Chris Cabell - President and Head of Research and Development | Inhibikase Therapeutics (IKT) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Chris Cabell

Chris Cabell, M.D., M.H.S., F.A.C.C. is President and Head of Research & Development at Inhibikase Therapeutics (IKT) since February 21, 2025; he is a cardiologist with 30+ years in biopharma, previously CMO at Arena Pharmaceuticals, Emergent BioSolutions, and Zura Bio, and CEO of CorHepta prior to its acquisition by IKT; age 56; Fellow of the ACC; >100 peer-reviewed publications; degrees from Penn State and Duke (MD, MHS) . Key corporate performance metrics (TSR, revenue, EBITDA) for his tenure are not disclosed in filings .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic Impact
CorHepta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	Chief Executive Officer	Aug 2024 – Feb 2025	Led PAH-focused R&D; CorHepta acquired by IKT on Feb 21, 2025 .
Zura Bio Limited	Chief Medical Officer, EVP	Jan 2023 – Jan 2024	Directed clinical strategy and programs .
Emergent BioSolutions Inc.	Chief Medical Officer; Head of Clinical Development	Feb 2021 – Jan 2023	Led clinical development at a global life sciences company .
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	SVP Head of Clinical Development; CMO; EVP Head of R&D	Oct 2017 – Jun 2020	PAH clinical efforts on ralinepag critical to successful license to United Therapeutics .
Quintiles/QuintilesIMS	Chief Medical & Scientific Officer; Global Head roles	~10 years (prior to Duke/Arena)	Global leadership across medical/project management and business development .
Duke University School of Medicine	Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology)	Prior to industry	Academic cardiology; >100 peer-reviewed publications .

External Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic Impact
Pulmatrix Inc.	Director	Since Jul 2020	Public company board experience .
HD Consulting Services, LLC	Founder	Since Dec 2020	Consulting and BD leadership .

Fixed Compensation

Component	Value	Notes
Base Salary	$500,000	Per Employment Agreement signed Feb 21, 2025 .
Target Bonus %	Up to 45% of base	Initial annual performance-based cash incentive .
Actual Bonus Paid	Not disclosed	No disclosure of payouts to date .

Performance Compensation

Annual Cash Incentive

Metric	Weighting	Target	Actual	Payout	Vesting
Performance metrics (corporate/clinical)	Not disclosed	Up to 45% of base	Not disclosed	Not disclosed	Cash; annual .

Stock Options – Hire Option

Grant	Shares	Exercise/Strike	Vesting	Expiration	Notes
Hire Option	1,100,705	Not disclosed	Vests in 3 equal installments on 2nd, 3rd, 4th anniversaries of hire	Not disclosed	Granted Feb 21, 2025 .

Stock Options – Warrant Adjustment Option (WAO)

Grant	Shares	Exercise/Strike	Vesting	Exercisability Linkage	Notes
Warrant Adjustment Option	1,709,295	Not disclosed	Vests in 3 equal installments on 2nd, 3rd, 4th anniversaries of hire	Becomes exercisable only in proportion to actual exercises of Company Series A‑1 and Series B‑1 Warrants	Granted Feb 21, 2025 .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Initial equity grants: 2,810,000 stock options in total (1,100,705 Hire Option + 1,709,295 WAO) with multi‑year vesting and WAO exercisability tied to warrant exercises .
Beneficial ownership position (shares owned or exercisable within 60 days) for Dr. Cabell is not separately disclosed in the May 1, 2025 beneficial ownership table; executive officers and directors as a group held 5,587,156 shares (7.3%) at May 1, 2025, but individual data for Dr. Cabell is not listed .
Hedging and pledging of Company stock are prohibited under IKT’s insider trading policy; Rule 10b5‑1 plan usage permitted if set while not in possession of MNPI .
Company maintains a compensation clawback policy consistent with SEC/Nasdaq rules (recovery of incentive compensation upon required restatements) .

Employment Terms

Provision	Economics / Terms	Triggers/Conditions
Employment Agreement effective	Feb 21, 2025	Signed upon appointment as President & Head of R&D .
Severance – Non‑CIC	Cash equal to 9 months base salary; monthly health contribution payments up to 9 months; earned prior‑year bonus; pro‑rated current‑year bonus; accelerated vesting of a prorated portion of Options per formula (subject to 12+ months service and release)	Termination by Company without Cause or by executive for Good Reason outside the Change‑in‑Control period; release and compliance required; WAO only exercisable per its terms (proportional to warrant exercises) .
Severance – CIC period	Not disclosed	CIC period defined in Employment Agreement; specific CIC severance economics for Dr. Cabell not detailed in the 8‑K .
Accrued Obligations	Base salary through termination date; unpaid expense reimbursements; vested benefits under Company plans	Payable on any termination .
Indemnification	Standard IKT indemnification agreement executed	Filed S‑1 Exhibit 10.9 reference .

Investment Implications

Multi‑year vesting with a two‑year initial cliff aligns retention: both options vest in equal tranches at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th anniversaries, limiting near‑term selling pressure before 2027 .
WAO exercisability tied to warrant exercises ties executive equity realization to external capital structure actions, potentially delaying liquidity and aligning incentives to financing outcomes .
Governance guardrails (hedging/pledging ban; Rule 10b5‑1 policy; SEC/Nasdaq clawback) support alignment and reduce hedging/pledging red flags .
Severance outside CIC (9 months base + health + bonus components + prorated vesting) suggests moderate retention cost if departure; CIC details for Cabell not disclosed, but broader corporate practice includes option repricing (Oct 2024) for other insiders, a potential compensation risk signal to monitor for future award modifications .
Track record in PAH (ralinepag licensing success at Arena) and cardiology expertise strengthen execution prospects for IKT’s PAH program (IkT‑001) under his R&D leadership .