The Immune Response Corporation
5931 Darwin Court
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Dr. Joseph
F. O’Neill
Ellicott City, MD
Pursuant to
this letter agreement (the “Agreement”) and subject to
completing background investigations and you providing evidence of
your United States citizenship or eligibility to work in the United
States, we are pleased to make to you the following offer of
employment with The Immune Response Corporation (the
“Company”):
Your title will
be Chief Executive Officer (or CEO) of the Company, effective
October 31, 2005 (the “Effective Date”). As the
CEO, you will serve full-time and report to the Board of Directors
of the Company (the “Board”). You also will serve as a
member of the Board at no additional compensation. It is
acknowledged that continuation of your service as a director shall
be subject to your re-election by the Company’s stockholders.
The Company agrees to propose to the stockholders at each
appropriate annual meeting during the term hereof your reelection
as a member of the Board, provided you are otherwise eligible for
reelection.
The initial
term of your employment shall commence on the Effective Date and
shall, except as provided in Section 4.1 hereof, continue for
a term of three (3) years following the Effective Date (the
“Initial Term”). Thereafter, the term of this Agreement
shall be automatically extended for successive and additional
two-year periods, unless either party shall provide a written
notice of termination to the other at least ninety (90) days
prior to the end of the Initial Term or any extended term. The term
of this Agreement is subject to early termination in accordance
with the provisions set forth in Section 4 hereof.
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3.
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Compensation and
Benefits
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You shall be
entitled to the following:
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3.1
(a)
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Base salary at the annual rate of
$412,000, or at such increased rate as the Board, in its sole
discretion, may hereafter from time to time determine (“Base
Salary”), payable bi-weekly less required tax withholding.
During the term of this Agreement, your Base Salary will be
reviewed annually by the Board to determine whether such Base
Salary should be increased in light of your duties,
responsibilities and performance, and, if it is determined by the
Board that an
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Dr. Joseph
F. O’Neill
October 26, 2005
Page 2
increase is
merited, such increase shall be promptly put into effect and your
Base Salary, as so increased, shall constitute your Base Salary for
purposes of this Section 3.1(a).
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3.1
(b)
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Within sixty (60) days after
the Effective Date, the Board shall meet with you to discuss the
terms and conditions under which you will be paid an annual bonus,
whereby the Board and you shall mutually agree on
(a) appropriate and reasonably obtainable criteria which the
Board or its Compensation Committee are to consider with regard to
an annual bonus and (b) the target amount of such annual bonus
or the formula by which such annual bonus target amount is to be
determined. The Board shall meet with you annually for this
purpose, within sixty (60) days prior to the start of each
Term year (October 31-October 30). During the term of
this Agreement, the target bonus amount may be up to 400% of Base
Salary, but not less than 100% of the Base Salary. The bonus shall
be payable no later than thirty (30) days following the
conclusion of the Term year (October 31-October 30) for
which the bonus was earned.
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3.2
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Fringe benefits (medical, disability
insurance, 401k plan, vacation/PTO, flex spending account) shall be
according to the Company policies in place from time to time for
all employees. The Company reserves the right to change its benefit
programs or policies, and/or its providers, at any time.
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3.3
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Four (4) weeks annual paid
vacation; provided, however, that the Company acknowledges and
agrees that you have pre-existing commitments from November 8-20,
2005, December 1-5, 2005, and December 10-15, 2005, and that
you will not be required to use vacation time for these periods.
The Company agrees that you will be on an unpaid leave of absence
during these periods. In the event that you do perform work for the
Company during this leave, the Company and you will discuss
reasonable compensation for such work.
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3.4
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Subject to Board approval, within
ten (10) days following the Effective Date, you will receive
an inducement grant of 6,000,000 nonqualified stock options (the
“CEO Grant”). The exercise price for these stock
options will be set equal to the closing price of the
Company’s common stock on the date the Board grants the
options. The
shares
comprising the CEO Grant will vest according to the following
schedule: (1) 3,000,000 shall vest in 8 equal quarterly
installments over the first eight (8) complete quarters in the
Initial Term; and (2) 3,000,000 shall vest in a lump amount on
the date that is 7 years following the date of the grant, or
earlier upon the attainment of key performance milestones to which
you and the Board will mutually agree within sixty (60) days
after the Effective Date. Although the CEO Grant will not be made
under a pre-existing Company plan, the Company will register the
common stock underlying the CEO Grant on Form S-8 with the SEC
within sixty (60) days following the date of the
grant.
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Dr. Joseph
F. O’Neill
October 26, 2005
Page 3
In the event of
the occurrence of a Change of Control (as defined below), the CEO
Grant shall immediately vest in full and become fully exercisable
to the extent not previously vested or exercisable, and shall
continue to be exercisable for a period of six (6) months or
until the applicable expiration date of such options (in accordance
with their terms), whichever period is shorter. For purposes of
this Agreement, “Change of Control” shall mean any of
the following events:
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(a)
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a
sale, lease or other disposition of all or substantially all of the
assets of the Company so long as the Company’s stockholders
immediately prior to such transaction will, immediately after such
transaction, fail to possess direct or indirect beneficial
ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting power of
the acquiring entity (for purposes of this section, any person who
acquired securities of the Company prior to the occurrence of such
asset transaction in contemplation of such transaction and who
after such transaction possesses direct or indirect ownership of at
least ten percent (10%) of the securities of the acquiring entity
immediately following such transaction shall not be included in the
group of stockholders of the Company immediately prior to such
transaction);
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(b)
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either a merger or consolidation in
which the Company is not the surviving corporation and the
stockholders of the Company immediately prior to the merger or
consolidation fail to possess direct or indirect beneficial
ownership of more than fifty percent (50%) of the voting power of
the securities of the surviving corporation (or if the surviving
corporation is a controlled subsidiary of another entity, then the
required beneficial ownership shall be determined with respect to
the securities of that entity which controls the surviving
corporation and is not itself a controlled subsidiary of any other
entity) immediately following such transaction, or a reverse merger
in which the Company is the surviving corporation and the
stockholders of the Company immediately prior to the reverse merger
fail to possess direct or indirect beneficial ownership of more
than fifty percent (50%) of the securities of the Company (or if
the Company is a controlled subsidiary of another entity, then the
required beneficial ownership shall be determined with respect to
the securities of that entity which controls the Company and is not
itself a controlled subsidiary of any other entity) immediately
following the reverse merger (for purposes of this section, any
person who acquired securities of the Company prior to the
occurrence of a merger, reverse merger, or consolidation in
contemplation of such transaction and who after such transaction
possesses direct or indirect beneficial ownership of at least ten
percent (10%) of the securities of the Company or the surviving
corporation (or if the Company or the surviving corporation is a
controlled subsidiary, then of the appropriate entity as determined
above)
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Dr. Joseph
F. O’Neill
October 26, 2005
Page 4
immediately
following such transaction shall not be included in the group of
stockholders of the Company immediately prior to such
transaction).
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3.5
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Reimbursement from the Company for
all reasonable and customary expenses incurred by you in performing
services under this Agreement, including travel expenses, expenses
related to wireless communications (cell phone and Blackberry) and
reasonable expenses related to home communications for the company
(e.g., high speed internet access, fax, computer and accessories if
needed) and other out-of-pocket expenses, in accordance with your
expense account and the Company’s reimbursement policies and
provided that you shall submit to the Company reasonable
documentation with respect to such expenses.
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4.
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Termination of
Employment
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4.1
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Events of Termination
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Your employment
with the Company may be terminated prior to the expiration of the
Initial Term or extended term set forth in Section 2 hereof as
follows:
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(a)
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By the Company With Cause
. Your employment with
the Company may be terminated at any time for “Cause.”
As used in this Agreement, the term “Cause” shall mean
(i) your willful misconduct or willful failure to fulfill and
perform your stated duties, including the obligations stated
herein, which misconduct or failure, if curable, is not fully cured
to the reasonable satisfaction of the Board within thirty
(30) days after written notice thereof, (ii) any material
breach by you of any provision of this Agreement or the policies
pertaining to Company employees which the Company adopts from time
to time and provides a copy of to you, which, if curable, is not
fully cured to the reasonable satisfaction of the Board within
thirty (30) days after written notice thereof, (iii) any
violation by you of Section 6.2 hereof, or (iv) your
commi
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