Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. announced the retirement of Anna Protopapas, CEO, effective September 10, 2023, and the appointment of Martin Huber, M.D., current member of the Board of Directors, as CEO, effective September 11, 2023. Dr. Huber and Ms. Protopapas will both remain members of Mersana?s Board of Directors following the transition. Dr. Huber has been a member of Mersana?s Board of Directors since 2020 and joins the company from Xilio Therapeutics, Inc., where he most recently served as President, Head of R&D and, prior to that, as Chief Medical Officer.

Before joining Xilio, he served as Chief Medical Officer at TESARO, Inc., and after TESARO?s acquisition by GlaxoSmithKline plc, as Senior Vice President, Clinical. Prior to TESARO, Dr. Huber served as Vice President, Oncology Clinical Research at Merck Research Laboratories. Earlier, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at Schering-Plough, Hoffmann-La Roche and Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, where he led teams in the areas of oncology clinical development, drug safety and pharmacovigilance.

His work has contributed to the approval of such oncology medicines as docetaxel, dostarlimab, niraparib, pembrolizumab and trastuzumab. He began his career as an Assistant Professor of Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Huber received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine.