Apexigen, Inc. ("Apexigen"), a clinical-stage company focused on developing innovative antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer with a focus on immuno-oncology, today announced the appointment of William Duke as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Duke is a biotech industry veteran and brings over 20 years of demonstrated success and leadership in corporate finance.
"We are thrilled to welcome Bill. His deep financial expertise, broad strategic experience, demonstrated success raising capital and understanding of the life science industry make him the ideal fit for Apexigen's executive team," said Xiaodong Yang, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Apexigen. "This is an exciting time for Apexigen, as we are in the final stages of transitioning into a publicly listed immuno-oncology company by combining with Brookline Capital Acquisition Corp. I am confident that Bill will be an invaluable member of our team as we continue to advance the Phase 2 development of our lead program, sotigalimab, as well as to maximize the value of Apexigen's APXiMAB™ antibody discovery platform and innovative pipeline of antibody therapeutics."
Mr. Duke commented, "It's an exciting opportunity to work with a team that's paving the way for novel I-O strategies to overcome outstanding challenges in oncology. I am thrilled to join Apexigen at this critical juncture in the company's growth and look forward to supporting capabilities across the organization as well as marshalling the necessary resources to drive long-term value for our shareholders."
Mr. Duke joins Apexigen from Kaleido, where he served as CFO and was instrumental in leading the successful completion of financings totaling $115 million. Prior to this, Mr. Duke was CFO of Pulmatrix, Inc., where he oversaw the company's financial strategy, helped negotiate the company's first product partnership, and led the successful completion of multiple public financings. Prior to Pulmatrix, he served as CFO of Valeritas, Inc., a commercial-stage medical technology company, where he led a private financing round, recapitalized the company, and was responsible for the strategic planning, development and leadership of the corporate finance function. Mr. Duke also was senior director of finance at Genzyme Corporation and director of finance/accounting at Haemonetics Corporation. Mr. Duke earned an MBA from Bentley College and his B.S. in Business Administration from Stonehill College. He is also a certified public accountant.