Company: KROS
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-037982
Chunk: 49

Company: Keros Therapeutics, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 49
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 each of our continuing named executive officers other than Dr. Seehra in February 2025 in the form of restricted stock unit awards. The grant date value of these awards was substantially less than the annual equity awards these officers received in 2024. As of the date of this Proxy Statement, we are continuing to evaluate the appropriate annual equity award to grant to Dr. Seehra. Compensation Program Objectives, Philosophy and Elements of Compensation Our Compensation Committee is guided by the following objectives and principles when establishing compensation for our executive officers: • Attract, retain and motivate superior executive talent; • Provide incentives that reward the achievement of performance goals that directly correlate to the enhancement of stockholder value, as well as to facilitate executive retention; and • Align our executives’ interests with those of our stockholders through long-term incentives linked to specific performance. We believe that our executive compensation program design features accomplish the following: • Provide base salaries consistent with each executive’s responsibilities so that they are not motivated to take excessive risks to achieve a reasonable level of financial security. • Ensure a significant portion of each executive’s compensation is tied to our future share performance, thus aligning their interests with those of our stockholders. • Utilize equity compensation and vesting periods for equity awards that encourage executives to remain employed and focus on sustained share price appreciation. 31

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• Utilize a mix between cash and equity compensation designed to encourage strategies and actions that are in our long-term best interests. To achieve our compensation objectives, we historically have provided our executive officers, including our named executive officers, with a compensation package consisting of the following elements:

| Element of Compensation              | ​ | ​ | Objectives                                                                                                                                         | ​ | ​ | Key Features                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | ​ |
| Base Salary (fixed cash)             | ​ | ​ | Provides financial stability and security through a fixed amount of cash for performing job responsibilities.                                      | ​ | ​ | Generally reviewed annually at the beginning of the year and determined based on a number of factors (including individual performance, internal equity, retention, expected cost of living increases and our overall performance) and by reference to market data provided by our independent compensation consultant.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        | ​ |
| Performance Bonus (at-risk cash)     | ​ | ​ | Motivates and rewards for attaining rigorous annual performance goals that relate to our key business objectives.                                  | ​ | ​ | Target bonus amounts, calculated as a percentage of base salary, are generally reviewed annually at the beginning