Geneos Therapeutics, Inc.

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2022

Geneos Therapeutics, Inc. In 2016, the Company formed Geneos to develop and commercialize neoantigen-based personalized cancer therapies. Geneos was considered a variable interest entity (VIE) for which the Company was the primary beneficiary. In 2019, Geneos completed the initial closing of a Series A preferred stock financing. The Company invested $1.2 million in the Series A preferred stock financing, which was led by an outside investor. Following this transaction, the Company held 61% of the outstanding equity, on an as-converted to common stock basis, of Geneos and continued to consolidate its investment in Geneos under ASC 810, Consolidation.

In January 2020, Geneos completed the second closing of the Series A preferred stock financing, in which the Company invested $800,000. Following this transaction, the Company held 52% of the outstanding equity, on an as-converted to common stock basis, of Geneos and continued to consolidate its investment in Geneos.

In June 2020, Geneos closed an additional Series A preferred stock financing round, in which the Company invested $800,000. Following this transaction, the Company owned 47% of the outstanding equity of Geneos on an as-converted to common stock basis. This transaction triggered a VIE reconsideration, as the Company no longer held a controlling financial interest. Based on the Company’s assessment, Geneos continued to be a VIE as it did not have sufficient equity at risk to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support. However, the Company was not the primary beneficiary of Geneos, as it did not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Geneos’ economic performance. Accordingly, the Company deconsolidated its investment in Geneos as of June 1, 2020, resulting in a gain of $4.1 million, of which $2.4 million related to the remeasurement of the retained noncontrolling interest investment to fair value.

The Company applies the equity method to investments in common stock and to other investments in entities that have risk and reward characteristics that are substantially similar to an investment in the investee’s common stock. Since the Company’s Series A preferred stock investment in Geneos has a substantive liquidation preference, it is not substantially similar to the Company’s common stock investment and will therefore be recorded as an equity security under ASC 321.

Following the deconsolidation, the Company accounts for its common stock investment in Geneos, in which the Company lacks control but does have the ability to exercise significant influence over operating and financial policies, using the equity method. Generally, the ability to exercise significant influence is presumed when the investor possesses more than 20% of the voting interests of the investee. This presumption may be overcome based on specific facts and circumstances that demonstrate that the ability to exercise significant influence is restricted. In applying the equity method, the Company records the investment at cost unless the initial recognition is the result of the deconsolidation of a subsidiary, in which case it is recorded at fair value. The Company's proportionate share of net loss of Geneos is recorded in equity in net earnings of Geneos in the Company's condensed consolidated statements of operations. The Company's equity method investments are reviewed for indicators of impairment at each reporting period and are written down to fair value if there is evidence of a loss in value that is other-than-temporary. Any difference between the carrying amount of the Company’s investment and the amount of underlying equity in Geneos’ net assets is amortized into income or expense accordingly. There were no basis differences identified as of the deconsolidation date that would need to be amortized.

Upon deconsolidation, the Company recorded its Series A preferred stock investment at fair value based on the per share price paid by third party investors in connection with the preferred stock financing on June 1, 2020. The Company has determined that its Series A preferred stock investment in Geneos does not have a readily determinable fair value and has therefore elected the measurement alternative in ASC 321 to subsequently record the investment at cost, less any impairments, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for identical or similar investments of the same issuer. When fair value becomes determinable, from observable price changes in orderly transactions, the Company’s investment will be marked to fair value. There have been no observable price changes or impairments identified since the deconsolidation date.

In November 2020, Geneos completed the closing of a Series A-1 preferred stock financing. The Company invested $1.4 million in the Series A-1 preferred stock financing, which was led by outside investors. The closing date of this transaction was determined to be a VIE reconsideration event; based on the Company’s assessment, Geneos continued to be a VIE as it did not have sufficient equity at risk to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support. The Company continued to not be the primary beneficiary of Geneos, as it did not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Geneos’s economic performance and should not consolidate Geneos. Following this transaction, the Company held approximately 36% of the outstanding equity, on an as-converted to common stock basis. Accordingly, the Company continued to account for its common stock investment in Geneos as an equity method investment under ASC 323 and its preferred stock investments as equity securities under ASC 321.

The Company’s share of net losses of Geneos for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was $1.5 million; however, only $434,000 was recorded, reducing the Company's total investment in Geneos to $0. Of the total amount, $819,000 has been allocated to the equity method investment, thereby reducing the balance to $0 as of March 31, 2021. The remaining $4.2 million loss has been allocated to the Company’s Series A and Series A-1 preferred stock investment in Geneos, on a ratable basis, thereby reducing the balance to $0 as of March 31, 2021.

The Company will not reduce its investment below $0 and will not record its share of further net losses of Geneos as the Company has no obligation to fund Geneos.

In February 2021, Geneos completed a second closing of the Series A-1 preferred stock financing, in which the Company did not participate. Following this transaction, the Company held approximately 35% of the outstanding equity, on an as-converted to common stock basis.

In March 2022, Geneos completed the closing of a Series A-2 preferred stock financing. The Company invested $2.0 million in the Series A-2 preferred stock financing, which was led by outside investors. The closing date of this transaction was determined to be a VIE reconsideration event; based on the Company’s assessment, Geneos continues to be a VIE as it does not have sufficient equity at risk to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support. The Company continues to not be the primary beneficiary of Geneos, as it does not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact Geneos’s economic performance and should not consolidate Geneos. Following this transaction, the Company held approximately 24% of the outstanding equity, on an as-converted to common stock basis. Accordingly, the Company continues to account for its common stock investment in Geneos as an equity method investment under ASC 323 and its preferred stock investments as equity securities under ASC 321.

The fair value of Geneos’s Series A-2 preferred stock was based on the per share price paid by third-party investors in connection with the closing on March 21, 2022. The Company has concluded that its Series A-2 preferred stock investment is a similar financial instrument as its Series A-1 preferred stock, and therefore remeasured the carrying value of the Series A-1 preferred stock investment at the Series A-2 preferred stock price, resulting in a gain on remeasurement of $165,000.

The Company recorded its current and accumulated share of net losses of Geneos of $2.2 million, which was allocated to the Series A-1 and Series A-2 preferred stock investment in Geneos, thereby reducing the balance to $0 as of March 31, 2022 as shown in the table below:



Investment in Geneos Series A-2 preferred stock	$	1,999,998
Remeasurement of Geneos Series A-1 preferred stock	165,215
Share in current and accumulated net loss of Geneos for the three months ended March 31, 2022	(2,165,213)
Investment in Geneos as of March 31, 2022	$	—

The Company continues to exclusively license its SynCon® immunotherapy and CELLECTRA® technology platform to Geneos to be used in the field of personalized, neoantigen-based therapy for cancer. The license agreement provides for potential royalty payments to the Company in the event that Geneos commercializes any products using the licensed technology. The Company is not obligated to use any of its assets to fund the future operations of Geneos.

The Company's Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Laurent Humeau is on the Board of Directors of Geneos. The Company's director Dr. David B. Weiner is the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Geneos.