In March 2024, the Company’s board of directors adopted, and the Company’s stockholders approved, the 2024 Incentive Award Plan (the Plan), which became effective in connection with the IPO and has a term of ten years. As of March 31, 2025, a total of 3,765,892 shares of common stock were authorized for issuance under the Plan, which includes a January 1, 2025 increase of 1,115,002 shares, pursuant to the evergreen provision of the Plan. See Note 11 to the audited financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 for a description of the evergreen provision of the Plan. On March 31, 2025, 2,843,832 of these shares were available for grant under the Plan.

Prior to the adoption of the Plan, the Company had awarded common stock options under the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended, the Predecessor Plan). Under the provisions of the Plan, the shares subject to awards issued under the Predecessor Plan that were outstanding as of March 27, 2024, the effective date of the Plan, and that are subsequently cancelled or forfeited, will become available for issuance under, and will increase the number of shares that may be issued under, the Plan.

In August 2024, the compensation committee of the Company’s board of directors, as administrator of the Plan and the Predecessor Plan, approved an option repricing (2024 Repricing), which was effective on August 19, 2024 (the Repricing Effective Date). The repricing applied to options to purchase up to an aggregate of 3,484,346 shares of the Company’s common stock with an exercise price per share in excess of the closing price per share of the Company’s common stock on the Repricing Effective Date, held by eligible employees of the Company that were granted under the Plan or the Predecessor Plan and were outstanding as of the Repricing Effective Date (the Repriced Options). See Note 11 to the audited financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 for a description of the 2024 Repricing.

Stock option activity under the Plan and the Predecessor Plan and certain other related information is as follows (in thousands except weighted-average exercise price and remaining term):


	Number			Weighted- Average Exercise Price		Weighted- Average Remaining Term (years)		Aggregate- Intrinsic Value
Balance as of December 31, 2024		3,818		$	6.37		7.2	$	—
Granted		1,262		$	2.52
Exercised		—		$	—
Forfeited and expired		(342	)	$	5.74
Balance as of March 31, 2025		4,738		$	5.39		8.2	$	—
Vested and expected to vest at March 31, 2025		4,738		$	5.39		8.2	$	—
Exercisable as of March 31, 2025		1,906		$	5.26		6.8	$	—

Aggregate intrinsic value in the above table is the difference between the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock as of either March 31, 2025 or December 31, 2024, and the exercise price of stock options that had exercise prices below that value.

For the Repriced Options, the calculation of the weighted-average prices and intrinsic value information in the table above is based on the exercise price per share that applied immediately prior to the Repricing Effective Date pending satisfaction of the requisite service requirement.

The options exercised during the three months ended March 31, 2024 had an insignificant intrinsic value at exercise. No options were exercised during the three months ended March 31, 2025.

In March 2024, the Company’s board of directors adopted, and the Company’s stockholders approved, the Company’s 2024 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), which became effective in connection with the IPO. On January 1, 2025, pursuant to the evergreen provision of the ESPP, the aggregate number of shares that may be issued under the ESPP was automatically increased by 223,000 shares to 454,919. See Note 11 to the audited financial statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 for a description of the evergreen provision of the ESPP.

The Company recognized stock-based compensation expense related to the ESPP of $0.1 million and $0 for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The Company did not issue or sell any shares under the ESPP during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

Stock-based compensation expense, including the expense related to the ESPP, as recorded in the accompanying condensed statements of operations and comprehensive loss was as follows (in thousands):


	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2025		2024
Research and development	$	714	$	524
General and administrative		1,083		804
Total stock-based compensation	$	1,797	$	1,328

As of March 31, 2025, unrecognized compensation cost related to outstanding stock options (all of which have time-based vesting) was $15.3 million, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.8 years.

As of March 31, 2025, unrecognized compensation cost related to the ESPP was $0.8 million, which is expected to be recognized as expense over approximately 1.3 years.

Excluding any effect of the Repriced Options, the weighted-average assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of the stock options granted during the periods indicated in the table were as follows:


	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2025			2024
Expected option life (in years)		6.0			6.0
Assumed volatility		105.0	%		95.0	%
Assumed risk-free interest rate		4.5	%		4.2	%
Expected dividend yield		—			—

Excluding any effect due to the Repriced Options, the weighted-average grant date per share fair value of options granted during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 were $2.09 and $11.69, respectively.