TORONTO and HOUSTON, Feb. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (“Medicenna” or the “Company”) (TSX: MDNA, OTCQB: MDNAF), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on the development of Superkines, announces that Mr. Richard Sutin and Mr. Angelos Georgakis have been appointed, effective as of February 12, 2026, to the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”).
“We are excited to welcome Mr. Richard Sutin and Mr. Angelos Georgakis to the Medicenna board of directors” commented Dr Fahar Merchant, President and CEO of Medicenna. “Mr. Sutin’s extensive knowledge in capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, and Mr. Georgakis’ experience in advising biotech leadership through critical inflection points make them outstanding additions to our Board. Their expertise and strategic acumen will be instrumental in advancing our Company’s growth and stewardship in the future. We look forward to benefiting from their insights and experiences to create long-term value for our stakeholders.”
Mr. Sutin and Mr. Georgakis’s appointments to the Board follow the retirement, effective as of February 12, 2026, of Ms. Karen Dawes, who has served on the Board since 2019, most recently as Chair of the Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee.
The Board wishes to thank Ms. Dawes for her contributions to the Company during her tenure as a director of Medicenna. She has played an important role in guiding the Company to its current position within the industry.
“On behalf of myself and our Board, I want to thank Karen for all of her work, commitment and support these past years. We are deeply grateful for her leadership, vision and investment in the Company and we look forward to continuing to draw on her expertise as a consultant” concluded Dr Fahar Merchant, President and CEO of Medicenna.
About the new directors:
Angelos Georgakis is a strategic advisor to biotech leaders and a long-term supporter of Medicenna. He acts as a close and trusted ally, helping executives become great leaders and navigate their journey of bringing breakthrough medicines to patients. He has guided his clients in raising financing from top-tier venture capital firms, navigating through IPOs and follow-on equity offerings, and securing acquisitions. His strategic guidance has not only accelerated innovation in life sciences but also delivered transformative outcomes for stakeholders, fostering breakthroughs in therapeutics. He is the author of The Biotech Leader's Handbook: Becoming a Great Leader and Building a Winning Team. He mentors entrepreneurs at Harvard's i-Lab and Nucleate, contributes thought leadership on biotech leadership to outlets like The Timmerman Report and Gen Biotechnology, and delivers keynote speeches at biotech industry events. In his earlier career, Angelos worked at leading investment banks in London, including Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch.
Richard (Rick) Sutin provides corporate legal and ancillary business advisory services to early-stage businesses. From 1983 to December 2018, he was a senior partner at Norton Rose Fulbright where he handled capital market transactions and mergers and acquisitions for private and publicly traded corporations, provided ongoing corporate and securities law advice to issuers and financial intermediaries, advised boards of directors and special board committees, and mediated shareholder disputes. Rick has a LL.B., Osgoode Hall Law School (1975) and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He is recognized in Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada 2012-2013 as one of the most frequently recommended in the area of Corporate Mid-Market. Rick currently sits on the board of directors of JC Clark, an investment manager firm.
About Medicenna Therapeutics
Medicenna is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on developing novel, highly selective versions of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-13 Superkines and first-in-class Empowered Superkines. Medicenna’s long-acting IL-2 Superkine, MDNA11, is a next-generation IL-2 with superior affinity toward CD122 (IL-2 receptor beta) and no CD25 (IL-2 receptor alpha) binding, thereby preferentially stimulating cancer-killing effector T cells and NK cells. Medicenna’s first-in-class targeted PD-1 x IL-2 bispecific, MDNA113, is in development for solid tumors and was designed using the Company’s proprietary BiSKITs ™ (Bifunctional SuperKine ImmunoTherapies) and T-MASK™ (Targeted Metalloprotease Activated SuperKine) platforms. Medicenna’s IL-4 Empowered Superkine, bizaxofusp (formerly MDNA55), has been studied in 5 clinical trials enrolling over 130 patients, including a Phase 2b trial for recurrent GBM, the most common and uniformly fatal form of brain cancer. Bizaxofusp has obtained FastTrack and Orphan Drug status from the FDA and FDA/EMA, respectively.
For more information, please visit www.medicenna.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, express or implied statements regarding the future operations of the Company, estimates, plans, strategic ambitions, partnership activities and opportunities, objectives, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance, outlook or other statements that are not historical facts. You should not place undue reliance on these statements.
Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as “will”, “may”, “should”, “anticipate”, “expect”, “believe”, “seek”, “potentially” and similar expressions, and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions believed by the Company to be reasonable at the date of this news release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. These statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may be based on assumptions that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations include the risks detailed in the latest annual information form of the Company and in other filings made by the Company with the applicable securities regulators from time to time in Canada.
The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated or implied in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and except as required by law, we do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements.
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Investor/Media Contact:
Shushu Feng
Investor Relations, Medicenna Therapeutics
(416) 964-5442
ir@medicenna.com
