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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2017
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies |
2. | Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company, its wholly owned subsidiaries and its majority-owned subsidiaries, FibroGen Europe and FibroGen China Anemia Holdings, Ltd. (“FibroGen China”). All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company operates in one segment — the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat serious unmet medical needs. Based upon the current status of, and plans for, its product development, the Company believes that its existing cash and cash equivalents and its short term and long term investments, in addition to expected milestone payments related to certain collaboration agreements, will be adequate to satisfy the Company’s capital needs through at least the next 12 months from the issuance of the consolidated financial statements. However, the process of developing and commercializing products requires significant research and development, preclinical testing and clinical trials, manufacturing arrangements as well as regulatory approvals. These costs, together with the Company’s general and administrative expenses, are expected to result in operating losses until the commercialization of the Company’s products or partner collaborations generate sufficient revenue to cover expenses. To achieve sustained profitability, the Company, alone or with others, must successfully develop its product candidates, obtain required regulatory approvals and successfully manufacture and market its products. Foreign Currency Translation The reporting currency of the Company and its subsidiaries is the United States (“U.S.”) dollar. The functional currency of FibroGen Europe is the Euro. The assets and liabilities of FibroGen Europe are translated to U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. All income statement accounts are translated at monthly average exchange rates. Resulting foreign currency translation adjustments are recorded directly in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. The functional currency of FibroGen, Inc. and all other subsidiaries is the U.S. dollar. Accordingly, monetary assets and liabilities in the non-functional currency of these subsidiaries are remeasured using exchange rates in effect at the end of the period. Revenues and costs in local currency are remeasured using average exchange rates for the period, except for costs related to those balance sheet items that are remeasured using historical exchange rates. The resulting remeasurement gains and losses are included within interest income and other, net in the consolidated statements of operations as incurred and have not been material for all periods presented. Use of Estimates The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The more significant areas requiring the use of management estimates and assumptions include valuation and recognition of revenue, estimates of accruals related to clinical trial costs, valuation allowances for deferred tax assets, and valuation and recognition of stock-based compensation. On an ongoing basis, management reviews these estimates and assumptions. Changes in facts and circumstances may alter such estimates and actual results could differ from those estimates. Concentration of Credit Risk and Other Risks and Uncertainties The Company is subject to risks associated with concentration of credit for cash and cash equivalents. A portion of cash on hand is invested in a diversified portfolio of investment grade corporate bonds issued by U.S. corporations as rated investment grade corporate bonds. Any remaining cash is deposited with major financial institutions in the U.S., Finland, China and the Cayman Islands. At times, such deposits may be in excess of insured limits. The Company has not experienced any loss on its deposits of cash and cash equivalents. Included in current assets are significant balances of accounts receivable as follows:
|  | December 31, |
|  | 2017 |  |  | 2016 |
Astellas Pharma Inc. (“Astellas”)—Related party |  |  | 47 | % |  |  | 39 | %
AstraZeneca AB (“AstraZeneca”) |  |  | 53 | % |  |  | 61 | %
The Company’s future results of operations involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could affect the Company’s future operating results and cause actual results to vary materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, rapid technological change, the results of clinical trials and the achievement of milestones, market acceptance of the Company’s product candidates, competition from other products and larger companies, protection of proprietary technology, strategic relationships and dependence on key individuals. Cash, Cash Equivalents and Restricted Time Deposits The Company considers all highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less and that are used in the Company’s cash management activities at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents include money market accounts, various deposit accounts, and money market funds. Restricted time deposits include an irrevocable standby letter of credit as security deposit for a long-term property lease with the Company’s landlord. Restricted time deposits as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 totaled $5.2 million and $6.2 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, a total of $32.3 million of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents is held outside of the U.S. in the Company’s foreign subsidiaries to be used primarily for the Company’s China operations. Investments The Company classifies its investments as available-for-sale. Those investments with maturities less than 12 months are considered short-term investments. Those investments with maturities greater than 12 months are considered long-term investments. The Company’s investments classified as available-for-sale are recorded at fair value based upon quoted market prices at period end. Unrealized gains and losses that are deemed temporary in nature are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. A decline in the fair value of any security below cost that is deemed other than temporary results in a charge to earnings and the corresponding establishment of a new cost basis for the security. Premiums and discounts are amortized (accreted) over the life of the related security as an adjustment to its yield. Dividend and interest income are recognized when earned. Realized gains and losses are included in earnings and are derived using the specific identification method for determining the cost of investments sold. Fair Value of Financial Instruments Carrying amounts of certain of the Company’s financial instruments including cash equivalents, investments, receivables, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate fair value (refer to Note 4). Property and Equipment Property and equipment (except for costs of construction of certain long-lived assets — refer to Note 8) are recorded at cost and depreciated over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method. Computer equipment, laboratory equipment, and furniture and fixtures are depreciated over three to five years. Leasehold improvements are recorded at cost and amortized over the term of the lease or their useful life, whichever is shorter. Impairment of Long-Lived Assets The Company continually evaluates whether events or circumstances have occurred that indicate that the estimated remaining useful life of its long-lived assets may warrant revision or that the carrying value of these assets may be impaired. If the Company determines that an impairment trigger has been met, the Company evaluates the realizability of its long-lived assets based on a comparison of projected undiscounted cash flows from use and eventual disposition with the carrying value of the related asset. Any write-downs (which are measured based on the difference between the fair value and the carrying value of the asset) are treated as permanent reductions in the carrying amount of the assets (asset group). Based on this evaluation, the Company believes that, as of each of the balance sheet dates presented, none of the Company’s long-lived assets were impaired. Revenue Recognition Substantially all of the Company’s revenues to date have been generated from its collaboration agreements. The Company’s collaboration agreements include multiple deliverables, and the Company therefore follows the guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 605-25, Revenue Recognition—Multiple-Element Arrangements, (“ASC 605-25”), which:
• | provides guidance on how deliverables in an arrangement should be separated and how the arrangement consideration should be allocated to the separate units of accounting;
• | requires an entity to determine the selling price of a separate deliverable using a hierarchy of (i) vendor-specific objective evidence (“VSOE”), (ii) third-party evidence (“TPE”), or (iii) best estimate of selling price (“BESP”); and
• | requires the allocation of the arrangement consideration, at the inception of the arrangement, to the separate units of accounting based on relative selling price.
The Company evaluates all deliverables within an arrangement to determine whether or not they provide value on a stand-alone basis. Based on this evaluation, the deliverables are separated into units of accounting. The arrangement consideration that is fixed or determinable at the inception of the arrangement is allocated to the separate units of accounting based on their relative selling prices. Significant judgment may be required in determining whether a deliverable provides stand-alone value, determining the amount of arrangement consideration that is fixed or determinable, and estimating the stand-alone selling price of each unit of accounting. To date, the Company has determined that the selling price for the deliverables within its collaboration agreements should be determined using BESP, as neither VSOE nor TPE is available. The process for determining BESP involves significant judgment on the Company’s part and includes consideration of multiple factors, including assumptions related to the market opportunity and the time needed to commercialize a product candidate pursuant to the relevant license, estimated direct expenses and other costs, which include the rates normally charged by contract research and contract manufacturing organizations for development and manufacturing obligations, and rates that would be charged by qualified outsiders for committee services. For each unit of accounting identified within an arrangement, the Company determines the period over which the deliverables are provided and the performance obligation is satisfied. Service revenue is recognized using a proportional performance method. Direct labor hours or full time equivalents are typically used as the measurement of performance. Revenue may be recognized using a straight line method when performance is expected to occur roughly consistently over a period of time. Payments or reimbursements resulting from the Company’s research and development efforts for those arrangements where such efforts are considered as deliverables are recognized as the services are performed and are presented on a gross basis. To the extent payments are required to be made to the collaboration partners pursuant to research and development efforts, those costs are charged to research and development using the guidance pursuant to ASC 605-250, Customer Payments and Incentives, which states that cash consideration given by a vendor to a customer is presumed to be a reduction of the selling prices unless the vendor receives an identifiable benefit in exchange for the consideration that is sufficiently separable from the recipient’s purchase of the vendor’s products, and the vendor can reasonably estimate the fair value of the benefit. Each of the Company’s collaboration agreements includes milestones for which the Company follows ASC 605-28, Revenue Recognition—Milestone Method (“ASC 605-28”). ASC 605-28 establishes the milestone method as an acceptable method of revenue recognition for certain contingent event-based payments under research and development arrangements. Under the milestone method, a payment that is contingent upon the achievement of a substantive milestone is recognized in its entirety in the period in which the milestone is achieved. A milestone is an event (i) that can only be achieved based in whole or in part on either the Company’s performance or on the occurrence of a specific outcome resulting from the Company’s performance, (ii) for which there is substantive uncertainty at the date the arrangement is entered into that the event will be achieved and (iii) that would result in additional payments being due to the Company. Determining whether a milestone is substantive is a matter of judgment and that assessment must be made at the inception of the arrangement. Milestones are considered substantive when the consideration earned from the achievement of the milestone is (i) commensurate with either the Company’s performance to achieve the milestone or the enhancement of the value of the item delivered as a result of a specific outcome resulting from the Company’s performance to achieve the milestone, (ii) relates solely to past performance and (iii) is reasonable relative to all deliverables and payment terms in the arrangement. Payments for achieving milestones which are not considered substantive are treated as additional arrangement consideration and are allocated following the relative selling price method previously described. Research and Development Expenses Research and development expenses consist of independent research and development costs and the gross amount of costs associated with work performed under collaboration agreements. Research and development costs include employee-related expenses, expenses incurred under agreements with clinical research organizations (“CROs”), other clinical and preclinical costs and allocated direct and indirect overhead costs, such as facilities costs, information technology costs and other overhead. All research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Clinical Trial Accruals Clinical trial costs are a component of research and development expenses. The Company accrues and expenses clinical trial activities performed by third parties based upon actual work completed in accordance with agreements established with clinical research organizations and clinical sites. The Company determines the costs to be recorded based upon validation with the external service providers as to the progress or stage of completion of trials or services and the agreed-upon fee to be paid for such services. General and Administrative Expenses General and administrative expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses for executive, operational, finance, legal and human resource functions. Other general and administrative expenses include facility-related costs and professional service fees, other outside services, recruiting fees and expenses associated with obtaining and maintaining patents. Income Taxes The Company utilizes the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and income tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates. Management makes estimates, assumptions and judgments to determine the Company’s provision for income taxes and also for deferred tax assets and liabilities, and any valuation allowances recorded against the Company’s deferred tax assets. The Company assesses the likelihood that its deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent the Company believes that recovery is not likely, the Company must establish a valuation allowance. The calculation of the Company’s current provision for income taxes involves the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments while taking into account current tax laws, interpretation of current tax laws and possible outcomes of future tax audits. The Company has established reserves to address potential exposures related to tax positions that could be challenged by tax authorities. Although the Company believes its estimates, assumptions and judgments to be reasonable, any changes in tax law or its interpretation of tax laws and the resolutions of potential tax audits could significantly impact the amounts provided for income taxes in the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The calculation of the Company’s deferred tax asset balance involves the use of estimates, assumptions and judgments while taking into account estimates of the amounts and type of future taxable income. Actual future operating results and the underlying amount and type of income could differ materially from the Company’s estimates, assumptions and judgments thereby impacting the Company’s financial position and results of operations. The Company has adopted ASC 740-10, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, that prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the Company’s income tax return, and also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition. The Company includes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within income tax expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Stock-Based Compensation The Company maintains equity incentive plans under which incentive and nonqualified stock options are granted to employees and non-employee consultants. Compensation expense relating to non-employee stock options has not been material for all the periods presented. The Company measures and recognizes compensation expense for all stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) granted to its employees and directors based on the estimated fair value of the award on the grant date. The Company uses the Black-Scholes valuation model to estimate the fair value of stock option awards. The fair value is recognized as expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period of the respective award, on a straight-line basis. The Company believes that the fair value of stock options granted to non-employees is more reliably measured than the fair value of the services received. As such, the fair value of the unvested portion of the options granted to non-employees is re-measured each period. The resulting increase in value, if any, is recognized as expense during the period the related services are rendered on a straight-line basis. The determination of the grant date fair value of options using an option pricing model is affected by the Company’s estimated Common Stock fair value and requires management to make a number of assumptions including the expected life of the option, the volatility of the underlying stock, the risk-free interest rate and expected dividends. Comprehensive Income (Loss) The Company is required to report all components of comprehensive income (loss), including net loss, in the consolidated financial statements in the period in which they are recognized. Comprehensive income (loss) is defined as the change in equity during a period from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, including unrealized gains and losses on investments and foreign currency translation adjustments. Comprehensive gains (losses) have been reflected in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) for all periods presented. Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Guidance In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718). This guidance identifies areas for simplification involving several aspects of accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, an option to recognize gross stock compensation expense with actual forfeitures recognized as they occur, as well as certain classifications on the statement of cash flows. This guidance was effective for the annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within that reporting period. The Company adopted this guidance as of January 1, 2017 and has elected to continue with its existing policy to estimate forfeitures expected to occur when calculating stock compensation expense. Upon adoption, the Company recorded a retrospective increase of $19.5 million in deferred tax assets for previously unrecognized excess tax benefits that existed as of December 31, 2016, and a corresponding increase of $19.5 million in the valuation allowance against these deferred tax assets, as substantially all of the Company’s U.S. and foreign deferred tax assets, net of deferred tax liabilities, are subject to a full valuation allowance. As such, the net impact from these retrospective adjustments was zero to the Company’s accumulated deficit. The adoption of this guidance had no impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017. Recently Issued Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting. This guidance provides guidance about which changes to the terms or conditions of a stock-based payment award require an entity to apply modification accounting in Topic 718. This guidance is effective for annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods, with early adoption permitted. While the Company is in the process of finalizing its assessment, it expects the impact on its consolidated financial statements to be immaterial upon the adoption of this guidance. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This guidance requires that financial assets measured at amortized cost be presented at the net amount expected to be collected. The measurement of expected credit losses is based on historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability. This guidance is effective for the annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within that reporting period. The Company is currently evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon the adoption of this guidance. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). Under this guidance, an entity is required to recognize right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on its balance sheet and disclose key information about leasing arrangements. This guidance offers specific accounting guidance for a lessee, a lessor and sale and leaseback transactions. Lessees and lessors are required to disclose qualitative and quantitative information about leasing arrangements to enable a user of the financial statements to assess the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. This guidance is effective for the annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within that reporting period, and requires a modified retrospective adoption, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact on its consolidated financial statements upon the adoption of this guidance. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Financial Instruments-Overall (Subtopic 825-10). This guidance requires equity investments that are not accounted for under the equity method of accounting to be measured at fair value with changes recognized in net income, simplifies the impairment assessment of certain equity investments, and updates certain presentation and disclosure requirements. This guidance is effective for the annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2017 and interim periods within those annual periods. While the Company is in the process of finalizing its assessment, it expects the impact on its consolidated financial statements to be immaterial upon the adoption of this guidance. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) (“ASU 2014-09”), which supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 605, Revenue Recognition. ASU 2014-09 is based on the principle that revenue is recognized to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. ASU 2014-09 also requires additional disclosure about the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from customer contracts, including significant judgments and changes in judgments and assets recognized from costs incurred to obtain or fulfill a contract. Subsequently, the FASB has issued the following standards related to ASU 2014-09: ASU No. 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (“ASU 2016-08”); ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing (“ASU 2016-10”); ASU No. 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients (“ASU 2016-12”); and ASU No. 2016-20, Technical Corrections and Improvements to Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASU 2016-20”). The Company must adopt ASU 2016-08, ASU 2016-10, ASU 2016-12 and ASU 2016-20 with ASU 2014-09 (collectively, the “new revenue standards”). The amendments may be applied retrospectively to each prior period (full retrospective) or retrospectively with the cumulative effect recognized as of the date of initial application (modified retrospective). The Company has substantially completed its evaluation related to the adoption of ASU 2014-09, applying the five-step model of the new standard to its various revenue related arrangement. The Company has concluded that its collaboration agreements with Astellas Pharma Inc. and AstraZeneca AB are the only material contracts which will be impacted by the adoption of the new revenue standards. The Company has concluded the distinct criteria evaluated under ASC 605-25 for each performance obligation will result in a similar conclusion under the new revenue standards. With respect to milestones that were previously recognized under ASC 605-28, the milestone method is not applicable under the new revenue standards, and they are considered part of the overall arrangement consideration which will result in a deferral of revenue under the new revenue standards as part of the adoption. The Company will adopt the new revenue standards in the first quarter of 2018 and apply the full retrospective method to restate each prior reporting period presented in the consolidated financial statements. Based on the current evaluation, the Company expects to record an increase in revenue of $5.3 million and $3.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, a reduction in revenue of $8.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, and an increase in the opening accumulative deficit of $35.2 million as of e January 1, 2015. The new revenue standard is principle based and interpretation of those principles may vary from company to company based on their unique circumstances. It is possible that interpretation, industry practice, and guidance may evolve as companies and the accounting profession work to implement this new standard. The Company is still in the process of finalizing its evaluation of the effect of the new revenue standards on the Company’s historical financial statements and disclosures. As the Company completes its evaluation of these new revenue standards, new information may arise that could change the Company's current understanding of the impact to revenues recognized and its views on the expected impact to the periods prior to adoption.

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