Ligand Pharmaceuticals Announces Incentive Grant Under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

EMERYVILLE, Calif., April 8, 2022–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND) today announced that on April 8, 2022, the Human Capital Management and Compensation Committee of the Ligand Board of Directors granted awards of non-qualified stock options to purchase a total of 40,000 shares of its common stock from Kurt Gustafson, who joined OmniAb, Inc. (OmniAb), the antibody discovery business of Ligand, as Chief Financial Officer, upon taking office. The stock options were granted as incentive material upon commencement of Mr. Gustafson’s employment with Ligand and OmniAb and were granted as an employment incentive award pursuant to NASDAQ listing rule 5635(c)(4).

The options have an exercise price of $117.06 per share, which exceeds the closing price of Ligand common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on April 8, 2022. The shares subject to the stock options will be vest over four years, with 12.5% ​​of the shares vesting six months after Mr. Gustafson’s date of commencement of employment and the balance of the shares vesting in 42 equal monthly installments thereafter, subject to continued employment of Mr. Gustafson at Ligand or OmniAb on those dates of acquisition. The options are subject to the terms of a stock option agreement covering the grant. Stock options have a term of ten years from the date of grant.

About Ligand Pharmaceuticals

Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover and develop drugs. Our business model creates shareholder value by providing a diverse portfolio of biotechnology and pharmaceutical revenue streams supported by an efficient and low enterprise cost structure. Our goal is to provide investors with an opportunity to participate in the promise of the biotechnology industry in a profitable, diversified and lower-risk venture than a typical biotechnology company. Our business model is based on what we do best: drug discovery, early stage drug development, product reformulation and partnership. We partner with other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do best (advanced development, regulatory management and commercialization) to ultimately drive our revenue. Ligand’s OmniAb® technology platform is a patent-protected transgenic animal platform used in the discovery of fully human monoclonal and bispecific antibody therapeutics. The Captisol® platform technology is a chemically modified, patent-protected cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize drug solubility and stability. Ligand’s Pelican Expression Technology® is a robust, validated, cost-effective and scalable platform for recombinant protein production that is uniquely suited for large-scale complex protein production where traditional systems are not. Ligand has established multiple alliances, licensing and other commercial relationships with the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, Janssen, Takeda, Gilead Sciences and Baxter International. For more information, visit www.ligand.com.

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See the source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220408005582/en/

contacts

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
Simon Latimer
investors@ligand.com
(858) 550-7766
Twitter: @Ligand_LGND

LHA Investor Relations
Bruce Voss
bvoss@lhai.com
(310) 691-7100

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