Courtney Dugan has been named vice president of investor relations, public relations and corporate communications at Cambridge, Massachusetts-headquartered Pyxis Oncology, reporting to CFO Pam Connealy.
Dugan joins the preclinical oncology firm, which has a focus on ‘next generation’ treatments for ‘difficult cancers’, following its Nasdaq IPO last month.
The Columbia Business School MBA holder brings more than a decade of what Pyxis describes as ‘purpose driven’ investor relations to her new role. She comes most recently from Johnson & Johnson, where she served as global finance communication leader and senior director. Prior to Johnson & Johnson she was group director of IR at W2O Group (now Real Chemistry), where she led investor relations for ‘several biotechnology companies of various stages, from pre-IPO to established commercial, public entities’, according to a statement announcing her appointment at Pyxis.
The company’s successful IPO last month saw it raise around $168 mn, having increased its share price to the upper end of the scale. Various biotech publications note that the firm, which is backed by big pharma names such as Pfizer and Bayer, had ‘upsized’ its IPO after initially saying it wanted to raise $100 mn. Now that the company is trading publicly, Dugan will be tasked with further developing the firm’s IR program.
Pyxis has an ‘innovative and differentiated portfolio of biologics’ designed to specifically target tumor cells and overcome immuno-suppression.
