Corbus Pharmaceuticals names Leonardo Viana Nicacio as chief medical officer

Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings announced on July 6, 2026 that it has appointed Leonardo Viana Nicacio, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer, according to a press release filed with an accompanying 8-K. The company entered into an employment agreement with Nicacio on July 2, 2026, effective August 3, 2026, for a two-year term, under which he will serve as Chief Medical Officer with an annual base salary of $545,000.¹ He is also eligible for an annual bonus targeted at up to 40% of his base salary, subject to board discretion.¹ As an inducement to employment, Nicacio will receive equity awards with an aggregate grant date fair value of $2,100,000, split roughly 75% stock options and 25% restricted stock units, with vesting schedules tied to continued employment.¹

Nicacio's background spans more than two decades in pharma. Before joining Corbus, he was Chief Medical Officer at Protara Therapeutics, where he worked on treatments for cancer and rare diseases.¹ From 2017 to 2023 he held roles at Seagen, later acquired by Pfizer, including work on the metastatic cervical cancer therapy TIVDAK.¹ He also previously worked at Stemline Therapeutics, AstraZeneca, Flatiron Health, Sanofi, and YM Biosciences, per the release.

The hire comes as Corbus advances two clinical programs. The company expects to start a registrational study called "TEMPO-1" for CRB-701 in second-line oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma in summer 2026, a randomized trial of 250 patients with overall response rate as the primary endpoint, following broad alignment with the FDA on trial design.¹ Corbus also expects to report topline data from its Phase 1b "CANYON-1" study of CRB-913, a 16-week, 240-patient dose-ranging trial in obesity, in late summer 2026.¹ Dr. Nicacio noted the company also anticipates a data readout of CRB-701 in first-line oropharyngeal cancer in early 2027.¹