Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On August 18, 2021, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Design Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Julie Burgess as the Company’s Chief Accounting Officer and principal accounting officer, effective upon the date she commences employment with the Company (the “Effective Date”). Upon the Effective Date, which is expected to be September 13, 2021, Dawn Giangiulio, the Company’s Controller and interim principal accounting officer, will discontinue serving as the Company’s interim principal accounting officer. Ms. Burgess’s appointment will not affect Ms. Giangiulio’s status as the Company’s Controller.
Ms. Burgess, age 52, has served as Senior Vice President, Finance at Otonomy, Inc. (“Otonomy”), a biopharmaceutical company, since April 2021, and before that served as Otonomy’s Vice President, Finance and Administration from January 2014 to April 2021. Prior to Otonomy, Ms. Burgess served as the Corporate Controller for Apricus Biosciences, Inc. from March 2012 to October 2013. She has also previously served as an independent consultant to several other biopharmaceutical companies including Cypress Biosciences, Inc. and Ocera Therapeutics, Inc. (now, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals), and as an auditor at KPMG, LLP. Ms. Burgess has more than 25 years of experience in financial reporting, technical accounting, debt and equity financings, and financial planning and management for public and private companies and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (California active). Ms. Burgess received her B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara and her M.S. in Business Administration from San Diego State University.
In connection with the appointment of Ms. Burgess, the Company and Ms. Burgess entered into an employment offer letter agreement, pursuant to which, commencing on the Effective Date, Ms. Burgess will be (i) entitled to receive an annual base salary of $350,000, (ii) eligible to receive an annual performance bonus of up to 35% of her base salary, based upon the achievement of certain corporate and individual objectives as determined by the Board, provided that Ms. Burgess’s bonus opportunity for the 2021 calendar year will not be prorated to reflect her start date, and two-thirds of the bonus opportunity for the 2021 calendar year is guaranteed, and (iii) entitled to receive a stock option to purchase 135,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Twenty-five percent of the shares subject to the stock option will vest after 12 months of employment, with the remaining shares vesting monthly thereafter over the following 36 months.
There are no arrangements or understandings between Ms. Burgess and any other persons in connection with Ms. Burgess’s appointment as the Company’s Chief Accounting Officer and principal accounting officer. There are also no family relationships between Ms. Burgess and any director or executive officer of the Company and Ms. Burgess has no direct or indirect interest in any transaction or proposed transaction required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
