Acne drug maker Novan Inc. paid Chief Executive Officer Nathan Stasko $1.98 million in compensation in 2016, a 280 percent increase from $520,000 in 2015, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stasko’s base salary increased 5.9 percent between the two years. The compensation increase in pay primarily came from $1.4 million in options awards associated with Stasko’s performance in fiscal 2015.

Stasko owns 5.7 percent of the company’s stock, worth $5 million based on Tuesday’s share price. He also holds stock options worth another $353,000, including 30,000 shares at an exercise price of $1.12 and 33,333 shares at an exercise price of $15.20, expiring in 2024 and 2026 respectively.

Shares of Novan closed up 4.7 percent Tuesday at $5.62.

Shares traded up more than 40 percent to reach $7.75 last Wednesday after the company announced positive results from a Phase 2 trial of one of its product candidates, SB208, to treat fungal infections impacting the skin and nails of 40 million people in the U.S., according to the company.

“Our ability to deploy antimicrobial doses of nitric oxide in this trial gives us confidence to move forward in the development of a potential treatment for hard-to-treat infections,” said Stasko in a statement.

Stasko, 37, is the company’s second-largest shareholder behind Novan’s former chairman and founding investor Neal Hunter. Hunter, also the former CEO and co-founder of Cree, the Durham LED lighting company, owns $5.8 million of Novan stock based on Tuesday’s price.

Shares were trading at $18.70 in January before the company announced mixed Phase 3 trial results for its lead candidate SB204 that sent the company’s stock down more than 75 percent.

Soon after, Novan announced continued development plans for SB204, including a presubmission meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the third quarter of 2017.

Stasko founded Novan with UNC chemistry professor Mark Schoenfisch in 2008. Stasko was a graduate student working with Schoenfisch researching a nitric-oxide releasing nanoparticle technology.

Nitric oxide has a wide range of therapeutic uses, such as wound healing and blood pressure regulation, but it’s chemical makeup makes it difficult to control in medical applications.

Novan has developed a way to control the release of the compound, according to its website.