– USA, CT – Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced the election of Frank Karbe, former Chief Financial Officer of Exelixis, to Kolltan’s Board of Directors. Mr. Karbe is an accomplished leader in the life sciences industry, with more than two decades of international experience in finance and business development. His appointment to Kolltan’s Board is effective immediately.
“Frank is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive and has broad expertise in corporate finance,” said Jerry McMahon, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Kolltan. “I believe his impressive and broad career experience at Goldman Sachs & Co, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Exelixis, and other firms, as well as his well-known track record in developing and executing creative and successful financing strategies in the biopharmaceutical arena, will be key assets to Kolltan, as we continue to advance our programs and seek opportunities to expand our growing pipeline of clinical and development-stage product candidates.”
Arthur G. Altschul, Jr., co-Founder of Kolltan and Chairman of Kolltan’s Board of Directors, and Axel Bolte, Vice-Chairman and Lead Independent Director of the Kolltan Board, jointly stated, “It is a pleasure to have Frank join Kolltan’s Board of Directors. We look forward to working together with Frank, and benefiting from his years of industry and financing experience as we continue to advance the Company and create value for our shareholders.”
Frank Karbe most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Exelixis, where he implemented and executed financing strategies that resulted in raising over $2 billion. He also contributed to the successful product launch of COMETRIQ in 2013 as well as the planning and build-out of the commercial infrastructure to support COMETRIQ. Prior to Exelixis, Mr. Karbe served as Vice President-Healthcare Group for Goldman Sachs & Co., focusing on M&A and corporate finance in the biotechnology industry. Previously, Mr. Karbe held various positions in the finance department of The Royal Dutch/Shell Group in Europe. Since January 2010, Mr. Karbe has been a member of the board of directors and Chairman of the Audit Committee of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a publicly held biopharmaceutical company. Mr. Karbe holds a Diplom Kaufmann from the WHU-Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management, Koblenz, Germany (equivalent to a U.S. Masters of Business Administration).
Mr. Karbe stated, “I look forward to working with Kolltan’s world-class leadership team, who have demonstrated great success in building oncology companies and delivering novel therapies to patients. I am honored to be given the opportunity to contribute to the advance of promising new therapies that address unmet needs in cancer.”
About Kolltan Pharmaceuticals
Kolltan, a privately held clinical-stage company, is focused on the discovery and development of novel antibody-based drugs targeting receptor tyrosine kinases for the treatment of cancer and other diseases with significant unmet need. Kolltan’s founders and members of its management team have deep expertise and a proven track record in drug discovery, development and commercialization of innovative therapeutics, including drugs targeting kinases. Kolltan is working in close collaboration with the laboratory of Kolltan Co-Founder, Dr. Joseph Schlessinger, as well as the Yale University medical and scientific community. The Company has a broad and novel portfolio of therapeutic biologics targeting multiple receptor tyrosine kinases that are advancing in clinical and preclinical development and are expected to generate multiple near-term milestones.
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