8. Stock Compensation Plan

The Company originally adopted the Oragenics, Inc. 2002 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “Stock Incentive Plan”) in September 2002 which was subsequently amended on several occasions until it was amended and restated as the Company’s 2012 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2012 Incentive Plan”). In May 2017, the 2012 Incentive Plan was amended to increase the available number of shares authorized for issuance under the 2012 Incentive Plan by 1,500,000 shares of common stock from 4,000,000 shares of common stock to 5,500,000 shares of common stock. In December 2017, the 2012 Incentive Plan was amended to increase the available number of shares authorized for issuance under the 2012 Incentive Plan by 2,000,000 shares of common stock from 5,500,000 shares of common stock to 7,500,000 shares of common stock.

On January 8, 2018, the Company announced a reverse split of its common stock, $0.001 par value, at a ratio of 1 for 10, which became effective January 19, 2018. The reverse split also applied to common stock issuable upon the exercise of the Company’s outstanding stock options.

At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on June 22, 2018, the shareholders approved an amendment to the Company’s 2012 Incentive Plan solely to increase the shares available for awards thereunder by 1,500,000 shares. The aggregate number of shares of the Company’s common stock currently authorized pursuant to its 2012 Incentive Plan, as amended is 2,250,000 and the Company’s 2012 Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Plan”) continues to provide that the maximum number of shares that may be subject to stock options and stock appreciation rights granted to any individual in a calendar year is 1,000,000 shares. The Plan also provides that the maximum number of shares that may be subject to awards (other than stock options and stock appreciation rights) intended to qualify as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code that may be granted to any individual in one calendar year is 1,000,000 shares (however, the exception for “performance-based compensation” under Code Section 162(m) was repealed in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, unless the awards intended to qualify for such exception were granted before November 2, 2017).

To date, and after giving effect to the reverse stock split, 240,750 shares have been issued under the 2012 Incentive Plan. As a result of such issuances, and after giving effect to the reverse stock split, as of December 31, 2018 there is currently an aggregate of 2,009,250 shares available for issuance under the 2012 Incentive Plan, of which 1,812,133 shares are covered by outstanding option awards and 197,117 shares are available for future awards under the 2012 Incentive Plan.

The purpose of the 2012 Incentive Plan is to advance the interests of the Company by affording certain employees and directors of the Company and key consultants and advisors an opportunity to acquire or increase their proprietary interests in the Company. The 2012 Incentive Plan authorizes the grant of stock options (incentive and non-statutory), stock appreciation rights and restricted stock. Options are granted at the fair market value of the Company’s stock on the date of grant. Options can generally vest either immediately or over a period of up to three years from their respective grant dates and expire 10 years from the date of grant. As of December 31, 2018, and 2017, the Company had not awarded any stock appreciation rights under the 2012 Incentive Plan.

Recipients of stock awards under our 2012 Incentive Plan become the owner of record of the stock immediately upon grant, which may be subject to certain restrictions. The balance of unvested restricted stock will be forfeited and automatically transferred back to us at no cost upon the termination of the recipient’s employment. Upon vesting of restricted stock that is made to recipients who are employees, the recipient has the option to settle minimum withholding taxes by electing to have us withhold otherwise deliverable shares having a fair market value equal to the required tax obligations (“net-settlement”). The net-settlement shares are then immediately cancelled and retired and reduce the shares available for issuance under the Company’s 2012 Incentive Plan.

The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of stock-based awards on the date of grant. The assumptions employed in the calculation of the fair value of share-based compensation expense were calculated as follows for all years presented:

The following table summarizes the assumptions used to estimate the fair value of stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017:

Total compensation cost related to stock options was $996,038 and $435,218 for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, there was $496,448 of unrecognized compensation costs related to stock options, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.1 years.

The following table represents stock option activity as of and for the two years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively:

The total grant date fair value of options vested during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 was $652,885 and $445,589, respectively.