Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Stock-Based Compensation (Tables)

v3.24.3
Stock-Based Compensation (Tables)
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Schedule of stock option activity
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").
Schedule of fair value assumptions of stock option granted
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
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
Schedule of Nonvested Share Activity 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 
Schedule of stock-based compensation expense 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