Absci Appoints Dr. Andreas Busch to Board of Directors
Dr. Busch brings deep operational expertise in drug discovery to Absci’s Board
March 21, 2022 16:05 ET | Source: Absci Corp
VANCOUVER, Wash., March 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Absci Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSI), the drug and target discovery company harnessing deep learning AI and synthetic biology to expand the therapeutic potential of proteins, today announced the appointment of Andreas Busch, PhD, to its Board of Directors. Dr. Busch is the former EVP and Chief Scientific Officer at Shire Plc and Head of Drug Discovery at Bayer and is currently Chief Scientific Officer at Cyclerion Therapeutics, Inc. He brings over twenty years of pharmaceutical industry executive experience in drug discovery R&D leadership positions.
“I’m excited to have Dr. Busch join Absci’s board and to be able to leverage his deep expertise as we continue to revolutionize the biologic drug discovery and development paradigm,” said Sean McClain, founder & CEO of Absci. “Dr. Busch’s appointment is timely as we advance our drug discovery technologies and reach key milestones in pursuit of our vision for fully in-silico design of therapeutic proteins.”
“Absci has a unique and powerful combination of cutting-edge AI and synthetic biology technologies that synergize to enable identification of promising drug candidates with extraordinary efficiency,” said Dr. Busch. “I look forward to helping Absci apply its platform to achieve our shared goal of bringing better drugs to patients faster.”
Previously, Dr. Busch served as Executive Vice President, Head of Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer at Shire Plc. Prior to joining Shire, he held several senior leadership positions in his 13-year tenure at Bayer group, most recently as Executive Vice President and Head of Global Drug Discovery. Earlier in his career, Dr. Busch was Global Head of Cardiovascular Research at Hoechst and Sanofi-Aventis. Dr. Busch has served as a member of numerous Supervisory and Scientific Boards of research institutions and companies, including the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Tübingen, the Max Delbrück Center, and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Genetics, as well as Takeda and start-up companies, such as Omeicos and BerlinCures. He also holds the title of Extraordinary Professor of Pharmacology at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany. Dr. Busch received his license to practice Pharmacy and PhD in Pharmacology from the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University, Frankfurt. He is the author of over 400 publications and abstracts, and he received the prestigious Sir Bernard Katz and Franz Volhard Awards for his work on renal and cardiac ion channels and transporters.
About Absci
Absci is the drug and target discovery company harnessing deep learning AI and synthetic biology to expand the therapeutic potential of proteins. We built our Integrated Drug Creation™ Platform to identify novel drug targets, discover optimal biotherapeutic candidates, and generate the cell lines to manufacture them in a single efficient process. Biotech and pharma innovators partner with us to create the next generation of protein-based drugs, including Bionic™ Proteins containing nonstandard amino acids, and other novel drug designs that may be impossible to make with other technologies. Our goal is to enable the development of better medicines by Translating Ideas into Drugs™. For more information visit www.absci.com and follow us on social media: Twitter: @Abscibio, LinkedIn: @absci, and subscribe to our Absci YouTube channel.
Availability of Other Information about Absci
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Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers
On March 17, 2022, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Absci Corporation (the “Company”), upon the recommendation of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, appointed Dr. Andreas Busch to the Board effective that same date. Simultaneously with Dr. Busch’s appointment, the size of the Board was fixed at eight (8) directors and a third director position was added among the Class II directors. Dr. Busch will serve as a Class II director of the Company, to hold office until the Company’s 2023 annual meeting of stockholders or until his earlier resignation, death, or removal. Upon his appointment, Dr. Busch was also appointed to serve on the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board.
Pursuant to the Company’s Non-Employee Director Compensation Policy (the “Policy”), the Board granted Dr. Busch an initial option to purchase 45,180 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $8.87, the closing market price on the NASDAQ Global Select Market of the Company’s common stock on March 17, 2022, the date of grant (the “Option Grant”). The Option Grant will vest in equal monthly installments over three (3) years from the date of grant, provided, however that all vesting shall cease if Dr. Busch resigns from the Board or otherwise ceases to serve as a director, unless the Board determines that the circumstances warrant continuation of vesting. The Option Grant shall become fully vested and exercisable upon a “Sale Event” (as such term is defined in the Company’s 2021 Stock Option and Incentive Plan). Dr. Busch will also receive an annual $45,000 cash retainer for his services on the Board and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee pursuant to the Policy.
Dr. Busch has entered into the Company’s standard form of indemnification agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on July 20, 2021. There are no arrangements or understandings between Dr. Busch and any other person pursuant to which Dr. Busch was appointed as a member of the Board. There are no family relationships between Dr. Busch, on the one hand, and any director, executive officer or any other person nominated or chosen by the Company to become a director or executive officer, on the other. There are no transactions or relationships between the Company and Dr. Busch that are reportable pursuant to Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
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