Orikine Bio Appoints Larry Edwards as Chairman of the Board

Orikine Bio Appoints Larry Edwards as Chairman of the Board

BARCELONA, Spain, January 20, 2026 / Biotech Newswire / -- Orikine Bio, a biotechnology company 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 incorporation strengthens the company’s governance and supports its strategic vision as it advances toward key clinical and corporate milestones.

Founded in 2022 as a spin-off of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Orikine Bio focuses on the development of next-generation immunotherapies based on bispecific and bifunctional cytokines. The company’s proprietary Foldikine™ platform enables the precise engineering of cytokines to reprogram immune responses, with the aim of treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with improved efficacy and reduced toxicity.

In July 2023, Orikine Bio closed a €5.5 million seed financing round and obtained €2.8 million in non-dilutive government grant funding, enabling the company to accelerate the preclinical development of its immunotherapy programs and advance its Foldikine™ platform to key value-inflection points.

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, where he brings his extensive U.S.-based biotech and pharmaceutical experience to drive corporate growth and value creation. Prior to AiCuris, he was CEO of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company (LJPC), where his strategic leadership drove the company to profitability and ultimately led to its acquisition by Innoviva with an 84% premium. Before La Jolla, Mr. Edwards served as CEO of Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TTPH), where he spearheaded the U.S. and global launch of XERAVA® and subsequently guided Tetraphase’s acquisition by La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.

Earlier in his career, he led the global commercialization strategies for the launch of ZERBAXA® at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, prior to its acquisition by Merck, and previously held various U.S. and global commercial leadership roles at Merck. Mr. Edwards currently serves on the Boards of Directors 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”, explained the CEO.

“I am honored to join Orikine Bio as Chairman of the Board,” said 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 Foldikine™ platform to patients in the near future”, he added.

Larry Edwards

Link to the press release

Semantic keywords: Leadership; Orikine Bio; Larry Edwards; Board of Directors; Barcelona; Barcelona Science Park; PCB-UB; bispecific cytokines; bifunctional cytokines; Foldikine™ platform; cytokines; immune responses; autoimmune diseases; inflammatory diseases; immunotherapy programs; Christian Pangratz; immunology company

About Orikine Bio
Orikine Bio is a biotechnology company utilizing its proprietary Foldikine™ platform to engineer bi-specific cytokines that send precise, targeted instructions to immune cells to restore proper function. The company is advancing a robust pipeline of therapies for autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, and immuno-oncology, including three active programs. Driven by a passion to correct immune system errors at their core, Orikine’s team of experts in immunology and protein engineering is dedicated to translating cutting-edge research into therapies that rewrite the future of medicine.

Contact

Orikine Bio
Christian Pangratz, CEO
christian.pangratz@orikine.bio