BEDFORD, Mass. / May 17, 2024 / Business Wire / Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: STOK), a biotechnology company dedicated to addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines, today announced that, effective on May 15, 2024, the company granted stock options of common stock to Thomas Leggett, the Company’s newly-appointed Chief Financial Officer, and four other new employees as a material inducement to their employment in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

The company granted Mr. Leggett stock options to purchase 396,200 shares of common stock. The stock options that were granted have an exercise price of $14.13 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Stoke’s common stock on May 15, 2024. Each option will vest over a 4-year period, with 1/4^th of the shares underlying the employee’s option vesting on the one-year anniversary of the applicable vesting commencement date and the remaining shares thereafter vesting monthly at a rate of 1/48^th of the shares underlying each employee’s option over the following 36 months, subject to the employee’s continued employment with Stoke on such vesting dates. The options have a term of 10 years and are subject to the terms and conditions of the 2023 Inducement Plan and the stock option agreement covering the grant.

In addition, the company granted stock options to purchase an aggregate of 65,000 shares of common stock to four new employees. The stock options that were granted have an exercise price of $14.13 per share, which is equal to the closing price of Stoke’s common stock on May 15, 2024. Each option will vest over a 4-year period, with 1/4^th of the shares underlying the employee’s option vesting on the one-year anniversary of the applicable vesting commencement date and the remaining shares thereafter vesting monthly at a rate of 1/48^th of the shares underlying each employee’s option over the following 36 months, subject to the employee’s continued employment with Stoke on such vesting dates. The options have a term of 10 years and are subject to the terms and conditions of the 2023 Inducement Plan and the stock option agreement covering the grant.

About Stoke Therapeutics

Stoke Therapeutics (Nasdaq: STOK), is a biotechnology company dedicated to addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines. Using Stoke’s proprietary TANGO (Targeted Augmentation of Nuclear Gene Output) approach, Stoke is developing antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to selectively restore protein levels. Stoke’s first compound, STK-001, is in clinical testing for the treatment of Dravet syndrome, a severe and progressive genetic epilepsy. Dravet syndrome is one of many diseases caused by a haploinsufficiency, in which a loss of ~50% of normal protein levels leads to disease. Stoke is pursuing the development of STK-002 for the treatment of autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), the most common inherited optic nerve disorder. Stoke’s initial focus is haploinsufficiencies and diseases of the central nervous system and the eye, although proof of concept has been demonstrated in other organs, tissues, and systems, supporting its belief in the broad potential for its proprietary approach. Stoke is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/.