Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election
of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On
November 15, 2020, the Board of Directors, or the Board, of Ziopharm Oncology, Inc., or the Company, appointed Mary Thistle as
a member of the Company’s Board, effective immediately. Ms. Thistle will serve as a director until the Company’s 2021
Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until such time as her successor is duly elected and qualified, or until her earlier death,
resignation or removal. Ms. Thistle was not appointed to serve on any committees of the Company’s Board. Ms. Thistle fills
the vacancy on the Board created by the resignation of Scott Braunstein, MD, who resigned from the Board, effective November 15,
2020. Dr. Braunstein’s decision to resign was not due to any disagreement with the Company’s operations, policies or
practices.
Ms.
Thistle, 61, has served as Special Advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, a non-profit biotech organization,
since October 2020, and was its Chief of Staff from January 2018 until October 2020. Prior to then, she held senior leadership
positions at Dimension Therapeutics, Inc., a gene therapy company, including serving as its Chief Operating Officer from 2016 to
2017 and Chief Business Officer from 2015 to 2016. Prior to joining Dimension Therapeutics, Inc., she spent six years at Cubist
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, where she held various leadership positions, including serving as its Senior
Vice President, Business Development from 2014 to 2015, Vice President, Business Development from 2012 to 2013 and Senior Director,
Business Development from 2009 to 2012. Prior to then, she held various positions at ViaCell, Inc. and PerkinElmer Inc. Ms. Thistle
serves as a member of the boards of directors of Homology Medicines, Inc., Enterome SA and Cocoon Biotech Inc. Ms. Thistle holds
a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Ms.
Thistle will be compensated in accordance with the Company’s standard compensation arrangements for non-employee directors,
which are described in greater detail in the Company’s definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A relating to its 2020 Annual
Meeting of Stockholders, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Commission, on May 18, 2020.
In
connection with her appointment, the Company will enter into its standard form of indemnity agreement with Ms. Thistle, the form
of which was filed as Exhibit 99.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 31, 2013.
Ms. Thistle was not selected as a director pursuant to any arrangements or understandings with the Company or with any other person.
On
November 16, 2020, the Company issued a press release announcing Dr. Braunstein’s resignation and the appointment of Ms.
Thistle to the Board. A copy of this press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
On
November 15, 2020, the Board, following the recommendation of the Compensation Committee of the Board, granted each of Sath
Shukla, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, and Robert Hadfield, the Company’s General Counsel, a cash
retention award in the amount of $500,000, with 40% of the retention award payable if such individual remains employed with
the Company on April 1, 2021, 35% of the retention award payable if such individual remains employed with the Company on
September 1, 2021, and 25% of the retention award payable if such individual remains employed with the Company on December 1,
2021. In addition, the Board granted Raffaele Baffa, M.D., Ph.D., the Company’s Chief Medical Officer, a cash retention
award in the amount of $250,000, with 40% of the retention award payable if Dr. Baffa remains employed with the Company on
April 1, 2021, 30% of the retention award payable if Dr. Baffa remains employed with the Company on September 1, 2021, and
30% of the retention award payable if Dr. Baffa remains employed with the Company on December 1, 2021. The final payment of
the retention awards for each of Mr. Shukla, Mr. Hadfield and Dr. Baffa will only be payable if the Company has achieved
certain patient dosing milestones in its TCR-T program. Further, if the employment of Mr. Shukla, Mr. Hadfield or Dr. Baffa
is terminated without cause or such individual resigns for good reason or upon the occurrence of certain change in control
events, each of Mr. Shukla, Mr. Hadfield and Dr. Baffa is entitled to his next scheduled payment in addition to any other
compensation he may be owed pursuant to their respective employment arrangements with the Company and, in the case of the
third retention payment, provided the patient dosing milestones are achieved.
In addition, on November 15,
2020, the Board approved amendments to the existing employment agreements for Mr. Shukla, Mr. Hadfield and Dr. Baffa. Under the
amendments, each executive will receive twelve (12) months of their base salary in the event of a termination of their employment
by the Company without “Cause” or by such executive for “Good Reason” (as such terms are defined in the
executive’s respective employment agreement). Such severance period reflects an increase from the prior nine (9) month period.