Significant Accounting Policies | Significant Accounting Policies Organization and Description of Business Denali Therapeutics Inc. ("Denali" or the “Company”) is a biopharmaceutical company, incorporated in Delaware, that discovers and develops therapeutics to defeat neurodegenerative diseases. The Company is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Regulation S-X for interim financial information. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as filed with the SEC on February 27, 2023 (the "2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K"). The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2022 was derived from the audited annual consolidated financial statements as of and for the period then ended. Certain information and footnote disclosures typically included in the Company's annual consolidated financial statements have been condensed or omitted. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair statement of the results of the interim periods presented. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature except for the impacts of adopting new accounting standards, if any, discussed below. These interim financial results are not necessarily indicative of results expected for the full fiscal year or for any subsequent interim period. During the nine months ended September 30, 2023 there were no material changes to the Company's significant accounting and financial reporting policies from those reflected in the 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K. For further information with regard to the Company’s Significant Accounting Policies, please refer to Note 1, "Significant Accounting Policies," to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements included in the 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Principles of Consolidation These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. For the Company and its subsidiaries, the functional currency has been determined to be U.S. dollars. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are remeasured at period-end exchange rates, non-monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are remeasured at historical rates, and transactions in foreign currencies are remeasured at average exchange rates. Foreign currency gains and losses resulting from remeasurement are recognized in interest and other income, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires the Company to make certain estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements, as well as the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and such differences could be material to the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss. Concentration of Credit Risk and Other Risks and Uncertainties Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. Substantially all of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents are deposited in accounts with financial institutions that management believes are of high credit quality. Such deposits have and will continue to exceed federally insured limits. The Company maintains its cash with accredited financial institutions and accordingly, such funds are subject to minimal credit risk. The Company’s investment policy limits investments to certain types of securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies, as well as institutions with investment-grade credit ratings and places restrictions on maturities and concentration by type and issuer. The Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of a default by the financial institutions holding its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and issuers of marketable securities to the extent recorded on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company had no off-balance sheet concentrations of credit risk. The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to other clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies, including, but not limited to, the need to obtain adequate additional funding, possible failure of current or future preclinical testing or clinical trials, its reliance on third parties to conduct its clinical trials, the need to obtain regulatory and marketing approvals for its product candidates, competitors developing new technological innovations, the need to successfully commercialize and gain market acceptance of the Company’s product candidates, its right to develop and commercialize its product candidates pursuant to the terms and conditions of the licenses granted to the Company, protection of proprietary technology, the ability to make milestone, royalty or other payments due under any license or collaboration agreements, and the need to secure and maintain adequate manufacturing arrangements with third parties. If the Company does not successfully commercialize or partner any of its product candidates, it will be unable to generate product revenue or achieve profitability. Further, the company is also subject to broad market risks and uncertainties resulting from recent events, such as bank failures or instability in the financial services sector, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation, rising interest rates, and recession risks as well as supply chain and labor shortages. Segments The Company has one operating segment. The Company’s chief operating decision maker, its Chief Executive Officer, manages the Company’s operations on a consolidated basis for the purposes of allocating resources. Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Cash The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase to be cash and cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are reported at fair value. Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash reported within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows is composed of cash and cash equivalents reported in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and $1.6 million of restricted cash for the letter of credit for the Company’s headquarters building lease which is included within other non-current assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Marketable Securities The Company generally invests its excess cash in money market funds and investment grade short to intermediate-term fixed income securities. Such investments are included in cash and cash equivalents or short-term marketable securities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, are considered available-for-sale, and are reported at fair value with net unrealized gains and losses included as a component of stockholders’ equity. The Company classifies investments in securities with remaining maturities of less than one year, or where its intent is to use the investments to fund current operations or to make them available for current operations, as short-term investments. The Company classifies investments in securities with remaining maturities of over one year as long-term investments, unless intended to fund current operations. The amortized cost of debt securities is adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity, which is included in interest and other income, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss. Realized gains and losses and declines in value determined to be due to credit losses on marketable securities, if any, are included in interest and other income, net. The Company periodically evaluates the need for an allowance for credit losses. This evaluation includes consideration of several qualitative and quantitative factors, including whether it has plans to sell the security, whether it is more likely than not it will be required to sell any marketable securities before recovery of its amortized cost basis, and if the entity has the ability and intent to hold the security to maturity, and the portion of any unrealized loss that is the result of a credit loss. Factors considered in making these evaluations include quoted market prices, recent financial results and operating trends, implied values from any recent transactions or offers of investee securities, credit quality of debt instrument issuers, expected cash flows from securities, other publicly available information that may affect the value of the marketable security, duration and severity of the decline in value, and the Company's strategy and intentions for holding the marketable security. Accounts Receivable Accounts receivable are included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The accounts receivable balance represents amounts receivable from the Company's collaboration partners, excluding related parties, net of an allowance for credit losses, if required. Leases The Company leases real estate and certain equipment for use in its operations. A determination is made as to whether an arrangement is a lease at inception. Right-of-use (“ROU”) assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized for identified operating leases in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. The changes in operating lease ROU assets and operating lease liabilities are presented net within non-cash adjustment to operating lease expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. ROU assets represent the Company’s right to use the underlying asset for the lease term and lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. Operating lease ROU assets and liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of lease payments due over the lease term, with the ROU assets adjusted for lease incentives received. When determining the present value of lease payments, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate on the date of lease commencement, or the rate implicit in the lease, if known. The Company does not assume renewals in its determination of the lease term unless the renewals are deemed by management to be reasonably certain at lease inception. Leases with an initial term of twelve months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet, unless they include an option to purchase the underlying asset that the Company is reasonably certain to exercise. The Company recognizes lease expenses on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company has leases with lease and non-lease components, which the Company has elected to account for as a single lease component. Revenue Recognition License, Option and Collaboration Revenue The Company analyzes its collaboration arrangements to assess whether they are within the scope of ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”) to determine whether such arrangements involve joint operating activities performed by parties that are both active participants in the activities and exposed to significant risks and rewards dependent on the commercial success of such activities. This assessment is performed throughout the life of the arrangement based on changes in the responsibilities of all parties in the arrangement. For collaboration arrangements within the scope of ASC 808 that contain multiple elements, the Company first determines which elements of the collaboration are deemed to be within the scope of ASC 808 and those that are more reflective of a vendor-customer relationship and, therefore, within the scope of Topic 606. For elements of collaboration arrangements that are accounted for pursuant to ASC 808, an appropriate recognition method is determined and applied consistently, generally by analogy to Topic 606. The accounting treatment pursuant to Topic 606 is outlined below. The terms of license, option and collaboration agreements entered into typically include payment of one or more of the following: non-refundable, up-front license fees; option exercise fees; development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments; payments for manufacturing supply and research and development services and royalties on net sales of licensed products. Each of these payments results in license, collaboration and other revenue, except for revenues from royalties on net sales of licensed products, which are classified as royalty revenue. The core principle of Topic 606 is to recognize revenue when promised goods or services are transferred to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration that is expected to be received in exchange for those goods or services. The Company may also receive reimbursement or make payments to a collaboration partner to satisfy cost sharing requirements. These payments are accounted for pursuant to ASC 808 and are recorded as an offset or increase to research and development expenses, respectively. In determining the appropriate amount of revenue to be recognized as the Company fulfills its obligations under each of its agreements, the Company performs the following steps: (i) identification of the promised goods or services in the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) measurement of the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations based on estimated selling prices; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation. Amounts received prior to satisfying the revenue recognition criteria are recorded as contract liabilities in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. If the related performance obligation is expected to be satisfied within the next twelve months this will be classified in current liabilities. Amounts recognized as revenue prior to the Company having an unconditional right (other than a right that is conditioned only on the passage of time) to receipt are recorded as contract assets in the Company's Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. If the Company expects to have an unconditional right to receive the consideration in the next twelve months, this will be classified in current assets. A net contract asset or liability is presented for each contract with a customer. At contract inception, the Company assesses the goods or services promised in a contract with a customer and identifies those distinct goods and services that represent a performance obligation. A promised good or service may not be identified as a performance obligation if it is immaterial in the context of the contract with the customer, if it is not separately identifiable from other promises in the contract (either because it is not capable of being separated or because it is not separable in the context of the contract), or if the promised good or service does not provide the customer with a material right. The Company considers the terms of the contract to determine the transaction price. The transaction price is the amount of consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring promised goods or services to a customer. The consideration promised in a contract with a customer may include fixed amounts, variable amounts, or both. Variable consideration will only be included in the transaction price when it is not considered constrained, which is when it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur. If it is determined that multiple performance obligations exist, the transaction price is allocated at the inception of the agreement to all identified performance obligations based on the relative standalone selling prices ("SSP"). The relative SSP for each deliverable is estimated using external sourced evidence if it is available. If external sourced evidence is not available, the Company uses its best estimate of the SSP for the deliverable. Revenue is recognized when, or as, the Company satisfies a performance obligation by transferring a promised good or service to a customer. An asset is transferred when, or as, the customer obtains control of that asset, which for a service is considered to be as the services are received and used. The Company recognizes revenue over time by measuring the progress toward complete satisfaction of the relevant performance obligation using an appropriate input or output method based on the nature of the service promised to the customer. After contract inception, the transaction price is reassessed at every period end and updated for changes such as resolution of uncertain events. Any change in the transaction price is allocated to the performance obligations on the same basis as at contract inception, or to a single performance obligation as applicable. The Company accounts for the exercise of a material right as either a contract modification or as a continuation of the existing contract, as is most appropriate based on the facts and circumstances. Management may be required to exercise considerable judgment in estimating revenue to be recognized. Judgment is required in identifying performance obligations, estimating the transaction price, estimating the SSP of identified performance obligations, which may include forecasted revenue, development timelines, reimbursement rates for personnel costs, discount rates and probabilities of technical and regulatory success, and estimating the progress towards satisfaction of performance obligations. Comprehensive Loss Comprehensive loss is composed of net loss and certain changes in stockholders’ equity that are excluded from net loss, primarily unrealized gains or losses on the Company’s marketable securities. Net Loss per Share Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period, without consideration for common stock equivalents. Diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share, since the effects of potentially dilutive securities are antidilutive given the net loss for each period presented. |