(1) The Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Description of Business

ARCA biopharma, Inc., or the Company or ARCA, a Delaware corporation, is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado and is a biopharmaceutical company principally focused on developing genetically-targeted therapies for cardiovascular diseases. The Company's lead product candidate, Gencaro^TM(bucindolol hydrochloride), a pharmacologically unique beta-blocker and mild vasodilator, is being developed for the treatment and the prevention of atrial fibrillation, or AF, in patients with heart failure, or HF. The Company has identified common genetic variations in the cardiovascular system that it believes interact with Gencaro's pharmacology and may predict patient response to Gencaro treatment. The Company has been granted patents in the U.S., Europe, and other jurisdictions for methods of treating AF and HF patients with Gencaro based on genetic testing, which it believes will provide market exclusivity for these uses of Gencaro into at least 2026 in the U.S. and into 2025 in Europe. In addition, the Company believes that if Gencaro is approved, the Gencaro patents will be eligible for patent term extension based on our current clinical trial plans which, if granted in the U.S., may provide market exclusivity in the U.S. into 2029, and if granted in Europe may provide market exclusivity into 2030.

The Company is planning to initiate a Phase 3 clinical study of Gencaro in AF patients with HF and/or left ventricular dysfunction. The Company believes AF is an attractive indication for Gencaro because data from the previously conducted Phase 3 HF trial of Gencaro in 2,708 HF patients, or the BEST HF trial, suggest that Gencaro may have a potentially significant effect in reducing or preventing AF. Based on the BEST HF trial, the Company believes that Gencaro's prevention of AF in HF patients is pharmacogenetically regulated. The Company plans to enroll approximately 200-400 patients with persistent AF who have the genotype that appears to respond most favorably to Gencaro. The Company anticipates that the AF trial could begin approximately 6 months after the Company obtains sufficient funding.

To support the continued development of Gencaro, including the planned AF clinical trial and ongoing operations, the Company will need to raise substantial additional funding through public or private debt or equity transactions or a strategic combination or partnership, or government funding.

ARCA also holds exclusive patent rights to other product candidates that have potential indications in cardiovascular disease, oncology and other therapeutic areas, some of which are in early stages of development and others of which are in later stages of development. The Company is seeking partners to assist it in the development of these candidates or who may license them. For example, ARCA holds exclusive rights to rNAPc2, a recombinant protein that is a potent, long acting tissue factor inhibitor with a unique mechanism of action. Previously, preclinical studies of rNAPc2 showed evidence of potential efficacy against lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses.

Development Stage Risks, Liquidity and Going Concern

The Company is in the development stage and devotes substantially all of its efforts towards obtaining regulatory approval, exploring strategic alternatives for further developing Gencaro, and raising capital necessary to fund its operations. The Company has not generated revenue to date and is subject to a number of risks similar to those of other development stage companies, including dependence on key individuals, the development of and regulatory approval of commercially viable products, the need to raise adequate additional financing necessary to fund the development and commercialization of its products, and competition from larger companies. The Company has historically funded its operations through issuances of convertible promissory notes and shares of its common and preferred stock, as well as through the business combination with Nuvelo, Inc, or Nuvelo.

Since ARCA was founded on December 17, 2001, or Inception, the Company has incurred substantial losses and negative cash flows from operations. Since Inception, the Company incurred a loss from operations of $96.2 million and had negative cash flows from operations of $95.0 million.

In light of the substantial additional time and costs associated with the development of Gencaro and the need to raise a significant amount of capital on acceptable terms to finance the additional clinical trial and the Company's ongoing operations, the Company is evaluating strategic alternatives for funding continued operations and development programs. The Company will need to complete a strategic transaction, such as a strategic combination or partnership, or raise substantial additional funding through public or private debt or equity securities, or government funding to support the continued development of Gencaro, including the additional clinical trial. In 2011, the Company raised $4.0 million, net of offering costs, through the sales of our common stock and may seek additional funding that could allow it to operate while it continues to pursue strategic combination, partnering, additional financing and licensing opportunities. If the Company is delayed in completing or is unable to complete additional funding and/or a strategic transaction, the Company may discontinue its development activities or discontinue its operations. The Company currently believes its cash and cash equivalents balance as of March 31, 2012, will be sufficient to fund its operations through September 30, 2012. The Company is unable to assert that its current cash and cash equivalents are sufficient to fund operations beyond that date, and as a result, there is substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern beyond September 30, 2012. These consolidated financial statements have been prepared with the assumption that the Company will continue as a going concern and will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result from the inability of the Company to continue as a going concern. The Company may not be able to raise sufficient capital on acceptable terms, or at all, to continue development of Gencaro or to otherwise continue operations and may not be able to execute any strategic transaction.

The Company's liquidity, and its ability to raise additional capital or complete any strategic transaction, depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the following:

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the costs and timing for the planned AF clinical trial in order to gain possible FDA approval for Gencaro;

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the market price of the Company's stock and the availability and cost of additional equity capital from existing and potential new investors;

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the Company's ability to retain the listing of its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market;

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general economic and industry conditions affecting the availability and cost of capital;

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the Company's ability to control costs associated with its operations;

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the costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights; and

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the terms and conditions of the Company's existing collaborative and licensing agreements.

The sale of additional equity or convertible debt securities would likely result in substantial additional dilution to the Company's stockholders. If the Company raises additional funds through the incurrence of indebtedness, the obligations related to such indebtedness would be senior to rights of holders of the Company's capital stock and could contain covenants that would restrict the Company's operations. The Company also cannot predict what consideration might be available, if any, to the Company or its stockholders, in connection with any strategic transaction. Should strategic alternatives or additional capital not be available to the Company in the near term, or not be available on acceptable terms, the Company may be unable to realize value from its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business which may, among other alternatives, cause the Company to further delay, substantially reduce or discontinue operational activities to conserve its cash resources.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, these financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, these financial statements include all normal and recurring adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of these interim consolidated financial statements. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of results expected for the full year ending December 31, 2012. The Company has generated no revenue to date and its activities have consisted of seeking regulatory approval, research and development, exploring strategic alternatives for further developing and commercializing Gencaro, and raising capital. Accordingly, the Company continues to be considered in the development stage at March 31, 2012. These unaudited consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2011 included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Amounts presented are rounded to the nearest thousand, where indicated, except per share data and par values.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to significant concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents. The Company has no off-balance-sheet concentrations of credit risk, such as foreign exchange contracts, option contracts, or foreign currency hedging arrangements. The Company maintains cash and cash equivalent balances in the form of bank demand deposits, money market fund accounts and debt securities with financial institutions that management believes are creditworthy. Such balances may at times exceed the insured amount.

Accrued Expenses

As part of the process of preparing its financial statements, the Company is required to estimate accrued expenses. This process involves identifying services that third parties have performed on the Company's behalf and estimating the level of service performed and the associated cost incurred for these services as of the balance sheet date. Examples of estimated accrued expenses include contract service fees, such as fees payable to contract manufacturers in connection with the production of materials related to the Company's drug product, and professional service fees, such as attorneys, consultants, and clinical research organizations. The Company develops estimates of liabilities using its judgment based upon the facts and circumstances known at the time.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In June 2011, the FASB issued FASB ASU No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive Income in U.S. GAAP and IFRS. This ASU provides companies the option to present the components of net income and other comprehensive income either as one continuous statement of comprehensive income or as two separate but consecutive statements. It eliminates the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in stockholders' equity. The provisions of this new guidance are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011. The Company adopted this new guidance effective January 1, 2012. The adoption of this new guidance did not impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows.