in addition to historical information , this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27a of the securities act , and section 21e of the exchange act . operating results are not necessarily indicative of results that may occur for the full fiscal year or any other future period . the term `` private madrigal `` refers to madrigal pharmaceuticals , inc. prior to the consummation of the merger described herein . the term `` synta `` refers to synta pharmaceuticals corp. prior to the consummation of the merger described herein . unless otherwise indicated , references to the terms `` madrigal , `` the `` company , `` `` we , `` `` our `` and `` us `` refer to private madrigal prior to the consummation of the merger described herein and madrigal pharmaceuticals , inc. ( formerly known as synta pharmaceuticals corp. ) upon the consummation of the merger described herein . overview we are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutic candidates for the treatment of cardiovascular , metabolic and liver diseases . our lead product candidate , mgl-3196 , is a proprietary , liver-directed , selective thyroid hormone receptor-ß , or thr-ß , agonist that can potentially be used to treat a number of disease states with high unmet medical need . we are developing mgl-3196 for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis , or nash and we have initiated a phase 2 clinical trial in this indication . we are also developing mgl-3196 for dyslipidemia , particularly genetic dyslipidemias such as familial hypercholesterolemia , or fh , including both homozygous and heterozygous forms of the disease . we have initiated a phase 2 clinical trial in heterozygous fh , or hefh , patients and we are planning to conduct a proof-of-concept clinical trial in homozygous fh , or hofh , patients . mgl-3196 is a once-daily oral pill that has been studied in four completed phase 1 trials in a total of 129 subjects . mgl-3196 appeared to be safe and well-tolerated in these trials , which included a single ascending dose trial , a multiple ascending dose trial , and two drug interaction trials with statins . key developments reverse merger on july 22 , 2016 , synta completed its business combination with private madrigal in accordance with the terms of an agreement and plan of merger and reorganization , dated as of april 13 , 2016 , or the merger agreement . pursuant to the merger agreement , synta formed a wholly-owned subsidiary that merged with and into private madrigal , with private madrigal surviving the merger and becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of synta , or the merger . in connection with , and prior to the consummation of , the merger , synta effected a 1-for-35 reverse stock split of its common stock , or the reverse stock split , and , following the merger , changed its name to `` madrigal pharmaceuticals , inc. `` all shares and per share amounts have been retrospectively adjusted to give effect to the reverse stock split , except as otherwise disclosed . following the consummation of the merger , our business became the business conducted by private madrigal prior to the consummation of the merger . in october 2016 , madrigal initiated a phase 2 clinical study in nash ( [ nct02912260 ] at www.clinicaltrials.gov ) . the randomized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , multi-center phase 2 study will enroll 117 patients 18 years of age and older with biopsy-confirmed nash . patients are randomized to receive either placebo or mgl-3196 , twice as many receiving mgl-3196 as placebo . efficacy will be confirmed at the end of the trial ( 36 weeks ) by repeat magnetic resonance imagingproton density fat fraction ( mri-pdff ) and conventional liver biopsy to examine histological evidence for the resolution of nash . recent published data show a high correlation of reduction of 47 liver fat measured by mri-pdff to nash scoring on liver biopsy . other secondary endpoints include changes in clinically relevant biomarkers at 12 and 36 weeks , improvement in fibrosis by at least one stage with no worsening of steatohepatitis , and safety and tolerability . the company expects to have top-line mri-pdff data from this study near year-end 2017. in february 2017 , madrigal initiated a phase 2 clinical study in hefh ( [ nct03038022 ] at www.clinicaltrials.gov ) . the 12-week , randomized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , multi-center phase 2 study is expected to enroll 105 patients with hefh in several european countries . patients will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive either mgl-3196 or placebo , in addition to their current drug regimen ( including high dose statins and or ezetimibe ) . the primary endpoint of the study is reduction of ldl cholesterol , with secondary endpoints including reductions in triglycerides , lp ( a ) , and apob , as well as safety . lp ( a ) is a severely atherogenic lipid particle , commonly elevated in familial hypercholesterolemia patients , the levels of which are not adequately reduced by existing lipid lowering therapies . thr-ß agonism is one of the few therapeutic approaches that can substantially lower lp ( a ) . the company expects to have topline data from this study near year-end 2017. basis of presentation research and development expenses research and development expenses primarily consist of costs associated with our research activities , including the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates . we expense our research and development expenses as incurred . story_separator_special_tag 49 stock-based compensation we recognize stock-based compensation expense based on the grant date fair value of stock options granted to employees , officers and directors . we use the black-scholes option pricing model to determine the grant date fair value as our management believes it is the most appropriate valuation method for its option grants . the black-scholes model requires inputs for risk-free interest rate , dividend yield , volatility and expected lives of the options . certain of the employee stock options granted by us are structured to qualify as incentive stock options , or isos . under current tax regulations , we do not receive a tax deduction for the issuance , exercise or disposition of isos if the employee meets certain holding requirements . if the employee does not meet the holding requirements , a disqualifying disposition occurs , at which time we may receive a tax deduction . we do not record tax benefits related to isos unless and until a disqualifying disposition is reported . in the event of a disqualifying disposition , the entire tax benefit is recorded as a reduction of income tax expense . we have not recognized any income tax benefit for its share-based compensation arrangements due to the fact that we do not believe it is more likely than not it will realize the related deferred tax assets . results of operations comparison years ended december 31 , 2016 and 2015 the following table provides comparative results of operations for the years ended december 31 , 2016 and 2015 ( in thousands ) : replace_table_token_3_th research and development expense our research and development expenses were $ 15.9 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 2.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. research and development expenses increased in 2016 primarily due to increased expenses for our clinical and preclinical development programs for mgl-3196 . expense related to stock based compensation increased by $ 5.4 million , of which $ 4.8 million related to private madrigal 's change in control bonus plan recognized at the merger . with the exception of the expense related to private madrigal 's change in control bonus plan , we expect our research and development expenses to increase over time as we advance our clinical and preclinical development . general and administrative expense our general and administrative expenses were $ 9.3 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 0.8 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. the increase in general and administrative expenses for the year ended december 31 , 2016 was primarily due to approximately $ 2.1 million in costs associated with the merger and the increased operating expenses of maintaining a public company . expense related to stock based compensation increased by $ 2.5 million , of which $ .6 million was related to private madrigal 's change in control bonus plan . with the exception of the merger-related expenses , we believe that our general and administrative expenses may increase over time as we advance our clinical and preclinical development programs for mgl-3196 and continue 50 operating as a public company , both of which will likely result in an increase in our headcount , consulting services , and certain overhead needed to support those efforts . interest expense our interest expense was $ 1.2 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 3.6 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. the decrease in interest expense was primarily driven by lower interest expense on our convertible notes outstanding . on april 13 , 2016 , we entered into the restated purchase agreement with certain of our investors whereby such investors committed $ 9.0 million of financing before the consummation of the merger . pursuant to the restated purchase agreement , bay city capital agreed to waive all accrued interest on the convertible notes incurred prior to april 13 , 2016. in addition , the investors , including bay city capital , agreed that no interest would accrue on such convertible notes from the date of the restated purchase agreement through the date we consummated the merger . liquidity and capital resources as of december 31 , 2016 , we had cash , cash equivalents and marketable securities of $ 40.5 million . to date , we have funded our operations primarily through the issuance of convertible debt and the proceeds from the merger . we believe our cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations through at least the first quarter of 2018 , which is more than one year after the date the december 31 , 2016 financial statements were issued . on july 22 , 2016 , we completed the merger with synta which provided $ 42.6 million in cash , cash equivalents and marketable securities . in december 2016 , we sold an aggregate of 381,717 shares of common stock pursuant to the at-the-market issuance sales agreement ( october 2015 sales agreement ) , with cowen and company , llc ( cowen ) for an aggregate of approximately $ 6.1 million in gross proceeds . net proceeds to the company were approximately $ 6.0 million after deducting commissions and other transactions costs . as of march 24 , 2017 , in 2017 the company sold an aggregate of 215,539 shares of common stock pursuant to the october 2015 sales agreement for an aggregate of approximately $ 3.5 million in gross proceeds . net proceeds to the company were approximately $ 3.4 million after deducting commissions and other transactions costs . approximately $ 90.4 million remained reserved under the company 's shelf registration statement and the applicable prospectus supplement for possible future issuance under the october 2015 sales agreement . our primary uses of capital are , and we expect will continue to be , funding research efforts and the development of our product candidates , compensation and

net cash used in operating activities $ ( 17,607 ) $ ( 3,142 ) net cash provided by investing activities 21,992  net cash provided by financing activities 14,454 3,300 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ net increase in cash and cash equivalents $ 18,839 $ 158 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ net cash used in operating activities was $ 17.6 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 3.1 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. the use of cash in operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2016 reflected a net loss of $ 26.4 million from our operations , including costs related to the merger , and changes in our operating assets and liabilities , partially offset by $ 1.2 million of interest expense related to our related party convertible notes and $ 8.7 million of stock-based compensation expense . the use of cash in operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2015 reflected a net loss of $ 6.8 million from our operations , partially offset by $ 3.6 million of interest expense related to our related party convertible notes .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```net cash used in operating activities $ ( 17,607 ) $ ( 3,142 ) net cash provided by investing activities 21,992  net cash provided by financing activities 14,454 3,300 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ net increase in cash and cash equivalents $ 18,839 $ 158 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ net cash used in operating activities was $ 17.6 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 3.1 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. the use of cash in operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2016 reflected a net loss of $ 26.4 million from our operations , including costs related to the merger , and changes in our operating assets and liabilities , partially offset by $ 1.2 million of interest expense related to our related party convertible notes and $ 8.7 million of stock-based compensation expense . the use of cash in operating activities for the year ended december 31 , 2015 reflected a net loss of $ 6.8 million from our operations , partially offset by $ 3.6 million of interest expense related to our related party convertible notes .
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : in addition to historical information , this discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27a of the securities act , and section 21e of the exchange act . operating results are not necessarily indicative of results that may occur for the full fiscal year or any other future period . the term `` private madrigal `` refers to madrigal pharmaceuticals , inc. prior to the consummation of the merger described herein . the term `` synta `` refers to synta pharmaceuticals corp. prior to the consummation of the merger described herein . unless otherwise indicated , references to the terms `` madrigal , `` the `` company , `` `` we , `` `` our `` and `` us `` refer to private madrigal prior to the consummation of the merger described herein and madrigal pharmaceuticals , inc. ( formerly known as synta pharmaceuticals corp. ) upon the consummation of the merger described herein . overview we are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapeutic candidates for the treatment of cardiovascular , metabolic and liver diseases . our lead product candidate , mgl-3196 , is a proprietary , liver-directed , selective thyroid hormone receptor-ß , or thr-ß , agonist that can potentially be used to treat a number of disease states with high unmet medical need . we are developing mgl-3196 for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis , or nash and we have initiated a phase 2 clinical trial in this indication . we are also developing mgl-3196 for dyslipidemia , particularly genetic dyslipidemias such as familial hypercholesterolemia , or fh , including both homozygous and heterozygous forms of the disease . we have initiated a phase 2 clinical trial in heterozygous fh , or hefh , patients and we are planning to conduct a proof-of-concept clinical trial in homozygous fh , or hofh , patients . mgl-3196 is a once-daily oral pill that has been studied in four completed phase 1 trials in a total of 129 subjects . mgl-3196 appeared to be safe and well-tolerated in these trials , which included a single ascending dose trial , a multiple ascending dose trial , and two drug interaction trials with statins . key developments reverse merger on july 22 , 2016 , synta completed its business combination with private madrigal in accordance with the terms of an agreement and plan of merger and reorganization , dated as of april 13 , 2016 , or the merger agreement . pursuant to the merger agreement , synta formed a wholly-owned subsidiary that merged with and into private madrigal , with private madrigal surviving the merger and becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of synta , or the merger . in connection with , and prior to the consummation of , the merger , synta effected a 1-for-35 reverse stock split of its common stock , or the reverse stock split , and , following the merger , changed its name to `` madrigal pharmaceuticals , inc. `` all shares and per share amounts have been retrospectively adjusted to give effect to the reverse stock split , except as otherwise disclosed . following the consummation of the merger , our business became the business conducted by private madrigal prior to the consummation of the merger . in october 2016 , madrigal initiated a phase 2 clinical study in nash ( [ nct02912260 ] at www.clinicaltrials.gov ) . the randomized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , multi-center phase 2 study will enroll 117 patients 18 years of age and older with biopsy-confirmed nash . patients are randomized to receive either placebo or mgl-3196 , twice as many receiving mgl-3196 as placebo . efficacy will be confirmed at the end of the trial ( 36 weeks ) by repeat magnetic resonance imagingproton density fat fraction ( mri-pdff ) and conventional liver biopsy to examine histological evidence for the resolution of nash . recent published data show a high correlation of reduction of 47 liver fat measured by mri-pdff to nash scoring on liver biopsy . other secondary endpoints include changes in clinically relevant biomarkers at 12 and 36 weeks , improvement in fibrosis by at least one stage with no worsening of steatohepatitis , and safety and tolerability . the company expects to have top-line mri-pdff data from this study near year-end 2017. in february 2017 , madrigal initiated a phase 2 clinical study in hefh ( [ nct03038022 ] at www.clinicaltrials.gov ) . the 12-week , randomized , double-blind , placebo-controlled , multi-center phase 2 study is expected to enroll 105 patients with hefh in several european countries . patients will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive either mgl-3196 or placebo , in addition to their current drug regimen ( including high dose statins and or ezetimibe ) . the primary endpoint of the study is reduction of ldl cholesterol , with secondary endpoints including reductions in triglycerides , lp ( a ) , and apob , as well as safety . lp ( a ) is a severely atherogenic lipid particle , commonly elevated in familial hypercholesterolemia patients , the levels of which are not adequately reduced by existing lipid lowering therapies . thr-ß agonism is one of the few therapeutic approaches that can substantially lower lp ( a ) . the company expects to have topline data from this study near year-end 2017. basis of presentation research and development expenses research and development expenses primarily consist of costs associated with our research activities , including the preclinical and clinical development of our product candidates . we expense our research and development expenses as incurred . story_separator_special_tag 49 stock-based compensation we recognize stock-based compensation expense based on the grant date fair value of stock options granted to employees , officers and directors . we use the black-scholes option pricing model to determine the grant date fair value as our management believes it is the most appropriate valuation method for its option grants . the black-scholes model requires inputs for risk-free interest rate , dividend yield , volatility and expected lives of the options . certain of the employee stock options granted by us are structured to qualify as incentive stock options , or isos . under current tax regulations , we do not receive a tax deduction for the issuance , exercise or disposition of isos if the employee meets certain holding requirements . if the employee does not meet the holding requirements , a disqualifying disposition occurs , at which time we may receive a tax deduction . we do not record tax benefits related to isos unless and until a disqualifying disposition is reported . in the event of a disqualifying disposition , the entire tax benefit is recorded as a reduction of income tax expense . we have not recognized any income tax benefit for its share-based compensation arrangements due to the fact that we do not believe it is more likely than not it will realize the related deferred tax assets . results of operations comparison years ended december 31 , 2016 and 2015 the following table provides comparative results of operations for the years ended december 31 , 2016 and 2015 ( in thousands ) : replace_table_token_3_th research and development expense our research and development expenses were $ 15.9 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 2.4 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. research and development expenses increased in 2016 primarily due to increased expenses for our clinical and preclinical development programs for mgl-3196 . expense related to stock based compensation increased by $ 5.4 million , of which $ 4.8 million related to private madrigal 's change in control bonus plan recognized at the merger . with the exception of the expense related to private madrigal 's change in control bonus plan , we expect our research and development expenses to increase over time as we advance our clinical and preclinical development . general and administrative expense our general and administrative expenses were $ 9.3 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 0.8 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. the increase in general and administrative expenses for the year ended december 31 , 2016 was primarily due to approximately $ 2.1 million in costs associated with the merger and the increased operating expenses of maintaining a public company . expense related to stock based compensation increased by $ 2.5 million , of which $ .6 million was related to private madrigal 's change in control bonus plan . with the exception of the merger-related expenses , we believe that our general and administrative expenses may increase over time as we advance our clinical and preclinical development programs for mgl-3196 and continue 50 operating as a public company , both of which will likely result in an increase in our headcount , consulting services , and certain overhead needed to support those efforts . interest expense our interest expense was $ 1.2 million for the year ended december 31 , 2016 compared to $ 3.6 million for the year ended december 31 , 2015. the decrease in interest expense was primarily driven by lower interest expense on our convertible notes outstanding . on april 13 , 2016 , we entered into the restated purchase agreement with certain of our investors whereby such investors committed $ 9.0 million of financing before the consummation of the merger . pursuant to the restated purchase agreement , bay city capital agreed to waive all accrued interest on the convertible notes incurred prior to april 13 , 2016. in addition , the investors , including bay city capital , agreed that no interest would accrue on such convertible notes from the date of the restated purchase agreement through the date we consummated the merger . liquidity and capital resources as of december 31 , 2016 , we had cash , cash equivalents and marketable securities of $ 40.5 million . to date , we have funded our operations primarily through the issuance of convertible debt and the proceeds from the merger . we believe our cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund our operations through at least the first quarter of 2018 , which is more than one year after the date the december 31 , 2016 financial statements were issued . on july 22 , 2016 , we completed the merger with synta which provided $ 42.6 million in cash , cash equivalents and marketable securities . in december 2016 , we sold an aggregate of 381,717 shares of common stock pursuant to the at-the-market issuance sales agreement ( october 2015 sales agreement ) , with cowen and company , llc ( cowen ) for an aggregate of approximately $ 6.1 million in gross proceeds . net proceeds to the company were approximately $ 6.0 million after deducting commissions and other transactions costs . as of march 24 , 2017 , in 2017 the company sold an aggregate of 215,539 shares of common stock pursuant to the october 2015 sales agreement for an aggregate of approximately $ 3.5 million in gross proceeds . net proceeds to the company were approximately $ 3.4 million after deducting commissions and other transactions costs . approximately $ 90.4 million remained reserved under the company 's shelf registration statement and the applicable prospectus supplement for possible future issuance under the october 2015 sales agreement . our primary uses of capital are , and we expect will continue to be , funding research efforts and the development of our product candidates , compensation and

