SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA, December 11, 2023 – Electra Therapeutics, a clinical stage biotechnology company developing antibody therapies against novel targets for immunological diseases and cancer, today announced the appointment of Kathy Dong, PharmD, MBA, as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Dong assumes this leadership role as Electra achieves positive clinical results for its lead drug candidate, ELA026, for the treatment of the life-threatening inflammatory disease, secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH).

“We are excited to have Kathy take on the role of CEO of Electra. I have had the privilege of working with Kathy across multiple companies and seen her track record of success in advancing novel therapies for patients and creating value for emerging biotechs,” said Nancy Stagliano, PhD, Executive Chair of Electra’s board of directors. “With Kathy’s outstanding leadership, Electra will continue to advance its lead candidate, ELA026, as well as pursue a broad range of opportunities to address unmet needs in immune-mediated diseases and cancer.”

Dr. Dong succeeds Adam Rosenthal, PhD, who was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Electra. Dr. Rosenthal will continue to serve as a member of Electra’s board of directors and as Chief Executive Officer of Star Therapeutics, the company that spun out Electra. Electra’s board of directors will be expanded with the new appointment of Matthew Fust, MBA, as an independent director and chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Fust has 20 years of industry experience, including roles as a director of several private and public biopharmaceutical companies, and as Chief Financial Officer of several biopharmaceutical companies.

“We welcome Matt Fust to the Electra board and look forward to his proven financial leadership and extensive experience guiding biotechnology companies,” continued Dr. Stagliano. “Electra is poised for its next stage of growth, and we acknowledge the contributions of Adam Rosenthal as a founder and CEO and look forward to his continued insights on the board.”

Kathy Dong is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with more than 15 years of experience in corporate development, business operations, portfolio management, and product commercialization.  Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer of Star Therapeutics since 2019, where she held strategic and operational responsibilities across the Star portfolio, including building Electra Therapeutics and Vega Therapeutics from discovery stage into the clinic. Prior to joining Star Therapeutics, she served as Vice President of Commercial Development at True North Therapeutics where she played a key role in building the market for the first approved therapy for the rare autoimmune disorder, cold agglutinin disease. Following True North’s acquisition by Bioverativ/Sanofi, she was Head of New Product Planning for the complement franchise at Sanofi. Dr. Dong spent nine years of her career at Gilead Sciences, where she led the launch and market development of numerous products in Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C, including SOVALDI and HARVONI, two of the most successful launches in biopharmaceutical history as measured by first-year revenue. She earned her PharmD and MBA at the University of New Mexico, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship through Rutgers University.

“I’m honored to lead Electra and collaborate with an incredibly talented team to realize the exciting potential of pioneering novel biology and, in the near-term, advancing ELA026 as a first-in-class antibody for patients with sHLH, a severe inflammatory disease with high unmet need and no approved treatment,” said Kathy Dong. “This is a time of strong momentum for the company, particularly as the first clinical data for ELA026 was just presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting, showing a very encouraging response rate in difficult-to-treat subsets of patients with sHLH. We also see broad opportunities ahead as we apply our deep expertise to develop antibodies against novel targets that address immune dysregulation in immunological diseases and cancer.”