Valion Bio (NASDAQ: VBIO) has announced that its current chief financial officer, Lisa Wolf, has also been named president and chief operating officer, effective immediately, following the departure of former chief executive officer, Michael K. Handley.
Jared Malbin and Thomas Jensen have also been appointed as directors to Valion’s board.
Ms. Wolf will continue to serve as CFO and will assume executive leadership of the company. The expanded role brings Valion’s financial, operational, and strategic functions under unified leadership at an important inflection point for the company. She will oversee the continued advancement of Valion’s lead product candidate, Entolimod, while directing the company’s efforts to expand government, international and commercial partnership opportunities.
In a statement, Sheryle Bolton, Chair of Valion’s Board of Directors, commented, “Lisa has earned the deep respect and confidence of the Board, and she is uniquely qualified to lead Valion through this next phase of execution and growth. Valion has built a differentiated combination of proprietary science, biomanufacturing infrastructure and significant market opportunities. Our priority now is execution – advancing Entolimod, pursuing commercial and government opportunities, and creating a business model capable of generating sustainable value for shareholders.”
Ms. Wolf remarked, “I am energized to assume expanded leadership of Valion at this pivotal stage in the company’s development. Our objective is clear: translate the potential of Entolimod and our manufacturing platform into meaningful commercial opportunities while maintaining disciplined capital allocation and execution. Entolimod has the potential to address significant unmet needs across both ARS and oncology supportive care. Its differentiated approach to cytoprotection provides a compelling foundation for pursuing government, institutional and pharmaceutical opportunities.”
Mr. Malbin brings more than 25 years of financial-services experience spanning broker-dealer operations, compliance, finance and capital markets. He currently serves as COO of Lucid Capital Markets, LLC, a boutique investment-banking broker-dealer, where he oversees firm operations and regulatory strategy across the firm’s capital-markets and trading businesses.
Mr. Jensen currently serves as CEO, co-founder and director of Allarity Therapeutics (NASDAQ: ALLR). Under his leadership, Allarity is advancing stenoparib, a dual PARP/WNT inhibitor, through Phase 2 trials in advanced ovarian cancer.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jared and Thomas to Valion’s board,” Ms. Bolton stated. “Their combined experience across capital markets, regulatory strategy, biotechnology, oncology and corporate development significantly strengthens the board as we enter our next phase. These appointments also reflect the importance of maintaining strong alignment among Valion, its board and its shareholders.”
