IO Biotech Strengthens Leadership Team with Appointment of Keith Vendola as Chief Financial Officer

Jul 05 2021

Copenhagen, Denmark – July 5, 2021: IO Biotech, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, immune-modulating anti-cancer therapies based on its proprietary T-win® technology, announced today the appointment of Keith Vendola, M.D., M.B.A., as chief financial officer (“CFO”).  Dr. Vendola will report to the chief executive officer (“CEO”) and be based in the United States.

“I am delighted to welcome Keith Vendola as our new CFO,” said Mai-Britt Zocca, Ph.D., CEO and founder of IO Biotech. “Keith has demonstrated the ability to successfully bring companies through financial growth and international expansion. Additionally, his unique background blending strategic finance leadership, science, and medicine make him an ideal fit as our CFO as we enter the next phase of development for IO Biotech.”

Dr. Vendola has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare corporate finance as an executive, adviser, and investment banker working on over 50 financing and strategic transactions. He joins IO Biotech from Rezolute, Inc., where he served as CFO, leading the company through a financial transformation and Nasdaq listing. Prior, he served as chief of staff to the CEO and vice president of competitive strategy at Coherus BioSciences, where he acted as the company’s main liaison to Wall Street and held responsibilities spanning execution of multiple financings, corporate partnering, strategy, and oversight of investor relations.  Prior, he served in senior roles at Eiger BioPharmaceuticals and Threshold Pharmaceuticals (now Molecular Templates). Earlier in his career, Keith served as an investment banker within the healthcare groups of Banc of America Securities (now BofA Securities) and Chase (now JPMorgan Chase).  

Dr. Vendola received his M.B.A. in finance from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, M.D. from Dartmouth Medical School, and B.A. in psychology from the College of the Holy Cross, where he graduated with honors. He completed an executive education program at Harvard Business School focused on strategic negotiations as well as a research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health, where he was an author on multiple papers.

“This is a great time to join Mai-Britt and the team at IO Biotech,” added Dr. Vendola. “I am passionate about advancing the sciences and working with companies to make true impacts on the lives of patients. IO Biotech is emerging as an innovative and leading immunotherapy company. I look forward to partnering with the team and helping the company advance its vision of developing important therapeutics for the benefit of cancer patients.”

About IO Biotech
IO Biotech is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, immune-modulating cancer therapies based on its T-win technology platform.  T-win platform is a novel approach to cancer immunotherapy designed to activate naturally occurring T cells to target immunosuppressive mechanisms.  IO Biotech is advancing in clinical studies its lead immuno-oncology candidate, IO102-IO103, targeting IDO and PD-L1, and through clinical and preclinical development its other pipeline candidates.  IO Biotech is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. For further information, please visit www.iobiotech.com.

Contacts
Mai-Britt Zocca, PhD, CEO and founder of IO Biotech       E-mail: mz@iobiotech.com

Media Inquiries
Amy Conrad, Juniper Point                                                     E-mail: amy@juniper-point.com   Phone: 858-914-1962

Media Inquiries
Jennifer Williams, Cook Williams Communications, Inc.    E-mail: jennifer@cwcomm.org