Options do not "need" to be issued every single year, providing a perpetual trough feeding. This is just how these guys operate unfortunately.

I have worked in tech my whole life, and have a good understanding of how options work for many startups and mid-sized companies, and there are many reputable companies that hand out options when you join the company, but they DO NOT keep diluting shareholders by handing out more and more options to the same people year after year, especially when there have been multiple failed attempts to commercialization over the years.

The incentive is generally provided when you join, and just because another year passes, shouldn't automatically mean they need to keep adding to the huge pile. To me this is very disappointing from what I am used to, but expected based on their history.