8-K
false 0001124105 0001124105 2021-10-07 2021-10-07

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 7, 2021

 

 

CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   000-51173   56-2020050
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
  (Commission
File Number)
  (IRS Employer
Identification No.)

611 Gateway Blvd, Suite 710, South San Francisco, CA 94080

(Address of principal executive offices)

(650) 871-0761

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

 

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

 

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Trading
Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange
on which registered

Common Stock   CBIO   Nasdaq

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

 

 


Item 5.02

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On October 7, 2021, Clinton Musil, Chief Financial Officer of Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”), notified the Company of his decision to resign for personal reasons. Mr. Musil’s resignation will be effective October 29, 2021 (the “Effective Date”). The Company will initiate a search to identify a new Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Musil will provide consulting services to the Company following the Effective Date.

On October 13, 2021, the Company and Mr. Musil entered into a consulting agreement (the “Consulting Agreement”) pursuant to which Mr. Musil agreed to serve as a consultant to the Company following the Effective Date.

Seline Miller, the Company’s Controller, was promoted to Senior Vice President, Finance and will serve as the Company’s interim Chief Financial Officer and interim Principal Accounting Officer. Mrs. Miller, age 52, joined the Company in March 2021 as Controller. Mrs. Miller served as the Chief Accounting Officer of Rezolute, Inc. from March 2019 until August 2019. From September 2019 to March 2021, Mrs. Miller provided consulting services to various biotechnology companies including Rezolute, Inc. From 2017 to 2019, Mrs. Miller was Vice President of Accounting and Corporate Controller at Textainer Group Holding. Prior to that, from 2015 to 2017, Mrs. Miller was Corporate Controller at Athoc, which was acquired by Blackberry. In 1990, Mrs. Miller started her career as a financial auditor within Price Waterhouse, now PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Mrs. Miller, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, obtained her Certified Public Accounting license in 1993 and earned her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

In connection with Mrs. Miller’s promotion to Senior Vice President, Finance, and appointment as interim Chief Financial Officer and interim Principal Accounting Officer, Mrs. Miller will receive an increase in annual base compensation from $250,000 to $300,000 and a bonus target of 30% increased from 25%.

There are no family relationships between Mrs. Miller and any director or executive officer of the Company, and Mrs. Miller is not a party to any transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K. There are no arrangements or understandings between Mrs. Miller and any other persons pursuant to which Mrs. Miller was appointed as the Company’s interim Principal Accounting Officer.

The above description of the Consulting Agreement is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Consulting Agreement, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K. A copy of the press release issued by the Company is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated by reference.

 

Item 9.01

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

 

Exhibit
No.

  

Description

10.1    Consulting Agreement between Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. and Clinton Musil dated October 13, 2021.
99.1    Press release issued by Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. dated October 13, 2021.
104    Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL).


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

      CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC.
Date: October 13, 2021      

/s/ Nassim Usman, Ph.D.

      Nassim Usman, Ph.D.
      President and Chief Executive Officer
EX-10.1

Exhibit 10.1

CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC.

CONSULTING AGREEMENT

This Consulting Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into as of 13 October 2021 to be effective upon the date of termination of your employment (the “Effective Date”) between Catalyst Biosciences, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Company”), and Clinton Musil (“Consultant”). Company desires to retain Consultant to perform certain consulting activities as described below, and Consultant desires to serve as a consultant to Company and perform such activities under the terms of this Agreement.

NOW, THEREFORE, Consultant and Company agree as follows:

1.    SERVICES AND COMPENSATION

(a)    Consultant agrees to act as a consultant to Company with respect to such matters and projects as are mutually agreed from time to time by and between Consultant and Company, and to perform the services described on Exhibit A hereto (collectively, the “Services”).

(b)    Company agrees to pay Consultant the compensation set forth in Exhibit A hereto for the performance of the Services.

2.    CONFIDENTIALITY

(a)    “Confidential Information” means any proprietary information, technical data, trade secrets or know-how, including, but not limited to, research and product plans, products, services, markets, developments, inventions, processes, formulas, technology, marketing, finances or other business information disclosed to Consultant by Company either directly or indirectly in writing, orally or otherwise. Confidential Information also includes all Inventions (as defined below) and any other information or materials generated in connection with the Services.

(b)    Consultant shall not, during or subsequent to the term of this Agreement, use any Confidential Information for any purpose whatsoever other than the performance of the Services on behalf of Company, or disclose Confidential Information to any third party. Consultant agrees that Confidential Information shall remain the sole property of Company. Consultant further agrees to take all reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized disclosure or use of Confidential Information. Notwithstanding the above, Consultant’s obligation under this Section 2(b) relating to Confidential Information shall not apply to information which (i) is known to Consultant at the time of disclosure to Consultant by Company as evidenced by written records of Consultant, (ii) has become publicly known and made generally available through no wrongful act of Consultant, or (iii) has been rightfully received by Consultant from a third party authorized to make such disclosure.

(c)    Consultant agrees that Consultant will not, during the term of this Agreement, improperly use or disclose to Company any proprietary information or trade secrets of any former or current employer or other person or entity to which Consultant has a duty to keep in confidence such information and that Consultant will not bring onto the premises of Company any unpublished document or proprietary information belonging to such employer, person or entity unless consented to in writing by the same. Consultant will indemnify Company and hold it harmless from and against all claims, liabilities, damages and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of suit, arising out of or in connection with any violation or claimed violation by Company of such third party’s rights resulting in whole or in part from Company’s use of the work product of Consultant under this Agreement.


(d)    Consultant recognizes that Company has received and in the future will receive from third parties their confidential or proprietary information subject to a duty on Company’s part to maintain the confidentiality of such information and to use it only for certain limited purposes. Consultant agrees that Consultant owes Company and such third parties, during the term of this Agreement and thereafter, a duty to hold all such confidential or proprietary information in the strictest confidence and not to disclose it to any person, firm or corporation or to use it except as necessary in carrying out the Services for Company consistent with Company’s agreement with such third party.

(e)    Upon the termination of this Agreement, or upon Company’s earlier request, Consultant will deliver to Company all Confidential Information and Company’s property relating thereto and all tangible embodiments thereof, in Consultant’s possession or control.

(f)    DTSA Notice. Consultant acknowledges receipt of the following notice pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1833(b)(1) (Defend Trade Secrets Act):

An individual shall not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law. An individual shall not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal. An individual who files a lawsuit for retaliation by an employer for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the trade secret to the attorney of the individual and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the individual files any document containing the trade secret under seal; and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

3.    OWNERSHIP

(a)    Consultant hereby irrevocably assigns to Company all right, title and interest in and to any information (including, without limitation, business plans and/or business information), technology, know-how, materials, notes, records, designs, ideas, inventions, improvements, devices, developments, discoveries, compositions, trade secrets, processes, methods and/or techniques, whether or not patentable or copyrightable, that are conceived, reduced to practice or made by Consultant alone or jointly with others in the course of performing the Services or through the use of Confidential Information (collectively, “Inventions”).

(b)    Consultant agrees to sign, execute and acknowledge or cause to be signed, executed and acknowledged without cost, but at the expense of Company, any and all documents and to perform such acts as may be necessary, useful or convenient for the purposes of perfecting the foregoing assignments and obtaining, enforcing and defending intellectual property rights in any and all countries with respect to Inventions. It is understood and agreed that Company or Company’s designee shall have the sole right, but not the obligation, to prepare, file, prosecute and maintain patent applications and patents worldwide with respect to Inventions.

 

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(c)    Upon the termination of this Agreement, or upon Company’s earlier requests, Consultant will deliver to Company all property relating to, and all tangible embodiments of, Inventions in Consultant’s possession or control.

(d)    Consultant agrees that if, in the course of performing the Services, Consultant incorporates into any Invention developed hereunder any invention, improvement, development concept, discovery or other proprietary subject matter owned by Consultant or in which Consultant has an interest (“Item”), Consultant will inform Company in writing thereof, and Company is hereby granted and shall have a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license to make, have made, modify, reproduce, display, use and sell such Item as part of or in connection with the exploitation of such Invention.

(e)    Consultant agrees that if Company is unable because of Consultant’s unavailability, mental or physical incapacity, or for any other reason, to secure Consultant’s signature to apply for or to pursue any application or registration for any intellectual property rights covering any Invention, then Consultant hereby irrevocably designates and appoints Company and its duly authorized officers and agents as Consultant’s agent and attorney-in-fact, to act for and in Consultant’s behalf to execute and file any such applications and to do all other lawfully permitted acts to further the prosecution and issuance of such intellectual property rights thereon with the same legal force and effect as if executed by Consultant.

4.    REPORTS. Consultant agrees, from time to time during the term of this Agreement, to keep Company advised as to Consultant’s progress in performing the Services and, as reasonably requested by Company, prepare written reports with respect thereto. It is understood that the time required in the preparation of such written reports shall be considered time devoted to the performance of the Services by Consultant. All such reports prepared by Consultant shall be the sole property of Company.

5.    TERM AND TERMINATION

(a)    This Agreement will commence on the Effective Date and will continue until the earlier of 31 December 2021, or termination as provided below.

(b)    Either party may terminate this Agreement upon prior written notice thereof to the other party.

(c)    Either party may terminate this Agreement upon material breach by the other party provided that the non-breaching party shall provide written notice of such breach and an opportunity to cure such breach (if curable) for a period of thirty (30) days.

(d)    Upon termination of this Agreement, all rights and duties of the parties hereunder shall cease except:

(i)    Company shall be obliged to pay, within thirty (30) days after receipt of Consultant’s final statement, all amounts owing to Consultant for unpaid Services completed by Consultant and related expenses, if any, in accordance with the provisions of Section 1 hereof, and

(ii)    Sections 2, 3, 5(d), 6, 7 and 9 shall survive termination of this Agreement.

6.    INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR. Nothing in this Agreement shall in any way be construed to constitute Consultant as an agent, employee or representative of Company, but Consultant shall perform the Services as an independent contractor. Consultant acknowledges and agrees that Consultant is obligated to report as income all compensation received by Consultant pursuant to this Agreement.

 

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7.    ARBITRATION AND EQUITABLE RELIEF. Company and Consultant agree that any dispute or controversy arising out of, in relation to, or in connection with this Agreement, or the making, interpretation, construction, performance or breach hereof, shall be finally settled by binding arbitration in San Francisco, California under the then current rules of the American Arbitration Association by one (1) arbitrator appointed in accordance with such rules. The arbitrator may grant injunctive or other relief in such dispute or controversy. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final, conclusive and binding on the parties to the arbitration. Judgment may be entered on the arbitrator’s decision in any court of competent jurisdiction. The parties agree that, any provision of applicable law notwithstanding, they will not request, and the arbitrator shall have no authority to award, punitive or exemplary damages against either party. The costs of the arbitration, including administrative and arbitrator’s fees, shall be shared equally by the parties. Each party shall bear the cost of its own attorneys’ fees and expert witness fees.

 

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8.    CONFLICTING OBLIGATIONS. Consultant hereby certifies that he or she has no outstanding agreement or obligation that is in conflict with any of the provisions of this Agreement, or that would preclude Consultant from complying with the provisions hereof, and further certifies that Consultant will not enter into any such conflicting agreement during the term of this Agreement. Subject to written waivers that may be provided by the Company upon request, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, Consultant agrees that, during the term of this Agreement, Consultant will not directly or indirectly (i) provide any services in the Field of Interest to any other business or commercial entity, (ii) provide any services for any company that is competitive with the Company and shall list in Exhibit B hereto any other companies for whom Consultant is providing services (“Outside Companies”), or (iii) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity in the Field of Interest or otherwise competitive with the Company. The “Field of Interest” means the research, development, manufacturing or commercialization of human Factor VIIa or Factor IX products, or varients thereof, or of complement-related products or product candidates that would compete with products or product candidates that the Company has in development as of the date of the Effective Date. Without limiting the foregoing, Consultant agrees to use his or her best efforts (A) to segregate Consultant’s Services performed under this Agreement from Consultant’s work done for the Outside Companies so as to minimize any questions of disclosure of, or rights under, any inventions, (B) to notify the CEO of the Company if at any time the Consultant believes that such questions may result from his or her performance under this Agreement and (C) to assist the Company in fairly resolving any questions in this regard which may arise. The Services performed hereunder will not be conducted on time that is required to be devoted to any other third party. The Consultant shall not use the funding, resources and facilities of any other third party, without the prior written consent of the Company, to perform Services hereunder and shall not perform the Services hereunder in any manner that would give any third party rights or access to the product of such Services.

9.    GENERAL. This Agreement (together with the Exhibits hereto) is the sole agreement and understanding between Company and Consultant concerning the subject matter hereof, and it supersedes all prior agreements and understandings with respect to such matter. Any required notice shall be given in writing by customary means with receipt confirmed at the address of each party set forth below, or to such other address as either party may substitute by written notice to the other. Consultant shall not subcontract any portion of Consultant’s duties under this Agreement without the prior written consent of Company. Neither this Agreement nor any right hereunder or interest herein may be assigned or transferred by Consultant without the express written consent of Company. Company may assign this Agreement to any entity that succeeds to substantially all of the business or assets of Company. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, without reference to its conflicts of law principles. This Agreement may only be amended or modified by a writing signed by both parties. Waiver of any term or provision of this Agreement or forbearance to enforce any term or provision by either party shall not constitute a waiver as to any subsequent breach or failure of the same term or provision or a waiver of any other term or provision of this Agreement. In the event that any provision of this Agreement becomes or is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, unenforceable or void, this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect without said provision, provided that no such severability shall be effective if it materially changes the economic benefit of this Agreement to either Company or Consultant.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the Effective Date.

 

CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC.    
By:   /s/ Nassim Usman, Ph.D.       /s/ Clinton Musil
Print Name:   Nassim Usman, Ph.D.       Clinton Musil
Title:   President & CEO      

CATALYST BIOSCIENCES, INC.

CONSULTING AGREEMENT

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

 

LOGO

Catalyst Biosciences Announces Chief Financial Officer Transition

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – October 13, 2021 – Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBIO) today announced that its chief financial officer, Clinton Musil, has resigned for personal reasons effective October 29, 2021. Seline Miller, the Company’s controller, has been promoted to senior vice president, finance and will serve as interim chief financial and principal accounting officer while the Company initiates a search for a successor.

“I would like to thank Clinton for his many contributions as a member of our executive leadership team as we advance several programs in our Protease Medicines platform,” said Nassim Usman, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Catalyst. “We wish Clinton the best in his next endeavor.”

Mr. Musil added, “I am proud to have been part of advancing Catalyst’s Protease Medicines programs and I look forward to following the Company’s progress in the years ahead. I’d like to say thank you to all my fellow employees for their hard work and dedication to the Company’s mission.”

About Catalyst Biosciences, the Protease Medicines company

Catalyst is a research and clinical development biopharmaceutical company focused on addressing unmet medical needs in rare disorders of the complement and coagulation systems. Our protease engineering platform has generated two late-stage clinical programs, including MarzAA, a subcutaneously (SQ) administered next-generation engineered coagulation Factor VIIa (FVIIa) for the treatment of episodic bleeding in subjects with rare bleeding disorders. Our complement pipeline includes a preclinical C3-degrader program licensed to Biogen for dry age-related macular degeneration, an improved complement factor I protease for SQ replacement therapy in patients with CFI deficiency and proteases from our ProTUNE C3b-C4b degrader and ImmunoTUNE C3a-C5a degrader platforms designed to target specific disorders of the complement or inflammatory pathways as well as other complement programs in development.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about the product candidates of Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (the “Company”) and the benefits of its protease engineering platform. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially, including, but not limited to, the risk that clinical trials and pre-clinical studies may be delayed as a result of COVID-19, competitive products and other factors, that clinical trials may not have satisfactory outcomes, that the Company’s complement degraders are not yet in human clinical trials and will require additional manufacturing validation and pre-clinical testing before entering human clinical trials, that the Company may need to raise additional capital, and other risks described in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 4, 2021, the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 5, 2021, and in other filings filed from time to time with the SEC. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Contact:

Ana Kapor

Catalyst Biosciences, Inc.

investors@catbio.com