7. Share-based Compensation Plans

In 2019, Cyclerion adopted share-based compensation plans. Specifically, Cyclerion adopted the 2019 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“2019 ESPP”) and the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (“2019 Equity Plan”). Under the 2019 ESPP, eligible employees may use payroll deductions to purchase shares of stock in offerings under the plan, and thereby acquire an interest in the future of the Company. The 2019 Equity Plan provides for stock options, restricted stock awards ("RSAs") and restricted stock units (“RSUs”).

Cyclerion also mirrored two of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Ironwood") existing plans, the Amended and Restated 2005 Stock Incentive Plan (“2005 Equity Plan”) and the Amended and Restated 2010 Employee, Director and Consultant Equity Incentive Plan (“2010 Equity Plan"). These mirror plans were adopted to facilitate the exchange of Ironwood equity awards for Cyclerion equity awards upon the Separation as part of the equity conversion. As a result of the Separation and in accordance with the EMA, employees of both companies retained their existing Ironwood vested options and received a pro-rata share of Cyclerion options, regardless of which company employed them post-Separation. For employees that were ultimately employed by Cyclerion, unvested Ironwood options and RSUs were converted to unvested Cyclerion options and RSUs.

The following table provides share-based compensation reflected in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):

 

 

 

Year Ended
December 31,

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Research and development

 

$

29

 

 

$

91

 

General and administrative

 

 

412

 

 

 

534

 

 

$

441

 

 

$

625

 

 

Stock Options

 

Stock options granted under the Company’s equity plans generally have a ten-year term and vest over a period of four years, provided the individual continues to serve at the Company through the vesting dates. Options granted under all equity plans are exercisable at a price per share not less than the fair market value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. The estimated fair value of options, including the effect of estimated forfeitures, is recognized over the requisite service period, which is typically the vesting period of each option.

A summary of stock option activity for the year ended December 31, 2025 is as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted

 

 

Average

 

 

Average

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average

 

 

Remaining

 

 

Intrinsic

 

 

 

Number

 

 

Exercise

 

 

Contractual

 

 

Value (in

 

 

 

of Options

 

 

Price

 

 

Term (Years)

 

 

thousands)

 

Outstanding as of December 31, 2024

 

 

335,448

 

 

$

158.98

 

 

 

4.7

 

 

$

 

Granted

 

 

25,000

 

 

$

2.36

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercised

 

 

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cancelled or forfeited

 

 

(62,686

)

 

$

140.44

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding as of December 31, 2025

 

 

297,762

 

 

$

149.73

 

 

 

4.9

 

 

$

 

Exercisable at December 31, 2025

 

 

232,385

 

 

$

187.20

 

 

 

4.0

 

 

$

 

During the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company granted stock options to purchase an aggregate of 25,000 shares and 55,849 shares, respectively, at weighted average grant date fair values per option share of $2.14 and $2.80 respectively.

There were no options exercised during the year ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

As of December 31, 2025, the unrecognized share-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, related to all unvested time-based stock options held by the Company’s employee and non-employees is $0.1 million and the weighted average period over which that expense is expected to be recognized is 3.03 years.

The weighted-average Black-Scholes assumptions used in estimating the fair value of the stock options granted by Cyclerion during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 were as follows:

 

 

 

Year ended December 31,

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Weighted average risk-free interest rate

 

 

3.79

%

 

 

3.64

%

Expected dividend yield

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expected option term (in years)

 

 

5.4

 

 

 

6.0

 

Expected stock price volatility

 

 

141.07

%

 

 

111.97

%

For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, expected volatility was estimated using an average of the historical volatility of the common stock of a group of similar companies that were publicly traded. The Company will continue to apply this process until a sufficient amount of historical information regarding the volatility of its own stock price becomes available.

The Company has granted certain employees performance-based options to purchase shares of common stock. These options are subject to performance-based milestone vesting. During the year ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, there were no shares that vested as a result of performance milestone achievements. No share-based compensation expense related to these performance-based options was recognized during the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024, respectively.

Restricted Stock Awards

No RSA was granted during the year ended December 31, 2025. The Company granted 65,000 RSAs during the year ended December 31, 2024. The fair value of all RSAs is based on the market value of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant. Compensation expense, including the effect of estimated forfeitures, is recognized over the applicable service period.

A summary of RSA activity for the years ended December 31, 2025 is as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted Average

 

 

 

Number

 

 

Grant Date

 

 

 

of Shares

 

 

Fair Value

 

Unvested as of December 31, 2024

 

 

164,174

 

 

$

2.56

 

Granted

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vested

 

 

(60,096

)

 

 

2.52

 

Forfeited

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unvested as of December 31, 2025

 

 

104,078

 

 

$

2.57

 

 

As of December 31, 2025, the unrecognized share-based compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, related to all unvested RSAs held by the Company’s directors is $0.2 million and the weighted average period over which that expense is expected to be recognized is 1.69 years.

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Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 30, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 4, 2025
2023Mar 5, 2024
2022Mar 22, 2023
2021Feb 24, 2022
2020Feb 25, 2021
2019Mar 12, 2020

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.