Biotech Lead Directors See One-third Increase in Compensation

According to a press release from Presidio Pay Advisors Inc., the survey also found that the number of boards electing lead directors doubled – a trend prompted by recent regulations on financial controls and board of directors independence practices.

Additional survey findings, according to the release, include:

• Chairmen of the Board saw a 17% increase in their total cash compensation and a 27% increase in their ongoing stock option grant levels.
• Chairmen and Directors of the Audit, Compensation, and Nominating & Governance committees also received increases in total cash compensation from the previous year, with Audit Committee chairman seeing the largest increase of 25%.
• Twice as many companies are granting restricted stock to directors compared to the prior year, while the use of stock option grants dropped by approximately 5% from the previous year.

The survey from Presidio Pay Advisors Inc. analyzed pay packages for Lead Directors, Directors, and Chairmen of the Board covering both Board and Board committee service in 69 companies in the Biotech industry.

A synopsis of the survey can be downloaded from www.presidiopay.com .