# LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (LENZ) FY 2022 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from LENZ Therapeutics, Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2022.

SEC filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1815776/000095017023008764/grph-20221231.htm
Accession: 0000950170-23-008764
Filing date: 2023-03-20
Report date: 2022-12-31
Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary.
Confidence: high

Company profile: /company/LENZ/
All MD&A years: /company/LENZ/mda/
Previous year: /company/LENZ/mda/fy2021/ (FY 2021)
Next year: /company/LENZ/mda/fy2023/ (FY 2023)

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations, referred to as the “Financial Review,” is intended to assist the reader in the understanding and assessment of significant changes and trends related to the results of operations and financial position of Graphite Bio ( the “Company,” “Graphite,” “we,” “our,” or “us” and other similar pronouns). This discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and accompanying financial notes in Item 8 of Part II of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Certain statements in this report constitute forward-looking statements. See Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional factors relating to these statements and Item 1A - Risk Factors in Part I of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a list of certain risk factors applicable to our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage, next-generation gene editing company harnessing high-efficiency targeted gene integration to develop a new class of therapies to potentially cure a wide range of serious and life-threatening diseases. Our precision gene editing approach aims to achieve one of medicine’s most elusive goals: to precisely “find & replace” any gene in the genome. We have a next-generation gene editing platform that is designed to precisely correct mutations, replace entire disease-causing genes with normal genes, or insert new genes into predetermined, safe locations. We believe our approach could enable broad applications to transform human health, including directly correcting mutations, engineering cells to permanently deliver therapeutic proteins, and precisely engineering effector cells to treat or cure a wide range of serious genetic and other diseases, including cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.

Our lead product candidate nulabeglogene autogedtemcel (nula-cel), formerly GPH101, is a highly differentiated approach with the potential to directly correct the mutation that causes SCD and restore normal HgbA expression. Curing sickle cell disease by correcting the disease-causing point mutation to normal is viewed as the gold-standard for curing SCD and has been the dream of treating physicians for generations. In January 2023, we announced a voluntary pause of our Phase 1/2 CEDAR study of nula-cel for sickle cell disease due to a serious adverse event in the first patient dosed, which we concluded is likely related to study treatment. In February 2023, we announced our decision to discontinue the development of nula-cel and initiate a process to explore strategic alternatives.

We were incorporated in Ontario, Canada in June 2017 as Longbow Therapeutics Inc. and were reincorporated in the State of Delaware in October 2019. In February 2020, we changed our name to Integral Medicines, Inc. and in August 2020, we changed our name to Graphite Bio, Inc. Research and development of our initial technology ceased at the end of 2018 and we did not have any significant operations or any research and development activities in 2019. In March 2020, we identified new gene editing technology which we sought to further develop, and we licensed the related intellectual property rights from The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (“Stanford”) in December 2020.

Since our inception in June 2017, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to performing research and development, enabling manufacturing activities in support of our product development efforts, hiring personnel, acquiring and developing our technology and product candidates, organizing and staffing our Company, performing business planning, establishing our intellectual property portfolio, raising capital and providing general and administrative support for these activities. We have one product candidate that has an accepted IND. All of our other product candidates are in preclinical development, and we do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. To date, we have funded our operations primarily with an aggregate of $197.7 million in aggregate gross proceeds from the sales of our redeemable convertible preferred stock and the issuance of convertible notes. In June and July 2021, we completed our initial public offering (“IPO”) and issued 16,100,000 shares of our common stock for $17.00 a share with a total net proceeds of approximately $251.3 million, and total underwriting costs of $19.1 million and issuance costs of $3.2 million. We will continue to require additional capital to develop our product candidates and fund operations for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, until such time as we can generate significant revenue from sales of our product candidates, if ever, we expect to finance our cash needs through public or private equity or debt financings, and collaborations, strategic alliances and licensing arrangements with third parties.

We have incurred significant operating losses since inception. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities of $283.6 million and an accumulated deficit of $242.4 million. We expect to continue to incur substantial losses for the foreseeable future, and our transition to profitability will depend upon successful development, approval and commercialization of our product candidates and upon achievement of sufficient revenues to support our cost structure. We do not expect to generate any revenue from commercial product sales unless and until we successfully complete development and obtain regulatory approval for one or more of our product candidates, which we expect will take at least several years. We may never achieve profitability, and unless and until then, we will need to continue to raise additional capital. Based upon our current operating plan, we estimate that our cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash as of December 31, 2022 will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months.

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We expect our expenses will increase substantially in connection with our ongoing and planned activities, as we:

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advance product candidates through preclinical studies and clinical trials;

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manufacture supplies for our preclinical studies and clinical trials;

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acquire, discover, validate and develop additional product candidates and technologies;

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attract, hire and retain additional personnel;

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operate as a public company;

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implement operational, financial and management systems;

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pursue regulatory approval for any product candidates that successfully complete clinical trials;

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expand or establish additional facilities for our growing business and operations;

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establish a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize any product candidate for which we may obtain marketing approval and related commercial manufacturing build-out; and

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obtain, maintain, expand and protect our portfolio of intellectual property rights.

We rely and will continue to rely on third parties in the conduct of our preclinical studies and clinical trials and for manufacturing and supply of our product candidates. We have no internal manufacturing capabilities, and we may continue to rely on third parties for our preclinical and clinical trial materials, of which the main suppliers are single-source suppliers. Given our stage of development, we do not yet have a marketing or sales organization or commercial infrastructure. Accordingly, if we obtain regulatory approval for any of our product candidates, we also expect to incur significant commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution.

Because of the numerous risks and uncertainties associated with product development, we are unable to predict the timing or amount of increased expenses or when or if we will be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Even if we are able to generate revenue from sales of any product for which we receive regulatory approval, we may not become profitable. If we fail to become profitable or are unable to sustain profitability on a continuing basis, we may be unable to continue our operations at planned levels and may be forced to reduce our operations.

Stanford Exclusive License Agreement and Option Agreement

In December 2020, we entered into an exclusive license agreement (the “License Agreement”), with The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford), pursuant to which Stanford granted us a worldwide license to specified technology and patent rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize human prophylactic and therapeutic products. Other than with respect to specified, broadly applicable assays and procedures and subject to retained rights by Stanford, the license is exclusive with respect to human prophylactic and therapeutic products for the treatment of SCD, XSCID and beta thalassemia. The license is non-exclusive with respect to those broadly applicable assays and procedures and with respect to all human prophylactic and therapeutic products other than for the treatment of SCD, XSCID and beta thalassemia.

To date, pursuant to the License Agreement, we have paid an upfront license fee to Stanford of $50.0 thousand and issued to Stanford and its designees an aggregate of approximately 0.6 million shares of our common stock. The acquisition of the exclusive license, including patent rights and know-how, and clinical supplies was accounted for as an asset acquisition and as the acquired technology and inventories did not have an alternative use, the total consideration of $2.8 million was recorded as research and development expense in the statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2020. We are obligated to pay Stanford an annual license maintenance fee on each anniversary of the effective date of the License Agreement. The annual license maintenance fee initially is $5.0 thousand and will increase to $50.0 thousand in three increments over the first seven anniversaries of the effective date of the License Agreement. After the first commercial sale of a product falling within the scope of the license (the “Licensed Product”), the annual license maintenance fee is $200.0 thousand.

In May 2021, we issued 640,861 shares of our common stock in connection with the License Agreement. Subsequently, in June 2021, related to the License Agreement, we repurchased 624,845 shares of our common stock from investors and founders.

We are required to share with Stanford a portion of any non-royalty income we receive from sublicensing the licensed patent rights or technology, subject to specified exclusions. With respect to sublicenses granted to products for the treatment of SCD, XSCID and beta thalassemia, the portion of sublicense income we must share with Stanford varies by indication and declines from between a mid-teen to a second quartile double-digit percentage prior to the filing of an IND to between a high single-digit to very low double-digit percentage upon achievement of a specified clinical milestone. With respect to sublicenses granted under the licensed technology rights and not licensed patent rights, the portion of sublicense income shared with Stanford declines from between a mid-single-digit and very low double-digit percentage prior to the filing of an IND to a low single-digit percentage after filing of an IND.

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We are obligated to make payments to Stanford with respect to each Licensed Product of up to an aggregate of $12.8 million upon the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones. Such amounts are payable only once upon the first occurrence of a particular milestone event with respect to each Licensed Product and only once with respect to each new indication covered by any of the Licensed Products.

We also are obligated to pay Stanford low single-digit royalties based on worldwide annual net sales of any Licensed Product, subject to specified reductions. We will be obligated to continue to pay royalties on a Licensed Product-by-Licensed Product and country-by-country basis, until the latest of (i) the expiration of the last valid claim under the licensed patents that covers the sale or manufacture of such Licensed Product in such country, (ii) the expiration of any period of regulatory exclusivity with respect to such Licensed Product in such country or (iii) the expiration of ten years after the first commercial sale of such Licensed Product in such country.

The term of the License Agreement expires on the later of (i) the expiration of the last patent or abandonment of the last patent application within the license patent rights or (ii) the expiration of all royalty terms with respect to Licensed Products. The License Agreement may be terminated by us at will or by Stanford if we remain in breach of the License Agreement following a cure period to remedy the breach.

We are required to use diligent efforts to manufacture, market and sell Licensed Products for the treatment of each of SCD, XSCID and beta thalassemia. In addition, we are required to achieve specified milestones by specified dates with respect to Licensed Products for the treatment of each of SCD, XSCID and beta thalassemia. If we fail to satisfy our diligence obligations, Stanford may terminate the License Agreement for our breach. For more details on the License Agreement, please see Note 5 of the Notes to Financial Statements.

In January 2021, we entered into an option agreement (the “First Option Agreement”), with Stanford, pursuant to which Stanford granted us the right to obtain a license to specified patent rights relating to human prophylactic and therapeutic products. We may exercise the option in whole or in part to obtain a license under one or more of the optioned patent rights.

Subject to our exercise of the option under the First Option Agreement and our execution of an amendment to the License Agreement that incorporates the optioned patent rights and any optioned technology, we have agreed to issue to Stanford 132,137 shares of our common stock and pay a license execution fee of $10.0 thousand. The term of the First Option Agreement expires 18 months after its effective date, subject to our right to extend such expiration date by up to an additional one year upon notice to Stanford and by another additional one year upon the reasonable agreement of Stanford. The First Option Agreement will terminate if the License Agreement terminates. On June 23, 2022, the Company exercised its right to extend the term of the First Option Agreement for an additional year. As of March 1, 2023, the Company had not exercised the option under the First Option Agreement and no fees have been paid for the First Option Agreement.

In April 2021, we entered into an option agreement (the “Second Option Agreement”) with Stanford to negotiate the license for additional technologies from Stanford. Pursuant to the Second Option Agreement, we agreed to pay Stanford option fees in an aggregate amount of $30.0 thousand over the term of the option. On April 13, 2022, we entered into an amendment to the Second Option Agreement which extended the term for an additional year and the maintenance fee of $10.0 thousand was paid during the year ended December 31, 2022. As of March 1, 2023, we have not exercised the option and no fees have been paid under the Second Option Agreement.

LCGM Service Agreement

On August 30, 2021, we entered into a Master Manufacturing and Service Agreement with the Laboratory for Cell & Gene Medicine (“LCGM”) at Stanford (“LCGM MSA”). Pursuant to the LCGM MSA, LCGM will conduct clinical manufacturing, release testing, and product release for nula-cel in our Phase 1 clinical trial to treat SCD. During 2021, we entered into various SOWs under the LCGM MSA under which we received technology transfer and related services for HBB Beta-Globin Gene Variant for SCD, manufacturing engineer test runs, the exclusive use of a manufacturing suite at the LCGM facility, and Phase 1/2 clinical development and manufacturing of the HBB Variant for SCD. We have recognized $6.1 and $2.7 million in research and development expense in connection with the LCGM MSA during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

IDT License Agreement

On June 7, 2021, we entered into a License Agreement (the “IDT License Agreement”) with Integrated DNA Technologies, Inc. (IDT). Pursuant to the IDT License Agreement, IDT granted us and our affiliates a worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicensable license to research and develop products incorporating HiFi Cas9 protein variants for use in human therapeutic applications for SCD, XSCID and Gaucher disease (the “Field”) and a worldwide, exclusive, sublicensable license to commercialize such products in the Field. We have also been granted the right to expand the licensed Field to include human therapeutic applications in the additional fields of beta thalassemia disorder and lysosomal storage disorders upon the payment of an exercise fee in the amount of $0.5 million per additional field or $1.0 million for both additional fields.

In consideration of the licenses and rights granted to us under the IDT License Agreement, we agreed to pay to IDT an upfront payment in the amount of $3.0 million and up to $5.3 million (or $8.8 million if we elect to expand the Field as described above to

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include both the beta thalassemia and lysosomal storage disorders fields) in total regulatory milestone payments. Each regulatory milestone payment is payable once on an indication-by-indication basis. In addition, we have agreed to pay IDT a low single-digit royalty on the net sales of products, subject to reductions in specified circumstances. The acquisition of the license was accounted for as an asset acquisition and as the acquired technology did not have an alternative use, the total consideration of $3.0 million was recorded as research and development expense in the statement of operations and comprehensive loss for the December 31, 2021. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we have not recognized any research and development expense in connection with the IDT License Agreement. There are no milestones probable as of December 31, 2022; therefore, no milestone payments have been recognized in during the year ended December 31, 2022.

The IDT License Agreement remains in effect on a country-by-country and product-by-product basis until the expiration of the royalty term for such product in such jurisdiction. We and IDT each have the right to terminate the IDT License Agreement for the other party’s material breach of its obligations under the IDT License Agreement, subject to specified rights to cure. Additionally, we may terminate the IDT License Agreement for any reason upon written notice.

Master Development and Manufacturing Services Agreement (for cell therapy services)

In November 2022, we entered into a master development and manufacturing services agreement, with WuXi Advanced Therapies, Inc. (WuXi) (the “WuXi Agreement”), pursuant to which we may engage WuXi, at our discretion, to provide services under separate work orders for cell therapy services. To date, pursuant to the WuXi Agreement, we have entered into three work orders for cell therapy services. Following our decision to discontinue the development of nula-cel, we do not intend to enter into new work orders under the WuXi Agreement.

Initial Public Offering

In June and July 2021, we completed an initial public offering of our common stock. As part of the IPO, we issued and sold 16,100,000 shares of our common stock at a public offering price of $17.00 per share. In June and July 2021, we received net proceeds of approximately $251.3 million from the IPO, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $19.1 million and offering costs of approximately $3.2 million.

Components of Results of Operations

Operating Expenses

Research and Development

Research and development costs consist primarily of external and internal costs incurred for our research activities and the development of our gene editing platform and associated rights which we licensed in December 2020.

External costs include:

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costs incurred under agreements with third-party CROs, CMOs and other third parties that conduct preclinical and clinical activities on our behalf and manufacture our product candidates;

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costs associated with acquiring technology and intellectual property licenses that have no alternative future uses; and

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other costs associated with our research and development programs, including laboratory materials and supplies and consulting fees.

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Internal costs include:

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employee-related costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation expense, for our research and development personnel; and

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facilities and other expenses incurred in connection with our research and development programs, including expenses for allocated rent and facilities maintenance, and depreciation and amortization.

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. The intellectual property we licensed in late 2020 is fundamental to our platform and we did not focus on any specific programs. In the future, we expect to track research and development costs on a program by program basis as we identify the specific programs and product candidates to develop.

During 2022 and 2021, we were eligible for a research and development tax credit. The tax incentive was available to us based on research and development activity within the United States and California during that year. These research and development tax incentives are recognized as a reduction to payroll tax expense when the right to receive has been attained and funds are collectible and are capped at $250.0 thousand per year.

We expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we advance our product candidates into and through preclinical studies and clinical trials, pursue regulatory approval of our product candidates and expand our

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pipeline of product candidates. The process of conducting the necessary preclinical and clinical research to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time-consuming. The actual probability of success for our product candidates may be affected by a variety of factors, including the safety and efficacy of our product candidates, early clinical data, investment in our clinical programs, competition, manufacturing capability and commercial viability. We may never succeed in achieving regulatory approval for any of our product candidates. As a result of the uncertainties discussed above, we are unable to determine the duration and completion costs of our research and development projects or if, when and to what extent we will generate revenue from the commercialization and sale of our product candidates, if approved by the FDA and other applicable authorities.

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

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the scope, rate of progress, expense and results of our discovery and preclinical development activities;

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the costs and timing of our CMC activities, including fulfilling GMP-related standards and compliance, and identifying and qualifying suppliers;

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per patient clinical trial costs;

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the number and duration of clinical trials required for approval of our product candidates;

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the number of sites included in our clinical trials;

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the countries in which the trials are conducted;

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delays in adding a sufficient number of trial sites and recruiting suitable patients to participate in our clinical trials;

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the number of patients that participate in the trials;

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patient drop-out or discontinuation rates;

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potential partial reimbursement from governmental agencies for our clinical activities;

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potential additional safety monitoring requested by regulatory agencies;

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

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the cost and timing of manufacturing our product candidates;

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the phase of development of our product candidates;

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the efficacy and safety profile of our product candidates; the timing, receipt, and terms of any approvals from applicable regulatory authorities including the FDA and non-U.S. regulators;

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

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significant and changing government regulation and regulatory guidance;

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changes in the standard of care on which a clinical development plan was based, which may require new or additional trials;

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the extent to which we establish additional strategic collaborations or other arrangements; and

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the impact of any business interruptions to our operations or to those of the third parties with whom we work, particularly in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic environment.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of expenses related to employee-related costs, including salaries, benefits and stock-based compensation expense, for our executive, business development, finance and accounting, human resources and other administrative functions; legal services, including relating to intellectual property and corporate matters; accounting, auditing, consulting and tax services; insurance; and facility and other allocated costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses. We expect our general and administrative expenses to increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we anticipate an increase in our personnel headcount to support expansion of research and development activities, as well as to support our operations generally. We also expect an increase in expenses associated with being a public company, including costs related to accounting, audit, legal, regulatory, and tax-related services associated with maintaining compliance with applicable Nasdaq and SEC requirements; director and officer insurance costs; and investor and public relations costs.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net includes amounts realized from interest income from the investments in marketable securities and changes in the fair value of our redeemable convertible preferred stock tranche liabilities.

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Results of Operations

Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

The following table summarizes our statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the respective years (in thousands):

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses were $72.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to $37.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $34.9 million. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily attributable to an increase of $15.9 million in clinical trial related activities and contract manufacturing activities for our clinical trials and drug supply, $12.7 million of personnel costs, including associated stock-based compensation expense, and $6.3 million of other research and development costs primarily related to facilities costs and lease expense associated with facilities and service agreements.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses were $32.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to $22.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $10.4 million. The increase in general and administrative expenses was comprised of an increase of $7.3 million in personnel-related costs, including associated stock-based compensation expense. We also incurred other miscellaneous expenses costs of $1.9 million related to as well as professional expenses consisting of legal costs, accounting, financial service, and insurance costs of $1.2 million.

Other Income (Expense), Net

The other income (expense), net for the year ended December 31, 2022 comprised of interest income from the investments in marketable securities and income from money market funds. The other income (expense), net for the year ended December 31, 2021 was comprised of the change in the fair value of our Series A redeemable convertible preferred stock tranche liability of $10.3 million and income from money market funds. Investments in marketable securities were not held in the comparable period.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have incurred losses since inception and have incurred negative cash flows from operations from inception through December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, we had $283.6 million of cash and cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities and our accumulated deficit was $242.4 million. In June and July 2021, we raised net proceeds of $251.3 million in our IPO, pursuant to which we sold an aggregate of 16,100,000 shares of common stock.

Prior to our IPO, we funded our operations primarily from the sale of redeemable convertible preferred stock and issuance of convertible promissory notes.

Future Funding Requirements

Our primary uses of cash are to fund our operations, which consist primarily of research and development expenditures related to our programs and, to a lesser extent, general and administrative expenditures. We anticipate that we will continue to incur significant expenses for the foreseeable future as we continue to advance our product candidates, expand our corporate infrastructure, including the costs associated with being a public company, further our research and development initiatives for our product candidates, scale our laboratory and manufacturing operations, and incur marketing costs associated with potential commercialization. We are subject to all

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of the risks typically related to the development of new drug candidates, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown factors that may adversely affect our business. We anticipate that we will need substantial additional funding in connection with our continuing operations.

Based upon our current operating plan, we estimate that our existing cash, cash equivalents and investments in marketable securities as of the date of the filing of this Form 10-K, will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into the fourth quarter of 2024. Until we can generate sufficient revenues from the commercialization of our product candidates or from collaboration agreements with third parties, if ever, we expect to finance our future cash needs through public or private equity or debt financings, collaborations and other strategic alliances and licensing arrangements, or any combination of these approaches. The sale of equity or convertible debt securities may result in dilution to our stockholders and, in the case of preferred equity securities or convertible debt, those securities could provide for rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock. Debt financings may subject us to covenant limitations or restrictions on our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. Our ability to raise additional funds may be adversely impacted by negative global economic conditions and any disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide that may result from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or other factors. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in acquiring additional funding at levels sufficient to fund our operations or on terms favorable or acceptable to us. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing when needed or on terms favorable or acceptable to us, we may be forced to delay, reduce the scope of or eliminate one or more of our research and development programs.

Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

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the timing, scope, progress, results and costs of research and development, discovery, preclinical and non-clinical studies and clinical trials for our current and future product candidates;

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the number, scope and duration of clinical trials required for regulatory approval of our current and future product candidates;

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the outcome, timing and cost of seeking and obtaining regulatory approvals from the FDA and comparable foreign regulatory authorities for our product candidates, including any requirement to conduct more studies or generate additional data beyond that which we currently expect would be required to support a marketing application;

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the cost of manufacturing clinical and commercial supplies of our current and future product candidates;

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the costs and timing of future commercialization activities, including product manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution, for any of our product candidates for which we receive marketing approval;

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our ability to maintain existing, and establish new, strategic collaborations, licensing or other arrangements and the financial terms of any such agreements, including the timing and amount of any future milestone, royalty or other payments due under any such agreement;

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any product liability or other lawsuits related to our products;

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the revenue, if any, received from commercial sales of any product candidates for which we may receive marketing approval;

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our ability to establish a commercially viable pricing structure and obtain approval for coverage and adequate reimbursement from third-party and government payers;

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the costs to establish, maintain, expand, enforce and defend the scope of our intellectual property portfolio, including the amount and timing of any payments we may be required to make, or that we may receive, in connection with licensing, preparing, filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing our patents or other intellectual property rights;

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expenses needed to attract, hire and retain skilled personnel;

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the costs of operating as a public company; and

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the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which may exacerbate the magnitude of the factors discussed above.

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

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Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our sources and uses of cash for the periods presented (in thousands):

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[["","","Year Ended December 31,"],["","","2022","","","2021"],["Net cash used in operating activities","","$","(87,980",")","","$","(52,852",")"],["Net cash used in investing activities","","","(241,863",")","","","(5,740",")"],["Net cash provided by financing activities","","","597","","","","417,467"],["Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash","","$","(329,246",")","","$","358,875"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities was $88.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was primarily attributable to our net loss of $101.1 million and net changes in operating assets and liabilities of $7.2 million, adjusted for net noncash charges of $20.3 million. Net noncash charges included approximately $13.5 million in stock-based compensation expense, $6.0 million in noncash lease expense, $2.4 million in depreciation and amortization expense, which was partially offset by $1.6 million in net amortization of premiums and discounts in marketable securities. Net changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consists of $5.5 million in operating lease liabilities, $3.2 million in prepaid expenses, offset by $1.1 million in accrued compensation and $0.4 million in accounts payable and accrued expenses.

Net cash used in operating activities was $52.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, which was primarily attributable to our net loss of $70.8 million and net changes in operating assets and liabilities of $2.5 million, adjusted for net noncash charges of $20.4 million. Net noncash charges included approximately $10.3 million change in the fair value of the Series A redeemable convertible preferred stock tranche liability, $7.9 million in stock-based compensation expense, $1.5 million in noncash lease expense, and $0.7 million in depreciation and amortization expense. Net changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily consists of $2.2 million in accrued compensation and $1.0 million in accounts payable and accrued expenses, offset by $3.9 million in prepaid expenses and $1.8 million in operating lease liabilities.

Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $241.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was primarily attributable to investment in current and non-current marketable securities of $405.5 million and the purchase of lab equipment of $6.6 million for use at our headquarters, offset by proceeds from our investments in current and non-current marketable securities of $170.2 million.

Net cash used in investing activities was $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, which was primarily attributable to the purchase of lab equipment for use at our headquarters.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities was $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, which consisted primarily of proceeds from issuance of common stock related to stock option grants and employee stock purchase plan of $0.7 million, which was partially offset by repurchases of unvested early exercised stock grants of $0.1 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities was $417.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, which consisted primarily of proceeds from issuance of common stock in our initial public offering of $251.3 million including proceeds from the exercise of the underwriter option in July 2021, proceeds from the issuance of Series A and Series B redeemable convertible preferred stock of $165.5 million, and proceeds from issuance of common stock related to early exercised stock options, stock option grants, and employee stock purchase plan of $0.7 million.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

For information on new accounting standards, see Note 2 to our financial statements included in Part II in this Annual Report.

Critical Accounting Policies and Significant Judgments and Estimates

Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, and expenses and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities in our financial statements. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including but not limited to those related to accrued research and development costs, the fair value of derivative redeemable convertible preferred stock tranche liabilities, the fair value of redeemable convertible preferred stock and common stock and stock-based compensation expense, the valuation of deferred tax assets, and uncertain income tax positions. We

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base our estimates on historical experience, known trends and events and various other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values 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 expenses

As part of the process of preparing our financial statements, we estimate our accrued research and development expenses at each balance sheet date. This process involves reviewing purchase orders and open contracts, communicating with our personnel to identify services that have been performed on our behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated costs incurred for the services when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of the actual cost. The majority of our service providers invoice us monthly in arrears for services performed or when contractual milestones are met; however, some require advance payments. We make estimates of our accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in our financial statements based on facts and circumstances known to us at that time. We periodically confirm the accuracy of our estimates with the service providers and make adjustments as necessary. The significant estimates in our accrued research and development expenses include the costs incurred for services performed by CROs and CMOs in connection with research and development activities for which we have not yet been invoiced.

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

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

Stock-based compensation

We measure stock options and other stock-based awards granted to our employees, directors, consultants or founders based upon their fair value on the date of the grant and recognize stock-based compensation expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award. We recognize forfeitures as they occur.

The majority of our stock-based compensation awards are subject to either service- or performance-based vesting conditions. We apply the straight-line method of expense recognition to all awards with service-based vesting and recognize stock-based compensation for performance-based awards over the service period using the accelerated attribution method to the extent achievement of the of performance condition is probable.

We estimate the fair value of each stock option grant on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, which uses inputs such as the fair value of our common stock, assumptions we make for the volatility of our common stock, the expected term of our stock options, the risk-free interest rate for a period that approximates the expected term of our stock options and our expected dividend yield. The fair value of our common stock is used to determine the fair value of restricted stock awards.

Prior to our IPO in June 2021, there was no public market for our common stock. As a result, prior to our IPO, the estimated fair value of our common stock was determined by our board of directors as of the date of each option grant, with input from management, considering our most recently available third-party valuations of common stock and our board of directors’ assessment of additional objective and subjective factors that it believed were relevant and which may have changed from the date of the most recent valuation through the date of the grant. Following our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined based on the quoted market price of our common stock.

Emerging Growth Company and Smaller Reporting Entity Status

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. Other exemptions and reduced reporting requirements under the JOBS Act for emerging growth companies include presentation of only two years of audited financial statements in a registration statement for an initial public offering, an exemption from the requirement to provide an auditor’s report on internal controls over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, an exemption from any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company

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Accounting Oversight Board regarding mandatory audit firm rotation and less extensive disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements. We have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that (i) we are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) we affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act.

However, as described in Note 2 to our financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report, we early adopted certain accounting standards, as the JOBS Act does not preclude an emerging growth company from adopting a new or revised accounting standard earlier than the time that such standard applies to private companies to the extent early adoption is permitted. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (i) the last day of our first fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.23 billion or more, (ii) December 31, 2026, (iii) the date on which we are deemed to be a “large accelerated filer,” under the rules of the SEC, which means the market value of equity securities that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th and (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

If we are a “smaller reporting company” at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation.

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