Kris Sachsenmeier

Dr. Sachsenmeier joined Compass Therapeutics in 2023 as Vice President and Head of Translational Sciences. Prior to joining Compass, Kris led early translational research in the field of immuno-oncology as the Head, Translational Oncology Strategy: Cold 2 Hot at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. In that role Kris led a team of scientists in the design and execution of studies supporting clinical assets. Before Takeda, Dr. Sachsenmeier spent over a decade at Medimmune (Astrazeneca), where he led the development of a number of antibodies including bispecifics, and Oleclumab, the first anti-CD73 antibody to enter human clinical trials, and currently in registrational trials. Dr. Sachsenmeier led the Oleclumab project team from target discovery and validation, through lead isolation and optimization all the way up to filing of an IND and support of clinical trials.

Earlier on in his career, Kris spent time at two early-stage biotechnology companies: Automated Cell, Inc. and Arius Research, Inc. (acquired by Roche) where he led teams focused on anti-cancer antibody discovery. Additionally, Kris is a prolific scholar who published several book chapters and multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals in cancer immunology.

Dr. Sachsenmeier studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison for both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Biochemistry, Immunology and Toxicology. He completed post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a second fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh where he studied viral onco-protein mutants.