Kazia Therapeutics Appoints James Levine as Chief Financial Officer
Rhea-AI Summary
Kazia Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KZIA) appointed James Levine as Chief Financial Officer, effective June 1, 2026. He brings more than 20 years of investment banking and biotech leadership experience.
Levine has held senior roles at Cardiff Oncology, Cidara Therapeutics, Verenium, Sapphire Energy, and Goldman Sachs, supporting financings and strategic transactions.
Positive
- Appointed new Chief Financial Officer effective June 1, 2026
- New CFO brings 20+ years investment banking and biotech leadership experience
- Led $568 million licensing collaboration and $780 million partnership at prior company
- Experience executing asset sales with proceeds of approximately $200 million
Negative
- None.
News Market Reaction – KZIA
In the Jun 2 session, KZIA declined 6.13%, reflecting a notable negative market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | 24h Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26 | Trial expansion | Positive | -8.4% | Expanded paxalisib Phase 1b TNBC trial enrollment from 12 to 36 patients. |
| Apr 15 | Leadership appointment | Positive | +5.7% | Appointed Dr. Sudha Rao as Chief Scientific Officer to lead oncology platform. |
| Apr 13 | Platform in-licensing | Positive | +5.2% | In-licensed first-in-class SETDB1 epigenetic platform with AI-integrated discovery. |
| Jan 30 | Preclinical data | Positive | -3.9% | Reported compelling preclinical data for PD-L1 degrader NDL2 in TNBC models. |
| Jan 27 | Clinical update | Positive | -9.8% | Shared encouraging preliminary responses from paxalisib Phase 1b TNBC study. |
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Positive clinical and strategic updates have often seen mixed or negative next-day reactions, with only some leadership/platform news aligning with price moves.
Over the last few months, Kazia has focused on advancing its oncology pipeline and strengthening leadership. Key events include expanding the paxalisib Phase 1b TNBC trial from 12 to 36 patients on May 26, 2026, appointing a new Chief Scientific Officer on April 15, 2026, and in-licensing a first-in-class SETDB1 platform with an expected $6 million IND-enabling path. Several clinically positive updates for paxalisib and NDL2 previously coincided with share price declines, highlighting a pattern of cautious market responses to news.
Key Terms
plk1 inhibitor medical
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
"James has built an impressive career leading financial strategy, strategic transactions and major pharmaceutical collaborations, following an extensive career in investment banking," said Dr. John Friend, CEO, Kazia Therapeutics. "As we advance paxalisib and progress our pipeline, James' expertise will be central to helping us capitalize on that momentum and continue building long-term value for patients and shareholders."
Most recently, Mr. Levine served as Chief Financial Officer of Cardiff Oncology, a clinical-stage oncology company developing a PLK1 inhibitor therapy for solid tumors. Prior to Cardiff Oncology, Mr. Levine served as CFO of Cidara Therapeutics, an antifungal and antiviral biotech company, where he led the financial structuring of a
Earlier in his career, Mr. Levine spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs & Co. as a Managing Director advising pharmaceutical and biotech clients across the
"I am very excited to be joining Kazia as the Company advances paxalisib across multiple indications and builds out a promising pipeline targeting novel mechanisms of treatment resistance," added Mr. Levine. "I look forward to working closely with the management team to help translate Kazia's scientific progress into strategic and financial outcomes as we approach what we expect to be a period of meaningful
clinical and strategic milestones for the Company."
About Kazia Therapeutics
Kazia Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: KZIA) is an oncology-focused drug development company, based in Sydney, Australia. The Company's lead asset, paxalisib, is an investigational brain penetrant inhibitor of the PI3K/Akt /mTOR pathway, which is being developed to treat multiple forms of cancer. Licensed from Genentech in late 2016, paxalisib is or has been the subject of 10 clinical trials. A completed Phase 2/3 study in glioblastoma (GBM-Agile) was reported in 2024, and discussions are ongoing for designing and executing a pivotal registrational study in pursuit of a standard approval. Other clinical trials involving paxalisib are ongoing in advanced breast cancer, brain metastases, diffuse midline gliomas, and primary central nervous system lymphoma, with several of these trials having reported encouraging interim data. Paxalisib was granted Orphan Drug Designation for glioblastoma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2018, and Fast Track Designation (FTD) for glioblastoma in August 2020. Paxalisib was also granted FTD in July 2023 for the treatment of solid tumor brain metastases harboring PI3K pathway mutations in combination with radiation therapy. Additionally, paxalisib was granted Rare Pediatric Disease Designation and Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma in August 2020 and for atypical teratoid / rhabdoid tumors in June 2022 and July 2022, respectively. Kazia is also developing EVT801, a small molecule inhibitor of VEGFR3, which was licensed from Evotec SE in April 2021. In addition to its clinical-stage programs, Kazia is advancing NDL2, a potentially first-in-class intracellular PD-L1 protein degrader program targeting a newly identified mechanism of immunotherapy resistance and metastatic progression, as well as MSETC, a potentially first-in-class SETDB1 inhibitor program intended to restore immune signaling in tumors that have become resistant to immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors. Both programs are currently in preclinical development. For more information, please visit www.kaziatherapeutics.com or follow us on X @KaziaTx.
Forward Looking Statements
This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which can generally be identified as such by the use of words such as "may," "will," "estimate," "future," "forward," "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "believe," "potential," or other similar words. Any statement describing Kazia's future plans, strategies, intentions, expectations, objectives, goals or prospects, and other statements that are not historical facts, are also forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding: the Company's expectations regarding its pipeline strategy and future clinical and strategic milestones; the anticipated contributions of Mr. Levine to the Company's business; and Kazia's plans to advance paxalisib and its broader oncology pipeline. Such statements are based on Kazia's current expectations and projections about future events and future trends affecting its business and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties associated with: the development of early stage therapeutic programs; the conduct of clinical trials, including the ability to enroll patients and achieve anticipated enrollment targets; the preliminary nature of data from a small, open-label clinical study, which may not be predictive of later-stage clinical results; risks related to regulatory approvals; risks related to Kazia's reliance on third-party collaborators and clinical trial sites; risks related to the Company's ability to obtain, maintain and protect its intellectual property; risks related to the impact of global economic conditions; and risks related to Kazia's ability to maintain compliance with the applicable NASDAQ continued listing requirements and standards. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in Kazia's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, and in subsequent filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Kazia undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required under applicable law. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this announcement.
Media Contacts
Michaela Fawcett / Molly Crawford
KCSA Strategic Communications
mfawcett@kcsa.com / mcrawford@kcsa.com
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SOURCE Kazia Therapeutics Limited