Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX) CEO Dinesh Patel Exercises Options, Sells Shares

What Happened

• Dinesh V. Patel, President, CEO and Director of Protagonist Therapeutics (PTGX), exercised a total of 100,000 stock options (65,761 on Aug 10 and 34,239 on Aug 11, 2026) at a strike price of $21.58 per share, paying $2,158,000 in aggregate.
• He then sold those 100,000 shares in open-market transactions (65,761 sold Aug 10 at a weighted average of $149.11; 34,239 sold Aug 11 at a weighted average of $148.52), generating total gross proceeds of approximately $14,890,799. Net proceeds before taxes and fees are roughly $12,732,799.
• These transactions were effectuated under a pre-established 10b5-1 trading plan adopted Jan 30, 2026; the exercise and immediate sales are therefore consistent with a planned, routine disposition rather than an ad hoc sale.

Key Details

• Transaction dates: Aug 10, 2026 (65,761 shares exercised and sold); Aug 11, 2026 (34,239 shares exercised and sold).
• Exercise price paid: $21.58 per share; total paid = $2,158,000.
• Sale prices (weighted averages): $149.11 on Aug 10 (range $147.41–$151.29); $148.52 on Aug 11 (range $147.64–$151.30). Full per-lot breakdown available upon SEC request (footnotes F2/F3).
• Total shares exercised: 100,000. Total shares sold: 100,000. Total gross sale proceeds ≈ $14.9M.
• Shares owned after transaction: not specified in the summary provided.
• Filing: Form 4 filed Aug 12, 2026; transactions occurred Aug 10–11 — the filing appears timely.
• Footnote: Transactions were made pursuant to a 10b5-1 plan (adopted Jan 30, 2026) covering exercise of fully vested options expiring Oct 11, 2026 and sale of the acquired shares.

Context

• This is an option exercise immediately followed by sale (often called a cashless or simultaneous exercise-and-sell), common when executives monetize expiring options or diversify holdings. Because the trades occurred under a 10b5-1 plan, they were pre-planned rather than necessarily reflecting a new view on company prospects.
• Sales of insider-held shares are routine and don’t by themselves indicate company performance; purchases generally carry more interpretive weight for positive insider sentiment.