UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 29, 2026
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation) | (Commission File Number) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |||||||||||||||
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(844 ) 445-5704
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
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| Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Emerging growth company ¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
Appointment of Director Nerissa Kreher
On June 29, 2026, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) increased the size of the Board from seven (7) to eight (8) members, thereby creating a vacancy on the Board, and appointed Nerissa Kreher, M.D., to fill such vacancy, effective as of July 1, 2026. Dr. Kreher will serve as a Class III director and her term will expire at the Company’s 2027 annual meeting of stockholders, or until her earlier death, resignation, or removal. Dr. Kreher has not been appointed to any committees of the Board at this time.
Since January 2025, Dr. Kreher has served as Chief Medical Officer of Alltrna, an RNA (tRNA) platform company. Additionally, since July 2024, she has served as the Founder of Mountainview Clinical Development Consulting, a specialized advisory firm, where she provides fractional clinical development, medical affairs, and regulatory strategy services to early-stage biotech and life sciences companies. From March 2024 to December 2024, Dr. Kreher served as an interim Chief Medical Officer for Lucy Therapeutics and also was a clinical development consultant for several rare disease biotechnology companies. Prior to that, she served as Chief Medical Officer of Entrada Therapeutics, a publicly traded biotechnology company, from December 2020 to February 2024. She also held Chief Medical Officer roles at Tiburio Therapeutics (from March 2019 to December 2020) and AVROBIO (acquired by Tectonic Therapeutics) (from October 2016 to December 2018), where she oversaw clinical development for multiple gene therapy programs. Earlier in her career, she served as Global Head (VP) of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Zafgen (from March 2015 to July 2016) and held key roles at Shire (from April 2013 to March 2015) and Enobia Pharma (January 2011 until its acquisition by Alexion Pharmaceuticals in 2012). Following the acquisition, Dr. Kreher served as Executive Director, Metabolic Disorders at Alexion Pharmaceuticals until April 2013. Dr. Kreher has been an independent board member of Rezolute, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, since March 2021. Dr. Kreher holds an M.D. from East Carolina University School of Medicine, an M.S. in Clinical Research from Indiana University, an Executive M.B.A. from Northeastern University, and a B.S. in Biology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
There is no arrangement or understanding between Dr. Kreher and any other person pursuant to which Dr. Kreher was selected as a director, and there are no family relationships between Dr. Kreher and any of the Company’s directors or executive officers. The Board has affirmatively determined that Dr. Kreher qualifies as independent under Nasdaq listing standards, and there are no transactions to which the Company is a party and in which Dr. Kreher has a direct or indirect material interest that requires disclosure under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K.
In connection with her appointment, Dr. Kreher was granted an initial equity award consisting of options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock and restricted stock units having a combined aggregate grant date fair value of approximately $450,000 under the Company’s non-employee director compensation program (the “Compensation Program”), including cash compensation as described in the Company's 10-K Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 23, 2026, which is incorporated herein by reference. Pursuant to the Compensation Program, beginning on the date of the Company’s 2027 annual meeting of stockholders and thereafter, Dr. Kreher will be eligible to receive an annual equity grant, consisting of options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock and restricted stock units with an aggregate grant date fair value approximately equal to $300,000. Under the Compensation Program, initial equity awards vest in three equal annual installments on the first three anniversaries of the grant date, annual equity grants vest in full on the earlier to occur of the first anniversary of the grant date or the date of the next annual meeting of stockholders, in each case subject to the non-employee director's continued service to the Board through the applicable vesting date.
Dr. Kreher and the Company have entered into a standard indemnification agreement, substantially similar to the Company’s form of director indemnification agreement, a copy of which was filed as Exhibit 10.14 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the SEC on March 2, 2026, and is incorporated herein by reference.
Board Leadership Structure
On June 29, 2026, the Board appointed John Shannon, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, to serve as Chairperson of the Board, effective as of July 1, 2026. In connection with this leadership structure, the Board designated Marla S. Persky as the Company’s Lead Independent Director, as of July 1, 2026.
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.
On June 30, 2026, the Company issued a press release announcing the appointment of Dr. Kreher to the Board and related Board leadership changes, a copy of which is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8‑K and is incorporated herein by reference.
The information in this Item 7.01, including Exhibit 99.1, is being furnished and shall not be deemed to be “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section and shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any registration statement or other document filed pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit Number | Description | |||||||
| 99.1 | ||||||||
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document) | |||||||
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| Date: June 30, 2026 | Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc. | |||||||||||||
| By: | /s/ Steven M. Pieper | |||||||||||||
| Name: Steven M. Pieper | ||||||||||||||
Title: Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||||||||
Exhibit 99.1
Xeris Announces Updates to Its Board of Directors
Chief Executive Officer John Shannon named Chair of the Board
Marla Persky to transition to Lead Independent Director of the Board
Board appoints Nerissa Kreher, M.D., effective July 1, 2026
CHICAGO, IL – Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: XERS), a fast growing biopharmaceutical company committed to improving patient lives by developing and commercializing innovative products across a range of therapies, today announced that its Board of Directors appointed John Shannon to Chair of the Board, in addition to his role as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Mr. Shannon succeeds Marla Persky, who will remain on the Board as Lead Independent Director. The Company also announced the appointment of Nerissa Kreher, M. D., to its Board of Directors, effective July 1, 2026, expanding the Board to eight members.
"When John was appointed CEO, the Board wanted him to focus on strategy and growth. Over the past two years, John clearly demonstrated the leadership and vision necessary to advance Xeris’ strategy and achieve the company’s objectives,” stated Marla Persky. “His successes, combined with his deep understanding of the business, clearly demonstrate that John is the ideal person to now also serve as chairman.”
“I am honored to have been named chairman of Xeris,” said Mr. Shannon. “Working alongside our dedicated leadership team and talented workforce, I remain confident in the continued rapid growth of our commercial portfolio, the advancement of our late-stage pipeline, and the strength of our balance sheet. I believe strongly in the future of this company and in our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders.”
Mr. Shannon continued, “I also want to thank Marla for her service as chairperson. She has been a valuable thought partner, advisor, and trusted resource to me, and I am very pleased that we will continue to benefit from her leadership and active involvement as Lead Independent Director.”
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Nerissa Kreher to our Board of Directors. An accomplished physician-scientist, biotech executive and pediatric endocrinologist, Nerissa has been instrumental in the development and commercialization of therapies for rare diseases across therapeutic areas, including neuromuscular, endocrinology and metabolic disorders. I am confident that Nerissa will be a tremendous asset to the company,” said Mr. Shannon.
Dr. Kreher currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Alltrna where she leads clinical development, regulatory and patient advocacy; her contributions include successfully leading the company’s transition into clinical stage. Over the course of more than two decades, she has also served as CMO at Entrada Therapeutics, Tiburio Therapeutics and AVROBIO and earlier in her career served as Global Head of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Zafgen and held key roles at Shire and Enobia Pharma. Dr. Kreher also serves as an independent board director of Rezolute Bio and holds an M.D. from East Carolina University School of Medicine, an M.S. in Clinical Research from Indiana University, and an Executive MBA from Northeastern University.
About Xeris
Xeris (Nasdaq: XERS) is a growth-oriented biopharmaceutical company committed to improving patient lives by developing and commercializing innovative products across a range of therapies. Xeris has three commercially available products: Recorlev®, for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome; Gvoke®, a ready-to-use liquid glucagon for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; and Keveyis®, a proven therapy for primary periodic paralysis. Xeris also has a pipeline of development programs led by XP-8121, a Phase 3-ready, once-weekly subcutaneous
Exhibit 99.1
injection for hypothyroidism, as well as multiple early-stage programs leveraging Xeris’ technology platforms, XeriSol® and XeriJect®, for its partners.
Xeris Biopharma Holdings is headquartered in Chicago, IL. For more information, visit www.xerispharma.com, or follow us on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about future expectations, plans and prospects for Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc., including the Company’s ability to continue to demonstrate rapid growth of its commercial portfolio, the advancement of its pipeline, its ability to deliver long-term value for shareholders, future board capabilities, and other statements containing the words “will,” “would,” “continue,” “expect,” “should,” “anticipate” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and assessments made in light of Xeris’ experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, business strategies, operating environment, future developments, geopolitical factors and other factors it believes appropriate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. The various factors that could cause Xeris’ actual results, performance or achievements, industry results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, its financial position and need for financing, including to fund its product development programs or commercialization efforts, whether its products will achieve and maintain market acceptance in a competitive business environment, its reliance on third-party suppliers, including single-source suppliers, its reliance on third parties to conduct clinical trials, the ability of its product candidates to compete successfully with existing and new drugs, and its collaborators’ ability to protect its intellectual property and proprietary technology, and general macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions, including the possibility of an economic downtown, changes in governmental priorities and resources, announced or implemented tariffs, and market volatility. No assurance can be given that such expectations will be realized and persons reading this communication are, therefore, cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Additional risks and information about potential impacts of financial, operational, economic, competitive, regulatory, governmental, technological, and other factors that may affect Xeris can be found in Xeris’ filings, including its most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K filed and subsequent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the contents of which are not incorporated by reference into, nor do they form part of, this communication. Forward-looking statements in this communication are based on information available to us, as of the date of this communication and, while we believe our assumptions are reasonable, actual results may differ materially. Subject to any obligations under applicable law, we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, or to conform any forward-looking statement to actual results, future events, or to changes in expectations.
Contacts
Xeris Investor Contact
Allison Wey
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
awey@xerispharma.com
Allison Wey
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
awey@xerispharma.com