Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
(d) Appointment of Additional Board Members
Effective June 4, 2021, the Board of Directors (the "Board") of Celsion
Corporation (the "Company") appointed Stacy R. Lindborg, PhD., to the Board as a
Class II Director. Dr. Lindborg's appointment fills the vacancy created by Dr.
Alberto Martinez upon his retirement from the Celsion Board on December 31,
2020. Dr. Lindborg is the Executive Vice President and Global Head of Clinical
Development at BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, Inc. ("Brainstorm"), which she
joined in 2020. From 2012 to 2020 she held positions of increasing
responsibility at Biogen and served as Vice President for Global Analytics and
Data Sciences. Prior to joining Biogen, Dr. Lindborg served as the head of
Research and Design Strategy for Eli Lilly and Company ("Eli") from 2010 to
2012. Dr. Lindborg is a graduate of Baylor University where she received a Ph.D.
and M.A. in statistics and a B.A. in psychology with a minor in mathematics.
On June 8, 2021, the Company issued a press release announcing the appointment
of Dr. Lindborg, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 to this
Current Report on Form 8-K.
Effective June 8, 2021, the Board appointed Christine Pellizzari as a Class I
Director. Ms. Pellizzari has served as the General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary of Insmed, Inc. ("Insmed") since 2013 and as Chief Legal Officer since
2018. Prior to joining Insmed, from 2007 through 2012, Ms. Pellizzari held
various legal positions of increasing responsibility at Aegerion
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Aegerion"), most recently as Executive Vice President,
General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to Aegerion, Ms. Pellizzari served as
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Dendrite International,
Inc. ("Dendrite"). Ms. Pellizzari joined Dendrite from the law firm of Wilentz,
Goldman & Spitzer where she specialized in health care transactions and related
regulatory matters. She previously served as law clerk to the Honorable Reginald
Stanton, Assignment Judge for the Superior Court of New Jersey. Ms. Pellizzari
received her Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
On June 9, 2021, the Company issued a press release announcing the appointment
of Ms. Pellizzari, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.2 to this
Current Report on Form 8-K.
Dr. Lindborg's Class II term will expire at the Company's Annual Meeting of
Shareholders in 2024 and Ms. Pellizzari's Class I term will expire at the
Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders in 2023. Dr. Lindborg has been
appointed to the Compensation and Science & Technology Committees of the Board.
Ms. Pellizzari has been appointed to the Audit Committee of the Board. Dr.
Lindborg and Ms. Pellizzari will receive standard non-employee director fees,
including an initial grant of stock options under the Company's 2018 Stock
Incentive Plan, as amended, to purchase 40,000 shares of the Company's common
stock, vesting in three installments over three years, at an exercise price
equal to the fair market value thereof on the effective date determined in
accordance with the Plan. The outside director compensation plan is described in
more detail in the Company's Definitive Proxy Statement for its 2021 Annual
Meeting of Shareholders filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
("SEC") on April 20, 2021.
The Board has determined that both Dr. Lindborg and Ms. Pellizzari are each an
independent director in accordance with the applicable rules of the SEC and The
NASDAQ National Market. Neither Dr. Lindborg nor Ms. Pellizzari has any
relationship with the Company that would require disclosure pursuant to Item
404(a) of SEC Regulation S-K.
Following the appointment of Dr. Lindborg and Ms. Pellizzari to the Board, the
size of the Board is currently set at eight directors.
(e) Amendment to the Company's 2018 Stock Incentive Plan
At the Company's 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which was originally
scheduled for June 7, 2021 and was adjourned and reconvened on June 10, 2021
(the "Annual Meeting"), the Company's stockholders approved an amendment to the
Celsion Corporation 2018 Stock Incentive Plan (the "Stock Plan"), which
amendment was approved by the Company's Board on March 12, 2020. Pursuant to the
amendment, the aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be delivered
pursuant to all awards granted under the Stock Plan was increased by an
additional 7,700,000 shares so that the new aggregate share limit for the Plan
is 14,198,424 shares.
A copy of the Third Amendment to the Celsion Corporation 2018 Stock Incentive
Plan is attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1 and incorporated herein by reference.
Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
At the Annual Meeting, the following actions were taken. The proposals below are
described in detail in the Company's definitive proxy statement dated April 20,
2021 for the Annual Meeting.
Proposal 1
Mr. Robert W. Hooper was re-elected to the Board, to serve on the Board of
Directors as a Class II Director until the earlier of the Company's Annual
Meeting of Stockholders in 2024 and until a successor is duly elected and
qualified. The voting results were the following:
Nominee For Withheld Broker Non-Votes
Robert W. Hooper 19,886,830 3,889,573 19,772,782
In addition to Mr. Hooper, Mr. Frederick J. Fritz, Dr. Augustine Chow, Dr.
Donald P. Braun, Dr. Andreas Voss and Mr. Michael H Tardugno continued to serve
as directors after the Annual Meeting. As discussed, Dr. Lingborg and Ms.
Pellizzari have also been appointed to the Board, bringing the total size of the
Board to eight directors.
Proposal 2
The proposal to ratify the appointment of WithumSmith+Brown PC ("Withum") as the
independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2021 was approved by the stockholders. The voting results were the
following:
For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes
39,811,871 1,298,839 2,438,475 None
Proposal 3
The proposal, to grant discretionary authority to the Board of Directors to
amend the Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, to increase the number of
authorized shares of all classes of stock from 112,600,000 to 172,600,000 and
the number of authorized shares of common stock from 112,500,000 to 172,500,000
at any time on or prior to the date of the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders,
was not approved by the stockholders. Passage of the proposal required the
affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding shares of common stock of
the Company. The voting results were the following:
For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes
33,107,307 10,181,518 260,360 None
Proposal 4
The proposal, to approve an amendment to the Stock Plan was approved by the
stockholders. The voting results were the following:
For Against Abstain Broker Non-Votes
16,697,607 6,863,799 214,997 19,772,782
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit
No. Description
10.1 Third Amendment to the Celsion Corporation 2018 Stock Incentive Plan
99.1 Press Release, dated June 8, 2021, announcing appointment of Stacy
Lindborg
99.2 Press Release, dated June 9, 2021, announcing appointment of Christine
Pellizzari
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