Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Nature of Business

v3.24.2
Nature of Business
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2024
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 committed to developing new standards of care for the frontline treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies.

On April 6, 2023, the Company filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (the “2023 Registration Statement”), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to register for sale from time to time up to $250.0 million of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and/or units in one or more registered offerings. The 2023 Registration Statement was declared effective on April 28, 2023. Further, in April 2023, the Company entered into an at-the-market sales agreement (the “2023 Sales Agreement”) with Cowen and Company, LLC (“Cowen”) pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million through Cowen pursuant to the 2023 Registration Statement.

On October 2, 2023, the Company announced a strategic realignment to prioritize key development and pre-launch activities to advance tamibarotene for the treatment of newly diagnosed higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia, and to stop further investment in the clinical development of SY-2101 (oral arsenic trioxide) for the treatment of newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia, as well as in the Company’s preclinical and discovery-stage programs. In connection with these decisions, the Company instituted certain expense reduction measures (the “Restructuring”), including a reduction of approximately 35% of the Company’s employee base excluding members of the Company’s drug discovery organization whose employment ended concurrently with the termination, effective October 16, 2023, of its collaboration with Pfizer, Inc. (“Pfizer”) related to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. The Restructuring was completed by February 2024.

The Company is subject to a number of risks similar to those of other late-stage clinical 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. 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.

The Company has incurred significant 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. As of June 30, 2024, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $749.8 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 issuance 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 activities 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. 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.

Successful completion of the Company’s development programs 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, none of which can be guaranteed or is entirely within the Company’s control:

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

• raise funding through debt financing; and

• raise funding through business development activities, including the potential sale of SY-2101-related assets.

 

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.

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 12 months from the issuance date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The accompanying condensed 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.