Pasithea names Kartik Krishnan as chief medical officer

Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. (NASDAQ: KTTA) announced the appointment of Kartik Krishnan, M.D., Ph.D. as chief medical officer, effective May 1, 2026. The clinical-stage biotechnology company said Krishnan will oversee clinical development and medical strategy for PAS-004, its macrocyclic MEK inhibitor being developed for neurofibromatosis type 1.

Krishnan brings over 20 years of experience in clinical development, regulatory affairs and research strategy. He previously served as chief executive officer at OncoNano Medicines and chief medical officer at Arcus Biosciences. Earlier in his career, he held clinical development roles at Genentech, BioMarin, Amgen and other pharmaceutical companies.

During his tenure at Genentech, Krishnan contributed to the clinical development of cobimetinib, an FDA-approved MEK inhibitor. The drug received approval in the United States and Europe in 2015 for treating BRAF V600E or BRAF V600K mutant melanoma in combination with vemurafenib. Cobimetinib later gained approval in 2022 for Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

Pasithea is currently conducting two Phase 1 clinical trials of PAS-004. One trial involves patients with advanced cancer, while the other focuses on adults with neurofibromatosis type 1-associated plexiform neurofibromas.

Krishnan earned his medical degree and Ph.D. in molecular, biochemical and biophysical studies from Columbia University. He completed pediatrics training at UCLA and pediatric hematology and oncology training at Johns Hopkins University and the National Cancer Institute.

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