PDS Biotechnology Reports Inducement Grant Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

Rhea-AI Summary

PDS Biotechnology (PDSB), a late-stage immunotherapy company focused on cancer treatment, has granted a nonstatutory stock option to a new clinical department employee. The inducement grant, issued on May 5, 2025, allows the purchase of 5,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.31 per share. The stock option follows a four-year vesting schedule, with 25% vesting after the first year and the remaining shares vesting monthly over the subsequent 36 months, contingent on continued employment.

PRINCETON, N.J., May 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB) (“PDS Biotech” or the “Company”), a late-stage immunotherapy company focused on transforming how the immune system targets and kills cancers, today announced that on May 5, 2025, PDS Biotech granted a nonstatutory stock option to purchase 5,000 shares of common stock to an employee in its clinical department as a material inducement to such employee’s employment and in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and PDS Biotech’s 2019 Inducement Plan, as amended, which was adopted on June 17, 2019, and provides for the granting of equity awards to new employees of PDS Biotech.

The stock option has an exercise price of $1.31, the closing price of PDS Biotech’s common stock on May 5, 2025. The stock option vests over a four-year period, with one-quarter of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of the grant date and the remaining shares vesting monthly over the 36-month period thereafter, subject to continued employment with the company through the applicable vesting dates.

About PDS Biotechnology
PDS Biotechnology is a late-stage immunotherapy company focused on transforming how the immune system targets and kills cancers. The Company has initiated a pivotal clinical trial to advance its lead program in advanced HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell cancers. PDS Biotech’s lead investigational targeted immunotherapy Versamune^® HPV is being developed in combination with a standard-of-care immune checkpoint inhibitor, and also in a triple combination including PDS01ADC, an IL-12 fused antibody drug conjugate (ADC), and a standard-of-care immune checkpoint inhibitor.

For more information, please visit www.pdsbiotech.com

Forward Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended) concerning PDS Biotechnology Corporation (the “Company”) and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the Company’s management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “forecast,” “guidance”, “outlook” and other similar expressions among others. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights; the Company’s anticipated capital requirements, including the Company’s anticipated cash runway and the Company’s current expectations regarding its plans for future equity financings; the Company’s dependence on additional financing to fund its operations and complete the development and commercialization of its product candidates, and the risks that raising such additional capital may restrict the Company’s operations or require the Company to relinquish rights to the Company’s technologies or product candidates; the Company’s limited operating history in the Company’s current line of business, which makes it difficult to evaluate the Company’s prospects, the Company’s business plan or the likelihood of the Company’s successful implementation of such business plan; the timing for the Company or its partners to initiate the planned clinical trials for Versamune^® HPV, PDS01ADC and other Versamune^® based product candidates; the future success of such trials; the successful implementation of the Company’s research and development programs and collaborations, including any collaboration studies concerning Versamune^® HPV, PDS01ADC and other Versamune^® based product candidates and the Company’s interpretation of the results and findings of such programs and collaborations and whether such results are sufficient to support the future success of the Company’s product candidates; the success, timing and cost of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials and anticipated clinical trials for the Company’s current product candidates, including statements regarding the timing of initiation, pace of enrollment and completion of the trials (including the Company’s ability to fully fund its disclosed clinical trials, which assumes no material changes to the Company’s currently projected expenses), futility analyses, presentations at conferences and data reported in an abstract, and receipt of interim or preliminary results (including, without limitation, any preclinical results or data), which are not necessarily indicative of the final results of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials; any Company statements about its understanding of product candidates mechanisms of action and interpretation of preclinical and early clinical results from its clinical development programs and any collaboration studies; the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; and other factors, including legislative, regulatory, political and economic developments not within the Company’s control. The foregoing review of important factors that could cause actual events to differ from expectations should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with statements that are included herein and elsewhere, including the other risks, uncertainties, and other factors described under “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and elsewhere in the documents we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  

Versamune^® is a registered trademark of PDS Biotechnology Corporation.

Investor Contact:
Mike Moyer
LifeSci Advisors
Phone +1 (617) 308-4306
Email: mmoyer@lifesciadvisors.com

Media Contact:
Janine McCargo
6 Degrees
Phone +1 (646) 528-4034
Email: jmccargo@6degreespr.com

FAQ

What is the exercise price of PDSB's inducement stock option grant announced in May 2025?

The stock option has an exercise price of $1.31, which was the closing price of PDS Biotech's common stock on May 5, 2025.

How many shares are included in PDSB's May 2025 inducement grant?

The inducement grant includes options to purchase 5,000 shares of common stock.

What is the vesting schedule for PDSB's May 2025 inducement stock option grant?

The stock option vests over four years, with 25% vesting after the first year and the remaining shares vesting monthly over the following 36 months, subject to continued employment.

Why did PDS Biotechnology issue this inducement grant in May 2025?

The inducement grant was issued as a material inducement to employment for a new employee in the company's clinical department, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and PDS Biotech's 2019 Inducement Plan.