Kelly Ganjei
About Kelly Ganjei
Independent director at INMB since September 2016; age 51 as of December 31, 2024. CEO and President of AmplifyBio, LLC (contract research organization), formerly CEO and Chairman of Cognate BioServices (CDMO acquired by Charles River Laboratories). Holds a B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Maryland College Park (1995) and began his career at NIH the same year; brings nearly 30 years of biotechnology operational and drug development experience .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognate BioServices | CEO & Chairman | — | Led CDMO in cell/gene therapy; company acquired by Charles River Laboratories |
| AmplifyBio | CEO & President | — | CRO supporting advanced therapy clients from concept to commercial |
| SBA Venture Capital Firm | Principal | — | Supported deal flow in regenerative medicine, immunotherapy, cell therapy; drove strategic portfolio deals |
| Remegenix, Inc. | CEO & Co-founder | — | Early-stage leadership in biotech |
| TissueGene, Inc. | VP, Business Development | — | Closed Series A/B tranches; navigated development pathway; built global informatics infrastructure |
| LabVantage | Product Marketing Manager | — | Led technical sales/marketing globally for life science software; designed product initiatives |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Status/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AmplifyBio, LLC | CEO & President | Current; company performed R&D services for INMB in 2024 (see Related Party section) |
Board Governance
- Independence: Listed as Independent Director; board affirmed comp committee members meet SEC/Nasdaq independence standards .
- Committee assignments:
- Compensation Committee: Member; chair is Timothy Schroeder; met 2 times in 2024; interlocks: none .
- Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee: Member; chair was Marcia Allen in 2024 (no meetings in 2024); Kelly served as chair in 2023 (no meetings in 2023) .
- Attendance: Board met 4 times in 2024 and 5 times in 2023; each then-member attended at least 75% of board and committee meetings in each year .
- Shareholder support: At the July 19, 2024 annual meeting, Ganjei received 9,627,979 votes for and 836,743 withheld; broker non-votes 4,069,201 .
Fixed Compensation
| Year | Cash Retainer ($) | Committee/Chair Fees ($) | Meeting Fees ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 45,000 | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
Performance Compensation
| Year | Option Awards ($) | Stock Awards ($) | Instrument Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 248,598 | — | Director option grants; grant date fair value under ASC 718; specific strike/vesting not disclosed |
Equity plan features relevant to director awards and performance conditions:
| Feature | Plan Provision |
|---|---|
| Award types | Options, SARs, Restricted Stock, RSUs, Other Stock-Based Awards, Cash-Based Awards |
| Exercise price (options) | Not less than 100% of FMV on grant date; no dividends/dividend equivalents on options |
| Performance conditions | Committee may condition vesting on performance goals of at least one fiscal year; RSU dividend equivalents accrue but are not payable until performance vesting achieved |
| Clawbacks/forfeiture | Committee may impose forfeiture and clawback provisions in Award Agreements |
| Change-of-control | Automatic single-trigger acceleration of outstanding awards for service not terminated at change-of-control; Committee may adjust/cancel/replace awards |
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Other public company boards | None disclosed for Ganjei in INMB’s 2024–2025 proxy biographies |
| Compensation committee interlocks | None; no INMB executive serves on a board/comp committee of a company whose executive serves on INMB’s comp committee |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Significant biotech operational and pre-clinical/clinical/commercial drug development and manufacturing knowledge; numerous peer-reviewed publications and speaking engagements .
- University of Maryland (B.S., Microbiology, 1995); early research career at NIH .
Equity Ownership
| Metric | Apr 14, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Common Stock Owned (shares) | 17,793 | 17,793 |
| Options/Warrants Exercisable within 60 days (shares) | 324,750 | 330,583 |
| Total Beneficial Ownership (shares) | 342,543 | 348,376 |
| % of Shares Outstanding | 1.5% (outstanding 22,984,115) | 1.3% (outstanding 26,585,258) |
| Shares Pledged as Collateral | Not disclosed; company policy restricts pledging (pre-clearance required) |
Governance Assessment
- Alignment and engagement:
- Cash/equity mix: 2024 director compensation comprised $45,000 cash retainer and $248,598 in option awards, indicating meaningful equity-at-risk exposure aligned with shareholders .
- Attendance: Ganjei met the 75%+ attendance threshold in 2023–2024 board/committee meetings, supporting engagement .
- Hedging/Pledging: Hedging prohibited and pledging restricted under insider trading policy, supportive of alignment .
- Committee effectiveness:
- Compensation Committee met 2 times in 2024; independence affirmed; no interlocks reported .
- Nominating & Governance Committee had no meetings in 2023–2024, which may indicate limited formal governance process activity in a small-cap context; mitigated by board-level actions .
- Conflicts and related-party exposure:
- RED FLAG: INMB paid AmplifyBio $384,000 for R&D services in 2024; AmplifyBio’s CEO is director Kelly Ganjei, creating a related-party transaction requiring robust recusal and oversight controls .
- Equity plan risk signals:
- RED FLAG: Plan permits automatic single-trigger acceleration upon change-of-control for awards of service not terminated; generally considered shareholder-unfriendly versus double-trigger standards .
- Shareholder support:
- Director election support in 2024: 9,627,979 votes for, 836,743 withheld, indicating solid but not unanimous investor backing .