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): July 21, 2013
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) |
(IRS Employer Identification #) |
4505 Emperor Blvd., Suite 200
Durham, North Carolina 27703
(Address of Principal Executive Office)
(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 (see General Instruction A.2 below):
| ¨ | 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 210.14d-2(b)) |
| ¨ | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
| Item 5.02 | Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. |
On July 21, 2013, the Board of Directors of BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) elected Fred E. Cohen, M.D., D.Phil., to the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company issued a news release reporting this matter on July 23, 2013, and a copy of the news release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference.
The Company’s Board of Directors also appointed Dr. Cohen to serve on its Finance Committee effective upon his election to the Board of Directors.
Pursuant to the Company’s Stock Incentive Plan, Dr. Cohen will receive an automatic grant of 20,833 stock options upon joining the Board of Directors, and will be entitled to a grant of 15,000 stock options after each annual stockholders’ meeting. Dr. Cohen will receive compensation consistent with the Company’s director compensation policy as described in the Company’s proxy statement for its 2013 annual meeting of stockholders.
| Item 9.01 | Financial Statements and Exhibits. |
(d) Exhibits
| Exhibit No. |
Description | |
| 99.1 | Press Release dated July 23, 2013 entitled “Fred Cohen Appointed to Biocryst’s Board Of Directors” | |
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.
| BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ||
| By: | /s/ Alane Barnes | |
| Alane Barnes | ||
| General Counsel, Corporate Secretary | ||
Dated: July 23, 2013
EXHIBIT INDEX
| Exhibit No. |
Description | |
| 99.1 | Press Release dated July 23, 2013 entitled “Fred Cohen Appointed to Biocryst’s Board Of Directors” | |
Exhibit 99.1
FRED COHEN APPOINTED TO BIOCRYST’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina – July 23, 2013 – BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (NASDAQ:BCRX) today announced that Fred E. Cohen, M.D., D.Phil., was elected to the Company’s Board of Directors.
“The Board of Directors and Leadership Team of BioCryst are very pleased to have Fred join the Company’s Board,” said George B. Abercrombie, Chairman of the Board of BioCryst. “Fred brings a wealth of scientific knowledge and business acumen to BioCryst and has been a valuable resource to the organization for several years as both an advisor and as an investor. We look forward to his guidance and insights toward the further success of BioCryst.”
In 2001, Dr. Cohen joined TPG to initiate TPG’s venture efforts in biotechnology and life sciences, and he serves as a Partner and Managing Director at TPG Biotech. Dr. Cohen has been a member of the faculty of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) since 1986. At UCSF, Dr. Cohen has served as an Internist for hospitalized patients, a consulting Endocrinologist and as the Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. His research interests include structure based drug design, prion diseases, computational biology and heteropolymer chemistry. Fred’s research is best known in the fields of protein structure and the conformational basis of prion disease.
Dr. Cohen received his B.S. degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University, his D.Phil. in Molecular Biophysics from Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, his M.D. from Stanford and his postdoctoral training and postgraduate medical training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology at UCSF. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Medical Informatics and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians. Dr. Cohen was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008.
Currently Dr. Cohen serves on the Board of Directors of Genomic Health, Quintiles Transnational and the Boards of several privately held companies.
“Both peramivir and BCX4161 were discovered using structure based drug design, a proven approach to developing potent and selective inhibitors of enzymes involved in disease,” said Dr. Fred E. Cohen. “With the recent progress in BioCryst’s hereditary angioedema and peramivir influenza development programs, it is an exciting time to join its Board of Directors.”
About BioCryst Pharmaceuticals
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals designs, optimizes and develops novel small molecule drugs that block key enzymes involved in infectious and inflammatory diseases, with the goal of addressing unmet medical needs of patients and physicians. BioCryst currently has two late-stage development programs: peramivir, a viral neuraminidase inhibitor for the treatment of influenza, and ulodesine, a purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor for the treatment of gout. In addition, BioCryst has several early-stage programs: BCX4161 and a next generation oral inhibitor of plasma kallikrein for hereditary angioedema and BCX4430, a broad spectrum antiviral for hemorrhagic fevers. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.BioCryst.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results and achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Please refer to the documents BioCryst files periodically with the SEC and located at http://investor.shareholder.com/biocryst/sec.cfm.
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BCRXW
CONTACT: Robert Bennett, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, +1-919-859-7910 (investors)