11. Share-Based Compensation

The Company's share-based compensation plans are described below:

2024 Equity Incentive Plan

In October 2024, the Company established an equity incentive plan (the “2024 Plan”). The 2024 Equity Incentive Plan became effective upon the closing of the Merger, and will continue in effect for a period of ten years from its effectiveness, unless terminated earlier by the administrator. The 2024 Plan provides for the grant of stock options, restricted stock units (“RSUs”) and restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) to employees, non-employee directors, advisors, and consultants. Under the 2024 Plan a total of 2,480,000 shares of Class A Common Stock were initially reserved for issuance. In addition, shares reserved for issuance under the 2024 Plan will include shares of Class A Common Stock equity awards granted under the Reneo 2021 Plan and any shares of Class A Common Stock equity awards that were assumed in the Merger. As of the effective date of the 2024 Plan, awards granted under the 2011, 2021 and 2023 Plans that are forfeited or otherwise become available will be included and available for issuance under the 2024 Plan. Under the 2024 Plan, the Company may grant stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock awards, restricted stock units, and other awards to individuals who are employees, officers, directors or consultants of the Company and its affiliates. The Company issues new shares in settlement of equity awards under the 2024 Plan. See Note 15 for discussion of the increase to the available for issuance as of January 1, 2026.

2023 RSU Equity Incentive Plan

In September 2023, Legacy OnKure established an equity incentive plan (the “2023 Plan”). The 2023 Plan provided for the grant of RSUs to employees, directors, and consultants. Upon the close of the Merger, all shares available for issuance under the 2023 Plan were cancelled.

2021 Equity Incentive Plan

In February 2021, Legacy OnKure established an equity incentive plan (the “2021 Plan”). The 2021 Plan provided for the grant of stock options and RSA to employees, non-employee directors, advisors, and consultants. Upon the close of the Merger, all shares available for issuance under the 2021 Plan were cancelled. 

2011 Equity Incentive Plan

In October 2011, Legacy OnKure established an equity incentive plan (the “2011 Plan”). The 2011 Plan provided for the grant of stock options and RSAs to employees, non-employee directors, advisors, and consultants. Shares are no longer available for issuance under the 2011 Plan, which was subsequently terminated in March 2023. Upon the close of the Merger, all shares available for issuance under the 2011 Plan were cancelled.

In addition, as part of the Merger with Reneo discussed in Note 1, the Company assumed outstanding awards under the following Reneo Equity Incentive Plans and certain awards not issued pursuant to a Reneo Equity Plan:

Reneo 2021 and 2014 Equity Incentive Plans

In March 2021, the Reneo Board of Directors adopted the Reneo 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (“Reneo 2021 Plan”), which is the successor to Reneo’s 2014 Equity Incentive Plan and UK Sub-Plan (“2014 Plan”).

ESPP

In October 2024, the Company established the ESPP. Under the ESPP, eligible employees can purchase common stock through scheduled payroll deductions. The purchase price is equal to the closing price of our common stock on the first or last day of the offering period (whichever is less), minus a 15% discount. The Company uses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, in combination with the discounted employee price, in determining the value of ESPP expense to be recognized during each offering period. Contributions under the ESPP are limited to 15% of an employee’s eligible compensation, Internal Revenue Service limitations, and a maximum of 4,000 shares during each offering period.

As of December 31, 2025, an aggregate of 163,041 shares of Class A Common Stock are currently reserved and available for issuance under the ESPP. See Note 15 for discussion of the increase to the available for issuance as of January 1, 2026.

Shares Reserved for Future Issuance

As of December 31, 2025, the Company had reserved shares of its common stock for future issuance as follows:

 

Shares
Reserved

 

Common stock options outstanding

 

 

2,714,651

 

Unvested restricted stock units under the 2023 Plan

 

 

41,376

 

Available for future grants under the 2024 Plan

 

 

868,712

 

Available for future grants under the ESPP

 

 

163,041

 

Total shares of common stock reserved for future issuance

 

 

3,787,780

 

Stock Options

Options granted under the Company’s equity incentive plans have an exercise price equal to or in excess of the market value of the Class A Common Stock at the date of grant and expire no more than 10 years from the date of grant. Generally, options become exercisable ratably over a period of three to four years from the date of grant. Stock options granted to non-employees generally vest quarterly over two to three years.

A summary of the Company’s stock option activity and related information for the year ended December 31, 2025 is as follows:

 

 

Options Outstanding

 

 

 

Number
of Options

 

 

Weighted Average
 Exercise
Price

 

 

Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term
 (in years)

 

 

Aggregate Intrinsic Value
(in thousands)

 

Options outstanding - December 31, 2024

 

 

2,393,824

 

 

$

23.54

 

 

 

7.90

 

 

$

1

 

Granted

 

 

774,800

 

 

 

4.98

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercised

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expired

 

 

(405,567

)

 

 

42.88

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forfeited

 

 

(48,406

)

 

 

13.27

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options outstanding - December 31, 2025

 

 

2,714,651

 

 

$

15.54

 

 

 

8.52

 

 

$

22

 

Options exercisable - December 31, 2025

 

 

1,032,822

 

 

$

19.05

 

 

 

7.95

 

 

$

 

All outstanding options as of December 31, 2025 are expected to vest.

As of December 31, 2025, the Company had unrecognized compensation cost for unvested stock options of $19.9 million, expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 2.1 years.

The aggregate intrinsic value is calculated as the difference between the exercise price and the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock as of December 31, 2025.

The weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted for the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024 was $4.50 and $16.05, respectively.

The Company granted 8,449 performance-based shares, which are included in the table above, during the year ended December 31, 2023. The Company recognized $0 and $30,000 in performance-based compensation expense for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The Company estimates stock awards fair value on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes valuation, with the vesting being subject to service requirements. The Company accounts for forfeitures when they occur. The weighted-average assumptions used in the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the fair value of the employee stock option grants were as follows:

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Expected term (years)

 

 

5.99

 

 

5.77

 

Expected volatility

 

 

130.1

%

 

 

126.2

%

Risk-free interest rate

 

 

4.34

%

 

 

3.80

%

Expected dividend yield

 

 

0

%

 

 

0

%

Risk-free interest rate. The Company bases the risk-free interest rate assumption on the U.S. Treasury’s rates for U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds with maturities similar to those of the expected term of the award being valued.

Expected volatility. The expected volatility assumption was based on the volatilities of a peer group of similar companies whose share prices are publicly available. The peer group was developed based on companies in the biotechnology industry.

Expected term. The expected term represents the period of time that options are expected to be outstanding. Because the Company does not have historical exercise behavior, it determines the expected life assumption using the simplified method, which is an average of the contractual term of the option and its vesting period.

Expected dividend yield. The Company bases the expected dividend yield assumption on the fact that it has never paid cash dividends and has no present intention to pay cash dividends.

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)

RSUs vest based on a service-based requirement and a liquidity event plus service requirement. The following table summarizes RSU activities during the year ended December 31, 2025:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number
of Shares

 

 

Weighted
Average
Grant Date
Fair Value

 

Unvested balance as of December 31, 2024

 

 

213,254

 

 

$

22.88

 

Granted

 

 

35,893

 

 

 

2.94

 

Vested and released

 

 

(205,999

)

 

 

19.41

 

Forfeited

 

 

(1,772

)

 

 

22.89

 

RSUs outstanding - December 31, 2025

 

 

41,376

 

 

$

22.89

 

Unvested balance as of December 31, 2025

 

 

41,376

 

 

$

22.89

 

As of December 31, 2025, the Company had unrecognized compensation cost for unvested RSU awards of $1.6 million, expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of approximately 1.2 years.

During the year ended December 31, 2025, 4,481 shares were used to settle grantee's tax withholding obligations for vesting of restricted stock units.

In addition to the RSUs in the table above, in connection with the Merger, the Company assumed 24,700 RSUs which were fully vested at the time of the Merger. The RSUs were releasable upon set time frames after completion of the Merger. The 17,000 RSUs that were unreleased as of December 31, 2024 were released in January 2025.

2024 Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In October 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors adopted the ESPP, which became effective immediately upon completion of the Merger with Reneo. During the year ended December 31, 2025, a total of 107,930 shares of common stock were issued under the ESPP at a weighted-average per share price of $2.23.

Share-Based Compensation Expense

The following table shows the allocation of share-based compensation expense related to the company’s share-based awards and employee stock purchase plan (in thousands):

 

December 31,

 

 

2025

 

 

2024

 

Research and development

$

5,636

 

 

$

2,896

 

General and administrative

 

5,997

 

 

 

1,634

 

Total

$

11,633

 

 

$

4,530

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Company recorded accelerated share-based compensation expenses related to modifications of RSUs under certain separation agreements of $1.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2024, which is reflected in the above table. See Note 13 for further discussion on severance. There were no such modifications during the year ended December 31, 2025.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 12, 2026Showing above
2024Mar 10, 2025
2023Mar 28, 2024

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.