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Larry Edwards, new Chairman of the Board of Orikine Bio
 20.01.2026

Orikine Bio appoints Larry Edwards as Chairman of the Board

Orikine Bio, a biotechnology company specialized in the development of precision immunotherapies, based at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB-UB), today announced the appointment of Larry Edwards as Chairman of its Board of Directors, effective 1 January 2026. His appointment strengthens the company’s governance structure at a key stage of growth and progress toward important clinical and corporate milestones.

In July 2023, Orikine Bio closed a €5.5 million seed financing round and obtained €2.8 million in non-dilutive government grant funding. These resources have allowed the company to accelerate the preclinical development of multiple immunotherapy programs and advance its proprietary Foldikine™ platform to key value-generating milestones.

Larry Edwards is an experienced executive officer with a successful history of M&A, financing, and building net cash positive companies within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. He brings more than 20 years of experience in executive leadership, financing, commercial operations, strategic development, marketing, sales, team building, and business development.

Since 2023, Mr. Edwards has served as CEO of AiCuris, contributing to corporate growth and value creation by leveraging his deep knowledge of the U.S. pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Previously, he was CEO of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (LJPC), where under his leadership the company became profitable and was acquired by Innoviva with an 84% premium. Earlier, he served as CEO of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TTPH), leading the U.S. and international launch of XERAVA® and subsequently guiding the company’s acquisition by La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Edwards directed global commercialization strategies for the launch of ZERBAXA® at Cubist Pharmaceuticals prior to its acquisition by Merck and held various commercial leadership positions at Merck worldwide. He currently serves on the Boards of Clarametyx Biosciences and Utility Therapeutics.

“We are delighted to welcome Larry Edwards as Chairman of our Board,” said Christian Pangratz, CEO of Orikine Bio. “Larry brings a rare combination of deep operational leadership, value-creating M&A experience, and a strong track record of building and scaling biotech companies through critical inflection points. His strategic perspective and hands-on approach will be invaluable as we advance our Foldikine™ platform toward key preclinical and clinical milestones and build Orikine into a leading immunology company”, added the CEO.

Founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Orikine Bio was established by Drs. Luis Serrano, Ariadna Montero, Javier Delgado, and Alejo Chorny, with initial backing from the investors AdBio Partners and later from Asabys Partners. The company combines synthetic biology, protein engineering, and immunology to develop precision immunotherapies aimed at correcting specific immune system dysfunctions in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

“I am honoured to join Orikine Bio as Chairman of the Board,” affirms Larry Edwards. “I look forward to working with the seasoned executive team and leading experts in immunology at Orikine with the goal of bringing their novel Foldkine™ platform to patients in the near future”, concludes.