Summit Corporation PLC : Share Option Awards

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June 24, 2014 02:00 ET

Summit Therapeutics plc

Summit Therapeutics plc

Summit Corporation plc

('Summit' or the 'Company')

Oxford, UK, 24 June 2014 - Summit (AIM: SUMM), a drug discovery and development company advancing therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy ('DMD') and C. difficile infection ('CDI'), announces that on 23 June 2014 it granted share options over a total of 11,500,000 ordinary shares to Mr Erik Ostrowski (Chief Financial Officer), Mr Leopoldo Zambeletti (Non-Executive Director) and another member of staff under the existing Company Share Option Plan.  The details of the various awards are as follows:

The option award to Erik Ostrowski will vest 25% after two years, 75% after three years and 100% after four years with each tranche of options only vesting if the average closing share price during the two months prior to the relevant vesting date is 50% higher than the exercise price.

The award to Leopoldo Zambeletti will either vest in two equal tranches on completion of Phase 2 proof of concept clinical trials in the existing DMD and CDI programmes or fully vest on the third anniversary of grant, whichever is sooner, and the average closing share price being 50% higher than the exercise price in any period of 30 consecutive calendar days ending on or before the third anniversary.

The exercise price for each of these two awards is the mid-market closing price of a Summit ordinary share on 20 June 2014, being the last practicable date before these grants were made.

The remaining 3,000,000 options have been granted to another member of staff under the existing Company Share Option Plan.  1,000,000 have an exercise price of 1 penny with one third of these vesting and be automatically exercised on the first, second and third anniversary of the employment start date.  The remaining 2,000,000 options have been awarded with an exercise of price 7.375 pence (the mid-market closing price on 20 June 2014).  One third of these options vest on completion of the Phase 2 proof of concept trial in the existing CDI programme and two thirds on completion of the Phase 2 proof of concept trial in the DMD programme, and the average closing share price being 50% higher than the exercise price in any period of 30 consecutive calendar days ending on or before the third anniversary.

This share option award forms a key part of the strategy to retain and motivate personnel who will be integral to the success of the respective programmes, and the Company.  The Board believes these awards are aligned with the interests of all shareholders as the Company seeks to generate long-term shareholder value.

The total number of options being awarded represents 1.4% of the Company's current issued share capital.  In aggregate and assuming vesting in full of these and other awards over time, option grants to Directors and employees total 9.1% of the issued share capital.

Summit is an Oxford, UK based drug discovery and development company targeting high-value areas of unmet medical need including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and C. difficile infection.  Summit is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the ticker symbol SUMM. Further information is available at www.summitplc.com and Summit can be followed on Twitter (@summitplc).

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Forward Looking Statements

This announcement contains "forward-looking statements", including, but not limited to, statements about the discovery, development and commercialisation of programme assets. These forward-looking statements are statements based on the Company's current intentions, beliefs and expectations, which include, among other things, the Company's results of operations, financial condition, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which the Company operates. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future performance and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.  Forward-looking statements and information by their nature involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These include but are not limited to: adverse results in clinical or preclinical development studies; delays in obtaining regulatory approval; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; being unable to secure partnership agreements to develop and commercialise programme assets; being unable to secure the necessary funding to conduct any proposed research and development studies; and the ability to retain and recruit key personnel.  The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained in this announcement to reflect any changes in expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by applicable law.