Former Merck exec reunites with ex-boss at Nektar

Merck & Co. executive Bharatt Chowrira is being reunited with former boss Howard Robin at Nektar Therapeutics Inc.

Chowrira -- hired as COO and head of the PEGylation unit of San Carlos-based Nektar (NASDAQ: NKTR) -- was executive director of worldwide licensing and external research at Merck's San Francisco offices. Before that, he was chief patent counsel and vice president of legal affairs under Robin at Sirna Therapeutics, which Merck (NYSE: MRK) bought in January 2007 and Robin left around the same time.

Chowrira also has become chairman of Nektar India Pvt. Ltd.

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"Bharatt has a rare combination of expertise in molecular biology, business strategy, and intellectual property -- and a proven track record of building shareholder value," Robin said in a prepared statement. "He will be hugely important to our efforts to develop a robust therapeutic pipeline by leveraging and expanding our industry leading PEGylation technology platform."

Chowrira, 42, will receive an annual base salary of $475,000 and a one-time signing bonus of $50,000 on a grossed up basis. He also will have an annual performance bonus target of at least 60 percent of his annual base salary, or $285,000 this year.

Chowrira will be granted a stock option to buy 500,000 shares of Nektar common stock at $4.56, the closing price on May 19, Chowrira's first day of full-time work at Nektar. The shares will vest on a four-year schedule.

The employment agreement also includes a severance arrangement and death and disability programs.

Nektar, which saw its stock fall from more than $8 to around $6 after Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) dumped its exhaled insulin product Exubera in October, has concentrated on PEGylation, which extends the life of a drug, and other pulmonary products.