Quarterly report [Sections 13 or 15(d)]

Share-Based Compensation

v3.25.3
Share-Based Compensation
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
Share-Based Compensation

15. Share-Based Compensation

On November 18, 2015, the Company’s board of directors adopted and approved the 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the 2015 Plan), which authorized the Company to grant up to 14,895 ordinary shares in the form of incentive share options, nonstatutory share options, share appreciation rights, restricted share awards, restricted share units and other share awards. The types of share-based awards, including the rights, amount, terms, and exercisability provisions of grants are determined by the Company’s Board of Directors. The purpose of the 2015 Plan was to provide the Company with the flexibility to issue share-based awards as part of an overall compensation package to attract and retain qualified personnel. On May 18, 2017, the Company amended the 2015 Plan to increase the number of ordinary shares available for issuance under the 2015 Plan by 14,640 shares to 29,535 shares.

On March 14, 2018, the Company’s board of directors adopted and approved the 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the 2018 Plan), which became effective upon the execution and delivery of the underwriting agreement related to the Company’s IPO in May 2018. Since adopting the 2018 Plan, no further grants will be made under the 2015 Plan. The ordinary shares underlying any options that are forfeited, cancelled, repurchased or are otherwise terminated by the Company under the 2015 Plan will not be added back to the ordinary shares available for issuance.

The 2018 Plan originally authorized the Company to grant up to 67,897 ordinary shares in the form of incentive share options, nonstatutory share options, share appreciation rights, restricted share awards, restricted share units, performance share awards, performance cash awards and other share awards. The types of share-based awards, including the amount, terms, and exercisability provisions of grants are determined by the Company’s Board of Directors. The ordinary shares underlying any options that are forfeited, cancelled, repurchased or are otherwise terminated by the Company under the 2018 Plan are added back to the ordinary shares available for issuance under the 2018 Plan.

On December 5, 2018, pursuant to powers delegated to it by the board of directors of the Company, the Compensation Committee approved an increase in the number of ordinary shares available to be granted pursuant to the 2018 Plan by 4% of the total number of shares of the Company’s issued share capital on December 31, 2018, being 38,272 ordinary shares.

On February 14, 2020, pursuant to powers delegated to it by the board of directors of the Company, the Compensation Committee approved, by written resolution, an increase of 39,650 ordinary shares to the number of ordinary shares available to be granted pursuant to the 2018 Plan, being just under 4% of the total number of the Company’s ordinary shares outstanding on December 31, 2019, in accordance with the terms of the 2018 Plan.

On June 10, 2020, at the Company’s annual general meeting of shareholders, the shareholders approved and adopted an amended and restated 2018 Plan which, among other things, included an increase of 150,000 ordinary shares to the number of ordinary shares reserved for issuance under the 2018 Plan.

On June 23, 2021, at the Company’s annual general meeting of shareholders, the shareholders approved an amendment to the amended and restated 2018 Plan to increase the number of ordinary shares reserved for issuance under the amended and restated 2018 Plan by 1,000,000 ordinary shares to 1,295,819 ordinary shares.

On November 24, 2021, the Company’s board of directors adopted and approved the 2021 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan (the 2021 Inducement Plan) reserving 333,333 of its ordinary shares to be used exclusively for grants of awards to individuals that were not previously employees or directors of the Company (or following such individuals’ bona fide period of non-employment with the company), as a material inducement to such individuals’ entry into employment with the company within the meaning of Rule 5635(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Listing Rules. The terms and conditions of the 2021 Inducement Plan are substantially similar to the 2018 Plan.

Share Options

Unless specified otherwise in an individual option agreement, share options granted under the 2015 Plan, the 2018 Plan and the 2021 Inducement Plan generally have a ten year term and a four year vesting period for employees and a one year vesting period for directors. The vesting requirement is conditioned upon a grantee’s continued service with the Company during the vesting period. Once vested, all awards are exercisable from the date of grant until they expire. The option grants are non-transferable. Vested options generally remain exercisable for 90 days subsequent to the termination of the option holder’s service with the Company. In the event of an option holder’s disability or death while employed by or providing service to the Company, the exercisable period extends to twelve months or eighteen months, respectively.

The fair value of options granted are estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The inputs for the Black-Scholes model require significant management assumptions. The risk-free interest rate is based on a normalized estimate of the 7-year U.S. treasury yield. The Company has estimated the expected term utilizing the “simplified” method for awards that qualify as “plain vanilla”. The expected volatility was determined with reference to the historical volatility of the Company's shares. Expected dividend yield is based on the fact that the Company has never paid cash dividends and the Company’s future ability to pay cash dividends on its shares may be limited by the terms of any future debt or preferred securities and Irish law. The Company has elected to account for forfeitures as they occur.

The Company granted 200,000 share options to an employee during the nine months ended September 30, 2025. No share options were granted to employees and directors during the nine months ended September 30, 2024. There were 305,836 and 398,824 unvested employee and director share options outstanding as of September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Total expense recognized related to employee share options was $53 and $170 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025, respectively, and $68 and $279 for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, respectively. Total unamortized compensation expense related to employee share options was $238 and $364 as of September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, which is expected to be recognized over a remaining weighted average vesting period of 2.63 years and 1.49 years as of September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The range of assumptions that the Company used to determine the grant date fair value of employee options granted were as follows:

 

 

Nine Months Ended

 

 

 

September 30, 2025

 

Volatility

 

 

107.6

%

Expected term in years

 

 

6.25

 

Dividend rate

 

 

0

%

Risk-free interest rate

 

 

4.03

%

Share price

 

$

0.98

 

Fair value of option on grant date

 

$

0.82

 

 

The following table summarizes total share option activity for all Company plans:

 

 

Equity Plans

 

 

Inducement Plan

 

 

Total

 

Options outstanding December 31, 2024

 

 

836,887

 

 

 

4,833

 

 

 

841,720

 

Granted

 

 

 

 

 

200,000

 

 

 

200,000

 

Exercised

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forfeited

 

 

(27,096

)

 

 

(826

)

 

 

(27,922

)

Expired

 

 

(71,627

)

 

 

(1,507

)

 

 

(73,134

)

Options outstanding September 30, 2025

 

 

738,164

 

 

 

202,500

 

 

 

940,664

 

The following table summarizes the number of options outstanding and the weighted-average exercise price as of September 30, 2025:

 

 

Number of
Shares

 

 

Weighted
Average Exercise
Price

 

 

Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual Life
in Years

 

 

Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
(in thousands)

 

Options outstanding December 31, 2024

 

 

841,720

 

 

$

2.37

 

 

 

7.76

 

 

$

549

 

Granted

 

 

200,000

 

 

$

0.98

 

 

 

9.76

 

 

$

 

Exercised

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forfeited

 

 

(27,922

)

 

$

1.06

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expired

 

 

(73,134

)

 

$

6.01

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options outstanding September 30, 2025

 

 

940,664

 

 

$

2.16

 

 

 

7.13

 

 

$

 

Exercisable at September 30, 2025

 

 

634,828

 

 

$

2.51

 

 

 

6.94

 

 

$

 

The aggregate intrinsic value of share options is calculated as the difference between the exercise price of the share options and the fair value of the Company’s ordinary shares for those share options that had exercise prices lower than the fair value of the Company’s ordinary shares as of September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively.

 

Restricted Share Units (RSUs)

The Company did not grant any RSUs to employees and directors during the nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively. There were no RSUs outstanding as of September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The fair value of the RSUs is determined on the date of grant based on the market price of the Company’s ordinary shares on that date. The fair value of RSUs is expensed ratably over the vesting period, which is generally one year for directors and two years for employees under the 2018 Plan and four years for employees under the 2021 Inducement Plan. No amount was recognized relating to RSUs for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 or the three months ended September 30, 2024 and total benefit recognized related to the RSUs was $5 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. There was no unamortized compensation expense related to the RSUs as of September 30, 2025 and 2024.

The Company’s share-based compensation expense was classified in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss as follows:

 

 

Three Months Ended September 30,

 

 

Nine Months Ended September 30,

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Research and development expense

 

$

15

 

 

$

25

 

 

$

50

 

 

$

147

 

Selling, general and administrative expense

 

 

38

 

 

 

43

 

 

 

120

 

 

 

127

 

There was a total of $238 and $364 unamortized share-based compensation expense for options as of September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, which is expected to be recognized over a remaining average vesting period of 2.63 years and 1.49 years as of September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.