Crinetics (CRNX) CSO Stephen Betz Sells Shares in Merger

What Happened

• Stephen F. Betz, Chief Scientific Officer of Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (CRNX), had company common shares and derivative awards converted to cash as part of the Vertex merger effective Sept 1, 2026. In total 905,240 share-equivalents were disposed/cancelled, producing aggregate cash proceeds of approximately $59,718,410.
• Transactions reported include direct common-stock cancellations and cash settlements of restricted stock units and stock options. Several lines show $85.00 per share (the merger consideration); others show lower per-share amounts that reflect cash paid for in-the-money options (merger price minus option exercise price).

Key Details

• Transaction date: 2026-09-01 (Effective Time of the merger).
• Prices/values: majority at $85.00 per share (merger consideration); other reported per-share amounts (e.g., $83.09, $75.72, $59.81, $62.39, $69.71, $61.81, $64.98, $65.36, $41.49, $48.14, $41.21) reflect cash paid on vested derivative awards or option spreads. Total proceeds ≈ $59.7M.
• Shares involved: 905,240 total share-equivalents across 13 reported lines (includes common shares, RSUs, and option settlements).
• Shares owned after transaction: Crinetics common stock outstanding was cancelled/converted at the Effective Time per the Merger Agreement; the filing reflects cash-out treatment of outstanding awards (no remaining Crinetics common shares post-merger).
• Notable footnotes:
  • F2: Merger Agreement with Vertex; each share converted into $85.00 cash (less tax withholding).
  • F3: Outstanding RSUs vested immediately before the Effective Time and were converted to cash.
  • F4–F5: Outstanding stock options vested immediately before the Effective Time; options with exercise price < $85 were cashed out for the difference, options with exercise price ≥ $85 were cancelled for no consideration.
  • F1: Includes 835 shares acquired under the issuer’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
• Filing timeliness: Reported on Sept 1, 2026 (no late filing indicated in the data provided).

Context

• These were not open-market sales—this is the automatic cash-out of shares and vested awards under the merger (transaction code: disposition to issuer). For options, the per-share dollar amounts less than $85 represent the merger consideration minus the option strike (i.e., cash settlement of in‑the‑money options).
• This is a routine cash settlement tied to an acquisition and should be read as the result of the corporate transaction, not necessarily as a signal of personal buying/selling sentiment. Purchases (when they occur) generally carry more weight for gauging insider confidence.