aibioPhio adds dermatologist R. Todd Plott to its board
Tickers PHIO
Phio Pharmaceuticals increased its board to six members and appointed R. Todd Plott, M.D., effective July 20, 2026, to serve until the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders.
Key facts
- Company
- Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: PHIO)
- News type
- Company Updates
- Primary source
- Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. 8-K (2026-07-21)
Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (Nasdaq: PHIO) appointed R. Todd Plott, M.D., to its board of directors, effective July 20, 2026. In the same action, the board increased its size to six members. Phio reported the change in a Form 8-K filed July 21, 2026, and issued a press release that day. The filing is signed by Robert J. Bitterman, President and Chief Executive Officer. The full press release is attached to the filing as Exhibit 99.1.
The appointment
Dr. Plott will serve on the board until the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders. He was also appointed to the board's Governance Committee. The 8-K describes him as a board-certified dermatologist, accomplished researcher, inventor and former FDA advisory committee member, with more than 30 years of experience in dermatologic care and innovation.
Dr. Plott will enter into the company's standard form of indemnification agreement. Under that agreement, the company may be required to indemnify him for some expenses, including attorneys' fees, judgments, fines and settlement amounts, arising from any action or proceeding related to his board service. He will also receive the standard compensation and equity awards available to non-employee directors. The company describes that program in the Director Compensation section of its annual report on Form 10-K filed March 5, 2026.
The 8-K states that there are no arrangements or understandings between Dr. Plott and any other person under which he was appointed. It also reports no current or proposed transactions with the company, or with his immediate family members, that would require disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
About Phio and its lead program
The annual report describes Phio as a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. Its proprietary INTASYL small interfering RNA gene silencing technology is designed to make immune cells more effective in killing tumor cells. The company's pipeline is focused on immuno-oncology therapeutics built on that technology. The report says INTASYL compounds can be delivered to any cell type or tissue without the need to modify the chemistry, which it says is designed to eliminate the need for formulations or delivery systems such as nanoparticles or electroporation. It also says the company's development efforts are based on proprietary INTASYL technology, from which specific patented compounds are developed.
The clinical program the report describes in most detail is PH-762, an INTASYL compound designed to reduce the expression of PD-1. It is in a U.S. multi-center Phase 1b dose-escalating trial using intratumoral injection in patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma. The trial was fully enrolled in November 2025 with 22 patients. The report says revised data support an overall response rate of 65% for squamous cell carcinomas, and that none of the patients experienced disease progression.
Research and development expense was $4.6 million for 2025 and $3.6 million for 2024, according to XBRL data from the 10-K. The net loss was $8.7 million for 2025 and $7.2 million for 2024. Cash used in operations was $8.0 million for 2025 and $7.1 million for 2024. Year-end cash and cash equivalents were $5.4 million for 2024.
Financial position and next steps
The board change adds a dermatologist's credentials but no new data. The 65% response rate in squamous cell carcinoma comes from a 22-patient uncontrolled Phase 1b trial in which 20 patients had that one cancer type. Phio's net loss was $8.7 million for 2025 and operations used $8.0 million of cash, and the filing says nothing about financing. The 8-K for the board change does not include financial results, financing terms or clinical updates. The annual report said an FDA submission intended to seek guidance on next steps for PH-762 was targeted for the second quarter of 2026. The filing does not describe further board changes.