Linda Higgins
About Linda Higgins
Linda Higgins, Ph.D., age 62, has served on Arcus Biosciences’ Board since August 2021 and is currently Senior Vice President, Research, Strategy, Innovation and Portfolio at Gilead Sciences; she is not independent due to her relationship with Gilead under Arcus’s Investor Rights Agreement . She holds a B.A. in Behavioral Physiology (Kenyon College), a Ph.D. in Neuroscience (UC San Diego School of Medicine), and completed post-doctoral research in Molecular Genetics at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UC Berkeley . Her tenure includes leadership of Gilead’s Biology group for nine years prior to her current SVP role .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Senior Vice President, Research, Strategy, Innovation & Portfolio; previously led Biology | Joined Dec 2010; led Biology for nine years; current SVP role | R&D leadership; portfolio strategy and innovation |
| InteKrin Therapeutics | President & Chief Executive Officer | Apr 2007 – Nov 2010 | Led company operations and development |
| Scios, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson) | Head of Research | Sep 1991 – Mar 2007 | Led drug discovery, preclinical development, translational medicine |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Galapagos NV (Nasdaq: GLPG) | Supervisory Board member | Current |
| Tizona Therapeutics, Inc. | Director | Sep 2020 – Dec 2023 |
Board Governance
- Independence: Not independent due to relationship with Gilead Sciences under the Investor Rights Agreement; independent directors listed exclude Higgins .
- Lead Independent Director: Yasunori Kaneko, M.D. .
- Board meetings: 8 meetings in FY2024; independent directors held executive sessions; all directors attended at least 75% of aggregate Board/committee meetings .
- Committee service: Science Committee member; not a chair .
| Committee | 2024 Membership | Chair | Meetings in 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit | Falberg; Kaneko; Perlman | Falberg | 6 |
| Compensation | Kaneko; Lacey; Falberg (in 2024, replaced by Lambert in Mar 2025) | Kaneko | 5 |
| Nominating & Corporate Governance | Lacey; Lambert; Machado | Lacey | 1 |
| Science | Higgins; Perlman; Lacey; Ribas; Parsey (2024; replaced by Berger in Feb 2025) | Perlman | 4 |
Fixed Compensation
- 2024 cash retainers program (non-employee directors): Board retainer $45,000; Lead Independent Director +$25,000; Audit Chair +$20,000; Compensation Chair +$15,000; Science Chair +$15,000; Nominating & Corporate Governance Chair +$15,000; non-chair committee retainers: Audit $10,000; Compensation $7,500; Science $7,500; Nominating & Corporate Governance $7,500 .
- ARCUS disclosed no director compensation paid to Dr. Higgins for service in 2024 .
| Director | 2024 Cash Retainer Paid | Committee Fees Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Linda Higgins, Ph.D. | None | None |
Performance Compensation
- ARCUS non-employee director equity program: Initial equity award grant-date fair value approximately $750,000; annual equity award approximately $400,000; split ~2/3 stock options and ~1/3 RSUs; initial options vest monthly over 36 months; initial RSUs vest in three annual installments; annual awards vest in full within ~12 months or at the next AGM; full vesting on change-in-control .
- ARCUS disclosed no equity compensation granted/paid to Dr. Higgins for director service in 2024 .
| Director | 2024 RSUs Granted | 2024 Options Granted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Higgins, Ph.D. | None | None | Non-employee director program exists, but no compensation paid to Higgins in 2024 |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
- Gilead interlock: ARCUS’s Investor Rights Agreement grants Gilead the right to designate three directors; current designees are Dietmar Berger, M.D., Ph.D.; Linda Higgins, Ph.D.; Johanna Mercier (all Gilead executives) .
- Gilead ownership and transactions:
- Ownership: 31.4M shares owned plus 8.6M acquirable (max to 35%); total beneficially owned 40.0M shares (35.0%) as of Mar 1, 2025 .
- Follow-on purchases: $320M ARCUS shares in 2024; 15.2M shares purchased .
- Underwritten offering participation: $15M purchased in Feb 2025; Gilead held ~29.7% as of Feb 19, 2025 .
- Collaboration and cost sharing: $137M cost-sharing receipts from Gilead in 2024; $100M incurred payable to Gilead under cost-sharing obligations; domvanalimab milestones up to $500M remain eligible .
| Entity | Relationship | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Strategic collaborator; major holder; board designee of Higgins | Option, License & Collaboration Agreement (PD-1, TIGIT, A2a/A2b, CD73 programs); cost-sharing and U.S. co-promote options; royalties outside U.S.; significant equity ownership and board designation rights |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Scientific/clinical R&D leadership across multiple therapeutic areas; extensive drug discovery and translational medicine background .
- Education: B.A. Kenyon College; Ph.D. UC San Diego School of Medicine; post-doc at HHMI UC Berkeley .
- Board and supervisory experience at Galapagos NV; prior board role at Tizona Therapeutics .
Equity Ownership
| Holder | Shares Owned | Shares Acquirable ≤60 days | Total Beneficial Ownership | % of Outstanding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linda Higgins, Ph.D. | — | — | — | — (less than 1% or none reported) |
| Shares outstanding reference | 105,841,422 | — | — | — |
| Note: ARCUS’s Insider Trading Policy prohibits short sales and derivative transactions by directors and employees; borrowing to purchase ARCUS securities is also restricted . |
Governance Assessment
- Independence and conflicts: Higgins is not independent due to her employment at Gilead and designation under the Investor Rights Agreement; combined with Gilead’s significant equity stake and extensive collaboration economics, this represents a governance conflict risk requiring robust related-party oversight by independent committees .
- Committee effectiveness: Placement on the Science Committee leverages her research leadership; the committee met four times in 2024 under an independent chair (Perlman), supporting R&D oversight .
- Engagement: Board held eight meetings in 2024; all directors, including Higgins, met at least 75% attendance; independent directors held executive sessions, indicating baseline engagement .
- Alignment: ARCUS reported no director compensation or equity grants to Higgins in 2024 and no ARCUS share ownership, reducing direct pay/ownership alignment with minority shareholders; alignment may be primarily through Gilead’s strategic and financial interests rather than personal ARCUS equity .
- Policies: ARCUS maintains Corporate Governance Guidelines and a Dodd-Frank-compliant Compensation Clawback Policy; Insider Trading Policy restricts hedging/derivatives, supporting baseline governance quality .
RED FLAGS
- Non-independence tied to a major strategic partner and shareholder (Gilead), with board designation rights and substantial ongoing related-party transactions .
- Limited personal ARCUS equity ownership and no director compensation reported for 2024, signaling potential misalignment for pay-for-performance at the individual director level .