Martin Oft

Martin has served as Synthekine’s Chief Development Officer since the company’s formation in 2019. He is an expert in immuno-oncology, with in-depth experience in preclinical, translational, and clinical research and development of immuno-oncology and cytokine therapies. Prior to Synthekine, Martin co-founded ARMO Biosciences, where he oversaw pipeline development including pegilodecakin (pegylated IL-10) from early-target discovery through clinical development, and was the architect of its multicohort Phase 1 design for expedited Phase 1 to Phase 3 development. Martin identified integrated immune-modulating strategies for the treatment of cancer, including the invigoration of tumor-specific T-cell immunity concomitant with inhibition of tumor-promoting inflammation. Prior to ARMO, he developed immune therapies for the treatment of cancer at DNAX Research in Palo Alto, now Merck Research Labs, and held positions at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the UCSF Cancer Center and Boehringer Ingelheim. Martin earned his M.D. and medical license from the University of Erlangen, Germany. He performed his postdoctoral research at the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Austria.