Derek Meisner
About Derek Meisner
Derek Meisner, age 54 (as of April 1, 2025), is Chief Legal Officer (CLO) of Acumen Pharmaceuticals (ABOS) and also serves as Corporate Secretary. He joined Acumen in September 2022 after senior legal roles at X4 Pharmaceuticals and Genocea Biosciences; he holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law . As Corporate Secretary/CLO, Meisner is the signatory on multiple SEC filings, reflecting central governance responsibility (e.g., 2025 proxy and annual meeting results 8-K) . No executive-specific performance (TSR/revenue/EBITDA) disclosures are provided for Meisner in the latest proxy; such metrics are not applicable at the officer level in these filings .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| X4 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary | Nov 2019 – Sep 2022 | Led legal and corporate secretary functions at a public biotech |
| Genocea Biosciences, Inc. | General Counsel | Sep 2018 – Nov 2019 | Senior legal leadership at a public biotech |
| Private practice/Advisory | Counsel to public and private companies | ~1990s–2018 (over two decades) | Provided legal counsel across corporate/compliance domains |
External Roles
No external public company directorships or committee roles are disclosed for Meisner in the latest DEF 14A .
Fixed Compensation
No specific base salary, target bonus, or cash compensation details for Meisner are disclosed (he is not a Named Executive Officer in the proxy). Compensation tables cover the CEO, CFO/CBO, and President & CDO only .
Performance Compensation
No equity grant, RSU/PSU, option, metric weighting, or payout disclosures specific to Meisner are provided in the latest proxy. 2024–2025 equity and bonus structures disclosed in the proxy apply to Named Executive Officers, not Meisner .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership for Meisner is not itemized in the proxy’s ownership table; only directors and Named Executive Officers are listed individually .
- Group alignment context: all current executive officers and directors as a group (13 persons) beneficially owned 6,129,070 shares (9.3%) as of April 8, 2025 (60,573,425 shares outstanding) .
- Hedging/pledging: the company’s insider trading policy prohibits short sales, transactions in put/call options, hedging transactions, and margin accounts, which reduces misalignment risk from derivatives or pledging; the policy also governs grant practices (no timing around MNPI) .
| Ownership Context | Value |
|---|---|
| Shares outstanding (Apr 8, 2025) | 60,573,425 |
| Execs and directors as a group (13) – shares | 6,129,070 |
| Execs and directors as a group – % outstanding | 9.3% |
| Policy on hedging/options/margin | Prohibited |
Note: No pledging by Meisner is disclosed, and the policy’s margin prohibition helps mitigate pledging risk .
Employment Terms
- Start date/tenure: Joined Acumen as Chief Legal Officer in September 2022; also serves as Corporate Secretary in 2025 .
- Contract economics: No Meisner-specific employment agreement, severance, or change-in-control terms are disclosed in the proxy (agreements summarized apply to other NEOs) .
- Indemnification: The company provides indemnification and expense advancement to directors and executive officers pursuant to charter/bylaws and individual indemnification agreements; D&O insurance maintained .
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Title | Chief Legal Officer; Corporate Secretary |
| Employment start | September 2022 |
| Severance/CIC terms | Not disclosed for Meisner |
| Non-compete/solicit | Not disclosed for Meisner (company examples provided for other executives) |
| Indemnification | Yes—charter/bylaws plus individual agreements; D&O insurance |
Governance, Controls, and Related-Party Considerations
- Insider trading and grant timing: policy prohibits hedging, options, margin accounts; no grant timing around MNPI .
- Compensation committee governance: independent members; uses Aon as compensation consultant; established processes for goals/awards and risk oversight of incentives (company-level context) .
- Related-party transactions: none requiring disclosure since Jan 1, 2023 (reduces conflict-of-interest risk) .
Expertise & Qualifications
- Education: B.A. (University of Michigan); J.D. (American University Washington College of Law) .
- Domain: Biotech/public-company legal leadership; corporate secretary responsibilities; more than two decades advising public/private companies .
- Role scope indicator: Repeated SEC filing signatory as CLO/Corporate Secretary (e.g., proxy and annual meeting 8-K), underscoring centrality to disclosure and governance processes .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and trading-signal read-through: While Meisner’s individual equity holdings and award schedules are not disclosed, company-wide prohibitions on hedging/options/margin materially reduce misalignment risks (and implicitly limit pledging), and no related-party transactions were reported—favorable for governance quality .
- Retention/transition: Lack of disclosed severance/CIC terms for Meisner makes it difficult to quantify retention economics; however, standard officer indemnification and D&O coverage are in place, consistent with peer practice .
- Monitoring: Given non-disclosure of Meisner-specific equity and cash incentives, monitor future proxies and any Form 4 filings for grant/vesting cadence and potential selling pressure; the company typically administers annual equity awards in January for NEOs, indicating a likely early-year grant cycle at Acumen (not specific to Meisner) .
- Overall: Governance structures and trading policy constraints are constructive; absence of individual compensation/ownership detail limits pay-for-performance and selling-pressure analysis for Meisner, warranting continued surveillance of forthcoming proxies and Section 16 filings .