Exhibit 10.1
SCOLR PHARMA, INC.
DIRECTOR INDEMNIFICATION
AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT
is made as of May 26, 2009, by and between SCOLR Pharma,
Inc. , a Delaware corporation (the " Corporation "), and
________________ (" Director "), a member of the
Corporation's Board of Directors (the “ Board
”).
WHEREAS, it is
essential to the Corporation to retain and attract directors who
have significant experience in business, corporate and financial
matters; and
WHEREAS, the
Director possesses the knowledge and experience desired by the
Corporation and the Corporation desires the Director to serve as a
director of the Corporation; and
WHEREAS, the
Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws of the Corporation
require indemnification of the directors of the Corporation to the
fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law
(the " DGCL "), and the DGCL expressly provides that the
indemnification provisions set forth therein are not exclusive;
and
WHEREAS, the
Corporation and the Director desire to enter into a contract that
sets forth their respective rights and obligations with regard to
claims for loss, liability, expense or damage which, directly or
indirectly, may arise out of or relate to service as a member of
the Board;
NOW THEREFORE,
in consideration of the premises and the covenants contained herein
and Director's agreement to continue to serve the Corporation after
the date hereof, the sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged,
the Corporation and Director do hereby covenant and agree as
follows:
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Agreement to
Serve. The Director shall serve as a director of the
Corporation for so long as the Director is duly elected or until
the Director tenders a resignation in writing. This Agreement
creates no obligation on either party to continue the service of
the Director for a particular term or any term.
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Definitions.
As used in this
Agreement:
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The term "
Proceeding " shall include any threatened, pending or
completed action, suit or proceeding, whether brought in the right
of the Corporation or otherwise, and whether of a civil, criminal,
administrative or investigative nature, whether formal or informal,
in which the Director may be or may have been involved as a party,
witness or otherwise, by reason of the fact that the Director is or
was a director of the Corporation, or is or was serving at the
request of the Corporation (or is deemed to be serving or have
served) as a director, officer, partner, trustee, manager, employee
or agent of another corporation, limited liability company,
partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, whether or
not serving in such capacity at the time any liability or expense
is incurred for
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which
exculpation, indemnification or reimbursement can be provided under
this Agreement. The term " Proceeding " shall
also include a situation that the Director in good faith believes
may lead to the institution of an action, suit or
proceeding.
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The term "
Expenses " shall mean any expense, liability or loss,
including attorneys' fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and
penalties, amounts paid or to be paid in settlement, any interest,
assessments or other charges imposed thereon, any federal, state,
local or foreign taxes imposed as a result of the actual or deemed
receipt of any payments under this Agreement, and shall include,
without limitation thereto, expenses of investigations, judicial or
administrative proceedings or appeals, attorney, accountant and
other professional fees and disbursements and any expenses of
establishing a right to indemnification under Section 12 of this
Agreement, but shall not include amounts paid in settlement by the
Director or the amount of judgments or fines against the
Director.
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References to "
other enterprise " include, without limitation, employee
benefit plans; references to " fines " include, without
limitation, any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to
any employee benefit plan; references to " serving at the
request of the Corporation " include, without limitation, any
service as a director, officer, partner, trustee, manager, employee
or agent which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such
director, officer, partner, trustee, manager, employee or agent
with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants, or its
beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner
such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the
participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be
deemed to have acted in a manner " not opposed to the best
interests of the Corporation " as referred to in this
Agreement.
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References to "
the Corporation " shall include, in addition to the
resulting entity, any constituent corporation or other entity
(including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a
consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had
continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its
directors, officers, partners, trustees, managers, employees or
agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer,
partner, trustee, manager, employee or agent of such constituent
entity, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent
entity as a director, officer, partner, trustee, manager, employee
or agent of another corporation, limited liability company,
partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand
in the same position under this Agreement with respect to the
resulting or surviving entity as such person would have with
respect to such constituent entity if its separate
existence had continued.
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For purposes of
this Agreement, the meaning of the phrase " to the fullest
extent permitted by law " shall include, but not be limited
to:
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to the fullest
extent authorized or permitted by any amendments to or replacements
of the DGCL adopted after the date of this Agreement that increase
the extent to which a corporation may indemnify or exculpate its
directors; and
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to the fullest
extent permitted by any provision of the DGCL that authorizes or
contemplates additional indemnification by agreement, or the
corresponding provision of any amendment to or replacement of the
DGCL.
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A " Change
in Control " shall be deemed to occur upon the earlier the
earliest to occur after the date of this Agreement of any of the
following events:
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Acquisition
of Stock by Third Party . Any Person (as defined below)
is or becomes the Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of
securities of the Corporation representing fifty percent (50%) or
more of the combined voting power of the Corporation's then
outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election
of directors, unless (a) the change in the relative Beneficial
Ownership of the Corporation's securities by any Person results
solely from a reduction in the aggregate number of outstanding
shares of securities entitled to vote generally in the
election of directors, or (b) such acquisition was approved in
advance by the Continuing Directors (as defined below) and such
acquisition would not constitute a Change in Control under part
(iii) of this definition;
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Change in
Board of Directors . Individuals who, as of the
date hereof, constitute the Board, and any new director whose
election by the Board or nomination for election by the
Corporation's stockholders was approved by a vote of at least two
thirds of the Directors then still in office who were Directors on
the date hereof or whose election for nomination for election was
previously so approved (collectively, the " Continuing
Directors "), cease for any reason to constitute at least a
majority of the members of the Board;
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Corporation
Transactions . The effective date of a
reorganization, merger or consolidation of the Corporation (a "
Business Combination "), in each case, unless, immediately
following such Business Combination: (a) all or substantially all
of the Persons who were the Beneficial Owners of securities
entitled to vote generally in the election of Directors immediately
prior to such Business Combination beneficially own, directly or
indirectly, more than 51% of the combined voting power of the then
outstanding securities of the Corporation entitled to vote
generally in the election of Directors resulting from such Business
Combination (including, without limitation, a corporation which was
a result of such transaction owns the Corporation or all or
substantially all of the Corporation's assets either directly or
through one or more Subsidiaries) in
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substantially
the same proportions as their ownership, immediately prior to such
Business Combination, of the securities entitled to vote generally
in the election of Directors; (b) no Person (excluding any
corporation resulting from such Business Combination) is the
Beneficial Owner, directly or indirectly, of 15% or more of the
combined voting power of the then outstanding securities entitled
to vote generally in the election of Directors of such corporation
except to the extent that such ownership existed prior to such
Business Combination; and (c) at least a majority of the board of
directors of the corporation resulting from such Business
Combination were Continuing Directors at the time of the execution
of the initial agreement, or of the action of the board of
directors, providing for such Business Combination;
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Liquidation . The approval by the
stockholders of the Corporation of a complete liquidation of the
Corporation or an agreement or series of agreements for the sale or
disposition by the Corporation of all or substantially all of the
Corporation's assets, other than factoring the Corporation's
current receivables or escrows due (or, if such approval is not
required, the decision by the Board to proceed with such a
liquidation, sale, or disposition in one transaction or a series of
related transactions); or
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Other
Events . There occurs any other event
of a nature that would be required to be reported in response to
Item 6(e) of Schedule 14A of Regulation 14A (or a response to any
similar item on any similar schedule or form) promulgated under the
Exchange Act, whether or not the Corporation is then subject to
such reporting requirement.
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Beneficial
Owner; Beneficial Ownership . The terms " Beneficial
Owner " and " Beneficial Ownership " shall have the
meanings set forth in Rule 13d-3 promulgated under
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, as in effect on the date hereof (the " Exchange
Act ") .
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The term "
Person " shall have the meaning as set forth in Sections
13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act as in effect on the date
hereof; provided, however, that "Person" shall exclude: (a) the
Corporation; (b) any subsidiary of the Corporation; (c) any
employment benefit plan of the Corporation or of a subsidiary of
the Corporation or of any corporation owned, directly or
indirectly, by the stockholders of the Corporation in substantially
the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the
Corporation; and (d) any trustee or other fiduciary holding
securities under an employee benefit plan of the Corporation or of
a subsidiary of the Corporation or of a corporation owned directly
or indirectly by the stockholders of the Corporation in
substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of
the Corporation.
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To the fullest
extent permitted by law, the Director shall have no monetary
liability of any kind or nature whatsoever in respect of the
Director's errors or omissions (or alleged errors or omissions) in
serving the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries, their
respective shareholders or any other enterprise at the request of
the Corporation, so long as such errors or omissions (or alleged
errors or omissions), if any, are not shown by clear and convincing
evidence to have involved:
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any breach of
the Director's duty of loyalty to such entities, shareholders or
enterprises;
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any act or
omission not in good faith or which involved intentional misconduct
or a knowing violation of law;
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any transaction
from which the Director derived an improper personal benefit;
or
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profits made
from the purchase and sale by the Director of securities of the
Corporation within the meaning of Section 16(b) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or similar provision of any state
statutory law or common law.
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Without
limiting the generality of subparagraph (a) above and to the
fullest extent permitted by law, the Director shall have no
personal liability to the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries,
their respective shareholders or any other person claiming
derivatively through the Corporation, regardless of the theory or
principle under which such liability may be asserted,
for:
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punitive,
exemplary or consequential damages;
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treble or other
damages computed based upon any multiple of damages actually and
directly proved to have been sustained;
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fees of
attorneys, accountants, expert witnesses or professional
consultants; or
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civil fines or
penalties of any kind or nature whatsoever.
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Indemnity in
Third Party Proceedings. The Corporation shall indemnify the Director in
accordance with the provisions of this Section 4 if the Director
was or is a party to, or is threatened to be made a party to, any
Proceeding (other than a Proceeding by or in the right of the
Corporation to procure a judgment in its favor), against all
Expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement, actually
and reasonably incurred by the by the Director in connection with
such Proceeding if the Director acted in good faith
and
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in a manner the
Director reasonably believed was in or not opposed to the best
interests of the Corporation, and, with respect to any criminal
action or proceeding, the Director, in addition, had no reasonable
cause to believe that the Director's conduct was
unlawful.
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The Director
shall not be entitled to indemnification under this Section 4 in
connection with any Proceeding charging improper personal benefit
to the Director in which the Director is finally adjudged liable
without further rights of appeal on the basis that personal benefit
was improperly received by the Director unless and only to the
extent that the court conducting such Proceeding, or any other
court of competent jurisdiction, determines upon application that,
despite the adjudication of liability, the Director is fairly and
reasonably entitled to indemnification in view of all the relevant
circumstances.
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Indemnity in
Proceedings by or in the Right of the
Corporation. The Corporation shall indemnify the Director in
accordance with the provisions of this Section 5 if the Director
was or is a party to, or is threatened to be made a party to, any
Proceeding by or in the right of the Corporation to procure a
judgment in its favor, against all Expenses actually and reasonably
incurred by the Director in connection with the defense or
settlement of such Proceeding if the Director acted in good faith
and in a manner the Director reasonably believed was in or not
opposed to the best interests of the Corporation. The Director
shall not be entitled to indemnification under this Section 5 in
connection with any Proceeding in which the Director has been
finally adjudged liable without further rights of appeal to the
Corporation unless and only to the extent that the court conducting
such Proceeding, or any other court of competent jurisdiction,
determines upon application that, despite the adjudication of
liability, the Director is fairly and reasonably entitled to
indemnification in view of all the relevant
circumstances.
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Indemnification of Expenses of Successful
Party. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
Agreement other than Section 8, to the extent that the Director has
been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in defense of any
Proceeding or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein,
including the dismissal of an action without prejudice, the
Corporation shall indemnify the Director against all Expenses
actually and reasonably incurred in connection
therewith. If any Proceeding is disposed of on the
merits or otherwise (including a disposition without prejudice),
without (i) the disposition being adverse to the Director, (ii) an
adjudication that the Director was liable to the Corporation, (iii)
a plea of guilty by the Director, (iv) an adjudication that the
Director did not act in good faith, and in a manner he reasonably
believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
Corporation, and (v) with respect to any criminal proceeding, an
adjudication that the Director had reasonable cause to believe his
conduct was unlawful, the Director shall be considered for the
purposes hereof to have been successful with respect
thereto.
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Additional
Indemnification. Notwithstanding any limitation
in Sections 4, 5 or 6, the Corporation shall indemnify the Director
to the fullest extent permitted by law with respect to any
Proceeding (including a Proceeding by or in the right of the
Corporation to procure a judgment in its favor), against all
Expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement, actually
and reasonably incurred by the Director in connection with
such
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Exclusions.
Notwithstanding any provision in
this Agreement, the Corporation shall not be obligated under this
Agreement to make any indemnification in connection with any claim
made against the Director:
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for which
payment has actually been made to or on behalf of the Director
under any insurance policy, except with respect to any excess
amount to which the Director is entitled under this Agreement
beyond the amount of payment under such insurance
policy;
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if a court
having jurisdiction in the matter finally determines that such
indemnification is not lawful under any applicable statute or
public policy;
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in connection
with any Proceeding (or par
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