President and CEO of C4 Therapeutics brings decades of experience spanning finance, operations, and innovative life science company-building

Akamis Bio, a clinical-stage oncology company using a proprietary Tumor-Specific Immuno-Gene Therapy (T-SIGn®) platform to deliver novel immunotherapeutic payloads to solid tumors, today announced the appointment of Andrew Hirsch, MBA, to the Company’s Board of Directors.

“We are delighted to welcome Andrew Hirsch to our Board of Directors,” said Howard Davis, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Akamis Bio. “His extensive industry leadership, operational and strategic expertise, and proven ability to advance novel therapeutic modalities make him an exceptional addition to our Board. Andrew’s insights will be instrumental as we unlock the full potential of our immunotherapeutic platform across a range of oncology indications, starting with our lead clinical program for locally advanced rectal cancer.”

Since 2020, Mr. Hirsch has been President, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of C4 Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company advancing a pipeline of targeted protein degraders for a number of indications including oncology. He was previously Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Agios Pharmaceuticals, President and CEO of BIND Therapeutics, Chief Financial Officer at Avila Therapeutics, and Vice President of Corporate Strategy and M&A at Biogen. Mr. Hirsch also serves on the Board of Directors at Editas Medicine, where he is Chair of the Audit Committee.

“I’m thrilled to join the Board of Directors at Akamis Bio at this exciting time as Howard and the team advance the company’s innovative portfolio of T-SIGn® therapeutics in an effort to bring new therapies to patients with colorectal cancer,” said Mr. Hirsch. “I am impressed by the company’s innovative approach to systemically delivering highly targeted immunotherapies to solid tumors that has the potential to reshape the standard of care for many types of cancer. I look forward to supporting the team as they advance toward key near-term milestones, drive pipeline growth, and forge new strategic collaborations.”

Akamis Bio currently is enrolling the Phase 1b FORTRESS study (NCT06459869) for its lead candidate, NG-350A, in individuals with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). The study is an open-label, single-arm, and multicenter trial of NG-350A in combination with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in adult patients with LARC and at least one risk factor for local or distant recurrence or with oligometastatic disease. The FORTRESS study builds upon the Akamis Bio-supported, CEDAR study, which showed a significantly greater complete response rate in LARC patients treated with a combination of Akamis Bio’s first generation immunotherapy and chemoradiotherapy (CRT), relative to expected outcomes using standard-of-care CRT alone. NG-350A is an intravenously delivered T-SIGn® therapeutic designed to drive intratumoral expression of a CD40 agonist monoclonal antibody triggering the activation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) resident in solid tumors and their draining lymph nodes. Once activated, APCs recruit T cells into the vicinity of the tumor to deliver a potent anti-tumor immune response. Prior clinical studies of NG-350A have demonstrated a favorable safety profile for the therapy, with no observed transgene-related or off-target toxicities.

About Akamis Bio

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamis Bio is a clinical-stage oncology company developing systemically administered immunotherapies to treat solid tumors, initially in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Its proprietary Tumor-Specific Immuno-Gene Therapy (T-SIGn®) platform is designed to deliver novel immunotherapeutic proteins, biomolecules and transgene combinations to treat solid tumors, with its lead clinical-stage program, NG-350A, driving intratumoral expression of a CD40 agonist monoclonal antibody. To learn more, please visit www.akamisbio.com.

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