Ocular Therapeutix Grants Inducement Equity to 15 New Hires

Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. has granted inducement equity awards to fifteen newly hired non-executive employees, a move required to secure their acceptance of employment with the company. The grants were issued under Ocular's 2019 Inducement Stock Incentive Plan in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), which permits such awards to attract key personnel without shareholder approval. Effective October 5, 2026, the company issued two types of awards: non-statutory stock options and restricted stock units.

The stock option awards allow the recipients to purchase an aggregate of 70,150 shares of Ocular's common stock. The exercise price for these options is set at $7.25 per share, a figure that matches the closing price of Ocular's stock on The Nasdaq Global Market on the effective grant date. Each option award has a ten-year term and follows a four-year vesting schedule. Specifically, 25% of the shares subject to each award vest on the one-year anniversary of the employee's start date, with the remaining shares vesting in equal monthly installments over the subsequent three years. This vesting is contingent on the recipient's continued service to Ocular through each vesting date.

In addition to the options, the company granted restricted stock unit awards representing the right to receive an aggregate of 22,900 shares of common stock. These units vest over a three-year period in equal annual installments on the first, second, and third anniversaries of the grant date. Like the options, the restricted stock units are subject to the recipient's continued service to Ocular.

All inducement equity awards are governed by the specific terms and conditions of the individual award agreements and Ocular's 2019 Inducement Stock Incentive Plan. The company describes itself as an integrated biopharmaceutical firm focused on redefining the retina experience. Its lead investigational product, AXPAXLI (also known as OTX-TKI), is an axitinib intravitreal hydrogel based on the company's ELUTYX proprietary bioresorbable hydrogel formulation technology. AXPAXLI is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinal disease, including non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Ocular's pipeline also utilizes ELUTYX technology in DEXTENZA, an FDA-approved corticosteroid for treating ocular inflammation and pain following ophthalmic surgery in adults and pediatric patients, as well as ocular itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis in adults and pediatric patients aged two or older. The company is also evaluating next steps for OTX-TIC, an investigational travoprost intracameral hydrogel that has completed a Phase 2 clinical trial for open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.