Effective on March 23, 2017, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (the “Company”) appointed Daniel Burgess as a director. Mr. Burgess was appointed to the Audit Committee, effective as of the same date.

Mr. Burgess has significant experience serving as an officer and director of life sciences companies.

Mr. Burgess’ compensation will be consistent with that provided to all of the Company’s non-employee directors. Under the Company’s current non-employee director compensation policy, Mr. Burgess will receive an annual cash retainer of $40,000 for general availability and participation in meetings and conference calls of the Board. Mr. Burgess was granted, effective upon the end of the Company’s current blackout period, options to acquire 50,000 common shares of the Company. The options will be exercisable for 10 years from the date of grant, at a price equal to the share price as of the close of trading upon the end of the current blackout period. One-third of the options will vest each year, on the anniversary date of the grant. The options will also be subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s 2016 Omnibus Share and Incentive Plan, which has been filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-8, filed on June 20, 2016.

The Company expects to enter into an indemnification agreement with Mr. Burgess in connection with his appointment to the Board, which agreement is expected to be in substantially the same form as that entered into with the other directors of the Company.

No arrangement or understanding exists between Mr. Burgess and any other person to which Mr. Burgess was selected as a director, and there are no transactions which would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

On March 23, 2017, the Company issued a press release, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

Exhibit 99.1. Press release, dated March 23, 2017

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.

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) Recent Trading Information

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) closed its last trading session 00.00 at 3.15 with 88,089 shares trading hands.