November 20, 2015 9:26am
AAVL appointed of Paul B. Cleveland to chief executive officer (CEO) and to the Board of Directors effective December 9.
He also will serve as principal financial officer of Avalanche on an interim basis. Mr. Cleveland, previously the chief executive officer of Celladon Corporation, brings more than 20 years of leadership experience to Avalanche, including management and operational experience across the biotechnology industry. This includes positions at multiple public biotechnology companies, including CEO, president, chief financial officer and Board member as well as chief operating officer at a venture capital firm.
Subsequent to 12/9, Hans P. Hull who has been serving as interim CEO of Avalanche since July, will return to his previous role of senior vice president of business operations.
Prior to joining Avalanche, Mr. Cleveland served as chief executive officer of Celladon, and served as president and chief financial officer since June 2014. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Sangamo Biosciences and Alder Biopharmaceuticals, where he also serves as chairman of the audit committee. Before joining Celladon, he served as executive vice president of strategy and chief financial officer at Aragon Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company that was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Cleveland previously served as general partner and chief operating officer at Mohr Davidow Ventures, and prior to that he was executive vice president, corporate development, and chief financial officer for Affymax.
Earlier in his career he was an investment banker at J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. and a predecessor firm, Hambrecht & Quist, and a corporate lawyer at Cooley Godward LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Mr. Cleveland holds a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and an A.B. from Washington University in St. Louis.
On the date he commences his employment, Avalanche will grant Mr. Cleveland a stock option to purchase 910,000 shares of the AAVL's common stock. The grant, which will be issued outside of Avalanche's 2014 Equity Incentive Award Plan, was approved by AAVL’s BOD pursuant to the inducement grant exception under NASDAQ Rule 5635(c)(4), as an inducement that is material to Mr. Cleveland's entering into employment with Avalanche.
The option will have a per share exercise price equal to the closing sales price of Avalanche's common stock on NASDAQ on the grant date. The option will vest as to 25 percent of the total shares subject to the option on the first anniversary of the grant date, and as to 1/48 of the total shares subject to the option each month thereafter, subject to Mr. Cleveland's continued service with Avalanche through each vesting date.
