NEWARK, Calif., June 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Protagonist
Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:PTGX) today reported that on
June 30, 2021, it issued an
inducement award to Patrick Smith,
the Company's recently hired Vice President, Quality Assurance, in
accordance with the terms of Mr. Smith's employment offer letter.
The award was granted under the Protagonist Therapeutics Amended
and Restated Inducement Plan, which was adopted May 29, 2018, and amended February 18, 2020.
The inducement award consists of an option to purchase 45,000
shares of Protagonist Therapeutics common stock and has a ten-year
term. The exercise price of the option is $45.05, which
was the per-share closing price of Protagonist Therapeutics common
stock on the Nasdaq Global Market on June
30, 2021. The shares subject to the option vest over a
four-year period, with 25 percent of the shares subject to the
option vesting on the first anniversary of Mr. Smith's date of hire
and the remainder vesting in equal monthly installments over three
years thereafter. The award was approved by the compensation
committee of the Company's board of directors and was granted as a
material inducement to Mr. Smith's entering into employment with
the Company in accordance with Nasdaq Marketplace Rule
5635(c)(4).
About Protagonist Therapeutics
Protagonist Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company with
multiple peptide-based investigational new chemical entities in
different stages of development, all derived from the Company's
proprietary technology platform.
Protagonist's pipeline includes rusfertide (PTG-300), an
investigational, injectable hepcidin mimetic currently in a Phase 2
proof-of-concept clinical trial for polycythemia vera (PV), a Phase
2 study in PV subjects with high hematocrit levels, and a Phase 2
study for hereditary hemochromatosis. Based on the feedback
provided by the FDA and EU regulatory authorities, the Company
plans to initiate a single, global Phase 3 randomized,
placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of a
once weekly, subcutaneously self-administered dose of
rusfertide.
The Company is also evaluating an orally delivered,
gut-restricted alpha-4-beta-7 integrin specific antagonist peptide
(PN-943) currently in a Phase 2 study in adults with moderate to
severe active ulcerative colitis (UC). Company is targeting
ulcerative colitis as the initial indication.
The Company has a worldwide license and collaboration agreement
with Janssen Biotech, Inc., for the development of oral peptide
IL-23 receptor antagonists. Compounds included in this agreement
are PTG-200, PN-235 and PN-232. PTG-200 is an orally delivered,
gut-restricted, interleukin-23 receptor specific antagonist peptide
in a Phase 2 clinical trial for Crohn's disease. PN-235 and PN-232,
both second-generation oral interleukin-23 receptor antagonist
candidates, are currently in Phase 1 studies.
Protagonist is headquartered in Newark, California. For further information,
please visit www.protagonist-inc.com.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/protagonist-therapeutics-reports-granting-of-inducement-award-301323673.html
SOURCE Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.