Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Note 11 - Stock and Employee Benefit Plans

v3.23.1
Note 11 - Stock and Employee Benefit Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2022
Notes to Financial Statements  
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]  

11.

Stock and Employee Benefit Plans

 

Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plans

 

At the Annual Shareholder Meeting, held on June 23, 2020, the shareholders approved the 2020 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2020 Plan. The 2020 Plan originally permitted the Company to issue up to 3,500,000 shares of common stock pursuant to awards granted under the 2020 Plan. Upon approval of the 2020 Plan, the 2019 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2019 Plan, was terminated; all unissued options were canceled and no additional awards will be made thereunder. All outstanding awards under the 2019 Plan will remain in effect and any awards forfeited from the outstanding awards will be allocated back into the 2020 Plan. The 2020 Plan, similar to the 2019 Plan, provided for the grant of stock options, restricted and unrestricted stock awards, and other stock-based awards to employees of the Company, non-employee directors of the Company, and certain other consultants performing services for the Company as designated by either the Board of Directors or the compensation committee of the Board of Directors. At the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on June 25, 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved the first amendment to the 2020 Plan to add 2,250,000 shares for issuance under the 2020 Plan, which increased the total permitted for issuance under the 2020 Plan to 5,750,000. At the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held on June 22, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved the second amendment to the 2020 Plan to add an additional 3,000,000 shares for issuance under the 2020 Plan, which increased the total permitted for issuance under the 2020 Plan to 8,750,000.

 

The 2020 Plan permits the Company to issue up to 8,750,000 shares reserved for issuance pursuant to the 2020 Plan and any additional shares which may be issued if awards outstanding under the Registrant’s 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 Plans are canceled or expire.

 

The Company’s stock options have a maximum term of 10 years from the date of grant. Stock options granted may be either incentive stock options or nonqualified stock options and the exercise price of stock options must be at least equal to the fair market value of the common stock on the date of grant. The Company’s general policy is to issue common shares upon the exercise of stock options.

 

The Company estimates the fair value of each stock award on the grant date using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model based on the following assumptions:

 

   

Years Ended December 31,

 
   

2022

   

2021

 

Risk free interest rate

    1.43% - 3.39%       0.46% - 1.20%  

Expected term (in years)

    5.5 - 5.73       5.31 - 5.73  

Dividend yield

           

Expected volatility

    79.9% - 81.1%       75.0% - 81.7%  

 

The weighted-average fair value of the 3,075,282 and 3,182,696 options granted during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was $1.96 and $2.04, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, there were 4,314,513 shares available for future grant under the 2020 Plan.

 

The following table summarizes stock option activity for employees and non-employees:

 

                   

Weighted-

         
           

Weighted-

   

Average

   

Aggregate

 
           

Average

   

Remaining

   

Intrinsic

 
   

Number of

   

Exercise

   

Contractual

   

Value

 
   

Options

   

Price

   

Life (in years)

   

(in thousands)

 

Outstanding, December 31, 2021

    11,475,713     $ 3.35             $ 11,310  

Granted

    3,075,282       2.88                

Exercised

    46,233       2.07               66  

Canceled

    1,031,396       3.80               17  

Outstanding, December 31, 2022

    13,473,366     $ 3.21       6.31     $  

Vested or expected to vest, December 31, 2022

    13,473,366     $ 3.21       6.31     $  

Exercisable, December 31, 2022

    9,096,001     $ 3.38       5.16     $  

 

Periodically, the Company grants inducement options, which are awards outside of approved stock option plans, and which are material awards to the executive officers or other personnel entering senior leadership roles with the Company. The terms of inducement option awards were substantially the same as those issued under our 2020 Plan. These awards are excluded from the table above. The following table summarizes stock option activity for these inducement options (in thousands):

 

                   

Weighted-

         
           

Weighted-

   

Average

   

Aggregate

 
           

Average

   

Remaining

   

Intrinsic

 
   

Number of

   

Exercise

   

Contractual

   

Value

 
   

Options

   

Price

   

Life (in years)

   

(in thousands)

 

Outstanding, December 31, 2021

    660,000     $ 4.01             $ 108  

Granted

        $             $  

Canceled or Expired

    360,000     $ 3.48             $  

Outstanding, December 31, 2022

    300,000     $ 4.65       6.66     $  

Vested or expected to vest, December 31, 2022

    300,000     $ 4.65       6.66     $  

Exercisable, December 31, 2022

    243,750     $ 4.65       6.66     $  

 

Employee Stock Purchase Plans

 

The 2018 ESPP provides eligible employees with the opportunity, through regular payroll deductions, to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at 85% of the lower closing market price of the common stock at the beginning date or ending date of each purchase period. The plan includes two six-month purchase periods per year beginning in both June and December. The Company has reserved 500,000 shares of common stock for the administration of the 2018 ESPP. Total shares purchased under the plan were 181,466 and 64,257 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The fair value of shares expected to be purchased under the 2018 ESPP was determined using the Black-Scholes model with the following assumptions:

 

   

Years Ended December 31,

 
   

2022

   

2021

 

Risk free interest rate

    1.62% - 4.60%       0.04% - 0.10%  

Expected term (in years)

    0.5       0.5  

Dividend yield

           

Expected volatility

    53.46% - 70.17%       60.46% - 131.21%  

 

Total Stock-based Compensation Expense

 

Total stock-based compensation expense is recorded in operating expenses based upon the functional responsibilities of the individuals holding the respective options as follows (in thousands):

 

   

Years Ended December 31,

 
   

2022

   

2021

 

Research and development

  $ 1,905     $ 2,274  

General and administrative

    2,497       2,941  

Total stock-based compensation

  $ 4,402     $ 5,215  

 

As of December 31, 2022, the total unrecognized compensation cost related to all non-vested awards was $7.0 million of which $0.2 million are for inducement options. The Company expects to recognize the compensation cost over a remaining weighted-average period of 2.49 years.