Exhibit 10.4
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
This Employment Agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered into effective as of July 16, 2024 (the “Effective Date”), by and between Jennifer Perry (“Executive”) and Bicycle Therapeutics Inc. (the “Company”).
The Company desires to continue to employ Executive and, in connection therewith, to compensate Executive for Executive’s personal services to the Company; and
Executive wishes to continue to be employed by the Company and provide personal services to the Company in return for certain compensation.
Accordingly, in consideration of the mutual promises and covenants contained herein, the parties agree to the following:
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as assigned, reimbursed subject to the Company’s corporate travel policy. In addition, Executive shall make such business trips to such places as may be reasonably necessary or advisable for the efficient operations of the Company.
| 2.2 | Bonus. |
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eligibility for an Annual Bonus is subject to change in the discretion of the Board (or any authorized committee thereof).
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may wish to serve, (ii) reasonable time devoted to activities in the non-profit and business communities consistent with Executive’s position with the Company, (iii) reasonable time serving as trustee, director, or advisor to any family companies or trusts, or (iv) with prior written notice to the Board, reasonable time devoted to service as a member of the board of directors (or its equivalent in the case of a non-corporate entity) of a non-competing business, not to exceed two (2) boards of directors at any time (clauses (i)-(iv), the “Outside Activities”); so long as the Outside Activities (A) do not, individually or in the aggregate, interfere with the performance of the Executive’s duties under this Agreement, (B) are not contrary to the interests of the Company or its Affiliates or competitive in any way with the Company its Affiliates or (C) are not in the field of constrained peptide drugs or therapeutics (including, without limitation, any work in the field of lead peptide identification and optimization and pre-clinical development of constrained peptide therapeutics). In addition, the Outside Activities may not exceed, in the aggregate, 10 days of Executive’s services per year, which permitted time commitment may be increased by the Board, in its discretion which shall not be unreasonably withheld, to up to 12 days per year where a new specific opportunity has been identified by Executive which would give Executive experience that is considered to be of wider benefit to the Company. The restrictions in this Section 4 shall not, however, preclude Executive from (x) owning less than one percent (1%) of the total outstanding shares of a publicly traded company, (y) managing Executive’s passive personal investments, or (z) employment or service in any capacity with Affiliates of the Company. As used in this Agreement, “Affiliates” means, at the time of determination, any “parent” or “subsidiary” of the Company as such terms are defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Board will have the authority to determine the time or times at which “parent” or “subsidiary” status is determined within the foregoing definition.
| 6.1 | Termination by Virtue of Death or Disability of Executive. |
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| 6.2 | Termination by the Company or Resignation by Executive. |
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| (d) | ForpurposesofthisAgreement,“AccruedObligations”are |
(i) Executive’s accrued but unpaid salary through the date of termination and any accrued but unused vacation through the date of termination (both of which, for purpose of clarity, shall be paid in cash),
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(ii) any unreimbursed business expenses incurred by Executive payable in accordance with the Company’s standard expense reimbursement policies, and (iii) benefits owed to Executive under any qualified retirement plan or health and welfare benefit plan in which Executive was a participant in accordance with applicable law and the provisions of such plan.
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Benefits for which Executive is eligible pursuant to Section 6.2(a) above in exchange for the Separation Agreement is agreed to by the parties as liquidated damages, to serve as full compensation, and not a penalty, and is not subject to mitigation.
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(i) make the first payment to Executive under Section 6.3(a)(i) and, in a lump sum, an amount equal to the aggregate amount of payments that the Company would have paid Executive through such date had the payments commenced on Executive’s date of termination through such 60th day, with the balance of the payments paid thereafter on the schedule described above; and (ii) make the lump sum payment specified in Section 6.3(a)(iii) that has not yet been made due to this Section 6.3(b), in the cases of (i) and (ii) subject to any delay in payment required by Section 6.6.
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with the Company, including, but not limited to, a position on the board of directors of the Company and all positions with any and all subsidiaries and Affiliates of the Company.
| 6.6 | Application of Section 409A. |
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| 6.7 | Excise Tax Adjustment. |
(A) as a first priority, the modification shall preserve to the greatest extent possible, the greatest economic benefit for Executive as determined on an after-tax basis; (B) as a second priority, Payments that are contingent on future events (e.g., being terminated without Cause), shall be reduced (or eliminated) before Payments that are not contingent on future events; and (C) as a third priority, Payments that are “deferred compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A shall be reduced (or eliminated) before Payments that are not deferred compensation within the meaning of Section 409A.
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U.S.C. §1-16 (the “FAA”), and to the fullest extent permitted by law, by final, binding and confidential arbitration by a single arbitrator conducted in New York, New York by Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services Inc. (“JAMS”) under the then applicable JAMS rules appropriate to the relief being sought (the applicable rules are available at the following web addresses: (i) https://www.jamsadr.com/rules-employment-arbitration/ and (ii) https://www.jamsadr.com/rules-comprehensive-arbitration/); provided, however, this arbitration provision not apply to any action or claim that cannot be subject to mandatory arbitration as a matter of law, including, without limitation, claims involving allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, to the extent such claims are not permitted by applicable law(s) to be submitted to mandatory arbitration and the applicable law(s) are not preempted by the FAA or otherwise invalid (collectively, the “Excluded Claims”). A hard copy of the rules will be provided to Executive upon request. By agreeing to this arbitration procedure, both Executive and the Company waive the right to resolve any such dispute through a trial by jury or judge or administrative proceeding. In addition, all claims, disputes, or causes of action under this provision, whether by Executive or the Company, must be brought in an individual capacity, and shall not be brought as a plaintiff (or claimant) or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding, nor joined or consolidated with the claims of any other person or entity. The arbitrator may not consolidate the claims of more than one person or entity, and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding. To the extent that the preceding sentences regarding class claims or proceedings are found to violate applicable law or are otherwise found unenforceable, any claim(s) alleged or brought on behalf of a class shall proceed in a court of law rather than by arbitration. The Company acknowledges that Executive will have the right to be represented by legal counsel at any arbitration proceeding. Questions of whether a claim is subject to arbitration under this Agreement) shall be decided by a federal court in the State of New York. However, procedural questions which grow out of the dispute and bear on the final disposition are matters for the arbitrator.
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The arbitrator shall: (a) have the authority to compel adequate discovery for the resolution of the dispute and to award such relief as would otherwise be permitted by law; (b) issue a written arbitration decision, to include the arbitrator’s essential findings and conclusions and a statement of the award; and (c) be authorized to award any or all remedies that Executive or the Company would be entitled to seek in a court of law. Executive and the Company shall equally share all JAMS’ arbitration fees. To the extent JAMS does not collect or Executive otherwise does not pay to JAMS an equal share of all JAMS’ arbitration fees for any reason, and the Company pays JAMS Executive’s share, Executive acknowledges and agrees that the Company shall be entitled to recover from Executive half of the JAMS arbitration fees invoiced to the parties (less any amounts Executive paid to JAMS) in a federal or state court of competent jurisdiction. Except as modified in the Proprietary Information Agreement, each party is responsible for its own attorneys’ fees. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to prevent either Executive or the Company from obtaining injunctive relief in court to prevent irreparable harm pending the conclusion of any such arbitration. Any awards or orders in such arbitrations may be entered and enforced as judgments in the federal and state courts of any competent jurisdiction. To the extent a New York federal court determines that any applicable law prohibits mandatory arbitration of Excluded Claims, if Executive intends to bring multiple claims, including one or more Excluded Claims, the Excluded Claim(s) may be publicly filed with a court, while any other claims will remain subject to mandatory arbitration.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Employment Agreement on the day and year first written above.
| BICYCLE THERAPEUTICS INC. | |
| | |
| By: | /s/ Alethia Young |
| | Name: Alethia Young |
| | Title: Director |
| EXECUTIVE: | |
| | |
| | /s/ Jennifer Perry |
| | Jennifer Perry |
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CHANGE IN CONTROL
“ChangeinControl”meansandincludeseachofthefollowing:
| (a) | a Sale; or |
| (b) | a Takeover. |
The Compensation Committee of the Board of BTL shall have full and final authority, which shall be exercised in its sole discretion, to determine conclusively whether a Change in Control has occurred pursuant to the above definition, the date of the occurrence of such Change in Control and any incidental matters relating thereto; provided that any such Change in Control also qualifies as a “change in control event” as defined in Section 409A of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended and the regulations and other guidance thereunder and any state law of similar effect, and any exercise of authority in conjunction with a determination of whether a Change in Control is a “change in control event” is consistent with such regulation.
“Control” shall have the meaning given to that word by Section 719 of the UK Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and “Controlled” shall be construed accordingly.
“Sale” means the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of BTL.
“Takeover” means circumstances in which any person (or a group of persons acting in concert) (the “Acquiring Person”):
| (a) | obtains Control of BTL as the result of making a general offer to:- |
| i. | acquire all of the issued ordinary share capital of BTL, which is made on a condition that, if it is satisfied, the Acquiring Person will have Control of BTL; or |
| ii. | acquire all of the shares in BTL; or |
| (b) | obtains Control of BTL as a result of a compromise or arrangement sanctioned by a court under Section 899 of the UK Companies Act 2006, or sanctioned under any other similar law of another jurisdiction; or |
| (c) | becomes bound or entitled under Sections 979 to 985 of the UK Companies Act 2006 (or similar law of another jurisdiction) to acquire shares in BTL or |
| (d) | obtains Control of BTL in any other way, including but not limited to by way of a merger. |