BOSTON, Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Elicio Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELTX, "Elicio" or the "Company")), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a pipeline of novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, today announced that on February 17, 2026, Elicio granted an aggregate of 30,300 inducement stock options to a new employee, as an inducement material to such individual entering into employment with Elicio in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The inducement stock options were approved by the Compensation Committee of Elicio's Board of Directors and granted under the Elicio Therapeutics, Inc. 2024 Inducement Incentive Award Plan.

The grant provides for the purchase of shares of Elicio common stock at a price of $8.59 per share, the closing price per share of Elicio common stock as reported by Nasdaq on February 17, 2026, the date of grant.

The grant vests over four years, with 25 percent of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of the employee's start date, and the remainder vesting ratably at the end of each subsequent month thereafter, subject to such employee's continued service relationship with Elicio through the applicable vesting dates.

About Elicio Therapeutics

Elicio Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELTX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel immunotherapies for the treatment of high-prevalence cancers, including mKRAS-positive pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Elicio intends to build on recent clinical successes in the personalized cancer immunotherapy space to develop effective, off-the-shelf immunotherapies. Elicio's Amphiphile ("AMP") technology aims to enhance the education, activation and amplification of cancer-specific T cells relative to conventional immunotherapy strategies, with the goal of promoting durable cancer immunosurveillance in patients. Elicio's ELI-002 lead program is an off-the-shelf immunotherapy candidate targeting the most common KRAS mutations, which drives approximately 25% of all solid tumors. Off-the-shelf immunotherapy approaches have the potential benefits of low cost, rapid commercial scale manufacturing, and rapid availability of drug to patients especially in neo-adjuvant settings and for prophylaxis in high-risk patients, contrary to personalized immunotherapy approaches. ELI-002 is being studied in an ongoing, randomized clinical trial in patients with mKRAS-positive pancreatic cancer who completed standard therapy but remain at high risk of relapse. ELI-002 also has been studied in patients with mKRAS-positive colorectal cancer ("CRC") in Phase 1 studies. The updated AMPLIFY-201 Phase 1 data for PDAC and CRC was presented at the ESMO Immuno-Oncology Congress 2024 and included a 16.3-month median recurrence-free survival and 28.9-month median overall survival for the full study population. In the future, Elicio plans to expand ELI-002 to other indications including mKRAS positive lung cancer and other mKRAS positive cancers. Elicio's pipeline includes additional off-the-shelf therapeutic cancer immunotherapy candidates, including ELI-007 and ELI-008, that target BRAF-driven cancers and p53 hotspot mutations, respectively. For more information, please visit www.elicio.com.

Investor Relations Contact

Brian Ritchie

LifeSci Advisors

(212) 915-2578

britchie@lifesciadvisors.com

Elicio Therapeutics Reports Inducement Grants