Stockholders’ Equity and Share-Based Compensation

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Stockholders Equity And Share-based Compensation

Stockholders’ Equity and Share-Based Compensation

8.        Stockholders’ Equity and Share-Based Compensation

Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

The Company’s authorized capital consists of 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.00001 per share (“Preferred Stock”). We designated 630,000 shares of Series A Convertible Voting Preferred Stock (“Series A Preferred”) and designated and issued 70,000 shares of Series B Convertible Voting Preferred Stock (“Series B Preferred”). As of June 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there are no shares of Series A Preferred outstanding and 70,000 shares of Series B Preferred outstanding.

Series B Preferred

On August 21, 2020, the Company issued 70,000 shares of Series B Preferred (classified as permanent equity), in exchange for 70,000 shares of Class B Common Stock in connection with the reverse merger in August 2020. Each share of Series B Preferred has a par value of $0.00001 per share, no dividend rate, a stated value of $6.50 per share, and each share of Series B Preferred initially converts into 11.46837 shares of common stock of the Company (“Series B Conversion Number”). In addition, the Series B Preferred possesses full voting rights, on an as-converted basis, as the common stock of the Company, as defined in the Series B Certificate of Designation. Furthermore, the Series B Preferred does not have any mandatory conversion rights and only converts upon written notice from the holder.

The Series B Preferred also includes certain anti-dilution rights (“anti-dilution issuance rights”), whereby the holder of Series B Preferred will continue to maintain ownership equal to 10% of the fully diluted shares of common stock outstanding, including for such purposes all other convertible securities outstanding and reserved for issuance except equity awards issued and outstanding and reserved for issuance under a board approved equity compensation plan reserving for issuance no more than ten percent (10%) of the outstanding common stock of the Company then outstanding, until the Capital Threshold is met. The anti-dilution issuance rights meet the definition of a derivative instrument under FASB’s ASC Topic 815. As of December 31, 2023, the $1 million dollar Capital Threshold was achieved and therefore, there is no remaining derivative liability.

In the event of any Liquidation Event, the Holders of Series B Preferred shall be entitled to receive, prior and in preference to any distribution of any of the assets or surplus funds of the Company to the holders of common stock, an amount per share in cash equal to the greater of (x) the stated value of $6.50 for each share of Series B Preferred then held by the holder or (y) the amount payable per share of common stock which such holder of Series B Preferred would have received if such Holder had converted to common stock immediately prior to the Liquidation Event.

Share-Based Compensation

2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan

On October 21, 2020, we adopted our 2020 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”) and on October 22, 2020, the 2020 Plan was approved by our stockholders. The 2020 Plan was adopted to promote our long-term success and the creation of stockholder value by motivating participants, through equity incentive awards, to achieve long-term success in our business. The 2020 Plan permits the discretionary award of stock options, restricted stock, RSUs, and other equity awards to selected participants. On October 21, 2021, the first anniversary date from the adoption date of the 2020 Plan, the number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 2020 Plan increased to 20% of the fully diluted shares of common stock outstanding, including shares of common stock reserved for issuance under convertible securities. As of June 30, 2024, we have reserved 1,661,966 shares of common stock for issuance under the 2020 Plan, of which 536,600 were subject to outstanding RSUs and 1,111,322 shares were available for future grants of share-based awards.

The cost of all share-based awards will be recognized in the consolidated financial statements based on the fair value of the awards. The fair value of stock option awards will be determined using the Black-Scholes valuation model on the date of grant. The fair value of restricted stock awards and RSUs will be equal to the closing market price of our common stock on the date of grant. The Company will generally recognize share-based compensation expense over the period of vesting or period that services will be provided for all time-based awards. Share-based compensation expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 and 2023 was comprised of the following:

	For the Three Months Ended June 30,
	2024		2023
Research and development	$	–	$	5,469
General and administrative		–		–
Total	$	–	$	5,469

	For the Six Months Ended June 30,
	2024		2023
Research and development	$	4,867	$	10,877
General and administrative		–		–
Total	$	4,867	$	10,877

The following summarizes our transaction activity related to RSUs for the six months ended June 30, 2024:

	Shares			Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Nonvested and outstanding at January 1, 2024		541,957		$	3.01
Granted		–			–
Vested		–			–
Forfeited		(5,357	)		(2.80	)
Nonvested and outstanding at June 30, 2024		536,600		$	3.01

As of June 30, 2024, there was no unrecognized compensation cost related to RSUs. As of June 30, 2024, 14,044 RSUs have vested under the 2020 Plan since its adoption.