aibioCalidi Biotherapeutics appoints Corsee Sanders to board
Dr. Corsee Sanders, a former Genentech/Roche and Celgene executive, joined the board as an independent director effective June 17, 2026.
Key facts
- Companies
- Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc. (AMEX: CLDI), Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN), Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: RARE)
- News type
- Company Updates
- Primary source
- Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc. 8-K (2026-06-23)
Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc. said in a press release dated June 23, 2026 that it appointed Corsee Sanders, Ph.D., to its board of directors, effective June 17, 2026. Sanders will serve as an independent director. The company's chairman of the board, Jim Schoeneck, said in the release, "Dr. Sanders has an exceptional track record in developing new technologies."
Her background
The release says Sanders has served as a strategic advisor to Celgene's Chief Medical Officer following Celgene's acquisition of Juno, where she had been Executive Vice President of Development Operations. She also served as Transition Advisor to Bristol Myers Squibb, which acquired Celgene. In those roles she ensured the effective integration of Juno's Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) Cell Development Organization into the Celgene and BMS organizations.
The release describes her as an industry veteran with more than three decades of biopharmaceutical development and clinical operations experience. Before that, Sanders held numerous leadership positions over 23 years at Genentech/Roche. She served six years as Senior Vice President, Global Head of Clinical Operations and Industry Collaboration. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines with a B.S. and M.S. in statistics, and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in statistics from the Wharton Doctoral Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Sanders currently serves on the boards of Legend Biotech Corporation (NASDAQ: LEGN), Ultragenyx (NASDAQ: RARE) and AltruBio Inc., formerly AbGenomics. She is on the Board of Advisors of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, a non-profit cancer research organization in Seattle, where she served as Co-Chair. She recently transitioned off as an independent director of BeOne Ltd. (NASDAQ: ONC) as part of that company's planned evolution.
The company
Calidi describes itself as a biotechnology company pioneering the development of targeted therapies with the potential to deliver genetic medicines to distal sites of disease. Its proprietary RedTail platform features an engineered enveloped oncolytic virus designed for systemic delivery and targeting of metastatic sites. The company says the enveloped design is intended to shield the virus from immune clearance, so that it can reach tumor sites, induce tumor lysis and deliver genetic medicines to metastatic locations.
The lead candidate, CLD-401, is in IND-enabling studies and targets non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer and other tumor types with high unmet medical need. The company also says it is advancing its pipeline with an approach that incorporates in situ T-cell engagers in solid tumors. Calidi is headquartered in San Diego, California.
The annual report, filed March 27, 2026, says the company operates in Germany through its wholly owned subsidiary StemVac GmbH. It also says Calidi Biotherapeutics Australia Pty Ltd was formed in October 2022 for a portion of its planned clinical trial activities for its SNV1 program.
Financial position and next steps
For fiscal 2025, Calidi reported research and development expense of $9.7 million, compared with $8.9 million in 2024. It reported a net loss of $19.9 million for 2025 and $22.1 million for 2024. Cash from operations was negative $21.3 million in 2025 and negative $19.7 million in 2024. The XBRL data also show year-end 2024 cash and cash equivalents of $9.6 million, from the 10-K filed March 31, 2025.
Chairman Jim Schoeneck said the board believes her deep expertise in the clinical development of novel therapeutics will be highly valuable as Calidi advances CLD-401 and its RedTail platform into the clinic.
What the appointment does not change
A board seat does not move the science. The company says its lead candidate, CLD-401, is still in IND-enabling studies, which means no clinical results exist to judge it by. The release gives no pay terms for Sanders and no word on why the board added a director now. Calidi lost $19.9 million in 2025 and used $21.3 million of cash in operations, against year-end 2024 cash and cash equivalents of $9.6 million, and the release does not say how the work will be funded. The chairman's praise is the company's own view of her record.