Management Change/Compensation (Form 8-K)

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On September 3, 2025, the Compensation Committee (the "Compensation Committee") of the Board of Directors (the "Board") of SmartKem, Inc. (the "Company") approved equity compensation awards for the Company's executive officers and members of the Board. The Compensation Committee approved an award of options (the "Options") to purchase shares of the Company's common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the "Common Stock"), in the following amounts: Ian Jenks, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, was awarded Options to purchase 160,005 shares of Common Stock, Barbra Keck, the Company's Chief Financial Officer, was awarded Options to purchase 71,077 shares of Common Stock; and each of the Company's non-employee Board members, Klaas de Boer, Sri Peruvemba, Melisa Denis and Steven DenBaars, was awarded Options to purchase 22,466 shares of Common Stock. The Options were granted in accordance with the terms of the Company's 2021 Equity Incentive Plan and/or the UK Tax-Advantaged Sub-Plan. The Options have an exercise price of $1.16, the closing price of the Common Stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on September 3, 2025, and vested as to 25% upon grant with the remainder in equal monthly installments over 36 months commencing on October 3, 2025.

Item 8.01 Other Events.

Ian Jenks Employment Agreement Amendment

On September 3, 2025, the Company and Mr. Jenks entered into an amendment (the "Amendment") to the Employment Agreement, dated February 2, 2021, between the Company and Mr. Jenks (the "Employment Agreement"). The Amendment increases Mr. Jenks's cash severance entitlement from six (6) months of base salary to twelve (12) months of base salary if his employment is terminated by the Company without "Cause" or if he resigns for "Good Reason," as those terms are defined in the Employment Agreement. The Amendment was approved by the Compensation Committee on September 3, 2025.

The Amendment is attached as Exhibit 10.1 hereto. The description of the Amendment is not intended to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to such exhibit.

Shares Outstanding Update

As of September 5, 2025, the Company had 5,479,787 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding.