Primmune Therapeutics Appoints Chief Medical Officer and Executive Board Chair; Establishes Melanoma Clinical Study Advisory Board
Leadership additions strengthen clinical excellence and governance as the company enters its next phase of growth
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Primmune Therapeutics, Inc., a biotech company harnessing the power of the innate immune system, today announced the appointment of Andrew Sharabi, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer and Chris Krueger, J.D., as Executive Chairman of its Board of Directors. Additionally, Primmune revealed the formation of its Melanoma Clinical Study Advisory Board to support the clinical development of PRTX007, a novel orally administered, systemically acting, small molecule toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist as an immunotherapy for solid tumors.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Sharabi as Chief Medical Officer. He brings a rare combination of clinical expertise in melanoma, head and neck cancer and a deep understanding of basic science tumor immunology,” said Charlie McDermott, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Primmune Therapeutics. “Dr. Sharabi has been a longtime advisor and research collaborator to Primmune, and as we advance PRTX007 into a Phase 2 clinical trial, Dr. Sharabi’s leadership will be critical to translating systemic TLR7 agonism into patient impact for the melanoma community.”
Dr. Andrew Sharabi is a Physician, Scientist, and Entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in translational cancer research. As a board-certified Radiation Oncologist, he sees and treats cancer patients with radiation therapy and published one of the first studies combining radiation therapy with anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade immunotherapy in melanoma. Dr. Sharabi received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology from Baylor College of Medicine. He then completed his residency in radiation oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was awarded the prestigious John G. Rangos Medal of Honor for Creativity in Cancer Discovery. He serves on multiple National Committees including prior Chair of the Immunotherapy Track for the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Education Committee.
“Additionally, we’re pleased to welcome Chris as Executive Chairman of our Board of Directors,” said McDermott. “Chris brings extensive experience building and leading novel therapeutics companies through critical phases of growth, including successful strategic transactions. His experience and perspective will be invaluable as we advance our immunotherapy program for solid tumors forward.”
Mr. Krueger currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at Endeavor BioMedicines. He has 25 years of experience in the life sciences industry with operational responsibility and leadership for multiple functional areas. His extensive industry experience includes serving as a founder and executive officer at Ventyx Biosciences (acquired by Eli Lilly) and Akarna Therapeutics (acquired by Allergan), and as an executive officer at Ardea Biosciences (acquired by AstraZeneca), Xencor, X-Ceptor Therapeutics (acquired by Exelixis), and Aurora Biosciences (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals). Earlier in his career, he was a corporate lawyer at Cooley LLP representing emerging technology companies. Mr. Krueger earned his JD and MBA in Finance from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.
Concurrent with these appointments, Primmune has also formed its Melanoma Clinical Study Advisory Board which is comprised of key opinion leaders in oncology. Primmune’s clinical study advisory board members have contributed to pivotal Phase III trials which have defined the standard of care for melanoma and head and neck cancers. In particular, the advisory board includes many co-authors of the Phase III NADINA study, a cornerstone for establishing neo-adjuvant combinatorial immune therapy as a standard of care for melanoma:
- Miles Andrews, BSc (Hons), BMBS (Hons), FRACP, PhD, Medical Oncologist and Senior Research Fellow at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; co-author of the NADINA study.
- Victoria Atkinson, MBBS, FRACP, Senior Medical Oncologist, Principal Investigator, and Professor at University of Queensland Clinical School of Medicine, Brisbane, Australia; co-author of the NADINA study.
- Ezra Cohen, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Oncology, Tempus Labs, Inc., Chicago IL, USA
- Adnan Khatak, MBBS, FRACP, PhD, Professor and Consultant Medical Oncologist at Hollywood Private Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hosptial Perth, Australia; co-author of the NADINA study.
“Our Melanoma Clinical Study Advisory Board members have deep expertise in immuno-oncology and have been part of practice changing studies for treating melanoma as well as head and neck cancers,” said Dr. Sharabi. “Together our goal is to have Primmune execute a highly impactful Phase 2 study that advances the standard of care and improves outcomes for patients with melanoma.”
About PRTX007
PRTX007 is a novel orally administered, systemically acting, toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist designed in house at Primmune to functionally tune immune signaling toward an IRF7-driven poly-interferon response and away from the NF-KB-mediated pro-inflammatory cytokine signaling that has limited the utility of systemically acting TLR7, TLR7/8, and TLR8 agonists. PRTX007 has been administered to over 100 healthy human volunteers in two separate phase 1 clinical studies (Study PRTX007-001 and Study PRTX007-002). In these studies, PRTX007 drove the desired systemic IRF7 poly-IFN response without the undesired NF-KB pro-inflammatory response. PRTX007 was generally well-tolerated with no serious adverse events (SAEs).
About Primmune Therapeutics
Primmune Therapeutics is a clinical-stage therapeutics company dedicated to the design and development of systemically acting, orally administered, novel small molecule, toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists as immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and other diseases responsive to immunotherapy. For more information, please visit: www.primmunerx.com.
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LifeSci Communications
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