Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Appointment of Chief Scientific Officer
On May 17, 2021, Blueprint Medicines Corporation (the "Company") announced the
appointment of Percy H. Carter, MBA, Ph.D., as the Chief Scientific Officer of
the Company and the entry into an employment agreement with Dr. Carter that
provides for "at will" employment, in each case, effective as of May 19, 2021.
Dr. Carter brings more than 20 years of global leadership in pharmaceutical
companies and industry experience. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Dr.
Carter, age 51, served as Chief Scientific Officer at FibroGen, Inc. between
September 2020 and May 2021. Between June 2019 and September 2020, he served as
Global Head of Discovery Sciences at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a division
of Johnson & Johnson, where he led more than 700 employees comprising several
key research and discovery functions, and drove the synthetic discovery strategy
in collaboration with partners across various therapeutic areas. From August
2001 to May 2019, Dr. Carter held roles of increasing responsibility in drug
discovery, covering all therapeutic areas, drug platforms and stages of
discovery at Bristol-Myers Squibb ("BMS"), including serving as Senior Vice
President and Head of Discovery between November 2018 and May 2019. Prior to his
experience at BMS, he was Senior Research Scientist in Chemical and Physical
Sciences at DuPont Pharmaceuticals, until it was acquired by BMS in 2001. Dr.
Carter is an inventor or co-inventor on more than 28 U.S. patents, and has
authored or co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Carter received
an A.B. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
from Harvard University. In addition, he received an MBA from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology.
Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, Dr. Carter is entitled to an
annual base salary of $550,000. Dr. Carter is also eligible for an annual
performance bonus targeted at 45% of his base salary. For the year ending
December 31, 2021, Dr. Carter will be eligible to receive a pro-rated bonus
based upon the period of time he was employed by the Company. Subject to the
terms of the employment agreement, the Company will provide a sign-on bonus of
up to $200,000 to Dr. Carter. In addition, the Company will gross-up applicable
income taxes incurred in connection with such sign-on bonus. Subject to the
terms of the employment agreement, the Company will also reimburse to Dr. Carter
or pay to third parties on his behalf all reasonable and documented expenses
incurred in connection with Dr. Carter's relocation to the Cambridge,
Massachusetts area, up to a maximum aggregate amount of $150,000. In addition,
the Company will gross-up any taxes incurred on eligible relocation expenses
reimbursed to Dr. Carter or paid to third parties on his behalf, and following
Dr. Carter's relocation, the Company will also pay him a one-time, lump sum
relocation allowance in the amount of $10,000 to use in his discretion to cover
expenses related to his relocation to the Cambridge, Massachusetts area. If
within specific time periods Dr. Carter either terminates his employment without
good reason (as defined in the employment agreement) or is terminated for cause
(as defined in the employment agreement), Dr. Carter is obligated to repay all
or a portion of any sign-on bonus and associated tax gross-up he received; the
aggregate relocation expenses reimbursed to Dr. Carter or paid to third parties
on his behalf, and the associated tax gross-up; and the relocation allowance,
all subject to the terms of the employment agreement.
Subject to the terms of the employment agreement, effective June 1, 2021, Dr.
Carter will also be granted (i) a non-qualified stock option to purchase 39,200
shares of the Company's common stock at an exercise price per share equal to the
closing price of the Company's common stock on the date of grant, (ii) 19,600
restricted stock units, and (iii) restricted stock units with an aggregate grant
date fair value of $200,000. Each restricted stock unit will entitle Dr. Carter
to one share of the Company's common stock if and when the restricted stock unit
vests. The stock option will have a ten-year term and will vest as to 25% of the
shares underlying the stock option on the first anniversary of the date of grant
and as to an additional 1/48th of the shares underlying the stock option monthly
thereafter, subject to Dr. Carter's continued full employment with the Company
through each applicable vesting date. The restricted stock unit award will vest
in four equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the date
of grant, subject to Dr. Carter's continued full employment with the Company
through each applicable vesting date. Dr. Carter is eligible to participate in
the employee benefit plans generally available to full-time employees, subject
to the terms of those plans.
Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement, if Dr. Carter's employment is
terminated by the Company without cause or by Dr. Carter for good reason, and
subject to Dr. Carter's execution of a release of potential claims against the
Company, Dr. Carter will be entitled to receive: (i) base salary for 12 months,
payable in substantially equal installments according to the Company's payroll
practices and (ii) a monthly cash payment for 12 months for medical and dental
benefits or Dr. Carter's COBRA health continuation period, whichever ends
earlier. However, in the event that Dr. Carter's employment is terminated by the
Company without cause, or Dr. Carter terminates his employment with the Company
for good reason, in either case within 12 months following the occurrence of a
sale event (as defined in his employment agreement), in lieu of the severance
payments and benefits described in the preceding sentence and subject to Dr.
Carter's execution of a release of potential claims against the Company, Dr.
Carter will be entitled to receive: (i) a lump sum in cash in an amount equal to
the sum of 12 months of Dr. Carter's base salary then in effect plus Dr.
Carter's target annual incentive compensation for the year in which the
termination occurs, (ii) a monthly cash payment for 12 months for medical and
dental benefits or Dr. Carter's COBRA health continuation period, whichever ends
earlier, and (iii) full and immediate vesting and exercisability of all
time-based stock options and other time-based stock-based awards held by Dr.
Carter.
2
In connection with Dr. Carter's appointment as the Chief Scientific Officer, Dr.
Carter will enter into the Company's standard form of indemnification agreement,
a copy of which was filed as Exhibit 10.12 to the Company's Registration
Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-202938) filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on March 23, 2015. Pursuant to the terms of the
indemnification agreement, the Company may be required, among other things, to
indemnify Dr. Carter for some expenses, including attorneys' fees, judgments,
fines and settlement amounts incurred by him in any action or proceeding arising
out of his service as one of our officers. Dr. Carter has also previously
entered into a confidentiality, assignment and non-competition agreement that
contains, among other things, non-competition and non-solicitation provisions
that apply during the term of Dr. Carter's employment and for 12 months
thereafter.
Dr. Carter has no family relationship with any of the executive officers or
directors of the Company. There are no arrangements or understandings between
Dr. Carter and any other person pursuant to which he was appointed as an officer
of the Company.
The foregoing description of the employment agreement with Dr. Carter is
qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of such agreement,
which the Company intends to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission
("SEC") as an exhibit to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the
quarter ending on June 30, 2021. A copy of the Company's press release
announcing Dr. Carter's appointment as the Chief Scientific Officer is attached
as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit No. Description
99.1 Press release issued by Blueprint Medicines Corporation on May 17,
2021
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL
document and incorporated as Exhibit 101)
3
© Edgar Online, source Glimpses