Here's the Altus q&a, got to love it. Berkle inspires a lot of confidence :-)
<<Gabe Hoffman - Accipiter - Analyst
Just had a quick question regarding 10b5 plan, if you could give us a sense of shares to be sold, over which period of time, and if there are any price gates such as a floor on that? If there is a specific filing that does have that information, then I would apologize for missing it and ask that you point me in that direction. And I then just have a quick follow-up.
Shelly Berkle - Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. - President and CEO
Well, firstly, we don't discuss details of 10b5 plans -- that is number one. I think that as a general answer, we in Altus are absolutely committed to creating long-term value for this Company and for our shareholders. And in order to align shareholder and employee interest, we utilize stock options as one of the compensation components here at Altus. And a number of members of senior management team, including myself, established some time ago predefined 10b5 programs. So relative to the total number of shares or options held by each individual or the group as a whole, the shares that are being sold are really quite a small amount. In general, 10b5 programs have been developed to remove the ability for anyone here to selectively time selling. And canceling
or altering plans really goes against the intent of these types of plans. And also, I think you're probably aware that these plans, the practice of altering or canceling, has certainly come under increased scrutiny by the SEC and even by academic researchers. There has been a couple of papers on this. So we constantly consult with our legal advisors, both internally and externally, who have provided counsel at this time against altering or terminating these plans. So I think that's as much as I can tell you about these plans at this point.
Gabe Hoffman - Accipiter - Analyst
And if I am looking at the information correctly, it shows that you have direct ownership of 8000 shares of stock currently.
Shelly Berkle - Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. - President and CEO
Correct.
Gabe Hoffman - Accipiter - Analyst
I appreciate your answers. I would respectfully suggest that you and the Board take a look at other companies, and you would
see that many other companies do disclose the number of shares, over which period of time, executives intend to sell through 10b5s, and that therefore they believe it is information that shareholders are entitled to, as do I.
Furthermore, if any 10b5 plans made the error of not putting a floor on it, my respectful suggestion would be that if you and
the Board were to look at other chief executives of other companies, you would find that owning 8000 shares is certainly well out of line when compared with peers and that investors believe that shares count, they are risk, they are what we do to invest in your Company, as I am an investor, and that options are not as such, and that we, or I as an investor, am certainly especially distressed to see executives selling at such low prices when the Company recently asked investors to purchase stock at 30% to 40% higher in a secondary offering only a couple of months ago. So I thank you for taking the question and I thank you for your time.
Shelly Berkle - Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc. - President and CEO
I appreciate your comments. I just wanted to point out, certainly, that my direct ownership is 8000, but I do have a very large component of options also that I have. But again, I do appreciate your comments and certainly we will take them into consideration.>> |
