| Exhibit 10.9 |
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By Electronic Mail
October 22, 2025
Yalonda Howze
Dear Yalonda:
We would like to express our appreciation and commendation for all the passion and commitment you have been exhibiting in your existing role. In recognition of your contribution and leadership, it is my pleasure to inform you that, effective November 1, 2025, you will be promoted to Interim CEO & President.
In connection with your promotion, we are also pleased to inform you that your base salary will be increased to $23,958.34 on a semimonthly basis ($575,000 on an annualized basis) payable under our standard payroll schedule and subject to applicable deductions and withholdings.
Your target bonus percentage is also being increased. Your new target bonus, effective November 1, 2025, will be 50% of your new annual salary (which will be prorated for the current year annual incentive bonus plan).
As detailed in your original offer letter, the actual bonus percentage distributed in any year will be determined at the sole discretion of the Board of Directors of Generation Bio. The Board’s determination will consider several factors including but not limited to the performance of the company.
In connection with your expanded role, we further extend severance benefits that may apply in the event of an involuntary termination of your employment with the Company other than for cause. The accompanying Severance Plan Benefit Agreement describes this program.
On behalf of Generation Bio, the management team, your colleagues and me, thank you for your contributions and we all look forward to continuing to grow Generation Bio together.
Very truly yours, | |
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Generation Bio | |
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/s/ Jasmin Tower | |
Name: Jasmin Tower | |
Title: Chief Human Resources Officer | |
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I have read and accepted this promotion, | |
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/s/ Yalonda Howze | |
Name: Yalonda Howze | |
Dated: 10/22/2025 | |
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Severance Plan Benefit
Dear Yalonda:
Generation Bio (the “Company”) is pleased to set forth the severance benefits that you may be eligible to receive upon certain terminations of your employment with the Company (or its successor) under this letter agreement (“Agreement”). All other terms and conditions of your employment as set forth in your offer letter from the Company dated as of March 17, 2023 (the “Offer Letter”) and otherwise, remain the same, including your at-will employment status, which means that either you or the Company may terminate your employment at any time, for any reason by providing written notification to the other party. In addition, your confidentiality and other obligations under the Company’s Invention, Non-Disclosure, and Non-Solicitation Agreement (the “Non-Disclosure Agreement”) remain in full force and effect. Capitalized terms are defined in Section 4, unless otherwise noted. This agreement replaces and supersedes all prior severance plan agreements between you and the Company.
Accrued Obligations
If your employment terminates for any reason, including for Cause or as a result of Involuntary Termination, the Company will pay you the Accrued Obligations earned through your last day of employment (the “Separation Date”) on or before the time required by law or applicable policy, except to the extent any such payments would accelerate compensation in a manner inconsistent with compliance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code").
If you are subject to an Involuntary Termination, in addition to the Accrued Obligations, you will be eligible to receive severance benefits as described under Sections 2(A) or (B) below, as applicable (“Severance Benefits”), provided you have: (i) returned all Company property in your possession on or prior to the Separation Date, (ii) resigned as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) or of any subsidiary of the Company, to the extent you are then a director of the Company or of any such subsidiary, and (iii) entered into a separation agreement that has become enforceable and irrevocable and includes a general release of all claims you may have against the Company or persons affiliated with the Company (the "Separation Agreement"). Notwithstanding the foregoing, except as set forth in Section 2(B)(iv), no term of this Agreement or the Separation Agreement shall impact or affect in any way your rights with respect to, and the Separation Agreement shall not include a waiver or release of any claims related to: (x) your status as a stockholder or equity holder of the Company or any rights you have under the terms of any equity award agreement between you and the Company, including any claims with respect to any options or other equity awards owned or held by you at the time your employment is terminated, or (y) any rights to indemnification from the Company, pursuant to any applicable governing documents of the Company or any applicable written agreement between you and the Company, rights under ERISA or rights which, as a matter of law, cannot be waived. The Separation Agreement, in a form to be provided to you by the Company, must be executed and become enforceable and irrevocable within 52 days following the Separation Date, or such shorter period of time prescribed by the Company (the date by which the Separation Agreement must become enforceable and irrevocable, the “Prescribed Deadline”). If the Separation Agreement is not executed or is executed but has not become enforceable and irrevocable by the Prescribed Deadline, you shall be entitled to the Accrued Obligations only and not to any Severance Benefits. Any Severance Benefits shall be paid, or begin to be paid, in the first regular payroll beginning after the Separation Agreement becomes
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enforceable and irrevocable, provided that if the foregoing 52-day period begins in the year in which your Separation Date occurs and ends in the following year, the Company will not make any payments before the first payroll date falling after the later of (A) January 1 of the year following the year in which your Separation Date occurs and (B) the date on which Separation Agreement becomes enforceable and irrevocable (the date the Severance Benefits are paid or commence pursuant to this sentence, the “Payment Date”). The first payroll shall include, however, all amounts that would otherwise have been paid to you between the Separation Date and your receipt of the first payment.
A.Involuntary Termination Prior to or More than 12 months Following a Change in Control
In the event of your Involuntary Termination prior to or more than 12 months following a Change in Control, you are eligible to receive the following Severance Benefits:
| i. | Salary. The Company shall pay you a lump sum amount on the Payment Date equal to twelve (12) months of your base salary as in effect on the Separation Date; |
| ii. | Bonus Payment. The Company may pay you an amount determined by reference to your target annual incentive bonus for the year in which the Separation Date occurs, based on Company and individual performance for such year, as determined by the Board in its sole discretion, and pro-rated based on the number of days you were employed by the Company in such year, which payment (if any) will be paid to you in a single lump sum amount on the later of (1) the Payment Date or (2) the date on which bonuses are paid to other executives of the Company but no later than two and one-half (2.5) months following the end of the year in which the Separation Date occurs; and |
| iii. | Health Insurance. If you are participating in the Company's group health plan immediately prior to the Separation Date and you are eligible for and timely elect COBRA health and dental continuation, then the Company will continue to pay the share of the premium the Company would have paid to provide health and dental coverage to you and your eligible dependents if you had remained employed by the Company for a period ending on the earlier of the date that is twelve (12) months following the Separation Date or the date COBRA eligibility ends, as such premiums become due, provided that the Company’s payment for COBRA coverage shall only apply if and while permitted under applicable tax or other laws as nondiscriminatory. |
B.Involuntary Termination On or Within 12 Months Following a Change in Control
In the event of your Involuntary Termination on or within 12 months following a Change in Control (including the one-year anniversary thereof), you are eligible to receive the following Severance Benefits:
| i. | Salary. The Company shall pay you a lump sum amount on the Payment Date equal to eighteen (18) months of your base salary as in effect on the Separation Date; |
| ii. | Bonus Payment. The Company shall pay you a lump sum amount on the Payment Date equal to 1.5 times your target annual incentive bonus for the year in which your Separation Date occurs; |
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| iii. | Health Insurance. If you are participating in the Company's group health plan immediately prior to the Separation Date and you are eligible for and timely elect COBRA health and dental continuation, then the Company will continue to pay the share of the premium the Company would have paid to provide health and dental coverage to you and your eligible dependents if you had remained employed by the Company for a period ending on the earlier of the date that is eighteen (18) months following the Separation Date or the date COBRA eligibility ends, as such premiums become due, provided that the Company’s payment for COBRA coverage shall only apply if and while permitted under applicable tax or other laws as nondiscriminatory; and |
| iv. | Equity. One hundred percent (100%) of the unvested portion of any then-outstanding Equity Grant shall vest and become fully exercisable or non-forfeitable as of the Separation Date, provided however, that: |
| a. | no such acceleration shall be effective until the Separation Agreement has become enforceable and irrevocable; and |
| b. | if the Separation Agreement does not become enforceable and irrevocable, the portions of the Equity Grants that would have vested as a result of this provision shall not vest and shall be treated in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable award agreement. |
| A. | Withholding. |
All forms of compensation referred to in this letter are subject to reduction to reflect applicable withholding and payroll taxes and other deductions required by law. You hereby acknowledge that the Company does not have a duty to design its compensation policies in a manner that minimizes your tax liabilities and that you will not make any claim against the Company or the Board related to tax liabilities arising from your compensation.
| B. | Payments Subject to Section 409A. |
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, no severance payments that may be due under this Agreement may begin prior to the date of your Separation (determined as set forth below) which may occur on or after the termination of your employment. The following rules shall apply with respect to distribution of the severance payments, if any, to be provided to you under this Agreement, as applicable:
| i. | It is intended that each installment of the severance payments provided under this Agreement shall be treated as a separate “payment” for purposes of Section 409A of the Code (“Section 409A”). Neither the Company nor you shall have the right to accelerate or defer the delivery of any such payments except to the extent specifically permitted or required by Section 409A. |
| ii. | If, as of the date of your Separation from the Company, you are not a “specified employee” (within the meaning of Section 409A), then each installment of the severance payments shall be made on the dates and terms set forth in this Agreement. |
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| iii. | If, as of the date of your Separation from the Company, you are a “specified employee” (within the meaning of Section 409A), then: |
| 1. | Each installment of the severance payments due under this Agreement that, in accordance with the dates and terms set forth herein, will in all circumstances, regardless of when your Separation occurs, be paid within the short-term deferral period (as defined under Section 409A) shall be treated as a short-term deferral within the meaning of Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) to the maximum extent permissible under Section 409A and shall be paid on the dates and terms set forth this Agreement; and |
| 2. | Each installment of the severance payments due under this Agreement that is not described in this Section 3(B)(iii)(1) and that would, absent this subsection, be paid within the six-month period following your Separation from the Company shall not be paid until the date that is six months and one day after such Separation (or, if earlier, as soon as practicable following your death), with any such installments that are required to be delayed being accumulated during the six-month period and paid in a lump sum on the date that is six months and one day following your Separation and any subsequent installments, if any, being paid in accordance with the dates and terms set forth herein; provided, however, that the preceding provisions of this sentence shall not apply to any installment of payments if and to the maximum extent that that such installment is deemed to be paid under a separation pay plan that does not provide for a deferral of compensation by reason of the application of Treasury Regulation 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii) (relating to separation pay upon an involuntary separation from service). Any installments that qualify for the exception under Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii) must be paid no later than the last day of your second taxable year following the taxable year in which the Separation occurs. |
The determination of whether and when your Separation from the Company has occurred shall be made in a manner consistent with, and based on the presumptions set forth in, Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(h). Solely for purposes of this Section 3, “Company” shall include all persons with whom the Company would be considered a single employer under Section 414(b) and 414(c) of the Code.
All reimbursements and in-kind benefits provided under this Agreement shall be made or provided in accordance with the requirements of Section 409A to the extent that such reimbursements or in-kind benefits are subject to Section 409A, including, where applicable, the requirements that (i) any reimbursement is for expenses incurred during your lifetime (or during a shorter period of time specified in this letter agreement), (ii) the amount of expenses eligible for reimbursement during a calendar year may not affect the expenses eligible for reimbursement in any other calendar year, (iii) the reimbursement of an eligible expense will be made on or before the last day of the calendar year following the year in which the expense is incurred and (iv) the right to reimbursement is not subject to set off or liquidation or exchange for any other benefit.
The Company makes no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to you or to any other person if any of the provisions of this Agreement are determined to constitute deferred compensation subject to Section 409A but that do not satisfy an exemption from, or the conditions of, that section.
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The following terms have the meaning set forth below wherever they are used in this letter:
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A Resignation for Good Reason will not be deemed to have occurred unless you give the Company written notice of the condition within thirty (30) days after the condition comes into existence and the Company fails to remedy the condition within thirty (30) days after receiving your written notice.
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If you have any questions regarding the benefits set forth in this Agreement, please do not hesitate to contact Jasmin Tower, Chief Human Resources Officer. Please sign below and return to People & Culture on or before November 1, 2025.
Very truly yours, | | |
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Generation Bio Co. | | |
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By: | /s/ Jasmin Tower | |
Name: Jasmin Tower | | |
Title: Chief Human Resources Officer | | |
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I accept the terms set forth in this Agreement. | | |
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/s/ Yalonda Howze | | |
Name: Yalonda Howze | | |
Dated: 10/22/2025 | | |
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