AGENUS INC Stock Compensation Disclosure
(11) Share-based Compensation Plans
On April 10, 2019, our Board of Directors adopted, and on June 19, 2019, our stockholders approved, our 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 EIP”). On June 17, 2025, June 11, 2024, June 8, 2022 and June 15, 2021, our stockholders approved amendments to the 2019 EIP, increasing the number of shares available for issuance. The 2019 EIP provides for the grant of incentive stock options intended to qualify under Section 422 of the Code, nonstatutory stock options, restricted stock, unrestricted stock and other equity-based awards, such as stock appreciation rights, phantom stock awards, and restricted stock units, which we refer to collectively as Awards, for up to 13.5 million shares of our common stock (subject to adjustment in the event of stock splits and other similar events).
The Board of Directors appointed the Compensation Committee to administer the 2019 EIP. No awards will be granted under the 2019 EIP after June 19, 2029.
In the second quarter of 2019, our Board of Directors adopted, and on June 16, 2020, our stockholders approved the 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “2019 ESPP”) to provide eligible employees the opportunity to acquire our common stock in a program designed to comply with Section 423 of the Code. On June 17, 2025, June 12, 2023 and June 15, 2021, our stockholders approved amendments to the 2019 ESPP, increasing the number of shares available for issuance. There are 0.15 million shares reserved for issuance under the 2019 ESPP.
Our Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan, as amended, permits each outside director to defer all, or a portion of, their cash compensation until their service as a director ends or until a specified date into a cash account or a stock account. On June 17, 2025, June 11, 2024 and June 8, 2022, our stockholders approved amendments to this plan, increasing the number of shares available for issuance. There are 88,750 shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under this plan. As of December 31, 2025, 16,363 shares had been issued. Amounts deferred to a cash account will earn interest at the rate paid on one-year Treasury bills with interest added to the account annually. Amounts deferred to a stock account will be converted on a quarterly basis into a number of units representing shares of our common stock equal to the amount of compensation which the participant has elected to defer to the stock account divided by the applicable price for our common stock. The applicable price for our common stock has been defined as the average of the closing price of our common stock for all trading days during the calendar quarter preceding the conversion date as reported by The Nasdaq Capital Market. Pursuant to this plan, a total of 73,459 units, each representing a share of our common stock at a weighted average common stock price of $41.05, had been credited to participants’ stock accounts as of December 31, 2025. The compensation charges for this plan were immaterial for all periods presented.
On November 4, 2015, our Board of Directors adopted and approved our 2015 Inducement Equity Plan (the “2015 IEP”) in compliance with and in reliance on Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), which exempts inducement grants from the general requirement of the Nasdaq Listing Rules that equity-based compensation plans and arrangements be approved by stockholders. In October 2023, our Board of Directors approved an increase to the number of shares available for issuance. There are 175,000 shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under the 2015 IEP.
We primarily use the Black-Scholes option pricing model to value options granted to employees and non-employees, as well as options granted to members of our Board of Directors. All stock option grants have 10-year terms and generally vest ratably over a 3 or 4-year period.
The fair value of each option granted during the periods was estimated on the date of grant using the following weighted average assumptions:
|
|
2025 |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|||
Expected volatility |
|
|
89 |
% |
|
|
86 |
% |
|
|
72 |
% |
Expected term in years |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
6 |
|
|
|
6 |
|
Risk-free interest rate |
|
|
3.7 |
% |
|
|
3.8 |
% |
|
|
3.3 |
% |
Dividend yield |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
0 |
% |
Expected volatility is based exclusively on historical volatility data of our common stock. The expected term of stock options granted is based on historical data and other factors and represents the period of time that stock options are expected to be outstanding prior to exercise. The risk-free interest rate is based on U.S. Treasury strips with maturities that match the expected term on the date of grant.
A summary of option activity for 2025 is presented below:
|
|
Options |
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
Weighted |
|
|
Aggregate |
|
||||
Outstanding at December 31, 2024 |
|
|
5,242,916 |
|
|
$ |
28.76 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Granted |
|
|
628,818 |
|
|
|
3.25 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Exercised |
|
|
(17,000 |
) |
|
|
2.77 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Forfeited |
|
|
(271,059 |
) |
|
|
11.26 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Expired |
|
|
(544,188 |
) |
|
|
40.83 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
Outstanding at December 31, 2025 |
|
|
5,039,487 |
|
|
|
25.20 |
|
|
|
7.00 |
|
|
$ |
753,143 |
|
Vested or expected to vest at December 31, 2025 |
|
|
5,039,487 |
|
|
|
25.20 |
|
|
|
7.00 |
|
|
$ |
753,143 |
|
Exercisable at December 31, 2025 |
|
|
4,531,815 |
|
|
$ |
26.39 |
|
|
|
6.89 |
|
|
$ |
730,630 |
|
The weighted average grant-date fair values of options granted during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, was $3.03, $10.75, and $28.20, respectively.
The aggregate intrinsic value in the table above represents the difference between our closing stock price on the last trading day of fiscal 2025 and the exercise price, multiplied by the number of in-the-money options that would have been received by the option holders had all option holders exercised their options on December 31, 2025 (the intrinsic value is considered to be zero if the exercise price is greater than the closing stock price). This amount changes based on the fair market value of our stock. The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, determined on the dates of exercise, was $27,000, $64,000, and $13,000, respectively.
During 2025, 2024, and 2023, all options were granted with exercise prices equal to the market value of the underlying shares of common stock on the grant date other than certain awards dated June 18, 2025, January 17, 2024 and January 16, 2024. In May 2025, our Board of Directors approved certain awards subject to forfeiture in the event stockholder approval was not obtained for an amendment to our 2019 EIP. This approval was obtained in June 2025. Accordingly, these awards have a grant date of June 2025, with an exercise price as of the date the Board of Director's approved the awards in May 2025. In January 2024, our Board of Directors approved certain awards subject to forfeiture in the event stockholder approval was not obtained for an amendment to our 2019 EIP. This approval was obtained in June 2024. Accordingly, these awards have a grant date of June 2024, with an exercise price as of the date the Board of Director's approved the awards in January 2024.
As of December 31, 2025, there was $2.7 million of unrecognized share-based compensation expense related to these stock options and stock options granted under a subsidiary plan which, if all milestones are achieved, will be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.3 years.
Certain employees and consultants have been granted non-vested stock. The fair value of non-vested market-based awards is calculated based on a Monte Carlo simulation as of the date of issuance. The fair value of other non-vested stock is calculated based on the closing sale price of our common stock on the date of issuance.
A summary of non-vested stock activity for 2025 is presented below:
|
|
Nonvested |
|
|
Weighted |
|
||
Outstanding at December 31, 2024 |
|
|
42,222 |
|
|
$ |
17.30 |
|
Granted |
|
|
1,922,295 |
|
|
|
4.23 |
|
Vested |
|
|
(1,859,807 |
) |
|
|
4.29 |
|
Forfeited |
|
|
(85,635 |
) |
|
|
6.88 |
|
Outstanding at December 31, 2025 |
|
|
19,075 |
|
|
$ |
14.91 |
|
As of December 31, 2025, there was $0.1 million of unrecognized share-based compensation expense related to these non-vested shares and non-vested shares granted under a subsidiary plan which will be recognized over a weighted average period of 0.9 years. The total intrinsic value of shares vested during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, was $7.8 million, $0.2 million, and $11.5 million, respectively.
Cash received from option exercises and purchases under our 2019 ESPP for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, was $0.2 million, $0.6 million, and $0.8 million, respectively.
We issue new shares upon option exercises, purchases under our 2019 ESPP, vesting of non-vested stock and under the Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan. During the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, 17,000 shares, 16,668 shares, and 2,337 shares, respectively, were issued as a result of stock option exercises. During the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, 48,171 shares, 30,637 shares, and 22,469 shares, were issued under the 2019 ESPP, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, 506,878 shares, 17,002 shares, and 4,804 shares, respectively, were issued as a result of the vesting of non-vested stock. Additionally, during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2023, 1,352,929 shares and 232,190 shares, respectively, were issued as payment for certain employee bonuses, with 466,175 and 83,438, respectively, of those shares being withheld to cover taxes, resulting in a net share issuance of 886,754 and 148,752.
The impact on our results of operations from share-based compensation for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, was as follows (in thousands).
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|
Year Ended |
|
|||||||||
|
|
2025 |
|
|
2024 |
|
|
2023 |
|
|||
Research and development |
|
$ |
2,951 |
|
|
$ |
11,998 |
|
|
$ |
6,237 |
|
General and administrative |
|
|
8,945 |
|
|
|
15,329 |
|
|
|
16,114 |
|
Total share-based compensation expense |
|
$ |
11,896 |
|
|
$ |
27,327 |
|
|
$ |
22,351 |
|
Historical Timeline
| Fiscal Year | Filed | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mar 16, 2026 | Showing above |
| 2024 | Mar 17, 2025 | |
| 2023 | Mar 14, 2024 | |
| 2022 | Mar 16, 2023 | |
| 2021 | Mar 1, 2022 | |
| 2020 | Mar 16, 2021 | |
| 2019 | Mar 16, 2020 | |
| 2018 | Mar 18, 2019 | |
| 2017 | Mar 16, 2018 | |
| 2016 | Mar 16, 2017 | |
| 2015 | Mar 15, 2016 | |
About Stock Compensation Disclosures
Stock-based compensation disclosures detail the equity awards granted to employees and executives — including stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and performance shares — along with the valuation methods and assumptions used to expense them. This section reveals the true cost of talent retention and the alignment between management incentives and shareholder interests.
Key signals: total unrecognized compensation expense and its expected recognition period signal future earnings headwinds from already-granted awards. For stock options, examine Black-Scholes assumptions — expected volatility, risk-free rate, and expected term — as understating any of these reduces reported compensation expense. Compare stock compensation expense as a percentage of revenue against peers to assess dilution cost. Watch vesting schedules for acceleration clauses tied to change-of-control events. Performance-based awards with undemanding targets may indicate weak governance. Add back stock compensation to operating cash flow to calculate a more conservative free cash flow figure.