THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION 2014/596/EU WHICH IS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIIONS (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR").
OKYO Pharma Limited
("OKYO" or the "Company")
Grant of options -PDMR dealing
London, March 15, 2023 - OKYO Pharma Limited (Nasdaq: OKYO; LSE: OKYO) ("OKYO" or the "Company"), an ophthalmology-focused bio-pharmaceutical company which is developing OK-101 to treat dry eye disease ("DED") to address the significant unmet need in this multi-billion-dollar market, today announces that the board of directors of the Company (the "Board" or "Directors"), acting on a recommendation of the Remuneration Committee has awarded the following options (each to acquire one new ordinary share of no par value) ("Options") to directors and persons discharging managerial responsibility:
| Gary S. Jacob | Chief Executive Officer | 5,500,000 Options |
| Keeren Shah | Chief Financial Officer | 6,550,000 Options |
| Dr. Raj Patil | Chief Scientific Officer | 15,500,000 Options |
| Willy Simon | Non-executive director | 400,000 Options |
| John Brancaccio | Non-executive director | 1,000,000 Options |
| Bernard Denoyer | Non-executive director | 200,000 Options |
The exercise price for all options is £0.025 per share. The options all vest in 4 equal tranches over 4 years, with the first tranche vesting on 14 March 2024, and all options have a life of ten years.
Holders of the Company's ADS should note that for the purposes of comparison of the quantum of the awards, each ADS held represents 65 ordinary shares.
This information set out below is provided in accordance with Article 19(3) of UK MAR:
| 1 | Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated | |||||||||
| a) | Name |
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| 2 | Reason for the notification | |||||||||
| a) | Position/status | See 1a) above | ||||||||
| b)
| Initial notification /Amendment | Initial notification | ||||||||
| 3
| Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor | |||||||||
| a) | Name | OKYO Pharma Limited | ||||||||
| b) | LEI | 213800VVN5CB56Y15A05 | ||||||||
| 4
| Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted | |||||||||
| a)
| Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
| Ordinary Shares of no par value
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| b) | Identification code | ISIN for OKYO Pharma Limited: GG00BD3FV870 | ||||||||
| c) | Nature of the transaction | Grant of options
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| d) | Price(s) and volume(s) | Price: £0.025 per share Volumes:
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| e) | Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price | n/a
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| f) | Date of the transaction | 14 March 2023 | ||||||||
| g) | Place of the transaction | Outside of a trading venue | ||||||||
For the purposes of UK MAR, the person who arranged the release of this information is Gary S. Jacob, Chief Executive Officer of OKYO.
Enquiries:
| OKYO Pharma Limited | Gary S. Jacob, Chief Executive Officer
| +44 (0)20 7495 2379
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| Investor Relations | Paul Spencer | +44 (0)20 7495 2379 |
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| Broker
| Robert Emmet, Optiva Securities Limited
| +44 (0)20 3981 4173 |
Notes for Editors:
About OKYO
OK-101 is a lipid conjugated chemerin peptide agonist of the ChemR23 G-protein coupled receptor which is typically found on immune cells of the eye responsible for the inflammatory response. OK-101 has been shown to produce anti-inflammatory and neuropathic pain-reducing activities in mouse models of DED and corneal neuropathic pain, respectively, and is designed to combat washout through the inclusion of the lipid 'anchor' contained in the drug molecule to enhance the residence time of OK-101 within the ocular environment.
About OKYO
OKYO Pharma Limited (LSE: OKYO; NASDAQ: OKYO) is a life sciences company admitted to listing on NASDAQ and on the standard segment of the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the main market for listed securities of London Stock Exchange plc. OKYO is focusing on the discovery and development of novel molecules to treat inflammatory dry eye diseases and chronic pain. For further information, please visit www.okyopharma.com.
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