Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) |
12 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2022 | |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Use of Estimates | Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses in the reporting period. The Company regularly evaluates estimates and assumptions related to accounting for research and development costs, incentive income receivable, valuation and recoverability of deferred tax assets, stock-based compensation and loss contingencies. The Company bases its estimates and assumptions on current facts, historical experience and various other factors that it believes to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the book values of assets and liabilities and the accrual of costs and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. The actual results experienced by the Company may differ materially and adversely from the Company’s estimates. To the extent there are material differences between the estimates and the actual results, future results of operations will be affected.
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| Principles of Consolidation | Principles of Consolidation
These consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Anavex Life Sciences Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Anavex Australia Pty Limited. (“Anavex Australia”), a company incorporated under the laws of Australia, Anavex Germany GmbH, a company incorporated under the laws of Germany, and Anavex Canada Ltd., a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada. All inter-company transactions and balances have been eliminated.
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| Cash and equivalents | Cash and equivalents
The Company considers only those investments which are highly liquid, readily convertible to cash and that mature within three months from the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.
Highly liquid investments that are considered cash equivalents include money market accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit. The carrying value of cash equivalents approximates fair value due to the short-term maturity of these securities. The Company’s investment policy allows for investments in domestic money market certificates, certificates of deposit, money market funds, bonds or commercial papers, and establishes diversification and credit quality requirements and limits investments by maturity and issuer. The Company currently maintains its investments at one large well known financial institution.
The Company maintains its cash in bank deposit accounts which, at times, may exceed federally insured limits. Accounts are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to $250,000, under current regulations. At September 30, 2022 and 2021, substantially all of the Company’s cash balances were in excess of these federally insured limits. The Company mitigates this risk by maintaining the majority of its cash balances in a large well-known financial institution. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts.
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| Research and Development Expenses | Research and Development Expenses
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. These expenses are comprised of the costs of the Company’s proprietary research and development efforts, including preclinical studies, clinical trials, manufacturing costs, employee salaries and benefits and stock-based compensation expense, contract services including external research and development expenses incurred under arrangements with third parties such as contract research organizations (“CROs”), facilities costs, overhead costs and other related expenses. Milestone payments made by the Company to third parties are expensed when the specific milestone has been achieved. Manufacturing costs are expensed as incurred in accordance with Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) 730, Research and Development, as these materials have no alternative future use outside of their intended use.
Nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services that will be used or rendered for future research and development activities are deferred and amortized over the period that the goods are delivered, or the related services are performed, subject to an assessment of recoverability. The Company makes estimates of costs incurred in relation to external CROs, and clinical site costs. When evaluating the adequacy of the accrued liabilities, the Company analyzes progress of the studies including the phase or completion of events, invoices received and contracted costs. Judgments and estimates are made in determining the accrued balances at the end of any reporting period. Actual results could differ from the Company’s estimates. The Company’s historical accrual estimates have not been materially different from actual costs.
In addition, the Company incurs expenses in respect of intellectual property costs relating to patents and trademarks. The probability of success and length of time to develop commercial applications of the drugs subject to the underlying patent and trademark costs is difficult to determine and numerous risks and uncertainties exist with respect to the timely completion of the development projects. There is no assurance the drugs subject to the underlying patents and trademarks will ever be successfully commercialized.
Due to these risks and uncertainties, the patent and trademark costs do not meet the definition of an asset and thus are expensed as incurred within general and administrative expenses.
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| Research and Development Incentive Income | Research and Development Incentive Income
The Company is eligible to obtain certain research and development tax credits, including the Australian research and development tax incentive credit (the “Australia R&D credit”) through a program administered through the Australian Tax Office (the “ATO”) and AusIndustry, a division of the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science (“AusIndustry”), which provides for a cash refund based on a percentage of eligible research and development activities undertaken in Australia by the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Anavex Australia. Anavex Australia is also eligible under the Australia R&D credit program to receive the cash refund for certain research and development expenses incurred by Anavex Australia outside of Australia, to the extent such expenses are pre-approved by AusIndustry pursuant to an advanced overseas finding application.
The Australia R&D credit program is available to eligible companies with an annual aggregate revenue of less than $20.0 million Australian during the reimbursable period.
The tax incentives are available on the basis of specific criteria with which the Company must comply. Although the tax incentive may be administered through the local tax authority, the Company has accounted for the incentives outside of the scope of ASC Topic 740, Income Taxes (“ASC 740”), since the incentives are not linked to the Company’s taxable income and can be realized regardless of whether the Company has generated taxable income in the respective jurisdictions.
With respect to the Australia R&D credit, as there is no authoritative guidance under GAAP for accounting for grants to for-profit business entities, the Company accounts for the grant by analogy to IAS20 Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance (“IAS 20”). The Company recognizes the Research and Development Incentive income as it incurs costs eligible for reimbursement under the Australia R&D credit Program when it is reasonably assured that the cash incentive will be received, as evidenced through enrollment in the program and when the applicable conditions under the program have been met. The Company accrues for the amount of cash refund it expects to receive in relation to research and development expenses outside of Australia only to the extent it has received advanced approval from AusIndustry, pursuant to an approved advanced overseas finding application.
In addition, Anavex Australia and Anavex Canada incur Goods and Services Tax (GST) on certain services provided by local vendors. As a domestic entity in those jurisdictions, Anavex Australia and Anavex Canada are entitled to a refund of the GST paid. Similarly, Anavex Germany incurs Value Added Tax (VAT) on certain services provided by local vendors, to which it is entitled to a refund of such VAT paid. The Company’s estimate of the amount of cash refund it expects to receive related to GST and VAT incurred is included in Incentive and tax receivables in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
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| Basic and Diluted Loss per Share |
Basic income/(loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income/(loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted income/(loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income/(loss) available to common stockholders by the sum of (1) the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period, (2) the dilutive effect of the assumed exercise of options and warrants using the treasury stock method and (3) the dilutive effect of other potentially dilutive securities. For purposes of the diluted net loss per share calculation, options and warrants are potentially dilutive securities and are excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share because their effect would be anti-dilutive.
As of September 30, 2022, diluted loss per share excludes potentially dilutive common shares (2021 – diluted loss per share excludes potentially dilutive common shares; 2020 – diluted loss per share excludes potentially dilutive common shares) related to outstanding options and warrants, as their effect was anti-dilutive.
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| Financial Instruments | Financial Instruments
The book value of the Company’s financial instruments, consisting of cash and equivalents, incentive and tax receivables, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate their fair value due to the short-term maturity of such instruments. Unless otherwise noted, it is management’s opinion that the Company is not exposed to significant interest, currency or credit risks arising from these financial instruments.
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| Foreign Currency Translation | Foreign Currency Translation
The functional currency of the Company is the US dollar. Monetary items denominated in a foreign currency are translated into US dollars at exchange rates prevailing at the balance sheet date and non-monetary items are translated at exchange rates prevailing when the assets were acquired, or obligations incurred. Foreign currency denominated expense items are translated at exchange rates prevailing on the transaction date. Unrealized gains or losses arising from the translations are credited or charged to income in the period in which they occur.
The Company has determined that the functional currency of Anavex Australia Pty Limited, Anavex Germany GmbH, and Anavex Canada Ltd. is also the US dollar.
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| Segment and Geographic Reporting | Segment and Geographic Reporting
Operating segments are defined as components of an enterprise for 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 as one operating segment, which is the business of developing novel therapies for the management of CNS diseases.
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| Grant Income | Grant Income
Grant income is recognized at the fair value of the grant when it is received, and all substantive conditions have been satisfied. Grants received from government and other agencies in advance of the specific research and development costs to which they relate are deferred and recognized in the consolidated statement of operations in the period they are earned and when the related research and development costs are incurred.
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| Income Taxes | Income Taxes
The Company follows the provisions of ASC 740, which requires the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under the asset and liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the financial statements carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled.
The Company follows the provisions of ASC 740 regarding accounting for uncertainty in income taxes. The Company initially recognizes tax positions in the financial statements when it is more likely than not the position will be sustained upon examination by the tax authorities. Such tax positions are initially and subsequently measured as the largest amount of tax benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement with the tax authority assuming full knowledge of the position and all relevant facts. Application requires numerous estimates based on available information. The Company considers many factors when evaluating and estimating its tax positions and tax benefits, and its recognized tax positions and tax benefits may not accurately anticipate actual outcomes. As additional information is obtained, there may be a need to periodically adjust the recognized tax positions and tax benefits. These periodic adjustments may have a material impact on the consolidated statements of operations. At September 30, 2022 the Company did not have any uncertain tax positions.
The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to current income tax expense on the interest income, net line, in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations. Accrued interest and penalties, if any, are included in accrued liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. There were no interest and penalties related to current income tax expense during the years ended September 30, 2022, 2021 and 2020.
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| Stock-based Compensation |
The Company accounts for all stock-based payments and awards under the fair value method.
The fair value of all share purchase options and warrants are expensed over their contractual vesting period, or over the expected performance period for only the portion of awards expected to vest, in the case of milestone-based vesting, with a corresponding increase to additional paid-in capital.
Compensation costs for stock-based payments with graded vesting are recognized on a straight-line basis. Stock based compensation expense is adjusted for actual forfeitures of unvested awards as they occur.
The Company has granted share purchase option awards that vest upon achievement of certain performance criteria, or milestone-based awards. The Company estimates an implicit service period for achieving performance criteria for each award and recognizes the resulting fair value as expense over the implicit service period when it concludes that achieving the performance criteria is probable. The Company periodically reviews and updates as appropriate its estimates of implicit service periods and conclusions on achieving the performance criteria. Performance awards vest upon achievement of the performance criteria.
The Company uses the Black-Scholes option valuation model to calculate the fair value of share purchase options and warrants at the date of the grant. This model requires the input of subjective assumptions, including the expected price volatility and expected life of each award. The Company uses the U.S. Treasury daily treasury yield curve rates for the expected term of the option as the risk-free rate. The expected term represents the period that options granted are expected to be outstanding using the simplified method. The Company’s historical share option exercise experience does not provide a reasonable basis for estimating the expected term. Expected volatility is based on the average of the daily share price changes over the expected term. The Company does not estimate forfeitures and elects to record actual forfeitures as they occur. The Company has not paid any dividends on its common stock historically, therefore no assumption of dividend payments is made in the model. These assumptions consist of estimates of future market conditions, which are inherently uncertain, and therefore, are subject to management’s judgment. Changes in these assumptions can materially affect the fair value estimates.
The purchase price of options or warrants may be paid in cash or, if approved by the Company’s compensation committee in advance, “net settled” in shares of the Company’s common stock. In a net settlement of an option or warrant, the Company does not receive payment of the exercise price from the holder but reduces the number of shares of common stock issued upon the exercise of the stock option or warrant by the smallest number of whole shares that have an aggregate fair market value equal to or over the aggregate exercise price for the option shares covered by the option or warrant exercised. Shares issued pursuant to the exercise of options and warrants are issued from the Company’s treasury.
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| Fair Value Measurements | Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. Assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value are reported using a three-level fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value. This hierarchy maximizes the use of observable inputs and minimizes the use of unobservable inputs. The three levels of inputs used to measure fair value are as follows:
Level 1 - quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access at the measurement date;
Level 2 - observable inputs other than Level 1, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active, and model-derived prices whose inputs are observable or whose significant value drivers are observable; and
Level 3 - assets and liabilities whose significant value drivers are unobservable by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.
At September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company did not have any Level 2 or Level 3 assets or liabilities.
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| Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements | Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
Effective October 1, 2021, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2019-12, “Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASC 740)”, which is intended to simplify various aspects related to accounting for income taxes by removing certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740 and clarifying and amending existing guidance to improve consistent application. There was no material impact on the Company’s operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
In November 2021, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2021-10, “Government Assistance (Topic 832): Disclosures by Business Entities about Government Assistance” (“ASU 2021-10”). ASU 2021-10 increases the transparency of government assistance including the disclosure of (1) the types of assistance, (2) an entity’s accounting for the assistance, and (3) the effect of the assistance on an entity’s financial statements. ASU 2021-10 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, with early adoption permitted. Upon implementation, the Company may use either a prospective or retrospective method of adoption when adopting the ASU. The adoption of ASU 2021-10 will impact the disclosures related to the research and development incentive income that the Company receives from the ATO for its clinical trials in Australia. The Company currently plans to adopt the provisions of this ASU on October 1, 2022.
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