wet AMD and bolster the regulatory application package for the program.

DAYBREAK is actively enrolling patients, and Kodiak anticipates to be in a position to announce topline data for the primary endpoint in 2Q 2026.

Completed Studies:

GLOW1 – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy without DME

The Phase 3 GLOW1 study was a global, multi-center, randomized pivotal superiority study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in treatment-naïve patients with moderately severe to severe DR. Patients were randomized to receive either tarcocimab every six months after initiating doses given at baseline, 8 weeks and 20 weeks into the study, or to receive sham injections. The primary endpoint was at one year.

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On November 6, 2023, Kodiak announced that GLOW1 met its primary endpoint of the proportion of patients with at least a 2-step improvement on the Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale (DRSS) score, a grading system measuring the degree of retinopathy. Tarcocimab achieved a 29-fold increased response rate ratio, with 41.1% of evaluable patients on tarcocimab demonstrating at least 2-step improvement versus 1.4% of evaluable patients in the sham group (p-value less than 0.0001). Visual acuity and retinal anatomy were improved and stable with tarcocimab on its extended-dosing intervals. At one year, GLOW1 also met its key secondary endpoint of greater reductions in the proportion of patients developing sight-threatening complications (such as diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy), versus sham, demonstrating an 89% decreased risk, achieving 21.0% versus 2.3% (p-value less than 0.0001). Tarcocimab also showed a 95% risk reduction in the development of DME, versus sham, from 13.7% on sham versus 0.7% on tarcocimab. The rates of serious ocular adverse events and intraocular inflammation in patients treated with tarcocimab and sham were similar.

BEACON – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Retinal Vein Occlusion

The Phase 3 BEACON study was a randomized, double-masked, multicenter, active comparator-controlled study in treatment naïve patients with vision loss and macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion, including both branch ("BRVO") and central ("CRVO") subtypes. In the initial six months of the study, patients received tarcocimab on a fixed every-8-week dosing regimen following 2 monthly loading doses or aflibercept 2mg on a fixed monthly dosing regimen per its label. In the second six months of the study, tarcocimab and aflibercept were tested head-to-head according to a pro re nata (“PRN") protocol in which patients in both groups were treated only when disease reactivated according to matched predefined disease activity criteria.

In August 2022, Kodiak announced that the BEACON study met the primary efficacy endpoint of non-inferior visual acuity change from baseline at week 24 for subjects given tarcocimab every two months after 2 monthly loading doses compared to subjects given monthly aflibercept.

On September 7, 2023, Kodiak announced new one-year results from the BEACON study. Tarcocimab demonstrated matched efficacy with differentiated durability versus aflibercept in the head-to-head comparison. After 4 initiating doses in the first 6 months, 47% of tarcocimab-treated patients required no additional injections in the second 6 months while matching the vision and anatomic outcomes of aflibercept-treated patients. Despite receiving 6 initiating monthly doses, only 37% of aflibercept patients were injection free in the second half of the study. 77% of tarcocimab treated patients received 5 or fewer doses in year one, while 93% of aflibercept treated patients received 6 or more doses. BRVO patients received a median of 4.0 injections on tarcocimab versus 7.0 injections of aflibercept. Despite materially fewer injections in tarcocimab treated patients, vision outcomes favored tarcocimab-treated patients achieving an observed mean of 76.6 letters versus 75.6 letters for aflibercept treated patients. All RVO patients received a median of 5.0 injections on tarcocimab versus 7.0 injections of aflibercept. Despite materially fewer injections in tarcocimab treated patients, vision outcomes favored tarcocimab-treated patients achieving an observed mean of 74.6 letters versus 74.3 letters for aflibercept treated patients.

Safety and tolerability were comparable between tarcocimab and aflibercept. Intraocular inflammation (IOI) rate was comparable between groups (tarcocimab 2.5% vs aflibercept 0.7%). No cases of inflammation associated with vascular occlusion or vasculitis were reported.

DAYLIGHT – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Wet AMD

The DAYLIGHT study was a randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of a high intensity dosing regimen of tarcocimab in 557 treatment-naïve subjects with wet AMD. On July 24, 2023, Kodiak announced that the DAYLIGHT study met the primary endpoint of non-inferior visual acuity gains at year 1 for tarcocimab dosed monthly compared to aflibercept dosed every 8 weeks following 3 monthly loading doses. Intraocular inflammation occurred in 3.3% of patients treated with monthly tarcocimab and 0.4% of patients treated with aflibercept with no vasculitis or occlusion.

GLEAM / GLIMMER – Paired Phase 3 Studies in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Diabetic Macular Edema

The GLEAM and GLIMMER studies were identically designed, randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled studies evaluating the efficacy, durability and safety of tarcocimab in 460 and 457 treatment-naïve subjects with DME, respectively, run in parallel.

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On July 24, 2023, Kodiak announced that although high proportions of patients on meaningfully longer treatment intervals were observed with tarcocimab, with half of patients on every 24-week dosing at the primary endpoint, the GLEAM and GLIMMER studies did not meet their primary efficacy endpoints of showing non-inferior visual acuity gains for tarcocimab dosed every 8 to 24 weeks after 3 monthly loading doses compared to aflibercept given every 8 weeks after 5 monthly loading doses. At the primary efficacy endpoint of the GLEAM study, patients treated with tarcocimab gained an observed average of 6.4 eye chart letters (to 73.1 letters), compared with 10.3 letters for patients treated with aflibercept (to 76.5 letters). In GLIMMER, patients treated with tarcocimab gained an observed average of 7.4 eye chart letters at the primary endpoint (to 72.5 letters) compared with 12.2 letters (to 76.4 letters) for patients treated with aflibercept.

An unexpected increase in cataract adverse events was reported over time in the tarcocimab arms of both GLEAM and GLIMMER, with 19% on tarcocimab versus 9% on aflibercept at the primary endpoint based on the pooled safety population. Kodiak’s evaluation suggested that the decline in visual acuity associated with cataracts likely contributed meaningfully to the failure of each study.

Half of tarcocimab treated patients in the GLEAM and GLIMMER studies were on every 24-week dosing at the primary endpoint, two-thirds achieved at least one 6-month dosing interval during the studies, and three-quarters achieved at least one 5-month or longer treatment interval. Intraocular inflammation was rare, occurring in 1.3% and 0.2% of tarcocimab and aflibercept treated patients, respectively. No cases of intraocular inflammation with vasculitis or vascular occlusion were observed.

DAZZLE – Phase 2b/3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Wet AMD

The DAZZLE study was a global, multi-center, randomized pivotal study designed to evaluate the durability, efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in patients with treatment-naïve wet AMD. In February 2022 Kodiak announced that this initial pivotal study did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint of non-inferior visual acuity gains for subjects dosed on extended regimens every 12-, 16- or 20 weeks with tarcocimab compared to subjects given aflibercept every 8 weeks. Following this announcement, Kodiak discontinued the study and concluded remaining trial-associated activities.

Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate Drug Substance Manufacturing

In August 2020, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Lonza Ltd (“Lonza”) for the clinical and commercial supply of the Company’s antibody biopolymer conjugate drug substance which included a custom-built manufacturing facility. The manufacturing agreement has an initial term of 8 years, and the Company has the right to extend the term up to a total of 16 years. The Company and Lonza each have the ability to terminate this agreement upon the occurrence of certain events.

In April 2021, the agreement was amended to provide for greater manufacturing flexibility, to define a comprehensive mandate as an antibody biopolymer conjugates manufacturing facility to be used for the Company’s antibody biopolymer conjugates pipeline, at clinical as well as commercial scales, across a broad capacity range under the tight quality controls required for ophthalmology and retinal medicines, and to allow for future process and equipment changes as needed.

Under the agreement, Kodiak and Lonza planned a custom-built facility (“Ursus”) dedicated to the commercial-scale manufacturing of Kodiak’s drug substance. In January 2023, the custom-built manufacturing suite Ursus was commissioned as a cGMP facility. Kodiak worked together with Lonza and regulatory authorities to obtain approval for Ursus, and we released our first commercial scale cGMP batch of tarcocimab in July 2023. In October 2023, Kodiak made a final payment of $26.8 million to Lonza for final activation of Ursus. Separately, tarcocimab drug product based on our enhanced formulation was released in March 2024 and is being used in the GLOW2 and DAYBREAK pivotal studies.

KSI-501 Clinical Program Update

KSI-501 is an anti-IL-6, VEGF-trap bispecific antibody biopolymer conjugate built on the ABC Platform and is being developed for high prevalence retinal vascular diseases to address the unmet needs of extended durability and targeting disease biology beyond VEGF for differentiated efficacy. KSI-501 is designed to provide high immediacy/efficacy, driven by the enhanced formulation, and high durability, driven by the ABC Platform and our science of durability.

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Higher intraocular levels of IL-6 are correlated with poorer BCVA outcomes over time in wet AMD patients treated with anti-VEGF monotherapy, which suggests that IL-6 inhibition in combination with anti-VEGF therapy could lead to improved outcomes. In preclinical models, KSI-501 was shown to be a potent inhibitor of VEGF and IL-6 and, further, was shown to normalize the blood retinal barrier, opening up the possibility that KSI-501 may be a disease-modifying therapy for retinal vascular diseases. A completed Phase 1 multiple ascending dose study demonstrated that repeated monthly dosing of KSI-501 was well tolerated and achieved clinically meaningful and sustained improvement in visual acuity and fluid reduction in patients with diabetic macular edema.

Kodiak has advanced KSI-501 into a Phase 3 study DAYBREAK to evaluate its efficacy and safety in wet AMD. The DAYBREAK study is a non-inferiority study evaluating parallel investigational arms of KSI-501 and tarcocimab against active comparator aflibercept. Patients randomized to KSI-501 will receive fixed every 8-week dosing with additional individualized dosing (up to monthly dosing) on an as needed basis after 4 monthly loading doses. Patients randomized to aflibercept will be dosed per its label. The primary endpoint is non-inferiority in change in visual acuity from baseline to the average of Week 40, 44 and 48. DAYBREAK uses KSI-501's enhanced 50 mg/mL formulation containing both conjugated and unconjugated antibody that is intended to deliver high immediacy and high durability. The objective for KSI-501 in DAYBREAK is to explore the efficacy potential of bispecific VEGF and IL-6 inhibition in a broad treatment-naïve wet AMD population. DAYBREAK is now actively enrolling patients.

KSI-101 Clinical Program Update

KSI-101 is a novel, potent and high strength (100 mg/mL) bispecific protein targeting IL-6 and VEGF. We are developing KSI-101 for patients who have retinal fluid and inflammation. Currently there are no available intravitreal biologic therapies addressing the spectrum of inflammatory conditions of the retina. We believe that retinal inflammatory conditions represent a new market segment separate from the established anti-VEGF market. KSI-101 is a clinical prospect with opportunities and risks uncoupled from the ABC Platform, and as such is an important part of our late-phase portfolio. We have initiated a dose-finding Phase 1b study APEX. The APEX study evaluates KSI-101 in two cohorts, Cohort 1 in patients with diabetic macular edema ("DME") and Cohort 2 in patients with macular edema secondary to inflammation ("MESI"). The goal of the APEX study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of KSI-101 and to identify two dose levels to progress into dual Phase 2b/3 studies (PEAK and PINNACLE) in MESI.

In January 2025, we presented early APEX data in patients with MESI that demonstrated strong treatment response at all KSI-101 dose levels. We expect to present additional APEX data at an Investor R&D update in June 2025.

KSI-501 and KSI-101 Manufacturing

We have been progressing the manufacturing of KSI-501 and KSI-101 in preparation for the anticipated clinical studies. Clinical material for both KSI-501 (50 mg/mL strength in our enhanced formulation) and KSI-101 (100 mg/mL strength) were successfully manufactured in the first quarter of 2024.

ABC Platform Development

Kodiak is advancing its platform technology to embed small molecules and other active pharmaceutical ingredients ("API") into Kodiak's proprietary biopolymer backbone to enable high drug-antibody-ratio ("DAR") medicines. The diverse APIs are designed to be released over time to achieve targeted, multi-specific and tailored modulation of biological pathways. The unique combination of high DAR and tailored therapeutic benefit offers potential for broad application to multifactorial systemic and ocular diseases and builds directly from our Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate technology and its 15 years of design, development and manufacturing experience. We call this platform extension our Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate Drug ("ABCD") Platform because we are extending our platform capabilities to include the conjugation of small molecule drugs whereas historically we primarily conjugated biologics such as antibodies.

One program is for the treatment of glaucoma, embedding in the biopolymer backbone (i) an NLRP3 small molecule inhibitor, and (ii) a second small molecule that lowers intraocular pressure ("IOP"). The NLRP3 inflammasome is an intracellular complex that drives inflammation and cell death and is known to play a key role in glaucoma progression. The goal of this duet program is to create an intravitreally injected therapy that delivers two mechanisms of action ("MOA") in a sustained release fashion, to fulfill the unmet needs in the glaucoma field for non-topical, long-durability therapy that delivers MOAs beyond IOP lowering and has the potential of quarterly dosing.

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The second program is for the treatment of geographic atrophy (“GA”). There are two approved therapies, both complement inhibitors, and they require monthly or every other month intravitreal injections and neither sufficiently halts disease progression. This program at Kodiak explores the potential to embed in the biopolymer backbone (i) a macrocyclic peptide inhibitor of the complement pathway, and (ii) an NLRP3 small molecule inhibitor. The NLRP3 inflammasome is known to play a key role in AMD disease biology. The objective of this duet program is to create an intravitreally injected ABCD platform-enabled therapy with a dual mechanism of action to achieve better efficacy and extended durability, for quarterly dosing, as compared to currently approved therapies for GA.

Digital Health Platform Development

Kodiak also continues to advance its VETi (Visual Engagement Technology and imager) program. VETi is built on Kodiak’s suite of proprietary LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor technologies. VETi is an autonomous AI- and machine-learning-enabled headset that engages directly into the eye. Kodiak’s goal is to commercialize VETi together with Kodiak’s emerging portfolio of retinal medicines using apps that apply AI-enabled tools. Kodiak also believes VETi has future potential to be used to build correlations between VETi data and many human diseases outside of retina and then to be used to diagnose disease and monitor treatment. VETi may also have future potential as an AI-enabled device with similarities to a consumer smartwatch but with direct access into the body and the brain through the eye rather than through the skin.

Financial Operations Overview

Since inception in June 2009, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to discovering and developing product candidates and manufacturing processes, building our ABC Platform and assembling our core capabilities in drug development for a broad spectrum of retinal diseases. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any product revenue since inception. We have funded our operations primarily through the issuance of common stock and the sale of future royalties.

Components of Operating Results

Research and Development Expenses

Substantially all of our research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred in connection with the development of our product candidates and ABC Platform. These expenses include certain payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation, for our research and product development employees; laboratory supplies and facility costs; consulting costs; fees paid to third-party vendors to conduct certain research and development activities on our behalf; and allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities. We expense both internal and external research and development expenses as they are incurred. Costs of certain activities, such as manufacturing and preclinical and clinical studies, are generally recognized based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks. Payments made prior to the receipt of goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are recognized as expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed.

We are focusing substantially all of our resources and development efforts on the development of our product candidates. Predicting the timing or the final cost to complete our clinical program or validation of our commercial manufacturing and supply processes is difficult and delays may occur because of many factors, including factors outside of our control. For example, if the FDA or other regulatory authorities were to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we currently anticipate, or if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development. Furthermore, we are unable to predict when or if our drug candidates will receive regulatory approval with any certainty.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist principally of payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation; professional fees for legal, consulting, accounting and tax services; compliance costs associated with being a public company; allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities; and other general operating expenses not otherwise classified as research and development expenses.

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Interest Income

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

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of the change in fair value and settlement of derivative contracts and tax expense.

Results of Operations

The following table summarizes the results of our operations for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

* Change is not meaningful

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses decreased $80.2 million, or 39%, during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023.

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

Tarcocimab program expenses decreased $51.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily driven by reduced manufacturing activities and decreased clinical activities for completed trials, partially offset by costs from active clinical trials for the tarcocimab development program.

KSI-501 and KSI-101 program expenses increased $1.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, stemming from expanding clinical activities for both product candidates.

ABC Platform and other program expenses decreased $8.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, due to reduced manufacturing activities.

Payroll and personnel expenses decreased $19.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, mainly attributable to timing of forfeitures of equity awards.

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Facilities and other research and development expenses decreased $2.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily driven by reduced costs for digital transformation activities as well as currency fluctuations in the revaluation of our lease and capital obligations.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses decreased $10.3 million, or 14%, during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily driven by stock-based compensation expense related to previously issued higher value awards becoming fully vested.

Interest Income

Interest income decreased $5.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, which was mainly attributable to the decrease in cash available to earn interest during 2024.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net decreased $0.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2024 as compared to 2023, which was mainly attributable to the settlement of foreign currency forward contracts.

Comparison of the Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2023 and 2022

For a comparison of our results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, refer to “Part II, Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on March 28, 2024.

Liquidity and Capital Resources; Plan of Operations

Sources of Liquidity

We have funded our operations primarily through the issuance of common stock and the sale of future royalties. As of December 31, 2024, we had cash and cash equivalents of $168.1 million. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to support our current and planned operations into 2026.

Future Funding Requirements

We have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $1,328.7 million. We expect to continue to incur operating losses and negative operating cash flows for the foreseeable future and as a result, there is substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern.

We plan to raise additional capital to maintain current operations and to continue research and development activities. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution. Any future debt financing into which we enter may impose upon us covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or debt, pay dividends, repurchase our common stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to pause, scale back or discontinue one or more of our development programs. We may also be required to sell or license rights to our product candidates or indications in certain territories to others that we would prefer to develop and commercialize ourselves. Adequate additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.

Our failure to raise capital as and when needed could have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategies. Refer to the section of this report titled “Part I, Item 1A — Risk Factors” for additional risks associated with our substantial capital requirements.

To date, we have not generated any product revenue. We do not expect to generate any product revenue unless and until we obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize any of our product candidates or enter into collaborative agreements with third parties, and we do not know when, or if, either will occur. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect our losses to increase as we continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. We are subject to all of the risks typically related to the development of new product candidates, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business.

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The timing and amount of our operating expenditures and capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

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the scope, timing, rate of progress and costs of our drug discovery, preclinical development activities, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our product candidates;

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the number and scope of clinical programs we decide to pursue;

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the scope and costs of manufacturing development and commercial manufacturing activities;

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

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the cost and timing associated with commercializing our product candidates, if they receive marketing approval;

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the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;

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the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies;

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our ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;

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our efforts to enhance operational systems and our ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel, including personnel to support the development of our product candidates; and

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the costs associated with being a public company.

A change in the outcome of any of these or other variables with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. Furthermore, our operating plans may change in the future, and we will continue to require additional capital to meet operational needs and capital requirements associated with such operating plans.

Also, the significant uncertainties caused by any public health crises, on-going geopolitical conflicts, inflation, tariffs, rising interest rates, bank failures, on-going supply chain disruptions and volatile equity capital markets may also negatively impact our operations and capital resources. We and our key clinical and manufacturing partners have been able to continue to advance our operations, and we continue to monitor the impact of the aforementioned events on our ability to continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. One or more of these events may ultimately have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and operating plans.

We have based our estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors.

Summary Statement of Cash Flows

The following table sets forth the primary sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented below (in thousands):

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities decreased to $117.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, based on operational spend of $88.9 million and changes in operating assets and liabilities of $28.4 million.

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Material Cash Requirements and Material Known Contractual Obligations and Commitments

Operating Leases

Operating lease payments represent our commitment for future minimum rent made under non-cancelable leases for our corporate offices in Palo Alto, California, office and laboratory space in Visp, Switzerland, and related to our Ursus Facility. Total future undiscounted payments for our operating lease obligations as of December 31, 2024 were $88.6 million, of which $14.9 million is due in the next twelve months.

Manufacturing Agreements

The Company has entered into service and equipment purchase agreements in the normal course of business with various providers, which can contain minimum commitments or other noncancelable obligations.

As of December 31, 2024, future contractual obligations related to these manufacturing agreements that may be subject to cancellation fees were $19.4 million, of which $15.0 million is expected to be due in the next twelve months.

In addition, future manufacturing contractual obligations totaling approximately 105.3 million Swiss Francs may be incurred for the potential clinical and commercial supply of tarcocimab and other antibody biopolymer conjugates medicines based on the agreements with Lonza for production at the Ursus Facility.

For further information on our leases and manufacturing agreements, refer to Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included in “Part II, Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Clinical Agreements

The Company may incur potential contingent payments upon our achievement of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, as applicable. Due to the uncertainty of the achievement and timing of the events requiring payment under these agreements, the amounts to be paid by us are not fixed or determinable at this time.

Critical Accounting Policies, Significant Judgments and Use of Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

Accrued Research and Development

Our accrued research and development costs are estimated based on the level of services performed, including the phase or completion of events, and contracted costs. Accrued clinical trial and related costs are estimated using data such as patient enrollment, clinical site activations or information provided by outside service providers regarding their actual costs incurred. Management determined accrual estimates through reports from and discussions with clinical personnel and outside service providers as to the progress of trials, or the services completed. The estimated costs of research and development provided, but not yet invoiced, are included in accrued liabilities and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the original estimates, we will adjust the accrual accordingly. Payments made to third parties under these arrangements in advance of the performance of the related services are recorded as prepaid expenses and other assets until the services are rendered.

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock‑based awards made to employees, directors and non‑employees, based on estimated fair values of the awards on the grant date and recognized using the straight‑line method over the requisite service period.

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The fair value of options is estimated on the grant date using the Black‑Scholes option valuation model or Monte Carlo simulation model. The calculation of stock‑based compensation expense requires that we make certain assumptions and judgments about a number of complex and subjective variables used in the valuation model, including the expected term, expected volatility of the underlying common stock and risk‑free interest rate. Our stock-based awards are subject to either service, performance-based or market-based vesting conditions. We evaluate whether achievement of the performance conditions is probable and record expense over the appropriate service period based on this assessment.

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 significant analysis and judgment to develop.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We review long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of the assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparing the carrying amount of the assets to the estimated undiscounted net cash flows which the assets are expected to generate. If such assets are deemed not recoverable, an impairment loss is recognized in the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the estimated fair value of the assets.

We applied significant judgment in determining we have one asset group and that there is no lower level to group assets for impairment testing. The determination of the asset group primarily considers the interdependencies of our assets, shared cost structure, and the interrelated future cash flow generation. We assessed the recoverability of our asset group during the year ended December 31, 2023 based on our decision to wind-down the tarcocimab program following the topline results from the Phase 3 GLEAM and GLIMMER studies. We determined that the estimated undiscounted net cash flows which the asset group was forecasted to generate exceeded the carrying amount of the asset group and therefore, no impairment loss was recognized in 2023. There was no such impairment of long-lived assets in the year ended December 31, 2024.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is discussed under Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in “Part II, Item 8 — Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis and other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements based upon current beliefs, plans and expectations related to future events and our future financial performance that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our intentions, plans, objectives, expectations, forecasts and projections. Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Kodiak Sciences (“we,” the “Company” or "Kodiak") is a biopharmaceutical company committed to researching, developing, and commercializing transformative therapeutics to treat a broad spectrum of retinal diseases. We are focused on bringing new science to the design and manufacture of next generation retinal medicines to prevent and treat the leading causes of blindness globally. Our ABC Platform™ uses molecular engineering to merge the fields of protein-based and chemistry-based therapies and has been at the core of Kodiak's discovery engine. We are developing a portfolio of three late-stage clinical programs, two of which are late-stage today and derived from our ABC Platform and one which is platform-independent and which we believe can progress rapidly into pivotal studies.

Kodiak's lead investigational medicine, tarcocimab, is a novel anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate under development for the treatment of high prevalence retinal vascular diseases including diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age patients in the developed world, and wet age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in elderly patients in the developed world.

KSI-501 is our second investigational medicine, a first-in-class anti-IL-6, VEGF-trap bispecific antibody biopolymer conjugate designed to inhibit both IL-6 mediated inflammation and VEGF-mediated angiogenesis and vascular permeability. KSI-501 is being developed for the treatment of high prevalence retinal vascular diseases to address the unmet needs of targeting multiple biologies and extended durability.

Additionally, Kodiak is developing a third investigational medicine, KSI-101, a novel anti-IL-6, VEGF-trap bispecific protein, the unconjugated protein portion of KSI-501. Kodiak intends to develop KSI-101 for the treatment of retinal inflammatory diseases, as currently there are no available intravitreal biologic therapies addressing the spectrum of inflammatory conditions of the retina.

Kodiak has expanded its early research pipeline of duet and triplet inhibitors that embed small molecules and other bioactive molecules in the biopolymer backbone to provide a high drug-antibody ratio (“DAR”). The diverse bioactives are designed to be released over time to achieve sustained inhibition of targeted biological pathways. We believe this unique combination of high DAR and extended therapeutic benefit offers potential for broad and important utility for multifactorial ophthalmic and systemic diseases.

Recent Updates

Tarcocimab Clinical Program Summary and Update

Kodiak’s lead clinical program tarcocimab is an investigational anti-VEGF therapy built on Kodiak’s Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate (“ABC”) Platform and is designed to maintain potent and effective drug levels in ocular tissues for longer than existing available agents. Kodiak’s objective with tarcocimab is to enable earlier treatment and prevention of vision loss for patients with diabetic retinopathy and to develop a new durability agent to improve outcomes for patients with retinal vascular diseases.

To date, tarcocimab has been studied in six pivotal clinical studies: Phase 3 GLOW1 study in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (“NPDR”), Phase 3 BEACON study in retinal vein occlusion (“RVO”), Phase 3 DAYLIGHT study in wet age-related macular degeneration (“wet AMD”), Phase 3 GLEAM and GLIMMER studies with identical study design in diabetic macular edema (“DME”), and Phase 2/3 DAZZLE study in wet AMD. Of the six registrational studies, GLOW1, BEACON and DAYLIGHT successfully met the primary endpoint. More information about study design and results from each individual pivotal study are summarized below:

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GLOW1 – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy without DME

The Phase 3 GLOW1 study was a global, multi-center, randomized pivotal superiority study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in treatment-naïve patients with moderately severe to severe NPDR. Patients were randomized to receive either tarcocimab every six months after initiating doses given at baseline, 8 weeks and 20 weeks into the study, or to receive sham injections. The primary endpoint was at one year.

On November 6, 2023, Kodiak announced that GLOW1 met its primary endpoint of the proportion of patients with at least a 2-step improvement on the Diabetic Retinopathy Severity Scale (DRSS) score, a grading system measuring the degree of retinopathy. Tarcocimab achieved a 29-fold increased response rate ratio, with 41.1% of evaluable patients on tarcocimab demonstrating at least 2-step improvement versus 1.4% of evaluable patients in the sham group (p less than 0.0001). Visual acuity and retinal anatomy were improved and stable with tarcocimab on its extended-dosing intervals. At one year, GLOW1 also met its key secondary endpoint of greater reductions in the proportion of patients developing sight-threatening complications (such as diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy), versus sham, demonstrating an 89% decreased risk, achieving 21.0% versus 2.3% (p less than 0.0001). Tarcocimab also showed a 95% risk reduction in the development of DME, versus sham, from 13.7% on sham versus 0.7% on tarcocimab. The rates of serious ocular adverse events and intraocular inflammation in patients treated with tarcocimab and sham were similar.

BEACON – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Retinal Vein Occlusion

The Phase 3 BEACON study was a randomized, double-masked, multicenter, active comparator-controlled study in treatment naïve patients with vision loss and macular edema due to retinal vein occlusion, including both branch ("BRVO") and central ("CRVO") subtypes. In the initial six months of the study, patients received tarcocimab on a fixed every-8-week dosing regimen following 2 monthly loading doses or aflibercept 2mg on a fixed monthly dosing regimen per its label. In the second six months of the study, tarcocimab and aflibercept were tested head-to-head according to a pro re nata (“PRN") protocol in which patients in both groups were treated only when disease reactivated according to matched predefined disease activity criteria.

In August 2022, Kodiak announced that the BEACON study met the primary efficacy endpoint of non-inferior visual acuity change from baseline at week 24 for subjects given tarcocimab every two months after 2 monthly loading doses compared to subjects given monthly aflibercept.

On September 7, 2023, Kodiak announced new one-year results from the BEACON study. Tarcocimab demonstrated matched efficacy with differentiated durability versus aflibercept in the head-to-head comparison. After 4 initiating doses in the first 6 months, 47% of tarcocimab-treated patients required no additional injections in the second 6 months while matching the vision and anatomic outcomes of aflibercept-treated patients. Despite receiving 6 initiating monthly doses, only 37% of aflibercept patients were injection free in the second half of the study. 77% of tarcocimab treated patients received 5 or fewer doses in year one, while 93% of aflibercept treated patients received 6 or more doses. BRVO patients received a median of 4.0 injections on tarcocimab versus 7.0 injections of aflibercept. Despite materially fewer injections in tarcocimab treated patients, vision outcomes favored tarcocimab-treated patients achieving an observed mean of 76.6 letters versus 75.6 letters for aflibercept treated patients. All RVO patients received a median of 5.0 injections on tarcocimab versus 7.0 injections of aflibercept. Despite materially fewer injections in tarcocimab treated patients, vision outcomes favored tarcocimab-treated patients achieving an observed mean of 74.6 letters versus 74.3 letters for aflibercept treated patients.

Safety and tolerability were comparable between tarcocimab and aflibercept. Intraocular inflammation (IOI) rate was comparable between groups (tarcocimab 2.5% vs aflibercept 0.7%). No cases of inflammation associated with vascular occlusion or vasculitis were reported.

DAYLIGHT – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Wet AMD

The DAYLIGHT study was a randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of a high intensity dosing regimen of tarcocimab in 557 treatment-naïve subjects with wet AMD. On July 24, 2023, Kodiak announced that the DAYLIGHT study met the primary endpoint of non-inferior visual acuity gains at year 1 for tarcocimab dosed monthly compared to aflibercept dosed every 8 weeks following 3 monthly loading doses. Intraocular inflammation occurred in 3.3% of patients treated with monthly tarcocimab and 0.4% of patients treated with aflibercept with no vasculitis or occlusion.

GLEAM / GLIMMER – Paired Phase 3 Studies in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Diabetic Macular Edema

The GLEAM and GLIMMER studies were identically designed, randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled studies evaluating the efficacy, durability and safety of tarcocimab in 460 and 457 treatment-naïve subjects with DME, respectively, run in parallel.

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On July 24, 2023, Kodiak announced that although high proportions of patients on meaningfully longer treatment intervals were observed with tarcocimab, with half of patients on every 24-week dosing at the primary endpoint, the GLEAM and GLIMMER studies did not meet their primary efficacy endpoints of showing non-inferior visual acuity gains for tarcocimab dosed every 8 to 24 weeks after 3 monthly loading doses compared to aflibercept given every 8 weeks after 5 monthly loading doses. At the primary efficacy endpoint of the GLEAM study, patients treated with tarcocimab gained an observed average of 6.4 eye chart letters (to 73.1 letters), compared with 10.3 letters for patients treated with aflibercept (to 76.5 letters). In GLIMMER, patients treated with tarcocimab gained an observed average of 7.4 eye chart letters at the primary endpoint (to 72.5 letters) compared with 12.2 letters (to 76.4 letters) for patients treated with aflibercept.

An unexpected increase in cataract adverse events was reported over time in the tarcocimab arms of both GLEAM and GLIMMER, with 19% on tarcocimab versus 9% on aflibercept at the primary endpoint based on the pooled safety population. Kodiak’s evaluation suggested that the decline in visual acuity associated with cataracts likely contributed meaningfully to the failure of each study.

Half of tarcocimab treated patients in the GLEAM and GLIMMER studies were on every 24-week dosing at the primary endpoint, two-thirds achieved at least one 6-month dosing interval during the studies, and three-quarters achieved at least one 5-month or longer treatment interval. Intraocular inflammation was rare, occurring in 1.3% and 0.2% of tarcocimab and aflibercept treated patients, respectively. No cases of intraocular inflammation with vasculitis or vascular occlusion were observed.

DAZZLE – Phase 2b/3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Wet AMD

The DAZZLE study was a global, multi-center, randomized pivotal study designed to evaluate the durability, efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in patients with treatment-naïve wet AMD. In February 2022 Kodiak announced that this initial pivotal study did not meet its primary efficacy endpoint of non-inferior visual acuity gains for subjects dosed on extended regimens every 12-, 16- or 20 weeks with tarcocimab compared to subjects given aflibercept every 8 weeks. Following this announcement, Kodiak discontinued the study and concluded remaining trial-associated activities.

Given we have three successful Phase 3 studies across three different diseases, an additional successful pivotal study in one of these indications is required for regulatory approval. We believe tarcocimab demonstrated strong and consistent durability of approximately 6 months for the majority of patients and favorable safety across the full pivotal program, and we believe tarcocimab has the potential to become an important medicine for patients and a meaningfully differentiated product in the marketplace. Therefore, we have activated GLOW2, a Phase 3 study in diabetic retinopathy (“DR”). The GLOW2 study has a similar design as GLOW1 with the benefit of an additional, third monthly loading dose (weeks 0, 4 and 8). We discussed the study design with the FDA, and the study is currently recruiting patients.

Additionally, in light of the importance of wet AMD in today’s anti-VEGF market, we also plan to study tarcocimab as a second investigational arm in the KSI-501 Phase 3 DAYBREAK study to evaluate its durability, strengthen its competitive position in wet AMD and bolster our ex-US regulatory dossier. We are discussing the study design of DAYBREAK with the FDA and plan to initiate the study as soon as regulatory alignment is completed, which we hope is mid-2024.

We made adjustments to the tarcocimab product that improve the manufacturability in a prefilled syringe and we believe may also enhance the utility of the product. We believe now is the time to implement these changes given the additional clinical studies we plan to conduct, and the FDA has agreed that these additional clinical studies should be sufficient to bridge the former material to the go-to-market material we would like to commercialize going forward. Both GLOW2 and DAYBREAK will be run using our go-to-market formulation of tarcocimab.

Antibody Biopolymer Conjugate Drug Substance Manufacturing

In August 2020, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with Lonza Ltd (“Lonza”) for the clinical and commercial supply of the Company’s antibody biopolymer conjugate drug substance which included a custom-built manufacturing facility. The manufacturing agreement has an initial term of 8 years, and the Company has the right to extend the term up to a total of 16 years. The Company and Lonza each have the ability to terminate this agreement upon the occurrence of certain events.

In April 2021, the agreement was amended to provide for greater manufacturing flexibility, to define a comprehensive mandate as an antibody biopolymer conjugates manufacturing facility to be used for the Company’s antibody biopolymer conjugates pipeline, at clinical as well as commercial scales, across a broad capacity range under the tight quality controls required for ophthalmology and retinal medicines, and to allow for future process and equipment changes as needed.

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Under the agreement, Kodiak and Lonza planned a custom-built facility (“Ursus”) dedicated to the commercial-scale manufacturing of Kodiak’s drug substance. In January 2023, the custom-built manufacturing suite Ursus was commissioned as a cGMP facility. Kodiak worked together with Lonza and regulatory authorities to obtain approval for Ursus, and we released our first commercial scale cGMP batch of tarcocimab in July 2023. In October 2023, Kodiak made a final payment of $26.8 million to Lonza for final activation of Ursus. Separately, tarcocimab drug product based on our go-to-market formulation was released in March 2024 and is ready for use in the GLOW2 and DAYBREAK pivotal studies.

KSI-501 Clinical Program Update

KSI-501 is a first-in-class bispecific molecule designed to inhibit two mechanisms implicated in retinal diseases: vascular endothelial growth factor (“VEGF”) and interleukin-6 (“IL-6”). IL-6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine and growth factor implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple retinal diseases and, in conditions for which anti-VEGF treatment is used, elevated levels of ocular IL-6 have been associated with poor anti-VEGF treatment response. The bispecific mechanism of action of KSI-501 is designed to provide potent inhibition of (i) VEGF-mediated angiogenesis and vascular permeability through a soluble decoy receptor inhibiting the binding of VEGF-A and PLGF to their cognate receptors and (ii) IL-6 mediated inflammation through an antibody that binds soluble interleukin-6, inhibiting its binding to both soluble and membrane-bound IL-6 receptors. In cell-based assays, KSI-501 inhibited angiogenesis and also normalized inner and outer blood retinal barriers; dual inhibition of VEGF and IL-6 by KSI-501 conferred superior normalization of cell morphology and junctional biology compared to either anti-VEGF or anti-IL-6 monotherapy. We believe KSI-501 has the potential to become a new category of retinal medicines with greater therapeutic efficacy than existing therapies.

Kodiak intends to develop KSI-501 as two therapeutic programs in parallel, KSI-501 (formerly KSI-501ABC) and KSI-101 (formerly KSI-501P), to address different unmet needs.

KSI-501

KSI-501 is an anti-IL-6, VEGF-trap bispecific antibody biopolymer conjugate built on the ABC platform and is being developed for high prevalence retinal vascular diseases to address the unmet needs of targeting multiple biologies and extended durability. A Phase 1 trial was conducted to evaluate its safety, tolerability and bioactivity in DME patients. In February 2024, the Phase 1 study results were presented at the Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2024 Virtual Meeting. Kodiak believes the Phase 1 study met its objectives: 1) repeated monthly dosing of KSI-501 was safe and well tolerated; 2) KSI-501 demonstrated bioactivity in both functional (vision) and anatomical (OCT CST) measures.

Kodiak intends to advance KSI-501 into a Phase 3 study DAYBREAK in 2024 to evaluate its efficacy, durability and safety in wet AMD. The DAYBREAK study is intended to be a non-inferiority study evaluating KSI-501 dosed every 4 to 24 weeks, compared to aflibercept dosed per label. The DAYBREAK study will use an enhanced formulation of KSI-501 educated from tarcocimab’s commercial manufacturing scale-up. We are in the process of obtaining regulatory feedback on the study design and intend to initiate the study as soon as regulatory alignment is completed, targeting mid-2024.

KSI-101

KSI-101 is the unconjugated protein portion of KSI-501 and is a novel bispecific protein targeting IL-6 and VEGF. We intend to develop KSI-101 for patients who have retinal fluid and inflammation. Currently there are no available intravitreal biologic therapies addressing the spectrum of inflammatory conditions of the retina. We believe that retinal inflammatory conditions represent a new market segment separate from the established anti-VEGF market. KSI-101 is a clinical prospect with opportunities and risks uncoupled from the ABC Platform, and as such is an important part of our late-phase portfolio. We intend to initiate a dose-finding Phase 1b study in the second quarter of 2024 to evaluate its safety and tolerability and identify two dose levels to progress into pivotal studies. We are currently in the process of obtaining regulatory feedback on the design of the pivotal program, and we hope to initiate dual Phase 2b/3 studies later in 2024.

KSI-501 and KSI-101 manufacturing

We have been progressing the manufacturing of KSI-501 and KSI-101 in preparation for the anticipated clinical studies. Clinical material for both KSI-501 (50 mg/mL strength in our enhanced formulation) and KSI-101 (100 mg/mL strength) were successfully manufactured in the first quarter of 2024.

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Technology Platform Development

We continued progressing our technology development with our “duet” and “triplet” inhibitors that embed small molecules and other bioactive molecules in the biopolymer backbone to provide a high drug-antibody ratio ("DAR"). The diverse bioactives are designed to be released over time to achieve sustained inhibition of targeted biological pathways. The biopolymer embedded with its poly-pharmacy payloads is conjugated to a protein therapeutic to form a “triplet” for tissue and cell targeting or omits the protein therapeutic to form a “duet”. We believe this unique combination of high DAR and extended therapeutic benefit offers potential for broad and important utility for multifactorial ophthalmic and systemic diseases.

Digital Health Platform Development

We are developing a visual engagement technology and imager (“VETi”) designed by Kodiak engineers initially to be used by eye care professionals for vision and ophthalmic anatomical examination, diagnosis and monitoring. Our longer-term goal with VETi, built with semiconductor technologies, is to deliver a wearable device for long-term health engagement and monitoring.

We believe the Kodiak VETi platform as a medical engagement and imaging platform has the potential to disrupt ophthalmology clinical trials by enabling new trial endpoints, thereby enabling faster and more cost-effective medicines development in ophthalmic disease, an area that historically requires lengthy and expensive trials. VETi may also aid in market build and shaping for undertreated or underdiagnosed diseases, such as diabetic eye diseases where Kodiak’s product candidates tarcocimab and KSI-501 are being studied and where early treatment and prevention may allow patients to achieve better outcomes.

Financial Operations Overview

Since inception in June 2009, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to discovering and developing product candidates and manufacturing processes, building our ABC Platform and assembling our core capabilities in drug development for high prevalence retinal diseases. We plan to continue to use third-party contract research organizations, or CROs, to carry out our preclinical and clinical development. We rely on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, to manufacture and supply our preclinical and clinical materials to be used during the development of our product candidates. We continue to invest in commercial manufacturing capacity. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any product revenue since inception.

We have funded our operations primarily through the sale and issuance of equity securities. In October 2018, we completed our initial public offering, or IPO. In December 2019, we completed a follow-on offering. In November 2020, we completed a second follow-on offering.

We have incurred significant operating losses to date and expect that our operating losses will increase significantly as we advance our product candidates, through preclinical and clinical development, seek regulatory approval, prepare for and, if approved, proceed to commercialization; broaden and improve our platform; acquire, discover, validate and develop additional product candidates; obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property portfolio; and hire additional personnel. We expect to continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Our net loss was $260.5 million, $333.8 million and $267.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $1,152.5 million.

Our ability to generate product revenue will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through the sale of equity, debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations with other companies or other strategic transactions. Adequate funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as, and when, needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue the development and commercialization of tarcocimab for RVO, wet AMD, or DR or delay our efforts to advance and expand our product pipeline.

As of December 31, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $285.5 million.

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Components of Operating Results

Research and Development Expenses

Substantially all of our research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred in connection with the development of our product candidates and ABC Platform. These expenses include certain payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation, for our research and product development employees; laboratory supplies and facility costs; consulting costs; contract manufacturing and fees paid to CROs to conduct certain research and development activities on our behalf; and allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities. We expense both internal and external research and development expenses as they are incurred. Costs of certain activities, such as manufacturing and preclinical and clinical studies, are generally recognized based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks. Nonrefundable payments made prior to the receipt of goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are recognized as expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed.

We are focusing substantially all of our resources and development efforts on the development of our product candidates. Predicting the timing or the final cost to complete our clinical program or validation of our commercial manufacturing and supply processes is difficult and delays may occur because of many factors, including factors outside of our control. For example, if the FDA or other regulatory authorities were to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we currently anticipate, or if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development. Furthermore, we are unable to predict when or if our drug candidates will receive regulatory approval with any certainty.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist principally of payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation; professional fees for legal, consulting, accounting and tax services; compliance costs associated with being a public company; allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities; and other general operating expenses not otherwise classified as research and development expenses.

Interest Income

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

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of the change in fair value and settlement of derivative contracts, tax expense and the amortized issuance costs from the liability related to the future sale of royalties to Baker Bros. Advisors, LP ("BBA") in 2019.

Results of Operations

The following table summarizes the results of our operations for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

* Change is not meaningful

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses decreased $61.3 million, or 23%, during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022.

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

Tarcocimab program expenses decreased $42.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, primarily driven by the wind-down of the pivotal clinical studies in the tarcocimab development program.

The Phase 1 study of KSI-501 began enrolling patients with DME in the beginning of the second quarter of 2023. KSI-501 program expenses increased $0.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, primarily due to clinical trial progression, partially offset by a decrease in manufacturing activities.

ABC Platform and other program expenses decreased $6.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, primarily due to timing of manufacturing runs.

Payroll and personnel expenses decreased $13.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, primarily driven by forfeitures related to stock-based compensation expense.

Facilities and other research and development expenses increased $1.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, due to a variety of activities including the expense related to the lease component of the Ursus manufacturing facility, which commenced in 2023.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses decreased $2.8 million, or 4%, during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, primarily driven by a decrease in professional fees for consulting, legal and accounting expenses.

Interest Income

Interest income increased $9.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, which was mainly attributable to higher interest rates earned in 2023.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net decreased $0.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022, which was mainly attributable to gain from settlement of foreign currency forward contracts in 2022.

Comparison of the Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

For a comparison of our results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 28, 2023.

Liquidity and Capital Resources; Plan of Operations

Sources of Liquidity

We have funded our operations primarily through the sale and issuance of common stock, redeemable convertible preferred stock, convertible notes, warrants and the sale of royalties. As of December 31, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $285.5 million. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to support our operations into 2026.

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Future Funding Requirements

We have incurred net losses since our inception. For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, we had net losses of $260.5 million, $333.8 million, and $267.0 million, of which $88.6 million, $106.0 million, and $61.4 million related to non-cash stock-based compensation expense, respectively. We expect to continue to incur additional losses in future periods. As of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $1,152.5 million. We believe that the cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating and capital expenditure requirements at least 12 months following the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors.

To date, we have not generated any product revenue. We do not expect to generate any product revenue unless and until we obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize any of our product candidates or enter into collaborative agreements with third parties, and we do not know when, or if, either will occur. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect our losses to increase as we continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. We are subject to all of the risks typically related to the development of new product candidates, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business.

We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we expect. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures and capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

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the scope, timing, rate of progress and costs of our drug discovery, preclinical development activities, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our product candidates;

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the number and scope of clinical programs we decide to pursue;

•
the scope and costs of manufacturing development and commercial manufacturing activities;

•
the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies;

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

•
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;

•
our ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;

•
our efforts to enhance operational systems and our ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel, including personnel to support the development of our product candidates;

•
the costs associated with being a public company; and

•
the cost and timing associated with commercializing our product candidates, if they receive marketing approval.

A change in the outcome of any of these or other variables with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. Furthermore, our operating plans may change in the future, and we will continue to require additional capital to meet operational needs and capital requirements associated with such operating plans. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution. Any future debt financing into which we enter may impose upon us additional covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, repurchase our common stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, reduce, or terminate some or all of our development programs and clinical trials. We may also be required to sell or license rights to our product candidates in certain territories or indications to others that we would prefer to develop and commercialize ourselves.

The significant uncertainties caused by any public health crises, the on-going geopolitical conflicts, inflation, rising interest rates, bank failures, ongoing supply chain disruptions and volatile equity capital markets may also negatively impact our operations and capital resources. We and our key clinical and manufacturing partners have been able to continue to advance our operations, and we continue to monitor the impact of the aforementioned events on our ability to continue the

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development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. One or more of these events may ultimately have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and operating plans.

Adequate additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed could have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategies. See the section titled “Risk Factors” for additional risks associated with our substantial capital requirements.

Summary Statement of Cash Flows

The following table sets forth the primary sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented below (in thousands):

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities decreased to $154.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily attributable to a decrease in net loss during the year driven by the maturation of the tarcocimab clinical program and timing of manufacturing activities. Cash used in operating activities was also driven by changes in operating assets and liabilities.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash provided by investing activities was $249.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, primarily related to net maturities of marketable securities of $290.7 million, partially offset by capital expenditures of $41.4 million during the year.

Material Cash Requirements and Material Known Contractual Obligations and Commitments

Operating Leases

Operating lease payments represent our commitment for future minimum rent made under non-cancelable leases for our corporate offices in Palo Alto, California, office and laboratory space in Visp, Switzerland, and related to our Ursus facility. Total future undiscounted payments for our operating lease obligations as of December 31, 2023 were $105.0 million, of which $14.8 million is due in the next twelve months.

Manufacturing Agreements

The Company has entered into service and equipment purchase agreements in the normal course of business with various providers, which can contain minimum commitments or other noncancelable obligations.

As of December 31, 2023, future contractual obligations related to these manufacturing agreements that may be subject to cancellation fees was $15.4 million, of which $11.0 million is expected to be due in the next twelve months.

In addition, future manufacturing contractual obligations totaling approximately 123.0 million Swiss Francs may be incurred for the potential clinical and commercial supply of tarcocimab and other antibody biopolymer conjugates medicines based on the agreements with Lonza for production at the Ursus Facility.

For further information on our leases and manufacturing agreements, refer to Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Clinical Agreements

The Company may incur potential contingent payments upon our achievement of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, as applicable. Due to the uncertainty of the achievement and timing of the events requiring payment under these agreements, the amounts to be paid by us are not fixed or determinable at this time.

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Critical Accounting Policies, Significant Judgments and Use of Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

Accrued Research and Development

Our accrued research and development costs are estimated based on the level of services performed, including the phase or completion of events, and contracted costs. Accrued clinical trial and related costs are estimated using data such as patient enrollment, clinical site activations or information provided by outside service providers regarding their actual costs incurred. Management determined accrual estimates through reports from and discussions with clinical personnel and outside service providers as to the progress of trials, or the services completed. The estimated costs of research and development provided, but not yet invoiced, are included in accrued liabilities and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the original estimates, we will adjust the accrual accordingly. Payments made to third parties under these arrangements in advance of the performance of the related services are recorded as prepaid expenses and other assets until the services are rendered.

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock‑based awards made to employees, directors and non‑employees, based on estimated fair values of the awards on the grant date and recognized using the straight‑line method over the requisite service period.

The fair value of options is estimated on the grant date using the Black‑Scholes option valuation model or Monte Carlo simulation model. The calculation of stock‑based compensation expense requires that we make certain assumptions and judgments about a number of complex and subjective variables used in the valuation model, including the expected term, expected volatility of the underlying common stock and risk‑free interest rate. Our stock-based awards are subject to either service, performance-based or market-based vesting conditions. We evaluate whether achievement of the performance conditions is probable and record expense over the appropriate service period based on this assessment.

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 significant analysis and judgment to develop.

See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements for stock-based compensation expense and related assumptions used in determining the fair value of our awards.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We review long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of the assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability is measured by comparison of the carrying amount of the assets to the estimated undiscounted net cash flows which the assets are expected to generate. If such assets are deemed not recoverable, an impairment loss is recognized in the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the estimated fair value of the assets. We applied significant judgment in determining we have one asset group and that there is no lower level to group assets for impairment testing. The determination of the asset group primarily considers the interdependencies of our assets, shared cost structure, and the interrelated future cash flow generation. We assessed the recoverability of our asset group in 2023 based on our decision to wind-down the tarcocimab program following the topline results from the Phase 3 GLEAM and GLIMMER studies. We determined that the estimated undiscounted net cash flows which the asset group is forecasted to generate exceeded the carrying amount of the asset group and therefore, no impairment loss was recognized in 2023.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is discussed under Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis and other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements based upon current beliefs, plans and expectations related to future events and our future financial performance that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our intentions, plans, objectives, expectations, forecasts and projections. Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Kodiak Sciences (“we” or the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company committed to researching, developing and commercializing transformative therapeutics to treat high prevalence retinal diseases. Founded in 2009, we are focused on bringing new science to the design and manufacture of next generation retinal medicines to prevent and treat the leading causes of blindness globally. Our ABC Platform™ uses molecular engineering to merge the fields of antibody-based and chemistry-based therapies and is at the core of Kodiak's discovery engine. Kodiak's lead product candidate, tarcocimab, is a novel anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate being developed for the treatment of retinal vascular diseases including diabetic eye diseases, the leading cause of blindness in working-age patients in the developed world, and wet age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in elderly patients in the developed world. Kodiak has leveraged its ABC Platform to build a pipeline of product candidates in various stages of development. KSI-501 is our dual inhibitor antibody biopolymer conjugate targeting both VEGF (VEGF-trap) and IL-6 (anti-IL-6 antibody) for the treatment of retinal diseases. We are progressing our early research pipeline to include ABC Platform based triplet inhibitors for multifactorial retinal diseases such as dry AMD and glaucoma.

Tarcocimab Clinical Program Update

Looking across the development program for tarcocimab, we have four Phase 3 studies ongoing, namely our paired Phase 3 studies GLEAM and GLIMMER in diabetic macular edema (“DME“), Phase 3 study DAYLIGHT in wet age-related macular degeneration (“wet AMD”) and Phase 3 study GLOW in non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (“NPDR”) without DME. All the studies are fully enrolled and expected to read out topline data in the third quarter of 2023.

GLEAM / GLIMMER – Paired Phase 3 Studies in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Diabetic Macular Edema

The Phase 3 GLEAM and GLIMMER studies are global, multi-center, randomized pivotal studies designed to evaluate the durability, efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in patients with treatment-naïve DME. In each study, patients are randomized 1:1 to receive either tarcocimab or aflibercept. The tarcocimab arm is treated with a proactive, individualized dosing regimen of every 8-, 12-, 16-, 20- or 24 weeks after three monthly loading doses. The aflibercept arm is treated with a fixed dosing regimen of every 8-weeks after five monthly loading doses, per its label. Both studies completed enrollment of approximately 450 patients each worldwide in the first quarter of 2022. The primary endpoint for both studies is at year one. We expect to announce topline data from these studies in the third quarter of 2023 (expected July). If successful, we expect that data from our GLEAM and GLIMMER studies will serve as the primary basis for regulatory approval of tarcocimab.

GLOW – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Non-Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy without DME

The Phase 3 GLOW study is a global, multi-center, randomized pivotal superiority study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tarcocimab in treatment-naïve, moderately severe to severe NPDR without DME. Patients are randomized to receive either tarcocimab every six months after initiating doses given at baseline, 8 weeks and 20 weeks into the study, or to receive sham injections. The primary endpoint is at one year. Outcomes include changes in diabetic retinopathy severity, measured on a standardized photographic grading scale, and the rate of development of sight-threatening complications due to diabetic retinopathy. We believe tarcocimab has the potential to be the longest-interval intravitreal therapeutic option for patients with diabetic retinopathy. GLOW completed enrollment of approximately 240 patients in August 2022, and we expect to announce topline data from this study in the third quarter of 2023.

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DAYLIGHT – Phase 3 Study in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Wet AMD

The Phase 3 DAYLIGHT study is a global, multi-center, randomized pivotal study designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high-frequency tarcocimab in patients with treatment-naïve wet AMD. Patients are randomized to receive either tarcocimab on a monthly dosing regimen or to receive standard-of-care aflibercept on a fixed dosing regimen of every 8-weeks after three monthly loading doses per its label. The primary endpoint is at year one. The DAYLIGHT study is intended to demonstrate the efficacy of tarcocimab to treat high need patients with wet AMD. DAYLIGHT has completed enrollment of approximately 550 patients worldwide, and we expect to announce topline data from this study in the third quarter of 2023.

Tarcocimab Manufacturing

In August 2020, we and our wholly-owned subsidiary Kodiak Sciences GmbH entered into a manufacturing agreement with Lonza Ltd (“Lonza”) for the clinical and commercial supply of drug substance for tarcocimab. The manufacturing agreement has an initial term of eight years, and Kodiak has the right to extend the term up to a total of 16 years. Kodiak and Lonza each has the ability to terminate this agreement upon the occurrence of certain conditions. Under the agreement, Kodiak and Lonza planned a custom-built facility (“Ursus”) dedicated to the commercial-scale manufacturing of Kodiak’s drug substance. In March 2022, the Ursus facility achieved mechanical completion. In May 2022, we announced the grand opening of this facility together with Lonza. The facility was commissioned as a cGMP facility in January 2023, and we began the manufacturing of commercial-scale cGMP batches in the first quarter of 2023.

KSI-501 Program Update

In 2022, we broadened our development pipeline of product candidates built on our ABC Platform with the filing of the Investigational New Drug (IND) application for KSI-501. KSI-501 is an investigational, first-in-class bispecific ABC that is designed to inhibit two mechanisms implicated in retinal diseases: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). IL-6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine and growth factor implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple retinal diseases and, in conditions for which anti-VEGF treatment is used, elevated levels of ocular IL-6 have been associated with poor anti-VEGF treatment response. KSI-501 is a trap-antibody fusion biopolymer conjugate designed to provide potent inhibition of (i) VEGF-mediated angiogenesis and vascular permeability through a soluble decoy receptor inhibiting the binding of VEGF-A and PLGF to their cognate receptors and (ii) IL-6 mediated inflammation through an antibody that binds soluble interleukin-6, inhibiting its binding to both soluble and membrane-bound IL-6 receptors. In preclinical studies KSI-501 was found to inhibit angiogenesis and also normalize inner and outer blood retinal barriers in primary-cell assays. Dual inhibition of VEGF and IL-6 by KSI-501 confers superior normalization of cell morphology and junctional biology compared to either anti-VEGF or anti-IL-6 monotherapy in cell-based assays. We believe KSI-501 has the potential to become a new category of retinal medicines with greater therapeutic efficacy than existing therapies while also benefiting from the promising long-interval durability of Kodiak’s ABC Platform. The IND for KSI-501 has been cleared by the FDA, and the Phase 1 study in diabetic macular edema (DME) patients is now screening patients.

Technology Platform Development

We continued progressing our technology development with our “triplet” platform. The triplet science is designed to bring our phosphorylcholine-based biopolymer, the central tenet of our ABC Platform, together with many hundreds of copies of small molecules chemically embedded in that biopolymer, which is conjugated to an antibody therapeutic. We believe this new antibody conjugate drug format offers broad and important utility for multifactorial ophthalmic diseases and also has significant relevance for systemic diseases. We continue to advance our triplet platform towards its initial therapeutic concepts.

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Digital Health Platform Development

We are developing a visual engagement technology and imager (“VETi”) designed by Kodiak engineers initially to be used by eye care professionals for vision and ophthalmic anatomical examination, diagnosis and monitoring. Our longer-term goal with VETi, built with semiconductor technologies, is to deliver a wearable device for long-term health engagement and monitoring.

Importantly, we also believe the Kodiak VETi platform as a medical engagement and imaging platform has the potential to disrupt ophthalmology clinical trials by enabling new trial endpoints, thereby enabling faster and more cost-effective medicines development in ophthalmic disease, an area that historically requires lengthy and expensive trials. VETi may also aid in market build and shaping for undertreated or underdiagnosed diseases, such as diabetic eye diseases where Kodiak’s product candidates tarcocimab and KSI-501 are being studied and where early treatment and prevention may allow patients to achieve better outcomes.

The VETi platform is expected to begin pilot clinical testing mid-2023 to gather initial user input for continued innovation in the design and build of this new hardware and software platform.

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Financial Operations Overview

Since inception in June 2009, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to discovering and developing product candidates and manufacturing processes, building our ABC Platform and assembling our core capabilities in drug development for high prevalence retinal diseases. We plan to continue to use third-party contract research organizations, or CROs, to carry out our preclinical and clinical development. We rely on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, to manufacture and supply our preclinical and clinical materials to be used during the development of our product candidates. We continue to invest in commercial manufacturing capacity. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any product revenue since inception.

We have funded our operations primarily through the sale and issuance of equity securities. In October 2018, we completed our initial public offering, or IPO. In December 2019, we completed a follow-on offering. In November 2020, we completed a second follow-on offering.

We have incurred significant operating losses to date and expect that our operating losses will increase significantly as we advance our product candidates, particularly tarcocimab, through preclinical and clinical development, seek regulatory approval, prepare for and, if approved, proceed to commercialization; broaden and improve our platform; acquire, discover, validate and develop additional product candidates; obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property portfolio; and hire additional personnel. We expect to continue to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Our net loss was $333.8 million, $267.0 million and $133.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $892.0 million.

Our ability to generate product revenue will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through the sale of equity, debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations with other companies or other strategic transactions. Adequate funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as, and when, needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue the development and commercialization of tarcocimab for wet AMD, RVO, DME or NPDR or delay our efforts to advance and expand our product pipeline.

As of December 31, 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $478.9 million.

Components of Operating Results

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Substantially all of our research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred in connection with the development of our ABC Platform and product candidates. These expenses include certain payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation, for our research and product development employees; laboratory supplies and facility costs; consulting costs; contract manufacturing and fees paid to CROs to conduct certain research and development activities on our behalf; and allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities. We expense both internal and external research and development expenses as they are incurred. Costs of certain activities, such as manufacturing and preclinical and clinical studies, are generally recognized based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks. Nonrefundable payments made prior to the receipt of goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are recognized as expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed.

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We are focusing substantially all of our resources and development efforts on the development of our product candidates, in particular tarcocimab. We expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially during the next few years as we conduct our Phase 3 clinical studies, complete our clinical program, pursue regulatory approval of our drug candidates and prepare for a possible commercial launch. Predicting the timing or the final cost to complete our clinical program or validation of our commercial manufacturing and supply processes is difficult and delays may occur because of many factors, including factors outside of our control. For example, if the FDA or other regulatory authorities were to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we currently anticipate, or if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development. Furthermore, we are unable to predict when or if our drug candidates will receive regulatory approval with any certainty.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist principally of payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation; professional fees for legal, consulting, accounting and tax services; allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities; and other general operating expenses not otherwise classified as research and development expenses.

We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase as a result of increased personnel costs, including stock-based compensation, expanded infrastructure and higher consulting, legal and accounting services associated with maintaining compliance with requirements of the stock exchange listing and Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, investor relations costs and director and officer insurance premiums associated with being a public company.

Interest Income

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

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of settlement of derivative contracts, net of tax provisions and amortized issuance costs from the liability related to the future sale of royalties to BBA in 2019.

Results of Operations

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages):

* Change is not meaningful

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Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses increased $50.3 million, or 23%, during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021.

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

Tarcocimab program expenses decreased $4.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily driven by the maturation of the tarcocimab clinical program and timing of manufacturing activities. We expect to read out topline data in the third quarter of 2023 for our paired long-interval Phase 3 studies GLEAM and GLIMMER in DME, short-interval Phase 3 study DAYLIGHT in wet AMD and prevention and treatment Phase 3 study GLOW in NPDR without DME, which are fully enrolled and have been designed to broaden tarcocimab’s product labeling.

KSI-501 program expenses increased $2.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to manufacturing activities for KSI-501.

ABC Platform external expenses increased $16.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily driven by manufacturing runs to support research and development efforts for our pipeline.

Payroll and personnel expenses increased $28.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to stock-based compensation expense. We recorded stock-based compensation expense of $36.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 relating to the Kodiak 2021 Long-Term Performance Incentive Plan, or LTPIP, as compared to $9.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Facilities and other research and development expenses increased $8.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily due to expansion of our Palo Alto facilities and infrastructure, as well as incremental research efforts on our pipeline.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses increased $24.1 million, or 48%, during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, primarily driven by stock-based compensation expense. We recorded stock-based compensation expense of $28.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 relating to the LTPIP, as compared to $6.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Interest Income

Interest income increased $6.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, which was mainly attributable to interest income earned on marketable securities invested during 2022.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net increased $0.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to 2021, which was mainly attributable to gain from settlement of foreign currency forward contracts.

Comparison of the Fiscal Years Ended December 31, 2021 and 2020

For a comparison of our results of operations for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, see “Part II, Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, filed with the SEC on March 1, 2022.

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Liquidity and Capital Resources; Plan of Operations

Sources of Liquidity

We have funded our operations primarily through the sale and issuance of common stock, redeemable convertible preferred stock, convertible notes, warrants and the sale of royalties. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $478.9 million.

On March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. Subsequently, the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and FDIC announced that SVB depositors would have access to all of their money. We have a banking relationship with SVB and hold cash in SVB depository accounts to cover short-term operational payments. While we have not experienced any losses in such accounts, the recent failure of SVB caused us to utilize our accounts at other financial institutions in order to mitigate potential operational risks stemming from the temporary inability to access funds in our SVB operating accounts. As a result of bank failures, such as SVB, our access to funding sources in amounts adequate to finance or capitalize our current and projected future business operations could be significantly impaired and could negatively impact the financial institutions with which we have direct arrangements, or the financial services industry or economy in general.

Future Funding Requirements

We have incurred net losses since our inception. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, we had net losses of $333.8 million, $267.0 million, and $133.1 million, respectively, and we expect to continue to incur additional losses in future periods. As of December 31, 2022, we had an accumulated deficit of $892.0 million. We believe that the cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to meet our anticipated operating and capital expenditure requirements at least 12 months following the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors.

To date, we have not generated any product revenue. We do not expect to generate any product revenue unless and until we obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize any of our product candidates or enter into collaborative agreements with third parties, and we do not know when, or if, either will occur. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect our losses to increase as we continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. We are subject to all of the risks typically related to the development of new product candidates, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. Moreover, we expect to continue incurring additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

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We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we expect. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures and capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

•
the scope, timing, rate of progress and costs of our drug discovery, preclinical development activities, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our product candidates;

•
the number and scope of clinical programs we decide to pursue;

•
the scope and costs of manufacturing development and commercial manufacturing activities;

•
the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies;

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

•
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;

•
our ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;

•
our efforts to enhance operational systems and our ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel, including personnel to support the development of our product candidates;

•
the costs associated with being a public company; and

•
the cost and timing associated with commercializing our product candidates, if they receive marketing approval.

A change in the outcome of any of these or other variables with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. Furthermore, our operating plans may change in the future, and we will continue to require additional capital to meet operational needs and capital requirements associated with such operating plans. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution. Any future debt financing into which we enter may impose upon us additional covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, repurchase our common stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, reduce, or terminate some or all of our development programs and clinical trials. We may also be required to sell or license rights to our product candidates in certain territories or indications to others that we would prefer to develop and commercialize ourselves.

The significant uncertainties caused by health epidemics, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, inflation, rising interest rates, bank failures, lower consumer confidence, ongoing supply chain disruptions and volatile equity capital markets may also negatively impact our operations and capital resources. We and our key clinical and manufacturing partners have been able to continue to advance our operations, and we continue to monitor the impact of the aforementioned events on our ability to continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. One or more of these events may ultimately have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and operating plans.

Adequate additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed could have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategies. See the section titled “Risk Factors” for additional risks associated with our substantial capital requirements.

Summary Statement of Cash Flows

The following table sets forth the primary sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented below:

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Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $206.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Cash used in operating activities was primarily driven by the increase in net loss during this period due to increased payroll and personnel expenses and manufacturing and clinical trial costs to support overall growth. Cash used in operating activities was also driven by changes in operating assets and liabilities.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $336.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, was primarily related to net purchases of marketable securities during 2022.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, was primarily due to proceeds from stock option exercises and proceeds from issuances of common stock pursuant to employee stock purchase plans.

Material Cash Requirements and Material Known Contractual Obligations and Commitments

Operating Leases

Operating lease payments represent our commitment for future minimum rent made under non-cancelable leases for our corporate offices in Palo Alto, California, and office and laboratory space in Visp, Switzerland. Total future undiscounted payments for our operating lease obligations as of December 31, 2022 were $117.3 million, of which $15.6 million is due in the next twelve months.

Embedded Lease

Embedded lease payments represent our commitment for future minimum payment made under the manufacturing agreement with Lonza Ltd. for the clinical and commercial supply of drug substance in a custom-built manufacturing facility. The total future payments relating to our embedded lease, including capital contribution payments, as of December 31, 2022 were approximately 184.5 million Swiss Francs, of which 34.5 million Swiss Francs is expected to be due in the next twelve months.

Manufacturing Agreements

The Company has entered into service and equipment purchase agreements in the normal course of business with various providers, which can contain minimum commitments or other noncancelable obligations. As of December 31, 2022, the total amount of contractual obligations related to these manufacturing agreements that are subject to cancellation fees, including accrued amounts, was $56.8 million, of which $55.5 million is expected to be due in the next twelve months.

For further information on our leases and manufacturing agreements, refer to Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Clinical Agreements

The Company may incur potential contingent payments upon our achievement of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, as applicable. Due to the uncertainty of the achievement and timing of the events requiring payment under these agreements, the amounts to be paid by us are not fixed or determinable at this time.

Critical Accounting Policies, Significant Judgments and Use of Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

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Accrued Research and Development

Our accrued research and development costs are estimated based on the level of services performed, including the phase or completion of events, and contracted costs. Accrued clinical trial and related costs are estimated using data such as patient enrollment, clinical site activations or information provided by outside service providers regarding their actual costs incurred. Management determined accrual estimates through reports from and discussions with clinical personnel and outside service providers as to the progress of trials, or the services completed. The estimated costs of research and development provided, but not yet invoiced, are included in accrued liabilities and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the original estimates, we will adjust the accrual accordingly. Payments made to third parties under these arrangements in advance of the performance of the related services are recorded as prepaid expenses and other assets until the services are rendered.

Stock-Based Compensation

We measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock‑based awards made to employees, directors and non‑employees, based on estimated fair values of the awards on the grant date and recognized using the straight‑line method over the requisite service period.

The fair value of options is estimated on the grant date using the Black‑Scholes option valuation model or Monte Carlo simulation model. The calculation of stock‑based compensation expense requires that we make certain assumptions and judgments about a number of complex and subjective variables used in the valuation model, including the expected term, expected volatility of the underlying common stock and risk‑free interest rate. Our stock-based awards are subject to either service, performance-based or market-based vesting conditions. We evaluate whether achievement of the performance conditions is probable and record expense over the appropriate service period based on this assessment.

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 significant analysis and judgment to develop.

See Note 12 to our consolidated financial statements for stock-based compensation expense and related assumptions used in determining the fair value of our awards.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is discussed under Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis and other parts of this Annual Report on Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements based upon current beliefs, plans and expectations related to future events and our future financial performance that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our intentions, plans, objectives, expectations, forecasts and projections. Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

Kodiak Sciences (we or the Company) is a biopharmaceutical company committed to researching, developing and commercializing transformative therapeutics to treat high prevalence retinal diseases in the United States and additional international markets. We are bringing new science to the design and development of next generation retinal medicines. Our ABC PlatformTM uses molecular engineering to merge the fields of antibody-based and chemistry-based therapies and is at the core of Kodiak’s discovery engine. Our lead product candidate, KSI-301, is a novel anti-VEGF antibody biopolymer conjugate being investigated in multiple pivotal studies in retinal vascular diseases including wAMD, DME, RVO and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Our hope with KSI-301 is to meaningfully extend treatment intervals for all patients with retinal vascular diseases. Our pipeline, including product candidates KSI-501 and KSI-601, aims to bring a similar ethos of drug development to other unmet needs in retina such as dry AMD and glaucoma.

Our goal is to prevent and treat the major causes of blindness by developing next-generation therapeutics for chronic, high-prevalence retinal diseases. Our overall objective is to develop our product candidates, seek FDA and worldwide health authority marketing authorization approvals, and ultimately commercialize our product candidates.

KSI-301 Phase 2b/3 Pivotal Study in Wet AMD Top-line Readout

We recently announced top-line results from our randomized, double-masked, active comparator-controlled Phase 2b/3 clinical trial evaluating the efficacy, durability and safety of KSI-301, a novel antibody biopolymer conjugate, in treatment-naïve subjects with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (“wet AMD”).

The trial randomized 559 participants, approximately 80% of whom were enrolled in the United States. The study had two treatment arms: KSI-301 5mg on a flexible long-interval regimen and aflibercept 2mg on a fixed short-interval regimen. In the study, three monthly loading doses were administered to all subjects at 0-, 4- and 8-weeks. Subjects on aflibercept were then treated at fixed two month intervals. Subjects on KSI-301 were assessed starting three months after the completion of the loading phase (i.e. beginning at 20 weeks) and, based on predefined disease activity criteria, were treated every three-, four-, or five-months. As a result, patients in the KSI-301 group did not receive dosing more frequently than every three months at any point in the study after the loading phase. The primary endpoint of the study was the average change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) score (a measure of the best vision a person can achieve when reading letters on an eye chart, including with correction such as glasses) from baseline at year one. For the assessment of the primary efficacy endpoint, KSI-301 patients in all three groups (dosed every three, four or five months) were pooled together and their BCVA was compared as a group to the aflibercept group (dosed every two months).

The results show that KSI-301 did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint of showing non-inferior visual acuity gains for subjects dosed on extended regimens compared to aflibercept given every eight weeks.

A pre-specified secondary analysis at year 1 assessing durability showed 59% of patients in the KSI-301 arm achieved five-month dosing with visual acuity gains and anatomic improvements comparable to the overall aflibercept group.

KSI-301 was well-tolerated in the study, with no new safety signals identified.

Intraocular inflammation occurred in 3.2% of KSI-301 treated patients as compared to 0.0% of patients treated with aflibercept. Recent wet AMD studies have reported intraocular inflammation rates with aflibercept of 1–4.5%. In all cases reported in the Phase 2b/3 study, the clinical finding of inflammation resolved, and no cases of intraocular inflammation with vascular occlusions were observed. We believe that these safety data coupled with the safety observations across the ongoing Phase 3 studies continue to suggest a safety profile for KSI-301 comparable to today’s existing standard of care agents.

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We believe allowing treatment with KSI-301 no more often than every twelve weeks after the loading phase for every patient was insufficient. Nonetheless, we believe the results demonstrate a clear anti-VEGF effect, strong durability and a reassuring safety profile. We believe these data continue to support the potential of KSI-301 and our ABC Platform to significantly extend treatment intervals in retinal disorders in a safe and convenient manner.

KSI-301 Regulatory Plan and Outlook

If successful, we intend to include data from the BEACON, GLEAM/GLIMMER, and DAYLIGHT studies in a single initial BLA, and would seek labeling at launch that is supportive of a range of dosing intervals. We continue to expect that data from our GLEAM and GLIMMER studies will serve as the primary basis for our anticipated BLA submission in DME. Data from our BEACON study is intended to serve as the basis for our anticipated BLA submission in RVO. In wet AMD, we believe that the DAYLIGHT study may clarify the ability of KSI-301 when dosed more frequently to effectively treat a broader population of patients with wet AMD. If successful, we believe that data from our DAYLIGHT study could form the basis of our anticipated BLA submission in wet AMD, with monthly dosing. We believe that, over time, we may be able to generate additional data to support longer-interval dosing in wet AMD in certain patient populations. We are not planning for results of the GLOW study to be included in our initial BLA filing, given our expectations for a longer recruitment timeframe. We may include the results of the GLOW study in NPDR without DME in a supplemental BLA following our planned initial BLA submission.

Financial Operations Overview

Since inception in June 2009, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to discovering and developing product candidates and manufacturing processes, building our ABC Platform and assembling our core capabilities in drug development for ophthalmic disease. We plan to continue to use third-party contract research organizations, or CROs, to carry out our preclinical and clinical development. We rely on third-party contract manufacturing organizations, or CMOs, to manufacture and supply our preclinical and clinical materials to be used during the development of our product candidates. We are evaluating investments in commercial manufacturing capacity. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any product revenue since inception.

We have funded our operations primarily through the sale and issuance of equity securities. In October 2018, we completed our initial public offering, or IPO. In December 2019, we completed a follow-on offering. In November 2020, we completed a second follow-on offering.

We have incurred significant operating losses to date and expect that our operating losses will increase significantly as we advance our product candidates, particularly KSI-301, through preclinical and clinical development, seek regulatory approval, prepare for and, if approved, proceed to commercialization; broaden and improve our platform; acquire, discover, validate and develop additional product candidates; obtain, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property portfolio; and hire additional personnel. In addition, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. Our net loss was $267.0 million, $133.1 million and $47.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $558.2 million.

Our ability to generate product revenue will depend on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through the sale of equity, debt financings or other capital sources, including potential collaborations with other companies or other strategic transactions. Adequate funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as, and when, needed, we may have to significantly delay, scale back, or discontinue the development and commercialization of KSI-301 for wet AMD, RVO, DME or NPDR or delay our efforts to advance and expand our product pipeline.

In November 2020, we filed an automatic shelf registration statement (File No. 333-250109), which became effective upon filing. The shelf registration statement allows us to issue certain securities, including shares of our common stock, from time to time. In November 2020, we completed a follow-on offering pursuant to the automatic shelf registration and issued and sold 5,972,222 shares of common stock, including the underwriters’ full exercise of their over-allotment option, at a price to the public of $108.00 per share under our shelf registration statement. The gross proceeds from this offering were $645.0 million, resulting in aggregate net proceeds of $612.0 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering costs.

As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $731.5 million.

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Components of Operating Results

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Substantially all of our research and development expenses consist of expenses incurred in connection with the development of our ABC Platform and product candidates. These expenses include certain payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation, for our research and product development employees; laboratory supplies and facility costs; consulting costs; contract manufacturing and fees paid to CROs to conduct certain research and development activities on our behalf; and allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities. We expense both internal and external research and development expenses as they are incurred. Costs of certain activities, such as manufacturing and preclinical and clinical studies, are generally recognized based on an evaluation of the progress to completion of specific tasks. Nonrefundable payments made prior to the receipt of goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and capitalized. The capitalized amounts are recognized as expense as the goods are delivered or the related services are performed.

We are focusing substantially all of our resources and development efforts on the development of our product candidates, in particular KSI-301. We expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially during the next few years as we conduct our Phase 3 clinical studies, complete our clinical program, pursue regulatory approval of our drug candidates and prepare for a possible commercial launch. Predicting the timing or the final cost to complete our clinical program or validation of our commercial manufacturing and supply processes is difficult and delays may occur because of many factors, including factors outside of our control. For example, if the FDA or other regulatory authorities were to require us to conduct clinical trials beyond those that we currently anticipate, or if we experience significant delays in enrollment in any of our clinical trials, we could be required to expend significant additional financial resources and time on the completion of clinical development. Furthermore, we are unable to predict when or if our drug candidates will receive regulatory approval with any certainty.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist principally of payroll and personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation; professional fees for legal, consulting, accounting and tax services; allocated overhead, including rent, equipment, depreciation and utilities; and other general operating expenses not otherwise classified as research and development expenses.

We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase as a result of increased personnel costs, including stock-based compensation, expanded infrastructure and higher consulting, legal and accounting services associated with maintaining compliance with requirements of the stock exchange listing and Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, investor relations costs and director and officer insurance premiums associated with being a public company.

Interest Income

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

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of tax provisions and amortized issuance costs from the liability related to the future sale of royalties to BBA in 2019, net of accretion income and amortization expense on marketable debt securities.

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Results of Operations

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages) :

* Percentage is not meaningful

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses increased $110.0 million, or 102%, during the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2021.

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

KSI-301 program expenses increased $79.3 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020. The increase was primarily due to clinical trial costs to support ongoing trials, as well as manufacturing progress for KSI-301. We initiated two pivotal Phase 3 clinical studies in DME (GLEAM and GLIMMER) and one pivotal Phase 3 clinical study in RVO (BEACON) in the third quarter of 2020. In June 2021, we randomized the first patients into an additional Phase 3 study in wet AMD (DAYLIGHT) designed to broaden KSI-301’s product labeling.

KSI-501 program expenses increased $3.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to increased research and development activities for KSI-501.

ABC Platform external expenses increased $4.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020. The increase was primarily driven by manufacturing runs to support our product candidate pipeline.

Payroll and personnel expenses increased $20.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020, due to increased headcount and stock-based compensation expense. We recorded an incremental stock-based compensation expense of $8.3 million relating to the long-term performance incentive plan program in the fourth quarter of 2021. Furthermore, the research and development headcount increased 38% during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Facilities and other research and development expenses increased $3.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to lease costs for our Palo Alto and Switzerland facilities expansion.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses increased $21.1 million, or 74%, during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily driven by increased headcount and stock-based compensation expense, professional services related to consulting, legal and accounting, and lease costs for Palo Alto facilities expansion. We recorded an incremental stock-based compensation expense of $5.9 million relating to the long-term performance incentive plan program in the fourth quarter of 2021.

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Interest Income

Interest income decreased $2.6 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020, which was mainly attributable to interest income earned on increased cash equivalent balances from our follow-on offering in December 2019 and November 2020.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net decreased $0.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to 2020, which was mainly attributable to issuance costs from the liability related to the future sale of royalties to BBA in December 2019.

Liquidity and Capital Resources; Plan of Operations

Sources of Liquidity

We have funded our operations primarily through the sale and issuance of common stock, redeemable convertible preferred stock, convertible notes and warrants. As of December 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $731.5 million.

Follow-On Offering

In December 2019, we completed a follow-on offering pursuant to the shelf registration on Form S-3 and issued and sold 6,900,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $46.00 per share. The gross proceeds from this offering were $317.4 million, resulting in aggregate net proceeds of $297.6 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering costs payable by us.

In November 2020, we completed a follow-on offering pursuant to the shelf registration on Form S-3 and issued and sold 5,972,222 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $108.00 per share. The gross proceeds from this offering were $645.0 million, resulting in aggregate net proceeds of $612.0 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering costs.

Future Funding Requirements

We have incurred net losses since our inception. For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, we had net losses of $267.0 million, $133.1 million, and $47.4 million, respectively, and we expect to continue to incur additional losses in future periods. As of December 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $558.2 million.

We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our available capital resources sooner than we expect. Because of the risks and uncertainties associated with research, development and commercialization of product candidates, we are unable to estimate the exact amount of our working capital requirements. Our future funding requirements will depend on and could increase significantly as a result of many factors.

To date, we have not generated any product revenue. We do not expect to generate any product revenue unless and until we obtain regulatory approval of and commercialize any of our product candidates or enter into collaborative agreements with third parties, and we do not know when, or if, either will occur. We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect our losses to increase as we continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. We are subject to all of the risks typically related to the development of new product candidates, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. Moreover, we expect to continue incurring additional costs associated with operating as a public company.

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We have based these estimates on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could deplete our capital resources sooner than we expect. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures and capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

•
the scope, timing, rate of progress and costs of our drug discovery, preclinical development activities, laboratory testing and clinical trials for our product candidates;

•
the number and scope of clinical programs we decide to pursue;

•
the scope and costs of manufacturing development and commercial manufacturing activities;

•
the extent to which we acquire or in-license other product candidates and technologies;

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

•
the costs of preparing, filing and prosecuting patent applications, maintaining and enforcing our intellectual property rights and defending intellectual property-related claims;

•
our ability to establish and maintain collaborations on favorable terms, if at all;

•
our efforts to enhance operational systems and our ability to attract, hire and retain qualified personnel, including personnel to support the development of our product candidates;

•
the costs associated with being a public company; and

•
the cost and timing associated with commercializing our product candidates, if they receive marketing approval.

A change in the outcome of any of these or other variables with respect to the development of any of our product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate. Furthermore, our operating plans may change in the future, and we will continue to require additional capital to meet operational needs and capital requirements associated with such operating plans. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our stockholders may experience dilution. Any future debt financing into which we enter may impose upon us additional covenants that restrict our operations, including limitations on our ability to incur liens or additional debt, pay dividends, repurchase our common stock, make certain investments and engage in certain merger, consolidation or asset sale transactions. Any debt financing or additional equity that we raise may contain terms that are not favorable to us or our stockholders. If we are unable to raise additional funds when needed, we may be required to delay, reduce, or terminate some or all of our development programs and clinical trials. We may also be required to sell or license rights to our product candidates in certain territories or indications to others that we would prefer to develop and commercialize ourselves.

The significant uncertainties caused by the evolving effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may also negatively impact our operations and capital resources. We and our key clinical and manufacturing partners have been able to continue to advance our operations, and we continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our ability to continue the development of, and seek regulatory approvals for, our product candidates, and begin to commercialize any approved products. This pandemic may ultimately have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and operating plans, although we are unable to make any prediction with certainty given the spread and rapidly changing nature of the pandemic and the evolving global actions taken to contain and treat the novel coronavirus.

Adequate additional funding may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital as and when needed could have a negative impact on our financial condition and our ability to pursue our business strategies. See the section titled “Risk Factors” for additional risks associated with our substantial capital requirements.

Summary Statement of Cash Flows

The following table sets forth the primary sources and uses of cash for each of the periods presented below:

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Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $182.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. Cash used in operating activities was primarily driven by the increase in net loss during this period due to increased payroll and personnel expenses and manufacturing and clinical trial costs to support overall growth. Cash used in operating activities was also driven by changes in operating assets and liabilities.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $38.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and primarily related to deposit on manufacturing equipment, as well as purchases of property and equipment.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $8.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, which consisted primarily due to the proceeds from stock option exercises and proceeds from issuances of common stock pursuant to employee stock purchase plans.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

Operating Leases

Operating lease payments represent our commitment for future minimum rent made under non-cancelable leases for our corporate offices in Palo Alto, California, and office and laboratory space in Visp, Switzerland. The total future payments for our operating lease obligations as of December 31, 2021 is $123.7 million, of which $7.3 million is due in the next twelve months.

Embedded Lease

Embedded lease payment represent our commitment for future minimum payment made under the manufacturing agreement with Lonza Ltd. for the clinical and commercial supply of drug substance in a custom-built manufacturing facility. The total future payments relating to our embedded lease, including capital contribution payments, as of December 31, 2021 is approximately 189.5 million Swiss Francs, of which 53.0 million Swiss Francs is expected to be due in the next twelve months.

Manufacturing Agreements

The Company has entered into service and equipment purchase agreements in the normal course of business with various providers, which can contain minimum commitments or other noncancelable obligations. As of December 31, 2021, the total amount of contractual obligations related to these manufacturing agreements that are subject to cancellation fees, including accrued amounts, was $69.5 million, of which $59.7 million is expected to be due in the next twelve months.

For further information on our leases and manufacturing agreements, refer to Note 7 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Clinical Agreements

The Company may incur potential contingent payments upon our achievement of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, as applicable. Due to the uncertainty of the achievement and timing of the events requiring payment under these agreements, the amount to be paid by us are not fixed or determinable at this time.

Critical Accounting Policies, Significant Judgments and Use of Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods. The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s judgments and estimates.

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Accrued Research and Development

Our accrued research and development costs are estimated based on the level of services performed, including the phase or completion of events, and contracted costs. Accrued clinical trial and related costs are estimated using data such as patient enrollment, clinical site activations or information provided by outside service providers regarding their actual costs incurred. Management determined accrual estimates through reports from and discussions with clinical personnel and outside service providers as to the progress of trials, or the services completed. The estimated costs of research and development provided, but not yet invoiced, are included in accrued liabilities and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. If the actual timing of the performance of services or the level of effort varies from the original estimates, we will adjust the accrual accordingly. Payments made to third parties under these arrangements in advance of the performance of the related services are recorded as prepaid expenses and other assets until the services are rendered.

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

We measure and recognize compensation expense for all stock‑based awards made to employees, directors and non‑employees, based on estimated fair values of the awards on the grant date and recognized using the straight‑line method over the requisite service period.

The fair value of options is estimated on the grant date using the Black‑Scholes option valuation model or Monte Carlo simulation model. The calculation of stock‑based compensation expense requires that we make certain assumptions and judgments about a number of complex and subjective variables used in the valuation model, including the expected term, expected volatility of the underlying common stock and risk‑free interest rate. Our stock-based awards are subject to either service, performance-based or market-based vesting conditions. We evaluate whether achievement of the performance conditions is probable and record expense over the appropriate service period based on this assessment.

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 significant analysis and judgment to develop.

Income Taxes

We provide for income taxes under the asset and liability method. Current income tax expense or benefit represents the amount of income taxes expected to be payable or refundable for the current year. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between the financial statement reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and net operating loss, or NOLs, and credit carryforwards, and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when such items are expected to reverse. Deferred income tax assets are reduced, as necessary, by a valuation allowance when management determines it is more likely than not that some or all of the tax benefits will not be realized.

We assess all material positions taken in any income tax return, including all significant uncertain positions, in all tax years that are still subject to assessment or challenge by relevant taxing authorities. Assessing an uncertain tax position begins with the initial determination of the position’s sustainability and is measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than fifty percent likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement.

As of each balance sheet date, unresolved uncertain tax positions must be reassessed, and we will determine whether (1) the factors underlying the sustainability assertion have changed and (2) the amount of the recognized tax benefit is still appropriate. The recognition and measurement of tax benefits requires significant judgment. Judgments concerning the recognition and measurement of a tax benefit might change as new information becomes available. Our policy is to recognize interest and penalties related to the underpayment of income taxes as a component of income tax expense or benefit. To date, there have been no interest or penalties charged in relation to the unrecognized tax benefits. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, none of the unrecognized tax benefits would affect income tax expense with consideration of our valuation allowance. We do not expect that our uncertain tax positions will materially change in the next twelve months.

NOLs and tax credit carryforwards are subject to review and possible adjustment by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and may become subject to an annual limitation in the event of certain cumulative changes in the ownership interest of significant shareholders over a three-year period in excess of 50% as defined under Sections 382 and 383 in the Internal Revenue Code, which could limit the amount of tax attributes that can be utilized annually to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities. The amount of the annual limitation is determined based on our value immediately prior to the ownership change. We have completed a Section 382 study through December 31, 2020 which concluded no such ownership change had occurred through December 31. 2020. Subsequent ownership changes since the most recent study may further affect the limitation in future years.

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Recent Accounting Pronouncements

A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position and results of operations is discussed under Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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