Business
Coya Therapeutics Announces Planned Board Transition and Appointment of Mark H. Pavao as Independent Director
Howard Berman, Ph.D., the Company’s Founder and current Executive Chairman and Director, has stepped down from his roles, following the CEO transition
About this update from Coya Therapeutics, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\nHoward Berman, Ph.D., the Company’s Founder and current Executive Chairman and Director, has stepped down from his roles, following the CEO transition process initiated in November 2024.\n\n\n\nMark H. Pavao, a senior pharma and biotech executive, joins the Board as an independent director.\n\n\n\n HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nCoya Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: COYA) (“Coya” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing biologics intended to enhance T-cell (Treg) function in patients with neurodegenerative disorders, today announced that founder Howard Berman, Ph.D., has stepped down as Executive Chairman and as a member of the Board, and that Mark H. Pavao has been appointed to the Board as an independent director.\n\n\nDr. Berman became Executive Chairman in November 2024 as part of a planned CEO transition that established Arun Swaminathan, Ph.D., as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Berman’s departure from the Executive Chairman role was a contemplated next step in that process.\n\n\n“Dr. Berman’s entrepreneurial spirit and scientific foresight have been instrumental in guiding Coya from its beginnings as a start-up, through its IPO, and now into a Phase 2B trial of our lead asset COYA 302 in patients with ALS. We are deeply grateful for his wisdom and leadership throughout the company’s expansion, and I am personally thankful for his mentorship,” said Arun Swaminathan, Ph.D., Coya’s CEO.\n\n\nDr. Berman said “It has been incredibly rewarding to have founded Coya and work alongside such a talented and dedicated team, particularly Arun, who has proven himself to be an exceptional and highly effective leader — the company is in very capable hands with him as CEO. The company continues to demonstrate strong operational execution, with COYA 302, our differentiated regulatory T cell combination therapy, approaching an important data readout in the ALSTARS trial. I’m also pleased that Mark is joining the Board to provide his commercial expertise as the company advances COYA 302 toward potential commercialization. Moving forward, I will be devoting my full attention to several leadership initiatives now underway.”\n\n\nCoya is also proud to announce that Mark H. Pavao is joining its Board, to fill the Board seat resulting from Dr. Berman’s departure. Mr. Pavao brings more than 30 years of leadership...