Note 9 - Stockholders' Equity |
9 Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
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Sep. 30, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||
| Notes to Financial Statements | ||||||||||||||||
| Equity [Text Block] |
9. Stockholders’ Equity
The Company had 300,000,000 shares authorized and 98,851,927 and 74,519,103 shares of common stock issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, with a par value of $0.001 per share.
The Company had 10,000,000 shares authorized and 15,617 shares of preferred stock issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022. Preferred stock has a par value of $0.001 per share, and consists of the following:
2020 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan
At the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Company's stockholders approved the 2020 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan, or the 2020 Plan. The 2020 Plan permits 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. There were approximately 1,579,678 shares remaining and available for grant under the 2019 Plan that terminated upon original approval of the 2020 Plan.
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. At the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 22, 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved a second amendment to the 2020 Plan to add 3,000,000 shares of common stock for issuance under the 2020 Plan. At the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 21, 2023, the Company’s stockholders approved a third amendment to the 2020 Plan to add 6,000,000 shares of common stock for issuance under the 2020 Plan.
2023 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
At the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Company’s stockholders approved the 2023 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or the 2023 ESPP. The 2023 ESPP provides eligible employees with the opportunity to purchase shares of the Company's common stock at a discount, on a tax-favored basis, through regular payroll deductions in compliance with federal tax regulations. The Company has reserved 750,000 shares of common stock for issuance under the 2023 ESPP.
Open Market Sales Agreements
In August 2021, the Company established an at-the-market program, or ATM Program, under a sales agreement with Jefferies LLC, pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of gross sales proceeds of $50.0 million. The ATM Program is offered under a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 that was filed with and declared effective by the SEC in August 2021. In November 2022, the sales agreement was amended to provide for an increase in the aggregate offering amount, such that under the ATM Program, as amended, the Company may offer and sell shares of its common stock, from time to time, up to an aggregate amount of gross sales proceeds of $75.0 million.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2023, the Company sold 24.3 million shares for gross proceeds of $20.3 million under the ATM program at an average stock price of $0.84 per share. For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company sold 2.1 million shares for gross proceeds of $7.2 million under the ATM Program at an average stock price of $3.46 per share. |