Exhibit 19.1
| 1. | Purpose |
This global policy describes Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals’ (“Kiniksa” or “Company”) requirements for the prevention of insider trading. Preventing insider trading is necessary to comply with securities laws and to preserve the reputation and integrity of the Company as well as that of all persons affiliated with the Company. Insider trading is a crime. The penalties for violating insider trading laws include imprisonment, disgorgement of profits, civil fines, and significant criminal fines.
This Policy is based on the guiding principles established in Kiniksa’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which outlines our commitment, as a Company and individuals, to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and stewardship in service to patients, colleagues, the medical community, and shareholders.
U.S. applicable laws, and internal Kiniksa standards facilitating compliance with such laws, may be stricter and should also be respected. Refer to local Policies and SOPs and consult country-specific guidance.
| 2. | Scope |
This Policy applies to all officers, directors, contractors and employees of the Company. Individuals subject to this Policy are responsible for ensuring that they, and members of their households, comply with this Policy. This Policy also applies to any entities controlled by individuals subject to the Policy, including any corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships or trusts (such entities, together with all officers, directors, contractors and employees of the Company, are referred to as the “Covered Persons”), and transactions by these entities should be treated for the purposes of this Policy and applicable securities laws as if they were for the individual’s own account, except that this policy does not apply to an entity controlled by or affiliated with a person covered under this policy if the entity’s principal business is the investment of securities (an investment fund or partnership) and the entity has established its own insider trading controls and procedures in compliance with applicable securities laws. This Policy extends to all activities within and outside an individual’s Company duties.
| 3. | Definitions |
Insider trading – the purchase or sale of a security while in possession of “material,” “non-public” information relating to the security or its issuer.
Securities – include (but are not limited to) shares, bonds, notes, debentures, options, warrants and other convertible securities, as well as derivative instruments.
Prediction Markets – Also known as betting markets, information markets, decision markets, idea futures or event derivatives. Prediction Markets (e.g., Kalshi or Polymarket) allow participants to buy and sell contracts (often framed as “bets”) tied to whether a specified future event will occur. Many contracts are binary. In a simplified form, a “Yes” contract pays a specified amount if the event occurs and nothing if it does not. Such contracts often reference confidential information, such as merger timing, earnings metrics, executive departures, product launches, regulatory approvals, cybersecurity incidents and litigation outcomes.
Purchase and Sale are defined broadly under the federal securities laws. “Purchase” includes not only the actual purchase of a security, but any contract to purchase or otherwise acquire a security. “Sale” includes not only the actual sale of a security, but any contract to sell or otherwise dispose of a security. These definitions extend to a broad range of transactions, including conventional cash-for-shares transactions, conversions, the exercise of share options, and acquisitions and exercises of warrants or puts, calls or other derivative securities. In addition, for purposes of this policy, usage of a Prediction Market to place bets or contracts on any matters related to Kiniksa, including, but not limited to, clinical trial timing and outcomes; earnings, results of operations or commercial performance; and business development transactions, shall be treated as a derivative “Purchase” of a Security related to Kiniksa.
Trading day – a day on which national stock exchanges are open for trading.
| 4. | Prohibition of Insider Trading |
| 4.1. | No officer, director or employee shall purchase or sell any type of security while in possession of material, non-public information relating to the security or its issuer, whether the issuer of such security is the Company or any other company. In addition, if an officer, director or employee is in possession of material non-public information about other publicly traded companies, such as suppliers, customers, competitors, potential acquisition targets, or potential acquirers, such person may not trade in such other companies’ securities until the information becomes public or is no longer material. Further, no officer, director or employee shall purchase or sell any security of any other company, including another company in the Company’s industry, while in possession of material non-public information if such information is obtained in the course of such person’s employment or service with the Company. |
| 4.2. | No officer, director or other employee designated from time to time by the Board of Directors, the Chief Legal Officer, or the General Counsel as being subject to quarterly blackout periods shall purchase or sell any security of the Company during the period beginning at 11:59 p.m., Eastern time, on the fourteenth calendar day before the end of any fiscal quarter of the Company and ending upon the completion of the first full trading day after the public release of earnings data for such fiscal quarter or during any other trading suspension period declared by the Company. For example, if the Company’s fourth fiscal quarter ends at 11:59 p.m., Eastern time, on December 31, the corresponding blackout period would begin at 11:59 p.m., Eastern time, on December 17. |
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| 4.3. | No officer, director or employee shall directly or indirectly communicate (or “tip”) material, non-public information to anyone outside of the Company (except in accordance with the Company’s policies regarding the protection or authorized external disclosure of Company information, including the Company’s Policy Statement Guidelines for Corporate Disclosure) or to anyone within the Company other than on a need-to-know basis. |
| 5. | Explanation of Insider Trading |
| 5.1. | What Facts are Material? |
| ● | corporate earnings or earnings forecasts; |
| ● | possible mergers, acquisitions, tender offers or dispositions; |
| ● | major new products or product developments; |
| ● | important business developments, such as developments regarding acquisitions of product candidates or strategic collaborations; |
| ● | important product candidate developments, such as the results of clinical trials or the status of regulatory submissions, including communications with regulatory authorities; |
| ● | management or control changes; |
| ● | significant financing developments including pending public sales or offerings of debt or equity securities; |
| ● | cybersecurity breaches; |
| ● | defaults on borrowings; |
| ● | bankruptcies; and |
| ● | significant litigation or regulatory actions. |
| 5.2. | What is Non-Public? |
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| 5.3. | Who is an Insider? |
| 5.4. | Trading by Persons Other than Insiders |
| 5.5. | Penalties for Engaging in Insider Trading |
| ● | SEC administrative sanctions; |
| ● | securities industry self-regulatory organization sanctions; |
| ● | civil injunctions; |
| ● | damage awards to private plaintiffs; |
| ● | disgorgement of all profits; |
| ● | civil fines for the violator of up to three times the amount of profit gained or loss avoided; |
| ● | civil fines for the employer or other controlling person of a violator (i.e., where the violator is an employee or other controlled person) of up to the greater of $2,479,282 |
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| (subject to adjustment for inflation) or three times the amount of profit gained or loss avoided by the violator; |
| ● | criminal fines for individual violators of up to $5,000,000 ($25,000,000 for an entity); and |
| ● | jail sentences of up to 20 years. |
| 5.6. | Size of Transaction and Reason Do Not Matter. The size of the transaction or the amount of profit received does not have to be significant to result in prosecution. The SEC has the ability to monitor even the smallest trades, and the SEC performs routine market surveillance. Brokers and dealers are required by law to inform the SEC of any possible violations by people who may have material, non-public information. The SEC aggressively investigates even small insider trading violations. |
| 5.7. | Examples of Insider Trading |
| ● | actions brought against corporate officers, directors, and employees who traded in a company’s securities after learning of significant confidential corporate developments; |
| ● | friends, business associates, family members and other tippees of such officers, directors, and employees who traded in the securities after receiving such information; |
| ● | government employees who learned of such information in the course of their employment; and |
| ● | other persons who misappropriated, and took advantage of, confidential information from their employers. |
| 5.8. | Prohibition on Records Falsification and False Statements. Section 13(b)(2) of the Exchange Act requires companies subject to the Exchange Act to maintain proper internal books and records and to devise and maintain an adequate system of internal accounting controls. The SEC has supplemented the statutory requirements by adopting rules that prohibit (1) any person from falsifying records or accounts subject to the above requirements and (2) officers or directors from making any materially false, misleading, or incomplete statement to any accountant in connection |
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| with any audit or filing with the SEC. These provisions reflect the SEC’s intent to discourage officers, directors and other persons with access to the Company’s books and records from taking action that might result in the communication of materially misleading financial information to the investing public. |
| 6. | Statement of Procedures Preventing Insider Trading. The following procedures have been established, and will be maintained and enforced, by the Company to prevent insider trading. Every officer, director and employee is required to follow these procedures. |
| 6.1. | Pre-Clearance of All Trades by Officers, Directors, and Certain Employees |
| 6.2. | Black-Out Periods |
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| 6.3. | Post-Termination Transactions. If an individual is in possession of material, non-public information when his or her service terminates, that individual may not trade in the Company’s securities until that information has become public or is no longer material. |
| 6.4. | Information Relating to the Company |
| 6.5. | Limitations on Access to Company Information |
| ● | maintaining the confidentiality of Company-related transactions; |
| ● | conducting their business and social activities so as not to risk inadvertent disclosure of confidential information. Review of confidential documents in public places should be conducted so as to prevent access by unauthorized persons; |
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| ● | restricting access to documents and files (including computer files) containing material, non-public information to individuals on a need-to-know basis (including maintaining control over the distribution of documents and drafts of documents); |
| ● | promptly removing and cleaning up all confidential documents and other materials from conference rooms following the conclusion of any meetings; |
| ● | disposing of all confidential documents and other papers, after there is no longer any business or other legally required need, through shredders when appropriate; |
| ● | restricting access to areas likely to contain confidential documents or material, non-public information; |
| ● | safeguarding laptop computers, mobile devices, tablets, memory sticks, CDs and other items that contain confidential information; and |
| ● | avoiding the discussion of material, non-public information in places where the information could be overheard by others such as in elevators, restrooms, hallways, restaurants, airplanes or taxicabs. |
| 7. | Additional Prohibited Transactions. The Company has determined that there is a heightened legal risk and/or the appearance of improper or inappropriate conduct if the persons subject to this Policy engage in certain types of transactions. Therefore, officers, directors and employees shall comply with the following policies with respect to certain transactions in Company securities: |
| 7.1. | Short Sales. Short sales of the Company’s securities evidence an expectation on the part of the seller that the securities will decline in value, and therefore signal to the market that the seller has no confidence in the Company or its short-term prospects. In addition, short sales may reduce the seller’s incentive to improve the Company’s performance. For these reasons, short sales of the Company’s securities are prohibited by this Policy. In addition, Section 16(c) of the Exchange Act absolutely prohibits Section 16 reporting persons from making short sales of the Company’s equity securities, i.e., sales of shares that the insider does not own at the time of sale, or sales of shares against which the insider does not deliver the shares within 20 days after the sale. |
| 7.2. | Publicly Traded Options. A transaction in options is, in effect, a bet on the short-term movement of the Company’s shares and therefore creates the appearance that an officer, director or employee is trading based on inside information. Transactions in options also may focus an officer’s, director’s or employee’s attention on short-term performance at the expense of the Company’s long-term objectives. Accordingly, transactions in puts, calls or other derivative securities involving the Company’s equity securities, on an exchange or in any other organized market, are prohibited by this Policy. |
| 7.3. | Hedging Transactions. Certain forms of hedging or monetization transactions, such as zero-cost collars and forward sale contracts, allow an officer, director or employee to lock in much of the value of his or her share holdings, often in exchange for all or part of the potential for upside appreciation in the shares. These transactions allow the officer, director or employee to continue to own the covered securities, but without the full risks and rewards of ownership. When that occurs, the officer, director or employee may no longer have the same objectives as the Company’s other shareholders. Therefore, all hedging transactions involving the Company’s equity securities are prohibited by this Policy. |
| 7.4. | Purchases of the Company’s Securities on Margin; Pledging the Company’s Securities to Secure Margin or Other Loans. Purchasing on margin means borrowing from a brokerage firm, bank or other entity in order to purchase the Company’s securities (other than in connection with a cashless exercise of share options through a broker under the Company’s equity plans). Margin purchases of the Company’s securities are prohibited by this Policy. Pledging the Company’s securities as collateral to secure loans is prohibited. This prohibition means, among other things, |
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| that you cannot hold the Company’s securities in a “margin account” (which would allow you to borrow against your holdings to buy securities). |
| 7.5. | Partnership Distributions. Nothing in this Policy is intended to limit the ability of a venture capital partnership or other similar entity with which a director is affiliated to distribute Company securities to its partners, members or other similar persons. It is the responsibility of each affected director and the affiliated entity, in consultation with their own counsel (as appropriate), to determine the timing of any distributions, based on all relevant facts and circumstances and applicable securities laws. |
| 7.6. | Prediction Markets. Participating in Prediction Markets by placing bets or entering into contracts related in any way to Kiniksa is expressly prohibited. In addition to violating this Policy, usage of such sites in any way related to Kiniksa shall also be treated as a breach of a Covered Person’s duty of confidentiality and non-disclosure to Kiniksa. Kiniksa’s Chief Legal Officer retains sole discretion in determining whether a contract is prohibited. |
| 8. | Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans, Section 16 and Rule 144 |
| 8.1. | Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans |
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| ● | has been submitted to and pre-approved by the Authorizing Officer; |
| ● | includes a “Cooling Off Period” for |
| o | Section 16 reporting persons that extends to the later of 90 days after adoption of the Trading Plan or two business days after filing the Form 10-K or Form 10-Q covering the fiscal quarter in which the Trading Plan is adopted, up to a maximum of 120 days; and |
| o | employees and any other persons, other than the Company or Section 16 reporting persons, that extends 30 days after adoption of the Trading Plan; |
| ● | for Section 16 reporting persons, includes a representation in the Trading Plan that the Section 16 reporting person is (1) not aware of any material non-public information about the Company or its securities; and (2) adopting the Trading Plan in good faith and not as part of a plan or scheme to evade Rule 10b-5; |
| ● | has been entered into in good faith at a time when the individual was not in possession of material non-public information about the Company and not otherwise in a blackout period, and the person who entered into the Trading Plan has acted in good faith with respect to the Trading Plan; |
| ● | either (1) specifies the amounts, prices, and dates of all transactions under the Trading Plan; or (2) provides a written formula, algorithm, or computer program for determining the amount, price, and date of the transactions, and (3) prohibits the individual from exercising any subsequent influence over the transactions; and |
| ● | complies with all other applicable requirements of Rule 10b5-1. |
8.1.2.1. Officers, directors and employees may adopt Trading Plans with brokers that outline a pre-set plan for trading of the Company’s shares, including the exercise of options. Trades pursuant to a Trading Plan generally may occur at any time. Individuals may not adopt more than one Trading Plan at a time except under the limited circumstances permitted by Rule 10b5-1 and subject to pre-approval by the Authorizing Officer.
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| 8.2. | Section 16: Insider Reporting Requirements, Short-Swing Profits and Short Sales |
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| 8.3. | Rule 144 |
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| 9. | Review Cycle |
This Policy will be reviewed every 3 years.
| 10. | Training |
Training will be conducted on this Policy as directed by Compliance or Legal.
| 11. | Violations |
Failure to comply with this Policy may result in disciplinary procedures (up to and including termination) in accordance with Kiniksa Policies. Violations of this Policy should be reported to the Compliance department, the Legal department or management in accordance with Kiniksa’s Policy on Compliance Violation Reporting and Non-Retaliation.
| 12. | Questions |
Comments or questions about this Policy should be directed to the Company’s Chief Legal Officer or General Counsel.
| 13. | Related Documents/References |
| ● | Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (POL-0022) |
| ● | Policy on Compliance Violation Reporting and Non-Retaliation |
| 14. | Version History |
Version | Description of Revision |
6 | Policy Updated to Address Prediction Markets; Misc. Changes |
5 | Revisions to Reflect Successor Entity |
4 | Policy Updated to Reflect SEC Rules Changes Concerning 10b5-1 Trading Plans |
3 | Policy Updated to Change Beginning of Blackout Period to 14 days prior to quarter end |
2 | Policy Updated to Include References to Company’s General Counsel |
1 | Policy Updated to New Format |
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ATTACHMENT A
SHORT-SWING PROFIT RULE SECTION 16(B) CHECKLIST
Note: ANY combination of PURCHASE AND SALE or SALE AND PURCHASE within six months of each other by an officer, director or 10% shareholder (or any family member living in the same household or certain affiliated entities) results in a violation of Section 16(b), and the “profit” must be recovered by Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (the “Company”). It makes no difference how long the shares being sold have been held or, for officers and directors, that you were an insider for only one of the two matching transactions. The highest priced sale will be matched with the lowest priced purchase within the six-month period.
Sales
| 1. | If a sale is to be made by an officer, director or 10% shareholder (or any family member living in the same household or certain affiliated entities): |
| 2. | Have there been any purchases by the insider (or family members living in the same household or certain affiliated entities) within the past six months? |
| 3. | Have there been any option grants or exercises not exempt under Rule 16b-3 within the past six months? |
| 4. | Are any purchases (or non-exempt option exercises) anticipated or required within the next six months? |
| 5. | Has a Form 4 been prepared? |
Note: If a sale is to be made by an affiliate of the Company, has a Form 144 been prepared and has the broker been reminded to sell pursuant to Rule 144?
Purchases And Option Exercises
If a purchase or option exercise for Company shares is to be made:
| 1. | Have there been any sales by the insider (or family members living in the same household or certain affiliated entities) within the past six months? |
| 2. | Are any sales anticipated or required within the next six months (such as tax-related or year-end transactions)? |
| 3. | Has a Form 4 been prepared? |
Before proceeding with a purchase or sale, consider whether you are aware of material, non-public information which could affect the price of the Company shares. All transactions in the Company’s securities by officers and directors must be pre-cleared by contacting the Company’s Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel or Chief Financial Officer.
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