CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Checkmate Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused upon activation of innate immunity to treat advanced cancer, today announced the addition of Alan Fuhrman to its Board of Directors.

“I am pleased to welcome Alan to our Board of Directors at this exciting time for our company. His experience as both an executive and Board member of several successful health care companies will be important to us as we advance the development of CMP-001 and build a leading immuno-oncology company,” commented Barry Labinger, President and CEO of Checkmate Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Fuhrman is an experienced executive who served on the Board of Directors and as Chair of the Audit Committee for Loxo Oncology until its sale to Eli Lilly in the first quarter of 2019. He currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Prior to joining Amplyx, he served as CFO of Mirna Therapeutics, a publicly traded, clinical-stage microRNA company that merged with Synlogic in August 2017. Mr. Fuhrman previously served as CFO of Ambit Biosciences, where he helped lead the company through its initial public offering and oversaw financial, investor and administrative operations until its sale to Daiichi Sankyo in 2014. Earlier in his career, Mr. Fuhrman practiced as a certified public accountant with Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Fuhrman received a B.S. in both Business Administration and Agricultural Economics from Montana State University.

“I believe there is a significant opportunity to create value from the company’s novel approach to activating the immune system to treat solid tumors, and I look forward to working with the Board of Directors and management team to advance CMP-001 through development in multiple combinations and tumor types," stated Alan Fuhrman.

About Checkmate

Checkmate Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage company that is leveraging its expertise in the field of CpG oligonucleotides to discover and develop immunotherapies designed to increase the efficacy of existing immunotherapies and to provide new treatment options for patients and their healthcare providers. Checkmate’s lead product candidate, CMP-001, is an investigational cancer immunotherapeutic that has been shown to reverse resistance to PD-1 therapy in some patients. Checkmate is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. Additional information regarding Checkmate is available at www.checkmatepharma.com.