cAMPfield Strengthens Leadership Team with Key Executive Appointments, Including Graham Heap, MD, PhD as President, R&D, to Advance Prifemilast into Global Phase 2 Development for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

• Graham Heap, MD, PhD, formerly Vice President and Program Leader for Takeda's global TYK2 immunology franchise, appointed President, Research and Development
• Also appointed: Ezequiel Neimark, MD, Head of Clinical Development; Taylor Spector, PhD, Head of Medical Affairs; Scott Stirn, DSc, Head of CMC
• cAMPfield Therapeutics is advancing prifemilast, a once-daily oral PDE4 inhibitor, for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) into global Phase 2 trials in moderate-to-severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- cAMPfield Therapeutics, Inc. (cAMPfield), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company formed to develop well-tolerated and highly effective oral medicines for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, today announced key executive appointments to its senior leadership team.

Graham Heap, MD, PhD joins as President, Research and Development (R&D), with responsibility for leading all the Company's research and development activities. Ezequiel Neimark, MD joins as Head of Clinical Development and will lead clinical execution for the prifemilast program in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). Taylor Spector, PhD joins as Head of Medical Affairs and will lead medical strategy, evidence generation, scientific communications, and external engagement. Scott Stirn, DSc joins as Head of Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and will lead drug substance and drug product development, manufacturing scale-up, analytical development, and clinical supply of prifemilast.

These appointments deepen cAMPfield's leadership bench as the company advances prifemilast, a potentially best-in-class once-daily oral PDE4 inhibitor, into global Phase 2 trials in moderate-to-severe UC and CD.

"Building a world-class leadership team with a proven track record of developing therapies for immune-mediated diseases is critical to our success," said Bill Gerhart, Chief Executive Officer of cAMPfield. "Graham, Ezequiel, Taylor, and Scott each bring deep expertise in inflammatory disease drug development and share our passionate belief that patients with IBD need better oral treatment options. Their considerable experience and leadership will be instrumental as we advance prifemilast through global Phase 2 development and position cAMPfield as a leader in IBD."

"The treatment landscape for IBD continues to evolve, yet many patients still do not achieve durable disease control with existing therapies," said Dr. Heap. "I've long believed the potential of the PDE4 pathway has been underappreciated in IBD. Prifemilast combines a differentiated mechanism with encouraging clinical data, and I believe it can become an important new oral treatment option for patients with IBD. I look forward to working with the team to advance its development and to help build a broader pipeline beyond it."

In addition to these appointments, cAMPfield's leadership team includes other accomplished executives building the company's technical, operational, clinical, and regulatory foundation. Patricia Turney, MBA, Chief Technical Officer, leads technical operations and manufacturing, bringing prior experience from Acelyrin, Arcutis, and Amgen. John Kempen, MS, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development Operations, oversees clinical execution for the prifemilast program, drawing on prior experience from Gossamer Bio, Receptos/Celgene, Ardea Biosciences/AstraZeneca, Allergan, PPD, and ICON. Rita Shah, PharmD, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, directs the company's global regulatory strategy, leveraging prior experience from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, MBX Biosciences, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson.

Biographies

Graham Heap, MD, PhD – President, R&D

A physician-scientist with an academic foundation in IBD and extensive development experience across gastroenterology, dermatology and rheumatology, Dr. Heap brings broad leadership expertise advancing therapies for immune-mediated diseases. Most recently, he served as Vice President and Program Leader for Takeda's global TYK2 immunology franchise, leading a large global cross-functional organization responsible for the strategy and execution of a late-stage development portfolio spanning six immune-mediated disease indications. He led zasocitinib from program integration through Phase 2 and Phase 3 readouts, including head-to-head trials against multiple comparators, while expanding the portfolio into five additional indications in Phase 2 or Phase 3 development. Prior to Takeda, Dr. Heap advanced multiple immunology and UC development programs at AbbVie, including risankizumab and ravagalimab. He earned his MBBS from St. George's, University of London and his PhD from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Ezequiel Neimark, MD – Vice President, Head of Clinical Development

During more than a decade at AbbVie, Dr. Neimark held senior development leadership roles across gastroenterology, dermatology, and rheumatology and contributed to multiple pivotal IBD programs with adalimumab and risankizumab. He most recently served as Head of Asset/Indication for Skyrizi^®, Humira^®, ABBV-547, and ABBV-423, and is a physician-scientist trained in gastroenterology and hepatology.

Taylor Spector, PhD – Executive Director, Head of Medical Affairs

Dr. Spector brings nearly 15 years of Medical Affairs experience across all stages of the product lifecycle advancing programs in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Most recently she served as Global Medical Lead for Takeda's TYK2 program in Dermatology. Previously, she held Medical Affairs and Commercial leadership roles at Sobi, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Sage Therapeutics, Amarin, and AstraZeneca.

Scott Stirn, DSc – Executive Director, Head of CMC

Dr. Stirn brings over two decades of experience advancing the product development and manufacturing of small molecules, peptides, and biologics from discovery through clinical development. Most recently, as Director and Head of Early Phase Product Development at Neurocrine Biosciences, he served as a global program and CMC lead across multiple small-molecule, peptide, and gene therapy programs, and contributed to the CMC regulatory filings supporting approved therapies including Ingrezza^® (valbenazine) and Crenessity^® (crinecerfont). Earlier in his career, he led formulation and product development efforts at Pharmatek, Celgene, and Arena Pharmaceuticals, spanning oral and injectable programs—including the development of lorcaserin (Belviq^®) and S1P receptor modulator assets.

About Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory disease that affects more than 2.4 million people in the United States and remains an area of substantial unmet medical need. Despite significant advances in treatment, many patients fail to achieve durable remission or lose response over time, resulting in frequent treatment switching. While biologic therapies have transformed outcomes for many patients, there remains a need for additional effective, well-tolerated treatment options. Convenient oral therapies are an important part of the treatment landscape, yet currently approved oral agents for IBD are limited by tolerability, safety concerns and/or modest efficacy.

About Prifemilast

Prifemilast is an investigational, once-daily, PDE4B-selective inhibitor that has been studied in more than 700 participants to date, including more than 250 participants treated for up to 52 weeks. Prifemilast preferentially inhibits PDE4B, the isoform most closely associated with anti-inflammatory activity, while minimizing inhibition of PDE4D, an isoform associated with dose-limiting adverse effects. Across clinical studies, prifemilast has been well tolerated, with treatment discontinuation rates comparable to placebo, and with demonstrated efficacy thus far in Phase 3 clinical trials in plaque psoriasis.

About cAMPfield Therapeutics

cAMPfield Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing well-tolerated and highly effective oral medicines for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease. cAMPfield was founded by Mountainfield Venture Partners in partnership with executives who played key roles in the development and/or commercialization of Entyvio^®, Humira^®, Otezla^®, and Zeposia^®. cAMPfield holds exclusive global development and commercialization rights to prifemilast outside Greater China through a license agreement with Newsoara Biopharma Co., Ltd.

The company is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, visit www.campfieldtx.com.

Media and Investor Contact
Rayne Rodgers
[email protected]
cAMPfield Therapeutics

All third-party product names, company names, and logos are trademarks™ or registered^® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.

SOURCE cAMPfield Therapeutics