On September 7, 2017, the Board of Directors of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc (the Company) appointed Mr. Alex Driggs as the Company’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, effective immediately.
Mr. Driggs, 41, joined the Company in May 2015 as Associate General Counsel, was appointed its Deputy General Counsel in September 2015 and has most recently served as Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since June 2017. Prior to joining Sucampo, from January 2013 through May 2015, Mr. Driggs was an independent legal consultant for biotechnology clients. From March until December 2012, Mr. Driggs served as Senior Counsel in Amgen Inc.’s Licensing & Alliance Management Group.
The Company and Mr. Driggs will enter into an employment agreement pursuant to which Mr. Driggs will (i) receive an initial annual base salary of $310,000, (ii) be eligible to receive annual bonuses in accordance with the Company’s non-equity incentive plan and other benefits available to executive officers of the Company, (iii) be eligible to receive severance payments under certain circumstances, and (iv) be subject to standard restrictions on competition or interference with the Company following termination. In addition, on September 7, Mr. Driggs was awarded a one-time promotion bonus in the amount of $75,000.
The foregoing description of the employment agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the employment agreement, which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company's periodic report for the relevant fiscal period.
As an executive officer of the Company Mr. Driggs will enter into the Company's standard form of indemnification agreement, a copy of which has been filed on November 9, 2016 as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2016.
There are no arrangements or understandings between Mr. Driggs and any other persons pursuant to which Mr. Driggs was appointed as an officer of the Company. There are no transactions, or proposed transactions, during the last two years with the Company to which Mr. Driggs was or is to be a party, in which Mr. Driggs, or any member of his immediate family, has a direct or indirect material interest that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. There is no familial relationship between Mr. Driggs and any other director or executive officer of the Company.
The Company’s press release regarding the appointment is being furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. The information contained in the press release furnished as Exhibit 99.1 shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and is not incorporated by reference into any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date hereof, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in any such filing.