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Stock-Based Compensation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Share Based Compensation

11. Stock-Based Compensation

2020 Equity Incentive Plan

The Company’s 2020 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”) provides for the Company to grant incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, restricted stock awards, RSUs and other stock-based awards to employees, members of the board of directors and consultants. The 2020 Plan is administered by the board of directors or, at the discretion of the board of directors, by a committee of the board of directors. The board of directors may also delegate to one or more officers of the Company the power to grant awards to employees and certain officers of the Company. The exercise prices, vesting and other restrictions are determined at the discretion of the board of directors, or its committee or any such officer if so delegated.

The exercise price for stock options granted may not be less than the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant, as determined by the board of directors, or at least 110% of the fair market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant in the case of an incentive stock option granted to an employee who owns stock representing more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of stock as determined by the board of directors as of the date of grant. Prior to the IPO, the Company’s board of directors determined the fair value of the Company’s common stock, taking into consideration its most recently available valuation of common stock performed by third parties as well as additional factors which may have changed since the date of the most recent contemporaneous valuation through the date of grant. Stock options granted under the 2020 Plan expire after ten years and typically vest over a four-year period with the first 25% vesting upon the first anniversary of a specified vesting commencement date and the remainder vesting in 36 equal monthly installments over the succeeding three years, contingent on the recipient’s continued employment or service. Certain awards of stock options permit the holders to exercise the option in whole or in part prior to the full vesting of the option in exchange for unvested shares of restricted common stock with respect to any unvested portion of the option so exercised.

As of September 30, 2025, there were 485,615 shares authorized to be issued upon the exercise of outstanding stock option grants and no shares reserved for future issuance under the 2020 Plan.

2021 Equity Incentive Plan

In July 2021, the Company’s board of directors adopted, and its stockholders approved, the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”), which became effective immediately prior to and contingent upon the execution of the underwriting agreement related to the Company’s IPO. The 2021 Plan provides for the grant of incentive stock options, non-statutory stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, RSUs and other stock-based awards. The number of shares initially reserved for issuance under the 2021 Plan was equal to 35,075,122, which was the sum of 11,413,572 new shares; plus the number of shares (not to exceed 23,661,550 shares), which represented (i) the number of shares that remained available for issuance under the 2020 Plan, at the time the 2021 Plan became effective, and (ii) any shares subject to outstanding stock options or other stock awards that were granted under the 2020 Plan that are forfeited, terminate, expire or are otherwise not issued. In December 2024, the 2021 Plan was amended by Amendment No. 1 to the 2021 Plan, which decreased the aggregate number of shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for issuance under the 2021 Plan by 8,000,000 shares. In addition, the number of shares of the Company’s common stock reserved for issuance under the 2021 Plan will automatically increase on the first day of each calendar year pursuant to the evergreen provision thereof, beginning on January 1, 2022 and continuing through January 1, 2031, in an amount equal to 5% of the shares of common stock outstanding on the last day of the calendar month before the date of each automatic increase, or a lesser number of shares determined by the board of directors. On January 1, 2022, 5,539,145 shares of common stock were automatically added to the shares authorized for issuance under the 2021 Plan pursuant to the evergreen provision thereof. On January 1, 2024, 3,304,820 shares of common stock were added to the shares authorized for issuance under the 2021 Plan, pursuant to the evergreen provision thereof, as determined by the Company’s board of directors. The number of shares to be issued under the 2021 Plan did not increase pursuant to the evergreen provision thereof on January 1, 2023 nor January 1, 2025, as determined by the Company’s board of directors. The shares of common stock underlying any awards that are forfeited, cancelled, held back upon exercise or settlement of an award to satisfy the exercise price or tax withholding, repurchased or are otherwise terminated by the Company under the 2021 Plan will be added back to the shares of common stock available for issuance under the 2021 Plan.

As of September 30, 2025, there were an aggregate of 35,797,059 shares authorized to be issued under the 2020 Plan and the 2021 Plan, which included 485,615 and 22,370,287 shares authorized to be issued upon the exercise of outstanding stock option and vesting of RSU grants from the 2020 Plan and 2021 Plan, respectively, and 0 and 12,941,157 shares reserved for future issuance under the 2020 Plan and 2021 Plan, respectively.

Stock Option Valuation

The fair value of stock option grants is estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. Prior to its IPO in August 2021, the Company had been a private company. Due to the proximity to the IPO, the Company continues to lack sufficient company-specific historical and implied volatility information. Therefore, it estimates its expected stock volatility based on the historical volatility of a publicly traded set of peer companies and expects to continue to do so until such time as it has adequate historical data regarding the volatility of its own traded stock price. For options with service-based vesting conditions, the expected term of the Company’s stock options has been determined utilizing the “simplified” method. The risk-free interest rate is determined by reference to the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant of the award for time periods approximately equal to the expected term of the award. Expected dividend yield is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends and does not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

The following table presents, on a weighted-average basis, the assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to determine the grant date fair value of stock options granted:

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Expected term (in years)

 

 

5.9

 

 

 

6.1

 

 

 

5.8

 

 

 

5.9

 

Expected volatility

 

 

61.7

%

 

 

61.8

%

 

 

61.1

%

 

 

62.5

%

Risk-free interest rate

 

 

3.8

%

 

 

4.1

%

 

 

4.3

%

 

 

4.1

%

Expected dividend yield

 

 

%

 

 

%

 

 

%

 

 

%

Stock Option Activity

The following table summarizes the Company’s stock option activity since December 31, 2024:

 

 

Number of
Shares

 

 

Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price

 

 

Weighted-
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term

 

 

Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(in years)

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Outstanding at December 31, 2024

 

 

14,987,559

 

 

$

4.51

 

 

 

7.5

 

 

$

 

Granted

 

 

11,191,844

 

 

$

1.46

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercised

 

 

(123,111

)

 

$

0.85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forfeited

 

 

(4,739,390

)

 

$

4.14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding at September 30, 2025

 

 

21,316,902

 

 

$

3.01

 

 

 

8.3

 

 

$

823

 

Vested and expected to vest at September 30, 2025

 

 

21,316,902

 

 

$

3.01

 

 

 

8.3

 

 

$

823

 

Options exercisable at September 30, 2025

 

 

8,838,857

 

 

$

4.75

 

 

 

7.3

 

 

$

59

 

The weighted-average grant date fair value of stock options granted during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 was $0.58 and $0.86, respectively, per share.

The weighted-average grant date fair value of stock options granted during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 was $0.74 and $2.06, respectively, per share.

The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the underlying options and the fair market value of the common stock for the options that had exercise prices lower than the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock at September 30, 2025 and 2024.

The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised was $0 and less than $0.1 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, respectively. The total intrinsic value of stock options exercised was $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively.

Restricted Stock Unit Activity

In February and September 2025, the Company’s board of directors approved RSU grants to the Company’s executive officers and employees under the 2021 Plan. In February 2025, an aggregate of 1,700,000 RSUs were issued at a grant date fair value of $1.61 per share. In September 2025, an aggregate of 400,000 RSUs were issued at a grant date fair value of $1.15 per share. All RSU grants are scheduled to vest over an eighteen-month period, with one-third of the RSUs vesting every six months following the relevant grant date, subject to continuous service as of each vesting date.

The following table summarizes the Company’s RSU activity since December 31, 2024:

 

 

Number
of Shares

 

 

Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding at December 31, 2024

 

 

 

 

$

 

Granted

 

 

2,100,000

 

 

$

1.52

 

Vested

 

 

(561,000

)

 

$

1.61

 

Forfeited

 

 

 

 

$

 

Outstanding at September 30, 2025

 

 

1,539,000

 

 

$

1.49

 

 

Stock-Based Compensation Expense

The Company recorded stock-based compensation expense (service-based stock options, RSUs, and the Company’s employee stock purchase plan) in the following expense categories of its condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss (in thousands):

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended
September 30,

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Research and development

 

$

822

 

 

$

932

 

 

$

2,440

 

 

$

3,497

 

Selling, general and administrative

 

 

2,251

 

 

 

1,934

 

 

 

6,639

 

 

 

13,234

 

 

$

3,073

 

 

$

2,866

 

 

$

9,079

 

 

$

16,731

 

As of September 30, 2025, total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested stock options was $12.7 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.3 years.

As of September 30, 2025, the total unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested RSUs was $2.1 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.02 years.

2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In July 2021, the Company’s board of directors adopted, and its stockholders approved, the 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2021 ESPP”), which became effective immediately prior to and contingent upon the execution of the underwriting agreement related to the Company’s IPO. A total of 1,342,773 shares of common stock were initially reserved for issuance under the 2021 ESPP. There were 752,816 shares issued under the 2021 ESPP as of September 30, 2025. The number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the 2021 ESPP will automatically increase on the first day of each calendar year, pursuant to the evergreen provision thereof, beginning on January 1, 2022 and continuing through January 1, 2031, by an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 1% of the shares of common stock outstanding on the last day of the calendar month before the date of each automatic increase, (ii) 2,685,546 shares and (iii) an amount determined by the Company’s board of directors. The number of shares to be issued under the 2021 ESPP did not increase pursuant to the evergreen provision thereof on January 1, 2023, January 1, 2024, nor January 1, 2025, as determined by the Company’s board of directors. The first offering under the 2021 ESPP was June 6, 2022. As of September 30, 2025, 589,957 shares remained available for issuance under the 2021 ESPP. During both the three months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company recognized less than $0.1 million in related stock-based compensation expense. During the nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, the Company recognized less than $0.2 million and less than $0.1 million, respectively, in related stock-based compensation expense.

Warrant Expense

In November 2022, the Company entered into the PHP MSA, the PHP Work Order and a warrant agreement with respect to the PHP Warrant. To compensate for the services and deliverables provided by PHP, the Company issued 6,824,712 equity-classified warrants to PHP. Each warrant shall give the right to acquire common stock of the Company at a purchase price of $3.48 per share. Per the agreement, the PHP Warrant is exercisable upon either the achievement of corresponding market capitalization targets or a consummation of a fundamental transaction (as defined in the PHP Warrant); as such, there are no other requirements, including any continuous service requirements, in order for PHP to be entitled to the PHP Warrant, if and when any portion of it vests.

The aggregate grant date fair value of the PHP Warrant was $17.4 million, which was recognized as warrant expense on the grant date in November 2022.

Other than the pre-funded warrants issued in the August 2025 Underwritten Public Offering, there were no warrants issued during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024. As of September 30, 2025, other than the pre-funded warrants issued in the August 2025 Underwritten Public Offering, there were 6,824,712 warrants outstanding and not yet vested at a weighted-average exercise price of $3.48, with a weighted-average remaining contractual term of 7.13 years.