Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stock-Based Compensation

v3.24.3
Stock-Based Compensation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Stock-Based Compensation Stock-Based Compensation
Stock Incentive Plan
On October 31, 2014, the Board of Directors of the Company ("Board") approved the Company’s 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan. On June 14, 2022, the Board approved the 2014 Amended and Restated Omnibus Incentive Plan (as amended, the “2014 Amended and Restated Plan”) which replaced the 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan in its entirety.
On September 29, 2023, the Board and holders of the voting power of the outstanding capital stock of the Company adopted and approved Amendment No. 1 to the 2014 Amended and Restated Plan. Amendment No. 1 to the 2014 Amended and the Restated Plan became effective on November 6, 2023. As of September 30, 2024, 2,464,345 shares were authorized for the issuance under the 2014 Amended and Restated Plan.
As of September 30, 2024, the Company had 27,578 shares available for future grant under the 2014 Amended and Restated Plan.
2024 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan
On July 2, 2024, the Board adopted the Skye Bioscience, Inc. 2024 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan (the "Inducement Plan"). The Inducement Plan was adopted in order to grant share-based awards to newly hired employees as an inducement to join the Company. The terms of the Inducement Plan are substantially similar to the terms of the Company’s 2014 Amended and Restated Plan with the exception that awards may only be made to an employee who has not previously been an employee or member of the Board of Directors of the Company if the award is in connection with commencement of employment. The Company has reserved 600,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for issuance pursuant to awards granted under the Inducement Plan. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had 246,500 shares available for future grant under the Inducement Plan.
Stock Options
The following is a summary of option activity under the Company’s 2014 Amended and Restated Plan and the Inducement Plan, for the nine months ended September 30, 2024:
Number of
Shares
Weighted
Average
Exercise Price
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term (Years)
Aggregate Intrinsic Value*
Outstanding, December 31, 2023 498,298  $ 8.96  7.24 $ 20,441 
Granted 1,259,600  11.35 
Cancelled (10,048) 126.76 
Forfeited (108,496) 9.22 
Outstanding, September 30, 2024 1,639,354  $ 10.05  8.33 $ 158,794 
Exercisable, September 30, 2024 519,839  $ 11.36  5.76 $ 71,783 
*The aggregate intrinsic value is the sum of the amounts by which the quoted market price of the Company’s stock exceeded the exercise price of the stock options at September 30, 2024 for those stock options for which the quoted market price was in excess of the exercise price ("in-the-money options").
The weighted-average grant-date fair value of stock options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, was $8.82.
The fair value of the Company's stock option grants were estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model under the following assumptions:
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2024
Dividend yield 0.00%
Volatility factor
81.73% - 99.96%
Risk-free interest rate
3.69% - 4.48%
Expected term (years)
5.27 - 6.08
Restricted Stock Units
On February 29, 2024, the Company granted restricted stock units ("RSUs") to its executive management team and to certain members of the Board with market-based vesting conditions. The RSUs are eligible to vest subject to the achievement and attainment of certain market capitalization target goals and share price targets (market-based vesting conditions). The Company used the Monte Carlo Simulation model to evaluate the derived service period and fair value of awards with market and performance conditions, including assumptions of historical volatility and risk-free interest rate commensurate with the vesting term.
The fair value of the Company's market-based RSUs were estimated on the date of grant under the following assumptions:
Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2024
Dividend yield 0.00%
Volatility factor 93.71%
Risk-free interest rate 4.16%
Derived service periods (years)
1.27 - 2.48

On August 22, 2024, the Board approved a modification to the terms of the RSUs issued on August 25, 2023, and September 29, 2023 to its executive management team and to a member of the Board. The vesting condition was modified from a performance-based condition to a market-based condition. Since the performance condition under the original award was improbable of being met at the time of the modification, no expense was previously recognized. Therefore, on the modification date, the Company established a new fair value and will recognize the expense over the derived service period. The Company used the Monte Carlo Simulation model to evaluate the derived service period and fair value of the awards.

The fair value of the Company's market-based RSUs were estimated on the modification date under the following assumptions:

Nine Months Ended
September 30, 2024
Dividend yield 0.00%
Volatility factor 94.3%
Risk-free interest rate 3.76%
Derived service periods (years) 2.11
The following is a summary of RSU activity during the period ended September 30, 2024:
Number of
Shares
Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested, December 31, 2023 847,777  $ 3.66 
Granted 290,000  13.87 
Unvested, September 30, 2024 1,137,777  $ 6.26 
Common Stock Issued for Services
Additionally, during the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the Company issued 5,000 shares of common stock to a service provider as compensation for services provided. Such shares were issued in a private placement outside of the Company's equity incentive plans.
Stock-Based Compensation Expense
The Company recognizes stock-based compensation expense using the straight-line method over the requisite service period or derived service period. The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense for the stock options and the RSUs discussed above, in its Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations as follows:
Three Months Ended
September 30,
Nine Months Ended
September 30,
2024 2023 2024 2023
Research and development $ 360,845  $ 33,724  $ 1,056,564  $ 90,725 
General and administrative 1,560,772  126,483  5,171,706  303,932 
$ 1,921,617  $ 160,207  $ 6,228,270  $ 394,657 
During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, the first three market-based vesting conditions of the RSUs granted in August and September 2023 were met.
Stock Compensation Adjustments Related to Board Member Resignations
On July 2, 2024, the Board accepted the resignations of several Board members effective August 1, 2024. Concurrently, the Board approved a modification to the option awards granted such Board members, which modification accelerated the vesting of all unvested options as of the resignation date and extended the post-termination exercise period to December 31, 2025. As a result of the modification, the Company recognized $274,019 in incremental stock compensation expense during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
The total amount of unrecognized compensation cost was $11,758,346 as of September 30, 2024. This amount will be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.61 years.