Equity Incentive Plan | 8. Equity Incentive Plan RSUs As part of the Company’s IPO, the Company adopted and approved the 2021 Incentive Award Plan (“2021 Incentive Plan”). Under the 2021 Incentive Plan, the Company may grant cash and equity incentive awards to employees and eligible service providers in order to attract, motivate and retain the talent for which the Company competes. On November 16, 2022, the Company accounted for but had not issued 48,140 RSUs convertible to unregistered shares of Class A common stock, with an aggregate value of $207,000 as payment for accrued expenses under a consulting agreement with Dr. Hare. On May 24,2023, these shares were issued to Dr. Hare. On June 22, 2022, the Company granted $170,000 of separation compensation to Mr. Green (Mr. Green resigned as CEO effective June 1, 2022), which were converted into 27,854 RSUs. The RSU were issued based on the three-day average of the fair market value prior to the time of grant, June 22, 2022, of $6.10. On June 3, 2022, the Company granted a bonus to each of Mr. Clavijo and Mr. Lehr in the form of RSUs. Mr. Clavijo and Mr. Lehr were each granted 40,000 RSUs each that vested one-third at the grant date, with the remaining two thirds vesting on the first- and second-year anniversary of the grant date. The RSU were issued based at fair market value at the time of grant, June 3, 2022, of $8.73. On April 4, 2022, the Company appointed K. Chris Min, M.D., Ph.D. as its Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Min’s employment agreement provided for annual base salary of $350,000, and he was eligible to receive a performance bonus equal to 30% of his base salary, prorated for his first year of employment. Dr. Min received a $60,000 signing bonus, with 50% of this amount paid in RSUs and 50% in stock options. Dr. Min also received two equity incentive awards: 150,000 RSUs and a stock option award exercisable for 50,000 shares. Each award was to vest 25% upon the first-year anniversary of his first day of employment with Longeveron, with 25% vesting thereafter on the second, third and fourth anniversaries of his employment. In each case, the vesting of the equity awards was to be subject to Dr. Min’s continued service through the applicable vesting dates. RSUs were being expensed on a quarterly basis at the rate of $0.1 million for the quarterly vesting amount of 9,375 RSUs, with a price per share of $12.85 (the closing price of the Company’s stock on April 4, 2022). Stock options were being expensed based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $11.34 and a total cost of $0.6 million would be expensed ratably over 48 months. On April 18, 2023, the Company finalized the Separation Agreement dated March 31, 2023, for Dr.Min. In part for his agreement to a general release, the Company agreed to pay Dr. Min: $112,000 as severance compensation and allowed for the immediate acceleration and vesting of 40,000 RSUs that were previously granted. On March 1, 2023, the Company granted the newly-hired Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Hashad a signing bonus of 50,000 RSUs, which vested in quarterly installments on each of April 1, 2023, July 1, 2023, September 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023. Mr. Hashad will also receive annual long-term equity incentive awards through 2026 consisting of 50,000 shares of time-based vesting stock options and up to 125,000 of performance share units “(PSUs”), in accordance with the terms of the Longeveron 2021 Incentive Award Plan. On April 19, 2023, the Company finalized the Separation Agreement effective June 9, 2023, for James Clavijo, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer. In part for his agreement to a general release, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Clavijo $275,000 as severance compensation, three months of payment for COBRA insurance coverage and the immediate acceleration and vesting of 6,690 RSUs that were previously granted. Mr. Clavijo entered into a concurrent consulting agreement with the Company to continue as interim Chief Financial Officer until a permanent successor joined the Company. This agreement has since expired. On June 9, 2023, the Company granted newly elected Board of Directors, Khoso Baluch and Jeffrey Pfeffer, 5,000 RSUs each. The RSUs vested 50% on the date of grant and will vest 25% on each of the next annual anniversary dates. On July 24, 2023, the Company granted Nataliya Agafonova, Chief Medical Officer, a signing bonus of 30,000 RSUs, which vest in quarterly installments on each of July 24, 2023, October 1, 2023, January 1, 2024, and April 1, 2024. On July 31, 2023, the Company granted Lisa Locklear, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, a signing bonus of 40,000 RSUs, which vest in quarterly installments on each of October 1, 2023, January 1, 2024, April 1, 2024, and July 31, 2024. As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company had 112,393 and 329,746, respectively RSUs outstanding (unvested). RSU activity for the year ended December 31, 2023 was as follows: Number of Outstanding (unvested) at December 31, 2022 329,746 RSUs granted 182,000 RSUs vested (265,584 ) RSU expired/forfeited (133,769 ) Outstanding (unvested) at December 31, 2023 112,393 Stock Options Stock options may be granted under the 2021 Incentive Plan. The exercise price of options is equal to the fair market value of the Company’s Class A common stock as of the grant date. Options historically granted have generally become exercisable over four years and expire ten years from the date of grant. The 2021 Incentive Plan provides for equity grants to be granted up to 5% of the outstanding common stock shares. The fair value of the options issued are estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and for 2023 have the following assumptions: a dividend yield of 0%; an expected life of 10 10 As of December 31, 2023, the Company has recorded issued and outstanding options to purchase a total of 437,843 shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the 2021 Incentive Plan, at a weighted average exercise price of $4.96 per share. Also, as of December 31, 2022, the Company has recorded issued and outstanding options to purchase a total of 470,191 shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the 2021 Incentive Plan, at a weighted average exercise price of $6.18 per share. For the year ended December 31, 2023: Number of Stock options vested (based on ratable vesting) 160,107 Stock options unvested 277,736 Total stock options outstanding at December 31, 2023 437,843 For the year ended December 31, 2022: Number of Stock options vested (based on ratable vesting) 151,258 Stock options unvested 318,933 Total stock options outstanding at December 31, 2022 470,191 Stock Option activity for the year ended December 31, 2023 was as follows: Number of Weighted Outstanding at December 31, 2022 470,191 $ 7.07 Options granted 146,000 $ 2.06 Options exercised - - Options expired/forfeited (178,348 ) $ 8.12 Outstanding at December 31, 2023 437,843 $ 4.96 On December 21, 2023, the Company granted an award of 12,000 Class A common stock options to each of its non-employee directors (a total of 96,000 options). The stock option award has a four-year vesting period, vesting 25% per year, and has an exercise price of $1.25. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $1.09 and a total cost of $0.1 million that would be expensed ratably over 48 months. On March 1, 2023, the Company granted an award of 50,000 Class A common stock options to Mr. Hashad. The stock option award has a one-year vesting period, vesting on the first anniversary of the grant date, and has an exercise price of $3.62. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $3.23 and a total cost of $0.2 million would be expensed ratably over 12 months. On December 21, 2022, the Company granted an award of 5,000 Class A common stock options to each of its non-employee directors (a total of 45,000 options). The stock option award has a four-year vesting period, vesting 25% per year, and has an exercise price of $3.00. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $2.67 and a total cost of $0.1 million that would be expensed ratably over 48 months. On November 16, 2022, the Company granted an award of 22,843 Class A common stock options to Mr. Paul Lehr, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. The stock option award has a four-year vesting period, vesting 25% per year, and has an exercise price of $4.30. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $2.94 and a total cost of less than $0.1 million would be expensed ratably over 48 months. On September 6, 2022, the Company granted an award of 10,000 Class A common stock options to an employee. The stock option award has a four-year vesting period, vesting 25% per year, and has an exercise price of $4.67. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $4.15 and a total cost of less than $0.1 million would be expensed ratably over 48 months. On June 3, 2022, the Company granted an award of 5,000 Class A common stock options to Mr. Lehr. The stock option award vested upon the grant date and has an exercise price of $8.73. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $7.73 and a total cost of less than $0.1 million was expensed on the grant date. On March 14, 2022, the Company granted an award of 22,000 Class A common stock options to employees. The stock option award has a four-year vesting period, vesting 25% per year, and has an exercise price of $5.94. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $5.23 and a total cost of less than $0.1 million would be expensed ratably over 48 months. On January 6, 2022, the Company granted awards of 84,825 Class A common stock options to employees. The stock option awards have four-year vesting periods, vesting 25% per year, and have an exercise price of $10.00. Based upon a Black-Scholes calculation, the price per share to be expensed was $8.78 and a total cost of $0.7 million would be expensed ratably over 48 months. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the equity-based compensation expense amounted to approximately $2.0 million and $2.3 million, respectively, which is included in the research and development and general and administrative expenses in the statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. As of December 31, 2023, the remaining unrecognized equity-based compensation (which includes RSUs, PSUs and stock options) of approximately $1.5 million will be recognized over a weighted average time period of approximately 1.5 |