Document

Exhibit 4.3



DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES REGISTERED UNDER SECTION 12 OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
The following description of the common stock, $0.001 par value per share (the “Common Stock”), of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“us,” “our,” “we” or the “Company”), which is the only security of the Company registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), summarizes certain information regarding the Common Stock in our certificate of incorporation, our by-laws and applicable provisions of Delaware corporate law, and is qualified by reference to our certificate of incorporation and by-laws, which are incorporated by reference as Exhibit 3.1 and Exhibit 3.2, respectively, to the Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Our authorized capital stock consists of 125,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, and 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share. 
Common Stock
Voting Rights. Holders of our Common Stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and do not have cumulative voting rights. An election of directors by our stockholders shall be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote on the election. Any matter other than the election of directors to be voted upon by the stockholders at such meeting shall be decided by the vote of the holders of shares of stock having a majority in voting power of the votes cast by the holders of all of the shares of stock present or represented at the meeting and voting affirmatively or negatively on such matter, except when a different vote is required by law, our certificate of incorporation or our bylaws. 


Dividends. Holders of Common Stock are entitled to receive proportionately any dividends as may be declared and paid on the Common Stock from funds lawfully available therefor as and when determined by our board of directors, subject to any preferential dividend rights of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Liquidation and Dissolution. In the event of our liquidation or dissolution, whether voluntary or involuntary, the holders of Common Stock are entitled to receive proportionately our net assets available for distribution to stockholders after the payment of all debts and other liabilities and subject to the prior rights of any preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Other Rights. Holders of Common Stock have no preemptive, subscription, redemption or conversion rights. The rights, preferences and privileges of holders of Common Stock are subject to and may be adversely affected by the rights of the holders of shares of any series of preferred stock that we may designate and issue in the future.
Provisions of Our Certificate of Incorporation and By-laws and Delaware Law That May Have Anti-Takeover Effects
The provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and by-laws could discourage or make it more difficult to accomplish a proxy contest or other change in our management or the acquisition of control by a holder of a substantial amount of our voting stock. It is possible that these provisions could make it more difficult to accomplish, or could deter, transactions that stockholders may otherwise consider to be in their best interests or in our best interests. These provisions are intended to enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of our board of directors and in the policies formulated by the board of directors and to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or threatened change of our control. These provisions are designed to reduce our vulnerability to an unsolicited acquisition proposal and to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. Such provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our management.
Delaware Business Combination Statute. Section 203 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which we refer to as the DGCL, is applicable to us. Section 203 of the DGCL restricts some types of transactions and business combinations between a corporation and a 15% stockholder. A 15% stockholder is generally considered by Section 203 to be a person owning 15% or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock. Section 203 refers to a 15% stockholder as an “interested stockholder.” Section 203 restricts these transactions for a period of three years from the date the stockholder acquires 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. With some exceptions, unless the transaction is approved by the board of directors and the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation, Section 203 prohibits significant business transactions such as:
•a merger with, disposition of significant assets to or receipt of disproportionate financial benefits by the interested stockholder, and
•any other transaction that would increase the interested stockholder’s proportionate ownership of any class or series of our capital stock.


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The shares held by the interested stockholder are not counted as outstanding when calculating the two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock needed for approval.
The prohibition against these transactions does not apply if:
•prior to the time that any stockholder became an interested stockholder, the board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction in which such stockholder acquired 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock, or
•the interested stockholder owns at least 85% of our outstanding voting stock as a result of a transaction in which such stockholder acquired 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock. Shares held by persons who are both directors and officers or by some types of employee stock plans are not counted as outstanding when making this calculation.
Board of Directors. Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws provide for a board of directors divided as nearly equally as possible into three classes. Each class is elected to a term expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders held in the third year following the year of such election. Under our certificate of incorporation and by-laws, any vacancy on our board of directors, including a vacancy resulting from an enlargement of our board of directors, may be filled only by vote of a majority of our directors then in office. Furthermore, our certificate of incorporation and by-laws provides that the authorized number of directors may be changed only by the resolution of our board of directors.
Removal of Directors by Stockholders. Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws provide that a director may be removed only for cause and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the votes that all our stockholders would be entitled to cast in an annual election of directors or class of directors.
Super Majority Stockholder Vote Required for Certain Actions. The DGCL provides generally that the affirmative vote of a majority of the shares entitled to vote on any matter is required to amend a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or by-laws, unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation or by-laws, as the case may be, requires a greater percentage. Our by-laws may be amended or repealed by a majority vote of our board of directors or the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the votes that all our stockholders would be entitled to cast in an annual election of directors or class of directors. In addition, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 75% of the votes which all our stockholders would be entitled to cast in an annual election of directors or class of directors is required to amend or repeal or to adopt any provisions inconsistent with any of the provisions of our certificate of incorporation described in this paragraph. 
Issuance of Preferred Stock. Our board of directors is authorized, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock in one or more series, and to fix the designations, powers, preferences and the relative, participating, optional or other special rights, and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions of the shares of each series of preferred stock. The issuance of preferred stock could impede the completion of a merger, tender offer or other takeover attempt.
Advance Notice Provisions for Stockholder Proposals and Stockholder Nomination of Directors. Our by-laws provide that, for nominations to the board of directors or for other business to be properly brought by a stockholder before a meeting of stockholders, a stockholder must first have given timely notice of the proposal in writing to our secretary. Our certificate of incorporation and by-laws also provide that, except as otherwise required by law, special meetings of our stockholders can only be called by our chairman of the board, our chief executive officer or our board of directors. In addition, our by-laws provide that, for an annual meeting, a stockholder notice generally must be delivered not earlier than the 120th day and not later than the 90th day prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, that if the date of the annual meeting is advanced by more than 20 days or delayed by more than 60 days from such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so delivered not earlier than the 120th day prior to the date of such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to the date of such meeting and the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such annual meeting is first made by us. For a special meeting, such notice must be delivered not earlier than the 120th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of (x) the 90th day prior to such special meeting and (y) the 10th day following the day on which notice of the date of such special meeting was mailed or public disclosure of the date of such special meeting was made, whichever first occurs. Detailed requirements as to the form of the notice and information required in the notice are specified in our by-laws.
No Action By Written Consent. Our certificate of incorporation provides that our stockholders may not act by written consent and may only act at duly called meetings of stockholders.
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