Inhibikase Therapeutics Announces Inducement Grants Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Inhibikase Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: IKT) (“Inhibikase” or “Company”), today announced that the Company granted non-qualified stock options to purchase up to an aggregate of 128,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to two newly-hired non-executive employees under the Company’s 2026 Inducement Equity Plan (the “Inducement Plan”), effective as of September 30, 2026 (the “Effective Date”). The inducement grants were previously approved by the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors, as a material inducement to the new employees’ entry into employment with the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

The options have an exercise price of $2.055 per share, which is equal to the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the Effective Date. The options have a ten year term, with 25% vesting on the first anniversary of the Effective Date and the remaining 75% vesting in 36 equal monthly installments thereafter. The options are subject to the terms and conditions of the Inducement Plan approved by the Company’s Board of Directors in March 2026 and the terms and conditions of award agreements covering the grants.

Inhibikase Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: IKT) is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics to modify the course of cardiopulmonary diseases, namely, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (“PAH”), in which aberrant signaling through type III receptor tyrosine kinases, including platelet derived growth factor receptors and a stem cell factor receptor, known as “c-Kit” has been implicated. Our lead product candidate is IKT-001, a prodrug of imatinib mesylate (“imatinib”), for PAH which is an orphan indication. Imatinib was first approved in the United States in 2001 for various cancers and blood disorders and, following more than 20 years of clinical use, has a well-characterized safety profile with the first reported use of imatinib in PAH occurring in 2005. PAH is a progressive, life-threatening disease characterized by pulmonary vascular remodeling and elevated pulmonary vascular resistance that affects approximately 50,000 Americans. Our single pivotal Phase 3 clinical study in PAH in approximately 180 sites around the world, named IMPROVE-PAH (I KT-001 for M easuring P ulmonary Vascular R esistance and O utcome V ariables in a Phase 3 E valuation of PAH), is actively enrolling patients.