Company: LGNZZ
Filing Date: 2025-04-22
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000886163-25-000025
Chunk: 45

Company: LIGAND PHARMACEUTICALS INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-22
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 45
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4 |                                           |  29,272 |     |                             | 89.20 |     |                                    | 1,142,820 |     |                                                                                                                                    | 20 | % |
| Matthew Korenberg |     |               |     | 2/27/2024 |                                           |  59,544 |     |                             | 89.20 |     |                                    | 2,285,640 |     |                                                                                                                                    | 20 | % |

(1) On February 27, 2024, the Company reported its financial results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2023 on Form 8-K. On February 29, 2024, the Company reported its financial results for the fiscal year 2023 on Form 10-K.

The primary reason for the significant increase in the grant date value of equity awards relative to the approved target values was that our stock price spiked on the date of grant due to a general misunderstanding in the market of the status of any royalties from Viking Therapeutics, which reported earnings on the same day as Ligand. Over the next several trading days, Ligand’s stock price returned to the low to mid $70s as the Viking Therapeutics royalty arrangement was clarified. As a result of the stock price spike, 2024 equity grant date values were inflated and executives were granted stock options with an exercise price that was approximately 20% higher than the share price several days later, resulting in the stock options being underwater shortly after grant.

The annual time-based stock options and RSUs granted to our named executive officers and reflected in the table above vest in accordance with the standard vesting schedules described above.

The PSUs granted by our Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee in 2024 (the “2024 PSUs”) were divided into two equally weighted components: one subject to the level of projected 2028 revenue derived from acquired assets between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025 and one tied to the compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of adjusted EPS achieved over the three year period ending December 31, 2026. Our Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee selected these performance measures in order to drive the key behaviors that reinforce and align pay with stockholder returns.

Threshold, target and maximum performance levels for both components of the 2024 PSUs were established, as described below. The Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee selected the foregoing performance measures because they represent the key financial and operational performance metrics