Stockholders Equity

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2024

Stockholders Equity

Stockholders' Equity

7. Stockholders’ Equity

Issuance of Common Stock and Warrants

On January 17, 2024, the Company completed the last closing of its sale of securities pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) entered on December 13, 2023, as filed in the Company’s Form 8-K on December 15, 2023. At this closing, the Company sold an aggregate of 358,388 Units, comprising 358,388 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $.05 per share (“Common Stock”) and warrants (“Warrants”) to purchase 358,388 shares of Common Stock for a total consideration of $716,776. The Company recognized $98,700 of issuance cost, which includes $71,100 attributable to legal and placement agent fees and $27,600 attributable to the fair value of warrants, issued to the placement agent, to purchase up to 17,919 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $2.00 per share on substantially the same terms as the Warrants issued to the purchasers of Units (“Investors”).  

As an incentive to certain Investors of the Company who participated in previous private placements (“Existing Investors”) and received as part of those financings, warrants (“Outstanding Warrants”) to purchase shares of Common Stock, the Company agreed that if any Existing Investor were to purchase Units at a certain level in the offering thereof under the Purchase Agreement (the “Offering”), the Company would reduce the exercise price of the Outstanding Warrants held by such Existing Investor to $2.50 per share and extend the period in which such Outstanding Warrants could be exercised to the fifth anniversary of the date on which the Existing Investor purchased Units under the Purchase Agreement. Each Existing Investor purchasing Units at the requisite level received a new warrant (the “Replacement Warrants”) to replace such Existing Investor’s Outstanding Warrants. On January 17, 2024, as a result of their purchase of Units, Existing Investors became entitled to receive Replacement Warrants to replace 333,884 Outstanding Warrants, with each Replacement Warranting having a reduced exercise price of such Outstanding Warrants of $2.50 per share and exercisable until the fifth anniversary of the relevant closing under the Purchase Agreement.

Salary for Equity Incentive Options

On April 1, 2024 and May 17, 2024, as part of the Company’s strategic initiatives to reduce operating costs and conserve cash for operations, the Company offered a voluntary Salary/Compensation Waiver Program pursuant to which each director, officer and employee of the Company and its subsidiaries could elect to waive a portion of his or her salary/compensation for twelve months and receive instead options to purchase shares of the Common Stock of the Company (the “stock options”).  Under this program, the Company issued 10-year options to purchase 628,960 shares of Common Stock, each having an exercise price of $2.50 per share, vesting monthly over twelve months, valued at $948,200 on the grant date using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model. 

Equity Cancel and Replacement Options

On April 1, 2024, as part of the Company’s strategic initiatives to incentivize current employees, the Company entered into a cancellation and replacement agreement regarding certain out-of-the money outstanding employee stock options (the “replacement stock options”), whereby employees surrendered out-of-the-money outstanding stock options (“cancelled option awards") and the Company granted replacement stock options in the same number, having an exercise price of $2.50 per share, which replacement options vest monthly over three years from their date of issuance. The Company accounted for the issuance of these replacements options as a modification of the terms of the cancelled option awards and in accordance with ASC 718-20-35-2A the Company will recognize $613,400 stock compensation expense over the three-year vesting period, which was determined by the grant-date fair value of the original award for which the service is expected to be rendered at the cancellation date, plus incremental costs measured as the excess of the fair value of the replacement options on the grant date using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model over the fair value of the cancelled option award at the cancellation date in accordance with ASC 718-20-35-3.

Board of Director Stock Options

On April 12, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) appointed Michael Blechman (“Mr. Blechman”) as (i) a Class B Director of the Company, (ii) a member of the Board’s audit committee, (iii) a member of the Board’s compensation committee, and (iv) the Chair and a member of the Company’s Nominating Committee. On May 17, 2024, in connection with such appointment, the Company granted and issued to Mr. Blechman stock options to purchase 25,000 shares of the Common Stock of the Company with an exercise price of $1.75 which vest monthly over three years, valued at $34,500 on the grant date using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model.

On July 1, 2024, the Company granted and issued stock options to purchase 10,000 shares of the Common Stock of the Company, each to Christopher Cox, John Nicols, and Jurgen Schumacher, as part of their annual compensation serving as independent Board members of the Company. The stock options have a 10-year life, an exercise price of $1.29, 100% vested one year after the grant date, and valued at $10,400 on the grant date using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model.

On July 1, 2024, the Company granted and issued stock options to purchase 5,000 shares of the Common Stock of the Company, each to Michael Blechman, Christopher Cox, and John Nicols, as part of their annual compensation serving as independent Committee Chairmans of the Company. The stock options have a 10-year life, an exercise price of $1.29, 100% vested one year after the grant date, and valued at $5,200 on the grant date using the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing model.