Marina Biotech, Inc. (OTCMKTS:MRNA) Files An 8-K Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain OfficersItem 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On May 2, 2018, the Board appointed Vuong Trieu, the Executive Chairman of the Company, to serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Company, to replace Mr. Ramelli, effective immediately. In his capacity as Interim Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Trieu shall receive a salary from the Company in the amount of $20,000 per month.
Dr. Trieu has served as a director of the Company, and as the Chairman of its Board of Directors, since November 2016. He has also served as Executive Chairman of the Company since June 30, 2017. Dr. Trieu currently serves as the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer at Autotelic Inc. (since May 2014), as the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Regulatory Officer at each of Glucotelic Inc. (since November 2016), Osteotelic Inc. (since July 2016), Oncotelic Inc. (since October 2015) and Stocosil (since February 2015), and as the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Operating Officer at LipoMedics Inc. (since August 2015). He previously served as Chairman of the Board and President of IThenaPharma Inc. from August 2014 until that entity’s merger with the Company in November 2016, as the Chief Scientific Officer of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. from September 2013 until May 2014, as the President and Chief Executive Officer at IgDraSol Inc. from January 2012 until August 2013, as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Biomiga Diagnostics from 2011 until August 2013, and as the Director of Biology / Pharmacology at Abraxis BioScience from November 2002 until July 2011. He also served as a member of the Board of Directors of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. from September 2013 until August 2014. Dr. Trieu, age 54, received a Ph.D. in microbiology / molecular biology from the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Trieu was appointed to serve as a member of the Board to that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of November 15, 2016 by and among the Company, Ithena Acquisition Corporation, IthenaPharma Inc. and Dr. Trieu as the representative of the stockholders of IthenaPharma Inc. (the “Merger Agreement”). Other than as a result of the Merger Agreement, the transactions contemplated thereby and the agreements entered into in connection therewith, there are no arrangements or understandings between Dr. Trieu and any other persons to which Dr. Trieu was selected as a director. There are also no family relationships between Dr. Trieu and any director or executive officer of the Company, other than that Falguni Trieu, the Director of Business Development, is the spouse of Dr. Trieu.
In addition, there are no transactions between the Company and Dr. Trieu or his immediate family members requiring disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, other than that: (A) the Company and Dr. Trieu are parties to a Line Letter to which Dr. Trieu offered to the Company an unsecured line of credit in an amount not to exceed $540,000, to be used for current operating expenses (the outstanding principal balance of which line of credit, plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon, converted into shares of Series E Stock and warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock upon the closing of the Private Placement); (B) Dr. Trieu is the Chief Executive Officer of Autotelic LLC, with which entity the Company entered into a License Agreement dated November 15, 2016; (C) Dr. Trieu is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Autotelic Inc., with which entity the Company entered into a Master Services Agreement dated November 15, 2016, and which entity offered to the Company an unsecured line of credit in an amount not to exceed $500,000 in April 2017 (the outstanding principal balance of which line of credit, plus accrued and unpaid interest thereon, converted into shares of Series E Stock and warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock upon the closing of the Private Placement); (D) Dr. Trieu is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Operating Officer of LipoMedics Inc., with which entity the Company entered into a License Agreement and a Stock Purchase Agreement, each dated February 6, 2017; (E) Dr. Trieu is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Oncotelic Inc., with which entity the Company entered into a License Agreement dated July 17, 2017; and (F) Dr. Trieu is the Chief Executive Officer of Autotelic LLC, which entity owns approximately 19% of the issued and outstanding shares of the common stock of Autotelic BIO, with which entity the Company entered into a binding term sheet on January 11, 2018 regarding the licensing of the Company’s IT-103 product candidate.
About Marina Biotech, Inc. (OTCMKTS:MRNA)
Marina Biotech, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of nucleic acid-based therapies to treat orphan diseases. The Company’s pipeline includes CEQ508, a product in clinical development for the treatment of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP), and preclinical programs for the treatment of type 1 myotonic dystrophy (DM1) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). It creates a range of therapeutics targeting coding and non-coding ribonucleic acid (RNA) through several mechanisms of action, such as RNA interference (RNAi), messenger RNA translational inhibition, exon skipping, microRNA (miRNA) replacement, miRNA inhibition and steric blocking in order to modulate gene expression either up or down depending on the specific mechanism of action. It has two liposomal-based delivery platforms: SMARTICLES, and the platform, which utilizes amino-based liposomal delivery technology and incorporates a molecule, Di-Alkylated Amino Acid (DiLA2).