Acrivon Therapeutics Inc

1. Nature of the Business

Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc., (the “Company”) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision medicines that the Company matches to patients whose tumors are predicted to be sensitive to each specific medicine by utilizing its proteomics-based patient responder identification platform. Acrivon is currently advancing its lead candidate, ACR-368, (also known as prexasertib), a selective small molecule inhibitor targeting CHK1 and CHK2 in a potentially registrational Phase 2 trial across multiple tumor types. The Company has received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for the investigation of ACR-368 as monotherapy based on OncoSignature-predicted sensitivity in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian or endometrial cancer. Acrivon’s ACR-368 OncoSignature test, which has not yet obtained regulatory approval, has been extensively evaluated in preclinical studies, including in two separate, blinded, prospectively-designed studies on pretreatment tumor biopsies collected from past third-party Phase 2 trials in patients with ovarian cancer treated with ACR-368. The FDA has granted Breakthrough Device designation for the ACR-368 OncoSignature assay for the identification of ovarian cancer patients who may benefit from ACR-368 treatment. In addition to ACR-368, Acrivon is also leveraging its proprietary AP3 precision medicine platform for developing its co-crystallography-driven, internally-discovered preclinical stage pipeline programs. These include ACR-2316, a potent, selective WEE1/PKMYT1 inhibitor designed for superior single-agent activity as demonstrated in preclinical studies against benchmark inhibitors, and a cell cycle program with an undisclosed target.

The Company was incorporated in March 2018 under the laws of the state of Delaware, and its principal offices are in Watertown, Massachusetts. Also in March 2018, the Company formed Acrivon AB, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, established in Lund, Sweden. In December 2021, the Company formed Acrivon Securities Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary, established in Massachusetts.

Liquidity

As an emerging growth entity, the Company has devoted substantially all of its resources since inception to organizing and staffing the Company, business planning, raising capital, establishing its intellectual property portfolio, acquiring or discovering drug candidates, research and development activities for the Company's lead candidate ACR-368, for the Company's internally discovered development candidate ACR-2316, and other compounds, establishing arrangements with third parties for the manufacture of its drug candidates and component materials, and providing general and administrative support for these operations. As a result, the Company has incurred significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations since its inception and anticipates such losses and negative cash flows will continue for the foreseeable future.

The Company has incurred recurring losses since its inception, including net losses of $16.5 million and $12.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 the Company had an accumulated deficit of $132.9 million and $116.4 million, respectively. To date the Company has not generated any revenues and expects to continue generating operating losses for the foreseeable future as it continues to expand its research and development efforts.

Since its inception, the Company has funded its operations primarily with proceeds from the sales of shares of its convertible preferred stock, the issuance of convertible notes, and an initial public offering (“IPO”) and concurrent private placement. Upon the closing of the Company’s IPO on November 17, 2022, only common stock remains issued and outstanding. On April 8, 2024, the Company entered into a Private Investment in Public Equity (“PIPE”) securities purchase agreement (the “PIPE Purchase Agreement”) for a private placement with certain institutional and accredited investors (the “April 2024 Private Placement”). The Company received $130.0 million in aggregate gross proceeds from the April 2024 Private Placement. The April 2024 Private Placement is further described in Note 13.

The Company expects that its existing cash, cash equivalents and investments of $110.0 million as of March 31, 2024, together with the gross proceeds of $130.0 million raised from the April 2024 Private Placement, will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least 12 months from the date these condensed consolidated financial statements were issued.

The Company will need additional funding to support its planned operating activities. There can be no assurances, however, that the current operating plan will be achieved or that additional funding will be available on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all, considering the current interest rate environment. If the Company is unable to obtain sufficient funding, it could be required to delay its development efforts, limit activities and reduce research and development costs, which could adversely affect its business prospects.

ATM Program

On December 1, 2023, the Company filed a registration statement on Form S-3 (the “Registration Statement”) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which was declared effective on December 15, 2023, which registered the offering, issuance, and sale of up to a maximum aggregate offering price of $300.0 million of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and/or units of any combination thereof. The Company simultaneously entered into a sales agreement with Cowen and Company, LLC, as sales agent, to provide for the issuance and sale by the Company of up to $100.0 million of common stock from time to time in “at-the-market” offerings under the Registration Statement and related prospectus (“ATM Program”). As of March 31, 2024, no sales had been made pursuant to the ATM Program.

2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

The significant accounting policies and estimates used in the preparation of the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are described in the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 28, 2024. There have been no material changes in the Company’s significant accounting policies during the three months ended March 31, 2024, except as noted below.

Unaudited Interim Financial Information

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) and include the operations of Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts, transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

The accompanying condensed consolidated interim financial statements are unaudited but have been prepared on the same basis as the audited annual financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s financial position as of March 31, 2024 and the results of its operations for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 and its cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2023 was derived from audited annual financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP.

The results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year or for any other subsequent interim period.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements

ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280)

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires public entities to disclose information about their reportable segments’ significant expenses on an interim and annual basis. All disclosure requirements under ASU 2023-07 are also required for public entities with a single reportable segment. The ASU is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023 and for interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company adopted this accounting standard as of January 1, 2024, withno material impact on its condensed consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

3. Investments

The following table summarizes the amortized cost and estimated fair value of the Company's U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. government-sponsored enterprise securities, which are considered to be available-for-sale investments and were included in short-term investments as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 (in thousands):

Certain short-term debt securities with original maturities of less than 90 days are included in cash and cash equivalents on the condensed consolidated balance sheets and are not included in the tables above. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, all short-term investments had contractual maturities withinone year.

The aggregate fair value of available-for-sale securities held by the Company in an unrealized loss position for less than 12 months as of March 31, 2024 was $80.4 million. There wereno available-for-sale securities in a continuous unrealized loss position for greater than 12 months. The Company evaluated its securities for potential impairment and considered the decline in market value to be primarily attributable to current economic and market conditions. Additionally, the Company does not intend to sell the investments in an unrealized loss position and does not expect it will be required to sell the investments before recovery of their amortized cost bases, which may be maturity. Given the Company's intent and ability to hold such investments until recovery, and the lack of a significant change in credit risk for these investments, the Company does not consider these investments to be impaired and there areno allowances for credit losses as of March 31, 2024.

4. Fair Value Measurement

The following tables present information about the Company’s financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis (in thousands):

The Company classifies its money market funds and U.S. Treasury securities as Level 1 assets under the fair value hierarchy as these assets have been valued using quoted market prices in active markets without any valuation adjustment. The Company classifies its U.S. government-sponsored enterprise securities as Level 2 assets under the fair value hierarchy as these assets have been valued using information obtained through a third-party pricing service as of the balance sheet date, using observable market inputs that may include trade information, broker or dealer quotes, bids, offers, or a combination of these data sources.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and the year ended December 31, 2023, there wereno transfers between levels. The Company uses the carrying amounts of its restricted cash, prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, and accrued expenses and other current liabilities to approximate their fair values due to the short-term nature of these amounts.

5. Property and Equipment, net

Property and equipment, net consisted of the following (in thousands):

Depreciation expense related to property and equipment for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 was $0.2 million and $0.1 million, respectively.

6. Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):

7. Leases

In December 2020, the Company entered into a lease agreement for laboratory and office space located at 480 Arsenal Way, Watertown, Massachusetts (the “Arsenal Way Lease”). The lease commenced in April 2021, with a term of seven years and an option toextend the term for an additional five years. The Company delivered a letter of credit of $0.3 million to the landlord, which is included in restricted cash in the accompanying condensed consolidated balance sheets. Under the terms of the lease, the base rent is $1.0 million, subject to a 3% annual rent increase, plus an allocation of operating expenses and taxes. In May 2021, the Company subleased a portion of its Arsenal Way Lease to a subtenant. The sublease term expired in March 2023.

In August 2023, the Company entered into an operating lease agreement, denominated in Swedish Krona, for office and laboratory space located in Lund, Sweden. The term of the lease commenced in December 2023. The lease has an initial term ofthree years, with anoption to extend the term for an additional three years.

The following table summarizes the presentation of the Company’s operating leases on its condensed consolidated balance sheets (in thousands):

The components of lease cost under ASC 842 included within research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss were as follows (in thousands):

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the weighted-average remaining lease term for operating leases was 4.0 years and 4.2 years, respectively, and the weighted-average discount rate was 8.30% and 8.30%, respectively. Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities was $0.3 million for each of the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

Future minimum annual lease commitments under the Company’s non-cancelable operating leases as of March 31, 2024 were as follows (in thousands):

8. Stockholders' Equity

Prior to the IPO, the voting, dividend and liquidation rights of the holders of the Company’s common stock were subject to and qualified by the rights, powers and preferences of the holders of the Preferred Stock as set forth above and described in the Company’s final prospectus for the IPO filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) under the Securities Act on November 16, 2022.

In October 2022, the Board approved the amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which was filed upon the closing of the IPO and which authorized the Company to issue up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, with a par value of $0.001. There areno shares of preferred stock issued or outstanding as of March 31, 2024.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation authorized the Company to issue 500,000,000 shares of common stock with a par value of $0.001.

The holders of the common stock are entitled to one vote for each share of common stock held at all meetings of stockholders (and written actions in lieu of meetings), and there are not any cumulative voting rights. The number of authorized shares of common stock may be increased or decreased by the affirmative vote of the holders of shares of capital stock of the Company; however, the issuance of common stock may be subject to the vote of the holders of one or more series of preferred stock that may be required by terms of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.

Asof March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company had reserved the following shares of common stock for the potential exercise of stock options, vesting of restricted stock units, as well as the remaining shares available for issuance under the 2022 Stock

Option Incentive Plan (the “2022 Plan”), the 2022 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2022 ESPP”), and the 2023 Inducement Plan (the “Inducement Plan”):

9. Stock-Based Compensation

Equity Incentive Plans

In October 2022, the Board adopted, and in November 2022 its stockholders approved, the 2022 Plan, which replaced the 2019 Plan and became effective immediately prior to and contingent upon the execution of the underwriting agreement related to the Company’s IPO. The 2022 Plan allows the Company to make equity-based and cash-based incentive awards to its officers, employees, directors, and consultants and provides for the grant of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and other stock-based awards. In addition, the number of shares reserved and available for issuance under the 2022 Plan shall automatically increase beginning on January 1, 2023 and each January 1 thereafter, byfive percent of the aggregate number of shares of common stock of all classes issued and outstanding on the immediately preceding December 31 or such lesser number of shares of common stock as determined by the compensation committee.

In October 2022, the Board adopted, and in November 2022 its stockholders approved, the 2022 ESPP, which became effective immediately prior to and contingent upon the execution of the underwriting agreement related to the Company’s IPO. The number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the 2022 ESPP shall cumulatively increase beginning on January 1, 2023 and each January 1 thereafter through January 1, 2032, byone percent of the outstanding number of shares of common stock on the immediately preceding December 31 or such lesser number of shares as determined by the compensation committee. No shares of the Company's common stock have been issued andno stock-based compensation expense has been recognized related to the 2022 ESPP.

In June 2023, the Board adopted the Inducement Plan to facilitate the granting of equity awards as an inducement material to new employees joining the Company. The only persons eligible to receive awards under the Inducement Plan are individuals who are new employees and satisfy the standards for inducement grants under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) or 5635(c)(3), as applicable. The terms of the Inducement Plan are identical to the terms of the 2022 Plan, except that no incentive stock options shall be awarded under the Inducement Plan.

Stock Options

The Company has granted stock options with service-based vesting conditions. Stock options typically vest over four years and have a maximum term often years. The Company typically grants stock options to employees and non-employees at exercise prices deemed by the Board to be equal to the fair value of the common stock at the time of grant.

The assumptions that the Company used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to determine the grant date fair value of stock options granted were as follows:

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activity:

The aggregate intrinsic value of options is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the stock options and the fair value of the Company’s common stock for those stock options that had exercise prices lower than the fair value of the common stock as of the end of the reporting period. The aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 was de minimis.

The weighted-average grant date fair value of the Company’s stock options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 was $4.03 and $13.54 per option, respectively. As of March 31, 2024, there was $14.3 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to stock option grants. The Company expects to recognize this amount over a weighted-average period of 2.9 years.

The total fair value of options vested during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 was $1.0 million and $0.4 million, respectively.

RSUs

The Company has granted RSUs with service vesting based conditions. Unvested shares of restricted common stock may not be sold or transferred by the holder. They are legally issued and outstanding. These restrictions lapse according to the time-based vesting of each award.

A summary of the RSU activity during the three months ended March 31, 2024 is as follows:

RSUs typically vest over four years. If and when an RSU vests, the Company will issue one share of common stock for each whole RSU that has vested, subject to satisfaction of the employee's tax withholding obligations. Upon vesting and settlement of RSUs, the Company may withhold the portion of those shares with a fair market value equal to the amount of the minimum statutory withholding taxes due. The withheld shares are accounted for as repurchases of common stock.

No RSUs were granted during the three months ended March 31, 2024. The weighted-average grant date fair value of the Company’s RSUs granted during the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $18.47 per RSU. As of March 31, 2024, there was $17.4 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to RSUs. The Company expects to recognize this amount over a weighted-average period of 2.1 years.

The total fair value of RSUs vested during the three months ended March 31, 2024 was $1.8 million. No RSUs vested during the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

Stock-based compensation expense included in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss is as follows (in thousands):

10. Net Loss Per Share

Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders was calculated as follows (in thousands, except share and per share amounts):

The Company’s potentially dilutive securities, which include stock options and RSUs, have been excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share as the effect would be to reduce the net loss per share. Therefore, the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding used to calculate both basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is the same. The Company excluded the following shares from the computation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders as of March 31, 2024 and 2023 because including them would have had an anti-dilutive effect:

11. Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

The Company’s commitments under its operating leases are described in Note 7.

License Agreement

In January 2021, the Company entered into a license agreement and stock issuance agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”) (collectively, the “Lilly Agreement”), pursuant to which the Company has been granted an exclusive, royalty-bearing sublicensable license to certain patents owned or controlled by Lilly, with world-wide rights to commercially develop, manufacture, use, distribute and sell therapeutic products containing the compound prexasertib. The license from Lilly comprises three families of patent filings all relating to ACR-368. Additionally, pursuant to the Lilly Agreement, the Company received ACR-368 drug substance and drug product to be used in future research.

As initial consideration for the license, the Company made a one-time, non-creditable, non-refundable upfront payment of $5.0 million. As additional consideration for the license, the Company is required to pay Lilly aggregate development and commercial milestone payments of up to $168.0 million, of which $5.0 million is due prior to a new drug application.

The Company is also obligated to pay a tiered percentage royalty on annual net sales ranging from single-digit up to a maximum of 10%, subject to certain specified reductions. Royalties are payable by the Company on a licensed product-by-licensed product and country-by-country basis until the later of the expiration of the last valid claim covering the licensed product in such country, expiration of all applicable regulatory exclusivities in such country for such licensed product and the tenth anniversary of the first commercial sale ofsuch licensed product in such country, provided, that the Company’s obligation to pay royalties for a given licensed product in a given country will expire earlier upon achievement of certain sales thresholds by generic products in such country.

As of March 31, 2024, no milestone payments or royalties have been incurred related to the Lilly Agreement.

Companion Diagnostic Agreement

In June 2022, the Company entered into a companion diagnostic agreement (the “Akoya Agreement”) with Akoya Biosciences, Inc. (“Akoya”), pursuant to which the Company has engaged Akoya to co-develop, validate, and commercialize the Company’s proprietary ACR-368 OncoSignature test, the companion diagnostic that will be used to identify patients with cancer most likely to respond to ACR-368. Subject to the terms of the Akoya Agreement, as subsequently amended, the Company paid Akoya a one-time, non-refundable, non-creditable upfront payment in the amount of $0.6 million. The Company is obligated to pay Akoya up to an aggregate of $17.3 million upon the achievement of specified development milestones. Through March 31, 2024, the Company has made aggregate payments of $8.3 million to Akoya. No milestones were achieved during the three months ended March 31, 2024. During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company recorded research and development expenses of $1.5 million related to the achievement of milestones.

Indemnification Agreements

In the ordinary course of business, the Company may provide indemnification of varying scope and terms to vendors, lessors, business partners and other parties with respect to certain matters including, but not limited to, losses arising out of breach of such agreements or from intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties. In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors and executive officers that will require the Company, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or services as directors or executive officers. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these indemnification agreements is, in many cases, unlimited. To date, the Company has not incurred any material costs as a result of such indemnifications. The Company is not currently aware of any indemnification claims and has not accrued any liabilities related to such obligations in its financial statements as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, in the ordinary course of business, the Company is subject to litigation and regulatory examinations as well as information gathering requests, inquiries and investigations. The Company is not currently party to any material legal proceedings and is not aware of any pending or threatened legal proceedings that could have an adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results or financial condition.

Other Contracts

The Company enters into contracts in the normal course of business with various third parties for preclinical research studies, clinical trials, testing, manufacturing and other services. These contracts generally provide for termination upon notice and are cancelable without significant penalty or payment, and do not contain any minimum purchase commitments.

12. Employee Benefit Plans

Effective January 1, 2019, the Company adopted a 401(k) Plan for its employees, which is designed to be qualified under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eligible employees are permitted to contribute to the 401(k) Plan within statutory and 401(k) Plan limits. Since inception of the 401(k) Plan and through the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company has not made any contributions to the 401(k) Plan.

13. Subsequent Events

Akoya Milestone Achievement

In April 2024, the Company incurred three additional development milestones under the Akoya Agreement for a total of $1.8 million.

PIPE Securities Purchase Agreement

On April 8, 2024, the Company entered into the PIPE Purchase Agreement for a private placement with certain institutional and accredited investors. Pursuant to the PIPE Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to issue and sell to the PIPE investors an aggregate of (i)8,235,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at a purchase price of $8.50 per share, and (ii) pre-funded warrants (“Pre-Funded Warrants”) to purchase up to an aggregate of 7,060,000 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $8.499 per Pre-Funded Warrant, which represents the per share purchase price of the common stock less the $0.001 per share exercise price for each Pre-Funded Warrant. The Pre-Funded Warrants will be exercisable at any time after the date of issuance and will not expire.

The holders of Pre-Funded Warrants may not exercise a Pre-Funded Warrant if the holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 4.99% of the number of shares of common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. The holders of Pre-Funded Warrants may increase or decrease such percentage by providing at least 61 days’ prior notice to the Company, but not in excess of 19.99% in the case of an increase.

The aggregate gross proceeds from the PIPE, which closed on April 11, 2024, were $130.0 million, before deducting the placement agent fee and other offering expenses and excluding any proceeds the Company may receive upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants.