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STOCK OPTION PLAN
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Notes to Financial Statements  
STOCK OPTION PLAN

NOTE 7. STOCK OPTION PLAN

 

On September 17, 2007, the Company’s Board of Directors and stockholders adopted the 2007 Incentive Stock and Awards Plan (the “Plan”), which provides for the issuance of a maximum of an aggregate of 3,000,000 (as amended on November 5, 2008) shares of Common Stock. The purpose of the Plan is to provide an incentive to attract and retain directors, officers, consultants, advisors and employees whose services are considered valuable, to encourage a sense of proprietorship and to stimulate an active interest of such persons into the Company’s development and financial success. Under the Plan, the Company is authorized to issue incentive stock options intended to qualify under Section 422 of the Code, non-qualified stock options and restricted stock. The Plan will be administered by the Company’s Board of Directors until such time as such authority has been delegated to a committee of the board of directors.

 

A summary of the Plan for the year ended December 31, 2011 is as follows:

 

    Weighted Avg. Exercise Price Weighted Avg. Remaining Contractual Life Aggregate Intrinsic Value
Outstanding - January 1, 2011 2,506,217  $        1.37    
Granted 300,000 0.1    
Exercised - -    
Cancelled/Forfeited -1,605,000 1.26    
Outstanding - December 31, 2011 1,201,217  $        1.21 3.28  $      6,000
Exercisable - December 31, 2011 1,169,217  $        1.22 3.18  $      6,000
Vested and expected to vest - December 31, 2011 1,198,017  $        1.21 3.27  $      6,000

 

 

 

The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pre-tax amount of the proceeds, net of exercise price, which would have been received by option holders if all option holders had exercised and immediately sold all options with an exercise price lower than the market price on December 31, 2011, based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock of $0.12 on that date.

 

The options were granted to the employees, directors and consultants at exercise prices that ranged from $0.10 to $2.62, the estimated fair market value of the common stock on the dates of issuance. All options granted prior to 2011 expire on the ten year anniversary of the issuance date and were vested immediately or on a quarterly basis up to five years. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the grant-date fair value of share-based awards. The Black-Scholes model requires subjective assumptions regarding future stock price volatility and expected time to exercise, along with assumptions about the risk-free interest rate and expected dividends, which affect the estimated fair values of the Company’s stock-based awards. The expected term of options granted was determined in accordance with the “simplified approach” as the Company has very limited historical data on employee exercises and post-vesting employment termination behavior. The expected volatility is based on the historical volatilities of the common stock of comparable publicly traded companies based on the Company’s belief that it currently has limited historical data regarding the volatility of its stock price on which to base a meaningful estimate of expected volatility. The risk-free rate selected to value any particular grant is based on the U.S. Treasury rate that corresponds to the expected term of the grant effective as of the date of the grant. The Company used 0% as an expected dividend yield assumption. These factors could change in the future, affecting the determination of stock-based compensation expense in future periods. Utilizing these assumptions, the fair value is determined at the date of grant. The weighted fair value of the stock options granted during 2011 is $0.04. For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 and for the period from inception through December 31, 2011, the Company recorded stock-based compensation related to stock options and restricted stock for employees and directors of $192,153, $547,895 and $1,461,165, respectively which is included in selling, general and administrative expenses and research and development expenses in the amount of $154,399 and $37,754, $447,292 and $100,603, and $1,024,102 and $437,063, respectively. The Company cancelled 1,605,000 stock options during the year ended December 31, 2011. These options were cancelled due to the resignation of the optionees during the fiscal year.

As of December 31, 2011, there was approximately $14,094 of total unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested stock options under the Plan. That expense is expected to be recognized over the weighted-average period of 1.89 years.

 

Effective February 17, 2010, the Board of Directors of the Company accepted the resignation of Dr. Juliet Singh as Chief Executive Officer of the Company and as a director on the Board. In connection with Dr. Singh’s resignation, the Company and Dr. Singh entered into a separation agreement that provided Dr. Singh with one year of continued salary in accordance with the terms of her existing employment agreement as well as the accelerated vesting of 300,000 stock options previously granted. In addition, the term in which Dr. Singh may exercise the vested options (which included 610,000 options in total, comprised of 310,000 stock options that were vested as of the separation date as well as the 300,000 stock options subject to the accelerated vesting) was modified and extended to three years from the date of her resignation. In accordance with accounting guidance, since these stock options were modified, the value of the modification for each stock option was determined. For the stock options vested as of the separation date, the modified value was equal to the number of options multiplied by the difference in value (per the Black-Scholes option pricing model) between the original and modified terms of the stock options utilizing current values for market stock price, interest rate and volatility. For the stock options in which the vesting was accelerated, the new value for these stock options was calculated as of the separation date using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. In total, the additional stock based compensation expense recognized for the modified stock options was approximately $174,000 and was recorded in stock-based compensation in additional paid-in capital and general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and consolidated statement of operations as of and for the year ended December 31, 2010, respectively.

 

On February 26, 2010, the Company’s Board of Directors granted 300,000 stock options to an executive officer of the Company under the Company’s 2007 Incentive Stock and Awards Plan. All of the options were granted with an exercise price of $0.90 and have a ten year life. Also, the options vest one-twelfth per quarter commencing on the first full quarter after the initial grant date of February 26, 2010.

On August 13, 2010, the Company entered into a consulting agreement (previously approved by the Board of Directors) with a retained search firm to provide the Company with executive recruitment services. In accordance with the agreement, the Company had the option to pay for such services in cash or by issuing stock options of an equivalent value. Per the agreement, 50% of the fee (deemed non-refundable) was due upon execution of the agreement and the remaining 50% was due if and when the retained search firm placed a candidate with the Company. The total fee ultimately owed to the retained search firm would not be finalized until an executive was hired as it will be based on the total compensation for the executive in the first year of employment. It was agreed between the retained search firm and the Company that the value of the stock option as of the execution of the agreement would be the basis for determining the number of stock options to be issued for the initial fee as well as in the total fee due to the retained search firm. The option value was determined to be $0.6575 based on the Black-Scholes pricing model using an exercise price of $1.07. Using an estimated first year salary (including bonus) of $350,000, the total fee was estimated to be $105,000. As noted above, the Company was obligated to pay 50% of the estimated total fee, or $52,500, upon execution of the agreement, which the Company opted to issue a non-qualified stock option in lieu of cash. Therefore, the Company issued a non-qualified stock option, under the Plan, to purchase up to 80,000 shares of common stock in payment of this initial fee. The stock option is non-refundable and therefore, fully vested upon issuance. As a result, the total value of the fee/option was recognized in August 2010. Effective October 20, 2010, the Board of Directors appointed a new president and chief executive officer that was a candidate referred to the Company from the retained search firm (see below). The total first year compensation for the executive was estimated to be $441,000, therefore, the final fee due to the retained search firm was $132,300. The Company opted to pay the remainder of the fee due with a non-qualified stock option. Considering the option issued in August 2010 for the purchase of up to 80,000 shares of common stock, the final stock option issued in October 2010 was to purchase an additional 121,217 shares of common stock. The value of this stock option representing the remainder of the fee, $79,800, was recognized in October 2010. For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 and the period from Inception through December 31, 2011, the Company recorded stock-based compensation related to these stock options of $0, $132,300 and $132,300, respectively.

 

Effective October 20, 2010, the Company appointed John N. Bonfiglio, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company. Dr. Bonfiglio was also appointed as a director on the Company’s Board. The Board granted Dr. Bonfiglio a stock option for 400,000 shares of common stock and issued 50,000 shares of restricted common stock in accordance with the Company’s 2007 Incentive Stock and Awards Plan. The stock option and the restricted common stock will vest as follows: 25% of the option shares and the restricted stock shall vest immediately upon grant, with the balance of the option shares and the restricted stock vesting in equal monthly installments over the next 36 months beginning 30 days after the grant date; provided, however, Dr. Bonfiglio shall gain a vested interest in an additional 10% of the option shares and the restricted stock upon the closing of a Qualified Transaction. The exercise price of the stock option will be $0.80 per share, the reported closing price of the Company’s common stock on October 20, 2010. The vesting of all options will fully accelerate upon an involuntary termination of Dr. Bonfiglio’s employment within twelve months following a change of control (as such terms are defined in the Employment Agreement). Effective May 13, 2011, this individual resigned and all options granted to the employee have been cancelled.

 

On October 5, 2011, priority claims of former employees in the amount of $119,667 originating as a result of the Company’s Bankruptcy petition filed June 26, 2010 (the “Priority Claimants”), were settled and paid by the Company. These amounts consisted of accrued and owed payroll amounts, accrued vacation and any other claims held against the Company at October 5, 2011. The Priority Claimants were given cash in the amount $47,975 and 300,000 stock options valued at $11,400 and the difference of $60,292 was recognized as a gain on forgiveness of liabilities during the year ended December 31, 2011. These options have an exercise price of $0.10, vested immediately upon issuance, and have a three year life from the date of issuance.

 

The table below illustrates the fair value per share and Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions used for the grants issued to the employees and directors during the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010

 

  2011 2010
Weighted-average fair value of options granted  $        0.04  $        0.56
Expected terms (in years) 3 6
Expected volatility 85% 75%
Risk-free interest rate 0.46% 2.02%
Dividend yield —   —  

 

 

No options were issued to consultants during the year ended December 31, 2011.

 

The table below illustrates the fair value per share and Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions used for the grants issued to the consultants during the year ended December 31, 2010:

 

  2010
Weighted-average fair value of options granted 0.66
Expected terms (in years) 5
Expected volatility 75%
Risk-free interest rate 1.63%
Dividend yield —