Equity Incentive Plans and Warrants | (12) Equity Incentive Plans and Warrants Stock-Based Awards (a) Stock Option Plans Activity under the Company’s stock option plans for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 was as follows: Number of options Weighted average exercise price Outstanding at December 31, 2023 2,102,030 $ 2.00 Granted 1,259,421 1.07 Forfeited (359,807 ) 1.96 Outstanding at September 30, 2024 3,001,644 $ 1.61 Vested and exercisable at September 30 1,295,956 $ 2.36 Options granted under our 2021 Stock Option Plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 to employees and nonemployees were 1,186,521 and 72,900, respectively and the weighted average exercise prices were $1.06 and $1.13, respectively. The weighted-average fair values of the options granted to employees and nonemployees were $0.91 and $0.93, respectively and were estimated using the following Black-Scholes assumptions: Employee Nonemployee Expected term (in years) 6.25 5.36 Risk‑free interest rate 4.05 % 4.09 % Dividend yield — % — % Expected volatility 110.29 % 111.97 % No options were exercised for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 under our stock option plans. As of September 30, 2024, the total number of shares of common stock reserved for future awards under the 2021 Stock Option Plan was 596,236. (b) Inducement Grants On February 12, 2024, the Company awarded, outside the 2021 Plan, our Chief Commercial Officer a stock option grant for the right to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.10 per share (inducement grant), which was approved by the Compensation committee. The inducement grant will vest in equal installments over four years provided the employee remains employed by the Company on the vesting date. The fair value of the inducement grant was $0.94 and was estimated using the following assumptions: Inducement Expected term (in years) 6.25 Risk‑free interest rate 4.10 % Dividend yield — % Expected volatility 109.64 % As of September 30, 2024, inducement grant awards of 250,000 shares were outstanding with a weighted average exercise price of $1.89, and 62,500 shares were vested and exercisable with a weighted average exercise price of $2.64. (c) Share-Based Compensation Expense The following table shows the share-based compensation expense related to vested stock option grants to employees and nonemployees by financial statement line item on the accompanying condensed statement of comprehensive loss: Three Months Ended September 30 Nine September 30 2024 2023 2024 2023 Research and development $ 49,800 79,561 114,437 131,812 Sales and marketing 18,895 623 43,659 (1,319 ) General and administrative 59,711 424,175 151,908 496,036 Total share-based compensation expense $ 128,406 504,359 310,004 626,529 As September 30, 2024 (d) Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) For the nine months ended September 30, 2024 September 30, 2024 (e) April 2023 Financing On April 20, 2023, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement pursuant to which the Company sold (i) 1,318,000 shares of common stock, (ii) pre-funded warrants to purchase 1,878,722 shares of common stock, (iii) common warrants to purchase 3,196,722 shares of common stock. Additionally, common warrants to purchase 191,803 shares of common stock were issued to the placement agent compensation for services performed. Stockholders’ Equity The pre-funded warrants, common warrants and placement agent warrants were exercisable immediately following the closing date of the offering. The pre-funded warrants had an unlimited term and an exercise price of $0.0001 per share. The common warrants had a 5.5 year term and an exercise price of $1.095 per share. The placement agent warrants have a 5 year term and exercise price of $1.525 per share. The offering resulted in aggregate gross proceeds of $3,899,813, before $547,764 of transaction costs. The pre-funded warrants and common warrants are classified as a component of permanent equity because they are freestanding financial instruments that are legally detachable and separately exercisable from the shares of common stock with which they were issued, are immediately exercisable, do not embody an obligation for the Company to repurchase its shares, and permit the holders to receive a fixed number of shares of common stock upon exercise. The common stock was valued at $1,133,480, based on the Company’s stock price. The pre-funded warrants and common warrants were valued at $1,615,701 and $1,854,099, respectively, using the following Black-Scholes assumptions: Pre-funded warrants Common warrants Expected term (in years) 4 4 Risk‑free interest rate 3.83 % 3.83 % Dividend yield — % — % Expected volatility 100.25 % 100.25 % Exercise price $ 0.0001 $ 1.095 Stock price $ 0.86 $ 0.86 Black-Scholes value $ 0.86 $ 0.58 The net proceeds of $3,352,049 were allocated to the common stock, pre-funded warrants and common warrants using the relative fair value method. The valuations were recorded to stockholders’ equity. In June 2023, all pre-funded warrants were exercised for shares of common stock. In September and October 2023, all common warrants and 122,994 placement agent warrants were exercised for cash proceeds of $3,687,976 |