Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain OfficersItem 5.02Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On April17, 2018, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Cerus Corporation (the “Company”), upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee of the Board (the “Compensation Committee”), approved an amendment to the Company’s Change of Control Severance Benefit Plan (the “Severance Plan”) to extend the vesting acceleration benefits under the Severance Plan to all equity awards granted to the participants in the Severance Plan (each, a “Participant”). As amended, the Severance Plan (the “Amended Severance Plan”) provides, in addition to certain other benefits, that in the event a Participant’s experiences a “covered termination,” as defined in the Severance Plan, then the vesting (and, if applicable, exercisability) of all equity awards held by the Participant will be accelerated in full. Prior to such amendment, such vesting acceleration benefit was limited only to stock options. Each of the Company’s executive officers, with the exception of the Company’s chief executive officer, are Participants in the Severance Plan. Similarly, on April17, 2018, the Board, upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee, approved amendments to the Company’s employment letter agreement with the Company’s chief executive officer (the “CEO Letter Agreement”) and the employment letter agreement with the Company’s chief financial officer (the “CFO Letter Agreement” and together with the CEO Letter Agreement, the “Letter Agreements”) to provide, in each case, that any vesting acceleration benefits to which they are entitled to the applicable Letter Agreement will apply to all equity awards granted to Company’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer, and not only to stock options. Like with the Amended Severance Plan, the Letter Agreements provide for certain severance-related benefits under certain employment termination scenarios, including, in the case of the Company’s chief executive officer, a change of control-related termination.
The foregoing descriptions of the Amended Severance Plan and the Letter Agreement amendments do not purport to be complete and are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, the full text of the Amended Severance Plan and the Letter Agreements, as amended. The Company intends to file a copy of the Amended Severance Plan and the Letter Agreement amendments with the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ending June30, 2018.
About Cerus Corporation (NASDAQ:CERS)
Cerus Corporation is a biomedical products company. The Company is engaged in developing and commercializing the INTERCEPT Blood System for blood safety. The Company operates through blood safety segment. The Company’s INTERCEPT Blood System is based on its technology for controlling biological replication, and is designed to reduce blood-borne pathogens in donated blood components intended for transfusion. The Company’s INTERCEPT Blood System is designed to target and inactivate blood-borne pathogens, such as viruses, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), West Nile, Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), hepatitis B and C; bacteria and parasites, as well as harmful white blood cells, while preserving the therapeutic properties of platelet, plasma and red blood cell transfusion products. The Company’s INTERCEPT Blood System is for use with blood components, including plasma, platelets, and red blood cells.
