Jim Chopas - Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer | Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Jim Chopas

Jim (James) Chopas is Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer at Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS), serving since August 2021 and also Treasurer since December 2021. He is 58 years old, with a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts and an M.S. from Bentley University . During his tenure, Apellis scaled to $781.4 million in 2024 total revenue (97% YoY growth), while product net revenues from EMPAVELI and SYFOVRE reached $710 million; company TSR for 2024 (value of initial $100) was $104.21 and net loss was $197.9 million .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic impact
Apellis Pharmaceuticals	VP, Corporate Controller & CAO; Treasurer	Aug 2021–present; Treasurer since Dec 2021	Senior controllership and chief accounting leadership supporting commercial scale-up and financings
Radius Health (public biopharma)	VP, Principal Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer & Treasurer; Corporate Controller	PFO/PAO/Treasurer: Dec 2020–Aug 2021; Controller: Oct 2018–Dec 2020	Public-company finance leadership, SEC reporting, controllership
Danforth Advisors	Consultant	Oct 2016–Oct 2018	Strategic finance for life sciences clients
KBI Biopharma	Chief Financial Officer & VP Finance	Not disclosed	Finance leadership at biopharma CDMO
Thermo Fisher Scientific portfolio companies; Parexel International	Senior management roles	Not disclosed	Various senior finance/operational roles in life sciences tools/CRO

External Roles

No public company directorships or external board roles are disclosed in Apellis’ 2025 DEF 14A executive biographies for Mr. Chopas .

Fixed Compensation

Mr. Chopas is not a named executive officer (NEO) in the proxy, so individual base salary and bonus target/payout figures are not separately disclosed. Apellis reviews executive base salaries annually based on responsibilities, experience, performance, and market benchmarks . For context, the company’s cash incentive program is broad-based and pays against annual corporate goals (see Performance Compensation) .

Performance Compensation

Apellis emphasizes pay-for-performance with annual cash incentives tied to preset corporate objectives and long-term equity. While individual non-NEO payouts are not disclosed, the company reported the following design and outcomes:

2024 annual cash incentive program: executives and employees earned 90.74% of target based on corporate results (threshold attainment on net product revenues; positive Phase 3 VALIANT results; pipeline progress including APL-3007; operational objectives). Targets/weightings by metric were not disclosed .
2025 long-term incentives: company introduced performance stock units (PSUs) for executive officers (50% of LTI), with vesting tied to relative TSR vs. the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index (target at 55th percentile; 50% payout at 25th percentile; 200% at 90th percentile; capped at target if absolute TSR is negative). Remaining 50% in time-based RSUs; standard four-year vesting schedules apply .

Performance framework summary (company-level program details):

Metric/Plan element	Weighting	Target	Actual/Result	Payout factor	Vesting/Notes
2024 Corporate performance factor	Not disclosed	Not disclosed	Company achieved multiple goals; revenue at threshold; strong VALIANT; pipeline/ops progress	90.74% of target	Paid in Feb 2025 across program participants
2025 PSUs for executive officers	50% of LTI value	55th percentile relative TSR	Payout curve 25th–90th percentile	50%–200% (cap at 100% if absolute TSR negative)	3 one-/two-/three-year TSR measurement periods (2025/2025–26/2025–27)
2025 RSUs for executive officers	50% of LTI value	Service-based	N/A	N/A	25% annually over 4 years

Peer benchmarking and say-on-pay context:

Compensation committee targets executive total comp around the 50th percentile of a biotech peer group; peer set updated for 2024 and 2025 (e.g., 2024 peers include ACADIA, Alkermes, Amicus, Blueprint, Corcept, Exelixis, Insmed, Ionis, Intra-Cellular, Neurocrine, PTC, Sarepta, Ultragenyx, United Therapeutics). 2025 adjustments added Axsome, Biocryst, Madrigal and removed Exelixis, Sarepta, United Therapeutics .
Say-on-pay support at the 2024 annual meeting was 89.9% (votes cast), and the committee maintained the program with increased PSU usage for 2025 .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Topic	Details
Beneficial ownership	Mr. Chopas is an executive officer but not listed individually in the principal stockholders table; the proxy discloses totals for directors/NEOs and “all directors and executive officers as a group” .
Stock ownership guidelines	Executives must hold 1–3x base salary (by title); CEO 6x; directors 3x. All directors and executive officers were in compliance as of December 31, 2024 .
Hedging/pledging	Hedging and short sales prohibited; pledging prohibited except by Audit Committee exception with demonstrated financial capacity. In 2024, an exception was granted to a director; no pledging by Mr. Chopas is disclosed .
Clawback	Dodd-Frank-compliant recoupment policy adopted (Dec 2023); recovery of incentive-based compensation after restatement and in certain misconduct/serious-damage cases, up to 100% at board discretion .
Trading plans (selling pressure)	Mr. Chopas adopted a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan on Sept 15, 2025, for potential sales “up to 25,947 shares,” running until Jan 29, 2027 (or earlier if completed/expired). This indicates a pre-programmed selling window that can create intermittent supply in the market .

Employment Terms

Apellis’ Executive Separation Benefits and Retention Plan covers C-level officers and other employees with title of vice president or higher (“covered employees”), which includes Mr. Chopas as VP/CAO:

Scenario	Severance cash	Bonus treatment	Medical (COBRA)	Equity vesting	Outplacement
Termination without cause (not within 12 months of CoC)	26 weeks’ base salary for other covered employees (CEO 12 months; other C-level 9 months)	Not specified for other covered employees	Company-paid share of premiums during severance period (ends upon eligibility at new employer)	Not applicable (no acceleration specified in this scenario)	Not specified
CoC (within 12 months): termination without cause or resignation for good reason	26 weeks’ base salary for other covered employees (CEO 18 months; other C-level 12 months)	C-level only: 150% (CEO) / 100% (other C-level) of target bonus; not specified for other covered employees	Company-paid share of premiums during severance period (ends upon eligibility at new employer)	Time-based equity awards vest 100% at termination (performance awards excluded unless more favorable terms apply)	Company to arrange/pay reasonable services

Notes:

Plan requires execution of a separation and release of claims agreement .

Investment Implications

Alignment looks stronger from 2025: executive officer equity shifted to 50% PSUs tied to relative TSR with negative TSR cap, directly linking upside to shareholder outcomes while limiting windfalls in down markets .
Retention risk moderate: Mr. Chopas, as a VP, is covered by severance (26 weeks) and receives full acceleration of time-based equity upon a qualifying CoC termination, which is retention-supportive but could incentivize mobility in a sale context .
Selling-overhang signal: adoption of a 10b5-1 plan in Sept 2025 to potentially sell up to 25,947 shares through Jan 2027 may create periodic supply; monitor plan executions/Form 4s around vesting dates and blackout windows .
Governance risk mitigants: robust clawback policy, ownership guidelines (in compliance), and anti-hedging/pledging rules reduce misalignment and opportunistic behavior; exceptions to pledging are tightly controlled .
Company performance context: 2024 cash bonus factor at 90.74% reflects below-target payout, consistent with threshold revenue attainment but strong clinical/operational progress, indicating pay-for-performance discipline during commercial scaling .

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