Axsome (AXSM) CFO Pizzie Nick Sells Shares After Exercising Options

What Happened
Pizzie Nick, Chief Financial Officer of Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM), exercised 12,000 stock options at $3.50 per share (cost $42,000) and immediately sold 12,000 common shares in the open market for total gross proceeds of about $2,255,040 (weighted‑average sale price $187.92). The filing also reports a related derivative disposition at $0.00 that corresponds to the sale of the underlying shares from the option exercise.

Key Details

• Transaction date: January 22, 2026; Form 4 filed January 23, 2026 (timely).
• Option exercise: 12,000 shares @ $3.50 = $42,000 (Footnote F1: options held ~8 years; exercised before 10‑year expiration).
• Sale: 12,000 shares @ weighted avg $187.92 = $2,255,040 (Footnote F4: sale prices ranged $185.09–$191.12).
• Reported derivative disposition: 12,000 shares @ $0.00 — per footnote F3 this reflects the subsequent sale of the shares acquired on exercise.
• Sale was made pursuant to a pre‑approved 10b5‑1 trading plan (Footnote F2).
• Shares owned after the transactions: not specified in the provided excerpt.
• Includes other holdings from ESPP and custodial UTMA accounts (Footnotes F5, F6).

Context
This is a common pattern where an insider exercises long‑held options and immediately sells the resulting shares under a pre‑arranged plan (often called a cashless exercise plus systematic sale). The reported activity generated roughly $2.255M in gross proceeds versus $42k in option exercise cost (≈ $2.213M difference) before taxes and fees. The 10b5‑1 designation indicates the sale was made under a pre‑established plan rather than an ad hoc decision.