Lorenz Muller
About Lorenz Muller
Lorenz Muller is Chief Commercial Officer at Milestone Pharmaceuticals (MIST), a role he has held since October 2017. He is 61 years old and holds B.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences and an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from MIT, plus an MBA from Harvard Business School . Company proxy materials provide biography and role history but do not disclose individual TSR, revenue growth, or EBITDA performance metrics for Muller .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exact Sciences Corporation (molecular diagnostics) | Vice President of Marketing | Jun 2016 – Jul 2017 | Led marketing at a molecular diagnostics company |
| Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. | Executive Director, Thrombosis | Jul 2008 – Dec 2015 | Led thrombosis franchise; commercial leadership in cardiovascular segment |
External Roles
- No external public-company directorships or committee roles are mentioned in Muller’s biography across recent proxy statements .
Fixed Compensation
- Muller is not a “named executive officer” (NEO) in the company’s 2024 compensation disclosure; NEOs are the CEO (Oliveto), CMO (Bharucha), and CFO (Hasija), so base salary, bonus targets, and actual bonus for Muller are not disclosed .
- NEO base salaries and bonuses are disclosed (for context only): CEO $601,520 salary with 50% target bonus; CMO $458,350 salary with 40% target bonus; CFO $437,750 salary with 35% target bonus for 2024 .
Performance Compensation
Milestone’s 2024 equity program for executives emphasized performance-based vesting tied to FDA approval of Cardamyst (etripamil).
| Award Type | Performance Metric | Vesting Schedule | Expiration Condition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance Stock Options (NEOs; structure indicates company practice) | FDA “New Drug Application Approval Letter” for Cardamyst | 50% vests six months after Compensation Committee certifies FDA approval; remaining 50% vests one year after approval; continuous service required | Options expire without vesting if approval not on or before Dec 31, 2025 | Number of performance options reported at 100% target for disclosure purposes |
| Performance Stock Units (PSUs) (NEOs; executive group received PSUs) | FDA approval of Cardamyst | PSUs vest at Approval Date; continuous service required | PSUs expire without vesting if approval not on or before Dec 31, 2025 | PSU values based on 100% of target in disclosure |
- Executives as a group (which includes Muller) have received PSUs and RSUs; cumulative awards granted under the 2019 Plan through April 15, 2025 show “All current executive officers as a group” with 6,335,617 options, 680,000 PSUs, and 588,000 RSUs (company-wide totals; not individualized) .
- The proxy’s “New Plan Benefits” table also shows “All current executive officers as a group” with 6,025,617 options, 680,000 PSUs, and 588,000 RSUs; awards are discretionary and not subject to set benefits .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership for Muller is not itemized in the 2025 beneficial ownership table, which lists directors and NEOs; total outstanding shares were 53,464,273 as of April 15, 2025. The group of all executive officers and directors (12 persons) beneficially owned 10,419,508 shares (19.5%); CEO owned 5,043,594 shares (9.0%) .
- Company equity plan status (as of April 15, 2025) indicates potential selling/exercise dynamics:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total shares subject to outstanding stock options | 11,126,400 |
| Weighted-average exercise price | $4.22 per share |
| Weighted-average remaining term | 6.8 years |
| Shares available for grant (2019 Plan) | 919,575 |
| Total shares outstanding | 53,464,273 |
| Nasdaq closing price on reference date | $0.834 per share |
| Pre-funded warrants outstanding | 12,910,590 |
- 100% of awards outstanding under the 2019 Plan were “underwater” as of April 15, 2025 (stock price below option strike), which reduces near-term option exercise incentive and may push alignment toward regulatory and commercialization milestones rather than option monetization .
- Hedging/pledging: Company policy prohibits pledging company securities as collateral, holding in margin accounts, hedging positions, and derivative transactions for all directors and employees, including named executive officers; 10b5-1 plans are permitted under policy controls .
Employment Terms
- Muller’s employment agreement, severance, non-compete, and change-of-control terms are not disclosed in recent proxy statements; such details are provided for NEOs only .
- For context on company practice, NEO severance includes salary continuation and healthcare premium reimbursements (12–18 months for CEO depending on change-in-control timing) and accelerated vesting of options upon qualifying change-in-control terminations; bonus multiples apply for certain scenarios (e.g., CEO 1.5x target bonus in change-in-control severance) .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: The 2024 incentive design ties executive equity vesting to FDA approval of Cardamyst, which aligns commercial leadership incentives (including Muller’s role) directly to regulatory success and subsequent launch milestones .
- Retention risk: With all outstanding awards “underwater” and vesting contingent on approval by Dec 31, 2025 (otherwise expiring), retention is closely tied to achieving the approval milestone; failure to secure approval would nullify significant at-risk equity .
- Selling pressure and trading signals: Prohibitions on pledging and hedging reduce forced-selling risks; lack of disclosed individual ownership for Muller limits visibility into his specific skin-in-the-game and potential 10b5-1 sales cadence .
- Dilution and incentives runway: The Board is seeking to increase the 2019 Plan share reserve by 4,000,000 shares to maintain competitive equity-based incentives for 1–2 years, reflecting anticipated recruiting/retention needs and continued emphasis on equity alignment .