BerGenBio ASA: Grant of share options
Bergen, Norway, 26 June 2024 – BerGenBio ASA (the “Company”) (OSE:BGBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective AXL kinase inhibitors for severe unmet medical needs, today announce that the Board of Directors has granted options to employees.
The annual general meeting in the Company on 23 May 2024 approved the share option program and authorised the board of directors of the Company to issue up to 3,908,711 share options to the Company’s employees as part of a long-term incentive plan.
Options granted under the share option program will normally vest equally over a three-year period from the date of grant and each option, when exercised, will give the right to receive one share in the Company at a fixed strike price set at time of grant. Options granted under the share option program expire eight years after grant date.
A total of 1,315,000 share options were granted, equal to 3.3% of total issued shares in the Company and 3.1% on a fully dilutive basis including all outstanding options. The strike price for this grant is NOK 11.226 per option equal to the volume weighted average share price the last 14 days before the grant.
Share options granted in 2023 or earlier have been adjusted because of the reverse share split approved by the Annual General Meeting 23 May 2024. Accordingly, total number of options have been divided by 100 and strike price multiplied by 100. The total number of options outstanding after the adjustment and before today’s grant are 1,149,765 of which 21,672 are vested and 1,128,093 are not vested.
Following today’s grant the total issued share options equals 6.3% of the total issued shares in the Company and 5.9% on a fully dilutive basis. Total options outstanding after this grant are 2,464,765. Of this, 21,672 share options are vested and 2,443,093 not vested.
Of the total grant the following were granted to primary insiders (total holdings of share options following this grant):
Martin Olin - CEO: 350,000 (599,501)
Rune Skeie - CFO: 165,000 (288,981)
Cristina Oliva - CMO: 165,000 (287,001)
In total 680,000 share options were granted to primary insiders.
The board considers an option program as an important element in attracting and retaining employees to foster long-term success. The board considers the option program terms and allocation to be at the market for comparable peers.
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Contacts
Martin Olin
CEO, BerGenBio ASA
Rune Skeie
CFO, BerGenBio ASA
Investor Relations / Media Relations
Jan Lilleby
About BerGenBio ASA
BerGenBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative drugs targeting AXL as a potential cornerstone of therapy for aggressive diseases, including cancer and severe respiratory infections. The Company is focused on its proprietary lead candidate, bemcentinib, a potentially first-in-class selective AXL inhibitor in development for STK11 mutated NSCLC and severe respiratory infections. BerGenBio is based in Bergen, Norway with a subsidiary in Oxford, UK. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: BGBIO). For more information, visit www.bergenbio.com
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.