In 2014, the Company’s stockholders approved the 2014 Equity Incentive Plan pursuant to which the Company may grant up to 91,367 shares as ISOs, NQs and restricted stock units (“RSUs”), subject to increases as hereafter described (the “Plan Limit”). In addition, on January 1, 2015, and each January 1 thereafter and prior to the termination of the 2014 Equity Incentive Plan, pursuant to the terms of the 2014 Equity Incentive Plan, the Plan Limit was and shall be increased by the lesser of (x) 4% of the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of the immediately preceding December 31 and (y) such lesser number as the Board of Directors may determine in its discretion. In March 2019, the Plan was amended and restated which removed the annual increase component and was limited to 826,292 shares.

On December 8, 2020, the Company adopted the Second Amended and Restated PDS Biotechnology Corporation 2014 Equity Inventive Plan (the “Restated Plan”), which amended and restated the Amended and Restated PDS Biotechnology Corporation 2014 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Current Plan”). The Restated Plan is identical to the Current Plan in all material respects, except as follows: (a) the number of shares of Common Stock authorized for issuance under the Restated Plan will increase from 826,292 shares to 3,339,243 shares, plus the total number of shares that remained available for issuance, that are not covered by outstanding awards issued under the Current Plan, immediately prior to December 8, 2020; and (b) the Restated Plan will terminate on December 7, 2030, unless earlier terminated.

In 2018, the Company’s stockholders approved the 2018 Stock Incentive Plan pursuant to which the Company may grant up to 558,071 shares as (i) Stock Options, (ii) Stock Appreciation Rights, (iii) Restricted Stock, (iv) Preferred Stock, (v) Stock Reload Options and/or (vi) Other Stock-Based Awards. As of December 31, 2022, there were 190,799 shares available for grant under the 2018 Stock Incentive Plan.

On June 17, 2019, the Board adopted the 2019 Inducement Plan (the “Inducement Plan”). On December 8, 2020, the Company amended the Inducement Plan solely to increase the total number of shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the Inducement Plan from 200,000 shares to 500,000 shares. On May 17, 2022, the Company further amended the Inducement Plan solely to increase the total number of shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the Inducement Plan from 500,000 shares to 1,100,000 shares. The Inducement Plan provides for the grant of non-qualified stock options. The Inducement Plan, and each amendment thereto, was recommended for approval by the Compensation Committee of the Board and subsequently approved and adopted by the Board without stockholder approval pursuant to Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules.

The Inducement Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board. In accordance with Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules, non-qualified stock options under the Inducement Plan may only be made to an employee who has not previously been an employee of the Company or member of the Board of Directors of the Company (or any parent or subsidiary of the Company)), if he or she is granted such non-qualified stock options in connection with his or her commencement of employment with the Company or a subsidiary and such grant is an inducement material to his or her entering into employment with the Company or such subsidiary. As of December 31, 2022, there were 215,215 shares available for grant under the Inducement Plan.

The following table summarizes the components of stock-based compensation expense in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021:

In lieu of higher cash compensation, the Company has granted non-employee options to consultants and expensed $1,383 and $1,389 during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

As of December 31, 2022 there was approximately $12,257,982 of unamortized stock compensation expense, which is expected to be recognized over a remaining average vesting period of 2.63 years.

The fair value of options granted during the year ended December 31, 2022 was estimated using the Black-Scholes option valuation model utilizing the following assumptions:

Expected volatility. The expected volatility assumption is based on volatilities of a peer group of similar companies in the biotechnology industry whose share prices are publicly available.

Expected term. The expected term represents the period options are expected to be outstanding. The expected term of the options is based on using the simplified method, which is the midpoint between the requisite service period and the contractual term of the option, since the Company has a limited history of being a public company from March 15, 2019 (the date of the Merger) to develop reasonable expectations about future exercise patterns and employment duration for the stock options grants.

Expected dividend rate. The expected dividend yield assumption is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends and has no present intention to pay cash dividends.