Item
5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of
Certain Officers.
(d)
On December 8, 2021, our Board appointed Amy Broidrick, who had been serving as our Executive Vice President/Chief Strategy Officer since
December 2020, to the position of President/Chief Strategy Officer (effective December 10, 2021). Ms. Broidrick will also retain her
seat on the Board, which she has held since August 2020.
On
April 27, 2021, the Board ratified the decision made on April 20, 2021 by the Compensation Committee of the Board for Ms. Broidrick to
receive, as compensation for service as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, a salary at a rate of $400,000 per annum
and a 45% target bonus opportunity.
In
connection with this promotion, on December 8, 2021 we increased Ms. Broidrick’s salary to a rate of $450,000 per annum and granted
her an additional 300,000 stock options (to be incentive stock options, to the extent allowed by law) under our 2020 Stock Incentive
Plan, vesting over three years in three equal annual installments on December 8, 2022, 2023 and 2024, with an exercise price of $1.24
per share.
In
addition, we entered into an Executive Employment Agreement dated December 10, 2021 with Ms. Broidrick. This Executive Employment Agreement
provides for a salary at a rate of $450,000 per annum, and, conditioned upon her granting a general release, severance pay of 12 months’
salary and COBRA reimbursement in the event of termination without cause.
From
2016 to July 2020, Ms. Broidrick has served as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Corporate Development of Viking Therapeutics, Inc.
(Nasdaq: VKTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Before that, she was Vice President, Head of Global Marketing Excellence
and Business Innovation with EMD Serono (part of Merck KGaA). Earlier, she was Vice President, Head of Marketing and Commercialization
at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and had significant roles and responsibilities at Merck & Co., Inc. and G.D. Searle & Company.
Ms. Broidrick is currently 63 years old.
There
is no arrangement or understanding between Ms. Broidrick and any other persons or entities pursuant to which she was selected as President/Chief
Strategy Officer.
Since
the beginning of our last fiscal year, there have been no transactions, or currently proposed transactions, in which we were or are to
be a participant and the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and in which Ms. Broidrick, or any member of her immediate family, had or
will have a direct or indirect material interest.
Michael
Poirier, who had previously been serving as our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, will continue to serve as our Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer.
In
addition, on December 8, 2021, we granted Tariq Arshad, our Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer, an additional 300,000 stock
options (to be incentive stock options, to the extent allowed by law) under our 2020 Stock Incentive Plan, vesting over two-plus years
in three equal annual installments on May 17, 2022, 2023 and 2024, with an exercise price of $1.24 per share. The grant of these additional
options had been contemplated by our original April 22, 2021 hire arrangement with Mr. Arshad.