Jade Biosciences, Inc.

**(1)**ORGANIZATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Aerovate Therapeutics Inc. (“Aerovate” or the “Company”) was incorporated in the state of Delaware in July 2018, and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Company has a wholly owned subsidiary, Aerovate Securities Corporation. The Company is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company’s initial focus was on advancing AV-101, the Company’s dry powder inhaled formulation of imatinib for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (“PAH”). However, in June 2024, the Company announced negative results from the Phase 2b portion of its global Phase 2b/Phase 3 trial of AV-101 in adults with PAH, and, as a result, the Company decided to halt enrollment and shut down the Phase 3 portion of the Phase 2b/Phase 3 trial as well as the long-term extension study. In June 2024, the Company announced a corporate restructuring and in July 2024, the Company engaged Wedbush Securities Inc. as the Company’s exclusive strategic financial advisor to assist in the process of exploring strategic alternatives, including but not limited to an acquisition, merger, reverse merger, business combination, liquidation or other transaction.

On October 30, 2024, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, Caribbean Merger Sub I, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub I”), Caribbean Merger Sub II, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub II” and together with Merger Sub I, the “Merger Subs”), and Jade Biosciences, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Jade”), pursuant to which, and subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, among other things, Merger Sub I will merge with and into Jade, with Jade surviving the merger as the surviving corporation (the “First Merger”), and as part of the same overall transaction, Jade will merge with and into Merger Sub II, with Merger Sub II continuing as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company and the surviving corporation of the merger (the “Second Merger” and together with the First Merger, the “Merger”). In addition, in connection with the closing of the Merger (the “Closing”), the Company expects to declare a cash dividend to its pre-Merger stockholders of approximately $65.0 million in the aggregate (the “Cash Dividend”), provided such amount is subject to adjustment as set forth in the Merger Agreement. The Merger was approved by the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”), and the Board resolved to recommend approval of the Merger Agreement to the Company’s stockholders. The Closing is subject to approval by the stockholders of the Company and Jade as well as other customary closing conditions, including the effectiveness of a registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in connection with the transaction. If the Merger is completed, the business of Jade will continue as the business of the combined company.

On April 5, 2023, the Company entered into an ATM Equity Offering SM Sales Agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) with BofA Securities, Inc., or the Agent, pursuant to which the Company can sell, from time to time, at its option, up to an aggregate of $75.0 million of shares of its common stock, through the Agent, as its sales agent. As of December 31, 2024,3,462,721 shares have been sold under the Sales Agreement, generating $67.9 million of net proceeds after deducting commissions to the Agent and other offering costs. As of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, up to $6.0 million of shares of the Company’s common stock remain available for sale from time to time under the Sales Agreement.

Since inception, the Company has devoted substantially all of its resources to research and development activities, business planning, establishing and maintaining its intellectual property portfolio, hiring personnel, raising capital, and providing general and administrative support for these operations and has not realized revenues from its planned principal operations. The Company has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations since

inception. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of $78.6 million.

Management believes that the Company’s current cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments will provide sufficient funds to enable the Company to meet its obligations for at least twelve months from the filing date of this report while it explores strategic alternatives.

**(2)**BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The 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 Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Aerovate Securities Corporation. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

The preparation of the Company’s consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Reported amounts and note disclosures reflect the overall economic conditions that are most likely to occur and anticipated measures management intends to take. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Accounting estimates and management judgements reflected in the consolidated financial statements include: normal recurring accruals, including the accrual for research and development expenses, stock-based compensation, fair value of investments, and operating lease right-of-use assets and lease liabilities. Estimates and assumptions are reviewed quarterly. Any revisions to accounting estimates are recognized in the period in which the estimates are revised and in any future periods affected.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in readily available checking accounts, money market funds and commercial paper. The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an original maturity of three months or less from the date of purchase to be cash equivalents.

Short-term investments consist of corporate debt securities, commercial paper and U.S. Treasury bills, classified as available-for-sale securities and have maturities of greater than three months. The Company has classified all of its available-for-sale investment securities as current assets on the consolidated balance sheets because these are considered highly liquid securities and are available for use in current operations. The Company carries these securities at fair value and reports unrealized gains and losses as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. The cost of debt securities is adjusted for amortization of purchase premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. Such amortization and accretion is included in interest income in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss. Realized gains and losses on sales of securities are determined using the specific identification method and recorded in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statement of operations and comprehensive loss.

Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentration of credit risk, consist primarily of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. The Company maintains cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments with various high credit quality banks and other financial institutions in the United States. Such deposits may be in excess of federally insured limits. Management believes that the Company is not exposed to

significant credit risk due to the financial position of the depository institutions in which those deposits are held. The Company has not experienced any losses on deposits since inception.

Comprehensive loss consists of net loss and unrealized gains or losses on available-for-sale investments. The Company displays comprehensive loss and its components as part of the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

The accounting guidance defines fair value, establishes a consistent framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosure for each major asset and liability category measured at fair value on either a recurring or non-recurring basis. 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. 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 liability. As a basis for considering such assumptions, the accounting guidance establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value as follows:

Level 1: Observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets.

Level 2: Inputs, other than the quoted prices in active markets that are observable either directly or indirectly.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs in which there is little or no market data, which require the reporting entity to develop its own assumptions.

The carrying amounts of prepaid expenses and other current assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other current liabilities are reasonable estimates of their fair value due to the short-term nature of these accounts.

Any expenses paid prior to the related services rendered are recorded as prepaid expenses. Such prepaid expenses are expensed in the period the expense is incurred. If the expense is for a service covering multiple periods, it is expensed from the date the services begin and over the period of the service rendered (or contract service period if services rendered dates are not defined).

Property and equipment, which consist of leasehold improvements, furniture and fixtures, research equipment, computers and construction-in-progress are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation or accumulated amortization. Depreciation and amortization is calculated using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which ranges from three tofive years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the remaining life of the lease for leasehold improvements at the time the asset is placed into service.

The carrying value of long-lived assets, including property and equipment, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized when the total of estimated future undiscounted cash flows, expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition, are less than its carrying amount. Impairment, if any, would be assessed using discounted cash flows or other appropriate measures of fair value. Following the Company’s Workforce Reduction Plan, the Company terminated all employees in the Foster City office and vacated the premises in September 2024. As a result, the Company impaired the related right-of-use asset of approximately $0.3 million, and recognized a loss on impairment in its general and administrative operating expenses during the year ended December 31, 2024.

At the commencement date of a lease, the Company recognizes lease liabilities which represent its obligation to make lease payments, and right-of-use assets (“ROU assets”) which represent its right to use the underlying asset during the lease term. The lease liability is measured at the present value of lease payments over the lease term. As the Company’s leases typically do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date. The ROU asset is measured at cost, which includes the initial measurement of the lease liability and initial direct costs incurred by the Company and excludes lease incentives. ROU assets are recorded in operating lease ROU assets and lease liabilities are recorded in operating lease liabilities, current and noncurrent in the consolidated balance sheets.

Lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. Operating lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company has elected not to separate lease and non-lease components and not recognize lease liabilities and ROU assets for short-term leases with terms of twelve months or less.

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development costs consist primarily of salaries and other benefits of research and development personnel, including associated share-based compensation, costs related to research activities, preclinical studies, clinical trial, drug manufacturing and allocated overhead and facility-related expenses. The Company accounts for non-refundable advance payments for goods or services that will be used in future research and development activities as expenses when the goods have been received or when the service has been performed rather than when the payment is made.

Clinical trial costs are a component of research and development expenses. The Company expenses costs for its clinical trial activities performed by third parties, including clinical research organizations and other service providers, as they are incurred, based upon estimates of the work completed over the life of the individual study in accordance with associated agreements. The Company uses information it receives from internal personnel and outside service providers to estimate the clinical trial costs incurred.

Stock-based compensation expense represents the cost of the grant-date fair value of employee, officer, director, and non-employee stock option grants and restricted stock units, estimated in accordance with the applicable accounting guidance, recognized using the straight-line method over the vesting period for service-based options and using the graded vesting method for performance-based options. The vesting period generally approximates the expected service period of the awards. Forfeitures are recognized and accounted for as they occur.

The fair value of stock options is estimated using a Black-Scholes option pricing model on the date of grant. This method requires certain assumptions be used as inputs, such as the fair value of the underlying common stock, expected term of the option before exercise, expected volatility of the Company’s common stock, expected dividend yield, and a risk-free interest rate. Options and awards granted during the year have a maximum contractual term often years. The Company has limited historical stock option activity and therefore estimates the expected term of stock options granted using the simplified method, which represents the average of the contractual term of the stock option and its weighted-average vesting period. The expected volatility of stock options is based upon the historical volatility of a number of publicly traded companies in similar stages of clinical development. The Company has historically not declared or paid any dividends and does not currently expect to do so in the foreseeable future. The risk-free interest rates used are based on the U.S. Department of Treasury (“U.S. Treasury”) yield in effect at the time of grant for zero-coupon U.S. Treasury notes with maturities approximately equal to the expected term of the stock options.

Income taxes are accounted for using the asset and liability method. Under the asset and liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and net operating loss ("NOL") and tax credit carryforwards.

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 effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date. A valuation allowance against deferred tax assets is recorded if, based upon the weight of all available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The company records uncertain tax positions on the basis of a two-step process whereby (1) management determines whether it is more likely than not that the tax positions will be sustained on the basis of the technical merits of the position and (2) for those tax positions that meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold, management recognizes the largest amount of tax benefit that is more than 50 percent likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement with the related tax authority. The company recognizes interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits within income tax expense. Any accrued interest and penalties are included within the related tax liability.

Operating segments are identified as components of an enterprise about which separate discrete financial information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision maker in making decisions on how to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company views its operations and manages its business asone operating segment. 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. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company adopted this standard in the current period and disclosed a summary of significant segment expenses in Note 9 to our consolidated financial statements.

Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding for the period, without consideration of potential dilutive securities. Diluted net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to common stockholders by the sum of the weighted average number of common shares plus the potential dilutive effects of potential dilutive securities outstanding during the period. Potential dilutive securities are excluded from diluted earnings or loss per share if the effect of such inclusion is antidilutive. The Company’s potentially dilutive securities, which include outstanding stock options under the Company’s equity incentive plan, have been excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share as they would be anti-dilutive to the net loss per share. For all periods presented, there is no difference in the number of shares used to calculate basic and diluted shares outstanding due to the Company’s net loss position.

The following table summarizes the Company’s net loss per share:

Potentially dilutive securities not included in the calculation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders because to do so would have had an anti-dilutive effect are as follows (in common stock equivalent shares):

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09,Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which expands disclosures in an entity’s income tax rate reconciliation table and regarding cash taxes paid both in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this standard may have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures, and does not anticipate this ASU to materially impact our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

On November 4, 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03Income Statement Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40), which requires disaggregated disclosure of income statement expenses for public business entities. ASU 2024-03 requires, in a tabular presentation, each relevant expense caption on the face of the income statement that includes any of the following natural expenses: (1) purchases of inventory, (2) employee compensation, (3) depreciation, (4) intangible asset amortization, and (5) depreciation, depletion, and amortization (DD&A) recognized as part of oil- and gas-producing activities or other types of depletion expenses. The tabular disclosure would also include certain other expenses, when applicable. The standard is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2027. The Company is currently evaluating the impact the adoption of this standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

(3) FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

The following tables summarize the Company’s financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis and their respective input levels based on the fair value hierarchy (in thousands):

Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

Financial assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis consist of the Company’s cash equivalents and short-term investments. Cash equivalents consisted of money market funds and commercial paper, and short-term investments consisted of U.S. Treasury bills, agency bonds, corporate debt securities, and commercial paper. The Company obtains pricing information from its investment manager and generally determines the fair value of investment securities using standard observable inputs, including reported trades, broker/dealer quotes, and bids and/or offers.

The following tables summarize the Company’s short-term investments (in thousands):

The following tables summarize the Company’s short-term investments with unrealized losses for less than 12 months and 12 months or greater:

The Company considers whether unrealized losses have resulted from a credit loss or other factors. The unrealized losses on the Company’s short-term investments as of December 31, 2024, were caused by fluctuations in market value and interest rates as a result of the economic environment and not credit risk. The Company concluded that an allowance for credit losses was unnecessary as of December 31, 2024. It is neither management’s intention to sell nor is it more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell these investments prior to recovery of their cost basis or recovery of fair value. Unrealized gains and losses are included in accumulated other comprehensive loss.

Accrued interest receivable is written off through net realized investment gains (losses) at the time the issuer of the bond defaults or is expected to default on payment. Accrued interest receivable related to short-term investments was $0.5 million and $0.6 million as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

(4) BALANCE SHEET COMPONENTS

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following (in thousands):

Accrued and Other Current Liabilities

In June 2024, following the Company’s decision to halt further development of AV-101, the Company announced its plan to terminate nearly all of its workforce in the coming months (the “Workforce Reduction Plan”). As of December 31, 2024,47 individuals, or approximately 92% of the Company’s workforce, have been terminated.

The affected individuals have been and will be provided severance benefits, including cash severance payments. Each affected individual’s eligibility for severance benefits is contingent upon entering into a separation agreement, which includes a general release of claims against the Company. In connection with the Workforce Reduction Plan, the Company incurred costs (in consideration of releases) of approximately $6.7 million, which are primarily one-time severance benefits, during the year ended December 31, 2024. The Company has paid approximately $3.8 million of severance benefits, and liabilities associated with the Workforce Reduction Plan were approximately $2.9 million as of December 31, 2024. The Company estimates that the remaining liabilities will be paid in the first quarter of 2025.

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

(5) COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

In August 2021, the Company entered into a lease agreement (the “Waltham Lease”) for approximately 5,000 square feet of office space in Waltham, Massachusetts for the Company’s corporate headquarters. The Waltham Lease has a term ofthirty-nine months (“Lease Term”), unless extended or earlier terminated. The Company has the option to extend the Waltham Lease forone additional period ofthree years. The Lease Term had an initial abatement period, and the initial base rent payable is approximately $18,000 per month following the abatement period. The initial base rent payable will increase by approximately 2% per year over the Lease Term. The Waltham Lease commencement date was September 1, 2021. In January 2024, the Company entered into the First Amendment to the Waltham Lease resulting in the lease expiring on December 31, 2025, and an increase of $1.00 per rentable square foot during the additional lease term. In obtaining this lease extension, the Company no longer has the option to extend the Waltham Lease forone additional period ofthree years.

In April 2022, the Company entered into a lease agreement (the “Foster City Lease”) for approximately 3,500 square feet of office space in Foster City, California. The Foster City Lease has a term ofthirty-nine months, unless extended or earlier terminated. The Company has theoption to extend the Foster City Lease for on additional period ofone year. The base rent payable under the Lease Term will be $22,600 per month and will be subject to annual increase of 3% on each anniversary. Following the Company’s Workforce Reduction Plan, the Company terminated all employees in the Foster City office and vacated the premises in September 2024. As a result, the Company impaired the related right-of-use asset of approximately $0.3 million, and recognized a loss on impairment in its general and administrative operating expenses during the year ended December 31, 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, the future minimum annual lease payments under the operating leases were as follows (in thousands):

As the Company’s leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date. The components of operating leases for the years

ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 were as follows (in thousands except lease term and discount rate):

Supplemental cash flow information related to cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities was as follows (in thousands):

Rent expense was as follows (in thousands):

(6) STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

On July 2, 2021, the Company’s certificate of amendment to its certificate of incorporation became effective, which provided 150,000,000 authorized shares of common stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share and 10,000,000 authorized shares of undesignated preferred stock with a par value of $0.0001 per share.

The holders of the common stock are entitled toone vote for each share of common stock held at all meetings of stockholders.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had reserved the following shares of common stock for future issuance:

(7) SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

(a) Stock Option Plan

The Company’s 2021 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”) was adopted by the Company’s board of directors and approved by the Company’s stockholders in June 2021 and became effective as of June 29, 2021. Upon the effectiveness of the 2021 Plan, the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”) was

terminated and no further grants may be made thereunder. The Company’s 2021 Plan allows for the grant of incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, stock bonuses, restricted stock, stock units and other forms of awards including cash awards to its officers, directors, employees, consultants and advisors.

As of December 31, 2024, a total of 5,675,841 shares of the Company’s common stock were authorized for issuance with respect to awards granted under the 2021 Plan. The share limit will automatically increase on the first trading day in January of each year (commencing with 2022) by an amount equal to the lesser of (1)4% of the total number of outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on the last trading day in December in the prior year, or (2) such lesser number as determined by the Company’s board of directors. Since adoption, the annual increases have accumulated to a total of 3,075,841 shares through January 1, 2024.

Any shares subject to awards granted under the 2021 Plan or the 2018 Plan that are not paid, delivered or exercised before they expire or are canceled or terminated, or otherwise fail to vest, as well as shares used to pay the purchase or exercise price of such awards or related tax withholding obligations, will become available for new award grants under the 2021 Plan.

As of December 31, 2024,1,676,073 and 758,462 options been granted and outstanding under the 2021 Plan and 2018 Plan, respectively.

The options that are granted under the 2021 Plan and the 2018 Plan are exercisable at various dates as determined upon grant and terminate within 10 years of the date of grant. The vesting period generally occurs over three tofour years.

The following table summarizes the option activity under the 2021 Plan and 2018 Plan for the year ended December 31, 2024:

The weighted-average grant date fair value of stock option grants was $14.92 and $15.69 per share for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

As of December 31, 2024 there was approximately $7.1 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to nonvested stock-based compensation arrangements granted under the 2021 Plan and 2018 Plan, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.7 years.

(b) Employee Stock Purchase Plan

The Company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) was adopted by the Company’s board of directors and stockholders in June 2021 and became effective upon the consummation of the IPO. A total of 230,000 shares of the Company’s common stock is initially available for issuance under the ESPP. The share limit will automatically increase on the first trading day in January of each year (commencing with 2022) by an amount equal to the lesser of (1)1% of the total number of outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock on the last trading day in December in the prior year, or (2) such lesser number as determined by the Company’s board of

directors. The number of shares available under the 2021 Plan increased by 247,229 shares effective January 1, 2023 as determined by the Company’s board of directors. The ESPP allows eligible employees to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at a discount through payroll deductions of up to 15% of their eligible compensation, subject to any plan limitations. The ESPP provides forsix-month offering periods, and at the end of each offering period, employees are able to purchase shares at 85% of the lower of the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the first trading day of the offering period or on the last trading day of the offering period. As of December 31, 2024,76,011 shares had been issued under the ESPP, and 401,218 shares authorized under the ESPP Plan were available for issuance.

(c) Restricted Stock Units

As of December 31, 2024,31,881 restricted stock units had been awarded under the 2021 Plan. A summary of the status of and changes in unvested restricted stock unit activity under the Company’s equity award plans for the year ended December 31, 2024, was as follows:

Stock-based compensation of restricted stock units is based on the fair value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and recognized over the vesting period. The vesting period generally occurs overone tofour years.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had hadno unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to its unvested restricted stock units.

(d) Stock-Based Compensation Expense

The Company estimated the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes valuation model. The Company accounts for any forfeitures of options when they occur. Previously recognized compensation expense for an award is reversed in the period that the award is forfeited. The fair value of stock options was estimated using the following assumptions:

Stock-based compensation expense recognized for stock option grants has been reported in the statements of operations and comprehensive loss as follows (in thousands):

Stock-based compensation expense by type of award included within the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive (loss) income was as follows:

(8) INCOME TAXES

Significant components of the Company’s net deferred tax assets are as follows (in thousands):

A reconciliation between the provision for income taxes and income taxes computed using the U.S. federal statutory corporate tax rate is as follows (in thousands):

The Company had federal NOL carryforwards available of $95.7 million and $64.8 million as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, before consideration of limitations under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code or Section 382, as further described below. The NOL generated from 2018 onwards of $95.7 million will carryforward indefinitely and be available to offset up to 80% of future taxable income each year. Additionally, the Company had state NOL carryforwards available of $64.1 million and $43.9 million as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The state NOLs may be used to offset future taxable income and will begin to expire in 2038. At December 31, 2024 the Company had federal and state research and development credit carryforwards available of $9.0 million and $2.2 million, respectively. The federal credit carryforwards will begin to expire in 2038, unless previously utilized. The Massachusetts credit carryforwards will begin expiring in 2036, unless previously utilized. The California credits carry forward indefinitely.

The Company has established a full valuation allowance for its deferred tax assets due to uncertainties that preclude it from determining that it is more likely than not that the Company will be able to generate sufficient taxable income to realize such assets. Management assesses the available positive and negative evidence to estimate if sufficient future taxable income will be generated to utilize the existing deferred tax assets. A significant piece of objective negative evidence evaluated was the cumulative loss incurred since inception. Such objective evidence limits the ability to consider other subjective evidence such as the Company’s projections for future growth. Based on this evaluation, as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, a valuation allowance of $60.2 million and $43.6 million, respectively, has been recorded against all of the Company’s net deferred tax assets, as the Company has determined that none of the Company’s balance of net deferred tax assets is more likely than not to be realized. The amount of the deferred tax assets considered realizable, however, could be adjusted in the future if objective negative evidence in the form of cumulative losses is no longer present and additional weight may be given to subjective evidence, such as estimates of future taxable income during carryforward periods and the Company’s projections for growth.

The future utilization of the Company’s NOL and tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to a substantial annual limitation as a result of changes in ownership by stockholders that hold 5% or more of the Company’s common stock. An assessment of such ownership changes under Section 382 and 383 was not completed through December 31, 2024. Utilization of our net operating loss and income tax credit carryforwards may be subject to a substantial annual limitation due to ownership changes that may have occurred or that could occur in the future. These ownership changes may limit the amount of the net operating loss and income tax credit carryover that can be utilized annually to offset future taxable income. The Company will examine the impact of any potential ownership changes in the future.

The following table summarizes the activity related to the Company’s gross unrecognized tax benefits at the beginning and end of the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):

The unrecognized tax benefit amounts are reflected in the determination of the Company’s deferred tax assets. If recognized, none of these amounts would affect the Company’s effective tax rate, since it would be offset by an equal corresponding adjustment in the deferred tax asset valuation allowance. The Company does not foresee material changes to its liability for uncertain tax benefits within the next twelve months.

The Company is subject to taxation in the United States and various states. The Company’s Federal and state returns are subject to examination, due to the carryforward of unutilized net operating losses and research and development credits.

(9) Segment Reporting

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 in assessing performance. The Company hasone reportable segment: life science. The life science segment consists of the development of clinical and preclinical product candidates. The Company’s chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) is the chief executive officer.

The accounting policies of the life science segment are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies. The CODM assesses performance for the life science segment based on net loss, which is reported on the income statement as consolidated net loss. The measure of segment assets is reported on the balance sheet as total consolidated assets.

To date, the Company has not generated any product revenue and has incurred losses and negative cash flows from operations since inception. The Company’s future life science expenses will be significantly dependent on our ability to successfully consummate the Merger, related audit and legal expenses and whether we decide to pursue any future product development efforts.

The table below summarizes the significant expense categories regularly reviewed by the CODM for the years ended December 31, 2024, and 2023.

*Filed herewith.