CytomX Therapeutics appoints Rachael Lester as Senior VP, Chief Business Officer to enhance strategic development in oncology.
Quiver AI Summary
CytomX Therapeutics has announced the appointment of Rachael Lester as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer, responsible for leading the company's strategy and business development. Sean McCarthy, the CEO, highlighted Lester's extensive experience and her crucial role in advancing CytomX's innovative PROBODY® platform aimed at treating cancer. Lester expressed enthusiasm about joining the company, particularly regarding its clinical assets targeting colorectal cancer and melanoma. With over twenty years in the biopharmaceutical sector, she has held key positions at various companies, successfully securing financing and forming partnerships. CytomX focuses on developing conditionally activated biologics to improve cancer treatment, with ongoing collaborations with major oncology partners.
Potential Positives
- The appointment of Rachael Lester as Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer, strengthens CytomX's leadership team, bringing extensive experience in strategic planning and business development.
- Ms. Lester's proven track record in securing financing and forming partnerships is expected to enhance CytomX's business model and expand the reach of its PROBODY® platform.
- The company’s lead clinical assets, CX-2051 and CX-801, are focused on high unmet medical needs, enhancing the potential for impactful advancements in cancer treatment.
Potential Negatives
- Appointment of a new Chief Business Officer may indicate previous leadership shortcomings or instability in the company's strategic planning and business development efforts.
- Press release lacks specifics on the company's current challenges or issues with its existing pipeline, potentially reflecting a need for greater transparency about risks that could affect investor confidence.
- Overemphasis on the new hire's background and experience may suggest that the company is attempting to compensate for previous performance shortfalls or organizational weaknesses.
FAQ
What is CytomX Therapeutics known for?
CytomX Therapeutics specializes in conditionally activated biologics aimed at localized cancer treatment through their innovative PROBODY® platform.
Who has been appointed as Senior Vice President at CytomX?
Rachael Lester has been appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer at CytomX Therapeutics.
What is Rachael Lester's professional background?
Rachael Lester has over 20 years of experience in corporate strategy and business development in the biopharmaceutical industry.
What are the key clinical assets of CytomX?
CytomX’s lead clinical assets are CX-2051 and CX-801, targeting colorectal cancer and melanoma with high unmet medical needs.
How can I learn more about CytomX Therapeutics?
For more information, visit www.cytomx.com or follow CytomX on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.
$CTMX Insider Trading Activity
$CTMX insiders have traded $CTMX stock on the open market 4 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 4 have been sales.
Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $CTMX stock by insiders over the last 6 months:
- SEAN A. MCCARTHY (CEO) sold 55,511 shares for an estimated $149,263
- MARCIA BELVIN (SVP, Chief Scientific Officer) sold 13,884 shares for an estimated $37,334
- CHRISTOPHER OGDEN (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 12,255 shares for an estimated $33,381.
To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard.
$CTMX Hedge Fund Activity
We have seen 59 institutional investors add shares of $CTMX stock to their portfolio, and 27 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.
Here are some of the largest recent moves:
- VR ADVISER, LLC added 13,969,882 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $31,711,632
- FMR LLC added 9,130,557 shares (+8429.9%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $20,726,364
- ORBIMED ADVISORS LLC added 8,461,500 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $19,207,605
- PERCEPTIVE ADVISORS LLC added 6,993,646 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $15,875,576
- FRANKLIN RESOURCES INC added 5,769,230 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $13,096,152
- VIVO CAPITAL, LLC added 5,769,230 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $13,096,152
- POINT72 ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P. added 5,434,623 shares (+205.1%) to their portfolio in Q2 2025, for an estimated $12,336,594
To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.
$CTMX Analyst Ratings
Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $CTMX in the last several months. We have seen 4 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.
Here are some recent analyst ratings:
- Cantor Fitzgerald issued a "Overweight" rating on 09/22/2025
- Oppenheimer issued a "Outperform" rating on 07/31/2025
- HC Wainwright & Co. issued a "Buy" rating on 05/20/2025
- Piper Sandler issued a "Overweight" rating on 05/15/2025
To track analyst ratings and price targets for $CTMX, check out Quiver Quantitative's $CTMX forecast page.
$CTMX Price Targets
Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $CTMX recently. We have seen 5 analysts offer price targets for $CTMX in the last 6 months, with a median target of $5.0.
Here are some recent targets:
- Olivia Brayer from Cantor Fitzgerald set a target price of $6.0 on 09/22/2025
- Etzer Darout from Barclays set a target price of $3.5 on 09/17/2025
- Matthew Biegler from Oppenheimer set a target price of $7.0 on 07/31/2025
- Mitchell Kapoor from HC Wainwright & Co. set a target price of $5.0 on 05/20/2025
- Joseph Catanzaro from Piper Sandler set a target price of $5.0 on 05/15/2025
Full Release
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTMX), a leader in the field of masked, conditionally activated biologics, today announced the appointment of Rachael Lester as Senior Vice President, Chief Business Officer. In this role, Ms. Lester will lead the Company’s strategy and business development functions.
“Rachael brings a wealth of experience in strategic planning and business development across the biopharmaceutical industry and joins CytomX at a time when our platform and pipeline are well positioned to deliver meaningful advances in the treatment of many cancers,” said Sean McCarthy, D.Phil., president, chief executive officer and chairman of CytomX Therapeutics. “Rachael’s expertise and leadership in delivering strategic, value-enhancing partnerships will be pivotal as we continue to prosecute our integrated business model and expand the reach of our PROBODY ® platform. With her proven track record, Rachael strengthens our leadership team at a critical time for the Company. My colleagues and I look forward to working with Rachael in our collective mission to urgently advance innovative cancer therapies for patients.”
“I’m thrilled to join CytomX at such an exciting time. CytomX’s lead clinical assets, CX-2051 and CX-801, are designed to address areas of high unmet medical need including colorectal cancer and melanoma and have broad potential across many cancer types. I look forward to working with the highly dedicated team at CytomX to further unlock the value of the PROBODY ® platform and build on the promise of our pipeline of masked biologics.” said Ms. Lester.
Ms. Lester joins CytomX with over two decades leading corporate strategy, business development and product portfolio planning across the life science and biopharmaceutical industry. Most recently, she was Chief Business Officer at Replicate Bioscience, where she led corporate strategy, business development and capital formation. She was key in securing financing and multiple partnerships to transform the Company during her tenure. Prior to joining Replicate, Ms. Lester served as SVP of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Harpoon Therapeutics, a novel T cell engager platform company that was later acquired by Merck, where she established and strengthened the business development strategy through major partnerships with AbbVie and Roche. Previously, Ms. Lester held senior roles in corporate strategy, portfolio management, and commercialization at Bruin Biometrics and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, now an Amgen subsidiary. Earlier in her career, she worked in Deloitte and Booz Allen Hamilton’s life sciences consulting practices, where she advised on multi-billion-dollar M&A transactions, new product planning and strategic growth initiatives. Ms. Lester received her M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and her B.A. in Neuroscience from University of Pennsylvania.
About CytomX Therapeutics, Inc.
CytomX is a clinical-stage, oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel conditionally activated, masked biologics designed to be localized to the tumor microenvironment. By pioneering a novel pipeline of localized biologics, powered by its PROBODY
®
therapeutic platform, CytomX’s vision is to create safer, more effective therapies for the treatment of cancer. CytomX’s multi-modality technology platform has produced therapeutic candidates across multiple treatment modalities including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), T-cell engagers, and immune modulators such as cytokines. CytomX’s current clinical-stage pipeline includes CX-2051 and CX-801. CX-2051 is a masked, conditionally activated ADC directed toward epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), armed with a topoisomerase-1 inhibitor payload. CX-2051 has potential applicability across multiple EpCAM-expressing epithelial cancers, including CRC, and was discovered in collaboration with ImmunoGen. CX-801 is a masked interferon alpha-2b PROBODY
®
cytokine with broad potential applicability in traditionally immuno-oncology sensitive as well as insensitive (cold) tumors. CytomX has established strategic collaborations with multiple leaders in oncology, including Amgen, Astellas, Bristol Myers Squibb, Regeneron and Moderna. For more information about CytomX and how it is working to make conditionally activated treatments the new standard-of-care in the fight against cancer, visit
www.cytomx.com
and follow us on
LinkedIn
and
X
(formerly Twitter).
Company Contact:
Chris Ogden
SVP, Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
Investor Contact:
Precision AQ (formerly Stern Investor Relations)
Stephanie Ascher
[email protected]
Media Contact:
Redhouse Communications
Teri Dahlman
[email protected]