Climb Bio Appoints Edgar D. Charles, M.D., MSc As Chief Medical Officer To Lead Clinical Strategy And Development

Climb Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for immune-mediated diseases, has announced two key leadership appointments to support its continued growth. Edgar D. Charles, M.D., MSc has joined the company as Chief Medical Officer (CMO), and Cindy J. Driscoll, MBA has been named Senior Vice President of Finance. Dr. Charles brings more than two decades of experience in pharmaceutical development, clinical research, and academic medicine with a focus on immunology. Before joining Climb Bio, he held various senior clinical roles at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), where he played a central role in advancing multiple immunology drug candidates from investigational new drug (IND) filings through to FDA approval. 

Most recently, he served as Vice President and Senior Global Program Lead in Immunology at BMS, managing strategy and execution across a broad pipeline in areas such as rheumatology, pulmonology, dermatology, and gastroenterology. Earlier in his career, Dr. Charles led global clinical programs in infectious diseases and vaccines at Merck & Co. He also served as an Assistant Professor at Rockefeller University, where his academic work focused on virus-induced autoimmunity and B cell biology. Dr. Charles earned his M.D. from the University of Alabama School of Medicine and a Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Investigation from Rockefeller University. He also holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago. 

His postgraduate medical training includes an Internal Medicine residency and an Infectious Diseases fellowship at NYU School of Medicine. He has authored over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications. Cindy Driscoll joins Climb Bio with over 20 years of experience in finance and operations within the biotechnology sector. She most recently served as Senior Vice President of Finance at HC Bioscience, where she managed financial reporting, budgeting, audit, tax, HR, IT, and facilities functions. 

Prior to that, she held senior finance positions at Magenta Therapeutics and Tokai Pharmaceuticals, where she helped build the financial infrastructure required for IPOs and public financings that raised more than $450 million. She has also overseen the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance and led improvements in operational efficiency across key administrative functions. Ms. Driscoll holds an MBA from Suffolk University and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from SUNY Oswego.

Aoife Brennan, M.B., Ch.B., President and Chief Executive Officer of Climb Bio, said in a statement, “The expansion of our leadership team comes at a pivotal time for Climb Bio. Dr. Charles is a highly respected physician-scientist with deep expertise in immunology and a proven track record translating scientific innovation into successful clinical development and product approvals. His R&D leadership experience, combined with two decades of development and operations expertise, will be invaluable as we execute our budoprutug and CLYM116 clinical studies and aim to maximize the expansive therapeutic potential of these promising programs. I’m also pleased to welcome Cindy Driscoll as our Senior Vice President, Finance. Cindy brings extensive experience leading financial and administrative functions across biopharma companies, and her background will be instrumental as we continue to advance our pipeline and drive our company forward.”

Dr. Charles mentioned, “The encouraging budoprutug clinical data generated to date suggest that this program could have enormous therapeutic potential across various serious diseases where B cells play a central pathological role. I am thrilled to join Climb Bio as we embark on budoprutug clinical studies in our initial set of target indications and aim to move the subcutaneous formulation into clinical development. I am also excited about the opportunity to advance the development of CLYM116, a potentially best-in-class anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody. The company’s commitment to scientific excellence and patient-centered innovation aligns perfectly with my passion for developing transformative therapies for patients in need.”

As part of their appointments, Dr. Charles and Ms. Driscoll have each received inducement equity awards under Climb Bio’s 2025 Inducement Plan, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Dr. Charles received a non-statutory stock option to purchase up to 600,000 shares of common stock, and Ms. Driscoll received a non-statutory stock option to purchase up to 200,000 shares. These options were granted on June 17, 2025, with an exercise price of $1.20 per share, reflecting the closing price of the company’s stock on that date. Each option has a ten-year term and vest over four years, 25% after one year of service, followed by monthly vesting of the remaining shares over the next 36 months, subject to continued employment with the company and the terms outlined in their award agreements.