Amended and Restated Severance and Change of Control Agreement

Exhibit 10.3

Amended and Restated Severance and Change of Control Agreement

 

This Amended and Restated Severance and Change of Control Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into, effective as of March 25, 2019 (the “Effective Date”), by and between CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx, M.D. (“Employee”) and amends and restates in its entirety that certain Severance and Change of Control Agreement dated as of March 23, 2016 by and between the Company and Employee, as amended (the “Prior Agreement”).  

 

Upon acceptance of this Agreement, the following terms and conditions shall apply to your employment:

 

 

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For purposes of this Agreement, a "Change of Control" shall mean the occurrence of any of the following events, provided that such event or occurrence constitutes a change in the ownership or effective control of the Company, or a change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the assets of the Company, as defined in Treasury Regulation §§ 1.409A-3(i)(5)(v), (vi), and (vii): (i) any merger or consolidation that results in the voting securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior thereto representing (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into voting securities of the surviving or acquiring entity) less than 50% of the combined voting power of the voting securities of the Company or such surviving or acquiring entity outstanding immediately after such merger or consolidation; (ii) any sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company; (iii) the complete liquidation or dissolution of the Company; or (iv) the acquisition of "beneficial ownership" (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act) of securities of the Company representing 50% or more of the combined voting power of the Company's then outstanding securities (other than through a merger or consolidation or an acquisition of securities directly from the Company) by any "person," as such term is used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act, or combination of persons, other than the Company, any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company or any corporation owned directly or indirectly by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportion as their ownership of stock of the Company.

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For purposes of this Agreement, "Cause" shall mean a termination of your employment based upon a finding by a majority of the Board of Directors of the Company or its successor, acting in good faith and based on its reasonable belief at the time, that you (a) have refused to perform the explicitly stated or reasonably assigned lawful and material duties required by your position (other than by reason of a disability or analogous condition); (b) have committed or engaged in a material act of theft, embezzlement, dishonesty or fraud, a breach of confidentiality, an unauthorized disclosure or use of inside information, customer lists, trade secrets or other confidential information; (c) have breached a material fiduciary duty, or willfully and materially violated any other duty, law, rule, or regulation relating to the performance of your duties to the Company or material policy of the Company or its successor; (d) have been convicted of, or pled guilty or nolo contendere to, misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony; (e) have willfully and materially breached any of the provisions of any agreement with the Company or its successor which causes material injury to the Company; (f) have willfully engaged in unfair competition with, or otherwise acted intentionally in a manner materially injurious to the reputation, business or assets of, the Company or its successor; or (g) have improperly induced a vendor or customer to break or terminate any material contract with the Company or its successor or induced a principal for whom the Company or its successor acts as agent to terminate such agency relationship.  “Cause” shall only exist if the Company first provides you with written notice of any claimed ground for Cause and an opportunity to cure such ground, if curable, for thirty (30) days. For purposes of this Agreement, no act or failure to act on your part will be considered “willful” unless it is done, or omitted to be done, by you intentionally, not in good faith and without reasonable belief that the action or omission was in the best interest of the Company.

 

For purposes of this Agreement, "Good Reason" shall mean the occurrence of any of the following events or circumstances without your written consent: (i) a material diminution in your base compensation; (ii) a material diminution in your authority, duties or responsibility; (iii) a material change in the principal geographic location at which you must perform services from South San Francisco, California; (iv) any requirement that you engage in any illegal conduct; or (v) a material breach by the Company of this Agreement or any other material written agreement between you and the Company.

 

In order to establish a "Good Reason" for terminating employment, you must provide written notice to the Company of the existence of the condition giving rise to the Good Reason, which notice must be provided within 90 days of the initial existence of such condition, the Company must fail to cure the condition within 30 days thereafter, and your termination of employment must occur no later than 30 days following the expiration of that 30-day cure period.

 

All severance or change of control payments are intended to be exempt from or, if not, shall be made in full compliance with Section 409A and shall begin only upon the date of your "separation from service" (as defined below), which occurs on or after the date of termination of the employment relationship, and shall be subject to the rules set forth below.

 

(a) It is intended that each installment, if any, of the severance or change of control payments and benefits provided under this Agreement shall be treated as a separate "payment" for purposes of Section 409 A of the Internal Revenue Code and the guidance issued thereunder ("Section 409A"). Neither you nor the Company shall have the right to accelerate or defer the delivery of any such payments or benefits except to the extent specifically permitted or required by Section 409A.

 

(b) If, as of the date of your "separation from service" from the Company, you are not a "specified employee" (within the meaning of Section 409A), then each installment, if any, of the severance or change of control payments and benefits shall be made on the dates and terms set forth in this Agreement.

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(c) If, as of the date of your "separation from service" from the Company, you are a "specified employee" (within the meaning of Section 409A), then:

 

(i) Each installment, if any, of the severance or change of control payments and benefits due under this Agreement that, in accordance with the dates and terms set forth herein, will in all circumstances, regardless of when the separation from service occurs, be paid within the short-term deferral period (as defined under Section 409A) shall be treated as a short-term deferral within the meaning of Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-l(b)(4) to the maximum extent permissible under Section 409A; and

 

(ii) Each installment, if any, of the severance or change of control payments and benefits due under this Agreement that is not described in paragraph (i) above and that would, absent this subsection, be paid within the six-month period following your "separation from service" from the Company shall not be paid until the date that is six months and one day after such separation from service (or, if earlier, upon your death), with any such installments that are required to be delayed being accumulated during the six-month period and paid in a lump sum on the date that is six months and one day following your separation from service and any subsequent installments, if any, being paid in accordance with the dates and terms set forth herein; provided, however, that the preceding provisions of this sentence shall not apply to any installment of severance or change of control payments and benefits if and to the maximum extent that that such installment is deemed to be paid under a separation pay plan that does not provide for a deferral of compensation by reason of the application of Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-l(b)(9)(iii) (relating to separation pay upon an involuntary separation from service). Any installments that qualify for the exception under Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-l(b)(9)(iii) must be paid no later than the last day of your second taxable year following the taxable year in which the separation from service occurs.

 

(d) The determination of whether and when your separation from service from the Company has occurred shall be made and in a manner consistent with and based on the presumptions set forth in, Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-l(h). Solely for purposes of this paragraph (d), "the Company" shall include all persons with whom the Company would be considered a single employer under Sections 414(b) and 414(c) of the Code.

 

(e) All reimbursements and in-kind benefits provided under this Agreement shall be made or provided in accordance with the requirements of Section 409A to the extent that such reimbursements or in-kind benefits are subject to Section 409A, including, where applicable, the requirement that (i) any  reimbursement is for expenses incurred during your lifetime (or during a shorter period of time specified in this Agreement), (ii) the amount of expenses eligible for reimbursement during a calendar year may not affect the expenses eligible for reimbursement in any other calendar year, (iii) the reimbursement of an eligible expense will be made on or before the last day of the calendar year following the year in which the expense is incurred and (iv) the right to reimbursement is not subject to set off or liquidation or exchange for any other benefit.

 

(f) If either you or the Company reasonably determines that any payment hereunder will violate Section 409A, you and the Company shall use best efforts to restructure the payment in a manner that is either exempt from or compliant with Section 409A.  You and the Company agree that they will execute any and all amendments to this Agreement as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the distribution provisions of Section 409A in an effort to avoid or minimize, to the extent

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allowable by law, the tax (and any interest or penalties thereon) associated with Section 409A.  If it is determined that a payment under this Agreement was (or may be) made in violation of Section 409A, the Company will cooperate reasonably with any effort by you to mitigate the tax consequences of such violation, including cooperation with your participation in any IRS voluntary compliance program or other correction procedure under Section 409A that may be available to you.

 

 

This Agreement will be binding on the parties and their successors and assigns. The Company shall require any successors or assigns to expressly assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would be required to perform it if no such succession or assignment had taken place.  The terms of this Agreement and all of your rights hereunder will inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by, your personal representatives, executors, administrators, successors, heirs, distributes, devisees and legatees.

 

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with California law, without regard to the conflict of law rules thereof.

 

If any provision of this Agreement is determined to be illegal or unenforceable, then the remainder of this Agreement nonetheless shall be fully enforceable and binding upon the parties hereto, and it is the intent of the parties that a court or arbitrator shall enforce the remainder of this Agreement to the maximum extent permitted by law. The prevailing party in any dispute concerning the interpretation or enforcement of this Agreement will be entitled to an award of his or its costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, in addition to any other eligible relief.

 

This Agreement (a) represents our entire understanding regarding the subject matter hereof, and supersedes and replaces all prior and contemporaneous understandings regarding such subject matter, whether oral or written, including, without limitation, the Prior Agreement and (b) may not be modified or amended, except by a written instrument executed by you and by a duly authorized officer of the Company.  In the event of any conflict between any of the terms in this Agreement and the terms of any other agreement between you and the Company, the terms of this Agreement shall control.

 

ACCEPTANCE

 

The undersigned agrees to and accepts the terms and conditions set forth above.

 

 

 

March 25, 2019______________________/s/ Xxxxxx Humphrey_______________

 

 

 

March 25, 2019______________________/s/ Xxxx McCarthy__________________