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The Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2014
Description of Business | Description of Business ARCA biopharma, Inc., or the Company or ARCA, a Delaware corporation, is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado and is a biopharmaceutical company principally focused on developing genetically-targeted therapies for cardiovascular diseases. The Company’s lead product candidate, Gencaro™ (bucindolol hydrochloride), is a pharmacologically unique beta-blocker and mild vasodilator that ARCA plans to evaluate in a clinical trial for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, or AF, in patients with heart failure and/or left ventricular dysfunction, or HFREF. The Company has identified common genetic variations in receptors in the cardiovascular system that it believes interact with Gencaro’s pharmacology and may predict patient response to the drug. The Company plans to test this hypothesis in a Phase 2B/3 clinical trial of Gencaro, known as GENETIC-AF. The AF indication for Gencaro was chosen based on prior clinical data from the previously conducted Phase 3 heart failure (HF) trial of Gencaro in 2,708 HF patients, or the BEST trial, which suggested that Gencaro may be successful in reducing or preventing AF. GENETIC-AF is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind clinical trial designed to compare the safety and efficacy of Gencaro to an active comparator in HFREF patients recently diagnosed with persistent AF and having beta-1 389 arginine homozygous genotype, the genotype the Company believes responds most favorably to Gencaro. The primary endpoint of GENETIC-AF is time to recurrent symptomatic AF/atrial flutter (AFL) or all-cause mortality. ARCA has created an adaptive design for GENETIC-AF. The Company has initiated screening of patients for the Phase 2B study of approximately 200 HFREF patients. The GENETIC-AF Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) will analyze certain data from the Phase 2B portion of the trial and recommend, based on a comparison to the pre-trial statistical assumptions, whether the trial should proceed to Phase 3 and enroll an additional 420 patients. The DSMB will make their recommendation based on analysis of certain trial data after 200 patients have been enrolled and have completed 24 weeks of follow-up, the period for measuring the trial’s primary end-point. The interim analysis will focus on available data regarding the trial’s primary end point, AF event rates, AF burden, and safety. Should the DSMB interim analysis conclude the data is consistent with the pre-trial statistical assumptions and indicates potential for achieving statistical significance for the Phase 3 endpoint, then the DSMB may recommend the study proceed to Phase 3. The DSMB may also recommend changes to the study design before potentially proceeding to Phase 3, or it may recommend that the study not proceed to Phase 3. The Company, in consultation with the trial’s clinical steering committee and the DSMB, will make the final determination on the trial’s development steps. The Company believes the Phase 2B portion of the study would take approximately two and one-half years to complete from the time the first patient is enrolled until the planned DSMB interim analysis of data from the initial 200 patients. 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 the Company believes may 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, a Gencaro patent will be eligible for patent term extension based on our current clinical trial plans which, if granted, may provide market exclusivity for Gencaro into 2029 or 2030 in the U.S. and Europe. To complete both phases of the GENETIC-AF clinical trial and submit for FDA approval, the Company will need to raise additional capital. If the Company is unable to obtain additional funding or is unable to complete a strategic transaction, it may have to discontinue development activities on Gencaro or discontinue its operations.
Development Stage Risks, Liquidity and Going Concern | 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 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 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 $108.5 million and had negative cash flows from operations of $106.4 million. During 2013, the Company raised approximately $19.3 million, net of offering costs, through sales of its convertible preferred and common stock and warrants. In February 2014, the Company completed a public equity offering raising approximately $7.9 million in net proceeds to provide additional funds for the Phase 2B/3 GENETIC-AF trial and the Company’s ongoing operations. The Company has initiated screening of patients for the Phase 2B/3 GENETIC-AF trial, and the Company anticipates that its current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund its operations, at its projected cost structure, through at least the end of 2015. However, in light of the significant uncertainties regarding clinical development timelines and costs for developing drugs such as Gencaro, the Company expects to need to raise additional capital to finance the completion of GENETIC-AF and the Company’s ongoing operations. 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 operations. 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:
— | progress of GENETIC-AF enrollment and any data that may become available;
— | the costs and timing for the GENETIC-AF clinical trial in order to gain possible FDA approval for Gencaro;
— | the market price of the Company’s stock and the availability and cost of additional equity capital;
— | the Company’s ability to retain the listing of its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market;
— | general economic and industry conditions affecting the availability and cost of capital;
— | the Company’s ability to control costs associated with its operations;
— | the costs of filing, prosecuting, defending and enforcing any patent claims and other intellectual property rights; and
— | 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, 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. The significant uncertainties surrounding the clinical development timelines and costs and the need to raise a significant amount of capital raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. 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.
Reverse Stock Split | Reverse Stock Split On March 4, 2013, the Company completed a 1-for-6 reverse split of its common stock. All common shares and per common share amounts in the financial statements and footnotes have been adjusted retroactively to reflect the effects of this action.
Basis of Presentation | 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, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of results expected for the full year ending December 31, 2014. 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, 2014. 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, 2013 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as amended. Amounts presented are rounded to the nearest thousand, where indicated, except per share data and par values.
Concentrations of Credit Risk | 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 | 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.

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