Samik Basu
About Samik Basu
Samik Basu, M.D., is Cabaletta Bio’s Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), promoted to the role on November 9, 2021 after joining the company in December 2019; he previously served as Vice President of Preclinical Research and Translational Medicine and earlier led translational sciences at Adaptimmune and co-led preclinical development for Keytruda at Merck Research Laboratories . As CSO, he is a visible scientific leader for CABA’s RESET program, including presenting 2025 ESGCT late-breaking clinical data on rese-cel without preconditioning, underscoring his role in advancing translational strategy across indications . Company investor materials throughout 2022–2025 list Dr. Basu as CSO among the leadership team, reinforcing continuity of scientific leadership . The company discloses no individual TSR/revenue/EBITDA performance attribution for Dr. Basu in its 2024–2025 proxy statements .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabaletta Bio | Chief Scientific Officer | Nov 2021–present | Leads scientific strategy and translational execution across RESET clinical program; public presenter of late-breaking clinical data on rese-cel . |
| Cabaletta Bio | VP, Preclinical Research & Translational Medicine | Dec 2019–Nov 2021 | Guided discovery/development of precision therapies for B cell–mediated autoimmune diseases . |
| Adaptimmune Therapeutics | Head of Translational Sciences (Medicine) | Not disclosed | Led resistance/response mechanism research to inform next-gen adoptive immunotherapy and clinical strategies . |
| Merck Research Laboratories | Co-led preclinical development for Keytruda | Not disclosed | Contributed to foundational preclinical work for a major immuno-oncology therapy (pembrolizumab) . |
External Roles
No public company directorships, committee roles, or external board positions for Dr. Basu are disclosed in Cabaletta’s 2024–2025 proxy statements .
Fixed Compensation
| Item | 2024–2025 disclosure for Basu | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Named Executive Officer (NEO) status | Not listed as a NEO in 2024 or 2025 proxies | NEOs disclosed were CEO, President Science & Technology, and CMO; Basu not included . |
| Base salary | Not disclosed | Company describes annual base salary review process but provides amounts only for NEOs . |
| Target/actual bonus | Not disclosed | Annual bonuses for NEOs are tied to company and individual performance; specifics not provided for Basu . |
Performance Compensation
| Plan element | 2024–2025 disclosure for Basu | Company policy/context |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cash incentive metrics/weighting | Not disclosed | NEO bonuses based on achievement vs. predetermined annual company objectives and individual performance; 2024 company achievement assessed at 108% (applies to NEOs) . |
| Equity incentive type | Not disclosed | 2024 long-term incentives for NEOs were primarily stock options; awards/values listed for NEOs only . |
| Performance share units (PSUs) | Not disclosed | No PSU framework disclosed for NEOs; equity program emphasized stock options in 2024 . |
| Vesting schedules/dates | Not disclosed | No individual vesting schedules for Basu in proxy; option award vesting for NEOs follows plan terms not itemized per grant here . |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Basu-specific | Company policy/notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership (shares/%) | Not individually reported in 2025 principal stockholders table | The table lists directors and NEOs; Basu is not listed; total shares outstanding 50,743,101 as of April 28, 2025 . |
| Options (exercisable/unexercisable) | Not disclosed | NEO option counts and exercisability are provided; Basu not included . |
| Pledging/hedging | Prohibited | Insider trading policy prohibits pledging, margin use, and hedging transactions for officers/directors/employees without audit committee approval; no waivers to date . |
| 10b5-1 plans | Allowed with strict conditions | Additional policy governing adoption/modification/termination in compliance with SEC rules . |
| Clawback | In force | Compensation Recovery Policy adopted Sept 12, 2023, covering current/former executive officers for three years prior to any required restatement . |
Employment Terms
| Term | Basu disclosure | Company policy/precedent |
|---|---|---|
| Employment start / role | Joined Dec 2019; promoted to CSO on Nov 9, 2021 | Press release announcement of promotion provides timing and reporting line . |
| Contract/at-will | Not disclosed for Basu | Named executive officers are employed at will; amended/restated agreements originally entered in Oct 2019 for NEOs . |
| Non-compete / non-solicit | Not disclosed for Basu | NEO agreements include non-compete/non-solicit covenants during employment and for 12 months after; terms shown for CEO and other NEOs . |
| Severance / CoC | Not disclosed for Basu | Detailed severance and change-in-control economics disclosed for CEO/NEOs; includes salary/bonus multiples, COBRA, and equity acceleration in CoC period (varies by role) . |
| Legal proceedings | None disclosed | Company states no material legal proceedings involving its directors, officers or affiliates . |
Performance & Track Record
- Scientific leadership and external validation: Presented late-breaking oral data at ESGCT 2025 showing biologic activity and early clinical responses for rese-cel without preconditioning in pemphigus vulgaris, aligning with Cabaletta’s innovation strategy to potentially simplify regimens across RESET cohorts .
- Program momentum under leadership team including CSO: Corporate presentations in 2025 outline FDA alignment for a single-arm myositis registrational cohort, multi-indication progress (SSc, SLE/LN, MG), and a 2027 BLA target, with Dr. Basu listed as CSO on the leadership roster .
- Broader 2025 operating updates: The company reported R&D expense growth with cash runway into 2H26; while not attributable to any single executive, this supports ongoing development activities led by the R&D organization Dr. Basu helps steer .
Investment Implications
- Transparency gap on pay-for-performance: Dr. Basu is not a NEO in the 2024–2025 proxies, limiting visibility into his salary/bonus/equity structure and preventing a rigorous pay-for-performance alignment analysis; investors must infer alignment from company-wide incentive design and governance policies rather than individual award terms .
- Low pledging/hedging risk; clawback in force: Company policies prohibit pledging and hedging and impose preclearance, and a Dodd-Frank–compliant clawback is in place—favorable for alignment and risk control even without Basu-specific data .
- Retention considerations: Absence of disclosed severance or change-in-control terms for the CSO contrasts with detailed protections for NEOs; depending on undisclosed arrangements, this could represent either lower golden-parachute overhang or potential retention risk if competitors bid for translational leaders in autoimmunity cell therapy .
- Execution signal: Basu’s role in presenting pivotal translational data and continued listing as CSO across investor materials ties him to the company’s core value-creation lever (rese-cel progress and potential registry cohorts), a positive qualitative signal for execution in the near-term catalyst path .