(iii) incentive shares, and (iv) performance awards to employees, officers, and Directors of the Company and to other individuals as determined by the Board of Directors. On December 10, 2019 and October 27, 2020, the Company’s Board resolved to increase the number of shares available for grant under the 2016 Plan by 3,000,000 and 1,500,000, respectively.
In December 2021, the Company adopted the MaxCyte, Inc. 2021 Inducement Plan (the “Inducement Plan”) to provide for the awarding of (i) non-qualified stock options; (ii) stock appreciation rights; (iii) restricted stock awards; (iv) restricted stock unit awards; (v) performance awards; and (vi) other awards only to persons eligible to receive grants of awards who satisfy the standards for inducement grants under Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 5635(c)(4) or 5635(c)(3), if applicable, and the related guidance under Nasdaq IM 5635-1. The Company’s board of directors reserved 2,500,000 shares for issuance under the Inducement Plan, and as of December 31, 2021 no awards had been granted. As of September 30, 2022, options to purchase 855,900 shares had been granted under the Inducement Plan. The Inducement Plan was retired on June 29, 2022.
In May 2022, the Company’s board of directors adopted, and in June 2022 the Company’s stockholders approved, the MaxCyte, Inc. 2022 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2022 Plan”) to provide for the awarding of (i) incentive stock options, (ii) non-qualified stock options, (iii) stock appreciation rights, (iv) restricted stock awards; (v) restricted stock unit awards, (vi) performance awards, and (vii) other awards. Following the approval of the 2022 Plan, no additional awards will be granted under the 2016 Plan or the Inducement Plan, but all outstanding awards will continue to remain subject to the terms of the applicable plan.
Upon the effectiveness of the 2022 Plan, a total of 3,476,211 shares were initially reserved for issuance pursuant to future awards under the 2022 Plan, consisting of 1,928,000 new shares and 1,548,211 shares previously available under the 2016 Plan. If and to the extent that outstanding options under the 2016 Plan or the Inducement Plan are forfeited, the shares underlying such forfeited options will become available for issuance under the 2022 Plan.
In July 2022, the Company issued 544,300 restricted stock unit awards (“RSUs”) under the 2022 Plan. Each RSU represents the contingent right to receive one share of common stock. Fifty percent of the shares underlying the RSUs will vest on the first anniversary of the RSU grant date, and the remaining 50% will vest on the second anniversary of the RSU grant date. The grant date fair value was $5.39 per RSU.
The weighted-average fair value of the options granted during the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 was estimated to be $4.40 and $8.52, respectively per option share. The weighted-average fair value of the options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021 was estimated to be $3.49 and $7.72, respectively, per option share.
The value of an equity award is recognized as expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period. At September 30, 2022, total unrecognized compensation expense was $33,408,400, which will be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.77 years.
The Company recorded stock-based compensation expense in the following expense categories of its condensed consolidated statements of operations:
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Three months ended September 30, | | Nine months ended September 30, | |
| | 2022 | | 2021 | | 2022 | | 2021 | |
General and administrative | | $ | 1,571,600 | | $ | 1,313,300 | | $ | 4,309,200 | | $ | 3,224,600 | |
Research and development | | | 988,600 | | | 527,300 | | | 2,559,100 | | | 1,219,400 | |
Sales and marketing | | | 638,400 | | | 444,800 | | | 1,765,500 | | | 1,066,400 | |
Total | | $ | 3,198,600 | | $ | 2,285,400 | | $ | 8,633,800 | | $ | 5,510,400 | |