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Significant Accounting Policies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

1.	Significant Accounting Policies

Description of Operations

FibroGen, Inc. (“FibroGen” or the “Company”) was incorporated in 1993 in Delaware and are headquartered in San Francisco, California, with subsidiary offices in Beijing and Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (“China”). FibroGen is a leading biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutics. The Company applies its pioneering expertise in hypoxia-inducible factor (“HIF”), connective tissue growth factor (“CTGF”) biology, and clinical development to advance innovative medicines for the treatment of anemia, fibrotic disease, and cancer.

Roxadustat, FibroGen’s most advanced product, is an oral small molecule inhibitor of HIF prolyl hydroxylase (“HIF-PH”) activity that has received marketing authorization in China for the treatment of anemia caused by chronic kidney disease (“CKD”) in dialysis and non-dialysis patients. Evrenzo® (roxadustat) is also approved in Japan for the treatment of anemia associated with CKD in dialysis patients. In January 2020, Astellas Pharma Inc. (“Astellas”) submitted a supplemental New Drug Application (“NDA”) in Japan for the treatment of anemia in non-dialysis CKD patients.

The Company’s NDA filing in the United States (“U.S.”) for roxadustat for the treatment of anemia in dialysis and non-dialysis CKD patients was accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) in February 2020. In Europe, the Marketing Authorization Application (“MAA”) filing with the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) is expected in the second quarter of 2020 for CKD in both dialysis and non-dialysis.

Roxadustat is in Phase 3 clinical development in the U.S. and Europe and in Phase 2/3 development in China for anemia associated with myelodysplastic syndromes (“MDS”). Roxadustat is in Phase 2 clinical development for chemotherapy-induced anemia.

Pamrevlumab, an anti-CTGF human monoclonal antibody, is in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of both idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (“IPF”) and pancreatic cancer. Pamrevlumab is also currently in a Phase 2 trial for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (“DMD”).

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of FibroGen, its wholly owned subsidiaries and its majority-owned subsidiaries, FibroGen Europe Oy and FibroGen China Anemia Holdings, Ltd. (“FibroGen China”). All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company operates as one segment — the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat serious unmet medical needs.

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) applicable to interim financial reporting and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, therefore, do not include all information and footnote disclosures normally included in the annual consolidated financial statements. The financial information included herein should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC for the year ended December 31, 2019 (“2019 Form 10-K”).

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. 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. In the Company’s opinion, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all normal recurring adjustments necessary for a fair statement of its financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented.

Net Loss per Share

Diluted weighted average shares did not include 8.7 million and 9.5 million securities for the three months March 31, 2020 and 2019, as they were anti-dilutive.

Risks and Uncertainties

The Company’s business is subject to risks and uncertainties, including those related to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and the associated disease (“COVID-19”) and the related shelter-in-place, stay-at-home and other similar governmental orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the first quarter of 2020, the Company experienced slower enrollment in its clinical trials due to the interruption caused by COVID-19 in the normal worldwide healthcare system, as well as an impact on its roxadustat sales in China due to the social distancing and other restrictions put in place, particularly during February and March. The future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business is highly uncertain and difficult to predict. The COVID-19 pandemic may continue to affect enrollment in and initiation of the Company’s clinical trials, and could affect the Company’s supply chain if further social distancing and other business restrictions are put in place by various government entities, particularly in China and the U.S. COVID-19 may affect the health of the Company’s employees limiting the Company’s productivity. The COVID-19 pandemic may also impact the market for the Company’s products and product candidates in the future, affecting sales of the Company’s products. Such possible risks and uncertain impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s drug development, commercialization revenues, and other portions of its business, and in particular, could impact the Company’s assumptions of accounts receivable collectability, fair value measurements of investments, liquidity, and development costs. The extent of the pandemic’s effect on our operational and financial performance will depend in large part on future developments, particularly with respect to the scope and severity of the pandemic, governmental restrictions put in place to fight the pandemic, and the development of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the unprecedented and rapidly evolving situation, we are unable to estimate the likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our future operations.

Recently Issued and Adopted Accounting Guidance

In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. This guidance requires capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software (and hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license). This guidance was effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2020 using the prospective method, and the adoption of this guidance did not have material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”). This guidance is intended to provide financial statement users with more decision-useful information about the expected credit losses on financial instruments and other commitments to extend credit held by a reporting entity at each reporting date. This guidance requires the measurement of financial assets with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. This guidance requires an impairment model, known as the current expected credit loss model, which is based on expected losses rather than incurred losses. Entities are required to carry an allowance for expected credit losses for financial assets, including most debt instruments (except those carried at fair value) and trade receivables. In November 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-11, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses (“ASU 2019-11”), which has the same effective dates and transition requirements as ASU 2016-13. ASU 2016-13 and ASU 2019-11 were effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2019 including interim periods. The Company’s investment portfolio primarily consists of U.S. Treasury bills and notes carried at fair value, which is required to follow the impairment model under Topic 326. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2020. Based on the composition of the Company’s trade receivables and investment portfolio, economic conditions and historical credit loss activity, the adoption of this guidance did not have material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Guidance Not Yet Adopted

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. This guidance simplifies the accounting for income taxes by clarifying and amending existing guidance related to the recognition of franchise tax, the evaluation of a step up in the tax basis of goodwill, and the effects of enacted changes in tax laws or rates in the effective tax rate computation, among other clarifications. This guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2020 including interim periods, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not plan to early adopt this guidance and does not anticipate a material impact to its consolidated financial statements upon adoption of this guidance.

Significant Accounting Policies

The accounting policies used by the Company in its presentation of interim financial results are consistent with those presented in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements included in the 2019 Form 10-K, except for the following:

Trade accounts receivable

The allowance for doubtful accounts is based on the Company’s assessment of the collectability of customer accounts. The Company makes estimates of expected credit losses for the allowance for doubtful accounts by considering factors such as historical experience, credit quality, the age of the accounts receivable balances, current economic and regulatory conditions that may affect a customer’s ability to pay, and estimates of expected future losses. The Company’s bad debt expense for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and the allowance for doubtful accounts as of March 31, 2020 were immaterial.

Credit losses – Available-for-sale debt securities

The Company periodically assesses its available-for-sale investments for other-than-temporary impairment. For debt securities in an unrealized loss position, the Company first considers its intent to sell, or whether it is more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the debt securities before recovery of their amortized cost basis. If either of these criteria are met, the amortized cost basis of such debt securities is written down to fair value through interest and other, net.

For debt securities in an unrealized loss position that do not meet the aforementioned criteria, the Company assesses whether the decline in the fair value of such debt securities has resulted from credit losses or other factors. The Company considers the extent to which fair value is less than amortized cost, any changes to the rating of the security by a rating agency, and any adverse conditions specifically related to the securities, among other factors. If this assessment indicates that a credit loss may exist, the Company then compares the present value of cash flows expected to be collected from such securities to their amortized cost basis. If the present value of cash flows expected to be collected is less than the amortized cost basis, a credit loss exists and an allowance for credit losses is recorded through interest and other, net, limited by the amount that the fair value is less than the amortized cost basis. Any additional impairment not recorded through an allowance for credit losses is recognized in other comprehensive income.

Changes in the allowance for credit losses are recorded as provision for, or reversal of, credit loss expense. Losses are charged against the allowance when the Company believes the uncollectability of an available-for-sale security is confirmed or when either of the criteria regarding intent or requirement to sell is met.