Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) |
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Dec. 31, 2017 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Basis of Presentation The Company’s financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The Company has no subsidiaries. The financial statements may not be indicative of future performance and may not reflect what the Company’s results of operations, financial position, and cash flows would have been had Mustang operated as an independent entity. Certain estimates have been made to provide financial statements for stand-alone reporting purposes. All inter-company transactions between Fortress and Mustang are classified as due to related party in the financial statements. The Company believes that the assumptions underlying the financial statements are reasonable. |
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| Segment Reporting, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Segments Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate discrete information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision maker, or decision making group, in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. The Company views its operations and manages its business in one operating and reporting segment. |
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| Use of Estimates, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with 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 the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. |
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| Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all short-term investments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2017 and at December 31, 2016 consisted of cash, money market funds and certificates of deposit in institutions in the United States. Balances at certain institutions have exceeded Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insured limits. |
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| Cash and Cash Equivalents, Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Restricted Cash The Company records cash held in an escrow account as a security deposit for the manufacturing facility in Worcester, MA as restricted cash. The Facility is expected to initiate cell processing operations for personalized CAR T therapies in late 2018. |
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| Investment, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Short-term Investments
The Company classifies its certificates of deposit as cash and cash equivalents or held to maturity in accordance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 320, Investments - Debt and Equity Securities. The Company considers all investments with an original maturity in excess of three months when purchased to be short-term investments. Investments consist of short-term FDIC insured certificates of deposit carried at amortized cost using the effective interest method. The cost of the Company’s certificates of deposit approximated fair value. The Company reassesses the appropriateness of the classification of its investments at the end of each reporting period.
At December 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $40.0 million in certificates of deposit. The Company classified $14.0 million as cash and cash equivalents and classified $26.0 million of its certificates of deposits as held-to-maturity as of December 31, 2017. There were no short-term investments as of December 31, 2016. This classification was based upon management’s determination that it has the positive intent and ability to hold the securities until their maturity dates, as its investments mature within one year and the underlying cash invested in these securities is not required for current operations. |
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| Property, Plant and Equipment, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Property, plant and equipment, net
Property and equipment, net, which consists mainly of laboratory equipment, are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is computed over the estimated useful lives of the respective assets, generally five years, using the straight-line method. Property and equipment - Construction in Process
In connection with the Company’s cell processing facility, the Company incurred $1.2 million related to the design and construction of the facility and the purchase of equipment which are recorded in fixed assets on the balance sheet at December 31, 2017. Upon completion of the facility’s construction all costs associated with the buildout will be recorded as leasehold improvements and amortized over the shorter of the estimated useful lives or the term of the respective leases, upon the improvement being placed in service. |
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| Research and Development Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Research and Development Costs Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Advance payments for goods and services that will be used in future research and development activities are expensed when the activity has been performed or when the goods have been received rather than when the payment is made. Upfront and milestone payments due to third parties that perform research and development services on the Company’s behalf will be expensed as services are rendered or when the milestone is achieved. Research and development costs primarily consist of personnel related expenses, including salaries, benefits, travel, and other related expenses, stock-based compensation, payments made to third parties for license and milestone costs related to in-licensed products and technology, payments made to third party contract research organizations for preclinical and clinical studies, investigative sites for clinical trials, consultants, the cost of acquiring and manufacturing clinical trial materials, costs associated with regulatory filings, laboratory costs and other supplies. Costs incurred in obtaining technology licenses are charged to research and development expense if the technology licensed has not reached commercial feasibility and has no alternative future use. The licenses purchased by the Company require substantial completion of research and development, regulatory and marketing approval efforts to reach commercial feasibility and has no alternative future use. Accordingly, the total purchase price for the licenses acquired is reflected as research and development - licenses acquired on the Company’s Statements of Operations. |
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| Annual Equity Fee [Policy Text Block] |
Annual Equity Fee Prior to the July 2016 amendment to the Founder’s Agreement, Fortress was entitled to an annual fee on each anniversary date equal to 2.5% of the fully diluted outstanding equity of the Company, payable in Mustang Class B Common Stock (“Annual Equity Fee”). The annual equity fee was part of consideration payable for formation of the Company and identification of certain assets. The Company recorded the Annual Equity Fee in connection with the Founders Agreement with Mustang as contingent consideration. Contingent consideration is recorded when probable and reasonably estimable. The Company’s future share prices cannot be estimated due to the nature of its assets and the Company’s stage of development. Due to these uncertainties, the Company concluded that it could not reasonably estimate the contingent consideration until shares were issued on March 13, 2016. Because the issuance of shares on March 13, 2016 occurred prior to the issuance of the December 31, 2015 financial statements, the Company recorded approximately $0.2 million in research and development - licenses acquired during the period from March 13, 2015 (inception) through December 31, 2015. Pursuant to the terms of the Mustang Founders Agreement, as amended in July 2016, this equity fee is no longer payable. |
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| Annual Stock Dividend [Policy Text Block] |
Annual Stock Dividend In July 2016, in connection with the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, the Company issued 250,000 Class A preferred shares to Fortress. The Class A preferred shares entitle the holder to a stock dividend equal to 2.5% of the fully diluted outstanding equity of the Company (“The Annual Stock Dividend”). The Annual Stock Dividend was part of the consideration payable for formation of the Company and the identification of certain assets, including the license contributed to Mustang by Fortress (see Note 4). The Company recorded the Annual Stock Dividend due to Fortress as contingent consideration. Contingent consideration is recorded when probable and reasonably estimable. The Company’s future share prices cannot be estimated due to the nature of its assets and the Company’s stage of development. Due to these uncertainties, the Company concluded that it could not reasonably estimate the contingent consideration until shares were actually issued on March 13, 2018 and March 13, 2017. Because the issuance of shares on March 13, 2018 and 2017 occurred prior to the issuance of the December 31, 2017 and 2016 financial statements, respectively, the Company recorded approximately $9.6 million and $4.4 million in research and development - licenses acquired for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. |
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| Fair Value Measurement, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Fair Value Measurement The Company follows accounting guidance on fair value measurements for financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis. Under the accounting guidance, fair value is defined as an exit price, representing the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. As such, fair value is a market-based measurement that should be determined based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or a liability. The accounting guidance requires fair value measurements be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:
The fair value hierarchy also requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. Assets and liabilities measured at fair value are classified in their entirety based on the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular input to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires management to make judgments and consider factors specific to the asset or liability. |
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| Valuation Of Warrant Related To NSC Note [Policy Text Block] |
Valuation of Warrant Related to NSC Note
In accordance with ASC 815, the Company classified the fair value of the warrant (“Contingently Issuable Warrants”) that may have been granted in connection with the NSC Note transferred to the Company in various tranches from July 5, 2016 to October 25, 2016 as a derivative liability as there was a potential that the Company would not have a sufficient number of authorized common shares available to settle this instrument. The Company valued these Contingently Issuable Warrants using an option pricing model (which approximates intrinsic value) with estimates for an expected dividend yield, a risk-free interest rate, and expected volatility together with management’s estimate of the probability of issuance of the Contingently Issuable Warrants. At each reporting period, as long as the Contingently Issuable Warrants were potentially issuable and there was a potential for an insufficient number of authorized shares available to settle the Contingently Issuable Warrants, the Contingently Issuable Warrants should be revalued and any difference from the previous valuation date would be recognized as a change in fair value in the Company’s Statement of Operations. |
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| Share-based Compensation, Option and Incentive Plans Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Stock-Based Compensation Expenses The Company expenses stock-based compensation to employees over the requisite service period based on the estimated grant-date fair value of the awards and forfeiture rates. For stock-based compensation awards to non-employees, the Company re-measures the fair value of the non-employee awards at each reporting period prior to vesting and finally at the vesting date of the award. Changes in the estimated fair value of these non-employee awards are recognized as stock-based compensation expense in the period of change. The assumptions used in calculating the fair value of stock-based awards represent management’s best estimates and involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment. |
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| Reclassified Equity Contracts [Policy Text Block] |
Reclassified Equity Contracts
The Company accounts for potential shares that can be converted to common stock and if converted, will be in excess of authorized shares, as a liability that is recorded on the balance sheet (at fair value) only until the authorized number of shares is increased (at which time the whole liability will be re-measured, with changes in value included in other income/(expense), and then reclassified to additional paid-in capital). The value of the liability was computed by valuing the securities that management believed were most likely to be converted. This liability is revalued at each reporting date with any change in value included in other income / (expense) until such time as enough shares are authorized to cover all potentially convertible instruments. |
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| Income Tax, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Income Taxes The Company records income taxes using the asset and liability method. Deferred income tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax effects attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective income tax bases, and operating loss and tax credit carryforwards. The Company establishes a valuation allowance if management believes it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will not be recovered based on an evaluation of objective verifiable evidence. For tax positions that are more likely than not of being sustained upon audit, the Company recognizes the largest amount of the benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. For tax positions that are not more likely than not of being sustained upon audit, the Company does not recognize any portion of the benefit. The Company files a separate tax return under Sub-chapter C of the Internal Revenue Code. Prior to October 1, 2016, the Company was a subsidiary included in the consolidated tax return of Fortress Biotech, Inc. As a result of issuances of its common stock, the Company exited the consolidated tax group for federal and state income tax purposes. For financial reporting purposes, the Company calculated income tax provision and deferred income tax balances for the year ended December 31, 2016 as if it was a separate entity and had filed its own separate tax return under Sub-Chapter C of the Internal Revenue Code. On December 22, 2017, “H.R.1”, formerly known as the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”, was signed into law. Among other items, H.R.1 reduces the federal corporate tax rate to 21% from the existing maximum rate of 35%, effective January 1, 2018. As a result, the Company has concluded that this will cause the Company’s net deferred tax asset to be revalued at the new lower tax rate. Accordingly, the Company has reduced the value of the deferred tax asset before valuation allowance. |
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| Earnings Per Share, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Net Loss per Share Net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period less unvested restricted stock. Since dividends are declared, paid and set aside among the holders of shares of common stock and Class A common shares pro-rata on an as-if-converted basis, the two-class method of computing net loss per share is not required. Diluted net loss per share does not reflect the effect of shares of common stock to be issued upon the exercise of warrants or outstanding Class A preferred shares, as their inclusion would be anti-dilutive. The table below summarizes potentially dilutive securities that were not considered in the computation of diluted net loss per share because they would be anti-dilutive.
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| Comprehensive Income, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Comprehensive Loss The Company has no components of other comprehensive loss, and therefore, comprehensive loss equals net loss. |
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| New Accounting Pronouncements, Policy [Policy Text Block] |
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In July 2017, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2017-11, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity (Topic 480), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815). The amendments in Part I of this Update change the classification analysis of certain equity-linked financial instruments (or embedded features) with down round features. When determining whether certain financial instruments should be classified as liabilities or equity instruments, a down round feature no longer precludes equity classification when assessing whether the instrument is indexed to an entity’s own stock. The amendments also clarify existing disclosure requirements for equity-classified instruments. As a result, a freestanding equity-linked financial instrument (or embedded conversion option) no longer would be accounted for as a derivative liability at fair value because of the existence of a down round feature. For freestanding equity classified financial instruments, the amendments require entities that present earnings per share (EPS) in accordance with Topic 260 to recognize the effect of the down round feature when it is triggered. That effect is treated as a dividend and as a reduction of income available to common shareholders in basic EPS. Convertible instruments with embedded conversion options that have down round features are now subject to the specialized guidance for contingent beneficial conversion features (in Subtopic 470-20, Debt-Debt with Conversion and Other Options), including related EPS guidance (in Topic 260). The amendments in Part II of this Update recharacterize the indefinite deferral of certain provisions of Topic 480 that now are presented as pending content in the Codification, to a scope exception. Those amendments do not have an accounting effect. For public business entities, the amendments in Part I of this Update are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2018. For all other entities, the amendments in Part I of this Update are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. Early adoption is permitted for all entities, including adoption in an interim period. If an entity early adopts the amendments in an interim period, any adjustments should be reflected as of the beginning of the fiscal year that includes that interim period. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of adopting this standard on the financial statements and disclosures.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which supersedes ASC Topic 840, Leases (Topic 840) and provides principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases for both lessees and lessors. The new standard requires lessees to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase by the lessee. This classification will determine whether lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straightline basis over the term of the lease, respectively. A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than twelve months regardless of classification. Leases with a term of twelve months or less will be accounted for similar to existing guidance for operating leases. The standard is effective for annual and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted upon issuance. The Company is currently evaluating the impact, if any, of adopting this standard on its financial statements and related disclosures. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which requires entities to recognize revenue in a way that depicts the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration the entities expect to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The new guidance 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. The FASB subsequently issued ASU No. 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing to address issues arising from implementation of the new revenue recognition standard. ASU 2014-09 and ASU 2016-10 are effective for interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2018, and may be adopted earlier, but not before January 1, 2017. The revenue standard is required to be adopted by taking either a full retrospective or a modified retrospective approach. Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-01, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Clarifying the Definition of a Business (“ASU 2017-01”). The amendments in this update clarify the definition of a business with the objective of adding guidance to assist entities with evaluating whether transactions should be accounted for as acquisitions (or disposals) of assets or businesses. The definition of a business affects many areas of accounting including acquisitions, disposals, goodwill, and consolidation. The guidance is effective for fiscal periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those periods. The Company adopted ASU 2017-01 on January 1, 2017. The adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements and related disclosures. In November 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230): Restricted Cash (“ASU 2016-18”), which clarifies the presentation of restricted cash in the statements of cash flows. Under ASU 2016-18, restricted cash is included with cash and cash equivalents when reconciling the beginning-of-period and end-of-period total amounts shown on the statements of cash flows. The Company adopted ASU 2016-18 during the year ended December 31, 2017. The following is a summary of our cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash total as presented in the statements of cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 (in thousands):
In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments, which addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice in how certain cash receipts and cash payments are presented and classified in the statement of cash flows. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Company adopted ASU No. 2017-09 as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this update did not impact the Company’s financial statements and related disclosures. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09 Compensation-Stock Compensation (Topic 718), Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2016-09”). Under ASU 2016-09, companies will no longer record excess tax benefits and certain tax deficiencies in additional paid-in capital (“APIC”). Instead, they will record all excess tax benefits and tax deficiencies as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement and the APIC pools will be eliminated. In addition, ASU 2016-09 eliminates the requirement that excess tax benefits be realized before companies can recognize them. ASU 2016-09 also requires companies to present excess tax benefits as an operating activity on the statement of cash flows rather than as a financing activity. Furthermore, ASU 2016-09 will increase the amount an employer can withhold to cover income taxes on awards and still qualify for the exception to liability classification for shares used to satisfy the employer’s statutory income tax withholding obligation. An employer with a statutory income tax withholding obligation will now be allowed to withhold shares with a fair value up to the amount of taxes owed using the maximum statutory tax rate in the employee’s applicable jurisdiction(s). ASU 2016-09 requires a company to classify the cash paid to a tax authority when shares are withheld to satisfy its statutory income tax withholding obligation as a financing activity on the statement of cash flows. Under current GAAP, it was not specified how these cash flows should be classified. In addition, companies will now have to elect whether to account for forfeitures on share-based payments by (1) recognizing forfeitures of awards as they occur or (2) estimating the number of awards expected to be forfeited and adjusting the estimate when it is likely to change, as is currently required. The Amendments of this ASU are effective for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, with early adoption permitted but all of the guidance must be adopted in the same period. The Company adopted ASU 2016-09 on January 1, 2017. The adoption did not have a material impact on the Company’s financial statements and related disclosures. In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities. ASU 2016-01 requires equity investments to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income; simplifies the impairment assessment of equity investments without readily determinable fair values by requiring a qualitative assessment to identify impairment; eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the method(s) and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost on the balance sheet; requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes; requires an entity to present separately in other comprehensive income the portion of the total change in the fair value of a liability resulting from a change in the instrument-specific credit risk when the entity has elected to measure the liability at fair value in accordance with the fair value option for financial instruments; requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial assets on the balance sheet or the accompanying notes to the financial statements and clarifies that an entity should evaluate the need for a valuation allowance on a deferred tax asset related to available-for-sale securities in combination with the entity’s other deferred tax assets. The new standard will be effective on January 1, 2018; however, early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted ASU No. 2016-01 as of January 1, 2018. The adoption of this update did not impact the Company’s financial statements.
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