SiliconBeat

By Silicon Valley standards, Tim Harkness, the new chief financial officer at Nektar Therapeutics is getting a frugal pay package. Which is probably a good thing since the San Carlos pharmaceutical company said in May it was undertaking a big reorganization and cutting costs as it tried to save $27 million this year.

A big signing bonus might not sit well with the rank and file.

But weep not, for Harkness, 41, will still get a $440,000 annual salary. He is eligible for a performance bonus that could reach as high as $660,000. He gets 200,000 stock options that vest over four years. And he gets 10,000 restricted stock units.

Founded in 1990, Nektar is currently in trials with a drug to treat pneumonia that is contracted in a hospital. It lost $27 million in its most recent quarter ending in June on $65 million in revenue. And its stock has fallen by about half over the past year.