MUNICH & SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 — CatalYm today announced the appointment of seasoned biotech executive Christian S. Schade as Chairman of the Board of Directors. With over 30 years of executive leadership experience across private and public biopharma companies, Mr. Schade will provide board leadership at a crucial stage for the company, following the initiation of four late-stage clinical studies of its lead candidate, the GDF-15 inhibitor visugromab.
“With recent positive clinical data, multiple ongoing clinical studies, and a strong leadership team with deep biotechnology and drug development expertise, CatalYm is well positioned for continued clinical and corporate success,” said Christian S. Schade, Chairman of the Board at CatalYm. “The company’s differentiated approach, targeting GDF-15 to address both checkpoint-refractory tumors and cancer cachexia, has shown encouraging anti-tumor activity in multiple solid tumor indications. I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and the CatalYm team at this pivotal inflection point in the company’s development.”
“Chris’ extensive industry experience and track record of supporting the growth of biotech organizations strengthens our Board and adds further strategic depth,” said Scott Clarke, Chief Executive Officer at CatalYm. “His insights and board leadership will be invaluable as we advance visugromab through late-stage clinical development and continue to broaden its potential impact for patients.”
Mr. Schade most recently served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Halda Therapeutics, a company developing a novel class of cancer therapeutics, until its $3.05 billion acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in December 2025. Prior to Halda, Chris was a Growth Partner at Flagship Pioneering. His leadership experience includes serving as President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Aprea Therapeutics (Nasdaq: APRE) from 2016 to 2022, and as Chairman from 2020 to 2023. Under his leadership, Aprea advanced its pipeline of oncology therapeutics and completed its IPO in 2019. Before joining Aprea, he held several executive roles at biotechnology companies, including: Chief Executive Officer of Novira, a privately held antiviral drug discovery company until its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson, Chief Financial Officer of Omthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed specialty pharmaceuticals company until its acquisition by AstraZeneca Plc, and Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer at Medarex, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on antibody-based therapeutics until its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Schade was Managing Director at Merrill Lynch in London, following nearly 20 years in corporate finance and capital markets roles at Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan in New York and London. Chris received his A.B. degree from Princeton University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to Frazier Life Sciences and is on the Board of Integra LifeSciences.
