Ikena Oncology, and Inmagene Biopharmaceuticals announced the appointment of Kristin Yarema, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer of ImageneBio, of the combined company after the anticipated closing.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Yarema to the team. Kristin is bringing expertise to the team that will push the company, and our lead program, IMG-007, towards significant milestones,” commented David Bonita, an Ikena director and a continuing board member of the combined company. “Her experience as a public company CEO and commercial leadership are valuable additions to this team.”
Dr. Yarema added, “Joining Imagene at this key juncture point for the company is incredibly exciting. We have a tremendous opportunity ahead of us in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases as we continue to develop our anti-OX40 IMG-007 therapeutic candidate. We believe OX40 inhibition is an important emerging mechanism with the potential to treat a range of disorders, and we are poised to build value for our stakeholders through execution and following the differentiated data of our asset.” She continued, “I am looking forward to working with the team and hitting the ground running.”
Also Read: Ajax Therapeutics and Schrödinger Expand Research Collaboration to Include Additional JAK Target
Kristin Yarema, Ph.D., brings over two decades of leadership experience in human therapeutics to Imagene. Dr. Yarema joins the team after most recently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of Poseida Therapeutics, an oncology, autoimmune, and rare disease company from January 2024 until its acquisition by Roche in January 2025. Prior to her promotion to CEO, Kristin joined as Poseida’s President, Cell Therapy in 2023. Before her time at Poseida, Dr. Yarema held commercial leadership roles in biotech and pharma, including Chief Commercial Officer at Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc, a publicly held oncology and autoimmune T-cell immunotherapy company, from 2020 to 2022. She also held numerous senior positions at Amgen, including Vice President and Therapeutic Area Head roles in Inflammation (autoimmune), Bone, Nephrology, Hematology, Cardiovascular, Metabolism, and Neuroscience along with various other U.S. and global commercial leadership positions of increasing responsibility from 2013 to 2020, including U.S. commercial responsibilities for dermatology and rheumatology. She also spent five years at Novartis, where her roles included Global Head, Global Strategic Marketing and Global Programs Head, Cardiovascular and Metabolism & Critical Care Development. She began her industry career at management consultancy McKinsey & Company, where she provided strategic advice to many healthcare companies, ultimately as Associate Principal. Dr. Yarema received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and B.A. in English from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to her work in the industry, Dr. Yarema serves on the boards of directors of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a global patient advocacy group, and the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, a cell and gene therapy industry association.
The merger, which was approved by shareholders at Ikena’s Annual Meeting on July 15, 2025, is anticipated to close by the end of July 2025 with a concurrent committed $75 million private placement. The combined company will operate as “ImageneBio, Inc.” and trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the ticker symbol “IMA”.
SOURCE: GlobeNewswire