Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement under BiomX Inc. 2019 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan

Exhibit 10.20

 

Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement under
BiomX Inc. 2019 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan

 

THIS AGREEMENT is effective as of the Grant Date, by and between the Participant and BiomX Inc. (the “Company”).

 

WHEREAS, the Company maintains the BiomX Inc. 2019 Omnibus Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), and the Participant has been selected by the committee administering the Plan (the “Committee”) to receive a Non-Qualified Stock Option Award under the Plan; and

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS AGREED, by and between the Company and the Participant, as follows:

 

1. Terms of Award. The following words and phrases used in this Agreement shall have the meanings set forth in this Section 1:

 

(a)

The “Participant” is [________________________________]

 

(b)

The “Grant Date” is [___________].

 

(c)

The number of “Covered Shares” shall be [________________] shares of Stock.

 

(d)

The “Exercise Price” is $ [____________] per share.

 

Other words and phrases used in this Agreement are defined pursuant to Section 17, elsewhere in this Agreement or the Plan.

 

2. Non-Qualified Stock Option. This Agreement specifies the terms of the option (the “Option”) granted to the Participant to purchase the number of Covered Shares of Stock at the Exercise Price per share as set forth in Section 1. The Option is not intended to constitute an “incentive stock option” as that term is used in Code section 422.

 

3. Date of Exercise. Subject to the limitations of this Agreement, each Installment of Covered Shares of the Option shall be exercisable on and after the Vesting Date for such Installment as described in the following schedule (but only if the Termination Date has not occurred before the Vesting Date):

 

INSTALLMENT	VESTING DATE APPLICABLE TO INSTALLMENT
25% of Covered Shares	One-year anniversary of the Grant Date
6.25%  of Covered Shares	Each quarterly anniversary after the one-year anniversary of the Grant Date
Final 6.25% of Covered Shares	Final Vesting Date on the four-year anniversary of the Grant Date

 

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 3, in the event the Participant incurs a Qualifying Termination prior to the Final Vesting Date, any unvested portion of the Option shall become exercisable and fully vested on such Qualifying Termination. In the event the Participant incurs a Termination Date prior to the Final Vesting Date for any reason other than a Qualifying Termination, any unvested portion of the Option shall be immediately forfeited on such Termination Date.

 

4. Expiration. The Option shall not be exercisable after the Company’s close of business on the last business day that occurs prior to the Expiration Date. The “Expiration Date” shall be the earliest to occur of:

 

(a)

the ten-year anniversary of the Grant Date;

 

(b)

if the Participant’s Termination Date occurs by reason of death or Disability, the one-year anniversary of such Termination Date;

 

(c)

if the Participant’s Termination Date occurs for Cause, the Termination Date;

 

(d)

if the Participant’s Termination Date occurs for any reason other than those listed in subsection (b) or (c) of this Section 4, the 90-day anniversary of such Termination Date.

 

5. Method of Option Exercise. Subject to this Agreement and the Plan, the Option may be exercised in whole or in part by filing a written notice with the Secretary of the Company at its corporate headquarters prior to the Company’s close of business on the last business day that occurs prior to the Expiration Date. Such notice shall specify the number of shares of Stock which the Participant elects to purchase, and shall be accompanied by payment of the Exercise Price for such shares of Stock indicated by the Participant’s election. Payment shall be by cash or by check payable to the Company. Except as otherwise provided by the Committee before the Option is exercised: (i) all or a portion of the Exercise Price may be paid by the Participant by tendering, by either actual delivery of shares or by attestation, shares acceptable to the Committee (including shares otherwise distributable pursuant to the exercise of the Option) having an aggregate Fair Market Value (valued as of the date of exercise) that is equal to the amount of cash that would otherwise be required; and (ii) the Participant may pay the Exercise Price by authorizing a third party to sell shares of Stock (or a sufficient portion of the shares) acquired upon exercise of the Option and remit to the Company a sufficient portion of the sale proceeds to pay the entire Exercise Price and any tax withholding resulting from such exercise. The Option shall not be exercisable if and to the extent the Company determines that such exercise would violate applicable state or Federal securities laws or the rules and regulations of any securities exchange on which the Stock is traded. If the Company makes such a determination, it shall use all reasonable efforts to obtain compliance with such laws, rules and regulations. In making any determination hereunder, the Company may rely on the opinion of counsel for the Company.

 

6. Change in Control. In the event of a Change in Control, the Company, or the entity that is the surviving entity or successor to the Company following such transaction, may elect to (a) to continue this Non-Qualified Stock Option subject to the terms of this Agreement and the Plan and subject to such adjustments, if any, by the Committee as permitted by Section 3.2 of the Plan; or (b) to terminate this Non-Qualified Stock Option in exchange for a cash payment or distribution as determined in the following sentence. In the event that the Company or its successor chooses to terminate this option upon a Change in Control, the Participant shall be entitled to a payment or distribution within thirty (30) days of such Change in Control equal to the excess of the value of one share of Stock at the time of the transaction over the Exercise Price multiplied by the number of Covered Shares.

 

 

7. Withholding. All deliveries and distributions under this Agreement are subject to withholding of all applicable taxes. At the election of the Participant, and subject to such rules and limitations as may be established by the Committee from time to time, such withholding obligations may be satisfied through the surrender of shares of Stock which the Participant already owns, or to which the Participant is otherwise entitled under the Plan or pursuant to this Agreement; provided, however, that such shares of Stock may be used to satisfy not more than the maximum individual tax rate for the Participant in applicable jurisdiction for such Participant (based on the applicable rates of the relevant tax authorities (for example, federal, state, and local), including the Participant’s share of payroll or similar taxes, as provided in tax law, regulations, or the authority’s administrative practices, not to exceed the highest statutory rate in that jurisdiction, even if that rate exceeds the highest rate that may be applicable to the Participant).

 

8. Transferability. Except as otherwise provided by the Committee, the Option is not transferable other than as designated by the Participant by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and during the Participant’s life, may be exercised only by the Participant.

 

9. Heirs and Successors. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the Company and its successors and assigns, and upon any person acquiring, whether by merger, consolidation, purchase of assets or otherwise, all or substantially all of the Company’s assets and business. If any rights exercisable by the Participant or benefits deliverable to the Participant under this Agreement have not been exercised or delivered, respectively, at the time of the Participant’s death, such rights shall be exercisable by the Designated Beneficiary, and such benefits shall be delivered to the Designated Beneficiary, in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and the Plan. The “Designated Beneficiary” shall be the beneficiary or beneficiaries designated by the Participant in a writing filed with the Committee in such form and at such time as the Committee shall require. If a deceased Participant fails to designate a beneficiary, or if the Designated Beneficiary does not survive the Participant, any rights that would have been exercisable by the Participant and any benefits distributable to the Participant shall be exercised by or distributed to the legal representative of the estate of the Participant. If a deceased Participant designates a beneficiary and the Designated Beneficiary survives the Participant but dies before the Designated Beneficiary’s exercise of all rights under this Agreement or before the complete distribution of benefits to the Designated Beneficiary under this Agreement, then any rights that would have been exercisable by the Designated Beneficiary shall be exercised by the legal representative of the estate of the Designated Beneficiary, and any benefits distributable to the Designated Beneficiary shall be distributed to the legal representative of the estate of the Designated Beneficiary.

 

10. Administration. The authority to manage and control the operation and administration of this Agreement shall be vested in the Committee, and the Committee shall have all powers with respect to this Agreement as it has with respect to the Plan. Any interpretation of this Agreement by the Committee and any decision made by it with respect to this Agreement is final and binding on all persons. The Committee shall have the authority to obtain such information from the Participant (including tax return information) as it determines may be necessary to confirm that the Participant is in compliance with the requirements applicable to Detrimental Activity, and if the Participant fails to provide such information, the Committee may conclude that the Participant is not in compliance with such requirements.

 

 

11. Plan Provisions Govern. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, this Agreement shall be subject to the terms of the Plan, a copy of which may be obtained by the Participant from the office of the Secretary of the Company; and this Agreement is subject to all interpretations, amendments, rules and regulations promulgated by the Committee from time to time pursuant to the Plan.

 

12. Not an Employment Contract. The Option will not confer on the Participant any right with respect to continuance of employment or other service with the Company or any Subsidiary, nor will it interfere in any way with any right the Company or any Subsidiary would otherwise have to terminate or modify the terms of such Participant’s employment or other service at any time.

 

13. Notices. Any written notices provided for in this Agreement or the Plan shall be in writing and shall be deemed sufficiently given if either hand delivered or if sent by fax or overnight courier, or by postage paid first class mail. Notices sent by mail shall be deemed received three business days after mailing but in no event later than the date of actual receipt. Notices shall be directed, if to the Participant, at the Participant’s address indicated by the Company’s records, or if to the Company, at the Company’s principal executive office.

 

14. Fractional Shares. In lieu of issuing a fraction of a share upon any exercise of the Option, resulting from an adjustment of the Option pursuant to the Plan or otherwise, the Company will be entitled to pay to the Participant an amount equal to the fair market value of such fractional share.

 

15. No Rights As Shareholder. The Participant shall not have any rights of a shareholder with respect to the shares subject to the Option, until a stock certificate has been duly issued following exercise of the Option as provided herein.

 

16. Amendment. This Agreement may be amended in accordance with the provisions of the Plan, and may otherwise be amended by written agreement of the Participant and the Company without the consent of any other person.

 

 

17. Definitions. For purposes of this Agreement, words and phrases shall be defined as follows:

 

(a)

Cause. The term “Cause” shall mean: (i) the Participant’s conviction of, or plea of guilty or no contest to, a felony, fraud or any crime involving moral turpitude; (ii) a material breach of the Participant’s fiduciary duties towards the Company or any Related Company, including theft, embezzlement, or self-dealing, (iii) engagement in competing activities, or a material breach of the Participant’s confidentiality and non-disclosure obligations towards the Company or any Related Company, or (iv) any other circumstance under which severance pay (or part of them) may be denied from the Participant upon a termination of employment under Israeli law.

 

(b)

Disability. The Participant shall be considered to have a “Disability” during the period in which the Participant is unable, by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment, to engage in any substantial gainful activity, which condition, in the opinion of a physician selected by the Committee, is expected to have a duration of not less than 120 days.

 

(c)

Good Reason. The term “Good Reason” shall mean the Participant’s resignation from employment within forty-five (45) days after the occurrence, without his or her written consent, of any of the following events if such event is not cured by the Company within the period described below; provided, however, that the Participant must give written notice to the Company within fifteen (15) days after the occurrence of the event allegedly constituting Good Reason, and the Company shall have ten (10) days to cure after such notice; (i) a material diminution in Participant’s authority, responsibilities or reporting lines (following such Change in Control), (ii) a reduction by the Company in the total compensation that the Participant is eligible to earn provided that an across-the-board reduction in the salary made in the same proportion to other similarly situated Participants shall not constitute such a reduction; (iii) the Company or a Related Company commits a material breach of the employment agreement of the Participant, if applicable, or (iv) the Company requires the Participant to move his or her primary place of employment to a location more than fifty miles from his or her primary place of employment as of the date of the Change in Control.

 

(d)

Qualifying Termination. The term “Qualifying Termination” shall mean a Termination Date that occurs within the twelve (12) month period following the occurrence of a Change in Control as a result of an involuntary termination without Cause or a voluntary termination with Good Reason.

 

(e)

Plan Definitions. Except where the context clearly implies or indicates the contrary, a word, term, or phrase used in the Plan is similarly used in this Agreement.

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Participant has executed the Agreement, and the Company has caused these presents to be executed in its name and on its behalf, all as of the Grant Date.

 

BiomX Inc.
By:
Its:
Participant

 

 

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