CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC. (NASDAQ:CBIO) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain OfficersItem 5.02
On December12, 2017, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”) approved an increase in the authorized number of directors of the Board to nine members and then appointed Edward Williams as a member of the Board, effective January1, 2018, to fill the vacancy on the Board. Mr.Williams was appointed as a Class I director whose term will expire as of the 2019 annual stockholders’ meeting. The Board has not appointed Mr.Williams to any board committees at this time.
Mr.Williams served from January 2014 to January 2017 as Senior Vice-President of Biopharmaceuticals at Novo Nordisk Inc., where he was responsible for the general management of all aspects of the biotechnology business for the U.S. in three therapeutic areas, including hemophilia. From March 2006 through January 2014, Mr.Williams was vice president of sales in the Respiratory and Dermatology Business Unit at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., where he ran all sales aspects of the respiratory and dermatology businesses. Before joining Novartis, Mr.Williams held numerous sales and marketing positions of increasing responsibility for more than 20 years at Pharmacia& Upjohn Company (acquired by Pfizer in 2002). Mr.Williams earned a B.S. in biology and chemistry from Marshall University.
As a non-employee director, consistent with the Company’s director compensation policy, in connection with his appointment to the Board, Mr.Williams will be granted a non-qualified stock option to purchase 10,000 shares of common stock of the Company, which option will vest monthly over three years, subject to continued service. At each annual meeting of stockholders, Mr.Williams will also receive an annual non-qualified stock option to purchase 5,000 shares of common stock of the Company, which will vest over one year. In addition, Mr.Williams is entitled to an annual cash retainer of $35,000 for his service on the Board, payable on a quarterly basis. This retainer may be irrevocably elected on an annual basis to be received in the form of fully vested shares of common stock of the Company in lieu of cash.
No “family relationship,” as that term is defined in Item401(d) of Regulation S-K, exists among Mr.Williams, on the one hand, and any of the Company’s directors or executive officers, on the other hand.
Also on December14, 2017, the Company announced the resignation of Dr.HaroldE. Selick from the Company’s Board of Directors, effective February15, 2018. Dr.Selick’s resignation is not the result of any disagreement with the Company related to its operations, policies or practices. The Board has appointed Augustine (Gus) Lawlor to serve as Chairman of the Board effective February15, 2018.
About CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC. (NASDAQ:CBIO)
Catalyst Biosciences, Inc., formerly Targacept, Inc., is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company is focused on creating and developing medicines to address serious medical conditions. The Company focuses its product development efforts in the fields of hemostasis, including the treatment of hemophilia and surgical bleeding, and inflammation, including prevention of delayed graft function (DGF) in renal transplants and the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD), a condition that can cause visual impairment or blindness. The Company’s advanced program is a coagulation Factor VIIa variant, CB 813d, that has completed a Phase I clinical trial in severe hemophilia A and B patients. In addition to its lead Factor VIIa program, it has approximately two other coagulation factors, a Factor IX variant, CB 2679d/ISU 304, that is in advanced preclinical development, and a Factor Xa variant that has reached the advanced lead preclinical-stage of development.
