Nkarta Appoints Alyssa Levin Chief Financial and Business Officer

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nkarta, Inc. (Nasdaq: NKTX), a biopharmaceutical company developing engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies to treat cancer, today announced the appointment of Alyssa Levin as Chief Financial and Business Officer.

“Alyssa is a results-oriented leader with substantial financial and transaction experience, a proven track record of driving business transformation, and strong drug development knowledge that will be essential as we continue to advance our pipeline of groundbreaking NK cell therapies,” said Paul J. Hastings, President and CEO of Nkarta. “We are excited to have Alyssa join our leadership team and look forward to leveraging her expertise as we prioritize activities that support the acceleration of our two lead programs, NKX101 and NKX019, closely manage our cash resources, and augment our growth by managing current partnerships and assessing new ones.”

“It’s an honor to join a mission-driven company with the potential to deliver the next generation of transformative cell therapies that can meaningfully improve the lives of patients,” said Ms. Levin. “Nkarta has a bold vision and ambitious plans grounded in the advantages of NK cell biology and a proprietary technology platform. I’m excited to partner with the team at Nkarta to build a world class cell therapy development company.”

Ms. Levin joins Nkarta from Viacyte, a biotechnology company developing stem cell therapy for diabetes, where she oversaw financial strategy and planning as Chief Financial Officer and led the company’s successful merger with Vertex Pharmaceuticals in 2022. Previously, Ms. Levin was Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Operations at Tentarix Biotherapeutics from 2020 to 2022, and Chief Financial Officer at Bird Rock Bio, Inc. from 2019 to 2020. Ms. Levin’s experience also includes financial roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers and The Siegfried Group where she advised clients on IPO and M&A processes. She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2009. Immediately prior to her start as Chief Financial and Business Officer of Nkarta, Ms. Levin served as a consultant to the company. Ms. Levin received a B.A. in Psychology and Economics from the University of British Columbia, and a Masters in Professional Accounting from the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan. She is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (Canada).