NOTE 9. LICENSES AND AGREEMENTS

National Institutes of Health (the “NIH”) and the National Cancer Institute (the “NCI”)

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (the “CRADA”)

In August 2011, the Company signed a five-year CRADA with the NCI to work on the development of adoptive cell immunotherapies that are designed to destroy metastatic melanoma cells. The CRADA was amended in 2015 and 2016 to, among other things, extend the term of the CRADA through August 2021, include new indications such as the development of TIL therapy for the treatment of patients with bladder, lung, triple-negative breast, and Human Papilloma Virus (“HPV”)-associated cancers, and modify the focus on the development of unmodified TIL as a stand-alone therapy or in combination. The parties have continued the development of improved methods for the generation and selection of TIL with anti-tumor reactivity in metastatic melanoma, bladder, lung, breast, and HPV-associated cancers.

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In August 2021, the NCI and the Company entered into a third amendment to the CRADA. The third amendment, among other things, extended the term of the CRADA by three years to August 2024. The research plan in this amendment includes the evaluation in clinical trials of strategies for development of more potent TILs, such as selection of CD39/69 double negative cells and the use of certain inhibitors or other reagents in TIL expansion cultures.

Pursuant to the terms of the CRADA, as amended, the Company is required to make quarterly payments of $0.5 million to the NCI for support of research activities. To the extent the Company licenses patent rights relating to a TIL-based product candidate, the Company will be responsible for all patent-related expenses and fees, past and future, relating to the TIL-based product candidate. In addition, the Company may be required to supply certain test articles, including TIL, grown and processed under Current Good Manufacturing Practice (“cGMP”) conditions, suitable for use in clinical trials. The extended CRADA has a three-year term expiring in August 2024. The Company or the NCI may unilaterally terminate the CRADA for any reason or for no reason at any time by providing written notice at least 60 days before the desired termination date. The Company recorded costs associated with the CRADA of $2.0 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, as research and development expenses.

Patent License Agreement Related to the Development and Manufacture of TIL Therapies

The Company entered into an Exclusive Patent License Agreement (the “Patent License Agreement”) with the NIH, an agency of the U.S. Public Health Service within the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2011, as amended in 2015. Pursuant to the Patent License Agreement, as amended, the NIH granted the Company licenses, including exclusive, co-exclusive, and non-exclusive licenses, to certain technologies relating to autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte adoptive cell therapy products for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, lung, breast, bladder and HPV-positive cancers.

Effective May 6, 2021, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement with NIH, which included the grant of additional exclusive, worldwide patent rights in the indications to interleukin-15 and interleukin-21 cytokine-tethered TIL technology, and expanded the non-exclusive, worldwide field of use to all cancers. Effective August 1, 2022, the Company entered into a Second Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement with NIH to include additional exclusive, worldwide patent rights to TIL products expressing interleukin-12, expanded rights to TIL selection technologies previously licensed under the Exclusive Patent License Agreement below, and additional non-exclusive, worldwide patent rights to certain technologies related to enhancing TIL potency.

The Second Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement requires the Company to pay royalties based on a percentage of net sales in jurisdictions where patent rights exist, which percentage can fall into a tier that may be less than one percent to mid-single digits depending upon certain events, including the exclusivity of the rights, and the Company expects lower overall royalty payments as a result. The Company also agreed to potential milestone payments on the achievement of certain clinical, regulatory, and commercial sales milestones for each of the indications and other direct costs incurred by the NIH pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement. The Company anticipates making payments that could range from several hundred thousand dollars to the mid-single-digit millions of dollars in conjunction with certain development milestones, the approval of a BLA or its foreign equivalent, or the first U.S. and foreign commercial sales of any of our product candidates covered by the Second Amended

and Restated Patent License Agreement. The term of the Second Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement continues until the expiry of the last-to-expire patent rights licensed thereunder, and the agreement contains standard termination provisions.

Exclusive Patent License Agreement Related to TIL Selection

On February 10, 2015, the Company entered into an exclusive patent license agreement (the “Exclusive Patent License Agreement”) with the NIH under which the Company received an exclusive, worldwide license under the selected TIL patents. This license was superseded and replaced by the Second Amended and Restated Patent License Agreement.

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center

Research Collaboration and Clinical Grant Agreements with Moffitt

In June 2020, the Company entered into a Sponsored Research Agreement with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center (“Moffitt”), with a term that ends either upon completion of the research thereunder or on July 1, 2022, whichever is sooner. In June 2022, this agreement was extended until the later of December 19, 2022, or a mutually acceptable completion of the Research Agreement, which is expected in mid-2023. The Company recorded research and development costs of $0.6 million, $0.3 million and $0.2 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

In December 2016, the Company entered into a clinical grant agreement with Moffitt to support an ongoing clinical trial at Moffitt that combines TIL therapy with nivolumab for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma. In June 2017, the Company entered into a second clinical grant agreement with Moffitt to support a new clinical trial at Moffitt that combines TIL therapy with nivolumab for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, under which the Company obtained a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to any new Moffitt inventions made in the performance of the agreement. Under both clinical grant agreements with Moffit, the Company has non-exclusive rights to clinical data arising from the respective clinical trials. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 the Company recorded research and development costs of $0.1 million, and for the year ended December 31, 2020 the company recorded $0.4 million of research and development costs, in connection with the research collaboration and clinical grant agreements with Moffitt.

Exclusive License Agreements with Moffitt

The Company entered into a license agreement with Moffitt (the “First Moffitt License”), effective as of June 28, 2014, under which the Company received a worldwide license to Moffitt’s rights to patent-pending technologies related to methods for improving TIL for adoptive cell therapy using toll-like receptor agonists. Unless earlier terminated, the term of the license extends until the earlier of the expiration of the last issued patent related to the licensed technology or 20 years after the effective date of the license agreement.

Pursuant to the First Moffitt License, the Company paid an upfront licensing fee in the amount of $0.1 million, which was recorded as research and development expense. A patent issuance fee will also be payable under the First Moffitt License, upon the issuance of the first U.S. patent covering the subject technology. In addition, the Company agreed to pay milestone license fees upon completion of specified milestones, customary royalties based on a specified percentage of net sales (which percentage is in the low single digits) and sublicensing payments, as applicable, and annual minimum royalties beginning with the first sale of products based on the licensed technologies, which minimum royalties will be credited against the percentage royalty payments otherwise payable in that year. The Company will also be responsible for all costs associated with the preparation, filing, maintenance and prosecution of the patent applications and patents covered by the First Moffitt License related to the treatment of any cancers in the U.S., Europe and Japan and in other countries designated by the Company in agreement with Moffitt. No expenses were recorded for the First Moffitt License for the year ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020.

The Company entered into a second license agreement with Moffitt effective as of May 7, 2018 (the “Second Moffitt License”), under which the Company received a license to Moffitt’s rights to patent-pending technologies related to the use of 4-1BB agonists in conjunction with TIL manufacturing processes and therapies. Pursuant to the Second Moffitt License, the Company paid an upfront licensing fee in the amount of $0.1 million in 2018. An annual license maintenance fee is also payable commencing on the first anniversary of the effective date. The Company agreed to pay an annual commercial use payment for each indication for which a first sale has occurred, which in the aggregate amounts to up to $0.4 million a year. The Company recorded $0.2 million for the year ended

December 31, 2022, and $0.1 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, as research and development expenses in connection with this agreement.

The Company subsequently exercised an option to exclusively license Moffitt’s rights to patent pending technologies related to the use of tumor digests in conjunction with TIL manufacturing processes and therapies and entered into an amended and restated Second Moffitt License in October 2021 (the “Amended & Restated Second Moffit License”), to include these rights. Pursuant to the Amended & Restated Second Moffitt License, the Company paid an upfront licensing fee in the amount of $0.2 million in 2021, which was recorded as research and development expense. In addition, the Company agreed to pay an annual commercial use payment for each indication for which a first sale has occurred for products relating to the use of 4-1BB agonists and for products relating to the use of tumor digests covered by the license.

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Strategic Alliance Agreement

On April 17, 2017, the Company entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement (the “SAA”) with The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (“MDACC”) under which the Company and MDACC agreed to conduct clinical and preclinical research studies. The Company agreed in the SAA to provide total funding not to exceed approximately $14.2 million for the performance of the multi-year studies under the SAA, of which approximately $5.3 million has been funded cumulatively through December 31, 2022 and has been recorded as research and development expense. In return, the Company acquired all rights to inventions resulting from the studies and has been granted a non-exclusive, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and perpetual license to specified background intellectual property of MDACC reasonably necessary to exploit, including the commercialization thereof. The Company has also been granted certain rights in clinical data generated by MDACC outside of the clinical trials to be performed under the SAA. The SAA’s term shall continue in effect until the later of the fourth anniversary of the SAA or the completion or termination of the research and receipt by the Company of all deliverables due from MDACC thereunder. The Company recorded $0.2 million, $0.5 million and $1.1 million associated with the SAA for the year ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 as research and development expenses, respectively.

WuXi Advanced Therapies, Inc.

First WuXi Manufacturing and Services Agreement

In November 2016, the Company entered into a three-year manufacturing and services agreement (the “First Wuxi MSA”) with WuXi Advanced Therapies, Inc. (“WuXi”) pursuant to which WuXi agreed to provide manufacturing and other services, which has since been amended and assigned to its subsidiary Iovance Biotherapeutics Manufacturing LLC. Under the First WuXi MSA, the Company entered into two statements of work for two cGMP manufacturing suites to be operated by WuXi for the Company. Both of the suites are expected to be capable of being used for the commercial manufacture of the Company’s products. The terms of one of these statements of work was extended to December 2022. The Company recorded costs associated with agreements with WuXi of $14.2 million, $17.5 million, and $20.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 respectively, as research and development expenses.

Second WuXi Manufacturing and Services Agreement

In October 2022, the Company’s subsidiary Iovance Biotherapeutics Manufacturing LLC entered into an additional three-year manufacturing and services agreement (the “Second WuXi MSA”) with WuXi and its parent company WuXi Apptec, Co, Ltd pursuant to which WuXi agreed to provide commercial and clinical manufacturing services and related testing services. Under the Second WuXi MSA, the Company entered into a statement of work for the two cGMP manufacturing suites to be operated by WuXi for the Company. Both suites are expected to be capable of being used for the commercial and clinical manufacture of the Company’s products. The Second WuXi MSA and its related statement of work will supersede the statements of work under the First WuXi MSA with respect to commercial and clinical manufacturing and the two manufacturing suites. Certain other statements of work for related services will also be covered by the Second WuXi MSA. The First WuXi MSA will continue to address development services provided by WuXi to the Company. Prior to regulatory approval, or if the Company experiences a material adverse event, the Company may unilaterally terminate the statement of work for commercial and clinical manufacturing under the Second WuXi MSA at any time by providing written notice of at least 120 days. Post regulatory approval, the Company may unilaterally terminate the statement of work for commercial and clinical manufacturing with written notice of 15 month in year 1 of the term, written notice of 9

months in year 2 of the term, and written notice of 6 months in year 3 of the term. If WuXi fails a Pre-Licensing Inspection and does not address any related issues within 90 days of receipt of the FDA response letter, the Company may either terminate the statement of work for commercial and clinical manufacturing under the Second WuXi MSA immediately or shorten the term of this statement of work to June 30, 2024.

Cellectis S.A.

On December 31, 2019, the Company entered into a research collaboration and exclusive worldwide license agreement whereby the Company will license gene-editing technology from Cellectis S.A. (“Cellectis”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, to develop TIL therapies that have been genetically edited, including a PD-1 inactivated product that the Company refers to as IOV-4001. Financial terms of the license include annual license payments and development, regulatory and sales milestone payments from the Company to Cellectis, as well as royalty payments based on net sales of TALEN®-modified TIL products. The Company recorded costs associated with the license agreement with Cellectis of $0.4 million for each of the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 respectively as research and development expense.

Novartis Pharma AG
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On January 9, 2020, the Company obtained a license from Novartis Pharma AG (“Novartis”) to develop and commercialize an antibody cytokine engrafted protein, which the Company refers to as IOV-3001. Under the agreement, the Company paid an upfront payment to Novartis and may pay future milestones related to initiation of patient dosing in various phases of clinical development for IOV-3001 and approval of the product in the U.S., EU and Japan. Novartis is also entitled to low-to-mid single digit percentage royalties from commercial sales of the product. The Company recorded costs associated with the license agreement from Novartis of $10.0 million as research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020. No expenses were recorded for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Accrued expenses consist of the following (in thousands):

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NOTE 8. INCOME TAXES

The Company did not record a provision or benefit for income taxes for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 or 2020.

The significant components of the Company’s net deferred tax assets and liabilities are summarized as follows (in thousands):

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The reconciliation of the effective income tax rate to the U.S. statutory rate is as follows:

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The Company had net operating loss carryforwards (“NOLs”) for federal and state income tax purposes of approximately $1.0 billion and $158.1 million, respectively, as of December 31, 2022. $142.4 million of federal NOLs will expire beginning in 2027, while $898.9 million generated after the recently enacted tax reform will have an indefinite life under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Tax Act”). The state NOLs will expire if unused in years 2030 through 2042.

The Company’s utilization of NOLs is subject to an annual limitation due to ownership changes that have occurred previously or that could occur in the future as provided in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Section 382”), as well as similar state provisions. Section 382 limits the utilization of NOLs when there is a greater than 50% change of ownership as determined under the regulations. Since its formation, the Company has raised capital through the issuance of capital stock and various convertible instruments which, combined with the purchasing shareholders’ subsequent disposition of these shares, has resulted in multiple ownership changes as defined by Section 382, and could result in ownership change in the future upon subsequent disposition. The Company’s utilization of NOLs may also be adversely affected by future changes in federal and state tax laws and regulations.

In assessing the realization of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon future generation for taxable income during the periods in which temporary differences representing net future deductible amounts become deductible. Management considers the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income and tax planning strategies in making this assessment. After consideration of all the information available, management believes that significant uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of the deferred tax assets and has therefore established a full valuation allowance. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, the change in the valuation allowance was approximately $82.9 million, $78.1 million, and $60.7 million, respectively.

The Company evaluated the provisions of ASC 740 related to the accounting for uncertainty in income taxes recognized in an enterprise’s financial statements. ASC 740 prescribes a comprehensive model for how a company should recognize, present, and disclose uncertain positions that the Company has taken or expects to take in its tax return. For those benefits to be recognized, a tax position must be more-likely-than-not to be sustained upon examination by taxing authorities. Differences between tax positions taken or expected to be taken in a tax return and the net benefit recognized and measured pursuant to the interpretation are referred to as “unrecognized benefits.” A liability is recognized (or amount of net operating loss carry forward or amount of tax refundable is reduced) for unrecognized tax benefit because it represents an enterprise’s potential future obligation to the taxing authority for a tax position that was not recognized as a result of applying the provisions of ASC 740.

If applicable, interest costs related to the unrecognized tax benefits are required to be calculated and would be classified as income tax expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Penalties would be recognized as a component of “General and Administrative Expenses” in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the unrecognized tax benefits during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 is as follows (in thousands):

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No interest or penalties on unpaid tax were recorded during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, or 2020. The Company does not anticipate any significant changes within 12 months of this reporting date of its uncertain tax positions.

The Company files tax returns in the U.S. federal and state jurisdictions. The U.S. federal and U.S. state taxing authorities may choose to audit tax returns for tax years beyond the statute of limitation period due to significant tax attribute carryforwards from prior years, making adjustments only to carryforward attributes. The Company is not currently under examination by income tax authorities in federal, state or other foreign jurisdictions.

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The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the "Act"), which includes certain new tax measures, was signed into law in August 2022. The Act contains two main tax provisions, a new corporate alternative minimum tax imposed on certain corporations meeting average annual financial statement income of more than $1 billion during a three-year tax period, and an excise tax imposed upon share repurchases by certain publicly traded corporations. The Act is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022; the Company is evaluating the provisions of the Act but currently does not believe these provisions will have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.

NOTE 4. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET

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

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Depreciation expense for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 was approximately $9.3 million, $3.1 million and $1.1 million, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company placed $27.2 million and $62.4 million of assets related to the iCTC in service and initiated depreciation of these assets. The depreciation expense related to these assets for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $2.7 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

NOTE 6. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Common Stock

The Company’s certificate of incorporation, as amended, authorizes the issuance of up to 300,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.000041666. As of December 31, 2022, 187,812,072 shares of the Company’s common stock were issued and outstanding.

Public Offerings

In June 2020, the Company closed an underwritten public offering of 16,935,484 shares of the Company’s common stock at a public offering price of $31.00 per share, before underwriting discounts, which included 2,540,322 shares issued upon the exercise in full by the underwriter of its option to purchase additional shares at the public offering price less the underwriting discount (the "June 2020 Public Offering"). The gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses payable by the Company, were $603.7 million, with net proceeds to the Company of $567.0 million.

At the Market Offering Program

On February 8, 2021, the Company entered into an Open Market Sale Agreement (the “First Sales Agreement”) with Jefferies LLC (“Jefferies”) with respect to an “at the market” offering program, under which the Company may, from time to time, in its sole discretion, issue and sell through Jefferies, acting as sales agent, up to $350.0 million of shares of the Company’s common stock (the “Common Shares”). On November 18, 2022, the Company entered into a new Open Market Sales Agreement (the “Second Sales Agreement”), which superseded and replaced the First Sales Agreement dated February 8, 2021. Under the terms of the Second Sales Agreement, the Company may, from time to time, in its sole discretion, issue and sell up to $500.0 million of shares of the Company’s Common Shares. The issuance and sale, if any, of the Common Shares by the Company under the First Sales Agreement and Second Sales Agreement (together, the “Sales Agreements”) will be made pursuant to a prospectus supplement, dated February 8, 2021 and November 18, 2022, to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3ASR, which became effective immediately upon filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 27, 2020.

Pursuant to the Sales Agreements, Jefferies may sell the Common Shares by any method permitted by law deemed to be an “at the market” offering as defined in Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Jefferies will use commercially reasonable efforts consistent with its normal trading and sales practices to sell the Common Shares from time to time, based upon instructions from the Company (including any price or size limits or other customary parameters or conditions the Company may impose). The Company will pay Jefferies a commission of up to 3.0% of the gross sales proceeds of any Common Shares sold through Jefferies under the Sales Agreements.

The Company is not obligated to make any sales of Common Shares under the Sales Agreements. The offering of Common Shares pursuant to the Sales Agreement will terminate upon the earlier to occur of (i) the issuance and sale, through Jefferies, of all Common Shares subject to the Sales Agreement and (ii) termination of the Sales Agreements in accordance with its terms.

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company received $189.5 million and $203.2 million in net proceeds, net of offering costs, through the sale of 29,788,993 shares and 6,474,099 shares of its common stock through the Sales Agreements at a weighted average price per share of $6.52 and $32.12, respectively.

Preferred Stock

The Company’s certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 50,000,000 shares of “blank check” preferred stock. As of December 31, 2022, 17,000 shares were designated as Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and 11,500,000 shares were designated as Series B Convertible Preferred Stock.

Series A Convertible Preferred Stock

A total of 17,000 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock have been authorized for issuance under the Company’s Certificate of Designation of Preferences and Rights of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock. The shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock have a stated value of $1,000 per share and are initially convertible into shares of common stock at a price of $2.00 per share, subject to adjustment. Each share of Series A Preferred Stock is initially convertible into 500 shares of common stock.

The Series A Convertible Preferred Stock may, at the option of each investor, be converted into fully paid and non-assessable shares of common stock. The holders of shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock do not have the right to vote on matters that come before the Company’s stockholders. In the event of any dissolution or winding up of the Company, proceeds shall be paid pari passu among the holders of common stock and preferred stock, pro rata based on the number of shares held by each holder. The Company may not declare, pay or set aside any dividends on shares of capital stock of the Company (other than dividends on shares of common stock payable in shares of common stock) unless the holders of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock shall first receive an equal dividend on each outstanding share of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock.

No shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock were converted to common stock during the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. As of December 31, 2022, and 2021, 194 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (that are convertible into 97,000 shares of common stock) remained outstanding.

Series B Convertible Preferred Stock

A total of 11,500,000 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock are authorized for issuance under the Company’s Series B Certificate of Designation of Rights, Preferences and Privileges of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock. The shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock have a stated value of $4.75 per share and are convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at an initial conversion price of $4.75 per share. Each share of Series B Preferred Stock is initially convertible into 1 share of common stock.

The Series B Convertible Preferred Stock may, at the option of each investor, be converted into fully paid and non-assessable shares of common stock. The holders of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock do not have the right to vote on matters that come before the Company's stockholders. In the event of any dissolution or winding up of the Company, proceeds shall be paid pari passu among the holders of common stock and preferred stock, pro rata based on the number of shares held by each holder. Holders of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock are entitled to dividends on an as-if-converted basis in the same form as any dividends actually paid on shares of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock or the Company’s common stock. So long as any Series B Convertible Preferred Stock remains outstanding, the Company may not redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire any material amount of the Series A Convertible Preferred Stock or any securities junior to the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock.

No shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock were converted to common stock during the year ended December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2021, 738,961 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock were converted to common stock. At December 31, 2022 and 2021, 2,842,158 shares of Series B Preferred Stock (that are convertible into 2,842,158 shares of common stock) remained outstanding.

Equity Incentive Plans

The Company has multiple equity incentive plans under which it grants awards. As of December 31, 2022, there are 38,298 shares available to grant under the 2014 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2014 Plan”).

On April 22, 2018, the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) adopted the Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”), which was approved by the Company’s stockholders in June 2018. The 2018 Plan as approved initially authorized the issuance up to an aggregate of 6,000,000 shares of common stock in the form of incentive (qualified) stock options, non-qualified options, common stock, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, other stock-based awards, other cash-based awards or any combination of the foregoing. On June 8, 2020, the Company's stockholders approved an amendment to the 2018 Plan to increase the number of shares available for issuance upon the exercise of stock options under the 2018 Plan from 6,000,000 to 14,000,000 shares, which became effective immediately. Additionally, on June 10, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2018 Plan to increase the number of shares available for issuance upon the exercise of stock options under the 2018 Plan from 14,000,000 to 20,700,000 shares, which became effective immediately. As of December 31, 2022, 6,881,610 shares of common stock were available for grant under the Company’s 2018 Plan.

On September 22, 2021, the Board adopted the Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. 2021 Inducement Plan (the “2021 Inducement Plan”). The 2021 Inducement Plan provides for the grant of non-qualified options, common stock, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, other stock-based awards, other cash-based awards, or any combination of the foregoing. The 2021 Inducement Plan was recommended for approval by the Compensation Committee of the Board (the “Compensation Committee”), and subsequently approved and adopted by the Board without stockholder approval pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the rules and regulations of The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (the “Nasdaq Listing Rules”).

The Board initially reserved 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for issuance pursuant to equity awards granted under the 2021 Inducement Plan, and the 2021 Inducement Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee. On January 12, 2022, the Compensation Committee approved an amendment to the 2021 Inducement Plan solely to increase the number of shares reserved for issuance under the 2021 Inducement Plan from 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to 1,750,000 shares of the Company’s common stock without stockholder approval pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules.

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In accordance with Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, equity awards under the 2021 Inducement Plan may only be made to an employee if such employee is granted such equity awards in connection with his or her commencement of employment with the Company or a subsidiary and such grant is an inducement material to his or her entering into employment with the Company or such subsidiary. In addition, awards under the 2021 Inducement Plan may only be made to employees who have not previously been an employee or member of the Board (or any parent or subsidiary of the Company) or following a bona fide period of non-employment of the employee by the Company (or a parent or subsidiary of the Company). As of December 31, 2022, 55,925 shares of common stock were available for grant under the Inducement Plan.

Stock Options

A summary of the status of stock options as of December 31, 2022, and the changes during the three years then ended, is presented in the following table:

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As of December 31, 2022, there was $58.9 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested employee stock options, which the Company expects to recognize over a remaining weighted average period of 1.81 years.

The weighted average grant date fair value for employee options granted under the Company's stock option plans during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 was $8.29, $22.28, and $17.32 per option, respectively.

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above reflects the total pre-tax intrinsic value (the difference between the Company’s closing stock price on the last trading day of the year ended December 31, 2022 and the exercise price of the options, multiplied by the number of in-the-money stock options) that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their options on December 31, 2022. The intrinsic value of the Company’s stock options changes based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock.

The aggregate intrinsic value of stock options exercised during the year ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 were $0.04 million, $21.3 million, and $21.4 million, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In June 2020, the Company adopted the 2020 ESPP upon its approval by the Company’s shareholders at its Annual Stockholders Meeting on June 8, 2020. The Company reserved 500,000 shares of its common stock for issuance under the 2020 ESPP.

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Under the 2020 ESPP, employees of the Company can purchase shares of our common stock based on a percentage of their compensation subject to certain limits. The purchase price per share is equal to the lower of 85% of the fair market value of its common stock on the offering date or the purchase date with a six-month look-back feature. The 2020 ESPP purchases are settled with common stock from the 2020 ESPP’s previously authorized and available pool of shares.

The compensation expense related to the 2020 ESPP for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $1.3 million, $1.2 million and $0.1 million, respectively. Under the 2020 ESPP, for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, the Company received proceeds of $1.7 million for the issuance of 262,701 shares, and $1.6 million for the issuance of 94,148 shares, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, no shares were issued un the 2020 ESPP. As of December 31, 2022, there was $0.5 million of unrecognized compensation cost associated with the 2020 ESPP, which is expected to be recognized over 5.33 months.

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Restricted Stock Units and Performance Restricted Stock Units

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In addition to RSUs that have time-based vesting requirements, from time to time the Company may issue RSUs that include certain performance vesting criteria based upon the satisfaction of stated objectives (“PRSUs”). Compensation expense related to PRSUs is based on the grant date fair value of the award and recorded from the period that achievement is determined to be probable through the stated service period associated with the award. 

A summary of the RSU and PRSU activity during the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021 is presented in the following table:

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During the year ended December 31, 2022, 2.4 million restricted units were granted, of which only 100,000 were PRSUs. No PRSUs were granted during the year ended December 31, 2021.

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As of December 31, 2022, there was $20.6 million of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense associated with unvested RSUs and PRSUs, which the Company expects to recognize over a remaining weighted-average period of 1.72 years. The aggregate intrinsic value of the unvested RSUs and PRSUs outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, was $14.5 million and $21.2 million, respectively.

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Stock-Based Compensation

Total stock-based compensation expense related to the Company’s stock-based awards was recorded on the Consolidated Statements of Operations as follows (in thousands):

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Total stock-based compensation expense by type of award was as follows (in thousands):

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The following table summarizes the assumptions relating to options granted pursuant to the Company’s equity incentive plans for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020:

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Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Investments

The Company’s cash and cash equivalents include short-term investments with original maturities of three months or less when purchased. The Company's investments are classified as “available-for-sale.” The Company includes these investments in current assets or non-current assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheets based on the length of maturity from the reporting date and carries them at fair value. Unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss. Impairment losses related to credit losses (if any) are recorded as an allowance for credit losses with an offsetting entry to Interest income, net. No impairment losses related to credit losses were recognized for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021. The cost of debt securities is adjusted for the amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts to maturity. Such amortization and accretion are included in Interest income, net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Gains and losses on securities sold are recorded based on the specific identification method and are included in Interest income, net in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company has not incurred any realized gains or losses from sales of securities to date. The Company’s investment policy limits investments to certain types of instruments such as certificates of deposit, money market instruments, obligations issued by the U.S. government and U.S. government agencies as well as corporate debt securities and commercial paper, and places restrictions on maturities and concentration by type and issuer, except for securities issued by the U.S. government.

Property and Equipment, net

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Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation and amortization. The cost of property and equipment is depreciated or amortized on the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives. The depreciation or amortization of capitalized construction in progress costs, a component of property and equipment, net, begins once the underlying asset is placed into service and is recognized over the estimated useful lives:

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Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred while renewals and betterments are capitalized. Gains and losses on disposals are included within operating expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Management assesses the carrying value of property and equipment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. If there is an indication of impairment, management prepares an estimate of future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition. If these cash flows are less than the carrying amount of the asset, an impairment loss is recognized to write down the asset to its estimated fair value. For the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, the Company did not recognize any impairments for its property and equipment.

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Fair Value Measurements

Under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, fair value is defined as the price at which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability transferred in a transaction between knowledgeable, willing parties in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability. Where available, fair value is based on observable market prices or parameters or derived from such prices or parameters. Where observable prices or parameters are not available, valuation models are applied.

Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value in the Company’s financial statements are categorized based upon the level of judgment associated with the inputs used to measure their fair value. Hierarchical levels directly related to the amount of subjectivity associated with the inputs to fair valuation of these assets and liabilities, are as follows:

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Iovance Biotherapeutics Manufacturing LLC, Iovance Biotherapeutics GmbH, and Iovance Biotherapeutics B.V. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. The U.S. dollar is the functional currency for all the Company's consolidated operations.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company periodically grants stock options to employees and non-employees as compensation for services rendered. The Company accounts for all stock-based payment awards made to employees, including the employee stock purchase plans, and non-employees in accordance with the authoritative guidance provided by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) where the value of the award is measured on the date of grant and recognized over the vesting period. Forfeitures are recognized in the period in which they occur. The Company accounts for stock option grants to non-employees in a similar manner as stock option grants to employees except for the term used in the grant date fair value, therefore no longer requiring a re-measurement at the then-current fair values at each reporting date until the shares underlying the options have vested. The non-employee awards that contain a performance condition that affects the quantity or other terms of the award are measured based on the outcome that is probable.

The fair value of the Company's common stock option grants is estimated using a Black-Scholes option pricing model, which uses certain assumptions related to risk-free interest rates, expected volatility, expected term of the common stock options, and future dividends. The stock-based compensation expense is recorded based upon the value derived from the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model could affect compensation expense recorded in future periods.

The Company issues restricted stock units (“RSUs”) from time to time as part of its equity incentive plans. The Company measures the compensation cost with respect to RSUs issued to employees based upon the estimated fair value of the equity instruments at the date of the grant, which is recognized as an expense over the period during which an employee is required to provide services in exchange for the awards. The fair value of RSUs is based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the grant date. In addition to RSUs that have time-based vesting requirements, from time to time the Company may issue RSUs that include certain performance vesting criteria based upon the satisfaction of stated objectives (“PRSUs”). The Company measures the compensation cost with respect to PRSUs issued to employees based upon the estimated fair value of the equity instruments at the date of grant, which is recognized as an expense over the period that achievement is determined to be probable through the stated service period associated with the award.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of salaries and other related costs, including stock-based compensation, for personnel in executive, finance, procurement, legal, investor relations, facilities, business development, marketing, commercial and human resources functions. Other significant costs include facility costs not otherwise included in research and development expenses, sublicense royalty expenses, legal fees relating to corporate matters, insurance, public company expenses relating to maintaining compliance with Nasdaq listing rules and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requirements, investor relations costs, and fees for accounting and consulting services. General and administrative costs are expensed as incurred.

Concentrations

The Company is subject to credit risk from its portfolio of cash, cash equivalents and investments. Under its investment policy, the Company limits amounts invested in such securities by credit rating, maturity, industry group, investment type and issuer, except for securities issued by the U.S. government. The Company does not believe it is exposed to any significant concentrations of credit risk from these financial instruments. The Company maintains cash, cash equivalents and investment balances at four financial institutions. Management believes that the financial institutions which hold its cash are financially sound and, accordingly, minimal credit risk exists. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, the Company’s cash balances were in excess of insured limits maintained at the financial institutions.