Published on December 14, 2023
Exhibit 99.4
TELOMIR PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE GUIDELINES
The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Telomir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (the “Company”) has adopted the following Corporate Governance Guidelines (the “Guidelines”) to assist the Board in the exercise of its responsibilities and to serve the interests of the Company and its stockholders. These Guidelines should be interpreted in the context of all applicable laws and the Company’s articles of incorporation, bylaws and other corporate governance documents. These Guidelines acknowledge the leadership exercised by the Board’s standing committees and their chairs and are intended to serve as a flexible framework within which the Board may conduct its business and not as a set of legally binding obligations. The Guidelines are subject to modification from time to time by the Board as the Board may deem appropriate and in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders or as required by applicable laws and regulations.
I. | THE BOARD |
A. | Independence of the Board |
Except as otherwise permitted by the applicable Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) rules, the Board will be comprised of a majority of directors who qualify as independent directors (the “Independent Directors”) as required under Nasdaq rules.
B. | Separate Sessions of Independent Directors |
The Independent Directors will meet in executive session without non-Independent Directors or management present on a regularly scheduled basis, but no less than twice per year.
C. | Lead Director |
If the Chairperson of the Board is a member of management or does not otherwise qualify as an Independent Director, the Independent Directors may elect from among themselves a lead director. The lead director’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to: presiding over all meetings of the Board at which the Chairperson of the Board is not present, including any executive sessions of the Independent Directors; approving Board meeting schedules and agendas; and acting as the liaison between the Independent Directors on the one hand and the Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Board on the other. At such times as the Chairperson of the Board is an Independent Director, the Chairperson of the Board may serve as lead director. The Board may modify its leadership structure in the future as it deems appropriate.
Page 1 of 6 |
D. | Director Qualification Standards and Additional Selection Criteria |
In evaluating the suitability of individual candidates (both new candidates and current Board members), the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, in recommending candidates for election, and the Board, in approving (and, in the case of vacancies, appointing) such candidates, may take into account many factors, including, but not limited to: personal and professional integrity, ethics and values; experience in corporate management, such as serving as an officer or former officer of a publicly held company; strong finance experience; relevant social policy concerns; experience relevant to the Company’s industry; experience as a board member or executive officer of another publicly held company; relevant academic expertise or other proficiency in an area of the Company’s operations; diversity of expertise and experience in substantive matters pertaining to the Company’s business relative to other board members; diversity of background and perspective, including, but not limited to, with respect to age, gender, race, place of residence and specialized experience, gender identification or identification as an underrepresented minority or as LGBTQ+, practical and mature business judgment, including, but not limited to, the ability to make independent analytical inquiries; and any other relevant qualifications, attributes or skills. The Board evaluates each individual in the context of the Board as a whole, with the objective of assembling a group that can best perpetuate the success of the business and represent stockholder interests through the exercise of sound judgment using its diversity of experience and background in these various areas. In determining whether to recommend a director for re-election, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may also consider the director’s past attendance at meetings and participation in and contributions to the activities of the Board.
E. | Director Orientation and Continuing Education |
Management will provide an orientation process for new directors, including background material on the Company and its business. As appropriate, management will provide opportunities for additional educational sessions for directors on matters relevant to the Company and its business.
F. | Service on Other Boards |
The Board does not believe that its members should be prohibited from serving on boards and/or committees thereof of other organizations and has not adopted any guidelines limiting such activities. However, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may take into account the nature of and time involved in a director’s service on other boards and/or committees thereof in evaluating the suitability of individual director candidates and current directors. Prior to accepting any position on the board of directors or committees of the board of directors of any organization, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, current directors should notify the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee shall review the proposed board and/or committee membership to ensure compliance with applicable laws and policies.
Page 2 of 6 |
Service on other boards and/or committees should be consistent with the Company’s conflict of interest policies.
G. | Directors Who Resign or Materially Change Their Current Positions with Their Own Company or Become Aware of Circumstances that May Adversely Reflect upon the Director or the Company |
When a director, including any director who is currently an officer or employee of the Company, resigns or materially changes his or her position with his or her employer or becomes aware of circumstances that may adversely reflect upon the director or the Company, such director should notify the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of such circumstances. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider the circumstances, and may in certain cases recommend that the Board request that the director submit his or her resignation from the Board if, for example, continuing service on the Board by the individual is not consistent with the criteria deemed necessary for continuing service on the Board.
H. | Term Limits |
As each director is periodically subject to election by stockholders, the Board does not believe it is in the best interests of the Company to establish term limits at this time. Additionally, such term limits may cause the Company to lose the contribution of directors who have been able to develop, over a period of time, increasing insight into the Company’s business and therefore can provide an increasingly significant contribution to the Board.
I. | Director Responsibilities |
The business and affairs of the Company will be managed by or under the direction of the Board, including through one or more of its committees. Each director is expected to spend the time and effort necessary to properly discharge his or her responsibilities. These include:
● | exercising their business judgment in good faith; | |
● | acting in what they reasonably believe to be the best interest of all stockholders; | |
● | becoming and remaining well-informed about the Company’s business and operations and general business and economic trends affecting the Company; and | |
● | ensuring that the business of the Company is conducted so as to further the long-term interests of its stockholders. |
Page 3 of 6 |
J. | Compensation |
The Board believes that director compensation should fairly pay directors for work required in a business of the Company’s size and scope, and that compensation should align directors’ interests with the long-term interests of stockholders. The Compensation Committee will review and make recommendations to the Board regarding the cash and equity compensation of directors. The Company’s executive officers do not receive additional compensation for their service as directors.
Except as otherwise permitted by the applicable Nasdaq rules, members of the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee may not directly or indirectly receive any compensation from the Company other than their directors’ compensation, including any compensation for service on committees of the Board and the receipt of equity incentive awards.
K. | Stock Ownership |
The Company encourages directors to own shares of the Company’s stock. However, the number of shares of the Company’s stock owned by any director is a personal decision and, at this time, the Board has chosen not to adopt a policy requiring ownership by directors of a minimum number of shares.
L. | Board Access to Senior Management |
The Board will have complete access to Company management in order to ensure that directors can ask any questions and receive all information necessary to perform their duties. Directors should exercise judgment to ensure that their contact with management does not distract managers from their jobs or disturb the business operations of the Company. Any meetings or contacts that a director wishes to initiate may be arranged through the Chief Executive Officer or the Chairperson of the Board, or if neither is available or neither is appropriate, directly by the director. To the extent appropriate, such contact, if in writing, should be copied to the Chief Executive Officer of the Company.
M. | Board Access to Third-Party Advisors |
The Board committees may hire third-party advisors as set forth in their applicable charters. The Board as a whole shall have access to any third-party advisor retained by the Company, and the Board may hire any third-party advisor it considers necessary to discharge its responsibilities.
Page 4 of 6 |
N. | Board and Committee Self-Evaluations |
The Board and its committees conduct periodic self-assessments under applicable Nasdaq rules to determine whether the Board and its committees are functioning effectively. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will oversee such self-evaluations.
II. | BOARD MEETINGS |
A. | Frequency of Meetings |
The Board will meet as often as it deems necessary or advisable in order to perform its responsibilities. In addition, special meetings may be called from time to time as determined by the needs of the business. It is the responsibility of the directors to attend meetings.
B. | Director Attendance |
A director is expected to spend the time and effort necessary to properly discharge his or her responsibilities. Accordingly, a director is expected to regularly prepare for and attend meetings of the Board and all committees on which the director serves (including separate meetings of the non-management directors and the Independent Directors), with the understanding that, on occasion, a director may be unable to attend a meeting. A director who is unable to attend a meeting of the Board or a committee of the Board is expected to notify the Chairperson of the Board or the Chairperson of the appropriate committee in advance of such meeting, and, whenever possible, participate in such meeting via teleconference in the case of an in-person meeting. It is expected that directors will attend the Company’s annual meeting of stockholders.
C. | Attendance of Non-Directors |
The Board encourages the Chairperson of the Board or of any committee to invite Company management and outside advisors or consultants from time to time to participate in Board and/or committee meetings to (i) provide insight into items being discussed by the Board which involve the manager, advisor or consultant, (ii) make presentations to the Board on matters which involve the manager, advisor or consultant, and (iii) bring managers with high potential into contact with the Board. Attendance of non-directors at Board meetings is at the discretion of the Board.
D. | Advance Receipt of Meeting Materials |
Information regarding the topics to be considered at a meeting is essential to the Board’s understanding of the business and the preparation of the directors for a productive meeting. To the extent feasible, the meeting agenda and any written materials relating to each Board meeting will be distributed to the directors sufficiently in advance of each meeting to allow for meaningful review of such agenda and materials by the directors. Directors are expected to have reviewed and be prepared to discuss all materials distributed in advance of any meeting.
Page 5 of 6 |
III. | COMMITTEE MATTERS |
The Board currently has three (3) standing committees: (i) the Audit Committee, (ii) the Compensation Committee and (iii) the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Each committee will perform its duties as assigned by the Board in compliance with the Company’s bylaws and the committee’s charter. It is the responsibility of the directors to attend the meetings of the committees on which they serve.
IV. | SUCCESSION PLANNING |
The Board (and/or a committee delegated by the Board) will (i) work on a periodic basis with the Chief Executive Officer to evaluate the Company’s succession plans upon the Chief Executive Officer’s retirement and in the event of an unexpected occurrence, and (ii) periodically review the performance of the Chief Executive Officer.
V. | Interested Persons’ Communications With The Board |
To help foster input and insight from the Company’s stockholders and other interested parties (collectively, “Interested Parties”), Interested Parties may communicate with, or otherwise make his or her concerns known directly to, the Chairperson of the Board, the non-management directors or any specified individual director by addressing such communications to the intended recipient by name or position in care of: Telomir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 900 West Platt Street Suite 200, Tampa, Florida 33606 to the attention of the Secretary. The Secretary will forward such communications to the appropriate party.
* * * * *
Approved by the Telomir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Board of Directors on December 8, 2023.
Page 6 of 6 |