Annual Report for Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2024 (Form 10-K)

Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our audited financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this "Annual Report"). This discussion and other parts of this Annual Report contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations, intentions and projections. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of this Annual Report. You should carefully read the "Risk Factors" section of this Annual Report to gain an understanding of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. Please also see "Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements". Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future.

Overview

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel precision peptide therapies for the treatment of endocrine and metabolic disorders. Our company was founded by global leaders with a transformative approach to peptide drug design and development. Leveraging this expertise, we designed our proprietary

Precision Endocrine Peptide™ (the "PEP™") platform to overcome the key limitations of unmodified and modified peptide therapies and to improve clinical outcomes and simplify disease management for patients. Our PEPs are selectively engineered to have optimized pharmaceutical properties, including extended time-action profiles and consistent drug concentrations with low peak-to-trough concentration ratios, consistent exposure to target tissues, and less frequent dosing. We are advancing a pipeline of novel candidates for endocrine and metabolic disorders with clinically validated targets, established endpoints for regulatory approval, significant unmet medical needs and large potential market opportunities.

Our lead product candidate, canvuparatide, is a parathyroid hormone peptide prodrug that is designed as a potential long-acting hormone replacement therapy for the treatment of chronic hypoparathyroidism, or HP. Leveraging our proprietary PEP platform, we designed canvuparatide to treat the underlying pathophysiology of HP by providing a continuous, infusion-like exposure to parathyroid hormone ("PTH"), with convenient once-weekly administration. In a Phase 1 clinical trial, canvuparatide demonstrated a low ratio between the highest concentration of active drug observed after a dose and the concentration of active drug observed immediately prior to the next dose, or peak-to-trough ratio. This result is consistent with a continuous, infusion-like profile, and an extended half-life, potentially enabling the first once-weekly PTH dosing regimen for patients with HP. Canvuparatide was generally well-tolerated with no drug-related severe or serious adverse effects. We are currently evaluating canvuparatide in a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with HP. In March 2025, we announced completion of enrollment of 64 patients and we anticipate reporting topline data in the third quarter of 2025.

Our second program is MBX 1416, which is designed to be a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 ("receptor antagonist"), as a potential therapy for post-bariatric hypoglycemia ("PBH"), a chronic complication of bariatric surgery. MBX 1416 is designed as a convenient once-weekly therapy to reduce insulin secretion and increase blood glucose to reduce the frequency and severity of hypoglycemic events. In our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial, the single ascending dose ("SAD") portion of this Phase 1 trial evaluates subcutaneous MBX 1416 doses of 10 milligrams ("mg"), 30 mg, 100 mg and 200 mg, in up to eight healthy adults per cohort randomized 3:1 (six MBX 1416; two placebo in each cohort). The multiple ascending dose ("MAD") portion of the trial evaluates four weekly subcutaneous doses of placebo and 10 mg, 30 mg (as two injections) and 30 mg (as one injection) MBX 1416 in three cohorts in up to eight healthy adults per cohort (six MBX 1416; two placebo in each cohort). An additional cohort will assess the clinical relevance of preclinical transporter findings. Preliminary data regarding the way the compound is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and excreted ("pharmacokinetics") from the single ascending dose portion demonstrated that weekly subcutaneous injections resulted in dose-proportional increases in MBX 1416 exposure and a half-life supporting a once-weekly dosing regimen. In January 2025, we announced positive topline results from our Phase 1 SAD and MAD clinical trial of MBX 1416 in healthy adult volunteers. A Phase 2 study of MBX 1416 in patients with PBH is anticipated to initiate in the second half of 2025 following completion of an End-of-Phase 1 meeting with U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA").

Our third program is our lead obesity product candidate, MBX 4291, is designed to be a long-acting and highly potent and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor prodrug with the goal of potential once monthly dosing frequency and improving efficacy and tolerability relative to existing standards of care. MBX 4291 is currently being evaluated in preclinical studies, with an anticipated investigational new drug ("IND") submission in the second quarter of 2025. Beyond MBX 4291, we have a robust discovery pipeline including additional programs in the lead optimization stage for the treatment of obesity and associated comorbidities.

Since our inception, we have devoted substantially all of our resources to drug discovery and development of our product candidates, canvuparatide, MBX 1416 and MBX 4291, and other preclinical programs, building our intellectual property portfolio, organizing and staffing our company, business planning, raising capital and providing general and administrative support for these operations. We do not have any products approved for sale and have not generated any revenue from product sales. In September 2024, we completed our initial public offering (the "IPO"), pursuant to which we issued and sold 11,730,000 shares of common stock (inclusive of 1,530,000 shares of commons stock sold pursuant to the underwriters' exercise of their option to purchase additional shares). The aggregate net proceeds received by us from the IPO were $170.5 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering costs of $17.2 million. We have historically funded our operations primarily from the issuance and sale of our common stock, convertible preferred stock and convertible notes, which generated approximately $401.8 million in aggregate gross proceeds.

We have incurred significant operating losses since inception and we expect to continue to incur substantial losses for the foreseeable future. Our ability to generate revenue sufficient to achieve profitability will depend heavily on the successful development and eventual commercialization of one or more of our product candidates. Our net losses were $61.9 million and

$32.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. We had an accumulated deficit of $137.5 million and $75.6 million as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

We anticipate that our expenses and operating losses will increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we:

We will not generate revenue from product sales unless and until we successfully complete clinical development and obtain regulatory approval for one or more product candidates. If we obtain regulatory approval for any product candidate and do not enter into a commercialization partnership, we expect to incur significant expenses related to developing our commercialization capability to support product sales, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. As a result, we will need substantial additional funding to support our continuing operations and pursue our growth strategy. Until such time as we can generate significant revenue from product sales, if ever, we expect to finance our operations through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties. We may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other agreements or arrangements when needed on favorable terms, or at all. If we fail to raise capital or enter into such agreements as and when needed, we may have to significantly delay, reduce or eliminate the development and commercialization of our platform or delay our pursuit of potential in-licenses or acquisitions.

We had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $262.1 million and $80.7 million as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into mid-2027. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available capital resources sooner than we expect. See "Liquidity and capital resources" and "Risk Factors-Risks related to financial position and need for capital."

License agreement

Below is a summary of the key terms for our license agreement.

Indiana University Research And Technology Corporation Exclusive License Agreement

In June 2020, we entered into an Exclusive License Agreement with Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation, or IURTC, a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Indiana, represented by The Trustees of Indiana University ("IU"), pursuant to which we have been granted an exclusive, royalty-bearing license to certain IURTC patent rights ("the Licensed Intellectual Property") developed by Dr. DiMarchi and other collaborators to further scientific research, for new product development, and for other applications in public interest, such license, the IURTC License Agreement. In particular, we have been granted an exclusive, royalty-bearing license to make, have made, use, have used, offer to sell, have offered for sale, sell, have sold, import and have imported products that are covered by the Licensed Intellectual Property ("Licensed Products"), with the right to sublicense to third parties. IURTC and IU have retained the right to (i) practice and use the Licensed Intellectual Property for non-commercial educational, research, and patient care and treatment purposes, and (ii) permit other non-profit and academic entities to practice and use the Licensed Intellectual Property for the same non-commercial purposes. Under the IURTC License Agreement, we agreed to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop, promote and sell Licensed Products in accordance with the IURTC License Agreement and any applicable laws. The IURTC License Agreement leverages IURTC's expertise in peptide therapies as well as our scientific, clinical, and regulatory capabilities to accelerate the development of peptide treatments for people with endocrine and metabolic disorders. MBX 2109, MBX 1416 and MBX 4291 are Licensed Products under the IURTC License Agreement. Any future product candidates developed pursuant to our sponsored research agreement with IU or otherwise covered by the Licensed Intellectual Property may be subject to the IURTC License Agreement.

As initial consideration for the license, we paid IURTC an immaterial issue fee. As additional consideration for the license, we are required to pay IURTC: (i) royalties with a rate based on net sales per calendar year; (ii) an annual maintenance fee of up to $0.1 million beginning in the first year in which the first commercial sale occurs; (iii) a mid-single digits percentage of any sublicensing revenue; and (iv) milestone payments in the event of successful achievement of specified development milestones up to an aggregate of $0.4 million. IURTC is also entitled to receive reimbursement for all patent prosecution and maintenance related expenses. Our tiered royalties are in the low single-digits on annual net sales of the Licensed Products. In the event that we are required to pay a non-affiliate third party consideration for intellectual property owned or controlled by such non-affiliate third party that we or a sublicensee licensed for the development of Licensed Products, we can deduct such amounts from the royalty payments up to a certain amount of the running royalties owed that year. The royalty term will terminate on a country-by-country basis as to each Licensed Product, until the expiration or termination of the last valid claim within the patent rights covering such Licensed Product in that country.

On January 5, 2024, we and IURTC entered into a fourth amendment to the IURTC License Agreement (the "Fourth Amendment"). The Fourth Amendment specifies IURTC is entitled to the receipt of additional clinical and regulatory milestones, as defined in the Fourth Amendment, up to an aggregate of $9.0 million. Following the execution of the Fourth Amendment, future remaining clinical and regulatory milestone payments in the IURTC License Agreement and all amendments total up to $9.3 million.

The IURTC License Agreement will expire at the expiration of the last of the patent rights covered in the IURTC License Agreement, unless terminated earlier by mutual agreement or by one of the parties. We may terminate the IURTC License Agreement with or without cause upon ninety (90) days prior written notice to IURTC. IURTC may terminate the IURTC License Agreement if we commit a material breach of the IURTC License Agreement and fail to cure the breach within the respective cure period after receipt of the notice of material breach or upon our failure to undertake certain activities in furtherance of commercial development goals. Upon termination of the IURTC License Agreement, all rights granted by IURTC will terminate and automatically revert to IURTC.

Components of results of operations

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses consist of (i) research and development expenses and (ii) general and administrative expenses.

Research and development

The largest component of our total operating expenses since our inception has been research and development activities. Research and development expenses are expensed as incurred and consist primarily of:

We expect our research and development expenses to increase substantially for the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in research and development activities to advance our programs and conduct clinical trials. The process of conducting the necessary clinical research to obtain regulatory approval is costly and time-consuming, and the successful development of our product candidates is highly uncertain. As a result, expenses may vary significantly based on factors such as:

A change in the outcome of any of these variables with respect to the development of any of our existing or future product candidates could significantly change the costs and timing associated with the development of that product candidate.

General and administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation and benefits, including stock-based compensation expense for general and administrative personnel; other expenses for outside professional services, including legal fees relating to intellectual property and corporate matters; professional fees for accounting, auditing, consulting and tax services; insurance costs; administrative travel expenses; website development costs; marketing and public relations costs; and facilities, information technology and other allocated overhead costs.

We anticipate that our general and administrative expenses will increase in the future as we increase our headcount to support continued growth of our research and development activities. We also anticipate that we will incur increased accounting, audit, legal, regulatory, compliance and director and officer insurance costs as well as investor and public relations expenses associated with being a public company. We also expect our intellectual property expenses to increase as we expand our intellectual property portfolio.

Other income (expense)

Interest and other income, net

Total other income, net, is comprised of interest income earned on our cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities and amortization expense and accretion income on our marketable securities.

Results of operations

Comparison of the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

The following table summarizes our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in thousands):

		Years ended December 31,								Change
		2024				2023				$
Operating expenses:
Research and development		$	57,415			$	28,534			$	28,881
General and administrative			10,779				6,777				4,002
Total operating expenses			68,194				35,311				32,883
Loss from operations			(68,194	)			(35,311	)			(32,883	)
Other income (expense)
Interest and other income, net			6,272				2,748				3,524
Total other income, net			6,272				2,748				3,524
Net loss		$	(61,922	)		$	(32,563	)		$	(29,359	)

Research and development expenses

The following table summarizes our research and development expenses for the periods indicated (in thousands):

		Years ended December 31,								Change
		2024				2023				$
Direct research and development program expenses:
Canvuparatide		$	21,582			$	9,840			$	11,742
MBX 1416			11,561				10,166				1,395
Preclinical and other			12,112				2,220				9,892
Indirect research and development costs:
Personnel related costs (including stock-based compensation)			10,245				5,646				4,599
Facility-related and other			1,915				662				1,253
Total research and development expense		$	57,415			$	28,534			$	28,881

Research and development expenses were $57.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $28.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase of $28.9 million consisted of the following:

Direct research and development program expenses related to canvuparatide increased by $11.7 million, primarily due to the ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial and costs associated with conducting preclinical studies. Direct program expenses related to MBX 1416 increased by $1.4 million, primarily due to the timing of costs associated with conducting preclinical studies and an increase in costs associated with conduct of the Phase 1 clinical trial. Direct program expenses for preclinical and other programs increased by $9.9 million primarily due to pipeline candidate development activities, specifically including IND-enabling preclinical studies related to MBX 4291. Personnel-related costs (including stock-based compensation), increased by $4.6 million, primarily due to increased headcount and stock-based compensation expense. Facility-related and other, which include allocated overhead, including rent, repairs and maintenance costs, common facilities and information technology-related expenses allocated to research and development increased by $1.3 million.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses were $10.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $6.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase of $4.0 million was primarily due to higher professional fees related to legal and accounting services and higher personnel-related costs, including compensation, benefits and stock-based compensation, as we expanded our infrastructure to support growth in our operations.

Interest and other income, net

Interest and other income, net, which includes interest income and amortization of premiums and discounts on our investments in marketable securities, were $6.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase of $3.5 million was due to increased interest on our cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, which increased primarily due to our IPO in September 2024 and the Series C Convertible Preferred Stock financing in August 2024.

Liquidity and capital resources

Sources of liquidity

Since our inception, we have incurred significant operating losses. We have historically funded our operations primarily through our IPO and sales of our convertible preferred stock and convertible notes, which have generated approximately $401.8 million in aggregate gross proceeds. As of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we had $262.1 million and $80.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, respectively. We have not yet generated any revenue from product sales and do not expect to in the foreseeable future as our product candidates are in various phases of clinical and preclinical development.

Future funding requirements

We expect our expenses to increase substantially in connection with our ongoing activities, particularly as we advance the development of our product candidates. In addition, we expect to incur additional costs associated with operating as a public company. The timing and amount of our operating expenditures will depend largely on:

We had $262.1 million and $80.7 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our current operating plan for at least the next 12 months from the date of issuance of the accompanying audited financial statements. Based on our current operating plan, we estimate that our existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities will be sufficient to fund our projected operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements into mid-2027. We have based this estimate on assumptions that may prove to be wrong, and we could exhaust our available capital resources sooner than we expect.

Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our cash needs through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances, and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, ownership interest for existing investors may be materially diluted, and the terms of such securities could include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect existing investors' rights as a stockholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include restrictive covenants that limit our ability to take specified actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or product candidates or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings or other arrangements when needed, we may be required to delay, reduce or eliminate our product development or future commercialization efforts, or grant rights to develop and market product candidates that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.

Cash flows

The following table summarizes our sources and uses of cash for the periods presented (in thousands):

		Years ended December 31,
		2024				2023
Net cash used in operating activities		$	(54,681	)		$	(31,978	)
Net cash used in investing activities			(160,595	)			(30,927	)
Net cash provided by financing activities			234,104				69,218
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents		$	18,828			$	6,313

Cash flows from operating activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $54.7 million. This was primarily due to our net loss of $61.9 million, partially offset by net cash provided by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $4.6 million and non-cash charges of $2.6 million. The changes in our net operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a $7.1 million increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses primarily related to balances with CDMOs, partially offset by a $2.3 million increase in our prepaid expenses and other current assets related to prepaid balances with CROs. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of $5.2 million of stock-based compensation expense, partially offset by $2.9 million of net amortization and accretion of marketable securities.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $32.0 million. This was primarily due to our net loss of $32.6 million and net cash used by changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $0.7 million, partially offset by non-cash charges of $0.7 million. The changes in our net operating assets and liabilities primarily consisted of a $1.1 million increase in our prepaid expenses and other current assets related to prepaid balances with CROs and CDMOs and a $0.1 million increase in our operating lease liability, offset by a $0.5 million increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses related to timing. Non-cash charges primarily consisted of $2.0 million of stock-based compensation expense, partially offset by $1.0 million of net amortization and accretion of marketable securities.

Cash flows from investing activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $160.6 million, which consisted of purchases of marketable securities of $239.5 million and purchases of property and equipment of $0.9 million, partially offset by maturities of marketable securities of $79.8 million.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $30.9 million, which consisted of purchases of marketable securities of $63.8 million and purchases of property and equipment of $0.1 million, partially offset by maturities of marketable securities of $33.0 million.

Cash flows from financing activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $234.1 million, which primarily consisted of proceeds from our IPO, net of underwriting discounts and commissions, of $174.5 million in September 2024, gross proceeds from our issuance of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock of $63.5 million in August 2024 and proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $0.4 million, partially offset by payments related to IPO costs of $4.1 million and preferred stock offering costs of $0.3 million.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $69.2 million, which consisted of proceeds from our issuance of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock of $68.5 million in August 2023 and proceeds from the exercise of common stock options of $0.7 million.

Contractual obligations and commitments

Leases

We have entered into two separate lease agreements for corporate office space and laboratory space, with terms extending through December 2025. As of December 31, 2024, our future remaining operating lease payments were $0.2 million, with $0.2 million payable within the next twelve months, with respect to leases already commenced as of such date. As

of December 31, 2023, our future remaining operating lease payments were $0.4 million, with $0.2 million payable within the next twelve months, with respect to leases already commenced as of such date.

Refer to Note 9 in our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for more information on our lease obligations.

License agreement and other agreements

Under the IURTC License Agreement, we have payment obligations that are contingent upon future events, such as the achievement of specified development, regulatory and commercial milestones, and in some cases, we are required to make royalty payments in connection with the sales of products developed under those agreements. Although we could be required to make milestone payments under the IURTC License Agreement, we are unable to estimate the timing or likelihood of achieving the milestones or making future product sales. For additional details regarding the IURTC License Agreement, see the section herein this Annual Report titled "Business-License Agreement."

We enter into contracts in the normal course of business with clinical trial sites and clinical supply manufacturers and with vendors for preclinical studies and clinical trials, research supplies and other services and drugs for operating purposes. These contracts generally provide for termination after a notice period, and, therefore, are cancelable contracts. In addition, certain of our supply agreements contain minimum purchase commitments in certain situations, the timing and likelihood of which we cannot estimate at this time.

Recently issued accounting pronouncements

A description of recently issued accounting pronouncements that may potentially impact our financial position, results of operations or cash flows is disclosed in Note 2 to our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report.

Critical accounting policies and significant judgments and estimates

Our management's discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, ("GAAP"). The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported expenses incurred during the reporting periods.

On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including but not limited to those related to accrued research and development costs, the fair value of common stock and stock-based compensation expense and other fair value measurements. These estimates and assumptions are monitored and analyzed by us for changes in facts and circumstances, and material changes in these estimates and assumptions could occur in the future. Our estimates are based on our historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying value of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Changes in estimates are reflected in reported results for the period in which they become known. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Accrued research and development expenses

Research and development expenses are recognized as services are performed and as costs occur. As part of our process of preparing our financial statements, we are required to estimate our research and development expenses as of each balance sheet date. Research and development expense accruals are estimated based on the level of services performed, progress of the work orders, including the phase or completion of events, and contracted costs. This process involves reviewing open contracts and purchase orders and communicating with our personnel to identify the level of services that have been performed. We then make estimates of levels of service performed when we have not yet been invoiced or otherwise notified of actual costs incurred as of the balance sheet date. We make significant judgments and estimates in determining the accrual balance at each reporting period based on the facts and circumstances known to us at that time.

There may be instances in which vendors will require nonrefundable advance payments for goods or services to be received in the future. Such advance payments for use in research and development activities are capitalized and recorded in prepaid expenses and other current assets, and then expensed as the related goods are delivered or the services are performed.

Although we do not expect our estimates to be materially different from amounts actually incurred, if our estimates of the level of services and timing of services performed differ from actual status and timing of services performed, it could result in

us reporting amounts that are too high or too low in any particular reporting period. To date, there have been no material differences between estimates of such expenses and the amounts actually incurred.

Stock-based compensation expense

Stock-based compensation expense represents the cost of the grant date fair value of equity awards recognized over the requisite service period of the awards (usually the vesting period) on a straight-line basis. We estimate the fair value of all stock option grants using the Black-Scholes option pricing model and recognize forfeitures as they occur. Estimating the fair value of equity awards as of the grant date using valuation models, such as the Black-Scholes option pricing model, is affected by assumptions regarding a number of variables, including the risk-free interest rate, the expected stock price volatility, the expected term of stock options, the expected dividend yield and, prior to the IPO of our common stock, the fair value of the underlying common stock on the date of grant. Changes in the assumptions can materially affect the fair value and ultimately how much stock-based compensation expense is recognized. These inputs are subjective and generally require significant analysis and judgment to develop. See Note 12 to our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report for information concerning certain of the specific assumptions we used in applying the Black-Scholes option pricing model to determine the estimated fair value of our stock options granted for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. A portion of our stock option program allows for early exercise of granted options, before vesting requirements have been satisfied. Shares acquired through the early exercise of options which have not vested at the time of any employee's termination may be purchased by us at the lower of the original exercise price or the then current fair market value. As of December 31, 2024, the unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to stock options was $17.9 million and is expected to be recognized as expense over a weighted-average period of approximately 3.1 years. The intrinsic value of all outstanding stock options as of December 31, 2024 was approximately $34.3 million, based on the closing NASDAQ stock price of $18.43 per share as of December 31, 2024.

Prior to our IPO in September 2024, there was no public market for our common stock. As a result, prior to our IPO, the estimated fair value of our common stock was determined by our board of directors as of the date of each option grant, with input from management, considering our most recently available third-party valuations of common stock and our board of directors' assessment of additional objective and subjective factors that it believed were relevant and which may have changed from the date of the most recent valuation through the date of grant. Following our IPO, the fair value of our common stock is determined based on the quoted market price of our common stock.

Off-balance sheet arrangements

During the periods presented we did not have, nor do we currently have, any off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Emerging growth company and smaller reporting company status

We qualify as an "emerging growth company," as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the "JOBS Act"). As an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of specified reduced disclosure and other requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include: (i) being permitted to present only two years of audited financial statements, in addition to any required unaudited interim financial statements, with correspondingly reduced "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations" disclosure in this Annual Report; (ii) reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements; (iii) not being required to hold advisory votes on executive compensation or to obtain stockholder approval of any golden parachute arrangements not previously approved; (iv) an exemption from the auditor attestation requirement in the assessment of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; and (v) an exemption from compliance with the requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding the communication of critical audit matters in the auditor's report on the financial statements.

We may take advantage of these exemptions for up to five years or such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company on the date that is the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenues of $1.235 billion or more; (ii) the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the completion of our IPO; (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (iv) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC. We may choose to take advantage of some but not all of these exemptions. We have taken advantage of reduced reporting requirements in this Annual Report. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different from the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock. Additionally, the JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This allows an emerging growth company to delay the adoption of certain accounting standards

until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to avail ourselves of this exemption and, therefore, while we are an emerging growth company we will not be subject to new or revised accounting standards at the same time that they become applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. As a result of this election, our audited financial statements and unaudited condensed financial statements may not be comparable to those of other public companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates. We may choose to early adopt any new or revised accounting standards whenever such early adoption is permitted for private companies.

We are also a "smaller reporting company," meaning that the market value of our shares held by nonaffiliates is less than $700 million and our annual revenue was less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company if either (i) the market value of our shares held by nonaffiliates is less than $250 million or (ii) our annual revenue was less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and the market value of our shares held by nonaffiliates is less than $700 million. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company, we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and, similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation.