Vaxart Inc (VXRT)

[oc631]

Legacy assets



I previously pointed out that BOTA is deficient in R&D. And I've criticized current management for bleeding this promising company dry with unchecked spending and nothing to show for it. However I have never blamed Russ directly for the poor quality of the pre-clinical legacy assets inherited from Aussie Biota. Why would anyone judge a CEO's performance on events that happened before his hiring date?


The legacy asset Laninamivir is the sole value driver of this one drug company. Russ' job, up until this point in time, is setting up the country club in Georgia and designing, overseeing the Phase-2 study of Lani in the U.S. Something a qualified CRO could handle BTW (not the country club). So here's the compensation package granted by the BOD for the program Russ previously had nothing to do with.


http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/72444/000143774913015786/bota20131209_8k.htm


These option contracts are fully exercisable upon hitting the endpoints in the Phase-2 IGLOO study this summer. If you need a reminder on how difficult this objective is to meet, Lani is approved in Japan for this indication. I guess members of the BOD belong to the country club.

For the sake of simplicity this roughly equates to an option on 162,500 shares for Russ at a strike price of $4.13. And 100,000 shares for VP Joe Patti under the same terms. Is it fair?