Estrella Immunopharma names Cynthia Pussinen CEO and board chair

Estrella Immunopharma, Inc. said its board appointed Cynthia Pussinen, age 57, as Chief Executive Officer and as a Class I director and Chairperson of the Board, effective October 25, 2026.¹ Effective the same date, Cheng Liu, Ph.D., ceased to serve as Chief Executive Officer and was appointed Chief Scientific Officer, while continuing as President and a director of the company.¹

Pussinen's recent roles include work at Sorbie Bornholm Ltd. and Sernova Corp. From March 2026 to October 2026, she served as Managing Director for biotech investments at Sorbie Bornholm Ltd., a firm that invests in smaller public companies, and since 2023 she has also consulted for life sciences companies and investors.¹ Earlier, from August 2023 to August 2024 she led Sernova Corp., a company developing cell therapies, as CEO and director, and before that served as Chief Technical Officer of Spark Therapeutics, Inc., a gene therapy company under the Roche Group, from January 2021 to November 2022.¹

Her employment agreement sets an annual base salary of $250,000, rising automatically to $400,000, $450,000 and $525,000 once cumulative qualifying funding received by the company after October 25, 2026 passes $35.0 million, $55.0 million and $75.0 million, respectively, with a target cash bonus of 60% of base salary for 2026.¹ She also received an option to purchase 1,000,000 shares under the 2023 Omnibus Incentive Plan, with a ten-year term vesting 25% after one year and the remainder monthly over three years.¹

The company also amended Liu's and CFO Jiandong (Peter) Xu's employment terms to match Pussinen's pay structure, though the amendments do not add new equity awards, and the company continues to defer payment of both executives' base salaries pending additional financing.¹