Document:

Exhibit 4.5

 

AMENDMENT

TO THE

AMENDED AND RESTATED 2001
NONSTATUTORY INCENTIVE PLAN

OF VALENTIS, INC.

 

 

                Pursuant
to the authority reserved to the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Valentis,
Inc., a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware (the
“Company”), under Section 12(a) of the Company’s Amended and Restated 2001
Nonstatutory Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), the Board hereby amends the Plan as
follows:

 

                1.             Share Reserve.  Subsection 4(a) of the Plan is amended to
read in its entirety as follows:

 

                                                                “(a)         Share Reserve.  Subject to the provisions of
Section 11 relating to adjustments upon changes in Common Stock, the Common
Stock that may be issued pursuant to Stock Awards shall not exceed in the
aggregate six hundred ninety thousand (690,000) shares of Common Stock.”

 

 

* * * * * * * * * *

                I hereby certify that the foregoing Amendment to the
Plan was duly adopted by the Board of Directors of Valentis, Inc., effective as
of April 17, 2003, as required under applicable state and federal law.

                Executed on this 17th day of
April, 2003.

	
   

  	
  /s/ Alan C. Mendelson

  
	
   

  	
  Alan C. Mendelson, SecretaryExhibit 4.6

 

VALENTIS,
INC.

2003
EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

Adopted
April 17, 2003

Approved By
Stockholders as of May 29, 2003

1.                                       PURPOSE.

(a)           The purpose of the 2003 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the
“Plan”) is to provide a means by which employees of Valentis, Inc., a Delaware
corporation (the “Company”), and its Affiliates, as defined in
subparagraph 1(b), which are designated as provided in
subparagraph 2(b), may be given an opportunity to purchase stock of the
Company.

(b)           The word “Affiliate” as used in the Plan means any parent
corporation or subsidiary corporation of the Company, as those terms are
defined in Sections 424(e) and (f), respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

(c)           The Company, by means of the Plan, seeks to retain the
services of its employees, to secure and retain the services of new employees,
and to provide incentives for such persons to exert maximum efforts for the
success of the Company.

(d)           The Company intends that the rights to purchase stock of
the Company granted under the Plan be considered options issued under an
“employee stock purchase plan” as that term is defined in Section 423(b) of the
Code.

2.                                       ADMINISTRATION.

(a)           The Plan shall be administered by the Board of Directors
(the “Board”) of the Company unless and until the Board delegates
administration to a Committee, as provided in subparagraph 2(c). Whether or not
the Board has delegated administration, the Board shall have the final power to
determine all questions of policy and expediency that may arise in the
administration of the Plan.

(b)           The Board shall have the power, subject to, and within the
limitations of, the express provisions of the Plan:

(i)            To determine when and how rights to purchase stock of the
Company shall be granted and the provisions of each offering of such rights
(which need not be identical).

(ii)           To designate from time to time which Affiliates of the
Company shall be eligible to participate in the Plan.

(iii)          To construe and interpret the Plan and rights granted under
it, and to establish, amend and revoke rules and regulations for its
administration. The Board, in the exercise of this power, may correct any
defect, omission or inconsistency in the Plan, in a manner and to the extent it
shall deem necessary or expedient to make the Plan fully effective.

(iv)          To amend the Plan as provided in paragraph 13.

 

 

(v)           Generally, to exercise such powers and to perform such
acts as the Board deems necessary or expedient to promote the best interests of
the Company and its Affiliates and to carry out the intent that the Plan be
treated as an “employee stock purchase plan” within the meaning of Section 423
of the Code.

(c)           The Board may delegate administration of the Plan to a
committee comprised of two (2) or more members of the Board. If administration
is delegated to a Committee, the Committee shall have, in connection with the
administration of the Plan, the powers theretofore possessed by the Board,
subject, however, to such resolutions, not inconsistent with the provisions of
the Plan, as may be adopted from time to time by the Board. The Board may
abolish the Committee at any time and revest in the Board the administration of
the Plan.

3.                                       SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN.

(a)           Subject to the provisions of paragraph 12 relating to
adjustments upon changes in stock, the stock that may be sold pursuant to
rights granted under the Plan shall not exceed in the aggregate six hundred
thousand (600,000) shares of the Company’s common stock (the “Common Stock”).
If any right granted under the Plan shall for any reason terminate without
having been exercised, the Common Stock not purchased under such right shall
again become available for the Plan.

(b)           The stock subject to the Plan may be unissued shares or
reacquired shares, bought on the market or otherwise.

4.                                       GRANT OF RIGHTS; OFFERING.

(a)           The Board or the Committee may from time to time grant or
provide for the grant of rights to purchase Common Stock of the Company under
the Plan to eligible employees (an “Offering”) on a date or dates (the
“Offering Date(s)”) selected by the Board or the Committee. Each Offering shall
be in such form and shall contain such terms and conditions as the Board or the
Committee shall deem appropriate, which shall comply with the requirements of
Section 423(b)(5) of the Code that all employees granted rights to
purchase stock under the Plan shall have the same rights and privileges. The
terms and conditions of an Offering shall be incorporated by reference into the
Plan and treated as part of the Plan. The provisions of separate Offerings need
not be identical, but each Offering shall include (through incorporation of the
provisions of this Plan by reference in the document comprising the Offering or
otherwise) the period during which the Offering shall be effective, which
period shall not exceed twenty-seven (27) months beginning with the Offering
Date, and the substance of the provisions contained in paragraphs 5 through 8,
inclusive.

(b)           If an employee has more than one right outstanding under
the Plan, unless he or she otherwise indicates in agreements or notices
delivered hereunder: (i) each agreement or notice delivered by that employee
will be deemed to apply to all of his or her rights under the Plan, and (ii) a
right with a lower exercise price (or an earlier-granted right, if two rights
have identical exercise prices), will be exercised to the fullest possible
extent before a right with a higher exercise price (or a later-granted right,
if two rights have identical exercise prices) will be exercised.

5.                                       ELIGIBILITY.

(a)           Rights may be granted only to employees of the Company or,
as the Board or the Committee may designate as provided in subparagraph 2(b),
to employees of any Affiliate of the Company. Except as provided in
subparagraph 5(b), an employee of the Company or any Affiliate shall not be
eligible to be granted rights under the Plan, unless, on the Offering Date,
such employee has been in the employ of the Company or any Affiliate for such
continuous period preceding such grant as the Board or the Committee may
require, but in no event shall the required period of continuous employment be
equal to or greater than two (2) years. In addition, unless otherwise
determined by the Board or the 

 

 

 

Committee and set forth in
the terms of the applicable Offering, no employee of the Company or any
Affiliate shall be eligible to be granted rights under the Plan, unless, on the
Offering Date, such employee’s customary employment with the Company or such
Affiliate is for at least twenty (20) hours per week and at least five (5)
months per calendar year.

(b)           The Board or the Committee may provide that, each person
who, during the course of an Offering, first becomes an eligible employee of
the Company or designated Affiliate will, on a date or dates specified in the
Offering which coincides with the day on which such person becomes an eligible
employee or occurs thereafter, receive a right under that Offering, which right
shall thereafter be deemed to be a part of that Offering. Such right shall have
the same characteristics as any rights originally granted under that Offering,
as described herein, except that:

(i)            the date on which such right is granted shall be the
“Offering Date” of such right for all purposes, including determination of the
exercise price of such right;

(ii)           the period of the Offering with respect to such right
shall begin on its Offering Date and end coincident with the end of such
Offering; and

(iii)          the Board or the Committee may provide that if such person
first becomes an eligible employee within a specified period of time before the
end of the Offering, he or she will not receive any right under that Offering.

(c)           No employee shall be eligible for the grant of any rights
under the Plan if, immediately after any such rights are granted, such employee
owns stock possessing five percent (5%) or more of the total combined voting
power or value of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Affiliate. For
purposes of this subparagraph 5(c), the rules of Section 424(d) of the Code
shall apply in determining the stock ownership of any employee, and stock which
such employee may purchase under all outstanding rights and options shall be
treated as stock owned by such employee.

(d)           An eligible employee may be granted rights under the Plan
only if such rights, together with any other rights granted under “employee
stock purchase plans” of the Company and any Affiliates, as specified by
Section 423(b)(8) of the Code, do not permit such employee’s rights to purchase
stock of the Company or any Affiliate to accrue at a rate which exceeds twenty
five thousand dollars ($25,000) of fair market value of such stock (determined
at the time such rights are granted) for each calendar year in which such
rights are outstanding at any time.

(e)           Officers of the Company and any designated Affiliate shall
be eligible to participate in Offerings under the Plan, provided, however, that
the Board may provide in an Offering that certain employees who are highly
compensated employees within the meaning of Section 423(b)(4)(D) of the Code
shall not be eligible to participate.

6.                                       RIGHTS; PURCHASE PRICE.

(a)           On each Offering Date, each eligible employee, pursuant to
an Offering made under the Plan, shall be granted the right to purchase up to
the number of shares of Common Stock of the Company purchasable with a
percentage designated by the Board or the Committee not exceeding fifteen
percent (15%) of such employee’s Earnings (as defined by the Board or the
Committee in each Offering) during the period which begins on the Offering Date
(or such later date as the Board or the Committee determines for a particular
Offering) and ends on the date stated in the Offering, which date shall be no
later than the end of the Offering. The Board or the Committee shall establish
one or more dates during an Offering (the “Purchase Date(s)”) on which rights
granted under the Plan shall be exercised and purchases of Common Stock carried
out in accordance with such Offering.

 

 

(b)           In connection with each Offering made under the Plan, the
Board or the Committee may specify a maximum number of shares that may be
purchased by any employee as well as a maximum aggregate number of shares that
may be purchased by all eligible employees pursuant to such Offering. In
addition, in connection with each Offering that contains more than one Purchase
Date, the Board or the Committee may specify a maximum aggregate number of
shares which may be purchased by all eligible employees on any given Purchase
Date under the Offering. If the aggregate purchase of shares upon exercise of
rights granted under the Offering would exceed any such maximum aggregate
number, the Board or the Committee shall make a pro rata allocation of the
shares available in as nearly a uniform manner as shall be practicable and as
it shall deem to be equitable.

(c)           The purchase price of stock acquired pursuant to rights
granted under the Plan shall be not less than the lesser of:

(i)            an amount equal to eighty-five percent (85%) of the fair
market value of the stock on the Offering Date; or

(ii)           an amount equal to eighty-five percent (85%) of the fair
market value of the stock on the Purchase Date.

7.                                       PARTICIPATION; WITHDRAWAL; TERMINATION.

(a)           An eligible employee may become a participant in the Plan
pursuant to an Offering by delivering a participation agreement to the Company
within the time specified in the Offering, in such form as the Company
provides. Each such agreement shall authorize payroll deductions of up to the
maximum percentage specified by the Board or the Committee of such employee’s
Earnings during the Offering (as defined by the Board or Committee in each
Offering). The payroll deductions made for each participant shall be credited
to an account for such participant under the Plan and shall be deposited with
the general funds of the Company.  A
participant may reduce (including to zero) or increase such payroll deductions,
and an eligible employee may begin such payroll deductions, after the beginning
of any Offering only as provided for in the Offering. A participant may make
additional payments into his or her account only if specifically provided for
in the Offering and only if the participant has not had the maximum amount
withheld during the Offering.

(b)           At any time during an Offering, a participant may
terminate his or her payroll deductions under the Plan and withdraw from the
Offering by delivering to the Company a notice of withdrawal in such form as
the Company provides. Such withdrawal may be elected at any time prior to the
end of the Offering except as provided by the Board or the Committee in the
Offering. Upon such withdrawal from the Offering by a participant, the Company
shall distribute to such participant all of his or her accumulated payroll
deductions (reduced to the extent, if any, such deductions have been used to
acquire stock for the participant) under the Offering, without interest, and
such participant’s interest in that Offering shall be automatically terminated.
A participant’s withdrawal from an Offering will have no effect upon such
participant’s eligibility to participate in any other Offerings under the Plan
but such participant will be required to deliver a new participation agreement
in order to participate in subsequent Offerings under the Plan.

(c)           Rights granted pursuant to any Offering under the Plan
shall terminate immediately upon cessation of any participating employee’s
employment with the Company and any designated Affiliate, for any reason, and
the Company shall distribute to such terminated employee all of his or her
accumulated payroll deductions (reduced to the extent, if any, such deductions
have been used to acquire stock for the terminated employee) under the
Offering, without interest.

(d)           Rights granted under the Plan shall not be transferable by
a participant otherwise than by will or the laws of descent and distribution,
or by a beneficiary designation as provided in paragraph 14 

 

 

 

and, otherwise during his or
her lifetime, shall be exercisable only by the person to whom such rights are
granted.

8.                                       EXERCISE.

(a)           On each Purchase Date specified therefor in the relevant
Offering, each participant’s accumulated payroll deductions and other
additional payments specifically provided for in the Offering (without any
increase for interest) will be applied to the purchase of whole shares of stock
of the Company, up to the maximum number of shares permitted pursuant to the
terms of the Plan and the applicable Offering, at the purchase price specified
in the Offering. No fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of
rights granted under the Plan. The amount, if any, of accumulated payroll
deductions remaining in each participant’s account after the purchase of shares
which is less than the amount required to purchase one share of stock on the
final Purchase Date of an Offering shall be held in each such participant’s
account for the purchase of shares under the next Offering under the Plan,
unless such participant withdraws from such next Offering, as provided in
subparagraph 7(b), or is no longer eligible to be granted rights under the
Plan, as provided in paragraph 5, in which case such amount shall be
distributed to the participant after such final Purchase Date, without
interest. The amount, if any, of accumulated payroll deductions remaining in
any participant’s account after the purchase of shares which is equal to the
amount required to purchase whole shares of stock on the final Purchase Date of
an Offering shall be distributed in full to the participant after such Purchase
Date, without interest.

(b)           No rights granted under the Plan may be exercised to any
extent unless the shares to be issued upon such exercise under the Plan
(including rights granted thereunder) are covered by an effective registration
statement pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”) and the Plan is in material compliance with all applicable state, foreign
and other securities and other laws applicable to the Plan. If on a Purchase
Date in any Offering hereunder the Plan is not so registered or in such
compliance, no rights granted under the Plan or any Offering shall be exercised
on such Purchase Date, and the Purchase Date shall be delayed until the Plan is
subject to such an effective registration statement and such compliance, except
that the Purchase Date shall not be delayed more than twelve (12) months and
the Purchase Date shall in no event be more than twenty-seven (27) months from
the Offering Date. If on the Purchase Date of any Offering hereunder, as
delayed to the maximum extent permissible, the Plan is not registered and in
such compliance, no rights granted under the Plan or any Offering shall be
exercised and all payroll deductions accumulated during the Offering (reduced
to the extent, if any, such deductions have been used to acquire stock) shall
be distributed to the participants, without interest.

9.                                       COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY.

(a)           During the terms of the rights
granted under the Plan, the Company shall keep available at all times the
number of shares of stock required to satisfy such rights.

(b)           The Company shall seek to obtain from
each federal, state, foreign or other regulatory commission or agency having
jurisdiction over the Plan such authority as may be required to issue and sell
shares of stock upon exercise of the rights granted under the Plan. If, after
reasonable efforts, the Company is unable to obtain from any such regulatory
commission or agency the authority which counsel for the Company deems
necessary for the lawful issuance and sale of stock under the Plan, the Company
shall be relieved from any liability for failure to issue and sell stock upon
exercise of such rights unless and until such authority is obtained.

10.                                 USE OF PROCEEDS FROM STOCK.

Proceeds
from the sale of stock pursuant to rights granted under the Plan shall
constitute general funds of the Company.

 

 

11.           RIGHTS AS A
STOCKHOLDER.

A
participant shall not be deemed to be the holder of, or to have any of the
rights of a holder with respect to, any shares subject to rights granted under
the Plan unless and until the participant’s shareholdings acquired upon
exercise of rights under the Plan are recorded in the books of the Company.

12.                                 ADJUSTMENTS UPON CHANGES IN STOCK.

(a)           If any change is made in the stock subject to the Plan, or
subject to any rights granted under the Plan (through merger, consolidation,
reorganization, recapitalization, reincorporation, stock dividend, dividend in
property other than cash, stock split, liquidating dividend, combination of
shares, exchange of shares, change in corporate structure or other transaction
not involving the receipt of consideration by the Company), the Plan and
outstanding rights will be appropriately adjusted in the class(es) and maximum
number of shares subject to the Plan and the class(es) and number of shares and
price per share of stock subject to outstanding rights. Such adjustments shall
be made by the Board or the Committee, the determination of which shall be
final, binding and conclusive. (The conversion of any convertible securities of
the Company shall not be treated as a “transaction not involving the receipt of
consideration by the Company.”)

(b)           In the event of: (i) a dissolution or liquidation of the
Company; (ii) a merger or consolidation in which the Company is not the
surviving corporation; (iii) a reverse merger in which the Company is the
surviving corporation but the shares of the Company’s Common Stock outstanding
immediately preceding the merger are converted by virtue of the merger into
other property, whether in the form of securities, cash or otherwise; or (iv)
the acquisition by any person, entity or group within the meaning of Section
13(d) or 14(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
“Exchange Act”) or any comparable successor provisions (excluding any employee
benefit plan, or related trust, sponsored or maintained by the Company or any
Affiliate of the Company) of the beneficial ownership (within the meaning of
Rule 13d-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act, or comparable successor rule) of
securities of the Company representing at least fifty percent (50%) of the
combined voting power entitled to vote in the election of directors, then, as
determined by the Board in its sole discretion (x) any surviving or acquiring
corporation may assume outstanding rights or substitute similar rights for
those under the Plan, (y) such rights may continue in full force and effect, or
(z) participants’ accumulated payroll deductions may be used to purchase Common
Stock immediately prior to the transaction described above and the
participants’ rights under the ongoing Offering terminated.

13.           AMENDMENT OF THE PLAN.

(a)           The Board at any time, and from time to time, may amend
the Plan. However, except as provided in paragraph 12 relating to adjustments
upon changes in stock, no amendment shall be effective unless approved by the
stockholders of the Company within twelve (12) months before or after the
adoption of the amendment, where the amendment will:

(i)            Increase the number of shares reserved for rights under
the Plan;

(ii)           Modify the provisions as to eligibility for participation
in the Plan to the extent such modification requires stockholder approval in
order for the Plan to obtain employee stock purchase plan treatment under
Section 423 of the Code; or

(iii)          Modify the Plan in any other way if such modification
requires stockholder approval in order for the Plan to obtain employee stock
purchase plan treatment under Section 423 of the Code.

It is expressly contemplated that the Board may amend the Plan in any
respect the Board deems necessary or advisable to provide eligible employees
with the maximum benefits provided or to be provided under 

 

 

the provisions of the Code and the regulations promulgated thereunder
relating to employee stock purchase plans and/or to bring the Plan and/or
rights granted under it into compliance therewith.

(b)           Rights and obligations under any rights granted before
amendment of the Plan shall not be impaired by any amendment of the Plan,
except with the consent of the person to whom such rights were granted, or
except as necessary to comply with any laws or governmental regulations, or
except as necessary to ensure that the Plan and/or rights granted under the
Plan comply with the requirements of Section 423 of the Code.

14.           DESIGNATION OF
BENEFICIARY.

(a)           A participant may file a written designation of a
beneficiary who is to receive any shares and cash, if any, from the
participant’s account under the Plan in the event of such participant’s death
subsequent to the end of an Offering but prior to delivery to the participant of
such shares and cash. In addition, a participant may file a written designation
of a beneficiary who is to receive any cash from the participant’s account
under the Plan in the event of such participant’s death during an Offering.

(b)           Such designation of beneficiary may be changed by the
participant at any time by written notice. In the event of the death of a
participant and in the absence of a beneficiary validly designated under the
Plan who is living at the time of such participant’s death, the Company shall
deliver such shares and/or cash to the executor or administrator of the estate
of the participant, or if no such executor or administrator has been appointed
(to the knowledge of the Company), the Company, in its sole discretion, may
deliver such shares and/or cash to the spouse or to any one or more dependents
or relatives of the participant, or if no spouse, dependent or relative is
known to the Company, then to such other person as the Company may designate.

15.           TERMINATION OR
SUSPENSION OF THE PLAN.

(a)           The Board in its discretion, may suspend or terminate the
Plan at any time. No rights may be granted under the Plan while the Plan is
suspended or after it is terminated.

(b)           Rights and obligations under any rights granted while the
Plan is in effect shall not be impaired by suspension or termination of the
Plan, except as expressly provided in the Plan or with the consent of the
person to whom such rights were granted, or except as necessary to comply with
any laws or governmental regulation, or except as necessary to ensure that the
Plan and/or rights granted under the Plan comply with the requirements of
Section 423 of the Code.

16.           EFFECTIVE DATE OF
PLAN.

The Plan shall
become effective on the day the Plan has been approved by the stockholders of
the Company, which approval shall occur within twelve (12) months after the
date the Plan is adopted by the Board.

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