Bilal Arif
About Bilal Arif
KalVista appointed Bilal Arif, age 53, as Chief Operating Officer effective October 6, 2025, after 25+ years in biopharma technical operations and product strategy, including EVP & Chief Technical Operations Officer at Sarepta Therapeutics (Dec 2022–Sep 2025) and senior roles at Shire, Momenta, Altus, and MilliporeSigma . He holds a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering (McGill), an M.S. in Biotechnology (Tufts), and an MBA (Brown/IE) . Arif joined during KalVista’s first commercial ramp for EKTERLY; the quarter ended Sept 30, 2025 (pre‑start) recorded initial product revenue of $13.7 million following U.S. approval, framing his near‑term execution focus on global launch and supply scaling .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact/notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarepta Therapeutics | EVP, Chief Technical Operations Officer | Dec 2022 – Sep 2025 | Led technical ops through commercial scale-up; prior SVP Strategy & Operations (Feb 2021–Dec 2022); VP Strategy & Operations (Mar 2019–Feb 2021) . |
| Momenta Pharmaceuticals | VP, Technical Operations | Mar 2017 – Mar 2019 | Technical ops leadership at a company later acquired by J&J . |
| Shire plc | VP Product Strategy & Planning – Technical Ops; Senior Director Global External Manufacturing | Nov 2008 – Mar 2017 | Senior operations leadership across product strategy and external manufacturing; Shire later acquired by Takeda . |
| Altus Pharmaceuticals; Millipore/MilliporeSigma | Various roles | Early career | Process/operations foundations . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed | — | — | No public directorships disclosed in filings reviewed . |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Amount/Terms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | $520,000 per year | Per Executive Employment Agreement (effective Oct 6, 2025) . |
| Target annual bonus | 40% of base salary | Payouts subject to company/individual objectives; no specific metrics disclosed in proxy (company uses discretionary approach) . |
| Start date/title | Oct 6, 2025 – Chief Operating Officer | Appointment via Item 5.02 8‑K . |
Performance Compensation
| Incentive | Metric/Weighting | Target | Actual/Payout | Vesting / Terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual cash bonus | Discretionary corporate/individual objectives (no formulaic financial targets disclosed) | 40% of salary | TBD for 2025; newly hired in Oct 2025 | Cash; determined by Compensation Committee . |
| Stock options (inducement) | Time-based; no performance condition | 100,000 options | N/A | 4-year vest: 25% on 1-year anniversary of start (Oct 6, 2026), then 1/48th monthly thereafter; 10-year term; exercise price equals Nasdaq closing price on Oct 8, 2025; granted under 2021 A&R Inducement Plan . |
| Change-of-control equity treatment | N/A | N/A | N/A | Double-trigger: if terminated without cause/for good reason within 2 years post-CoC, all unvested equity vests; performance awards at target/actual as applicable . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Inducement grant: Options to purchase 100,000 shares; 10-year term; strike price set at the Oct 8, 2025 Nasdaq close; 25% cliff (Oct 6, 2026) then monthly vesting thereafter .
- Initial reporting/beneficial ownership filings: A Form 3 was filed in connection with his officer status; Bilal Arif executed a Power of Attorney dated Sept 29, 2025 authorizing Section 16 filings (indicative of reporting person status) .
- Anti-hedging/pledging: Company policy prohibits short sales and derivatives; pledging requires General Counsel approval (reduces alignment risk from collateralized borrowing) .
- Clawback: Company has an SEC/Nasdaq-compliant compensation recovery policy for incentive-based pay in the event of a financial restatement, with up to a three-year lookback and no-fault enforcement by the Compensation Committee .
Employment Terms
| Provision | Economics/Terms | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Severance (without cause / for good reason) | Lump-sum 12 months base salary + 12 months COBRA reimbursement | Single-trigger outside CoC; per Employment Agreement . |
| Change-of-control (double-trigger within 2 years) | Lump-sum 12 months base salary + full target bonus for the year of termination + 12 months COBRA + full vesting of all unvested equity (PSUs at target/actual) | Double-trigger protection; aligns incentives through transaction . |
| Indemnification | Standard form company indemnification agreement to be executed | Exhibit referenced in 8‑K –. |
Investment Implications
- Retention and selling pressure: The structure features a meaningful 1-year cliff (25,000 options vest Oct 6, 2026) followed by monthly vesting thereafter; this creates a potential post‑cliff liquidity overhang that will be governed by insider trading windows or any 10b5‑1 plan adoption (none reported for officers during calendar Q3 2025) .
- Alignment: Time-based options with a market-set strike and double-trigger CoC vesting tie value to sustained share appreciation and transaction outcomes; anti-pledging/hedging and clawback policies further mitigate governance risk .
- Execution risk vs. fit: Arif’s deep technical-operations pedigree (Sarepta/Shire/Momenta) is well-matched to EKTERLY’s global scale-up phase, where Q3 2025 marked first reported product revenues ($13.7m) and multi-region approvals; his near-term impact will be measured by supply reliability, launch execution, and gross-to-net discipline rather than legacy TSR metrics given the recency of his hire .
- Change-of-control economics: Standard biotech double-trigger (1x salary + 1x target bonus + full equity vest) balances retention through strategic alternatives without excessive cash multiples; no tax gross-ups are disclosed in the filings reviewed .
- Governance/related-party risk: 8‑K notes no related-party transactions or family relationships tied to his appointment; legal proceedings disclosures note no material litigation affecting the company, reducing headline risk from the hire .