Company: DARE
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001401914-25-000014
Chunk: 58

Company: Dare Bioscience, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 58
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 critical factor in successfully achieving our business objectives and creating long-term value for our stockholders is the ability to provide long-term equity compensation to our key service providers. Participation in our equity compensation plan rewards these employees for performance by giving them an opportunity to participate in our growth, thereby further aligning their interests with those of our stockholders. Our direct competitors and our peer companies rely on equity compensation to attract and retain top talent in our industry and remain competitive. We believe that any failure by us to offer competitive levels of equity compensation in attracting and retaining important management and key employees would have an adverse effect on our business.

• Maintaining Balanced Compensation . A balanced approach to executive compensation, using a mix of salaries, performance-based incentive compensation and long-term equity incentives, helps prevent management from making decisions that favor short-term results over longer-term stability and profitability. Without a sufficient share pool from which to grant long-term equity awards to Participants, our ability to inhibit favoring short-term results would be hampered.

• No Automatic Annual Increase . The 2022 Plan does not include “evergreen” features with respect to which additional shares are automatically authorized for issuance each year without stockholder approval.

• Minimum Vesting Requirement . The 2022 Plan provides for a minimum vesting period of at least one year (excluding any award granted to a non-employee director that vests on the earlier of the first anniversary of the date of grant or Daré’s next annual meeting of stockholders) after grant for at least 95% of the awards

• No Dividends . The 2022 Plan provides that dividends/dividend equivalents may only be paid out on awards that are vested or which become vested.

• Repricing is Not Allowed . The 2022 Plan prohibits the repricing of stock options and stock appreciation rights granted under the 2022 Plan without prior stockholder approval.

• No Liberal Share Counting . The following shares will not become available again for issuance under the 2022 Plan: (i) in the event that a stock appreciation right granted under the 2022 Plan is settled in shares, the gross number of shares subject to such stock appreciation right; (ii) shares that are reacquired or withheld (or not issued) by Daré to satisfy the exercise, strike or purchase price of an award granted under the 2022 Plan; (iii) shares that are reacquired or withheld (or not issued) by Daré to satisfy a tax withholding obligation in connection with an award granted under the 2022 Plan;