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Stock-Based Compensation

3 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

NOTE 9 – Stock-Based Compensation

During the three month periods ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, stock-based expense related to stock-based awards amounted to $245,829 and $587,677, respectively, and was included in general and administrative and research and development costs as follows in the accompanying condensed statements of operations.

	2020		2019
General and administrative	$	181,792	$	563,768
Research and development		64,037		23,909
Total stock-based compensation expense	$	245,829	$	587,677

Stock Options

During the three month period ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, under the 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2017 Plan"), the Company granted 125,000 and 800,000 stock options, respectively, to its employees, consultants and scientific advisory board members. Vesting generally occurs over an immediate to 48 month period based on a time of service condition although vesting acceleration is provided under one grant in the event that certain milestones are met. The grant date fair value of the grants issued during the three month periods ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was $0.53 and $1.06 per share, respectively. The total expense for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 related to stock options was $100,147 and $438,083, respectively. The total number of stock options outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and September 30, 2020 was 1,603,485 and 1,478,485, respectively.

The weighted-average assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option-pricing model are as follows for the stock options granted during the three month period ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:

	2020			2019
Expected stock price volatility		54.3	%		52.8	%
Expected life of options (years)		5.8			5.7
Expected dividend yield		0	%		0	%
Risk free interest rate		0.5	%		1.7	%

During the three month periods ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, 215,326 and 375,830 stock options vested, and zero and 7,497 stock options were forfeited during these periods, respectively.

Restricted Stock Units

There were no restricted stock units ("RSUs") granted during the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, and 25,144 and 10,503 RSUs vested during these periods, respectively. The total expense for the three months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 related to these RSUs was $43,082 and $25,001, respectively. The number of RSUs forfeited during the three month periods ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was zero and 7,003, respectively.

Other Stock-Based Awards

In August 2020, an additional consulting agreement was executed whereby 120,000 shares of common stock were issued, subject to Company repurchase. The stock award under the agreement vests over a six-month period. As of December 31, 2020, 80,000 shares were vested under this agreement of which 60,000 shares vested during the first quarter of fiscal year 2021. Compensation expense related to the stock awards granted under this consulting agreement amounted to $102,600 for the three month ended December 31, 2020 and was included in the total stock-based expense.

In October 2019, two consulting agreements were executed whereby up to 115,000 shares of common stock were issuable of which 90,000 shares of common stock were issued and 60,000 shares were vested as of December 31, 2019 under these agreements. Vesting was based on a time-based vesting condition ranged over a three to nine month period commencing upon the execution of the consulting agreements. Compensation expense related to the stock awards granted under these consulting agreements amounted to $124,593 and was included in the total stock-based expense referenced above for the three month period ended December 31, 2019. The expense was based on the fair value of the underlying common stock at the point of vesting which ranged from $2.00 to $2.65 per share.

General

As of December 31, 2020, 1,714,400 shares were available for future issuance on a combined basis under the 2016 Equity Incentive Plan and 2017 Plan. Unrecognized stock-based compensation was $666,127 as of December 31, 2020. The unrecognized share-based expense is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.9 years.