CEO Catherine Owen Adams received total compensation of approximately $8.26 million in 2025, which is reasonable for the CEO of a $3.7 billion commercial-stage biopharma company and does not appear to exceed the policy's +20% individual CEO benchmark threshold. The compensation structure is heavily weighted toward variable pay — approximately 89% of the CEO's reported pay was performance-linked (annual bonus plus equity awards) — well above the 50-60% minimum the policy requires. The annual cash incentive was tied to objective, pre-established corporate goals scored at 110% of target based on genuine achievement across R&D and operational metrics, and the long-term equity program includes performance stock awards that vest based on relative total shareholder return versus biotech peers, providing meaningful pay-for-performance alignment. Shareholders gave the 2024 program 98% support, and the structure has not materially changed in ways that would reverse that judgment.

Ernst & Young has audited Acadia since March 2015 — roughly 11 years — which is well below the 25-year tenure trigger, and the firm is a Big 4 auditor appropriate for a $3.7 billion company. However, non-audit fees (tax preparation fees of $1,000,098 plus audit-related fees of $100,098 = $1,100,098) represent approximately 63% of core audit fees ($1,742,205), exceeding the 50% threshold that raises independence concerns under the policy. Because the non-audit relationship has grown large enough relative to the audit work to create a potential conflict, the policy requires a vote against ratification.