Management Team
Owen Hughes
Chief Executive Officer, XOMA
Owen Hughes was appointed full-time Chief Executive Officer in January 2024 after serving as our Executive Chairman of the Board and Interim Chief Executive Officer since January 2023. Mr. Hughes has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Sail Bio, Inc., private biotechnology company focused on addressing toxic proteinopathies, since February 2022 and served as the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Cullinan Oncology, Inc., a publicly-traded oncology company, from September 2017 to October 2021. Previously, Mr. Hughes served as the Chief Business Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc., biotechnology company focused on type II diabetes, from February 2013 to August 2017. Prior to his operating roles, Mr. Hughes spent 16 years on Wall Street in various capacities, including roles at Brookside Capital, an operating division of Bain Capital and Pyramis Global Advisors, a Fidelity Investments Company. Mr. Hughes has served on the Board of Ikena Oncology, Inc., a publicly-traded oncology company, since December 2022 and as a member of the Board of Directors of C4 Therapeutics since December 2023. Mr. Hughes served on the Board of Radius Health, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, from April 2013 to August 2022 until its sale to Gurnet Point Capital and Patient Square Capital; Translate Bio, Inc., a messenger RNA therapeutics company, from July 2016 until its acquisition by Sanofi in September 2021; and FS Development Corp. II, a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Foresite Capital, from February 2021 to December 2021. Mr. Hughes received a B.A. in History from Dartmouth College. Mr. Hughes has significant experience with biopharmaceutical companies and brings the unique perspective of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company to the Board.
Tom Burns
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer
Thomas Burns has been our Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer since March 2017. He joined the Company in August 2006 and since then has held various senior finance and accounting roles. Mr. Burns has over 25 years of experience in accounting and finance in both biotechnology and high-technology companies. Prior to his employment with the Company, he held multiple senior financial management positions at high-technology companies including Mattson Technology, IntruVert Networks (acquired by McAfee), Niku Corporation (acquired by Computer Associates) and Conner Technology. Mr. Burns received his M.B.A. from Golden Gate University and his Bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University.
Brad Sitko
Chief Investment Officer
Bradley Sitko has been our Chief Investment Officer since January 2023. Mr. Sitko served as Managing Director, Strategic Finance, at RTW Investments, LP, a global, full life-cycle investment firm in the biopharmaceutical and medical technology sectors from November 2019 to January 2023 where he led the royalty monetization, structured finance and alternatives efforts of the firm. He also served as a member of the Board of such firm’s Irish collective asset-management vehicle (ICAV), RTW Investments ICAV. During that same time, he was Chief Financial Officer of Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals Limited, a Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company, incubated by RTW Investments, LP with responsibilities involving company formation, scaling operations, fundraising, and in-licensing of biotech assets. From March 2015 to November 2019, Mr. Sitko served as Vice President, Finance, Operations and Corporate Development of DNAnexus, Inc., a genetic data management company with responsibilities involving restructuring and recapitalization, fundraising, finance and operations, strategic planning and industry partnerships. Mr. Sitko also served as a Director at MTS Health Partners, an investment bank, from October 2008 to March 2015, where he advised on royalty monetization, financing, restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions within the biopharmaceutical and healthcare services sectors. Mr. Sitko received a B.A. in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.