The 2016 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”), approved by the Company’s stockholders on December 12, 2016 (the “Adoption Date”), provides for the issuance of up to 300,000 shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for issuance under the 2016 Plan plus any additional shares of the Company’s common stock that were available for grant under the 2008 Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”) at the Adoption Date or would otherwise become available for grant under the 2008 Plan as a result of subsequent termination or forfeiture of awards under the 2008 Plan. At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 25, 2019, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2016 Plan to increase the number of shares authorized for issuance by 1,100,000 shares. At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 22, 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the 2016 Plan to increase the number of shares authorized for issuance by 2,500,000 shares. At September 30, 2022, a total of approximately 127,000 shares were available for new awards.

The Company also granted non-statutory stock options to new employees as inducement awards to enter into employment with the Company. The grants were approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors and awarded in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Although not awarded under the 2016 Plan or the 2008 Plan, the grants are subject to and governed by the terms and conditions of the 2016 Plan or 2008 Plan, as applicable.

The following table provides a reconciliation of stock option activity under the Company’s equity incentive plans and for inducement awards for the nine months ended September 30, 2022:


						Weighted
				Weighted		Average
				Average		Remaining		Aggregate
	Number			Exercise		Contractual		Intrinsic
	of Options			Price		Life		Value
						(in years)		(in thousands)
Outstanding at January 1, 2022		2,517,680		$	16.49
Granted		1,783,300			10.32
Exercised		(4,479	)		9.20
Forfeited		(254,300	)		12.89
Expired		(10,536	)		21.17
Outstanding at September 30, 2022		4,031,665		$	13.99		8.08	$	72,129
Exercisable at September 30, 2022		1,381,575		$	19.32		6.17	$	31,793

The Company has granted stock options with 25% of the option vesting after one year followed by ratable monthly vesting over the remaining three years. Nonemployee awards are granted similar to the Company’s employee awards. All option grants have a 10-year term. Options to purchase a total of 525,000 shares of the Company’s common stock vested during the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Starting February 2021, the Company (i) ceased vesting ratable monthly over four years and (ii) retained 25% vesting after one year followed by ratable monthly vesting over the remaining three years.

Time-vested restricted stock units (“RSUs”) issued to date under the 2016 Plan generally vest on a ratable annual basis over 3 years. The related stock-based compensation expense is recorded over the requisite service period, which is the vesting period. The fair value of all time-vested RSUs is based on the closing share price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant.

The following table provides a reconciliation of RSU activity under the 2016 Plan for the nine months ended September 30, 2022:


				Weighted
	Number of			Average
	Restricted			Grant Date
	Stock Units			Fair Value
Nonvested at January 1, 2022		291,575		$	13.19
Granted		415,500			10.06
Vested		(140,402	)		13.44
Forfeited		(36,995	)		11.04
Nonvested at September 30, 2022		529,678		$	10.82

At September 30, 2022, the weighted average remaining vesting term of the RSUs was 1.47 years.

On June 25, 2019, the Company’s stockholders approved the adoption of the EyePoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) and authorized up to 110,000 shares of common stock reserved for issuance to participating employees. At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 22, 2021, the Company’s stockholders approved an amendment to the ESPP to increase the number of shares authorized for issuance by 250,000 shares. The ESPP allows qualified participants to purchase the Company’s common stock twice a year at 85% of the lesser of the average of the high and low sales price of the Company’s common stock on (i) the first trading day of the relevant offering period and (ii) the last trading day of the relevant offering period. The number of shares of the Company’s common stock each employee may purchase under this plan, when combined with all other employee stock purchase plans, is limited to the lower of an aggregate fair market value of $25,000 during each calendar year, or 5,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in any one offering period. The Company has maintained consecutive six-month offering periods since August 1, 2019. As of September 30, 2022, 48,000 shares of the Company’s common stock were issued pursuant to the ESPP.

The Company estimated the fair value of the option component of the ESPP shares at the date of grant using a Black-Scholes valuation model. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, the compensation expense from ESPP shares was approximately $50,000 and $121,000. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, the compensation expense from ESPP shares was immaterial.

The Company’s consolidated statements of comprehensive loss included total compensation expense from stock-based payment awards for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2022		2021		2022		2021
Compensation expense included in:
Research and development	$	1,277	$	719	$	4,762	$	1,291
Sales and marketing		290		348		1,195		829
General and administrative		1,632		1,404		4,859		2,519
	$	3,199	$	2,471	$	10,816	$	4,639

At September 30, 2022, there was approximately $13.7 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to outstanding equity awards under the 2016 Plan, the 2008 Plan, the inducement awards and the ESPP that is expected to be recognized as expense over a weighted average period of approximately 1.65 years.