Foghorn Taps Veteran CFO Ryan Maynard to Steer Next Growth Phase

WATERTOWN, MA – February 23, 2026 – Foghorn® Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: FHTX) has appointed veteran biopharmaceutical executive Ryan Maynard as its new Chief Financial Officer, a strategic move signaling the company's preparation for a critical phase of clinical advancement and financial growth. The appointment, effective today, brings a leader with over 25 years of experience in capital markets, strategic transactions, and commercial launch planning to the clinical-stage oncology company.

Maynard joins Foghorn at a pivotal moment. The company is advancing its lead drug candidate in partnership with pharmaceutical giant Lilly and is preparing to move other assets from its proprietary Gene Traffic Control® platform into the clinic. The hire is being interpreted by industry observers as a move to install robust financial leadership capable of navigating the capital-intensive and complex journey from clinical development to potential commercialization.

“I am delighted to welcome Ryan to Foghorn as our new CFO as we continue to advance our first-in-class pipeline," said Adrian Gottschalk, President and Chief Executive Officer of Foghorn, in a statement. “Ryan is a seasoned biotech executive who brings proven financial and operational leadership. His experience scaling organizations will accelerate our mission to deliver novel therapies to patients.”

A Proven Financial Architect Joins the Helm

Maynard’s extensive resume details a career built on navigating the high-stakes financial landscape of the biopharmaceutical industry. Throughout his career, he has successfully raised over $1 billion through a mix of public and private financings, a critical skill for a clinical-stage company like Foghorn, which recently extended its cash runway with a $50 million financing round but will require significant capital to fund its ambitious pipeline.

His most recent role was as CFO of Cara Therapeutics, where he was instrumental in executing a reverse merger with Tvardi Therapeutics in late 2024. He also secured a $37.5 million non-dilutive royalty deal and provided executive leadership on commercial manufacturing and launch planning for the drug KORSUVA®. This experience in complex strategic transactions and non-traditional financing is particularly valuable in a volatile biotech market.

Before his tenure at Cara, Maynard held CFO positions at the global healthcare solutions company LetsGetChecked and the privately held Blade Therapeutics. However, it was his decade-long tenure as CFO at Rigel Pharmaceuticals that cemented his reputation. At Rigel, he played a key role in the financial strategy surrounding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and commercial launch planning for TAVALISSE®, a treatment for a rare blood disorder. Public filings confirm his new role at Foghorn comes with an annual base salary of $510,000, a target bonus of 40%, and an option to purchase 400,000 shares of common stock, underscoring the company's commitment to securing top-tier talent.

Steering Through a Pivotal Clinical Landscape

The timing of Maynard’s arrival is intrinsically linked to the progress within Foghorn’s laboratories and clinical trials. The company's lead program, FHD-909, is being developed in a major partnership with Eli Lilly and is currently advancing through dose-escalation studies. This collaboration not only provides external validation for Foghorn’s science but also shares the significant financial burden of late-stage development.

Beyond its lead asset, Foghorn’s internal pipeline is also reaching a critical inflection point. The company announced late last year that its selective CBP degrader program was entering key toxicology studies, a necessary step before a drug can be cleared for human trials. This progress across multiple fronts necessitates a financial leader who can manage a growing and increasingly complex R&D budget while simultaneously planning for future capital needs.

Maynard himself acknowledged the critical timing of his appointment. “I am excited to join Foghorn at this pivotal time as the Company’s lead program advances in dose escalation in partnership with Lilly, and our selective degrader portfolio nears the clinic,” he stated. “I look forward to partnering with the executive team and Board to provide disciplined financial leadership, drive execution, and support long-term growth and value creation.”

Beyond Fundraising: A Play for Commercialization

While Maynard’s fundraising prowess is a clear asset, his deep experience in the later stages of the drug development lifecycle offers a more profound insight into Foghorn’s long-term strategy. The appointment of a CFO with a track record in FDA approvals and commercial launches—specifically with TAVALISSE® and KORSUVA®—suggests the company’s leadership is already laying the groundwork for a future as a commercial-stage entity.

This strategic foresight is crucial. The transition from a research-focused organization to a revenue-generating pharmaceutical company is one of the most challenging pivots in the industry, requiring the establishment of manufacturing, supply chains, marketing, and sales infrastructure. Having a financial leader who has successfully navigated this transition multiple times provides Foghorn with invaluable institutional knowledge and de-risks a critical future step.

This forward-looking approach has not gone unnoticed by analysts, who have set optimistic price targets for Foghorn's stock, ranging from $9 to $14, well above its current trading price of around $5.73. While acknowledging the inherent financial risks of a pre-revenue biotech, including ongoing net losses, the consensus view is that strategic moves like the Maynard hire bolster the company’s long-term investment thesis.

Betting on a New Frontier in Oncology

At the heart of Foghorn's strategy is its innovative science. The company is a pioneer in targeting the chromatin regulatory system, the complex machinery that controls which genes are turned on or off in a cell. Aberrations in this system are a known driver of many cancers. Foghorn's proprietary Gene Traffic Control® platform is designed to systematically identify these dependencies and develop novel drugs that can correct them.

This places Foghorn at the forefront of epigenetics, one of the most promising fields in precision oncology. By developing medicines that target the fundamental mechanisms of gene expression, the company aims to treat cancers that have proven difficult to address with other therapeutic modalities. The appointment of a CFO with Maynard's background is a clear indicator that Foghorn is not only confident in its science but is also building the corporate and financial infrastructure needed to translate that science into medicines that can one day reach patients.