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☒ QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(Address, including zip code, of principal executive offices)

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report): N/A

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  ☒    No  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes   ☒    No  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐   No ☒

As of May 1, 2024, there were 63,822,468 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (“Quarterly Report”) contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. We make such forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report include, but are not limited to, statements about:

•the ability of our clinical trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy of our product candidates and other positive results;

•the potential utility, efficacy, potency, safety, clinical benefits, half-life, clinical response and convenience of our product candidates;

•the timing and focus of our ongoing and future preclinical studies and clinical trials and the reporting of data from those studies and trials;

•supply chain disruptions, enrollment in clinical trials involving our product candidates or other delays in such trials;

•our plans relating to commercializing our product candidates, if approved, including the geographic areas of focus and sales strategy;

•the size of the market opportunity for our product candidates, including our estimates of the number of patients who suffer from the diseases we are targeting;

•the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility for our product candidates;

•the success of competing therapies that are or may become available;

•expectations regarding the initiation of clinical trials and interactions and alignment with regulatory authorities;

•the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals, including our expectation to seek an accelerated approval pathway and special designations, such as orphan drug designation, for our product candidates for various diseases;

•our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates;

•our plans relating to the further development of our product candidates, including additional indications we may pursue;

•existing regulations and regulatory developments in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions;

•our plans and ability to obtain or protect intellectual property rights;

•our continued reliance on third parties to conduct additional clinical trials of our product candidates and for the manufacture of our product candidates for preclinical studies and clinical trials;

•our plans regarding, and our ability to obtain, and negotiate favorable terms of, any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements that may be necessary or desirable to develop, manufacture or commercialize our product candidates;

•our estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and our ability to obtain additional financing to fund our operations and complete further development and commercialization of our product candidates;

•the period over which we estimate our existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements;

•developments relating to our competitors and our industry, including the impact of government regulation;

•the impact of geopolitical or macroeconomic conditions, including from conflicts such as the ongoing military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in Israel and surrounding areas, rising tensions between China and Taiwan and other political tensions, slower GDP growth or recession, capital markets volatility, instability in the banking sector and inflation; and

•our ability to retain the continued service of our key professionals and to identify, hire and retain additional qualified professionals.

Any forward-looking statements in this Quarterly Report reflect our current views with respect to future events and with respect to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, those described under Part II, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Quarterly Report. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, even if new information becomes available in the future.

All of our forward-looking statements are as of the date of this Quarterly Report only. In each case, actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking information. We can give no assurance that such expectations or forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. An occurrence of or any material adverse change in one or more of the risk factors or risks and uncertainties referred to in this Quarterly Report or included in our other public disclosures or our other periodic reports or other documents or filings filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Except as required by law, we do not undertake or plan to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in plans, assumptions, estimates or projections or other circumstances affecting such forward-looking statements occurring after the date of this Quarterly Report, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized. Any public statements or disclosures by us following this Quarterly Report that modify or impact any of the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report will be deemed to modify or supersede such statements in this Quarterly Report.

We may from time to time provide estimates, projections and other information concerning our industry, the general business environment, and the markets for certain diseases, including estimates regarding the potential size of those markets and the estimated incidence and prevalence of certain medical conditions. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections, market research or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties, and actual events, circumstances or numbers, including actual disease prevalence rates and market size, may differ materially from the information reflected in this Quarterly Report.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, we obtained this industry, business information, market data, prevalence information and other data from reports, research surveys, studies and similar data prepared by market research firms and other third parties, industry, medical and general publications, government data, and similar sources, in some cases applying our own assumptions and analysis that may, in the future, prove not to have been accurate.

Unless otherwise mentioned or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in this Quarterly Report, to “Viridian,” “Viridian Therapeutics,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” or similar references refer to Viridian Therapeutics, Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries.

•We will need to raise additional capital, and if we are unable to do so when needed, we will not be able to continue as a going concern.

•We have historically incurred losses, have a limited operating history on which to assess our business, and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.

•Clinical trials are costly, time consuming, and inherently risky, and we may fail to demonstrate safety and efficacy to the satisfaction of applicable regulatory authorities.

•Regulatory approval processes are lengthy, time consuming and inherently unpredictable. Failure to obtain regulatory approval for our product candidates would have a material adverse effect upon our business and business prospects.

•Our product candidates may cause undesirable side effects or have other properties that could delay or prevent their regulatory approval, limit the commercial viability of an approved label, or result in significant negative consequences following marketing approval, if any.

•We are heavily dependent on the success of our product candidates, which are in clinical development. Some of our product candidates have produced results only in non-clinical settings, or for other indications than those for which we contemplate conducting development and seeking FDA approval, and we cannot give any assurance that we will generate data for any of our product candidates sufficiently supportive to receive regulatory approval in our planned indications, which will be required before they can be commercialized.

•Product development involves a lengthy and expensive process with an uncertain outcome, and results of earlier preclinical studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results.

•We may find it difficult to enroll and maintain patients or subjects in our clinical trials, in part due to the limited number of patients or subjects who have the diseases for which our product candidates are being studied or the availability of competing therapies and clinical trials. We cannot predict if we will have difficulty enrolling and maintaining patients or subjects in our future clinical trials. Difficulty in enrolling and maintaining patients or subjects could delay or prevent clinical trials of our product candidates.

•We rely on third parties to conduct our preclinical development activities and clinical trials, manufacture our product candidates, and perform other services. If these third parties do not successfully perform and comply with regulatory requirements, we may not be able to successfully complete clinical development, obtain regulatory approval, or commercialize our product candidates and our business could be substantially harmed.

•We rely on patent rights, trade secret protections, and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our product candidates and any future product candidates. If we are unable to obtain or maintain exclusivity from the combination of these approaches, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.

•If we are unable to establish commercial manufacturing, sales and marketing capabilities or enter into agreements with third parties to commercially manufacture, market and sell our product candidates, we may be unable to generate any revenue.

•We face substantial competition and our competitors may discover, develop, or commercialize products faster or more successfully than us.

•Our future success depends in part on our ability to attract, retain, and motivate qualified personnel. If we lose key personnel, or if we fail to recruit additional highly skilled personnel, our ability to develop our product candidates will be impaired and our business may be harmed.

Viridian Therapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company” or “Viridian”), is a biopharmaceutical company advancing new treatments for patients suffering from serious diseases that are underserved by today’s therapies. The Company’s most advanced program, VRDN-001, is a differentiated monoclonal antibody targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (“IGF-1R”), a clinically and commercially validated target for the treatment of thyroid eye disease (“TED”). The Company’s second product candidate, VRDN-003, is an extended half-life version of VRDN-001 designed for administration as convenient, low-volume, subcutaneous pen injections. TED is a serious and debilitating rare autoimmune disease that causes inflammation within the orbit of the eye that can cause bulging of the eyes, redness and swelling, double vision, pain, and potential blindness.

In addition to developing therapies for TED, the Company is also developing a portfolio of engineered anti-neonatal Fc receptor (“FcRn”) inhibitors, including VRDN-006 and VRDN-008. FcRn inhibitors have the potential to treat a broad array of autoimmune diseases, representing a significant commercial market opportunity.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a basis that assumes the Company is a going concern and do not include any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the recoverability and classification of assets or the amounts and classifications of liabilities that may result from any uncertainty related to its ability to continue as a going concern. The Company has funded its operations to date principally through proceeds received from the sale of the Company’s common stock, its Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and other equity securities, debt financings, license fees, and reimbursements received under collaboration agreements. Since its inception and through March 31, 2024, the Company has generated an accumulated deficit of $774.5 million. The Company expects to continue to generate operating losses for the foreseeable future.

The Company has no products approved for commercial sale, has not generated any revenue from product sales, and cannot guarantee when or if it will generate any revenue from product sales. Substantially all of the Company’s operating losses resulted from expenses incurred in connection with its research and development programs and from general and administrative costs associated with its operations. The Company expects to incur significant expenses and operating losses for at least the next several years as it continues the development of, and seeks regulatory approval for, its product candidates. It is expected that operating losses will fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year due to timing of development programs and efforts to achieve regulatory approval.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had approximately $613.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. As of the issuance date of these condensed consolidated financial statements, the Company expects that its current resources will be sufficient to fund its operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next twelve months from the issuance date of these financial statements.

The Company will continue to require additional capital in order to continue to finance its operations. The amount and timing of future funding requirements will depend on many factors, including the pace and results of the Company’s clinical development efforts, equity financings, entering into license and collaboration agreements, and issuing debt or other financing vehicles. The Company’s ability to secure additional capital is dependent upon a number of factors, some of which are outside of the Company’s control, including success in developing its product candidates, operational performance, and market conditions, including those resulting from the current inflationary and broader macroeconomic environment.

Failure to raise capital as and when needed, on favorable terms or at all, would have a negative impact on the Company’s financial condition and its ability to develop its product candidates. Changing circumstances may cause the Company to consume capital significantly faster or slower than currently anticipated. If the Company is unable to acquire additional capital or resources, it will be required to modify its operational plans. The estimates included herein are based on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and the Company could exhaust its available financial resources sooner than currently anticipated.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”), for interim financial reporting and as required by Regulation S-X, Rule 10-01. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. Any reference in these notes to applicable guidance is meant to refer to the authoritative U.S. GAAP as found in the Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”), and Accounting Standards Updates (“ASU”), or the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”).

In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring accruals and revisions of estimates, considered necessary for a fair presentation of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been included. Interim results for the three months ended March 31, 2024, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, or any other future period.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Company’s subsidiaries have no employees or operations. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Management has determined that the Company operates in one segment, which is the business of developing and commercializing novel therapeutics. The information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2024. The Company’s management performed an evaluation of its activities through the date of filing of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and concluded that there are no subsequent events requiring disclosure, other than as disclosed.

The global macroeconomic environment is uncertain, and could be negatively affected by, among other things, increased U.S. trade tariffs and trade disputes with other countries, instability in the global capital and credit markets, supply chain weaknesses, and instability in the geopolitical environment, including as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rising tensions between China and Taiwan, the conflict in Israel and surrounding area and other political tensions. Such challenges have caused, and may continue to cause, recession fears, concerns regarding potential sanctions, high interest rates, foreign exchange volatility and inflationary pressures. At this time, the Company is unable to quantify the potential effects of this economic instability on its future operations.

At each reporting period, the Company evaluates whether there are conditions or events that raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. The Company is required to make certain additional disclosures if it concludes substantial doubt exists and it is not alleviated by the Company’s plans or when its plans alleviate substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

The Company’s evaluation entails, among other things, analyzing the results of the Company’s clinical development efforts, license and collaboration agreements as well as the entity’s current financial condition including conditional and unconditional obligations anticipated within a year, and related liquidity sources at the date the financial statements are issued. This is reflected in the Company’s prospective operating budgets and forecasts and compared to the current cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments balance.

The Company’s condensed consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires it to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and contingent liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates and assumptions reflected in these condensed consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, the accrual for clinical trial costs, including manufacturing activities, and other outsourced research and development expenses, and the valuation of share-based awards. Although these estimates are based on the Company’s knowledge of current events and actions it may take in the future, actual results may ultimately differ from these estimates and assumptions.

The Company accounts for revenue in accordance with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”).

The Company enters into collaboration agreements and certain other agreements that are within the scope of ASC 606, under which the Company licenses, may license, or grants an option to license rights to certain of the Company’s product candidates and performs research and development services in connection with such agreements. The terms of these agreements typically include payment of one or more of the following: non-refundable, up-front fees; reimbursement of research and development costs; developmental, clinical, regulatory, and commercial sales milestone payments; and royalties on net sales of licensed products.

In accordance with ASC 606, the Company recognizes revenue when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration which the Company expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services.

To determine the appropriate amount of revenue to be recognized, for agreements within the scope of ASC 606, the Company performs the following five steps: (i) identification of the goods or services within the contract; (ii) determination of whether the promised goods or services are performance obligations, including whether they are distinct within the terms of the contract; (iii) measurement of the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocation of the transaction price to the identified performance obligations; and (v) recognition of revenue when (or as) the Company satisfies each performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that the Company will collect consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer.

The promised goods or services in the Company’s agreements typically consist of a license, or option to license, rights to the Company’s intellectual property or research and development services. Performance obligations are promises in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the customer and are considered distinct when (i) the customer can benefit from the good or service on its own or together with other readily available resources and (ii) the promised good or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. In assessing whether promised goods or services are distinct, the Company considers factors such as the stage of development of the underlying intellectual property, the capabilities of the customer to develop the intellectual property on its own or whether the required expertise is readily available, and whether the goods or services are integral or dependent to other goods or services in the contract.

The Company estimates the transaction price based on the amount expected to be received for transferring the promised goods or services in the contract. The consideration may include fixed consideration or variable consideration. At the inception of each agreement that includes variable consideration, the Company evaluates the amount of potential payment and the likelihood that the payments will be received. The Company utilizes either the most likely amount method or expected value method to estimate the amount expected to be received based on which method best predicts the amount expected to be received. The amount of variable consideration that is included in the transaction price may be constrained and is included in the transaction price only to the extent that it is probable that a significant reversal in the amount of the cumulative revenue recognized will not occur in a future period.

The Company’s contracts often include development and regulatory milestone payments that are assessed under the most likely amount method and constrained if it is probable that a significant revenue reversal would occur. Milestone payments that are not within the Company’s control or the licensee’s control, such as regulatory approvals, are not considered probable of being achieved until those approvals are received. At the end of each reporting period, the Company re-evaluates the probability of achievement of such development and clinical milestones and any related constraint, and if necessary, adjusts its estimate of the overall transaction price. Any such adjustments are recorded on a cumulative catch-up basis, which would affect collaboration and other research and development revenue in the period of adjustment.

For agreements that include sales-based royalties, including milestone payments based on the level of sales, and where the license is deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate, the Company recognizes revenue at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). To date, the Company has not recognized any royalty revenue resulting from any of the Company’s collaboration or strategic alliance agreements.

The Company allocates the transaction price based on the estimated standalone selling price. The Company must develop assumptions that require judgment to determine the stand-alone selling price for each performance obligation identified in the contract. The Company utilizes key assumptions to determine the stand-alone selling price, which may include other comparable transactions, pricing considered in negotiating the transaction, and the estimated costs. Variable consideration is allocated specifically to one or more performance obligations in a contract when the terms of the variable consideration relate to the satisfaction of the performance obligation and the resulting amounts allocated are consistent with the amounts the Company would expect to receive for the satisfaction of each performance obligation.

The consideration allocated to each performance obligation is recognized as revenue when control is transferred for the related goods or services. For performance obligations which consist of licenses and other promises, the Company utilizes judgment to assess the nature of the combined performance obligation to determine whether the combined performance obligation is satisfied over time or at a point in time and, if over time, the appropriate method of measuring progress. The Company evaluates the measure of progress each reporting period and, if necessary, adjusts the measure of performance and related revenue recognition.

The Company receives payments from its customers based on billing schedules established in each contract. Up-front payments and fees are recorded as deferred revenue upon receipt or when due until the Company performs its obligations under these arrangements. Amounts are recorded as accounts receivable when the Company’s right to consideration is unconditional.

Research and development costs are expensed as incurred in performing research and development activities. The costs include employee-related expense including salaries, benefits, share-based compensation, restructuring charges including severance costs, fees for acquiring and maintaining licenses under third-party license agreements, consulting fees, costs of research and development activities conducted by third parties on the Company’s behalf, costs to manufacture or have manufactured clinical trial materials, laboratory supplies, depreciation, and facilities and overhead costs. The Company records research and development expense in the period in which the Company receives or takes ownership of the applicable goods or when the applicable services are performed. In circumstances where amounts have been paid in excess of costs incurred, the Company records a prepaid expense.

The Company records up-front and milestone payments to acquire and retain contractual rights to licensed technology as research and development expenses when incurred if there is uncertainty in the Company receiving future economic benefit from the acquired contractual rights. The Company considers future economic benefits from acquired contractual rights to licensed technology to be uncertain until such a drug candidate is approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) or when other significant risk factors are abated. Such up-front and milestone payments are reflected as cash used in operating activities within the condensed consolidated statement of cash flows.

The Company makes estimates of accrued expenses as of each balance sheet date in its condensed consolidated financial statements based on certain facts and circumstances at that time. The Company’s accrued expenses for clinical trials and preclinical studies are based on estimates of costs incurred for services provided by clinical research organizations, manufacturing organizations, and other providers. Payments under the Company’s agreements with external service providers depend on a number of factors, such as site initiation, patient screening, enrollment, delivery of reports, and other events. In accruing for these activities, the Company obtains information from various sources and estimates the level of effort or expense allocated to each period. Adjustments to the Company’s research and development expenses may be necessary in future periods as its estimates change.

The Company issues stock-based awards to employees and non-employees in the form of stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”). The Company measures and recognizes share-based compensation expense for its stock-based awards granted to employees and non-employees based on the estimated grant date fair value in accordance with ASC Topic 718, “Compensation - Stock Compensation” and determines the fair value of RSUs based on the fair value of its common stock. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of stock options. The use of the Black-Scholes option-pricing model requires the Company to make assumptions with respect to the expected term of the option, the expected volatility of the common stock consistent with the expected life of the option, risk-free interest rates and expected dividend yields of the common stock. The Company recognizes share-based compensation expense for awards with service-based conditions using the straight-line method over the requisite service period, net of any actual forfeitures.

All highly-liquid investments that have maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase are classified as cash equivalents. Cash equivalents are reported at cost, which approximates fair value due to the short maturities of these instruments.

The Company’s investments consist of highly-rated corporate and U.S. Treasury securities and have been classified as available-for-sale securities. Accordingly, these investments are recorded at their respective fair values, as determined based on quoted market prices. The Company may hold securities with stated maturities greater than one year. All available-for-sale securities are considered available to support current operations, and thus investments with maturities beyond one year are generally classified as current assets.

Unrealized gains and losses are reported as a component of stockholders’ equity until their disposition. Realized gains and losses are included as a component of other income (expense), net based on the specific identification method. The securities are subject to a periodic impairment review. An impairment charge would occur when a decline in the fair value of the investments below the cost basis is judged to be other-than-temporary.

Certain assets and liabilities are carried at fair value under U.S. GAAP. 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 on the measurement date. Valuation techniques used to measure fair value must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value are to be classified and disclosed in one of the following three levels of the fair value hierarchy, of which the first two are considered observable and the last is considered unobservable:

•Level 1 inputs utilize quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

•Level 2 inputs utilize observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices, for similar assets or liabilities, quoted market prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the related assets or liabilities.

•Level 3 inputs are unobservable data points for the asset or liability and include situations where there is little, if any, market activity for the asset or liability.

Certain of the Company’s financial instruments are not measured at fair value on a recurring basis but are recorded at amounts that approximate their fair value due to the short-term nature of their maturities, such as cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued expenses.

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash equivalents, which include short-term investments that have maturities of less than three months. The Company maintains deposits in federally insured financial institutions in excess of federally insured limits. The Company has not experienced any losses in such accounts. The Company invests its excess cash primarily in deposits and money market funds held with one financial institution. The Company does not believe that it is subject to unusual credit risk beyond the normal credit risk associated with commercial banking relationships.

The Company carries its property and equipment at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, generally three to five years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the life of the lease (including any renewal periods that are deemed to be reasonably assured) or the estimated useful life of the assets. Construction in progress is not depreciated until placed in service. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred and expenditures for major improvements are capitalized.

The Company determines if an arrangement is, or contains, a lease at contract inception and during modifications or renewal of existing leases. Operating lease assets represent the Company’s right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. The Company has recorded operating lease assets and liabilities pursuant to the guidance in ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), and subsequent amendments to the initial guidance: ASU No. 2017-13, ASU No. 2018-10, and ASU No. 2018-11 (collectively, “ASC 842”). These operating lease assets and liabilities are recognized at the commencement date of the lease based upon the present value of lease payments over the lease term. The lease payments used to determine the Company’s operating lease assets may include lease incentives, stated rent increases, and escalation clauses and are recognized in the Company’s operating lease assets in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. The Company’s operating leases are reflected in operating lease right-of-use asset and operating lease liability within accrued and other liabilities in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets. Lease expense for minimum lease payments is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Short-term leases, defined as leases that have a lease term of 12 months or less at the commencement date, are excluded from this treatment and are recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Refer to Note 6. Commitments and Contingencies - Lease Obligations for additional information related to the Company’s operating leases.

Debt issuance costs and expenses paid by the Company to its lenders are presented on the consolidated balance sheet as a direct deduction from the related debt liability rather than capitalized as an asset in accordance with ASU No. 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. Debt issuance costs represent legal and other direct costs incurred in connection with the Company’s Term Loan (as defined in Note 5. Debt). These costs are amortized as a non-cash component of interest expense using the effective interest method over the term of the loan.

The Company records shares of non-voting convertible preferred stock at their respective fair values on the dates of issuance, net of issuance costs.

The Company assesses the carrying amount of its property and equipment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable. No impairment charges were recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

Basic net loss per share is calculated by dividing the net loss by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period without consideration of common stock equivalents.

Since the Company was in a loss position for all periods presented, diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share for all periods, as the inclusion of all potential common shares outstanding is antidilutive.

Comprehensive loss is comprised of net loss and adjustments for the change in unrealized gains and losses on investments. Unrealized accumulated comprehensive gains or losses are reflected as a separate component in the condensed consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ equity.

The Company accounts for income taxes by using an asset and liability method of accounting for deferred income taxes. 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. A valuation allowance is recorded to the extent it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. 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 operations in the period that includes the enactment date.

The Company’s significant deferred tax assets are for net operating loss carryforwards, tax credits, accruals and reserves, and capitalized start-up costs. The Company has provided a valuation allowance for its entire net deferred tax assets since inception as, due to its history of operating losses, the Company has concluded that it is more likely than not that its deferred tax assets will not be realized.

The Company has no unrecognized tax benefits. The Company classifies interest and penalties arising from the underpayment of income taxes in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as general and administrative expenses. No such expenses have been recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023.

Upon the issuance of warrants to purchase shares of common stock, the Company evaluates the terms of the warrant issue to determine the appropriate accounting and classification of the warrant issue pursuant to FASB ASC Topic 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, FASB ASC Topic 505, Equity, FASB ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and ASC 718, Compensation - Stock Compensation, and classifies warrants for common stock as liabilities or equity. Warrants are classified as liabilities when the Company may be required to settle a warrant exercise in cash and classified as equity when the Company settles a warrant exercise in shares of its common stock.

The Company operates in one operating segment and, accordingly, no segment disclosures have been presented herein. All equipment, leasehold improvements, and other fixed assets are physically located within the United States and all agreements with the Company’s partners are denominated in U.S. dollars, except where noted.

From time to time, new accounting pronouncements are issued by the FASB or other standard setting bodies that the Company adopts as of the specified effective date. The Company does not believe that the adoption of recently issued standards have or may have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements or disclosures.

In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Report Segment Disclosures (“ASU 2023-07”). ASU 2023-07 requires enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses, enhanced interim disclosure requirements, clarifies circumstances in which an entity can disclose multiple segment measures of profit or loss, provides new segment disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment, and contains other disclosure requirements. ASU 2023-07 is effective for the Company’s annual reporting period beginning after December 15, 2023, and subsequent interim periods, with early adoption permitted. ASU 2023-07 requires retrospective application to all prior periods presented in the financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that adoption of ASU 2023-07 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (“ASU 2023-09”). ASU 2023-09 requires a company's annual financial statements to include consistent categories and greater disaggregation of information in the rate reconciliation, and income taxes paid disaggregated by jurisdiction. ASU 2023-09 is effective for the Company’s annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2025. Adoption is either with a prospective method or a fully retrospective method of transition. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that adoption of ASU 2023-09 will have on its consolidated financial statements.

The Company’s investments consisted of the following as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023:

The money market funds above are included in cash and cash equivalents on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company considers the unrealized losses in its investment portfolio to be temporary in nature and not due to credit losses. The Company has the intent and ability to hold such investments until their recovery at fair value. The Company did not have any realized gains or losses in its available for sale securities during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The Company did not have any sales of short-term investments during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The contractual maturity dates of all of the Company’s investments are all less than 24 months.

The following table summarizes the Company’s assets and liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis:

Accrued liabilities consisted of the following:

In April 2022, the Company entered into a loan and security agreement (the “Hercules Loan and Security Agreement”) among the Company, certain of its subsidiaries from time to time party thereto (together with the Company, collectively, the “Borrower”), Hercules Capital, Inc. (“Hercules”) and certain other lenders named therein (the “Lenders”). Under the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement, the Lenders provided the Company with access to a term loan with an aggregate principal amount of up to $75.0 million, in four tranches (collectively the “Term Loan”), consisting of (1) an initial tranche of $25.0 million, available to the Company through June 15, 2023; (2) a second tranche of $10.0 million, subject to the achievement of certain regulatory milestones, available through June 15, 2023; (3) a third tranche of $15.0 million, subject to the achievement of certain regulatory milestones, available through March 15, 2024; and (4) a fourth tranche of $25.0 million, subject to approval by the Lenders’ investment committee(s), available through December 15, 2024. The milestones for the third tranche were not achieved prior to the amendment of the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement in August 2023. The obligations of the Borrower under the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement were secured by substantially all of the assets of the Borrower, excluding the Borrower’s intellectual property. The Term Loan had a maturity date of October 1, 2026.

Per the terms of the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement, the Company was originally obligated to make interest-only payments through April 1, 2024. However, upon the achievement of a development milestone in August 2022 the interest-only period was extended to October 1, 2024. If additional development milestones were met, the interest-only period would be further extended to April 1, 2025. The Borrower was required to repay the Term Loan amount in equal monthly installments of the principal amount and interest between the end of the interest-only period and the maturity date of October 1, 2026. In addition, the Borrower was required to pay an end-of-term fee equal to 6% of the principal amount of funded Term Loan advances at maturity, which were being accreted as additional interest expense over the term of the loan.

Upon signing the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement, the Company drew an initial principal amount of $5.0 million. The Company incurred debt issuance costs of $0.2 million in connection with the Term Loan.

In addition, in connection with the initial draw, the Company paid to the Lenders a facility fee of $0.1 million, as well as $0.1 million of other expenses incurred by the Lenders and reimbursed by the Company (“Lender Expenses”). The debt issuance costs and the Lender Expenses were being amortized as additional interest expense over the term of the loan.

In August 2023, the Company executed an amendment to the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement (the “Hercules Amendment”). Under the Hercules Amendment, the Lenders provided the Company access to an increased term loan with an aggregate principal amount of up to $150 million, in four tranches (collectively the “Amended Term Loan”), consisting of (1) an initial tranche of $50.0 million, $5.0 million of which was drawn at closing of the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement in April 2022, $15.0 million of which was drawn at closing of the Hercules Amendment in August 2023, $5.0 million of which was available through December 15, 2023, and $25.0 million of which is available from July 1, 2024 through December 15, 2024; (2) a second tranche of $20.0 million, subject to achievement of certain regulatory milestones, available through February 15, 2025; (3) a third tranche of $20.0 million, subject to achievement of certain regulatory milestones, available through March 31, 2025; and (4) a fourth tranche of $60.0 million subject to approval by the Lenders’ investment committee(s), available through June 15, 2025. The milestones for the second and third tranches have not yet been achieved. The obligations of the Borrower under the Hercules Amendment agreement are secured by substantially all of the assets of the Borrower, excluding the Borrower’s intellectual property. The Amended Term Loan has a maturity date of October 1, 2026.

Per the terms of the Hercules Amendment, the Company is obligated to make interest-only payments through April 1, 2025. If certain development milestones are met, then the interest-only period will be extended to October 1, 2025. If additional development milestones are met, the interest-only period will be further extended to April 1, 2026. The Borrower is required to repay the Amended Term Loan amount in equal monthly installments of the principal amount and interest between the end of the interest-only period and the maturity date of October 1, 2026. In addition, the Borrower is required to pay an end-of-term fee equal to 6% of the principal amount of funded Amended Term Loan advances at maturity, which are being accreted as additional interest expense over the term of the loan.

Upon execution of the Hercules Amendment in August 2023, the Company drew a principal amount of $15.0 million. The Hercules Amendment was determined to substantially alter the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement and therefore was accounted for as a debt extinguishment. The Company recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $0.2 million in August 2023 related to unamortized debt discount and debt issuance costs.

The total cost of all items (cash interest, the amortization/accretion of the debt issuance costs and the end-of-term fee) is being recognized as interest expense using an effective interest rate of approximately 9.3%. The Company recorded interest expense of $0.6 million and $0.2 million during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

The following table summarizes the impact of the Term Loan, on the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheet at March 31, 2024:

			March 31, 2024
			(in thousands)
Gross proceeds			$	20,000
Accrued end-of-term fee			328
Unamortized debt issuance costs			—
Carrying value			$	20,328

The carrying value of the Term Loan approximates its fair value. Future principal payments, which exclude the end of term fee, in connection with the Hercules Loan and Security Agreement as of March 31, 2024 are as follows (in thousands):

In October 2020, the Company became party to a license agreement with Zenas BioPharma (Cayman) Limited (“Zenas BioPharma”) to license technology comprising certain materials, patent rights, and know-how to Zenas BioPharma. Since February 2021, the Company has entered into several letter agreements with Zenas BioPharma pursuant to which the Company agreed to provide assistance to Zenas BioPharma with certain development activities, including manufacturing. In May 2022, the Company entered into a Manufacturing Development and Supply Agreement with Zenas BioPharma to manufacture and supply, or to have manufactured and supplied, clinical drug product for developmental purposes. The license agreement and subsequent letter agreements and supply agreement (collectively, the “Zenas Agreements”) were negotiated with a single commercial objective and are treated as a combined contract for accounting purposes. Under the terms of the Zenas Agreements, the Company granted Zenas BioPharma an exclusive license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize certain IGF-1R directed antibody products for non-oncology indications in the greater area of China.

As consideration for the Zenas Agreements, the transaction price included upfront non-cash consideration and variable consideration in the form of payment for the Company’s goods and services and milestone payments due upon the achievement of specified events. Under the Zenas Agreements, the Company can receive non-refundable milestone payments upon achieving specific milestone events during the contract term. Additionally, the Company may receive royalty payments based on a percentage of the annual net sales of any licensed products sold on a country-by-country basis in the greater area of China. The royalty percentage may vary based on different tiers of annual net sales of the licensed products made. Zenas BioPharma is obligated to make royalty payments to the Company for the royalty term in the Zenas Agreements.

The Zenas Agreements would qualify as a collaborative arrangement under the scope of Accounting Standards Codification, Topic 808, Collaborative Arrangements (“ASC 808”). While this arrangement is in the scope of ASC 808, the Company applied ASC 606 to account for certain aspects of this arrangement. The Company applied ASC 606 for certain activities within the arrangement associated with the Company’s transfer of a good or service (i.e., a unit of account) that is part of the Company’s ongoing major or central operations. The Company allocated the transaction price based on the relative estimated standalone selling prices of each performance obligation or, in the case of certain variable consideration, to one or more performance obligations. Research and development activities are priced generally at cost. The Company’s license of goods and services to Zenas BioPharma during the contract term was determined to be a single performance obligation satisfied over time. The Company will recognize the transaction price from the license agreement over the Company’s estimated period to complete its activities.

At the inception of the arrangement, the Company evaluated whether the milestones were considered probable of being reached and estimated the amount to be included in the transaction price using the most likely amount method. As it was not probable that a significant revenue reversal would not occur, none of the associated milestone payments were included in the transaction price at contract inception. For the sales-based royalties included in the arrangement, the license was deemed to be the predominant item to which the royalties relate. The Company will recognize royalty revenues at the later of (i) when the related sales occur, or (ii) when the performance obligation to which some or all of the royalty has been allocated has been satisfied (or partially satisfied). During the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized $0.1 million of collaboration revenue related to the Zenas Agreements.

In January 2024, the Company entered into a letter agreement with Zenas BioPharma (the “Zenas Letter Agreement”) pursuant to which Zenas BioPharma agreed to support the Company’s THRIVE-2 and STRIVE trials by initiating and managing the studies in China. Under the Zenas Letter Agreement, the Company agreed to reimburse costs incurred by Zenas BioPharma, including a full-time equivalent rate for services rendered. In connection with the execution of the Zenas Letter Agreement, the Company made an initial payment of $1.5 million, of which $0.4 million was recorded as research and development expense during the three months ended March 31, 2024 for services performed to date.

As of March 31, 2024, the Zenas Agreements are considered related party transactions because Fairmount Funds Management LLC (“Fairmount”) beneficially owns more than 5% of the Company’s common stock and is also a 5% or greater stockholder of Zenas BioPharma and has a seat on Zenas BioPharma’s board of directors.

In January 2022, the Company and Paragon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Paragon”) entered into an antibody and discovery option agreement (the “Paragon Agreement”) under which the Company and Paragon will cooperate to develop one or more proteins or antibodies. Under the terms of the Paragon Agreement, Paragon will perform certain development activities in accordance with an agreed upon research plan, and the Company will pay Paragon agreed upon development fees in exchange for Paragon’s commitment of the necessary personnel and resources to perform these activities. The Paragon Agreement stipulates a final deliverable to the Company comprising of a report summarizing the experiments and processes performed under the research plan (the “Final Deliverable”).

Additionally, Paragon agreed to grant the Company an option for an exclusive license to all of Paragon’s right, title and interest in and to certain antibody technology and the Final Deliverable, and a non-exclusive license to certain background intellectual property owned by Paragon solely to research, develop, make, use, sell, offer for sale and import of the licensed intellectual property and resulting products worldwide (each, an “Option” and together, the “Options”). Paragon also granted to the Company a limited, exclusive, royalty-free license, without the right to sublicense, to certain antibody technology and the Final Deliverable, and a non-exclusive, royalty-free license without the right to sublicense, under certain background intellectual property owned by Paragon, solely to evaluate the antibody technology and Option and for the purpose of allowing the Company to determine whether to exercise the Option with respect to certain programs.

The Company may, at its sole discretion, exercise the Option with respect to specified programs (“Programs”) at any time until the date that is 90 days after the Company’s receipt of the Final Deliverable the applicable program, or such longer period as agreed upon by the parties (“Option Period”) by delivering written notice of such exercise to Paragon. If the Company fails to exercise an Option prior to expiration of the applicable Option Period, such Option for such Programs will terminate. In consideration for Paragon’s grant of the Options to the Company, the Company paid to Paragon a non-refundable, non-creditable one-time fee of $2.5 million, which was recorded as research and development expense during the three months ended March 31, 2022. In December 2022, the Company and Paragon entered into a first amendment to the Paragon Agreement, under which the Company obtained an additional limited license for the purpose of conducting certain activities. In consideration for the rights and licenses obtained under the first amendment, Viridian paid Paragon a non-refundable fee of $2.3 million (the “First Amendment Payment”), which was recorded as research and development expense during the three months ended December 31, 2022. The non-refundable upfront fee and the First Amendment Payment are separate from any development costs or cost advance paid or owing with respect to the specified program.

In October 2023, the Company entered into a License Agreement with Paragon (the “Paragon License Agreement”) as a result of exercising its Option under the Paragon Agreement to obtain exclusive licenses to develop, manufacture and commercialize certain antibodies, proteins and associated products. In connection with the execution of the Paragon License Agreement, the Company made an initial payment of $5.3 million, which was recorded as research and development expense during the three months ended December 31, 2023. In consideration for rights granted by Paragon, the Company is obligated to make certain future development milestone payments of up to $16.0 million on a program-by-program basis upon the achievement of specified clinical and regulatory milestones. Additionally, if the Company successfully commercializes any product candidate subject to the Paragon License Agreement, it is responsible for royalty payments equal to a percentage in the mid-single digits of net sales.

In January 2024, the Company entered into a letter agreement with Paragon (the “Paragon Letter Agreement”) pursuant to which Paragon agreed to continue to perform development activities under the existing Paragon Agreement and Paragon License Agreement. In consideration for the development activities to be conducted by Paragon, the Company will reimburse Paragon for actual development costs incurred and agreed upon development fees in exchange for Paragon’s commitment of the necessary personnel and resources to perform these activities.

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company recorded $0.7 million and $3.2 million, respectively, in research and development costs related to the Paragon Agreement.

As of March 31, 2024, the Paragon Agreement is considered a related party transaction because Fairmount beneficially owns more than 5% of the Company’s capital stock and has two seats on the Company’s board of directors, and beneficially owns more than 5% of Paragon, which is a joint venture between Fairmount and FairJourney Biologics, and has appointed the sole director on Paragon’s board of directors and has the contractual right to approve the appointment of any executive officers.

In October 2020, the Company became party to a license agreement (the “ImmunoGen License Agreement”) with Immunogen, Inc. (“ImmunoGen”), under which the Company obtained an exclusive, sublicensable, worldwide license to certain patents and other intellectual property rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize certain products for non-oncology and non-radiopharmaceutical indications. In consideration for rights granted by ImmunoGen, the Company is obligated to make certain future development milestone payments of up to $48.0 million upon the achievement of specified clinical and regulatory milestones.

In December 2021, the Company paid a $2.5 million milestone payment to ImmunoGen upon the submission of an investigational new drug (“IND”) application for VRDN-001 with the FDA. In May 2022, the Company paid a $3.0 million milestone payment to ImmunoGen related to the first patient dosed in the clinical trial for VRDN-001. In December 2022, the Company recorded $10.0 million as research and development expense related to a milestone owed to ImmunoGen related to the first patient dosed in a pivotal clinical trial for VRDN-001, amount which was paid in January 2023 and which was included in accounts payable in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022. Additionally, if the Company successfully commercializes any product candidate subject to the ImmunoGen License Agreement, it is responsible for royalty payments equal to a percentage in the mid-single digits of net sales and commercial milestone payments of up to $95.0 million. The Company is obligated to make any such royalty payments on a product-by-product and country-by-country basis from the first commercial sale of a specified product in each country until the later of (i) the expiration of the last patent claim subject to the ImmunoGen License Agreement in such country, (ii) the expiration of any applicable regulatory exclusivity obtained for each product in such country, or (iii) the 12th anniversary of the date of the first commercial sale of such product in such country.

In January 2023, the Company entered into a Development and License Agreement (the “Enable License Agreement”) with Enable Injections, Inc. (“Enable”), under which Enable granted the Company an exclusive, royalty-bearing, sublicensable, non-transferrable license to (i) develop, commercialize, seek marketing approval for and otherwise use and exploit certain products, and (ii) make and have made such product solely for such permitted uses. Pursuant to the terms of the Enable License Agreement, Viridian granted Enable a non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-transferable license. In consideration for the rights granted by Enable the Company paid Enable an initial, non-creditable, non-refundable license fee of $15.0 million in January 2023. This amount is included in research and development expense during the three months ended March 31, 2023 in the accompanying condensed consolidated statement operations and comprehensive loss.

The Company is obligated to make certain future milestone payments of up to $45.0 million upon the achievement of specified development, clinical and regulatory milestones. Additionally, if the Company is successful in commercializing any product candidate subject to the Enable License Agreement, the Company is obligated to make certain commercial milestone payments of up to $150.0 million and royalty payments equal to a percentage in the mid-single digits.

In May 2023, the Company and a third-party collaborator entered into an Exclusive License and Collaboration Agreement to collaborate and conduct certain IND-enabling activities with respect to the licensed compound and licensed product. Under the terms of the agreement, Viridian was granted an exclusive, royalty-bearing, worldwide license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize certain licensed compounds and licensed products in the field (the “License”). In consideration for the rights granted by the License, the Company initially issued 204,843 shares of its common stock to certain stockholders of the third-party. The shares were valued at $5.0 million and recorded as research and development expense during the three months ended June 30, 2023. On July 24, 2023, the Company issued 39,059 additional shares of its common stock to certain stockholders of the third-party and recorded the related $0.7 million expense as research and development expenses during three months ended September 30, 2023. Additionally, upon the date when the Company decides to pursue certain studies for the licensed compound under the agreement, the Company shall issue the third-party collaborator the equivalent of $10.0 million in shares of its common stock. The Company is also obligated to make certain future milestones of up to $45.0 million upon the achievement of certain development milestones. Remaining development milestone payments shall be payable in cash. If the Company is successful in commercializing products related to the licensed compound, the Company is also obligated to pay up to $60.0 million upon the achievement of certain sales milestones as well as royalty payments equal to a percentage in the mid-single to double digits.

The Company is party to a multi-year, non-cancelable lease agreement for its Colorado-based office and lab space (the “Colorado Lease”). The Colorado Lease includes rent escalation clauses through the lease term and a Company option to extend the lease term for up to three terms of three years each. Minimum base lease payments under the Colorado Lease, including the impact of tenant improvement allowances, are recognized on a straight-line basis over the full term of the lease. The lease term was amended in March 2021 to extend the lease maturity date to December 31, 2024. Upon adoption of ASC 842 and upon subsequent modification of the lease in 2020 and in March 2021, the Company recognized a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability for the Colorado Lease of approximately $1.6 million by calculating the present value of lease payments, discounted at 6%, the Company’s estimated incremental borrowing rate, over the 12 months expected remaining term.

The Company is party to a multi-year, non-cancelable lease agreement for its Massachusetts-based office space (as subsequently amended in July 2021, April 2022 and July 2022, the “Massachusetts Lease”). The Massachusetts Lease includes rent escalation clauses throughout the lease term. Minimum base lease payments under the Massachusetts Lease are recognized on a straight-line basis over the full term of the Massachusetts Lease. Upon initial assumption of the Massachusetts Lease in October 2020, the Company recognized a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability of $0.1 million by calculating the present value of lease payments, discounted at 6%, the Company’s estimated incremental borrowing rate, over the expected remaining term. The Massachusetts Lease provides for annual base rent of approximately $0.4 million during the lease term. The Company is also obligated to pay the landlord certain costs, taxes and operating expenses. The Massachusetts Lease will expire in April 2027. The Company has the option to extend the lease term for an additional period of three years upon notice to the landlord.

Future lease payments under noncancellable leases as of March 31, 2024 are as follows:

As of March 31, 2024, the Company’s operating lease obligations were reflected as short-term operating lease liabilities of $0.7 million within accrued liabilities and $0.9 million of long-term lease obligations as other liabilities in the Company’s condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Amortization of the operating lease right-of-use assets, and corresponding reduction of operating lease obligations, amounted to $0.2 million and $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which was included in operating expense in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss.

The Company is also required to pay for certain costs, taxes, and operating expenses related to both the Colorado Lease and Massachusetts Lease, which were $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023. The operating expenses are incurred separately and were not included in the present value of lease payments.

Under the Company’s second restated certificate of incorporation, the Company is authorized to issue 205,000,000 shares of its stock, of which 200,000,000 shares have been designated as common stock and 5,000,000 shares have been designated as preferred stock, both with a par value of $0.01 per share. The number of authorized shares of common stock may be increased or decreased by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the Company’s stock who are entitled to vote. Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote. The holders of common stock are entitled to receive dividends when and as declared or paid by its board of directors.

In September 2022, the Company entered into an Open Market Sale AgreementSM (the “September 2022 ATM Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”), pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $175.0 million from time to time at prices and on terms to be determined by market conditions at the time of offering, with Jefferies acting as its sales agent. Jefferies will receive a commission of 3.0% of the gross proceeds of any shares of common stock sold under the September 2022 ATM Agreement. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company sold 684,298 shares under the September 2022 ATM Agreement with Jefferies at a weighted average price of $22.30 per share, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $14.8 million, including commissions to Jefferies as a sales agent. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company sold 1,561,570 shares under the September 2022 ATM Agreement with Jefferies at a weighted average price of $23.22 per share, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately $35.2 million, including commissions to Jefferies as a sales agent.

In November 2023, the Company issued and sold in private placement transactions an aggregate of 8,869,797 shares of the Company’s common stock at a price per share of $12.38 and 92,312 shares of the Company’s Series B Preferred Stock at a price per share of $825.3746, pursuant to securities purchase agreements with certain institutional and accredited investors. The Company received aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $186.0 million, before deducting offering expenses payable by the Company.

In January 2024, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement with Jefferies and Leerink Partners LLC (“Leerink Partners”) relating to the offer and sale (the “2024 Public Offering”) of 7,142,858 shares of the Company’s common stock at a public offering price of $21.00 per share. The aggregate gross proceeds to the Company from the 2024 Public Offering were approximately $150.0 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company.

Under the Company’s second restated certificate of incorporation, the Company’s board of directors has the authority to designate and issue up to 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, at its discretion, in one or more classes or series and to fix the powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations, or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, conversion rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, and liquidation preferences, without further vote or action by the Company’s stockholders.

Holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends on shares of Series A Preferred Stock equal, on an as-if-converted-to-Common-Stock basis, and in the same form as dividends actually paid on shares of the common stock. Except as otherwise required by law, the Series A Preferred Stock does not have voting rights. However, as long as any shares of Series A Preferred Stock are outstanding, the Company will not, without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of the Series A Preferred Stock, (i) alter or change adversely the powers, preferences or rights given to the Series A Preferred Stock, (ii) alter or amend the Certificate of Designation, (iii) amend its certificate of incorporation or other charter documents in any manner that adversely affects any rights of the holders of Series A Preferred Stock, (iv) increase the number of authorized shares of Series A Preferred Stock, (v) at any time while at least 30% of the originally issued Series A Preferred Stock remains issued and outstanding, consummate a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the Certificate of Designation) or (vi) enter into any agreement with respect to any of the foregoing. The Series A Preferred Stock does not have a preference upon any liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of the Company. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 66.67 shares of common stock at any time at the option of the holder thereof, subject to certain limitations, including that a holder of Series A Preferred Stock is prohibited from converting shares of Series A Preferred Stock into shares of common stock if, as a result of such conversion, such holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than a specified percentage (to be established by the holder between 4.99% and 19.99%) of the total number of shares of common stock issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such conversion.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there were 157,435 and 172,435 shares of Series A Preferred Stock outstanding, respectively. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, 15,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock were converted into 1,000,048 shares of common stock.

Each share of Series B Preferred Stock is convertible into 66.67 shares of common stock, subject to certain limitations, including that a holder of Series B Preferred Stock is prohibited from converting shares of Series B Preferred Stock into shares of common stock if, as a result of such conversion, such holder, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than a specified percentage (to be established by the holder between 4.9% and 19.9%) of the total number of shares of common stock issued and outstanding immediately after giving effect to such conversion. The powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations, and restrictions applicable to the Series B Preferred Stock are set forth in the Certificate of Designation filed in September 2021.

Holders of Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to receive dividends on shares of Series B Preferred Stock equal, on an as-if-converted-to-Common-Stock basis, and in the same form as dividends actually paid on shares of the common stock. Except as otherwise required by law, the Series B Preferred Stock does not have voting rights. However, as long as any shares of Series B Preferred Stock are outstanding, the Company will not, without the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of the Series B Preferred Stock, (i) alter or change adversely the powers, preferences or rights given to the Series B Preferred Stock, (ii) alter or amend the Certificate of Designation, or (iii) amend its certificate of incorporation or other charter documents in any manner that adversely affects any rights of the holders of Series B Preferred Stock. The Series B Preferred Stock does not have a preference upon any liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of the Company.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there were 143,522 shares of Series B Preferred Stock outstanding. No shares of Series B Preferred Stock were converted into common stock during the three months ended March 31, 2024.

The following table presents information about the Company’s outstanding warrants:

____________________

(1)If the Company subdivides (by any stock split, stock dividend, recapitalization, or otherwise) its outstanding shares of its common stock into a smaller number of shares, the warrant exercise price is proportionately reduced and the number of shares under outstanding warrants is proportionately increased. Additionally, if the Company combines (by combination, reverse stock split, or otherwise) its outstanding shares of common stock into a smaller number of shares, the warrant exercise price is proportionately increased and the number of shares under outstanding warrants is proportionately decreased.

(2)Subject to specified conditions, the Company may voluntarily reduce the warrant exercise price of the warrants issued in February 2020.

A summary of the Company’s warrant activity during the three months ended March 31, 2024 is as follows:

The Company has grants outstanding under its 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”), its amended and restated 2016 Equity Incentive Plan ( the “2016 Plan”), and the Viridian 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan” and collectively with the 2008 Plan and the 2016 Plan, the “Equity Incentive Plans”).

Additionally, beginning in July 2021, the Company granted stock options and RSUs outside of its Equity Incentive Plans to certain employees to induce them to accept employment with the Company (the “Inducement Awards”). The terms and conditions of the Inducement Awards are substantially similar to those awards granted under the Company’s Equity Incentive Plans.

In June 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the 2016 Plan to, among other things, transfer the then remaining number of shares available for issuance under the 2020 Plan into the 2016 Plan so that the Company operates from a single equity plan going forward. In June 2023, the Company’s stockholders approved a further amendment and restatement of the 2016 Plan to, among other things, increase the number of shares reserved for issuance thereunder by 2,000,000 shares. The 2016 Plan will terminate on June 14, 2033.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had the following balances by plan:

RSUs granted under the Equity Incentive Plans and the Inducement Awards generally vest annually over a 4-year period and are settled in shares of the Company’s common stock.

A summary of RSU activity is as follows:

Options granted under the Equity Incentive Plans and the Inducement Awards have an exercise price equal to the market value of the common stock at the date of grant and expire 10 years from the date of grant. Options vest 25% on the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date and 75% ratably in equal monthly installments over the remaining 36 months or in equal monthly or quarterly amounts over periods of up to 48 months.

A summary of common stock option activity is as follows:

The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock options granted under its equity compensation plans. The Black-Scholes model requires inputs for risk-free interest rate, dividend yield, volatility, and expected terms of the options. Because the Company has a limited history of stock purchase and sale activity, expected volatility is based on a blend of historical data from public companies that are similar to the Company in size and nature of operations, as well as the Company’s own volatility. The Company will continue to use similar entity volatility information until its historical volatility is relevant to measure expected volatility for option grants. The Company accounts for forfeitures as they occur. The risk-free rate for periods within the contractual life of each option is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of the grant for a period commensurate with the expected term of the grant. The expected term (without regard to forfeitures) for options granted represents the period of time that options granted are expected to be outstanding and is derived from the contractual terms of the options granted, and actual and expected option-exercise behaviors. The fair value of the underlying common stock is based on the closing price of the common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market at the date of grant.

The weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023 was $14.43 and $26.16, respectively. The fair value was determined by the Black-Scholes option pricing model using the following weighted-average assumptions:

The 2016 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) allows qualified employees to purchase shares of common stock at a price equal to 85% of the lower of: (i) the closing price at the beginning of the offering period or (ii) the closing price at the end of the offering period. New six-month offering periods occur twice per year. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had 1,208,603 shares available for issuance, and 80,932 cumulative shares had been issued under the ESPP.

Share-based compensation related to all equity awards issued pursuant to the Equity Incentive Plans, the Inducement Awards, and for estimated shares to be issued under the ESPP for the purchase periods active during each respective period is included in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as follows:

During the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company recorded an additional $3.5 million in share-based compensation related to the acceleration of vesting for former executive officers. During the three months ended March 31, 2023, the Company recorded an additional $6.5 million in share-based compensation related to the acceleration of vesting for its former Chief Executive Officer, an amount which includes $1.6 million related to the modification of the terms of options outstanding at the time of termination which would have otherwise forfeited.

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had $92.3 million of total unrecognized share-based compensation costs related to stock options, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average remaining period of 3.22 years. As of March 31, 2024, the Company had $9.4 million of total unrecognized share-based compensation costs related to unvested RSUs, which the Company expects to recognize over a weighted-average remaining period of 3.48 years.

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing the net loss available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of common stock outstanding. Diluted net loss per share is computed similarly to basic net loss per share except that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional shares of common stock that would have been outstanding if the potential shares of common stock had been issued and if the additional shares of common stock were dilutive. Diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share of common stock, as the effects of potentially dilutive securities are antidilutive.

Potentially dilutive securities include the following: