Werner Gladdines
About Werner Gladdines
Werner Gladdines, age 46, is Chief Development Officer (CDO) at Immunic (IMUX); he joined the company in January 2021 as Head of the IMU‑838 program, became VP, Program Management & Clinical Development Operations in February 2023, and was promoted to CDO in July 2024 . He holds a master’s degree in bio‑pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Leiden, focusing on mathematical models of concentration‑effect relationships of neuroactive steroids . Career highlights include building and leading global drug development and clinical operations teams across oncology, neurology and rare disease, contributing to registration of three medicinal products and delivery of 20+ international phase 1–4 clinical studies . Under his development leadership, Immunic completed enrollment (>2,200 patients) in the twin Phase 3 ENSURE RMS trials and reported additional supportive Phase 2 CALLIPER PMS analyses—key execution milestones for vidofludimus calcium .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIMM Therapeutics B.V. | Drug development/clinical operations leadership (specific title not disclosed) | Not disclosed | Contributed to three medicinal product registrations and 20+ phase 1–4 studies (career-wide) |
| Rainier Therapeutics, Inc. | Drug development/clinical operations leadership (specific title not disclosed) | Not disclosed | As above |
| BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. | Drug development/clinical operations leadership (specific title not disclosed) | Not disclosed | As above |
| Prosensa Therapeutics B.V. | Drug development/clinical operations leadership (specific title not disclosed) | Not disclosed | As above |
| to‑BBB technologies B.V. | Drug development/clinical operations leadership (specific title not disclosed) | Not disclosed | As above |
| Genzyme Corp. | Drug development/clinical operations leadership (specific title not disclosed) | Not disclosed | As above |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | No public-company directorships or external board roles disclosed in the proxy biography |
Fixed Compensation
- Werner Gladdines was not listed as a Named Executive Officer (NEO) for 2024; as such, his individual base salary and bonus details were not disclosed in the 2025 DEF 14A .
- The Compensation Committee sets executive compensation considering individual and corporate goals; CEO recommendations inform other officers’ pay levels and targets, subject to committee approval .
Performance Compensation
- Annual executive bonuses are determined by the Board/Compensation Committee based on company and individual priorities; specific metric weightings and Gladdines’s payout were not disclosed .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company and individual objectives (specifics not disclosed) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed for Gladdines | Cash (annual bonus timing per plan) |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership for Gladdines was not separately disclosed (beneficial ownership table covers >5% holders, NEOs, directors, and the group; he is not listed) .
- Hedging: the insider trading policy prohibits hedging or similar transactions designed to decrease the risks of holding company securities for all directors, officers, and employees .
- Clawback: the company adopted a Nasdaq‑compliant compensation recovery policy effective October 2, 2023, covering incentive-based compensation received by current/former executive officers in the event of an accounting restatement .
- Equity plan scale/overhang context:
| Plan/Category | Securities to be issued upon exercise (a) | Wtd‑Avg Exercise Price (b) | Remaining available for issuance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amended 2019 Omnibus Equity Compensation Plan | 16,136,045 | $1.52 | 3,313,784 |
| 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan | — | — | 928,158 |
| Total | 16,136,045 | — | 4,288,192 |
- Option vesting convention for NEO grants (indicative of company practice): 25% on the first anniversary of the vesting commencement date and then monthly over the following 36 months (award agreements control) .
- Corporate transaction/termination protections: under the Omnibus Plan, unvested awards may be canceled unless assumed/replaced; administrator may accelerate vesting; some option agreements (including for NEOs) provide full vesting acceleration if service is terminated other than for cause .
Employment Terms
- Joined Immunic in January 2021; promoted to CDO in July 2024 .
- No individual employment agreement or severance/change‑in‑control terms for Gladdines were disclosed in the 2025 proxy; general executive compensation governance and plan‑level equity treatment apply .
- Clawback policy applies to executive officers (see Equity Ownership & Alignment) .
- Insider trading/hedging restrictions apply to officers .
Investment Implications
- Execution track record: completion of Phase 3 ENSURE enrollment (>2,200 RMS patients) and supportive Phase 2 CALLIPER analyses are critical value‑inflection milestones under his development remit, de‑risking pivotal timelines and regulatory strategy for vidofludimus calcium .
- Alignment and retention: Immunic’s heavy use of stock options, multi‑year vesting schedules, and corporate‑transaction acceleration mechanics reinforce retention incentives and upside participation for senior operators, while hedging and clawback policies strengthen shareholder alignment; however, the absence of Gladdines‑specific grants/ownership disclosure limits precise alignment quantification .
- Governance/process: compensation decisions are led by an independent committee advised by Aon and grounded in company/individual objectives, indicating structured oversight of incentive design during late‑stage development transition; lack of individual CDO pay detail suggests monitoring future proxies and Form 4s for grant cadence and potential selling pressure as top‑line readouts approach .