Orikine Bio Appoints New CEO and Leadership to Advance ORK1
Orikine Bio appoints Sabrina Kuttruff-Coqui as CEO and expands leadership team to advance lead candidate ORK1 for autoimmune diseases into clinical trials.
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- Sabrina Kuttruff-Coqui appointed Chief Executive Officer, Joachim Koch appointed Chief Scientific and Development Officer and Andreas Muehler joining as Chief Medical Officer
- Expanded leadership team brings decades of expertise in translating scientific innovation into clinical-stage programs and building biotechnology companies
Barcelona, Spain, September 8, 2026 – Orikine Bio (“Orikine”), a biotechnology company pioneering bi-specific cytokines to reprogram the immune system and treat autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease, today announced changes to its leadership team to support the next stage of corporate development. Sabrina Kuttruff-Coqui, Ph.D., has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, and Joachim Koch, Ph.D., has been appointed Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Development Officer. Both bring decades of biotechnology industry experience to accelerate Orikine’s growth strategy and advance Orikine’s pipeline. Andreas Muehler, MD, MBA, joins as part-time Chief Medical Officer, bringing a strong medical track record for the transition of lead candidate ORK1 toward an IND submission and first-in-human studies. Pilar Casado García will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer, ensuring financial and institutional continuity. The Orikine team is expanding at a critical inflection point, as ORK1 advances from preclinical research to IND-enabling studies in inflammatory bowel disease.
“Transitioning toward first-in-human studies requires leadership with deep experience in translating innovative science into clinical programs and building the operational foundation required for long-term growth. Our expanded leadership team has been carefully selected to guide Orikine through this key phase of its development. I am confident in the team’s ability to build on the company’s progress while remaining focused on our vision of improving the lives of people affected by autoimmune disease,” said Larry Edwards, Chair of Orikine’s Board of Directors. “On behalf of the Board, I would also like to sincerely thank Christian Pangratz for his dedication to Orikine and the integral part he played in establishing the company’s foundation. We wish him all the best for his next endeavors.”
“Orikine is at a pivotal moment, transitioning from a research-driven organization into a company built to deliver toward the clinical potential of its pipeline. The depth of experience provided by our expanded leadership team makes us well positioned to advance ORK1 toward the clinic and enables the company’s next phase of growth, including future financing and partnership opportunities,” added Sabrina Kuttruff-Coqui, Chief Executive Officer at Orikine. “I am impressed with Orikine’s differentiated approach to restoring self-reactive immunity, which has the potential to transform the treatment of autoimmune disease and provide durable benefits for patients.”
The lead candidate ORK1 is a bi-functional cytokine biologic designed to act as a myeloid switch. Through the simultaneous activation of the CSF1 and IL-10 pathways, ORK1 drives myeloid cells into regulatory macrophages that migrate to inflamed tissue and restore immune homeostasis and reverse the root cause of autoimmune disease. In preclinical studies, ORK1 has been shown to selectively engage with circulating monocytes and induce durable reprogramming. Moreover, in two independent in vivo models, a single application of ORK1 strongly reduced ulcerative colitis symptoms.
“Dual cytokine targeting represents a compelling opportunity to change how we treat inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune diseases at their source. In parallel to advancing ORK1 towards the clinic, I am committed to strengthening our platform’s capabilities and expanding our pipeline to develop novel therapeutic candidates for a broad range of autoimmune diseases. I’m looking forward to working alongside this team to translate strong preclinical science into a clinical-stage pipeline of disease-modifying candidates,” said Joachim Koch, Chief Scientific and Development Officer at Orikine.
Sabrina Kuttruff-Coqui brings a proven track record in biopharma transactions, NASDAQ listings, and company transformations from R&D to fully integrated biopharmaceutical companies. She joins Orikine after serving as Chief Financial Officer of Aicuris through its $920M acquisition by Asahi Kasei, and holding several leadership positions at Immatics, where she played a key role in the company’s NASDAQ listing — bringing with her an extensive scientific background and biotech leadership experience.
Joachim Koch brings more than 25 years of life sciences experience across academia and the biotechnology industry. Before joining Orikine, he served as Vice President and Head of Discovery, Research and Translational Immunology at Affimed, where he helped define the scientific strategy and supported multiple IND applications. At Orikine, he will apply his deep scientific and development expertise to advance the company’s pipeline including ORK1 as well as maximizing the potential of its proprietary Foldikine™ platform by further enhancing its capabilities and creating novel immune switches.
Andreas Muehler is a seasoned life sciences executive with over 30 years of leadership experience across biotech and pharma in both private and public companies in the U.S. and Europe. His expertise spans all stages of the product lifecycle, including clinical development, regulatory strategy, product launches and business development with a particular focus on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Most recently, he served as Chief Medical Officer of Immunic, a clinical-stage biotech developing therapies for autoimmune diseases, where he helped guide the company through preclinical and clinical development of several investigational medicines, and supported its NASDAQ listing and investor interactions.
Full bios of the new leadership team can be found on Orikine’s website at www.orikine.bio/team
About Orikine
Orikine Bio is advancing a new approach to treating immune-mediated diseases by selectively reprogramming the immune cells that sustain inflammation. Our proprietary Foldikine™ protein engineering platform combines two complementary cytokine activities within a single molecule, generating immune switches that reverse autoimmune disease at its root cause. Orikine’s lead candidate, ORK1, is designed to drive myeloid cells into regulatory macrophages that help restore immune homeostasis and resolve inflammation. With inflammatory bowel disease as its first planned indication, Orikine is exploring ORK1’s broader potential across autoimmune diseases, alongside a growing pipeline that includes ORK2 (complex asthma), ORK6 (neuroinflammation) and ORK9 (solid tumors).
Visit our website at www.orikine.bio to learn more about the company.
For further information, please contact:
Orikine Bio
Contact Person: Leah Petts
Tel: +34 (0) 686 657 487
Email: leah.petts@orikine.bio
Media Inquiries
Trophic Communications
Anja Heuer
Tel: +49 (0) 151 106 199 05
Email: orikine@trophic.eu
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