Equity | Note 10. Equity Equity Distribution Agreement On December 14, 2020, we entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement (the Equity Distribution Agreement) with Piper Sandler. The Equity Distribution Agreement provides that, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, we may issue and sell through Piper Sandler, acting as sales agent, shares of our common stock, $0.001 par value per share having an aggregate offering price of up to $50.0 million. This offering supersedes and replaces the program we commenced in December 2017. Purchase Agreement On December 20, 2018, we entered into the Purchase Agreement, and a registration rights agreement, with Lincoln Park. Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, Lincoln Park has committed to purchase up to $35.0 million worth of our common stock over a 36-month period commencing on February 13, 2019, the date the registration statement covering the resale of the shares was declared effective by the SEC. Under the Purchase Agreement, on any business day selected by us, we may direct Lincoln Park to purchase shares of our common stock provided that Lincoln Park’s maximum commitment on any single day does not exceed $2.0 million. The purchase price per share will be based off of prevailing market prices of our common stock immediately preceding the time of sale; provided, however, that we cannot direct any such purchase if the prevailing market price is less than $1.00. Rights Plan On November 8, 2020, our Board of Directors (Board) approved and adopted a Rights Agreement, dated as of November 8, 2020, by and between the Company and Broadridge Corporate Issuer Solutions, Inc., as rights agent, pursuant to which the Board declared a dividend of one preferred share purchase right (each, a Right) for each outstanding share of the Company’s common stock held by stockholders as of the close of business on November 23, 2020. When exercisable, each right initially would represent the right to purchase from the Company one one-thousandth of a share of a newly-designated series of preferred stock, Series A Junior Participating Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company, at an exercise price of $400.00 per one one-thousandth of a Series A Junior Participating Preferred Share, subject to adjustment. Subject to various exceptions, the Rights become exercisable in the event any person (excluding certain exempted or grandfathered persons) becomes the beneficial owner of ten percent (10%) or more of the Company’s common stock without the approval of the Board. C onverted Equity Awards Incentive Plan In connection with the spin-off from Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (Emergent) in August 2016, we adopted the Converted Equity Awards Incentive Plan (Converted Plan) and outstanding equity awards of Emergent held by Aptevo employees were converted into or replaced with equity awards of Aptevo (Conversion Awards) under the Converted Plan and were adjusted to maintain the economic value before and after the distribution date using the relative fair market value of the Emergent and Aptevo common stock based on the closing prices as of August 1, 2016. A total of 0.1 million shares of Aptevo common stock have been authorized for issuance under the Converted Plan. Options issued as Conversion Awards were priced according to the Converted Plan. RSUs issued as part of the Converted Plan provide for the issuance of a share of Aptevo’s stock at no cost to the holder. 2016 Stock Incentive Plan On August 1, 2016, the Company adopted the 2016 Stock Incentive Plan (2016 SIP). A total of 0.2 million shares of Aptevo common stock have been authorized for issuance under the 2016 SIP in the form of equity stock options. Stock options under the 2016 SIP generally vest pro rata over a three-year period and terminate ten years from the grant date, though the specific terms of each grant are determined individually. The Company’s executive officers and certain other employees may be awarded options with different vesting criteria, and options granted to non-employee directors also vest over a three-year period. Option exercise prices for new options granted by the Company equal the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on the date of grant. The equity compensation awards granted by the Company generally vest only if the employee is employed by the Company (or in the case of directors, the director continues to serve on the Board) on the vesting date. On May 31, 2017, at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (Annual Meeting), the Company’s stockholders approved the amendment and restatement of the Company’s 2016 SIP (Restated 2016 Plan) to, among other things, increase the number of authorized shares issuable by 0.1 million shares of Aptevo common stock. The Restated 2016 Plan was previously approved, subject to stockholder approval, by the Board of Directors of the Company. 2018 Stock Incentive Plan On June 1, 2018, at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Shareholders, the Company’s stockholders approved a new 2018 Stock Incentive Plan (2018 SIP), which replaced the Restated 2016 Plan on a go-forward basis. All stock options, RSUs or other equity awards granted subsequent to June 1, 2018 have been and will be issued out of the 2018 SIP, which has 0.3 million shares of Aptevo common stock authorized for issuance. The 2018 Plan became effective immediately upon stockholder approval at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Shareholders. Any shares subject to outstanding stock awards granted under the 2016 SIP that (a) expire or terminate for any reason prior to exercise or settlement; (b) are forfeited because of the failure to meet a contingency or condition required to vest such shares or otherwise return to the Company; or (c) otherwise would have returned to the 2016 SIP for future grant pursuant to the terms of the 2016 Plan (such shares, the “Returning Shares”) will immediately be added to the share reserve under the 2018 SIP as and when such shares become Returning Shares, up to a maximum of 0.3 million shares. As of March 31, 2021, there are 0.1 million shares available to be granted under the 2018 SIP. Stock options under the 2018 SIP generally vest pro rata over a three-year period and terminate ten years from the grant date, though the specific terms of each grant are determined individually. The Company’s executive officers and certain other employees may be awarded options with different vesting criteria, and options granted to non-employee directors also vest over a three-year period. Option exercise prices for new options granted by the Company equal the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on the date of grant. Stock-Based Compensation Expense Stock-based compensation expense includes amortization of stock options and RSUs granted to employees and non-employees and has been reported in our condensed consolidated statements of operations as follows: For the Three Months Ended March 31, (in thousands) 2021 2020 Research and development $ 239 $ 170 General and administrative 335 243 Total stock-based compensation expense $ 574 $ 413 The Company accounts for stock-based compensation by measuring the cost of employee services received in exchange for all equity awards granted based on the fair value of the award as of the grant date. The Company recognizes the compensation expense over the vesting period. Stock Options Aptevo utilizes the Black-Scholes valuation model for estimating the fair value of all stock options granted. Set forth below are the assumptions used in valuing the stock options granted: For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 2020 Expected dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% Expected volatility 99.80% 83.64% Risk-free interest rate 0.48% 1.42% Expected average life of options 5 years 5 years Management has applied an estimated forfeiture rate of 26% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 8% for the three months ended March 31, 2020. Expected volatility increased, as our stock price fluctuated from a low of $27.86 to a high of $40.59 for the three months ended March 31, 2021, compared to a low of $3.29 and high of $9.73 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. The following is a summary of option activity for the three months ended March 31, 2021: Number of Shares Weighted- Average Exercise Price Weighted- Average Remaining Term Aggregate Intrinsic Value Balance at December 31, 2020 212,581 $ 8.32 8.78 $ 5,906,007 Granted 159,468 33.52 — — Exercised (15,146 ) 8.08 — 242,730 Forfeited (292 ) 7.63 — — Outstanding at March 31, 2021 356,611 $ 19.60 9.37 $ 4,340,583 Exercisable at March 31, 2021 77,045 $ 8.35 8.82 $ 1,711,889 As of March 31, 2021, we had $4.6 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to options expected to vest over a weighted average period of 2.6 years. The weighted average remaining contractual life of outstanding and exercisable options is 8.8 years. The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the total pretax intrinsic value (the difference between the closing stock price of Aptevo’s common stock on the last trading day of March 2021 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in the money options) that would have been received by the option holders had all the option holders exercised their options on the last trading day of the quarter. Restricted Stock Units The following is a summary of RSU activity for the three months ended March 31, 2021: Number of Units Weighted Average Fair Value per Unit Aggregate Fair Value Balance at December 31, 2020 9,000 $ 41.00 $ 98,176 Granted 52,771 33.50 1,767,829 Outstanding at March 31, 2021 61,771 $ 34.59 $ 95,980 Expected to Vest 61,771 $ 34.59 $ 2,029,442 As of March 31, 2021, there was $2.0 million unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested RSUs. The fair value of each RSU has been determined to be the closing trading price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant as quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market. Warrants In March 2019, as part of a public offering, we issued warrants to purchase up to 1,725,000 shares of our common stock, 1,571,429 of which have an exercise price of $18.20 per share and have a five-year life, and 153,571 of pre-funded warrants with an exercise price of $0.14 per share. The pre-funded warrants have a ten-year life and would have expired on March 11, 2029; however, all of the pre-funded warrants were exercised in March 2019. We determined the warrants do not meet liability classification pursuant to ASC 480 – Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity. These are therefore included within equity on our condensed consolidated balance sheet. As of March 31, 2021, there were warrants to purchase 376,866 shares of common stock outstanding. |