<PAGE>

                                                                   Exhibit 10.10

                          OCULEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.


                             KEY EMPLOYEE AGREEMENT
                                       FOR
                                 DOUGLAS HAWKINS


     Oculex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a California corporation (the "Company")
agrees with you as follows:

     1.   POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

          1.1 The Company will employ you and you shall serve in an executive
capacity as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and perform the
duties customarily associated with such capacity from time to time and at
such place or places as the Company shall reasonably designate or as shall be
reasonably appropriate and necessary in connection with such employment.

          1.2 Subject to Section 4 below, you will, to the best of your
ability, devote your full time and best efforts to the performance of your
duties hereunder and the business and affairs of the Company. You agree to
serve as an officer of the Company if elected by the Board, and to perform
such executive duties as may be assigned to you by the Company's Chief
Executive Officer from time to time. You will be assigned such facilities and
support staff as are customarily associated with the position of Senior Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer. You will report to the Company's Chief
Executive Officer.

          1.3 You will duly, punctually and faithfully perform and observe
any and all rules and regulations which the Company may now or shall
hereafter establish governing the conduct of its business, except to the
extent that such rules and regulations may be inconsistent with your
executive position.

     2.   TERM OF EMPLOYMENT; TERMINATION.

          2.1 The effective date of this Agreement is March 8, 2000.

          2.2 Unless otherwise mutually agreed in writing, this Agreement and
your employment by the Company pursuant to this Agreement shall be terminated
on the earliest of:

              (a) your death, or any illness, disability or other incapacity
in such a manner that you are physically rendered unable regularly to perform
your duties hereunder for a period in excess of one hundred twenty (120)
consecutive days or more than one hundred eighty (180) days in any
consecutive twelve (12) month period;

              (b) thirty (30) days after you, for any reason, give written
notice to the Company of your termination;

                                  1.

<PAGE>

              (c) thirty (30) days after the Company, with or without cause,
gives written notice to you of your termination; and

              (d) five (5) years from the date hereof.

          2.3 The determination regarding whether you are physically unable
regularly to perform your duties under (a) above shall be made by the Board
of Directors. Your inability to be physically present on the Company's
premises shall not constitute a presumption that you are unable to perform
such duties.

          2.4 Any notice required to be given pursuant to this Section 2
shall be given in accordance with the provisions of Section 10 hereof. The
exercise of either party's right to terminate this Agreement pursuant to
subsections (b) or (c) above shall not abrogate the rights and remedies of
the terminating party regarding the breach, if any, giving rise to such
termination.

          2.5 You may be terminated for cause if, in the reasonable
determination of the Company's Board of Directors, you are convicted of any
felony or of any crime involving moral turpitude, or participate in any fraud
against the Company, or willfully breach your duties to the Company, or
wrongfully disclose any trade secrets or other confidential information of
the Company, or materially breach Section 4 of this Agreement or any material
provision of the Employee Proprietary Information Agreement, between you and
the Company (the "Proprietary Information Agreement").

     3.   COMPENSATION:

          3.1 The Company shall pay to you for the services to be rendered
hereunder a basic salary at an annual rate of one hundred sixty thousand
dollars ($160,000) subject to increase in accordance with the policies of the
Company, as determined by its Board of Directors, in force from time to time,
payable in installments in accordance with Company policy. You shall also be
entitled to all rights and benefits for which you shall be eligible under
bonus, pension, group insurance, long-term disability, life insurance,
profit-sharing or other Company benefits which may be in force from time to
time and provided to you or for the Company's employees generally. Without
limiting the foregoing, you will be eligible for an annual bonus as
determined in the sole discretion of the Board of Directors of up to twenty
percent (20%) of your base salary. The Company will also pay your existing
COBRA coverage from your former employer for the first three months of your
employment.

          3.2 You shall be entitled to three (3) weeks paid annual vacation
each year, with two (2) weeks accrued vacation effective as of the date
hereof. You shall be entitled to illness days during the term of this
Agreement consistent with the Company's standard practice for its employees
generally.

          3.3 In the event you are terminated without cause pursuant to
Section 2.2(c) hereof, the Company shall continue to pay your salary as
provided in 3.1 above for a period of six (6) months following any such
termination.

                                      2.
<PAGE>

     4.   OTHER ACTIVITIES DURING EMPLOYMENT.

          4.1 Except with the prior written consent of the Company's Board of
Directors, you will not during the term of this Agreement undertake or engage
in any other employment, occupation or business enterprise, other than ones
in which you are a passive investor. You may engage in civic and
not-for-profit activities so long as such activities do not materially
interfere with the performance of your duties hereunder.

          4.2 Except as permitted by Section 4.3, you will not acquire,
assume or participate in, directly or indirectly, any position, investment or
interest known by you to be adverse or antagonistic to the Company, its
business or prospects, financial or otherwise.

          4.3 During the term of your employment by the Company except on
behalf of the Company, you will not directly or indirectly, whether as an
officer, director, stockholder, partner, proprietor, associate,
representative, consultant, or in any capacity whatsoever engage in, become
financially interested in, be employed by or have any business connection
with any other person, corporation, firm, partnership or other entity
whatsoever which were known by you to directly compete with the Company,
throughout the world, in any line of business engaged in (or planned to be
engaged in) by the Company; provided, however, that anything above to the
contrary notwithstanding, you may own, as a passive investor, securities of
any competitor corporation, so long as your direct holdings in any one such
corporation shall not in the aggregate constitute more than 1% of the voting
stock of such corporation.

     5.   FORMER EMPLOYMENT.

          5.1 You represent and warrant that your employment by the Company
will not conflict with and will not be constrained by any prior employment or
consulting agreement or relationship. You represent and warrant that you do
not possess confidential information arising out of prior employment which,
in your best judgment, would be utilized in connection with your employment
by the Company, except in accordance with agreements between your former
employer and the Company.

          5.2 If, in spite of the second sentence of Section 5.1, you should
find that confidential information belonging to any former employer might be
usable in connection with the Company's business, you will not intentionally
disclose to the Company or use on behalf of the Company any confidential
information belonging to any of your former employers (except in accordance
with agreements between the Company and any such former employer); but during
your employment by the Company you will use in the performance of your duties
all information which is generally known and used by persons with training
and experience comparable to your own and all information which is common
knowledge in the industry or otherwise legally in the public domain.

     6.   PROPRIETARY INFORMATION AND INVENTIONS. You agree to be bound by
the provisions of the Proprietary Information Agreement.

                                      3.
<PAGE>

     7.   REMEDIES. Your duties under the Proprietary Information Agreement
shall survive termination of your employment with the Company. You
acknowledge that a remedy at law for any breach or threatened breach by you
of the provisions of the Proprietary Information Agreement would be
inadequate and you therefore agree that the Company shall be entitled to
injunctive relief in case of any such breach or threatened breach.

     8.   ASSIGNMENT. Neither this Agreement nor any rights or obligations
hereunder may be assigned by the Company or by you.

     9.   SEVERABILITY. In case any one or more of the provisions contained
in this Agreement shall, for any reason, be held to be invalid, illegal or
unenforceable in any respect, such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability
shall not affect the other provisions of this Agreement, and this Agreement
shall be construed as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had
never been contained herein. If moreover, any one or more of the provisions
contained in this Agreement shall for any reason be held to be excessively
broad as to duration, geographical scope, activity or subject, it shall be
construed by limiting and reducing it, so as to be enforceable to the extent
compatible with the applicable law as it shall then appear.

     10.   NOTICES. Any notice which the Company is required or may desire to
give you shall be given by personal delivery or registered or certified mail,
return receipt requested, addressed to you at the address of record with the
Company, or at such other place as you may from time to time designate in
writing. Any notice which you are required or may desire to give to the
Company hereunder shall be given by personal delivery or by registered or
certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the Company at its
principal office, or at such other office as the Company may from time to
time designate in writing. The date of personal delivery or the date of
mailing any such notice shall be deemed to be the date of delivery thereof.

     11.   WAIVER. If either party should waive any breach of any provisions
of this Agreement, he or it shall not thereby be deemed to have waived any
preceding or succeeding breach of the same or any other provision of this
Agreement.

     12.   COMPLETE AGREEMENT; AMENDMENTS. The foregoing, together with the
Proprietary Information Agreement, is the entire agreement of the parties
with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof and may not be amended,
supplemented, canceled or discharged except by written instrument executed by
both parties hereto.

     13.   HEADINGS. The headings of the sections hereof are inserted for
convenience only and shall not be deemed to constitute a part hereof nor to
affect the meaning thereof.

                                      4.
<PAGE>

     14.   ATTORNEY FEES. If either party hereto brings any action to enforce
its rights hereunder, the prevailing party in any such action shall be
entitled to recover his or its reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred
in connection with such action.

                                              OCULEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
                                              A CALIFORNIA CORPORATION



                                              By:    /s/ Jerry B. Gin
                                                 -----------------------------
                                                     Dr. Jerry B. Gin

                                              Date:  March 8, 2000


Accepted and agreed this
8th day of March, 2000.



   /s/ Douglas Hawkins
-----------------------------
Douglas Hawkins



                                      5.