Aclarion, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACON, ACONW), a commercial-stage healthcare technology company focused on chronic low back pain, announced Tuesday that its compensation committee granted an inducement stock option to Daniel Keefe, the company's newly hired Commercial Director, Western U.S. The grant, made on May 5, 2026, covers 17,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $3.20 per share, equal to the closing price on the grant date.
The option vests over a four-year period, with one-quarter vesting on the one-year anniversary of the vesting commencement date and the remainder in equal monthly installments over the following three years, contingent on continued employment. The 10-year option was granted under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) as an inducement material to Keefe's hiring.
This hiring reflects Aclarion's strategy to expand its commercial footprint in the Western United States, a region where the company sees significant opportunity for its Nociscan platform. Nociscan is a cloud-based SaaS platform that uses magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data from MRI machines to noninvasively help physicians distinguish between painful and nonpainful lumbar discs. The platform applies proprietary signal processing and augmented intelligence algorithms to quantify chemical biomarkers associated with disc pain, providing critical insights to optimize treatment strategies.
According to the company, demand for Nociscan is rising, supported by triple-digit growth in utilization. The expansion of the commercial team is a direct response to this increasing adoption by physicians and healthcare providers. Aclarion believes that Nociscan addresses a significant unmet need in the chronic low back pain market, where accurate identification of pain-generating discs can improve treatment success rates and reduce unnecessary procedures.
Aclarion's press release notes that the forward-looking statements, including those regarding increasing demand for Nociscan, are subject to risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information about Aclarion and Nociscan, visit www.aclarion.com. The latest news and updates relating to $ACON are available in the company's newsroom at https://tinyurl.com/aconnewsroom.
