Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Nature of Business

v3.22.0.1
Nature of Business
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Nature of Business

1. Nature of Business

 

Syros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the "Company"), a Delaware corporation formed in November 2011, is a biopharmaceutical company seeking to redefine the power of small molecules to control the expression of genes.

 

The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to those of other early stage companies, including dependence on key individuals; risks inherent in the development and commercialization of medicines to treat human disease; competition from other companies, many of which are larger and better capitalized; risks relating to obtaining and maintaining necessary intellectual property protection; and the need to obtain adequate additional financing to fund the development of its product candidates and discovery activities. If the Company is unable to raise capital when needed or on favorable terms, it would be forced to delay, reduce, eliminate or out-license certain of its research and development programs or future commercialization rights to its product candidates.

 

In January 2021, the Company issued and sold an aggregate of 5,400,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in an underwritten public offering at a public offering price of $14.00 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of $75.6 million before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other transaction expenses of approximately $5.1 million.

On December 8, 2020, through a private placement, the Company issued 10,312,500 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and, in lieu of such shares of common stock, pre-funded warrants (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”) to purchase an aggregate of 1,000,000 shares of common stock, and, in each case, accompanying warrants (the “Warrants”) to purchase an aggregate of up to 2,828,125 additional shares of common stock (or Pre-Funded Warrants to purchase common stock in lieu thereof) at a price of $8.00 per share and accompanying Warrant (or $7.99 per Pre-Funded Warrant and accompanying Warrant). The private placement resulted in gross proceeds of $90.5 million, before $0.4 million of transaction costs.

 

On December 4, 2020, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”) with Orsenix, LLC (“Orsenix”), pursuant to which the Company acquired all of Orsenix’s assets related to a novel oral form of arsenic trioxide, which the Company refers to as SY-2101 (the “Product”). Under the terms of the Asset Purchase Agreement, the Company was required to pay to Orsenix an upfront fee of $12.0 million, which was paid with cash on hand upon the closing of the transaction. In addition the Company is required to pay single-digit million dollar milestone payments related to the development of the Product in indications other than APL; $6.0 million following the achievement of a regulatory milestone related to the development of the Product in APL; and up to $10.0 million upon the achievement of certain commercial milestones with respect to the Product.

 

In April 2019, the Company completed two concurrent underwritten public offerings of the Company’s equity securities, which together resulted in gross proceeds to the Company of $70.0 million, before underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses of approximately $5.0 million. In one of the public offerings, the Company sold 8,667,333 shares of its common stock and accompanying Class A warrants (the “2019 Warrants”) to purchase 1,951,844 shares of the Company’s common stock, at a combined price to the public of $7.50 per common share and accompanying 2019 Warrant. In the other public offering, the Company sold 666 shares of its Series A convertible preferred stock (the “Series A Stock”), and accompanying 2019 Warrants to purchase 166,500 shares of the Company’s common stock, at a combined public offering price of $7,500 per share and accompanying 2019 Warrant. Each 2019 Warrant is immediately exercisable at an exercise price of $8.625 per share, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances, and will expire on October 10, 2022. During November 2019, the Company issued and sold an aggregate of 180,787 shares of its common stock to the public pursuant to its at-the-market sales facility, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds of $0.9 million.

 

The Company has incurred significant annual net operating losses in every year since its inception. It expects to continue to incur significant and increasing net operating losses for at least the next several years. The Company’s net losses were $86.6 million, $84.0 million and $75.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $463.6 million. The Company has not generated any revenues from product sales, has not completed the development of any product candidate and may never have a product candidate approved for commercialization. The Company has financed its operations to date primarily through a credit facility, the sale of equity securities and through license and collaboration agreements. The Company has devoted substantially all of its financial resources and efforts to research and development and general and administrative expense to support such research and development. The Company’s net losses may fluctuate significantly

from quarter to quarter and year to year. Net losses and negative cash flows have had, and will continue to have, an adverse effect on the Company’s stockholders' equity and working capital.

 

Under ASC Topic 205-40, Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern, management is required at each reporting period to evaluate whether there are conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, that raise substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. This evaluation initially does not take into consideration the potential mitigating effect of management’s plans that have not been fully implemented as of the date the financial statements are issued. When substantial doubt exists, management evaluates whether the mitigating effect of its plans sufficiently alleviates the substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The mitigating effect of management’s plans, however, is only considered if both (i) it is probable that the plans will be effectively implemented within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued and (ii) it is probable that the plans, when implemented, will mitigate the relevant conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. Generally, to be considered probable of being effectively implemented, the plans must have been approved by the Company’s board of directors before the date that the financial statements are issued.

 

Successful completion of the Company’s development program and, ultimately, the attainment of profitable operations are dependent upon future events, including obtaining adequate financing to support the Company’s cost structure and operating plan. Management’s plans to alleviate its financing requirements include, among other things, pursuing one or more of the following steps to raise additional capital, none of which can be guaranteed or are entirely within the Company’s control:

 

raise funding through the sale of the Company’s common or preferred stock;

raise funding through debt financing; and

establish collaborations with potential partners to advance the Company’s product pipeline.

 

Based on the Company’s current operating plan, its cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $143.4 million as of December 31, 2021 will allow the Company to meet its liquidity requirements into the first quarter of 2023. The Company’s history of significant losses, its negative cash flows from operations, its limited liquidity resources currently on hand, and its dependence on its ability to obtain additional financing to fund its operations after the current resources are exhausted, about which there can be no certainty, have resulted in management’s assessment that there is substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from the issuance date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business, and do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

 

If the Company is unable to raise capital when needed or on acceptable terms, or if it is unable to procure collaboration arrangements to advance its programs, the Company would be forced to discontinue some of its operations or develop and implement a plan to further extend payables, reduce overhead or scale back its current operating plan until sufficient additional capital is raised to support further operations. There can be no assurance that such a plan would be successful.