Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Note 11 - Stock-based Compensation

v3.21.1
Note 11 - Stock-based Compensation
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Notes to Financial Statements  
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]
11.
Stock-based compensation:
 
(a)
Stock options
 
Under the Company's stock option plan, options, rights and other entitlements
may
be granted to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company to purchase up to a maximum of
17.5%
of the total number of outstanding common shares, estimated at
15.6
million options, rights and other entitlements as at
March 31, 2021.
Options are granted at the fair market value of the common shares on the closing trading price of the Company's stock on the day prior to the grant if the grant is made during the trading day or the closing trading price on the day of grant if the grant is issued after markets have closed. Options vest at various rates (immediate to
four
years) and have a term of
10
years.
 
Stock option transactions for the
three
months ended
March 
31,
2021
and
March 31, 2020,
are summarized as follows:
 
Option numbers are in (000's)                  
    Three months ended
March 31, 2021
 
    Options     Weighted average
exercise price
    Weighted average remaining
contractual
life (years)
 
                   
Outstanding, beginning of period    
11,942
    $
4.97
     
 
 
Granted    
2,962
     
4.47
     
 
 
Exercised    
(39
)    
1.97
     
 
 
Forfeited    
(703
)    
5.67
     
 
 
Outstanding, end of the period    
14,162
     
4.85
     
7.1
 
Exercisable, end of the period    
7,887
     
4.59
     
5.95
 
Vested and expected to vest, end of period    
13,220
     
4.83
     
6.99
 
 
 
Option numbers are in (000's)                  
    Three months ended
March 31, 2020
 
    Options     Weighted average
exercise price
   
Weighted average remaining
contractual
life (years
)
 
                   
Outstanding, beginning of period    
5,941
    $
2.84
     
 
 
Granted    
6,109
     
6.84
     
 
 
Exercised    
(162
)    
2.71
     
 
 
Forfeited    
(30
)    
2.17
     
 
 
Outstanding, end of the period    
11,858
     
4.84
     
8.6
 
Exercisable, end of the period    
3,990
     
2.96
     
6.8
 
Vested and expected to vest, end of period    
10,678
     
4.73
     
8.5
 
 
As of
March 31, 2021,
there was
$11.03
million of total unrecognized compensation cost related to non-vested stock options, which is expected to be recognized over an estimated weighted-average period of
1.82
years.
 
The following table presents the weighted average assumptions that were used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of stock options granted during the period, and the resultant weighted average fair values:
 
    Three months ended
March 31, 2021
    Three months ended
March 31, 2020
 
             
Risk-free interest rate    
0.4
%    
1.3
%
Expected dividend yield    
-
     
-
 
Expected volatility    
80.7
%    
85.8
%
Expected life of options (years)    
5
     
5
 
Grant date fair value   $
2.85
    $
4.60
 
 
The Company uses historical data to estimate the expected dividend yield and expected volatility of its common shares in determining the fair value of stock options. The expected life of the options represents the estimated length of time the options are expected to remain outstanding.
 
The following table presents the vesting terms of options granted in the period:
 
Option numbers are in (000's)   Three months ended
March 31, 2021
    Three months ended
March 31, 2020
 
    Number of options     Number of options  
Cliff vesting after one year anniversary    
-
     
300
 
3 year vesting (50%-25%-25%)    
430
     
862
 
4 year vesting (50%-16 2/3%-16 2/3%-16 2/3%)    
2,532
     
4,947
 
Total stock options granted in the period    
2,962
     
6,109
 
 
·
During the quarter ended,
2021,
the option agreements of
one
officer were modified as part of a separation and release agreement. Vested options of
1,679,169,
with exercise prices ranging from
$1.03
to
$7.44,
were allowed to continue to be exercisable for an additional
12
month period, and also
504,833
options that would have expired unvested, were allowed to continue to vest for a
12
month period. As there was
no
service requirement, the company recorded
$945
thousand and
$663
thousand additional compensation in the current period related to these modifications for the vested and unvested options, respectively.
 
Restricted share units
 
The Company has a stock incentive plan (SIP) pursuant to which the Board
may
grant stock-based awards comprised of restricted stock units or dividend equivalents to employees, officers, consultants, independent contractors, advisors and non-employee directors of the Company. Each restricted unit is automatically redeemed for
one
common share of the Company upon vesting. The following table presents the activity under the SIP plan for the
three
months ended
March 31, 2021
and
2020
and the units outstanding.
 
    Three months ended,
March 31, 2021
    Three months ended,
March 31, 2020
 
    Number
(in thousands)
    Weighted average grant date fair value     Number
(in thousands)
    Weighted average grant date fair value  
Outstanding, beginning of period    
-
    $
-
     
40
    $
2.00
 
Granted    
-
     
-
     
645
     
7.32
 
Outstanding, end of period    
-
    $
-
     
685
    $
7.01
 
 
On
March 10, 2020,
the Company granted
645,000
restricted share units (RSUs) having a vesting term of
three
months. On
May 5, 2020,
the vesting term on the RSUs was extended from
three
months to
four
months. On
July 10, 2020,
all of these restricted share units were vested and were redeemed for
645,000
common shares.
 
The grant date fair value of the RSUs was determined as the closing value of the common shares of the Company on the Nasdaq Stock Market on the date prior to the date of grant.
 
(b)
Share-based payment expense
 
The Company recorded share-based payment expense related to stock options as follows:
 
    Three months ended
March 31, 2021
    Three months ended
March 31, 2020
 
             
Research and development   $
1,378
    $
800
 
General and administrative    
5,265
     
3,601
 
Total   $
6,643
    $
4,401