Stock Incentive Plans
The Company adopted the MaxCyte, Inc. Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”) in January 2016 to provide for the awarding of (i) stock options, (ii) restricted stock, (iii) incentive shares, and (iv) performance awards, in each case, to employees, officers, and directors of the Company and to other individuals as determined by the Board of Directors.
In December 2021, the Company adopted the MaxCyte, Inc. 2021 Inducement Plan (the “Inducement Plan”) to provide for the awarding of (i) non-qualified stock options; (ii) stock appreciation rights; (iii) restricted stock awards; (iv) restricted stock unit awards; (v) performance awards; and (vi) other awards, in each case, only to persons eligible to receive grants of awards who satisfy the standards for inducement grants under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5635(c)(4) or 5635(c)(3), if applicable, and the related guidance under Nasdaq IM 5635-1. The Board of Directors reserved 2,500,000 shares for issuance under the Inducement Plan.
In May 2022, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted, and in June 2022, the Company’s stockholders approved, the MaxCyte, Inc. 2022 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2022 Plan”) to provide for the awarding of (i) incentive stock options, (ii) non-qualified stock options, (iii) stock appreciation rights, (iv) restricted stock awards, (v) restricted stock unit awards, (vi) performance awards, and (vii) other awards. Following the approval of the 2022 Plan, no additional awards can be granted under the 2016 Plan or the Inducement Plan, but all outstanding awards will continue to remain subject to the terms of the applicable plan.
Upon the effectiveness of the 2022 Plan, a total of 3,692,397 shares were initially reserved for issuance pursuant to future awards under the 2022 Plan, consisting of 1,928,000 new shares and 1,764,397 shares previously available under the 2016 Plan. If and to the extent that outstanding options under the 2016 Plan or the Inducement Plan are forfeited, the shares underlying such forfeited options will become available for issuance under the 2022 Plan. At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 22, 2023, the Company’s stockholders voted to reserve an additional 6,069,000 shares of issuance pursuant to future awards under the 2022 Plan. At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on June 11, 2024, the Company’s stockholders approved to increase by 2,300,000 the maximum number of shares of common stock authorized to be issued under the 2022 Plan.
At September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, there were 6,645,000 and 6,202,000 shares, respectively, available to be issued under the 2022 Plan.
The value of an equity award is recognized as expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. At September 30, 2024, total unrecognized compensation expense was $20,699, which will be recognized over an estimated weighted-average period of 2.3 years.
Stock Options
The weighted-average fair value of the stock options granted during the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 was estimated to be $2.14 and $1.91, per option share, respectively. The weighted-average fair value of the stock options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 was estimated to be $2.27 and $2.03, per option share, respectively.
Restricted Stock Units (“RSUs”)
The weighted-average fair value of the RSUs granted during the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 was estimated to be $4.02 and $4.18 per RSU, respectively. The weighted-average fair value of the RSUs granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 was estimated to be $4.39 and $4.29 per RSU, respectively.
Performance Stock Units (“PSUs”)
During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, 550,838 PSUs were awarded to certain members of management and executive officers. The PSU awards represent a number of shares of common stock to be earned if a target level of performance, as approved by the Board of Directors, is achieved. The performance period continues through December