Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On March 13, 2019, Koert VandenEnden, Chief Accounting Officer of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (the “Company”), announced his intention to resign as Chief Accounting Officer of the Company in order to pursue a new opportunity. Mr. VandenEnden’s resignation will be effective March 31, 2019.
David C. Hastings, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed as the Company’s principal accounting officer, effective as of Mr. VandenEnden’s resignation on March 31, 2019. Mr. Hastings will serve as the Company’s principal accounting officer in addition to continuing his role as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Hastings, age 57, has served as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer since June 2018. Mr. Hastings previously served as the Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Incyte Corporation (a life sciences company with a focus on oncology) from 2003 until 2014. During this time, Mr. Hastings oversaw all financial aspects as Incyte transitioned from research and development to commercialization following the launch of Jakafi® (ruxolitinib). Mr. Hastings also previously served as Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of ArQule Inc. During his tenure at ArQule, he played an important role in ArQule’s transition into a drug discovery and development organization, and in two strategic acquisitions, including the purchase of Cyclis Pharmaceuticals Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Hastings was with Genzyme Corporation as its Vice President and Corporate Controller, and with Sepracor, Inc. where he was Director of Finance. Most recently, Mr. Hastings served as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Unilife Corporation (a medical device company) from 2015 to 2017 and as its Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer from 2016 to 2017. Mr. Hastings was an executive officer of Unilife Corporation when it filed for voluntary bankruptcy in April 2017. Mr. Hastings currently serves on the Board of Directors and chairs the Audit Committees of Scynexis, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCYX), VBL Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VBLT), and Entasis Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ETTX).
No new compensatory arrangements will be entered into with Mr. Hastings in connection with his appointment as the Company’s principal accounting officer.
Mr. Hastings was not appointed as the Company’s principal accounting officer to any arrangement or understanding with any other person. Mr. Hastings does not have any family relationships with any executive officer or director of the Company and he is not a party to any transaction required to be disclosed to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
About Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS)
Arbutus Biopharma Corporation, formerly Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, is a therapeutic solutions company. The Company is engaged in discovering, developing and commercializing a cure for patients suffering from chronic hepatitis B infection (HBV), a disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). It is developing a pipeline focused on advancing Ribo Nucleic Acid interference therapeutics (RNAi) using its Lipid Nanoparticle technology. The Company’s lead RNAi HBV candidate, ARB-1467, eliminates HBV surface antigen expression in patients chronically infected with HBV. ARB-1467 is being developed as a multi-component RNAi therapeutic that targets various sites on the HBV genome. It is also developing small molecule covalently closed circular deoxyribonucleic acid (cccDNA) formation inhibitors, multiple small molecule orally bioavailable inhibitors of HBV surface antigen production and secretion, cccDNA epigenetic modifiers and stimulator of interferon genes agonists.