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): December 28, 2018
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
| Delaware | 000-23186 | 62-1413174 |
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) | (Commission File Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
| 4505 Emperor Blvd., Suite 200, Durham, North Carolina 27703 |
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code) |
(919) 859-1302
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
(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)) | |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (17 CFR §230.405) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 CFR §240.12b-2). 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 December 28, 2018, Fred E. Cohen, M.D., Ph.D informed the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) of his intention to resign from the Board, effective January 4, 2019. Prior to his resignation, Dr. Cohen served on the Compensation, Finance, and Science Committees of the Board. Dr. Cohen cited no disagreement with the Board or management relating the Company, its operations, policies or practices. The Company is grateful to Dr. Cohen and appreciates his many contributions to the Company. On December 28, 2018, the Board elected Stephen Aselage to the Board, effective January 4, 2019. The Company issued a news release reporting this matter on January 4, and a copy of the news release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference. The Board also appointed Mr. Aselage to serve on the Compensation Committee and the Commercial Committee effective upon his election to the Board. Pursuant to the Company’s Stock Incentive Plan, Mr. Aselage will receive an automatic grant of 25,000 stock options upon joining the Board, and will be entitled to a grant of 30,000 stock options after each annual stockholders’ meeting. Mr. Aselage will receive compensation consistent with the Company’s director compensation policy as described in the Company’s proxy statement for its 2018 annual meeting of stockholders.
Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits Exhibit No. Description 99.1 Press Release dated January 4, 2019 entitled “BioCryst Appoints Steve Aselage to Board of Directors”
SIGNATURE
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.
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ||
| Date: January 4, 2019 | By: | /s/ Alane Barnes |
| Alane Barnes | ||
| Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer | ||
EXHIBIT 99.1
BioCryst Appoints Steve Aselage to Board of Directors
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Jan. 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:BCRX) today announced that the company has appointed Steve Aselage to its board of directors.
Mr. Aselage most recently served as chief executive officer of Retrophin Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in identifying, developing and delivering life-changing therapies to people living with rare disease, which he joined in 2012.
He has more than 40 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including substantial rare disease, commercial and business development experience. From 2005 to 2012, Mr. Aselage served as executive vice president and chief business officer of BioMarin.
Prior to BioMarin, Mr. Aselage held positions of increasing responsibility at a number of companies, including Bristol Laboratories, Genentech and Sangstat. He currently continues to serve on the board of Retrophin, as chairman of Acer Therapeutics and on the advisory council of the University of Notre Dame Department of Science.
“The success of BioCryst in discovering and developing unique oral compounds for rare diseases has positioned the company with a potentially first-in-class oral medicine approaching commercialization for hereditary angioedema, with several additional and exciting compounds for other rare diseases emerging from the pipeline. I am excited to join BioCryst at such a dynamic time,” Mr. Aselage said.
He replaces Fred Cohen, who has served on the BioCryst board of directors since 2013.
“Steve has a track record of adding exceptional value to rare disease companies with his deep commercial experience and his passion for helping patients with rare diseases and we are thrilled he has chosen to add this expertise to the BioCryst board of directors,” said Robert Ingram, chairman of BioCryst.
“The board would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to Fred for his contributions to the significant progress of the company over many years,” Ingram added.
Mr. Aselage holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Notre Dame.
About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals discovers novel, oral small-molecule medicines that treat rare diseases in which significant unmet medical needs exist and an enzyme plays a key role in the biological pathway of the disease. BioCryst has several ongoing development programs including BCX7353, an oral treatment for hereditary angioedema, galidesivir, a potential treatment for Marburg virus disease and Yellow Fever, and a preclinical program to develop oral ALK-2 inhibitors for the treatment of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. RAPIVAB® (peramivir injection), a viral neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of influenza, is BioCryst's first approved product and has received regulatory approval in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the European Union. Post-marketing commitments for RAPIVAB are ongoing. For more information, please visit the Company's website at www.BioCryst.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause BioCryst’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could affect the forward-looking statements contained herein include: that ongoing and future preclinical and clinical development of HAE second generation drug candidates (including ZENITH-1, APeX-2, APeX-S and APeX-J) may not have positive results, may be more expensive or may not move as quickly as planned; that the FDA, EMA or other applicable regulatory agency may not provide regulatory clearances which may result in delay of planned clinical trials or failure to achieve market approval for product candidates. Please refer to the documents BioCryst files periodically with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically BioCryst’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, all of which identify important factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in BioCryst’s projections and forward-looking statements.
BCRXW
Contact:
John Bluth
+1 919 859 7910
jbluth@biocryst.com