false 0001781174 0001781174 2024-03-04 2024-03-04

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 8-K

 

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 4, 2024

 

 

Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   001-41551   82-5125532

(State or Other Jurisdiction

of Incorporation)

 

(Commission

File Number)

 

(IRS Employer

Identification No.)

 

480 Arsenal Way, Suite 100

Watertown, Massachusetts

  02472
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)   (Zip Code)

(617) 207-8979

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Not Applicable

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

 

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

 

 

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

 

 

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

 

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

 

 

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Trading
Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange

on which registered

Common Stock, $0.001 par value   ACRV   The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. 

 

 

 


Item 5.02.

Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On March 1, 2024, the Board of Directors of Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Santhosh Palani, Ph.D., CFA, as a director of the Company, effective March 4, 2024. A copy of the press release announcing the appointment of Dr. Palani is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this report.

There are no arrangements or understandings between Dr. Palani and any other person pursuant to which Dr. Palani was selected as a director. There are no transactions involving Dr. Palani that would be required to be reported under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.

In connection with his appointment as a director of the Company, Dr. Palani will enter into the Company’s standard indemnification agreement applicable to non-employee directors and will receive a stock option grant of 32,500 shares vesting over 3 years in monthly installments as well as cash compensation in accordance with the Company’s non-employee director compensation arrangements, as described in the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1, 2023.

 

Item 9.01

Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits:

 

Exhibit
Number

   Exhibit Description
99.1    Press Release of the Company, dated March 4, 2024
104    Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL).


SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

    Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc.
Dated: March 4, 2024     By:  

/s/ Peter Blume-Jensen

    Name:   Peter Blume-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D.
    Title:   Chief Executive Officer and President

Exhibit 99.1

 

LOGO

Acrivon Therapeutics Appoints Santhosh Palani, Ph.D., CFA, Experienced Board Member and Healthcare Investor, to its Board of Directors

WATERTOWN, Massachusetts, March 4, 2024 – Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Acrivon” or “Acrivon Therapeutics”) (Nasdaq: ACRV), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision oncology medicines that it matches to patients whose tumors are predicted to be sensitive to each specific medicine by utilizing its proprietary proteomics-based patient responder identification platform, Acrivon Predictive Precision Proteomics or AP3, today announced the appointment of Santhosh Palani, Ph.D., CFA, to its board of directors.

“Santhosh previously served as an advisor to Acrivon and has a deep understanding and appreciation of the breadth and novelty of our next generation precision medicine platform,” said Peter Blume-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer, president, and founder of Acrivon Therapeutics. “Santhosh has not only served on numerous boards providing his expertise on the business side as a successful private and public healthcare investor, but earlier in his career he was also a drug developer, so we are delighted to have him join our board.”

Dr. Palani is a former investment partner and a current advisory partner at PFM Health Sciences. At PFM, Dr. Palani led public and private biotechnology investments, and served on the board of companies in the cell therapy and gene editing fields. Prior to joining PFM in 2020, Dr. Palani was a principal at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) where he invested in early-stage private biotechnology companies and served on the boards of companies in the radiopharmaceuticals, cell therapy, targeted oncology, and gene editing fields. From 2016 to 2018, Dr. Palani was the vice president of equity research at Cowen and Company, where he covered small- to mid-cap biotechnology stocks across numerous therapeutic areas. Prior to Cowen, Dr. Palani was in oncology drug development at Pfizer Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Palani has a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his postdoctoral work in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University. He also holds an M.S. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Madras. Dr. Palani is a CFA® Charterholder.

Dr. Palani added, “Acrivon is an entirely science-based company and its AP3 platform is a ground-breaking approach which is broadly applicable across drug discovery and development with significant unrealized potential — not only in oncology but also in other areas including autoimmune and metabolic disorders, as dysregulated signaling ultimately underlies all diseases. The company currently is focused on oncology with a highly differentiated profile in this space. I am excited to join a distinguished board and support the full realization of the potential of the platform applied to the company’s current pipeline and beyond.”

About Acrivon Therapeutics

Acrivon is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision oncology medicines that it matches to patients whose tumors are predicted to be sensitive to each specific medicine by utilizing Acrivon’s proprietary proteomics-based patient responder identification platform, Acrivon Predictive Precision Proteomics, or AP3. The AP3 platform is engineered to measure


compound-specific effects on the entire tumor cell protein signaling network and drug-induced resistance mechanisms in an unbiased manner. These distinctive capabilities enable AP3’s direct application for drug design optimization for monotherapy activity, the identification of rational drug combinations, and the creation of drug-specific proprietary OncoSignature companion diagnostics that are used to identify the patients most likely to benefit from Acrivon’s drug candidates. Acrivon is currently advancing its lead candidate, ACR-368, a selective small molecule inhibitor targeting CHK1 and CHK2 in a potentially registrational Phase 2 trial across multiple tumor types. The company has received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the investigation of ACR-368 as monotherapy based on OncoSignature-predicted sensitivity in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian or endometrial cancer. Acrivon’s ACR-368 OncoSignature test, which has not yet obtained regulatory approval, has been extensively evaluated in preclinical studies, including in two separate, blinded, prospectively-designed studies on pretreatment tumor biopsies collected from past third-party Phase 2 trials in patients with ovarian cancer treated with ACR-368. The FDA has granted Breakthrough Device designation for the ACR-368 OncoSignature assay for the identification of ovarian cancer patients who may benefit from ACR-368 treatment. In addition to ACR-368, Acrivon is also leveraging its proprietary AP3 precision medicine platform for developing its co-crystallography-driven, internally-discovered preclinical stage pipeline programs. These include ACR-2316, a potent, selective WEE1/PKMYT1 inhibitor with single-agent activity, and a cell cycle program with an undisclosed target.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain disclosures that contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our future results of operations or financial condition, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” or “would” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on Acrivon’s current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties that are described more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of this date, and Acrivon undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

Investor and Media Contacts:

Adam D. Levy, Ph.D., M.B.A.

alevy@acrivon.com

Alexandra Santos

asantos@wheelhouselsa.com

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Entity Registrant Name Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc.
Entity Incorporation State Country Code DE
Entity File Number 001-41551
Entity Tax Identification Number 82-5125532
Entity Address, Address Line One 480 Arsenal Way
Entity Address, Address Line Two Suite 100
Entity Address, City or Town Watertown
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