Artiva Biotherapeutics Appoints Subhashis Banerjee, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer

By: Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. via GlobeNewswire

April 08, 2025 at 16:05 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO, April 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARTV), a clinical-stage biotechnology company whose mission is to develop effective, safe, and accessible cell therapies for patients with devastating autoimmune diseases and cancers, today announced the appointment of Subhashis Banerjee, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Banerjee is a trained rheumatologist and immunologist who brings over two decades of clinical development experience in autoimmune diseases, most recently as Disease Area Head for Rheumatology and Dermatology Global Development at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), and Senior Vice President (SVP), Clinical Development at VYNE Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Banerjee will succeed Thorsten Graef, M.D., Ph.D., who will continue as a strategic advisor to the Company.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Banerjee to Artiva as we focus clinical development of our AlloNK® program on the treatment of B-cell driven autoimmune diseases. Dr. Banerjee, together with our recently appointed board member, Dr. Dan Baker, was a part of the early introduction of biologics for autoimmune diseases and reinforces the deep, longitudinal expertise in autoimmunity we have at Artiva,” said Fred Aslan, M.D., CEO of Artiva. “Importantly, we are excited to leverage Dr. Banerjee’s extensive experience in clinical development and regulatory approval of multiple blockbuster therapies for immune-mediated inflammatory and rheumatology indications, including Humira®, Taltz®, Orencia®, and Sotyktu®, to hone in on the rheumatology indications we believe AlloNK could bring relief to patients, and be administered in community settings worldwide.”

Dr. Aslan continued, “On behalf of the team, I wish to thank Dr. Graef for his extensive contributions to the Company and advancing our AlloNK oncology program to this stage. We look forward to his continued partnership in his new role as a strategic advisor.”

Dr. Banerjee added, “Artiva is leading the development of NK cell treatments for autoimmune disease, with the potential to offer a much-needed, long-term therapeutic option with an accessibility and safety profile that enables broad use in a community setting. The robust B-cell depletion seen with AlloNK through enhanced antibody-directed killing of cells in non-Hodgkin lymphoma bodes well for our opportunity to deeply deplete B-cells in patients with autoimmune diseases and to bring about meaningful clinical improvements and medication reductions. Artiva has built a very seasoned development team, and I am excited to lead the effort to further define the indications where AlloNK can be most impactful, and to help drive the program towards late-stage development.”

Prior to joining Artiva, Dr. Banerjee served as SVP of Clinical Development at VYNE Therapeutics Inc., where he led the clinical development of BET inhibitors across many immune-mediated conditions. Prior to that, he served as Vice President and Disease Area Head of Rheumatology and Dermatology at BMS, where he played a key role in the development strategy of immunology assets across multiple platforms for several immune-mediated diseases. During his tenure at BMS, Dr. Banerjee served as the global lead for mid- to late-stage clinical development of Sotyktu (deucravacitinib), Orencia (abatacept) and clazakizumab (anti-IL-6 antibody) for the treatment of a variety of rheumatology indications, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), lupus nephritis, idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) and Sjögren’s disease. Prior to working at BMS, Dr. Banerjee served as a global clinical program lead at Eli Lilly and Company on the clinical development of Taltz (ixekizumab, anti-IL-17 antibody) in RA, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis that led to marketing authorizations in the latter three indications. Earlier in his career, Dr. Banerjee supported the clinical development of Xeljanz® (tofacitinib) at Pfizer Inc., and early development activities of Humira (adalimumab) at AbbVie. Dr. Banerjee received his medical degree from Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, and he completed his residency in internal medicine at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. He trained in immunology and autoimmune diseases at the Mayo Clinic and McGill University prior to joining the industry.

The appointment of Dr. Banerjee culminates Artiva’s efforts to build a seasoned development team with strong expertise in autoimmunity and cell therapy that includes the following recent additions:

David Moriarty, Ph.D., as SVP, Clinical Operations. Dr. Moriarty brings nearly 25 years of clinical research experience across cell therapy and autoimmune-focused indications. He was most recently at Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc., and prior to that, led global clinical operations and compliance for Horizon Therapeutics plc before Horizon’s acquisition by Amgen Inc., where he worked across multiple autoimmune and rare disease programs. Across his career, he has experience working on trials in a broad range of rheumatology indications, including RA, lupus and Sjögren’s disease.
Benjamin Dewees as SVP, Regulatory Affairs. Mr. Dewees brings over 25 years of experience in regulatory affairs across cell therapy, gene therapy, autoimmune and rare disease programs. He was most recently at Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc., where he was the lead of the regulatory function. He spent most of his career at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., supporting three separate product approvals, and several earlier stage companies over the last seven years across the cell and gene therapy space.
Feng Xu as SVP, Biometrics. Mr. Xu brings over 20 years of experience in clinical development, including four successful global regulatory filings for commercial pharmaceutical products. Prior to Artiva, he served as the Head of Biometrics at IGM Biosciences, Inc., where he led biometrics for multiple early to mid-stage clinical trials in autoimmune and oncology indications, including RA and lupus. He began his career at Amgen Inc., where he served as the lead biostatistician for multiple pivotal clinical trials in inflammation, oncology and cardiovascular disease.

About Artiva Biotherapeutics

Artiva is a clinical-stage biotechnology company whose mission is to develop effective, safe and accessible cell therapies for patients with devastating autoimmune diseases and cancers. Artiva’s lead program, AlloNK® (also known as AB-101), is an allogeneic, off-the-shelf, non-genetically modified, cryopreserved NK cell therapy candidate designed to enhance the antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity effect of monoclonal antibodies to drive B-cell depletion. AlloNK® is currently in clinical trials for treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus, for patients with or without lupus nephritis, and in an investigator-initiated basket trial in multiple autoimmune indications. Artiva’s pipeline also includes CAR-NK candidates targeting both solid and hematologic cancers. Artiva was founded in 2019 as a spin out of GC Cell, formerly GC Lab Cell Corporation, a leading healthcare company in the Republic of Korea, pursuant to a strategic partnership granting Artiva exclusive worldwide rights (excluding Asia, Australia and New Zealand) to GC Cell’s NK cell manufacturing technology and programs.

Artiva is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, please visit https://www.artivabio.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding: expectations of Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) regarding the potential contributions of the recent hires to the Company, potential benefits, accessibility, effectiveness and safety of AlloNK®, and the Company’s ability to advance AlloNK® in autoimmune disease. These forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the management of the Company as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. In light of these risks and uncertainties, the events or circumstances referred to in the forward-looking statements may not occur. These and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to differ from current expectations are discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date this press release is given. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts
Investors: Neha Krishnamohan, Artiva Biotherapeutics, ir@artivabio.com
Media: Jessica Yingling, Ph.D., Little Dog Communications Inc., jessica@litldog.com, +1.858.344.8091

Source: Artiva Biotherapeutics, Inc.