Liquidity and capital resources
As of September 30, 2023, we have relied on private equity and debt financings and our IPO, which completed in July 2023 to fund our operations. We have incurred net losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception, including net losses of $19.7 million and $23.3 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, and 2022 we had negative cash flows from operations of $16.7 million and $17.0 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $101.8 million. We will require substantial additional capital to fund our research and development and ongoing operating expenses. On July 18, 2023, we completed our IPO, in which we issued and sold 5,312,500 shares of Series A common stock, at a price to the public of $16.00 per share. The aggregate gross proceeds of the IPO were $96.4 million, inclusive of an additional 714,272 shares of Series A common stock sold upon the partial exercise of the underwriters’ purchase option. We received approximately $86.2 million in net proceeds after deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and estimated offering expenses.
Based on our current business plans, we believe that the net proceeds received from the IPO, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient for us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months after this filing. In the future, we may need to raise additional funds until we are able to generate sufficient revenues to fund our development activities. Our future operating activities, coupled with our plans to raise capital or issue debt financing, may provide additional liquidity in the future, however these actions are not solely within our control and we are unable to predict the outcome of these actions to generate the liquidity ultimately required.
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 drug candidates, expand our corporate infrastructure, including the costs associated with being a public company, further our research and development initiatives for our drug candidates, scale our laboratory and manufacturing operations, and incur marketing costs associated with potential commercialization. We are subject to all 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.
Until we can generate a sufficient amount of revenue from the commercialization of our drug candidates or additional revenue from collaboration agreements with third parties, if ever, we expect to finance our future cash needs through public or private equity or debt financings, third-party (including government) funding and marketing and distribution arrangements, as well as other collaborations, 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 macroeconomic conditions, disruptions to and volatility in the credit and financial markets, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical turmoil. 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:
| ● | difficulties obtaining regulatory approval to commence a clinical trial or complying with conditions imposed by a regulatory authority regarding the scope or term of a clinical trial; |
| ● | conditions imposed on us by the FDA or other regulatory authorities regarding the scope or design of our clinical trials; |
| ● | delays in reaching or failing to reach agreement on acceptable terms with prospective CROs, CMOs, and trial sites, the terms of which can be subject to extensive negotiation and may vary significantly; |