Exhibit 10.4
CONSULTING AGREEMENT
This Consulting Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made effective as of May 7, 2018 (the “Effective Date”), by and between Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc. a Delaware corporation, with its principal place of business being 80 Guest St, Boston, MA 02135 (the “Company”) and Danforth Advisors, LLC, a Massachusetts limited liability corporation, with its principal place of business being 91 Middle Road, Southborough, MA 01772 (“Danforth”). The Company and Danforth are herein sometimes referred to individually as a “Party” and collectively as the “Parties.”
WHEREAS, the Company possesses know-how and proprietary technology related to drug discovery and development; and
WHEREAS, Danforth has expertise in financial and corporate operations and strategy; and
WHEREAS, Danforth desires to serve as an independent consultant for the purpose of providing the Company with certain strategic and financial advice and support services, as more fully described in Exhibit A attached hereto, (the “Services”); and
WHEREAS, the Company wishes to engage Danforth on the terms and conditions set forth herein.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which are hereby acknowledged, the Parties agree and covenant as follows.
1. | Services of Consultant. Danforth will assist the Company with matters relating to the Services. The Services are more fully described in Exhibit A attached hereto. Danforth and the Company will review the Services on a monthly basis to prioritize and implement the tasks listed on Exhibit A. |
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Danforth in performing the Services hereunder, upon submission by Danforth of supporting documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company. Any such accrued expenses in any given three (3) month period that exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be submitted to the Company for its prior written approval. |
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All Danforth invoices and billing matters should be addressed to:
Company Accounts Payable Contact: | Accounts Payable invoicing@proteostasis.com 847-280--1054 80 Guest Street Boston, MA 02135 |
All Company payments and billing inquiries should be addressed to:
Danforth Accounting: | Betsy Sherr bsherr@danforthadvisors.com (508) 277-0031 Danforth Advisors PO Box 335 Southborough, MA 01772 |
3. | Term and Termination. The term of this Agreement will commence on the Effective Date and will continue tlrough the anniversary of such date in the next calendar year (the “Term”). This Agreement may be extended for an additional period by mutual written agreement. This Agreement may be terminated by either Party hereto: (a) with Cause (as defined below), immediately upon written notice to the other Party; or (b) without cause upon sixty (30 ) days prior written notice to the other Party. For purposes of this Section 3, “Cause” shall include: (i) a breach of the terms of this Agreement which is not cured within thirty (30) days of written notice of such default or (ii) the commission of any act of fraud, embezzlement or deliberate disregard of a rule or policy of the Company. |
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4. | Time Commitment. Danforth will devote such time to perform the Services under this Agreement as may reasonably be required. |
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5. | Place of Performance. Danforth will perform the Services at such locations upon which the Company and Danforth may mutually agree. Danforth will not, without the prior written consent of the Company, perform any of the Services at any facility or in any manner that might give anyone other than the Company any rights to or allow for disclosure of any Confidential Information (as defined below). |
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6. | Compliance with Policies and Guidelines. Danforth will perform the Services in accordance with all rules or policies adopted by the Company that the Company discloses in writing to Danforth. |
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8. | Intellectual Property. Danforth agrees that all ideas, inventions, discoveries, creations, manuscripts, properties, innovations, improvements, know-how, inventions, designs, developments, apparatus, techniques, methods, and formulae that Danforth conceives, makes, develops or improves as a result of performing the Services, whether or not reduced to practice and whether or not patentable, alone or in conjunction with any other party and whether or not at the request or upon the suggestion of the Company (all of the foregoing being hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Inventions”), shall be the sole and exclusive property of the Company. Danforth hereby agrees in consideration of the Company's agreement to engage Danforth and pay compensation for the Services rendered to the Company and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged that Danforth shall not, without the prior written consent of the Company, directly or indirectly, consult for, or become an employee of, any company which conducts business in the Field of Interest anywhere in the world. As used herein, the term “Field of Interest” shall mean the research, development, manufacture and/or sale of the products resulting from the Company's technology. The limitations on competition contained in this Section 8 shall continue during the time that Danforth performs any Services for the Company,whether as a consultant, employee or otherwise and for a period of three (3) months following the tennination of any such Services that Danforth performs for the Company. If any part of this section should be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unreasonable in duration, geographic area, or scope, then this Section 8 is intended to and shall extend only for such period of time, in such area and with respect to such activity as is determined to be reasonable. Except as expressly provided herein, nothing in this Agreement shall preclude Danforth from consulting for or being employed by any other person or entity. |
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10. | Placement Services. In the event that Danforth refers a potential employee to the Company and that individual is hired, Danforth shall receive a fee equal to twenty percent (20%) of the employee's starting annual base salary. This fee is due and owing whether an individual is hired, directly or indirectly on a permanent basis or on a contract or consulting basis by the Company, as a result of Danforth's efforts within one (2) year of the date applicant(s) are submitted to the Company. Such payment is due within thirty (30) days of the employee's start date. |
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ll. | No Implied Warranty. Except for any express warranties stated herein, the Services are provided on an “as is” basis, and the Company disclaims any and all other watxanties, conditions, or representations (express, implied, oral or written), relating to the Services or any part thereof. Further, in performing the Services Danforth is not engaged to disclose illegal acts, including fraud or defalcations, which may have taken place. The foregoing notwithstanding, Danforth will promptly notify the Company if Danforth becomes aware of any such illegal acts during the performance of the Services. Because the Services do not constitute an examination in accordance with standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (the “AICPA”), Danforth is precluded from expressing an opinion as to whether financial statements provided by the Company are in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles or any other standards or guidelines promulgated by the AICPA, or whether the underlying financial and other data provide a reasonable basis for the statements. |
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12. | Indemnification. Each Party hereto agrees to indemnify and hold the other Party hereto, its directors, officers, agents and employees harmless against any claim based upon circumstances alleged to be inconsistent with such representations and/or warranties contained in this Agreement. Further, the Company shall indemnify and hold hannless Danforth and any of its subcontractors against any claims, losses, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) that arise out of or are based on the Services performed hereunder, except for any such claims, losses, damages or liabilities arising out of the gross negligence or willful misconduct of Danforth or any of its subcontractors. The Company will endeavor to add Consultant and any applicable subcontractor to its insurance policies as additional insureds. |
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14. | Records. Upon termination of Danforth's relationship with the Company, Danforth shall deliver to the Company any property or Confidential Information of the Company relating to the Services which may be in its possession including products, project plans, materials, memoranda, notes, records, reports, laboratory notebooks, or other documents or photocopies and any such information stored using electronic medium. |
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15. | Notices. Any notice under this Agreement shall be in writing (except in the case of verbal communications, emails and teleconferences updating either Party as to the status of work hereunder) and shall be deemed delivered upon personal delivery, one day after being sent via a reputable nationwide overnight courier service or two days after deposit in the mail or on the next business day following transmittal via facsimile. Notices under this Agreement shall be sent to the following representatives of the Parties: |
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If to the Company:
Name: | Meenu Chhabra |
Title: | President & Chief Executive Officer |
Address: | 80 Guest Street Boston, MA 02135 |
Phone: | (617) 225-0096 |
E-mail: If to Danforth: | meenu.chhabra@proteostasis.com |
Name: | Gregg Beloff |
Title: | Managing Director |
Address: | 91 Middle Road Southborough, MA 01772 |
Phone: | (617) 686-7679 |
E-mail: | gbeloff@danforthadvisors.com |
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17. | Force Majeure. Neither Party shall be liable for failure of or delay in performing obligations set forth in this Agreement, and neither shall be deemed in breach of its obligations, if such failure or delay is due to natural disasters or any causes beyond the reasonable control of either Party. In the event of such force majeure, the Party affected thereby shall use reasonable efforts to cure or overcome the same and resume performance of its obligations hereunder. |
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18. | Headings. The Section headings are intended for convenience of reference only and are not intended to be a part of or to affect the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement. |
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19. | Integration; Severability. This Agreement is the sole agreement with respect to the subject matter hereof and shall supersede all other agreements and understandings between the Parties with respect to the same. If any provision of this Agreement is or becomes invalid or is ruled invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction or is deemed unenforceable, it is the intention of the Parties that the remainder of the Agreement shall not be affected. |
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20. | Goveming Law. This Agreement shall be govemed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, excluding choice of law principles. The Parties agree that any action or proceeding arising out of or related in any way to this Agreement shall be brought solely in a Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction sitting in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. |
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21. | Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original, but all of which together will constitute one agreement. |
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If you are in agreement with the foregoing, please sign where indicated below, whereupon this Agreement shall become effective as of the Effective Date.
DANFORTH ADVISORS, LLC |
| PROTEOSTASIS THERAPEUTICS, INC. | ||||
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By: |
| /s/ Gregg Beloff |
| By: |
| /s/ Meenu Chhabra |
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Print Name: |
| Gregg Beloff |
| Print Name: |
| Meenu Chhabra |
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Title: |
| Managing Director |
| Title: |
| President & CEO |
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Date: |
| 5/8/18 |
| Date: |
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Description of Services and Schedule of Fees
Danforth will perform mutually agreed to finance and accounting functions which are necessary to support the management and operations of the Company, certain of which are set forth below.
VP of Finance Services:
| • | Assist with the preparation of financial statement disclosures and SEC filings |
| • | Assist with the preparation and management of financial statement audit |
| • | Review systems of intemal control, proces'ses and SOPS to identify areas for risk management and improvement |
| • | Assess the Company's implementation of Netsuite and assist with maximizing the functionality of the implementation |
| • | Prepare detailed financial analyses, including forecasts, budgets, waterfall, etc |
| • | Other tasks as requested and appropriate |
| • | Assist with tax returns, as appropriate |
Fees:
VP of Finance: Sandra Zimmerman | $225/hour |
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