Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Chief Executive Officer Appointment
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Spyre Therapeutics, Inc., formerly known as Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”), appointed Cameron Turtle, DPhil, as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective as of November 22, 2023.
Cameron Turtle, DPhil (Age 33). Dr. Turtle joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer in June 2023, and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective as of November 22, 2023. Dr. Turtle is an experienced leader in building, financing, and shaping biopharma organizations from preclinical development to late-stage clinical trials and commercialization. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Turtle was an advisor to Spyre Therapeutics, Inc. from May 2023 to June 2023. Previously, he served as Venture Partner at Foresite Labs, a life sciences investment firm, from July 2022 to May 2023; Chief Strategy Officer of BridgeBio Pharma (NASDAQ: BBIO), a biotechnology company, from January 2021 to April 2022; and Chief Business Officer of Eidos Therapeutics (NASDAQ: EIDX), a biopharmaceutical company, from November 2018 to January 2021, where he led business development, investor relations, and multiple operational functions as the company advanced an investigational medicine for a form of heart failure. Prior to joining BridgeBio and Eidos, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he worked with pharmaceutical and medical device companies on topics including M&A, growth strategy, clinical trial strategy, and sales force optimization. Dr. Turtle received his B.S. with honors in Bioengineering from the University of Washington and his D.Phil. in Cardiovascular Medicine from the University of Oxford, St. John’s College. He is the recipient of several awards, including a Rhodes Scholarship, Goldwater Scholarship, Forbes 30 Under 30, San Francisco Business Times 40 Under 40, and the Biocom Life Sciences Catalyst Award.
In connection with his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Turtle entered into an amended and restated letter agreement with the Company and resigned from his role as Chief Operating Officer. Pursuant to the terms of his amended and restated letter agreement, Dr. Turtle is entitled to an annual base salary of $625,000 and an annual target bonus equal to 55% of his base salary. On November 22, 2023, Dr. Turtle was also awarded an option to purchase up to 374,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”), under the Company’s 2016 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “Plan”), with an exercise price of $10.39 per share, equal to the closing price of the Common Stock on the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) on the date of grant, and a 10-year term. This option vests and becomes exercisable as to 25% on the first anniversary of the date of grant and in equal monthly installments thereafter through the fourth anniversary of the date of grant, subject to Dr. Turtle’s continued service to the Company through each applicable vesting date.
In the event Dr. Turtle’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or he resigns for good reason (collectively, an “Involuntary Termination”), Dr. Turtle will, subject to the execution of a release in favor of the Company, receive: (i) severance payments equal to 12 months of base salary and any earned but unpaid annual bonus for the preceding year, (ii) up to 12 months of partially subsidized COBRA coverage, and (iii) accelerated vesting of any time-based equity awards scheduled to vest in the 12 months following such termination. However, if the Involuntary Termination is within three months before or 12 months after a change in control of the Company, Dr. Turtle will instead receive: (A) severance payments equal to 18 months of base salary, any earned but unpaid annual bonus for the preceding year, and the target annual bonus for the year of termination, (B) up to 18 months of fully subsidized COBRA continuation coverage, and (C) full acceleration of all equity awards.
The foregoing description of the amended and restated letter agreement is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the amended and restated letter agreement, a copy of which is filed herewith as Exhibit 10.1 and incorporated by reference herein.
Resignation of Directors
Effective as of November 22, 2023, Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch, Ph.D., J.D. and Hunter C. Smith, M.B.A. resigned from the Board. The resignations were not the result of any disagreements with the Company relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.