Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Note 10 - Stock-based Compensation

v3.19.2
Note 10 - Stock-based Compensation
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements  
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Text Block]
10.
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
9.7
million options, rights and other entitlements as at
June 30, 2019.
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
six
months ended
June 30, 2019,
are summarized as follows:
 
Option numbers are in (000’s)                  
    Options     Six months ended
June 30, 2019
Weighted average
exercise price
    Weighted
average
remaining
contractual
life (years)
 
                   
Outstanding, beginning of period    
4,489
    $
3.11
     
 
 
Granted    
1,789
     
1.93
     
 
 
Exercised    
(23
)    
1.11
     
 
 
Forfeited    
(130
)    
2.59
     
 
 
Expired    
(47
)    
4.23
     
 
 
Outstanding, end of the period    
6,078
     
2.83
     
8.0
 
Exercisable, end of the period    
3,257
     
3.36
     
7.0
 
Vested and expected to vest, end of period    
5,654
     
2.87
     
7.9
 
 
As of
June 30, 2019,
there was
$2.10
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
1.68
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:
             
    Six months ended
June 30, 2019
    Six months ended
June 30, 2018
 
             
Risk-free interest rate    
2.30
%    
2.39
%
Expected dividend yield    
-  
     
-  
 
Expected volatility    
83.9
%    
93.9
%
Expected life of options (in years)    
5
     
5
 
Grant date fair value   $
1.30
    $
2.14
 
 
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.
 
Stock options granted by the Company during the
six
months ended
June 30, 2019,
vest
50%
after
one
year and
16.67%
on each of the next
three
anniversaries and
335,000
options which vest
100%
after
one
year.
 
Stock options granted by the Company during the
six
months ended
June 30, 2018
vest
50%
after
one
year and
16.67%
on each of the next
three
anniversaries, except for
116,000
options which vest
50%
after
one
year and
25%
on each of the next
two
anniversaries and
850,000
options which vested immediately on the grant date.
 
(b)
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
six
months ended
June 30, 2019
and
2018
the units outstanding.
 
    Six months ended,
June 30, 2019
    Six months ended,
June 30, 2018
 
    Number
(in thousands)
   
Weighted average
grant date fair value
    Number
(in thousands)
   
Weighted average
grant date fair value
 
Outstanding, beginning of period    
-  
    $
-  
     
-  
    $
-  
 
Granted    
80,000
     
2.0
     
-  
     
-  
 
Redeemed    
-  
     
-  
     
-  
     
-  
 
Outstanding, end of period    
80,000
    $
2.0
     
-  
    $
-  
 
 
On
June 3, 2019,
the Company granted
80,000
restricted share units (RSUs),
40,000
of which have a vesting term of
three
months and the balance having a vesting term of
one
year.
 
The grant date fair value of the
June 3, 2019
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.
 
(c)
Share-based payment expense
 
The Company recorded share-based payment expense related to stock options and RSUs as follows:
 
    Three months ended
June 30,
    Six months ended
June 30,
 
    2019     2018     2019     2018  
Research and development   $
157
    $
152
    $
275
    $
518
 
General and administrative    
411
     
363
     
955
     
2,225
 
    $
568
    $
515
    $
1,230
    $
2,743