SAN DIEGO, July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTR) announced today that on June 30, 2011 the Compensation Committee of its Board of Directors approved the grant of inducement stock options to purchase an aggregate of 342,000 shares of common stock to 73 new employees.
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Each stock option has an exercise price per share equal to $11.89, the fair market value on the grant date, and vests over four years, with 25% of the shares vesting on the one-year anniversary of the applicable vesting commencement date and 1/48 of the shares vesting monthly thereafter, subject to the new employee’s continued service relationship with the Company. Each stock option also has a ten year term and is subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s 2006 Equity Incentive Plan and the stock option agreement pursuant to which the option was granted.
The stock options were granted as inducements material to the new employees entering into employment with Optimer in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).
About Optimer
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing innovative hospital specialty products that have a positive impact on society. Optimer has developed and plans to commercialize DIFICID (fidaxomicin) tablets, an FDA approved antibacterial drug for the treatment of adult patients with Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). CDAD is associated with a bacterial infection that is estimated to affect 700,000 people each year in the U.S. alone, and has surpassed MRSA as the leading cause of healthcare-acquired infections in community hospitals. Optimer has filed a marketing authorization application with the European Medicines Agency for fidaxomicin. Optimer’s clinical pipeline includes Pruvel, a product in the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics that has completed Phase 3 trials as a treatment for infectious diarrhea. Additional information can be found at http://www.optimerpharma.com.
Contacts
Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
David Walsey, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
858-909-0736
Canale Communications, Inc.
Jason I. Spark, Senior Vice President
619-849-6005
SOURCE Optimer Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
