Mollie Leoni - Chief Medical Officer | Kura Oncology (KURA) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Mollie Leoni

Chief Medical Officer (since Jan 2025), age 47, with prior roles at Kura since 2020 (VP → SVP → EVP Clinical Development) and earlier leadership at Kyowa Kirin (medical lead on mogamulizumab registration) and IKARIA/Mallinckrodt; M.D. and B.A. from University of Pennsylvania with bioethics training at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital . Kura’s recent performance context under her R&D leadership includes FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation and NDA submission for ziftomenib in R/R NPM1‑mut AML, positive Phase 2 topline KOMET‑001 data, and ~$727.4M year‑end 2024 cash to fund launch and pivotal programs . Company TSR (value of $100 investment) was 63.35 in 2024, 104.58 in 2023, and 90.25 in 2022, reflecting biotech volatility into the NDA filing year .

Metric	2022	2023	2024
Total Shareholder Return ($ per $100 initial)	90.25	104.58	63.35

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic Impact
Kura Oncology	Chief Medical Officer	2025–present	Leads late‑stage/launch execution for ziftomenib and combination programs (KOMET‑017 design/alignment with FDA/EMA) .
Kura Oncology	EVP Clinical Development	2023–2025	Clinical lead for ziftomenib; advanced pivotal and combo studies toward NDA and frontline registrational plans .
Kura Oncology	SVP Clinical Development	2022–2023	Scaled development operations through Phase 2 and combination starts .
Kura Oncology	VP Clinical Development	2020–2021	Early clinical leadership on menin inhibitor program .
Kyowa Kirin	Executive Director, Medical Sciences	2014–2020	Medical/strategic lead on oncology including mogamulizumab achieving international registration in CTCL .
IKARIA (Mallinckrodt)	Director & Head, Drug/Device Safety Ops	2011–2014	Safety leadership across drug/device portfolio .

External Roles

No public company directorships disclosed .

Fixed Compensation

Component	Detail
Base Salary	$512,200 per year effective Jan 2, 2025 (CMO agreement) .
Target Bonus	40% of base salary, discretionary and tied to company/individual objectives; must be employed through year‑end to earn .

Performance Compensation

Corporate scorecards drive cash bonus funding. In 2024 (preceding her CMO appointment), Kura’s Board approved 133.5% corporate achievement based on base and stretch goals across ziftomenib NDA/registration, lifecycle management, KO‑2806 development, and strategic financing/partnering (Kyowa Kirin) .

Metric	Weight (Base/Stretch)	Achievement	Notes
Ziftomenib Monotherapy Registration	30% / 30%	30% base + 10% stretch	Breakthrough Therapy Designation secured (stretch) .
Ziftomenib Monotherapy Registration – Continued	20% / —	20%	Program completion/submission milestones .
Ziftomenib Lifecycle Management	25% / 10%	19.5% base	Combinations and LCM advancement .
KO‑2806 Development	20% / 15%	19% base + 10% stretch	Response rate stretch met in combo cohort .
Corporate Strategy	5% / 20%	5% base + 20% stretch	Kyowa Kirin partnership and $150M private placement .
Corporate Bonus Multiplier	—	133.5%	Board‑approved outcome .

Note: Individual NEO modifiers were applied to 2024 NEOs (not to Dr. Leoni who was not an NEO that year) .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Item	Amount / Terms
Beneficial Ownership	46,966 shares (includes 4,716 common + 42,250 RSUs) as of Form 3 filed Jan 7, 2025 .
% of Outstanding	~0.058% (46,966 / 80,777,643 shares outstanding on Apr 7, 2025) .
Options (outstanding)	52,500 @ $12.22 exp 02/09/2030 (fully vested) ; 22,260 @ $32.80 exp 01/25/2031 (48‑mo monthly vest from 1/26/21) ; 52,500 @ $14.15 exp 01/25/2032 (48‑mo monthly vest) ; 63,750 @ $11.99 exp 02/15/2033 (48‑mo monthly vest) ; 40,000 @ $10.60 exp 07/02/2033 (48‑mo monthly vest from 7/3/23) ; 50,000 @ $15.36 exp 01/01/2034 (48‑mo monthly vest from 1/2/24) .
RSUs (unvested schedule)	1,781 vest 1/26/25 (1/26/21 grant) ; 7,500 vest 1/26/25 & 1/26/26 (1/26/22 grant) ; 7,969 vest 1/26/25, 1/26/26, 1/26/27 (2/16/23 grant) ; 25,000 vest 1/26/25–1/26/28 (1/2/24 grant; equal annual installments) .
Hedging/Pledging	Company prohibits hedging/pledging; as of proxy date, no executive/director had pledged shares .

Insider selling pressure watchouts:

Annual RSU vesting cluster around Jan 26 each year (potential sale supply upon vest/withholding) .
Options vest monthly across multiple grants (steady stream of incremental vested options) .
Windowed trading: company imposes window period policy and pre‑clearance; anti‑hedging/pledging applies .

Employment Terms

Provision	Terms (CMO Agreement effective Jan 2, 2025)
Severance (non‑CoC)	If terminated without Cause or resigns for Good Reason (outside CoC window): 12 months base salary lump sum (paid on day 60) + company‑paid COBRA premiums up to 12 months (or taxable cash in lieu), subject to release .
Change‑of‑Control (double trigger)	If terminated without Cause or resigns for Good Reason within 59 days before to 12 months after a “Corporate Transaction”: 12 months base salary + full target bonus (both lump sum on day 60) + COBRA up to 12 months (or cash in lieu) + 100% equity acceleration (PSUs at target) .
Clawbacks	Subject to both Kura’s April 2023 recoupment policy (misconduct‑driven) and Oct 2023 SEC/Nasdaq 10D‑1 compliant policy (mandatory restatement recovery) .
Anti‑hedging/pledging	Prohibited by insider trading policy and window period policy with pre‑clearance .

Investment Implications

Pay‑for‑performance and operating leverage: CMO target bonus tied to company scorecards; 2024 corporate metric rigor (133.5% achievement) highlights strategic milestones (BTD, NDA, Kyowa Kirin deal, combo data) likely to continue to drive 2025–2026 payouts and option value realization as pivotal programs launch .
Retention risk vs. change‑of‑control economics: Double‑trigger CoC delivers 12 months salary + full target bonus and full equity acceleration (PSUs at target), providing strong protection but also incentive to remain through strategic outcomes; outside CoC, severance covers salary and benefits only, mitigating voluntary departure risk .
Selling pressure timing: Material RSU tranches vest annually on/around Jan 26 and options vest monthly; expect potential Form 4 activity around late‑January vest dates and post‑blackout windows; however, no pledging and strict trading windows reduce alignment risk .
Alignment and skin‑in‑the‑game: Current beneficial ownership (incl. unvested RSUs) is ~0.058% of shares outstanding, with a meaningful multi‑grant option stack struck at $10.60–$32.80—outcomes are levered to successful commercial launch and frontline expansion of ziftomenib .
Governance backdrop: High say‑on‑pay support (92% in 2024) and independent comp consultant/peer methodology reduce pay inflation risk; clawbacks and anti‑hedging policies further strengthen governance posture .

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