David Bredt
About David Bredt
David Bredt, M.D., Ph.D., is Rapport Therapeutics’ Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), serving since January 2023; he was described by the company as “Founder, Chief Scientific Officer” in investor materials. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from Princeton and both an M.D. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins, with prior leadership as Global Head of Neuroscience Discovery at Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) from 2011–2021, and roles at MPM Capital and Third Rock Ventures . As of April 2025, he is listed as age 60 among executive officers; tenure in role is since January 2023 . Rapport’s executive performance focus includes advancing RAP-219 programs, responsible organizational growth, and funding to advance the pipeline (used for executive bonuses in 2024) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Janssen Global Services (J&J) | Global Head of Neuroscience Discovery | Mar 2011–Mar 2021 | Led neuroscience discovery; senior R&D leadership |
| MPM Capital LLC | Executive Partner | Mar 2021–Aug 2021 | Not disclosed |
| Third Rock Ventures | Entrepreneur in Residence | Feb 2022–Dec 2022 | Not disclosed |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neuroscience Forum, Institute of Medicine (National Academy of Sciences) | Member | Not disclosed | Advisory contributions in neuroscience |
| National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) | Advisory Panel Member | Not disclosed | Advisory contributions in neurology |
Fixed Compensation
- No CSO-specific salary, target bonus %, or actual bonus paid to David Bredt is disclosed in the 2025 proxy; 2024 named executive officer (NEO) disclosures cover CEO, CFO, and former CMO only .
Performance Compensation
- Company-wide bonus metrics used in 2024 for executives included: advancing RAP-219 R&D, responsibly growing the organization, and ensuring funding to advance the pipeline; specific weightings/targets for individual executives (including CSO) were not disclosed .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advance RAP-219 program | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Board-determined bonuses (company program) | Cash (annual) |
| Organizational growth to support goals | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Board-determined bonuses | Cash (annual) |
| Ensure funding to advance pipeline | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Board-determined bonuses | Cash (annual) |
Additional equity programs (company-wide):
- Performance-based RSUs (PSUs) granted Dec 2024 to “certain employees” vest over 2025–2026 based on program milestones; as of Sep 30, 2025 no PSU expense recognized (performance conditions not yet probable) .
- RSUs (service-based) granted Mar 2025 to one employee (13,987 units), vesting in two tranches over two years .
- Performance-based restricted stock awards (RSAs) from earlier financings continue vesting; remaining unvested RSAs at Sep 30, 2025 were 258,613 shares .
- Option grants and restricted stock for NEOs generally vest 25% at year 1 and monthly thereafter; options include potential acceleration under change-in-control for NEOs (CSO-specific terms not disclosed) .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Individual beneficial ownership for David Bredt is not broken out in the proxy’s ownership table; the group of current executive officers and directors held 5,078,519 shares (including 934,196 options exercisable within 60 days), equal to 13.57% as of April 21, 2025 .
- Insider trading policy: prohibits short sales, derivatives/hedging, and pledging company stock for all executive officers/directors/employees, reducing misalignment and forced-sale risk .
- Rule 10b5-1 trading plan policy is in place; executives may adopt prearranged trade plans when not in possession of MNPI .
- Compensation recovery (clawback) policy adopted June 6, 2024 pursuant to SEC/Nasdaq rules; covers incentive-based compensation tied to financial reporting measures for current/former executive officers over the prior three years in case of restatements .
Employment Terms
- Start date: CSO since January 2023 .
- Contract terms: CSO-specific employment agreement, severance, non-compete, and change-of-control economics are not disclosed; NEO agreements (CEO/CFO/Former CMO) include salary/bonus severance and double-trigger change-of-control cash multiples with equity acceleration (illustrative of company practices, but CSO terms are not provided) .
- Pledging/hedging prohibited; lock-up and offering covenants restricted sales/hedging around the September 2025 offering (individual signatories not named) .
- As an Emerging Growth Company, Rapport is not required to hold say-on-pay votes; reduced compensation disclosure applies .
Investment Implications
- Strong governance alignment: prohibition on hedging/pledging and adoption of a clawback reduce misalignment and headline risk, and 10b5-1 plans provide structured trading transparency .
- Retention risk: company highlights dependence on key scientific leaders (including the CSO) and the absence of key-person insurance; scarcity of specialized talent elevates execution risk if turnover occurs .
- Incentive alignment: program-milestone PSUs and performance-based RSAs tie equity vesting to pipeline progress (RAP-219 and discovery milestones), reinforcing pay-for-performance; however, CSO-specific grant sizes and vesting schedules are not disclosed, limiting precision in pay-for-performance assessment .
- Disclosure gaps: without CSO-specific compensation/severance details or individual ownership, benchmarking and change-of-control economics cannot be fully evaluated; investors should monitor future proxies/8-Ks for CSO terms and any Form 4 activity. As an EGC, say-on-pay oversight is limited, increasing the importance of Compensation Committee governance and consultant independence (Aon engaged) .
- Execution track record: Bredt’s prior decade-long leadership in neuroscience discovery at Janssen and founder-level role at Rapport signal domain depth; upcoming RAP-219 Phase 2a catalysts (epilepsy Q3’25 reported; bipolar mania planned Q3’25 initiation) are key to value creation and compensation outcomes tied to milestones .