Tina Albertson
About Tina Albertson
Tina Albertson, M.D., Ph.D., age 52, has served as Caribou Biosciences’ Chief Medical Officer since August 2024. She is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and drug developer with deep cell therapy experience, including leading Breyanzi (liso-cel) from IND to BLA at Juno/BMS (culminating in FDA approval), initiating two Phase 1 trials at Lyell Immunopharma, and prior roles at Seagen. Education: M.D. (Stanford), Ph.D. in Cancer Biology (University of Washington), B.S. in Molecular Biology (University of Oregon); pediatric residency (Denver Children’s), fellowship (Seattle Children’s). Recent stock performance context: management sought authority for a reverse split due to bid price pressure (the closing bid was $0.86 on April 10, 2025), highlighting market volatility during her tenure .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyell Immunopharma | Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development | Not disclosed | Built and led clinical development; initiated two Phase 1 trials in solid tumors |
| Juno Therapeutics (BMS company) | Vice President, Global Drug Development | Not disclosed | Led global development of Breyanzi from IND to BLA; nine global trials including four registrational studies |
| Seagen (Seattle Genetics) | Medical Director, Clinical Development & Experimental Medicine | Not disclosed | Clinical development leadership in oncology biologics |
External Roles
- No external public company directorships or committee roles for Dr. Albertson are disclosed in the 2025 proxy .
Fixed Compensation
CRBU provides scaled disclosure as an EGC/smaller reporting company; Dr. Albertson was not a named executive officer in 2024, and her individual cash compensation terms were not itemized in the 2025 proxy .
| Component | 2024/2025 Details |
|---|---|
| Base salary | Not disclosed for Dr. Albertson in DEF 14A (2025) |
| Target bonus % | Not disclosed for Dr. Albertson in DEF 14A (2025) |
Performance Compensation
CRBU funds annual bonuses based on company strategic goals; 2024 bonus payouts to named executive officers were 87.5% of target (paid March 2025). Specific performance metrics, weights, and payouts for Dr. Albertson were not disclosed .
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company strategic goals (NEO plan context) | Not disclosed | 100% | Not disclosed | 87.5% of target (NEOs) | N/A |
Note: Dr. Albertson’s metric design, target, and payout were not disclosed; table reflects plan context for NEOs in 2024 .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total beneficial ownership (common) | 14,589 shares reported acquired on Feb 20, 2025 (Form 4) |
| Ownership as % of outstanding | ~0.016% (14,589 / 93,004,602 shares outstanding as of Apr 15, 2025) |
| Vested vs unvested breakdown | Not disclosed |
| Options – exercisable/unexercisable | Not disclosed |
| Shares pledged as collateral | Company policy prohibits pledging by employees and directors |
| Ownership guidelines | Compensation committee may set guidelines; no specific executive ownership multiple disclosed |
Insider transactions (last 24 months available in filings):
- Aug 20, 2024: Form 3 (initial statement of beneficial ownership; event date Aug 12, 2024)
- Aug 20, 2024: Form 4 (details not itemized in proxy; see filing)
- Feb 21, 2025: Form 4 (awarded/acquired 14,589 common shares; event date Feb 20, 2025)
No open-market sales by Dr. Albertson are evident in these filings; we will monitor subsequent Forms 4 for any changes .
Employment Terms
The company’s officer employment agreements apply to “other executive officers” as well as NEOs; terms below therefore apply to the CMO role unless superseded by a specific agreement.
| Provision | Term |
|---|---|
| Termination without cause / resignation for good reason | 9 months base salary and up to 9 months COBRA continuation (installments; release required) |
| Change-in-control (double-trigger; within 12 months after or 3 months before a 409A CIC) | 12 months base salary + 1.0x target annual bonus; COBRA for 12 months; 100% vesting of then-unvested stock options and time-based restricted stock (subject to release) |
| “Cause” and “Good reason” definitions | Enumerated (misconduct, felony, policy violations; and material diminution, inconsistent duties, >10% salary cut, relocation >50 miles, material breach), with notice and cure rights |
| Equity plan CIC mechanics | 2021 Plan allows acceleration if not assumed; administrator discretion if assumed/substituted |
| Clawback (recoupment) | Mandatory policy for current/former executive officers for restatements (3 prior fiscal years) |
| Tax gross-ups | None provided |
| Hedging/pledging | Prohibited for all employees and directors |
| Option repricing | 2021 Plan permits option repricing or exchange without additional stockholder approval (subject to plan terms) |
Risk Indicators & Governance Notes
- Reverse stock split authorization sought (1-for-5 to 1-for-50), citing bid-price compliance; closing bid was $0.86 on Apr 10, 2025; delisting risk noted if Minimum Bid Price Rule not met .
- As an EGC/smaller reporting company, CRBU has not held say-on-pay votes and provides scaled executive compensation disclosure .
- Compensation consultant: Pay Governance engaged by the compensation committee; peer group composition and target percentile not disclosed .
- Anti-hedging/pledging policy reduces misalignment risk, while plan-level option repricing authority is a governance consideration investors typically scrutinize .
Performance & Track Record
- Lyell: Built clinical development function; initiated two solid-tumor cell therapy Phase 1 trials .
- Juno/BMS: Led Breyanzi global program from IND filing to BLA submission, culminating in FDA approval in LBCL; led nine global trials (four registrational) across B‑cell malignancies and earlier lines of therapy .
- Public clinical leadership: As CMO of Caribou, Dr. Albertson presented program updates (e.g., ANTLER pivotal trial design; CaMMouflage dose escalation data) on Nov 3, 2025 investor webcast .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and retention: New-joiner equity (14,589 shares reported acquired in Feb 2025) and double-trigger CIC protections suggest standard biotech retention constructs; absence of reported open-market selling to date reduces near-term insider selling pressure signals .
- Incentive design visibility: Because CRBU is an EGC, individual CMO cash and performance-metric detail is not disclosed; however, the company uses goal-based bonuses (2024 NEO payout at 87.5% of target), and clawback plus anti-hedging/pledging policies are positives for alignment .
- Governance watchouts: Plan-level option repricing authority and reverse-split authorization are governance and capital-structure flags; they may be rational in a pre-commercial biotech under price pressure but warrant monitoring for investor dilution and pay-for-performance integrity .
- Execution upside: Dr. Albertson’s track record in bringing a CAR‑T from IND to approval (Breyanzi) and leading multiple registrational trials is directly relevant to Caribou’s allogeneic CAR‑T pipeline and pivotal planning, potentially improving probability of execution in forthcoming registrational efforts .
Sources: 2025 DEF 14A (Apr 25, 2025); CRBU press releases and 8‑K filings; SEC Forms 3/4 referenced above. All citations included inline.